Christmas Decorations

Here are a few of the decorations that I put out this year. I did not go all out like I normally do. This house is just set up so differently than the last one that a lot of stuff just did not fit. I didn't even do the banister. Maybe next year I will have a better feel for the house and I will do more. Until then enjoy what little I did :)  

Beautiful Storm

The storm that brought my children their first snow/ice days of their lives was the most beautiful storm I have seen in years. We were lucky enough to be able to just sit in the house and watch.

The ice on the trees was first. It was magical.

Then the snow came. We had 7 inches during the first snow (Sunday into Monday) and then 6 more the second (Tuesday). In total we got more now over those two storms than they had here all last year. Crazy!

The kids had Monday and Tuesday off with a two hour delay on Wednesday. By Wednesday they were ready to go back, and Lewis and I were ready to have our routine back for work (we both work from home so we were working while trying to keep the two girls entertained the whole time, luckily they played outside for most of the time).

I hate the cold but I love the beautiful snow.

Thanksgiving

As most of you know we usually go out for Thanksgiving dinner. We started the tradition about 6 years ago when we had 4 kids that were 8 years old and younger. I made Thanksgiving at home, cooked for two days straight and then nobody wanted to eat anything. They didn't like the green stuff (green beans), the white stuff is thick (mashed potatoes), the brown stuff is wet (gravy), and the meat is on a bone (really?). After that I was done cooking for picky eaters for such a big meal and we decided that The Grand America in Salt Lake City was just what we needed. They have a great buffet for the adults with traditional Thanksgiving food, plus prime rib, crab legs, brunch items and anything else you might want on a fancy buffet. But what they also had was a children's buffet. They had chicken strips, macaroni and cheese, fruit, caramel apples, fresh veggies and ranch, and so much more. We went and dined in happiness for several years, that was until we moved across the country.
With the move came time to make a decision about where we were going to eat out Thanksgiving meal. It was decided that I was going to cook once more. I was apprehensive about making a meal again due to the disaster that came when I last made the Thanksgiving meal. ( I have made a whole turkey on occasion in the past few years, just not the whole Thanksgiving meal spread.)

So I decided to make it small and only make things that the kids were sure to enjoy. I made a turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, corn, rolls, and pie. I also made sweet potatoes, but I let everyone know that they do not have to eat them, they were for me and Lewis only. Of course that made them want to try them and they all loved them.
So it did work out in the end. We had a great day. Quite at home by ourselves. Maybe we don;t have to eat out every Thanksgiving anymore. Maybe just every other year.

Tree Time!

First I wanted to say that this is a very fitting post for today. Even though I am writing this on the 13th it is set to come out on Christmas Day, so

Merry Christmas!!!

Our kids had the whole week of Thanksgiving off this year so we decided that would be the perfect time to get our Christmas tree. We went to cut our tree down at a local tree farm. It was a very fun excursion that everyone enjoyed... even the boys!

As you can see by the pictures it was a warm-ish day. The girls should have had a sweatshirt on but they were so excited that they were warm enough. 

Abi pulled Haley in the tree cart all the way down the hill. 

Once we had picked our tree the boys had to cut it down. Since it was still so warm and dry I was not going to get down and cut for a couple of reasons: spiders and snakes. Enough said.

Here the kids are just hanging around while Lewis was cutting:

And then Adam took a turn cutting:

And then Lewis again:

Yea! It finally came down. Lewis had a rash by the time we got home and had the tree in the stand. The tree has the sharpest needles that I have ever felt. Plus Lewis is allergic to a few types of trees, oops :)

Here it is all set up and decorated. We have much shorter ceilings in the family room in this house than we had in the last one so we had to get an 8' tree instead of a 12' one. I think it still looks good even though I couldn't fit all of the decorations on his tiny fat body.

Merry Christmas!!

Volleyball

As soon as we moved here Haley had me look into finding her a volleyball group to play with. She has been playing for the last two years in Utah, and it is one sport that she really enjoys. We found a skills camp so we signed her up. She did really well. It was more of a refresher course for her, but we told her that even pros need skill camps to help perfect their game.

She had a good time and made a friend, like always. Here are a couple of pictures from the final night when it was kids against parents. I was not there because I was in Utah but Lewis did a good job of documenting the game for me in pictures.

I love this girl!

Photo Shoot

Since I don't have a photographer here on the east coast I had to take the kids pictures this year for the Christmas card. I took the girls out first since they are more patient with pictures. We choose a cool Sunday morning at the end of November. The girls had a good time. We only took about 15 minutes. Of course with each "good" picture they took they wanted a "crazy" or "silly" picture too. Here are some of the "silly" ones.

*On a side note about our cards:

I let the kids choose their own clothes, hair, locations, and poses this year. I even let them choose the picture that went onto the card, for the sake of peace. I have never done that before, and might never let them do it again. Hopefully by next year I will know some more people in the area and I will have a professional take the photos.

Cutest Model Ever?

Haley had the idea to set up a model shoot for Mojito. He was more than willing to lay there while she draped him in feathers. We just had a hard time getting him to look at the camera. I think he is stunning!

 After our move this summer I had a lot of time on my hands. I have been working full time for the past 8 years and after moving and finding myself unemployed and bored I decided that I would try some typical "SAHM" stuff. I was cooking every night, making beds daily, vacuuming and keeping up on the laundry every day already so I decided to try crafting.

Now, if you know me you know that I like to do "projects". I wouldn't say crafts and projects are the same thing, but I was trying to make them the same in my head.

I found this wreath idea on the internet and went with it. I changed the colors and design a little to suit what I was looking for to fit into my decor. It really was easy, and fast to do. (In full disclosure I got bored with it half way through so it took me an extra couple of days to finish since I just didn't want to go back to it.) I think it came out very cute and I would make another one for another holiday in the future

BUT

I will never, ever, ever use glitter tulle again. I am still finding it all over my house 3 months later.

Carving Pumpkins

When your kids get older the traditional holiday activities are no longer wanted. At least that is the direction that my kids are headed, and have been heading for several years now. Adam did not want to carve a pumpkin, saying he would "share" one with Jason. So Jason cut and carved their pumpkin. Haley and Abigail still want to do one each. Here are a couple of pictures that I took of unwilling models.

Jason is looking more and more man-like, it is scary. I think he will be taller than Adam.

Abigail looking lost in a daze...

Haley still does not like to touch the guts. I told her that she can do it alone or not at all. Of course I helped her and scraped it out but next year, I am not going to do it... maybe. I don't know what she is going to do when she has kids and they want her help cleaning out the pumpkin. Hopefully she marries a man that likes to do the pumpkins.

Oh you want to see final products? I don't have that picture. I left on Halloween to fly to Utah to help my mom after knee surgery and no pictures were taken of the pumpkins on the porch.

Mummy? Where Are You?

In my tummy.

The girls and I made this cake for Halloween. I think it came out very cute. And it tasted really good too.