A YEAR IN PICTURE REVIEW

January - It snowed! We built a snowman with our next door neighbors

February - David turned 32 and I made him a guitar birthday cake...he loved it.

March - I turned 32, Abbey turned 8 and Abbey's art was chosen to be displayed in our local art gallery for 2 months as part of Youth Art Month. Her giraffe was so beautiful.

April - Wyatt turned 4 and we got to have a family photo session with my family

May - Sidney gave me the "Greatest Mom Award" for Mother's Day and she still asks me to this day if I have the Mommy award she gave me. She was so proud to give it to me.

June - David is in Cosmetology school and I finally let him cut my hair. This is a picture of my first haircut from him. I loved the cut and how well he did and now he is my hairdresser.

July - Jessie got ready to start high school (9th grade)

And our whole family was in my sister's wedding as she married a wonderful guy named Mark.

August - First day of school. Sidney started 1st grade, Abbey started 3rd grade & Wyatt started Pre-K (not in his PJ's..he just goes to school later than the girls and he wasn't dressed yet).

Sept - I started teaching at Adventureland (Mother's Day Out) three mornings a week

As much as I hate snakes, I made friends with a fellow named Tango who lives at our friend The Lackey's home. We hope Tango comes to visit us again in 2010.

My childhood friend, Jeremy Lile, sings bass for Brian Free & Assurance and we finally got to go to one of their concerts and see him sing. We got to hang out with them awhile after the concert as well and had a great time.

October - We took our yearly trip to the beach with my family

I made my first "rainbow cake" and have made several since...I love making these!

The kids enjoyed Halloween and got lots of candy from trick-or-treating

December - We had an extremely blessed Christmas together and with our extended families

Best of all, our family has had a LOT of fun in 2009 making memories together and growing closer as a family.

Most importantly, we have been blessed with good health and tons of blessings from God.

We look forward to 2010 with excitement and great anticipation for what God has in store for our family in the upcoming year. We hope you and your family have a very blessed 2010.

**~~HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM OUR FAMILY TO YOURS~~**

2009 .... a look back

Can you believe 2010 is almost here? As a kid, when people would talk about the future and mention years like 2010, I always envisioned living like the Jetsons or something. Now here we are and we aren't quite to that level yet but technology is pretty amazing. Thinking back to 2009, I can't help but feel so blessed. Our family has been blessed with good health among all of us, we haven't gone on any major trips or journeys but we have made lots of memories together as a family and I wouldn't trade that for anything. Here are a few of the fun things we have done this year. Yes, there are lots more than this but if you really want to know all the fun things we have done this year, then you can read my blog from January-December under blog archive! :)

• Our family was in the musical "Seussical the Musical" through DreamWeavers. This was a great way to introduce our children to theater and found out that they love it and we will be looking for future theater opportunities in 2010.
• My sister got MARRIED to a wonderful guy named Mark and we celebrated with them
• We took our yearly trip to Panama City Beach, Florida that has been a family tradition since I was born. It was probably our favorite trip yet in all the years we have gone.
• The Zoppe Italian Circus came to our town and we were given VIP tickets to one of their performances. The kids loved it...well, we did too! The circus seems to bring out the kid in all of us doesn't it?
• I fell deeper in love with cooking and tried lots and lots of new recipes. David even used our smoker for the very first time this year and made us a delicious feast.
• Wyatt fell at preschool (thankfully I taught at that same school) and got a head concussion that resulted in him getting to experience his first ambulance ride from one hospital to another specialized children's hospital. It was very scary for me & David to say the least. Wyatt is all boy-rough & thankfully tough!
• We made a few home improvements this year and have plans to make a lot more in 2010.
• I became a book reviewer for Thomas Nelson Publishers.
• Jessie finished middle school & started high school (9th grade), Abbey finished 2nd grade and started 3rd, Sidney finished Kindergarten and started 1st and Wyatt started PreK in September.

And in case you missed it, click HERE to find out just how much fun we can be! (hehe)

Our family is one very blessed family and we look forward to a great 2010 as well. Come back Friday for a VERY VERY special post.

