The Perfect Christmas

You know how before Christmas you have images in your head of what Christmas is going to be like?

You hope it is full of  family and laughter and celebration and good food and a little snow and many memories.

You hope it all of that, but you know that sometimes things don't go as planned, so you tell yourself that you will just enjoy what you do get.

But on that rare occurrence that Christmas really is everything you hoped for, you take those moments and pack them in your heart forever and know that you are truly blessed.

It is the small things I will remember from this Christmas.

Things like:

Cousins sharing a Christmas Eve morning snack.

And trying to get that perfect picture of them in the matching sweaters only to end up with perfectly imperfect pictures.

And holding my baby in church as I choke back tears as we sing "Silent Night" by candlelight.

And finding out that it is not what is inside the box that matters, but just the fact that the box is big enough to stand on that makes opening presents fun.

 

And that face as my little man takes in the wonder of our Christmas Tree for the millionth time this year.

And a Christmas Eve feast that was big enough to feed an army even though it was just my little family of three.

And  a Christmas Eve picnic on blankets in the family room.

 

And the look on a little boy's face when he saw what Santa left him.

And a Christmas morning play session between Daddy and Drake.

And opening stockings with Papa.

And Christmas pajamas that are so cute that you just know they will be worn far past the Christmas season. 

And the excitement of the first set of your very own wheels.

And singing along with your new Sing-A-Ma-Jig.

And reading a story with Nana.

And most importantly celebrating the birthday of a precious baby born so long ago.

I hope your Christmas was filled with love and joy and was everything you hoped for.

2010 Christmas Card Revealed

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner

Here is the Christmas Card we decided on. I went with something fun and different this year.

How can you not smile when looking at this?!?

Toddlerisms

A glass ornament that looks like a ball, a kitchen floor, and a busy toddler do not mix.
The same toddler can also set an alarm on a iPod. For 1:30  am

Baby Jesus is missing from the Nativity and can't seem to be found. Somehow I'm thinking I know just who to blame for this.


Friday Favorites will return after the holidays.

Wordless Wednesday-Cardigan Boy

16 months going on 60 years...

Blizzard=Perfect Day

With all the hustle and bustle of the holidays, sometimes it is nice to have an excuse to stay home and enjoy the season. Lucky for us, we got just that opportunity this weekend when a blizzard came knocking on our door!

If I could plan a perfect day, I think it would have gone something like yesterday. We spent the day at home playing in the snow, baking and decorating cookies, playing cars, throwing balls around the house, reading books, eating homemade mac and cheese, enjoy a glass of wine and a game of Uno, and curled up in bed listing to wind howl.

Here are a few highlights:

Drake checking out the first snow (before the blizzard came) of the year.

SNOW!!

I'm slightly obsessed with this picture!

Drakie could have played outside all day!

What a perfect day to frost cookies! I gave Drake a little cup of frosting, a cookie and spoon so he could "frost" a cookie. He LOVED it!

He thought he could frost his cookie better by mixing it around in his frosting.

Yummy!

I seriously do not want to know how much frosting this kid ate.

Dogs like frosting too!

PERFECT.DAY!

How do/would you spend a blizzard  day?

Tis the Season

Welcome! Today I'm joining up on with Webbisodes and Flip Flops and Pearls Home Tour. The theme this week is Deck the Halls!

 I love decorating for Christmas and love to put little unexpected holiday touches everywhere. Come with me as we take a holiday tour through my home!

When you come in my front door this is what greats you. I found the Noel sign last year at Target on clearance. The collection of snowmen and Santas were my Grandmother's. I love how charming they are!

No house would be complete without a Christmas tree. We have a fake tree and I love the way it looks, except a stand of lights on the bottom is not working. Finding the problem light is like finding a needle in a haystack. I already warned my husband that we will be buying a new tree next year.

I have spent lots of time this year with a little dude in my arms checking out all the ornaments.

The dog ornament is a favorite!

I think this nativity set is just gorgeous. Turns out that I'm not the only one who loves the set. I have found Baby Jesus on a kitchen chair, hiding in a corner, and being carried around by a very curious toddler.

These sparkly trees make our coffee table festive. I would love to have them sitting on a tray with some greenery, but a certain somebody thinks they make perfect hats, so they are constantly being put up a bit higher.

Mr. Drake has his own little Christmas tree with ornaments that he can take on and off.

I set it up right beside his toy shelf. He loves that it is just his size!

I shared the story of this wreath a few weeks back. I LOVE how it turned out. I have it hanging on the door to my pantry. I'm thinking of making another one next year using mini glass balls.

As you saw, lots of my decorating has revolved around this little guy.

I think he looks pretty darn cute in this little sled.

Of course you need to have a special holiday treat (and in my case, a glass of wine) in hand while decorating. We love Oreo truffles at our house! Just a word of warning; it is impossible to eat just one of these sweet balls of perfection!

Oreo Truffles:

1 package of Oreo Cookies

1 package of cream cheese

1 package of almond bark

Crush Oreos and mix with cream cheese. Form into balls. Melt almond bark. Dip the Oreo balls into the bark. Sprinkle with green and red sprinkles. Refrigerate or freeze.

Happy Holidays!

I've Got Questions

 I've got some questions for all your seasoned Mommas out there. Share what you know!

1. How do you get your kids to eat veggies?!? Drake will not touch ANY!

2. Advice on how to entertain a toddler in the car without using a DVD player.

3. What are some crafts that would be suitable for a 16 month old?

4. Did antibody's kids have their teeth come in stained? If so, what did you do?

Thanks in advance for helping a fellow Momma out!

Christmas Card 2010

I feel so behind this year when it comes to designing my Christmas card! I usually write a Christmas letter and sat down at the computer to write the letter today, everything I wrote was all stuff that I have on the blog and most of the people I send my Christmas cards to read my blog. So, I decided to do a fun Christmas card instead using Shutterfly. I'm going more for the humor this year instead of my usual yearly letter recap.

I have enjoyed using Shutterfly in the past and have used them to make Calendars for my parents and in-laws last year. I think I will have to make one for myself this year!

I also love their selection of birthday invitations and holiday photo cards

Although I don't want to share just what picture I will be using for our card just yet, I will make sure and post the final product for all to see!

Shutterfly provided me with 50 free Christmas Cards in exchange for this post.

Wordless Wednesday-I Think Drake Has a Twin

ETrade Baby and Drake look an awful lot alike to me...

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What do you think?