Making Memories here!

We are out of town for most of our weekends in December, so that means we are cramming in all the "family Christmas time" here while we can get it. That means date night to see Eric Church (he's sorta Christmasy, right? His name is Church....it counts), visits to see Santa, looking at Christmas lights, delivering gifts, having family dinners, making crafts and visiting the "North Pole" at our local Bass Pro shop (welcome to Oklahoma, folks).

 Awkward hand placement on my part. I have no idea why I'm grabbing my own goods.

 When bored with daddy, improvise and make a Charlie Brown Christmas tree.

 

We made some delicious Pinterest treats and they were a huge hit! Isabelle LOVED making them and my family LOVED eating only the good side and throwing out the plain pretzel side. Rude little sugar junkies.

 

Santa also listened to my request for Christmas to actually feel like Christmas with some cold weather. Yesterday a cold front blew in and made for a FREEZING morning. It actually IS starting to feel a lot like Christmas! It's a perfect morning in my book when we can enjoy story time together in our jammies, while I drink a fresh cup of coffee and Isabelle drinks some chocolate milk. I could die a happy momma. 

Of course, the cuddle time doesn't last all day and sister HAS to get her wiggles out, so we ventured to Bass Pro to get in some craft time and color some pictures for daddy before Santa came. Isabelle wanted to make sure to be gone by the time Santa showed up for his first shift.

 

You know it's going to be a good day when you park beside Santa's minivan. Who knew Santa drove a minivan to Oklahoma?

 

We had a great weekend and and in true toddler form, it ended with a tantrum, a time out and a wet bed. 

It is not beginning to feel a lot like Christmas

It was 80 degrees here yesterday. Call me crazy, but it's hard to get into the Christmas spirit when you are blasting your Christmas tunes with your sun roof open and still having the AC on. This is the only month out of the year where I prefer it to be cold and I prefer some white stuff to fall on the ground (I almost forgot what it's called since we haven't seen any around these parts for almost 2 years!).
Thank the good Lord for Pinterest, because it has been the only thing that has reminded me that Christmas crafts and decorations are appropriate! I am trying to spread my Christmas cheer to my daughter so we decided to do a craft that I have had pinned for a while. You just put painters tape down on a canvas (Hobby Lobby is selling canvases for $3...you're losing money by NOT buying them) and then have your little one paint all over the canvas. Once the paint is dried, peel off the tape and voila! You have a magical creation! Isabelle's snowflake turned out perfectly, but she wanted to do more colors than just blue. I am a crafting Nazi, so we only did one color, but I think we will do this again and make it rainbow colors and a different design. The possibilities are endless!

You can also do this craft redneck style and use duck tape like we did. It did the job and Mr. T got to feel like he helped out since he always has duck tape on hand.
Come on over and share your idea...I need more things to do. Plus, I feel like I'm actually being productive when I pin things.

I'm late....

On embracing the camera! (Did I fool you?)

 

 

I am embracing the camera with my favorite little anti-model. She is starting to know that I love taking pictures of her, so she either: A)makes a ridiculously fake smile. B) looks directly at the camera without any show of emotion whatsoever or C) hides her face.
During this picture she chose C (usually she does A,B,and C) but I was happy to embrace her hiding because she happened to hug while hiding. I'll take what I can get.
Have a Fun Friday and enjoy your weekend. Please go do Christmasy stuff and get in the spirit people!

So What! Wednesday

  This week I am saying So what!:   That I always become the Christmas Nazi this time of year. After Thanksgiving means that Christmas music is ALWAYS playing and Christmas decorations are out.   That when we were buying a  house, I was thinking about how I could decorate it specifically for Christmas. Now I get to see that dream, a reality. (Did I mention I'm crazy about Christmas yet?)   I have had to take Isabelle to our church preschool a few times (during the week) so that I could run some errands alone and I felt incredibly guilty the entire time. I never thought I would be "that" mom....but now I am. How in the world am I going to drop her off at preschool next year?   That "The Voice" bores me. I liked it when they were still spinning their chairs, but now I think it's boring. I don't really care about any of the singers and they're all awesome, so I don't care who wins. Bring AI back please.   That AS AN ENTIRE FAMILY (of adults) we watched Magic Mike after Thanksgiving dinner. It was easily, the worst movie I've ever seen. Not hot, at all. I repeat, AT ALL. Channing Tatum is now LESS attractive to me for signing up for that movie.   You know what IS a great movie? Elf. I have seen it about 100 times and can recite every word (but I don't...I hate those people), because it's now a Christmas classic.     So, am I crazy? Or is it just me? What are you saying So What! to?    

Making a Difference

 

In the spirit of CyberMonday, why not buy something beautiful and fabulous that is also life giving to the artisans all over the world that make every item?

 Shop Noonday today!

Thanksgiving at the Lake

 This year was the first year we have spent our Thanksgiving at the Lake. Mr. T's family just built a beautiful home on a beautiful Texas lake and it made for the perfect Thanksgiving setting. The best part? I didn't really have to cook much of anything. Store bought pecan pie did the trick and it was easy to carry that on a 6 hour car trip. I did make some of these cute little Pilgrim hats that I found on Pinterst. I thought I did a great job, but Isabelle kept calling them Cowboy Hat cookies. Sister is already really good at calling me out. 

My girl made her daddy proud as she caught 3 big fish on her pink, sparkly, Dora the Explorer Fishing pole. She didn't mind that they were slimy or squirmy, she held on to them like a trophy fisher woman should do (I wasn't there to show her a grossed out face. Fish gross me out...big time).

We had a blast doing a lot of nothing. It is so weird to me when I see Isabelle with her cousins and SHE is the older one. She likes to teach her cousins how to do things and new words to say. She is becoming such a big girl and it's so exciting to see. I am thankful for our little family and I am thankful for such a happy little girl that will be such a great big sister some day.

It's Me!

Don't forget about me over here! I'm here, I promise. Things have just been a tad more chaotic than normal, but I am getting my act together and catching up on this little ol' blog. This time of year is the perfect time of year to reflect on all the "normal" things in life that I forget to be Thankful for. It's wrong and I know it. I know that it's the "little things" that are the important things so I am trying to remember that.

 

 

 I am thankful for a little girl who loves to dress up like a princess, but loves to roll around in the dirt and leaves with her cousins. She enjoys life. Our life is chaotic right now, but she is my constant source of joy. She can always make me laugh and I am always thankful for a good laugh.