General Mills Cereals

We love cereal at our house ~ and not just for breakfast! General Mills cereals are our favorite types to eat. As a Mom to 4 kids, I love the fact that General Mills recently announced a commitment to further reduce sugar in their cereals to single digit grams of sugar per serving! They have already been reducing sugar in cereals while INCREASING key nutrients, such as calcium, vitamin D and whole grains.

Recently General Mills and MyBlogSpark sent me coupons for 4 FREE boxes of their cereals. We chose Raisin Nut Bran, Reese's, Cinnamon Toast Crunch and Apple Cinnamon Cheerios. That variety suits us all from adults to the 4 year old. As a Mom, I also know how stressful it can be to get kids to eat anything for breakfast before school, much less something healthy. It is so easy to feed them cereal before school and know that they are getting "brainfood" as well as some healthy benefits too. Did you know that ready to eat cereal is the number one source of whole grains in a child's diet today? And ready to eat cereals, including presweetened cereals, account for only 5% of sugar in a child's diet? Studies show that kids who eat breakfast each morning perform better at school, helps kids stay alert, have fewer discipline problems, record higher test scores and have reduced absenteeism and tardiness. Ready to eat cereals have fewer calories than almost any other common breakfast option.

At our house, we also allow the kids to eat cereal for a snack occasionally too. I had much rather them eat a bowl of General Mills cereals, than a bag of potato chips, candy bar, etc. Best of all, General Mills is giving each of my readers a coupon for $1.00 off a box of either Trix, Cocoa Puffs, Cinnamon Toast Crunch or Lucky Charms. All you have to do is click HERE to print your coupon! So print your coupon, head on over to your local grocery store & pick up your favorite General Mills cereal and let's all help our kids start each day with a wholesome breakfast.

Christmas Pictures

I didn't get Christmas cards sent out this year. We received about 15 beautiful ones from family & friends but I let time slip up on me and the fact that we don't have a digital camera was an issue and I just didn't get them done this year. 2 days before Christmas, I went to my sister's new house and she took this picture of the kids for us. We framed it in an 8x10 and let the kids give to my parents for Christmas. My Mom's favorite gift is pictures of those grandbabies. If we had sent out Christmas cards, this would probably have been the picture on them.

We took our yearly family photo at my parents house on Christmas Eve too! This is our 2009 Christmas Eve family photo. It is a neat thing we have done almost every year since we were married and it is fun to go back and see how we have changed and how our family has grown each year. I thought this was a pretty good picture. Wyatt is going through that stage where he can't smile normally no matter what you tell him. He always has this crazy look on his face. It drives me insane because he has the cutest little smile normally but anytime a camera is popped out, he makes this crazy smile for pictures. Oh well....this too shall pass!
And since I didn't get a Christmas card sent out this year, I decided to get a step ahead for next year. So this will be our picture of our 2010 Christmas card......

Can you tell we like to have fun??? :)

Our Family Christmas

Here is a picture of all 4 of our kids on Christmas Eve right before they were headed to bed to anxiously await Santa.

We let the kids open their special ornament from this year from me & David on Christmas Eve also. Wyatt got the "redneck ornament" award (and yes, I picked this out for him). He has really been into guns this year and all things western so I got him a shotgun ornament this year. Of course, he LOVED it and was so proud of that little redneck ornament.
Sidney is still at such a "girly" stage and loves Princesses, dolls, Barbies, etc. so I picked her out a princess carriage ornament. She loved it as well and very proudly hung it on her tree in her bedroom.
I picked out Abbey a violin since she took violin lessons at school this year and this was the year that the only thing she asked Santa for was her own violin. We told her we got that particular ornament in case Santa didn't bring her one..that way, she still got a violin (haha).
Jessie, being 14, got a whimsical letter "J" for her name. I figured she was well past the "kiddie" ornaments and all and she loved this ornament and couldn't wait to hang it on the tree also.
Getting them to sleep was some more task. It was well after midnight before the last kids eyes were finally off to Lullaby Land. David & I stayed up another hour and a half putting gifts together and organizing the living room for Christmas morning. Thankfully, the kids slept in until almost 8:30 Christmas morning! We were shocked but happy. We all went into the living room together as a family and watched their happy little faces, listened to their squeals of delight and excitement as they saw what Santa brought them.

