December Randomness

Daily conversations with our elf -

Addison's pre-school performance -

Making cookies in Ellie's classroom -

Living room last night as I attempted to finish up wrapping -

Kole sharing in my love for the Pottery Barn Santa Silhouette pillow -

Best I could do with all three. At least they're happy. :)

Annual visit to see Santa - Addison and Kole are looking at me (as I try desperately to get them all three looking and smiling), Ellie is looking at Kole, and Kenny was looking at his Blackberry. Our family captured in 2010.

It's Christmas Eve! Our spice candle is burning, the tree lights are on, and we are all still in our p.j's and may just be for the rest of the day. I went shopping yesterday and bought stuff to make cookies for Santa, cheese for Santa Mouse, and carrots for the reindeer. All I forgot was something to cook for us. Crap. My mom's not here to make Christmas dinner this year. Guess we'll be eating cookies with Santa, cheese with Santa Mouse, and carrots with the reindeer. :)

Enjoy the magic of this special time with your family. Love to you all!

xoxoxo

Erin

Holiday gifts

The girls and I had a great time making our Pretzel Hugs again this year. It has become quite a fun little December tradition in our house. :)

I found these adorable glass Christmas trees at Target and knew they would be perfect to hold my tasty little treats. Now all I needed was a tag...

Perfect! Love that little snowman of mine. I just pulled up his picture and added some text and a frame in Photoshop...

and then put two pics together and developed them as a 4x6.

A fun and simple gift for friends and neighbors.

We drove around listening to the Chipmunks Christmas CD in the rain last night (man has it ever been raining here!) and delivered our little gifts. The girls were simply giddy running up to doorsteps and handing out treats and telling everyone Merry Christmas. And I was simply giddy watching them.

Favorite Things

In November my friend Ann threw a "Favorite Things" party. It was so much fun! Each guest was supposed to bring three of the same favorite thing - something we can't live without - for 10 dollars or less. I chose my Conair 10 dollar curling iron from Target. Definitely something I can't live without. Love that thing! Anyway, we all shared our favorite thing with the group and why we love it so much and then the shopping began and things got really fun! We went around the room and each chose one favorite we wanted for ourselves - then back around the room again and again until we each had three new favorite things to take home. We also took notes and came home with tons of great gift ideas for Christmas. (Oprah's got nothing on us!)

And we also ate lots of yummy food....

and we also gabbed the night away. So fun. A new tradition for sure.

A few more of my favorite things these days...

Several favorite things about this picture. First, my girls are quietly playing together - helping each other - not fighting. Love that. They are in p.j's and have messy morning hair. That's a favorite thing because it represents a morning (probably a low key Saturday) where we don't have to rush to be anywhere.

Ahhh...my Lean Cuisine pizzas. My friends who know me well know just how much I love my lean cuisine dinners. I would be perfectly content to eat one of these babies every single night.
But alas, I have to think of the rest of my crew who don't seem to care for them as much as I do. *sigh*

My new Plumberry lipstick and glitter gloss by Bobbi Brown. In fact all things Bobbi Brown would be at the top of my favorites list. Best make-up ever. EVER!

Fixing snacks for my girls on Christmas plates. Really all things Christmassy are at the top of my favorites list. Can you believe this weekend is Christmas!!?? I'm so excited! And stressed. I still have so much to do. I'll think about that tomorrow. :) Marshmellows are a favorite of Addison's.

Wearing my various boots is always a favorite thing this time of year, but this season I've also enjoyed seeing mini boots on my mini man. Even though he won't hold still long enough to show off his latest fashion.

And another favorite - Miss Addison in her mommy's boots. I see this pose on my little fashionista multiple times every day. As she parades around in multiple outfits. Every day. Aside from the drama and laundry that always accompanies this pose - a favorite for sure.

The Halls are Decked!

Finally took pictures of our Christmas decor! Sorry for the picture overload. I just can't help it. Christmas decorations make me soooo happy. We are really enjoying the coziness of our little home this season.

We usually do a snowman tree, but this year I mixed it up a little and just used red, white, and silver decorations.

Along with all the cherished ornaments the kids have made.

I also bought a new tree skirt to match our stockings from Pottery Barn.

The only thing missing was something to put on top. I stuck this snowman up there and the girls were so sad because they like to play with him. So - back down he went and our tree is currently topless. He looked a little funny up there anyway... :)

I can't wait for it to get dark outside each night so I can really enjoy all the lights inside and out. There is something so magical about Christmas tree lights. I wish December lasted longer.

My little snow village. I'm hoping to inherit more pieces from my mom next year. She has so many of them and you can't buy a lot of my favorites anymore. I told her she needs to down size. It's just too much work for her to store and display them all every year. Yup. Always looking out for my mom.

Our advent calendar my grandma made for me and my siblings when we were little. My girls love it so much and it brings back so many childhood memories every year when I pull it out. My sister wasn't very happy that I claimed it as mine so last year I bought her a cute new advent calendar from Pottery Barn. That seemed to smooth things over a bit.

Favorite Christmas p.j. pictures. My girls look so little and it feels like I posted these pictures just last week.

My other new additions this year. This pillow...

and the matching rug. I LOVE them. Both from Pottery Barn (I seem to be mentioning that store a lot lately!). I wanted the pillow last year but it was 50 bucks so I thought I'd wait and see if I could get it on sale after Christmas. Nope. They were sold out. So this year I tried ordering it on line at the beginning of December and it was sold out again! I was so sad! I thought K - I'm going to have to try ordering it next year the second Halloween is over! Then about a week later I was at the mall and ran in PB just to look around a bit and there was my pillow! ONE LEFT! I grabbed it and the sales clerk told me I was lucky because they wouldn't be getting anymore in. I was so giddy! I bought it so fast and then called Kenny at work:

"I have the BEST news!"

"What!?"

"I just found MY PILLOW in Pottery Barn! You know! The one for 50 bucks I've wanted for two years! I can't believe it - they had it in the store! I'm so happy! And I bought a rug to match!"

"How much was the rug?"

"30ish...."

"So you're calling to tell me you spent 90 dollars on a pillow and a rug? Not good news Erin."

What a grinch. Anyway, I'm thrilled!

I think this pillow was made for my red couches and I smile every time I look at it. :)

I framed my all time favorite Christmas picture.

Me and my sister on Santa's lap - 1979.

And I Christmassed up the bathroom a bit with a new little towel and soap dispenser.

We are SO ready for Santa! I was looking at the post I did last year of my Christmas decor and teared up a bit remembering how we decided on Kole's name. I'm so grateful for my new little addition to our family this year. A baby's first Christmas is always a special one. A crazy, exhausting one. But a special one just the same. :)