Christmas Pictures

Christmas Eve was at Mom and Dad's house this year. Tristan was his cute little self. I loved his mashed potato technique. Spoon + fingers = mess! Yeah!

He was also not excited about the ribbon I put on his gift. Ew! Static! Shake that crap off!

Tristan tells Dad, "Cut box Grandpa!"

Griffin loves a gift card! Thanks Auntie Lolie and Uncle Nate!

Austin now owns all three seasons of The Muppets - he was stoked.

And look! I was there too! My Mom and Dad got me the pocket sized camera I wanted. I was SO surprised!

Christmas morning dawned bright and early this year. Here are the boys being sweet and letting me make one picture before they dig in!

Finally!!!

Carson was trying not to be disappointed. He wanted a bike, but he really wanted a DS. Look at that face! He was like, "Oh... a bike... that's... great!"

Griffin got me Bionicals! Life is still good!

Austin told him to open his other gifts darn it! He was in on the big surprise this year. (Mistake! Don't let the 11 year old in on secrets that you want secret. At least he didn't tell before!) But check out his face in the picture! Rapture! I got the bike AND the DS!!

He got right to playing.


Griffin actually noticed that he got EVERYTHING on his list this year. You have to love when they are all in budget!

Needless to say he was one happy kid! At breakfast he sighed and said "This was the best Christmas EVER."

Austin is getting so big. His present opening is much less exciting these days - lots of electronics and a couple of "thanks Mom"s. I about killed him the second time. It's the only time of year I tell him STOP thanking ME! LOL!

Austin's favorite gift this year is his Swiss Army knife. That was all me and I may regret it later, but I think he is old enough. Let's hope he is also smart enough!

Lou likes to get them all a Daddy Present. This year is tiny remote controlled cars.

Lunch at Mom's house again that afternoon. We were enjoying watching Carson play his new DS.

Yip-Yip, Hooray!

I about popped this week trying to keep this gift a secret. Last week Esther posted a little crocheted Yip-Yip (remember from Sesame Street? Uh huh, Uh huh...) that she wanted one and (jokingly) could anyone knit? So when she invited us from lunch today I was relived that I didn't have to keep the secret anymore!

He is kind of a psychedelic Yip-yip with the crazy yarn, but I like how he turned out!


We tried to feed the kids spaghetti with sauce, but they made spaghetti and cheeseballs instead. LOL!


Carson copped an attitude during lunch so I took pictures - yes that is my answer to everything...




At least he is handsome.

Esther, Suzette and I spent the afternoon snacking and yakking about trips for the summer and where all we wanted to visit, IF we were going to take the increasingly teenage kids or sell them, whether we should teach manners so they didn't embarrass themselves on first dates or just to let them be embarrassed, checking out backyard projects that we will start in the spring and whether Mew Mexico was close enough to Texas for a day trip. Good times! I feel so blessed to have a group of friends that I can have such a blast with just sitting around for the afternoon. I can't think of anything I'd rather do than hang with my friends on Christmas week! <3

Lights... Camera... Christmas!

Last year we made our first trip to the Galaxy of Lights at the Huntsville Botanical Gardens and the boys loved it! This year we decided we really needed to do it again. Little did we know that they had jacked the price up 50% from ten bucks to fifteen. Sheesh! Anyway we had Mom with us and took her van so it wasn't so bad price wise. I was really hoping to get some great shots of the lights, but things didn' work out for me. Note to the Beemer behind us - you may have dollars enough to drive that car, but not enough sense. Read you manual and turn off your lights! Thank you.

Griffin's favorite - snaily love!

Dragonfly!









I loved that they had TWO rockets at the end since Huntsville is the Rocket City.

Christmas Program

For the church program today the kids had some small speaking parts and a couple of songs. They did so great! Dad was sweet enough to take pictures for me so I have a few shots...

Offering

Carson's part

Griffin's part - he is doing the motions we made up to help him remember the words

Before church (and, more importantly, breakfast) I took a few shots of the four boys together. Aren't they cute!

Gift Ideas

While 90% of my gifts are bought and wrapped, there is that mystery 10% that I WANT to get a gift, but just don't have the cash or time to get what I really want purchased or made. Thrifty Gifty to the rescue!



I have loved reading Holly's blog: Homebody. It has some great ideas year round, but the ideas on there for Christmas have been AWESOME!

My idea for the day is Homemade Carpet Deodorizer. Ooooh...

You start out with baking soda. The big bag like this is in the pool section of your local store. It runs about $20. We have had it around for our pool, but now that the pool has died (RIP pool) I get to use it for projects. You will only need about 1-2 cups for this project.


The second ingredient is scent. I bought this Elegant Expressions at WalMart for about $2. You only need about 5 drops for this project, but if you get more in there it won't hurt anything.


The next part is the "hard" part. Put both ingredients in a toss away container (you don't want to reuse it later as the oils are toxic) and shake until well mixed.


To make it look nicer as well as easier to use, I am packaging it in these cute sugar shakers that I got at the Dollar Tree. I printed out tags I made on the computer and tied them on with string. If you are giving them as gifts it is a good idea to use some plastic wrap under the lid so it doesn't spill during transfer.


There you have it! For $1 per sugar shaker and about .25 in ingredients, you can make something useful and unique!

Seasons of Change

This season has been one of change for me. New beginnings are fine with me, but I don't generally like endings. While out shopping last weekend, I found a sale at Belk's that included great discounts on the Kristen Davis collection. As I was checking out I mentioned how happy I am at Christmas when I can and buy her pieces without busting my budget. The sales girl informed me that the line was being discontinued and that is why it was all on sale. WHAT? First my favorite magazine and now my favorite designer. After the demise of the Ashely Judd collection LAST Christmas (along with Goody's), I still can't believe that I am loosing the only other line I like and can (sometimes) afford! So, here is a photo montage of the Kristen Davis pieces I own.

Love this turtleneck. It has just the right amount of stretch...

Icey gray slacks that look BORING on the hanger, but fit me great!

I was SO thrilled to find this one - the perfect little black dress. It looks like it was cut just for me. Only $35!

These are a few of my older pieces. This one gets worn ALL the time.

Navy blue, short sleeved and oversized with slouchy pockets: another favorite!

This silky tunic top is beautiful on.

I just can't believe they are stopping this line too. It seems like every time I find a designer I like they get sacked. Maybe I just have bad taste? Expensive taste? Bad luck in tastes? Or maybe this is just another season and another change. Sigh.