Jessie got her very own bass guitar, strap, picks and beginner guitar book.

Abbey did get her very own violin

Sidney got her karaoke machine/DVD player/radio with 2 microphones

Wyatt got his own real drum set complete with a "throne" to sit on & play

Of course, they got smaller gifts as well. We tried to stick with educational gifts or gifts we could enjoy together as a family this year. They got an ant farm, microscope, a Didj, a test tube chemistry set for children, UNO, Skipbo, Go Fish, Slamwich game, Shut the Box game, Rook and then some Wii games since our family is pretty competitive with each other when we all get on the Wii. They got Mario Kart, Wii Resort and then each kid got their own game to play (Spiderwick Chronicles, Link, Littlest Pet Shop). Wyatt also got a Cowboy/Indian playset, the girls got a Tinkerbell house & play fairies and then some small items in their stockings. So they had a fantastic Christmas.

On Christmas Eve, David & I also exchanged presents to each other. He got a Bostitch Kit complete with air compressor and 3 different types of tools (brad nailer, finish stapler & finish nailer). I don't know much about tools but I do know that these tools will allow him to do a lot of different home improvement projects he has been wanting to do but didn't have these tools to do them. He was very excited.
I did not get the digital camera I wanted for Christmas this year because it was out of Santa's budget and Santa knows me well enough to know that I want what I want and nothing different so he didn't buy just any old camera for me. However, I did get a $50 gift card to Hobby Lobby which just thrills my soul because I can buy a new Cricut cartridge for my new toy! I also got some Bath & Body works shower gel & body spray, a Slatkin & Co. candle in Fireside scent & some of the new Clorox antimicrobial kitchen towels and dishrags.
We look forward to spending the next week and a half at home with the kids enjoying all the new Christmas goodies and making more family memories. Our family has been blessed far beyond what we deserve this Christmas and we hope your family has enjoyed a wonderful Christmas as well.

25 Days of Christmas Ornaments - Days 24 & 25

Due to very hectic schedules on Christmas Eve & Christmas Day, I am combining the last 2 days of the 25 Days of Christmas Ornaments event.

Day 24: This ornament was given to Sidney on her very first Christmas by my aunt & uncle. I love it because they did all the personalization themselves for the ornament. The back of it has who it is from and the year as well. This ornament just hangs so beautifully on the tree each year and I am always reminded of how blessed we are to have Sidney with us as a healthy 6 year old little girl. If you haven't read Sidney's story on my blog previously, you can do so HERE. That is why each year, I get teary eyed hanging her first Christmas ornaments and remembering the goodness and faithfulness of God in our lives through what we went through with little Sidney.

Day 25: Nothing is more important on Christmas Day than remembering and celebrating the birth of Christ. This ornament weighs so much that when I hang it on my tree I have to literally bend the branches so it will hold it and not fall. Last night, we read the book "This is a Stable" as a family and talked about the birth of Jesus. Later today (or maybe tomorrow depending upon what time we get home from David's extended family Christmas gathering) we will celebrate the birth of Jesus with a birthday party for him. It is a special way for the kids to understand the significance of today and be reminded that Christmas is about so much more than Santa, presents, toys, etc. Without Christ, we would have nothing! This ornament always reminds me of Christmas Day and what Christmas is really all about.

Luke 2

New Living Translation

The Birth of Jesus
At that time the Roman emperor, Augustus, decreed that a census should be taken throughout the Roman Empire. (This was the first census taken when Quirinius was governor of Syria.) All returned to their own ancestral towns to register for this census. And because Joseph was a descendant of King David, he had to go to Bethlehem in Judea, David's ancient home. He traveled there from the village of Nazareth in Galilee. He took with him Mary, his fiancée, who was now obviously pregnant.
And while they were there, the time came for her baby to be born. She gave birth to her first child, a son. She wrapped him snugly in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no lodging available for them.

