Catching Up and Getting Ready for 2011

Ready or not here it comes, 2011 that is!  Wow, time seems to fly by faster and faster as I age. 

We had a superb time celebrating Jesus's birthday.  One of our family traditions has been to make Jesus a birthday cake.

 

 Jesus's 2010 Birthday Cake

Another fun Christmas tradition has been to fill up "real" socks instead of stockings, real socks being defined as a pair that has actually been worn by you sometime during the year.

 

 The before picture.

 And the after.  A and B ended up loving the pink and blue hair (I found it at the dollar store :)

David and I had a lot of fun preparing and setting up Christmas Eve.  My husband has a gift for presentation, which is nice b/c I don't think I have that gift.  We decided to tag the kids presents with balloons this year and that was pretty fun.  David has memories of his parents doing this one year and we thought our kiddos would love it too.  We also had a cool train set up around the tree that was pretty fun!

Our tree Christmas morning

The present tunnel...

A and B with their extra hair.

 C got a bike for Christmas - yeah!  Along with a helmet and the monkey boots that you see in this picture.  I love his side smile!

The girls have been busy today making New Year's Eve cupcakes.  Here they are baking in their new aprons and accessories (thanks Sharon!).

Apron girls!

Little of this, little of that...

Mixin'

Preparin'

Frostin'

 The finished cupcake tree!

Happy 2011 Everyone!

Meet Emily Hugs Pinky

B turned 5 today, officially!  And we now have a new addition to our family.  So, where did I take B for her birthday outing??

If you guessed Build a Bear then you are right!

Choosing two hearts for Emily.

 Getting her stuffed just right.  They asked B is she wanted Emily hard, soft or in the middle and B picked in the middle.

 So happy!

Made especially for B.

 Bathtime!

Dressed and ready to go home.  You cannot really see it but Emily is wearing a shirt that says Happy Birthday and has a little cupcake on it.

So much fun, where to go next?  We are in the mall...hint, hint...

 That's right.  Time for a little birthday treat.

Yum!

Delicious!

And just to round things out, how about your own personal merry-go-round ride!

 I think she is enjoying every minute of this, do you?

And then we went to dance lessons and came home to find out that big sister, A, had baked B a fabulous cake!

 Check it out.

 One last birthday wish...

 

Clapping...

And I am done.  Love you B!

The Big Bash

Well, we successfully finished our first ever joint birthday party.  Yeah!!

 

B's Bumblebee cake

 Beautiful B as everyone is singing

 

D's Ladybug cake

 On your mark, get set, go....

 And for the record, it didn't take long to finish!

Thanks to everyone who was able to come and celebrate my birthday girls.  It means a lot and we had such a good time.  There was a lot of love here!

Look Who's...

 One!

Happy Birthday D!  I love you to the moon and back!

Christmas Cards Anyone?

It is that time of year again.  My favorite actually.  I have already said that once recently but it is so true.  I love hearing Christmas songs being played as I shop.  And so, it is time for me to start thinking about my Christmas cards.  In fact, I have been thinking about them for a few weeks but I usually try and plan out B's party first - and this year it will be a double party with B and D!!  We have decided to go with a bumblebee theme for B and ladybug for D so I think it will coordinate well.  The party is this weekend and mostly planned so back to figuring out my cards for this year. 

Shutterfly has some amazing Holiday cards right now in their 2010 collection!  And they have so many options of products: Folded Greeting Cards, Flat Stationery Cards, and Flat Photo Cards.  Not to mention all the really fun photo gifts if you haven't finished your Christmas shopping. 

 Check out this adorable ornament.

 These stickers would be perfect additions to your holiday cards, or they could be great stocking stuffers as well.

 And wall calendars!

In addition Shutterfly also has mugs, playing cards, puzzles, and so much more!!  These make really unique and personal gifts and they are also so much fun to make.

And now, back to the cards.

 

This is one of my favorites!  And wouldn't it be perfect with my 4 munchkins?  I love the brown background and the alternating colors for the letters.

I also love this style.  A little more traditional and elegant and beautiful!

And I love, love, love this one!  Fun style and love showing that our children really are blessings.

 So, what do you think??  Which card do you like best?  And don't forget there is still time to get your cards from Shutterfly.


I wrote this post as part of Shutterfly's Holiday Card promotion. I will receive 50 free cards from Shutterfly. My opinions in this post are mine and I really do love Shutterfly :)  Hope you do too!

Our Advent Calendar

 A holding up our homemade Advent calendar.

Each night, B gets to rip off one chain.  Every chain has a Bible passage.

 Daddy reading the passage for tonight: Luke 1:11-17

Although there is no footage of C, rest assured he is here!

Why My Christmas Dishes Make Me Smile - Every Time

It is that wonderful time of year again!  It makes me so happy and giddy and excited of what is to come.  I love Christmas, I truly do.  After Thanksgiving we brought down our Christmas dishes.  And they always bring a smile to my face!  Why??  Well, because it was one of the first arguments David and I had after being married.  Why does that make you smile??  I am getting there.  We were at my in-laws that year celebrating and David and I were talking about our dishes, not sure why exactly but that isn't the point either.  I remarked about how I loved our dishes because they had the cutest snowman on them.  But David disagreed.  He loved them because of the nice Christmas tree.  Snowman.  No, Christmas tree.  No, Snowman.  Back and forth, slightly more heated.  I am not sure about him but I was determined to get home, pull out our dishes and prove to him that he remembered all wrong and that I was right!  Why?  I really have no idea.  And honestly, it makes me sad to remember that was my attitude but it really was.  So, I did just that.  I marched into our home and went straight for the dishes upon our return.  And I couldn't help but burst out laughing when I pulled them out.  Why?  Because these are our dishes.

See the cute snowman, right next to the Christmas tree?

Math according to C

C asks me today, "What's 9 plus an angel and a pumpkin?"  Hmmmm...
Well it is D plus Savannah (a good friend).  Oh, okay.  And there you have it, math according to C.

Earth's Best Playdate Fun

Well D and I hosted our first ever Earth's Best baby food party this afternoon.  What's that, you ask?  Well, it is an opportunity to get together with babies/toddlers and their fabulous Moms and try out great products and swap stories.  I had so much fun with those that were able to make it.

Table of Goodies.  Earth's Best provided me with coupons to get different stages of baby food for each guest.  They also provided bibs, teething biscuits and samples of oatmeal cereal as well.  I bought some extra goodies too: Earth's Best crackers and apple fruit bars - they were a hit!

 David and I created a balloon room in the back/movie room of our house.  We blew up over 100 balloons for the little ones to enjoy!

  

 D running through the balloons!

 All the Mommies and their children!  Three kiddos 11-13 months and two kiddos 18 months - thanks for coming everyone!!

 Having a snack.  

 More balloon time fun!

 More snacks!!

 D modeling the bib and showing everyone how to eat a biscuit.