The Shepherds and Angels
That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep. Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord's glory surrounded them. They were terrified, but the angel reassured them. "Don't be afraid!" he said. "I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David! And you will recognize him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger."
Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others—the armies of heaven—praising God and saying,

"Glory to God in highest heaven,
and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased."

When the angels had returned to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, "Let's go to Bethlehem! Let's see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about."
They hurried to the village and found Mary and Joseph. And there was the baby, lying in the manger. After seeing him, the shepherds told everyone what had happened and what the angel had said to them about this child. All who heard the shepherds' story were astonished, but Mary kept all these things in her heart and thought about them often. The shepherds went back to their flocks, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen. It was just as the angel had told them.

**~~MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM OUR FAMILY TO YOURS~~**

It's Almost Here...Are You Ready?

Can you believe tomorrow is Christmas Eve? On a scale of 1-10 for Christmas readiness, I am at 9 right now. I have a few more presents to wrap and a trip to the grocery store today to get supplies for what I am baking/cooking over Christmas and then I will be done and ready to bring on Christmas.

A few weeks ago, one of my friends posted on Facebook that she had a Cricut machine for sale. Now if you scrapbook or like to be crafty you probably already know what this little machine is capable of but in case you have no clue what I am talking about click here! She had only used it 2 times and it was basically brand new. Best of all, she sold it to me at an amazing discount price just because we are friends. So I am the proud new owner of a Cricut machine...Merry Christmas to me! (but I'm still holding out hope "Santa" brings that digital camera!) I have made 2 scrapbooks & Christmas gift tags for our packages so far but I have a whole lot more in store for this little machine after Christmas. Right now I only have one cartridge so my options are kind of limited. However, I am just happy to have one of these. My Mom said she had watched the whole one hour commercial on TV about them and was going to by me and my sister one as a surprise...until they told the price and she was like "uh-uh". (haha) So she was thrilled to hear I had gotten one.

Let me tell you a little about our Christmas shopping experience! As you know, we have 4 kids and 3 of them still believe in Santa. We ordered 2 of their musical instruments online so that was easy...shipped them to my parents house & they are keeping them hid until tomorrow night for us. However, getting the rest of the items on our list has been a headache..in fact, we had not been able to buy one thing off our list so far because I always had the kids with me. I couldn't even buy gifts for our parents, etc. because I could just hear the kids saying things like "I'm not going to tell you what Mommy bought you for Christmas but she got you a green shirt". They have done that in the past with birthday presents before! David & I had made a list of everything we needed for Christmas from Santa gifts, stockings, parents, siblings, etc. but we had not been able to buy it yet.
Yesterday, my sister and her husband invited the kids over to bake Christmas cookies. They told me I could just drop them off which freed me up to get our shopping done! THANK YOU MARK & MARCY!!!! David had to work and couldn't go but it was so easy because I just went down my list. I grouped items into stores. For example, things I can get at Target, things I can get at the mall, things I can get at Hallmark, etc. It was super easy to knock off our entire list and I did it in just over 4 hours! I was so "geeked" (remember that 80's word?). So now everything (except candy) is in the trunk of my car covered up with a blanket until tomorrow night. We also decided "Santa" is not wrapping any gifts this year because I end up staying up till the wee hours of Christmas Day wrapping gifts from Santa just for them to be ripped open in about 2.35 seconds! This year it will just all be sitting out for them to see and start opening to play with.

On a funny note, at the mall yesterday I had one of these moments:


I already had about 4 medium size & small size packages and went into Bath & Body Works. I bought 5 shower gels, 5 antibacterial gels, a body spray and 2 of their big Slatkin & Co. candles. The bag was one of those big shopping bags and it was slightly heavy due to the candles I think. Anyway...I was just window-shopping trying to find some jewelry for my stepdaughter and going in and out of stores just looking. I was hurrying because I didn't want to leave the kids on Mark & Marcy too long and would you believe after walking up & down that mall shopping & looking by the time I got to the car I was sweating!! And no, I didn't have on heavy layers of clothing or anything that would cause me to sweat. I sat in the car a minute realizing how profusely I was sweating and decided I am definitely going to start working out come January! A 32 year old, 120 lb. girl can't even carry shopping bags through a mall for an hour without sweating like a pig...pathetic I tell you....but funny!

25 Days of Christmas Ornaments - Day 23

Today I am sharing something different. It is not an ornament I have had for years because this ornament is a new addition to my tree this year. I won it from a blog giveaway on A Baby Changes Everything last month. It was part of a box of assorted Christmas items Teresa sent me. Now I have to admit, I probably never would have bought myself an ornament like this but I fell in love with it as soon as I put it on the tree. It is a pear made out of gold sequins and once you put it on the tree with lights, holy cow is it beautiful!! It literally just shines & sparkles from the light reflecting off the sequins. In fact, several people have commented on it when they see our tree because it is such an eye-catching ornament. She also sent me a green sequined pear as well that hangs proudly on the other side of my tree. If you haven't ever been to Teresa's site, I highly recommend it. She is a professional decorator and her trees will knock your socks off! They are some of the most ornate and amazing works of Christmas art I have ever seen. Thanks Teresa for the box of Christmas goodies. I have certainly enjoyed them this holiday season and the 2 new ornaments on the tree look great too!

25 Days of Christmas Ornaments - Day 22

Who knew that Lenox, the makers of fine china, made Christmas ornaments? One year for Christmas, my aunt Pat gave us a "hint" as to what our yearly ornament from her would be. She said "It's a Lenox". I was so puzzled because I had never seen or heard of a Lenox ornament. Come Christmas, each of us (all 6) got a Lenox ornament and man, oh man are they gorgeous! They are actually kind of weighted and they feel so smooth and glassy just like a china plate. They came in different shapes: angels, bells, trees, etc. Each year, when we put these ornaments on our tree we are reminded of my Aunt Pat. She has always been so very, very special to me. Growing up, she was the Aunt I could tell anything to and know it went no further than me and her. That still holds true today. She had the neatest house with a basement and it wasn't the creepy kind-it was a finished basement that was SO cool to a child. She was an artist. She had handpainted artwork all over house and one my favorite was the handpainted saw blades she had displayed. When I went to college, she let me move into her basement (it is like a little apartment down there & even had its own entrance). I loved living with them because I got to spend time with Aunt Pat & Uncle Shag and share life with them everyday. I loved eating breakfast with Uncle Shag every morning (unless I was running late and then he was already off to tend to the cows) and how Aunt Pat was a night owl and would always be up at night for me to talk to and share my college fun with. She has always loved me like one of her own. She has always been one of my biggest supporters and encouragers to pursue my dreams and ambitions. She loves all my family so very much and has supported and loved us through the good times and the bad. Aunt Pat is my Mother's sister and they have always shared an exteremely close bond and relationship. I have always hoped that one day my sister and I could have that same kind of relationship/friendship and now as we have grown older I can see our relationship becoming what Aunt Pat & Mom share and it thrills my soul. Aunt Pat is one who has always given me a yearly ornament and I could literally fill a tree with the ornaments she gave me growing up and now the ornaments she gives all our family each year. That would be a very special tree for sure! I love you so very much Aunt Pat....thank you for loving me and my family the way you do!

25 Days of Christmas Ornaments - Day 21

This ornament came from Russia. My aunt gave it to me a few years ago. It reminds me of the people I love, the places I've been and the burning desire in my heart to return there and do more mission work. I went to Voronezh, Russia in the summer of 1997 & Irkutsk, Siberia in the winter of 1998 on short term mission trips. The trip to Voronezh was taken with my aunt, uncle and their son (my first cousin). In fact, that trip was the first time I had ever been in an airplane and the first plane ride of my life was a non-stop flight from Atlanta, Georgia to Moscow, Russia. Nothing like starting off the right way, huh? The second trip I went by myself with a group of people that lived in several different states and met for the first time in Atlanta, GA for our flight to Moscow. My aunt/uncle/cousin did not go with me on that trip. I fell in love....I was forever changed....and I want to go back and do it all over again. I was single, in college and God opened some incredible doors of opportunity both for me to go and for the things I got to experience and witness over there.

This ornament is a wooden egg that has been handpainted and hand made by someone in Russia and every year when I hang it on my tree, I get warm fuzzies remembering friends I still have over there and still keep in touch with, the churches we worked with while we were there, the children in the orphanages that need attention, holding & need to feel loved and the beautiful people yet to be reached in a country that will forever hold a special place in my heart.

The birth of Jesus

I grew up in a very traditional church of Christ where Christmas was always odd. While the rest of the world was acknowledging Jesus birth and celebrating Him and his birthday, our church treated the birth of Jesus like a taboo subject. The preacher never spoke about it, it was certainly never mentioned or taught in Sunday School and you never sang Christmas carols during worship.

Growing up, my parents always told us that we did not really know the exact date of Jesus birth. However, the rest of the world choose to acknowledge it and celebrate it on Christmas Day and that we should just be thankful that the world even took one day a year to celebrate Christ. It was not a taboo subject in our home and my parents were very open and talked about it during Christmas with us.

Fast forward quite a few years later: David & I are getting ready to go to church this morning and teach the "Little Lights" class (ages 2-5) during children's church. What is our lesson on today? The birth of Jesus! We get to teach them about the birth of Jesus and give them lots of ideas for how to celebrate Christ birth on Christmas Day. Yes, we still go to a church of Christ but it is not the one I grew up in and it is a very contemporary church. We are super excited to be sharing one of the most precious stories in the Bible with these kids today and right here at Christmastime. We are also so thrilled and thankful that our church is teaching about Christ birthday the entire month of December and encouraging the kids to make sure they celebrate His birth during December and remember that Christmas is not about the gifts, Santa, the food, etc. It is about CHRIST! Abbey & Sidney came home from church Wednesday night reminding us that you cannot have Christmas without Christ because it would just be "mas". I am thankful for our church and for what they are teaching our children and helping reinforce what we are teaching them at home.

My aunt gave our kids this Happy Birthday Jesus kit for Christmas and on Christmas Day we will actually have a little birthday party for Jesus and we are going to read the book "This is the Stable" during that party. This little kit has everything you need for a fun party: balloons, banner, plates, napkins, party favors and even has invitations in case you wanted to invite friends, neighbors or family to come celebrate with you. My favorite part is that it includes a Scripture based celebration guide book to walk you step by step through a great family building experience where Jesus is the focus of the party. This little kit is available at Lifeway Christian bookstores for $9.99 if you want to get one of yourself or know a family that could enjoy one.
I am SO thankful that Jesus was born and that ultimately He gave his life so that sinners like me could have a hope of eternal life and salvation. His birth story will forever be one of my favorite stories to tell both at Christmas and throughout the other 364 days of the year. We want our children to always celebrate His birth as well and to acknowledge His life and His death because both were so powerful and amazing. So no matter what your beliefs or when you choose to acknowledge Christ birth, I encourage you to take one day in the next week and celebrate the birth of Jesus with your family and your children or grandkids. Tell that sweet, sweet story and share the gift of Jesus together.

~~**HAPPY BIRTHDAY JESUS**~~

25 Days of Christmas Ornaments - Day 20

These are 3 ceramic ornaments handpainted by my Mom. My Dad was stationed overseas in Vietnam not long after my parents got married. She said she needed to something to do to help occupy her mind and her time so she wasn't thinking about my Dad, the war, the possibilities, etc. all the time. I can relate because Mom taught me to cross stitch when I was pregnant with Abbey to help occupy my time since I was a stay at home wife at that time. One of the things Mom did during Dad's deployment years was make Christmas ornaments. Last year, she gave each of our kids one of these ornaments as their yearly special ornament. Now I realize at their ages these ornaments do not hold much significance but when they are older, these will be a very treasured ornament in their collection. I loved hanging them on the tree with the kids this year because not only did it remind me of my Mom and her hardwork but it also reminded me of the service my Dad gave for his country. I will forever be proud of my Dad and the years he spent in the army serving our country both overseas and in America.

25 Days of Christmas Ornaments - Day 19

This ornament was given to me by our next door neighbor when I was 2 years old. It is 24 karat gold and always sparkles so beautifully on the tree. Mrs. Jeffreys was one of the coolest "old ladies" on the block. She lived right next door to us and she treated us like we were her own grandkids. She even babysat us a few times that I can remember. Her husband had a huge 2 story workshop in their backyard and I always loved going over there to watch him do his woodwork. They had a crab apple tree that hung over our fence and I can remember eating crab apples right off that tree and loving their bitter/sour taste. Mrs. Jeffreys talked very slow and Southern too. I always liked to hear her talk because she make any word have at least three syllables. She would let us play hide & go seek all over her yard and behind her cars, in her backyard, etc. She never complained about us being silly girls and roaming all over their property. She gave us a Christmas ornaments for several years when we grew up and I still have all those ornaments from her on my tree today. She was the sweetest, kindest, most sincere neighbor and always so good to our family.

Christmas Musings

Wednesday night, we had our church Christmas parties. Each age group had their own party and I thought that was so cool. We go to church at "The Light" and I helped with Wyatt's class party. They are called "The Little Lights"...isn't that cute?? They wore their favorite pajamas to the party. Here he is finishing up decorating his cookie. They loved icing their own cookies & putting on lots of sprinkles. There were several empty sprinkle bottles when we were done. See the little candy canes beside his plate? They made those themselves by twisting pipe cleaners. It was so easy & so cute!

Abbey & Sidney's age group decorated cookies too and also played Dirty Santa. Here are the girls during the middle of their party. Abbey's hat is the gift she won at the Dirty Santa game and she loves it. I have to admit, she is pretty stinking cute in it! Sidney won a Disney Fairies magnetic activity set that is right up her alley. She loves it and has played with it everyday.
Wyatt had his Adventureland Christmas program this week too. My class of 2 year olds did SO good and they were so cute on stage for their 2 songs. Wyatt's class did 3 songs and he was just precious. He sang real loud and knew all the little motions to their songs. He made his Momma proud for sure....and his Meager & Papa as well. David wasn't able to be there to see him that day but I took several pictures for him to see.
At the end of the program, a very special visitor came from the North Pole. Is this not the most amazing Santa? I sware he looks just like Santa Claus should look like when you think about the features of Santa. He was AMAZING!
The kids got to go up on stage & see him and have their picture made with him. Here is Wyatt telling him he wants some drums, some Transformers and some games. I love this picture.
The girls also had their class Christmas parties at school. I made these reindeer cupcakes for Sidney's class party. They turned out so cute and were super easy to make. The eyes & nose are just M&M's flipped over so you don't see the "M" on them. The antlers are regular pretzels I broke to make them look like antlers. Super easy and super cute! The kids LOVED them, too.
And a little holiday decorating idea: Our big tree in our living room has all my mercury glass, breakable balls, glitter ornaments, etc. on it. It is very pretty and very sparkly. I could not find a tree skirt that I liked because our tree has such a different look. The traditional red/green skirts clashed with the tree, a gold or silver tree skirt seemed "blah" compared to the colorful tree, etc. so I was at a loss of what to do for a tree skirt. David actually came up with a great idea and it turned out beautifully.
He took iridescent cellophane wrap and formed it around the tree stand to make a tree skirt. It is perfect because it has all different colors in it, is sparkly and shiny and matches the decor on the tree perfectly. I also love the way it casts a reflection on the hardwood floors. If you look closely at the picture you can see the reflection on the floor. It made the perfect tree skirt and completes our tree very nicely.
Hope you are having a very merry Christmas countdown! Can you believe it is only 7 days until Christmas morning? I still have SO much shopping to get done but it will get done by Tuesday (that is my goal anyway). Merry Christmas Everyone!