Christmas 2011

Texas for Christmas --- 8 hour drive + 3 children + everything but the kitchen sink = A very fun but crazy time! We celebrated Christmas with a Christmas Eve service at church, a delicious meal, opening presents & spending time with family. On Tuesday after Christmas my Mom kept the kids for the day while Andy & I drove to San Antonio. We enjoyed seeing friends, eating out & shopping for curtains for our house. My mom & I also had fun going to downtown Fredericksburg to go in & out of shops & art galleries. It was fun to see my dad's sculptures in the Fredericksburg Art Gallery. Andy enjoyed the gorgeous weather to fly his remote control helicopter - his favorite gift :)

It was a wonderful trip!

Michael & Kate enjoyed opening their stockings.

 Kate loved her play jewelry & her princess watch.

 

 Love this one of M. He wore the Santa hat to help pass out gifts.

 Michael with my sweet cousin Teal

  

 Happy David - wearing his "Baby's First Christmas" bib. Kate wore this too :)

 Michael's favorite gift - Lightening McQueen light-up shoes. He has been asking for these for quite some time, so I gave Mommom & Papa George a little hint :) 

 My Aunt Fran helping Kate open a present. 

 Michael wearing his superhero cape & mask.

One of My Faves -

from the Christmas season this year. If only David were in it, it would be perfect!

One of my favorite things Michael said in December - "Mom, let's get Daddy something for Christmas." me - "That's a great idea! What should we get him?" M - "Let's get him something really cool! How about...a sweater! Because he has a hole in one of his!"

A favorite thing Kate said - We were in Target & I turned on the shoe aisle - I wanted to find Kate some red shoes to go with her Christmas dress (not an easy thing to find 1 week before Christmas!) Right as I was turning on this aisle I asked her if she needed to go potty. She said yes. But then when she realized we were on the shoe aisle she said, "No, no I don't need to go potty!! I need shoes!!" 

Santa Visit 2011

 We had no idea what to expect with Santa. We guessed that Michael & David would do fine but we weren't sure about Kate. Last year we had to work extremely hard to get to her to stop crying. And she did. But this year, not so much. She was perfectly happy & content until we sat her on Santa's lap. Then she completely freaked out. Michael & David did great though.   

You know Santa is thinking, "Seriously. WHY did I sign up for this?!"

Once we joined the picture, Kate relaxed a little bit. So this year's Santa picture is a family picture :) Notice the hilarious placement of David's hand on his chin. As if to say, "This really is an odd tradition. A family picture with a random bearded man in a red suit joining us. Hmmm." 

Master Bedroom Makeover

 Since moving into our new house I have been wanting to spruce up our bedroom a bit. It's great how just a few simple, inexpensive changes can do the trick. I thought it would be a fun Christmas present for Andy too - he was out of town last weekend, so it was the perfect time to throw it all together.

In October I found new bedside tables, a pillow, a lamp and a few other accents at Ikea. I have also been pinning lots of ideas on Pinterest. One idea I saw was to use a shelf instead of a headboard. I thought this would be a nice change. I found the shelf at Hobby Lobby, repurposed a few frames with spray paint and did the Grow Old With Me painting (another idea found on Pinterest). We already had the candle sconces. I was really happy with how it all tied together. The yellow painting is my newest work that I did in November.  

The metal "love" I bought at Hobby Lobby also. It was black so I spray painted it gold to make it stand out more. Yay for spray paint!

I found the letters and scrapbook paper at Hobby Lobby (love that store!) and Modge Podged them. 

I found the wire photo holder at Pier One. 

 The small lamp is from Ikea and the small table I found at a local craft show, An Affair of the Heart, this fall. The painting above the chair is one I did several years ago. I still have plans for the empty wall space by the lamp. I also want to repaint the white cabinet that I bought back in college, but for now we are loving our freshened up space! 

The Lean

David has been doing this funny leaning thing while he plays. Yesterday Andy was laying on the couch while David was playing on the floor. David kept leaning down to look at Andy. It was funny & cute :)

Christmas with Po & Nana

We had a great time with Po & Nana! They came on Thursday to visit & celebrate Christmas with us! Thursday night they treated us to Mexican food. Friday we had some hang out time. Fri night Andy grilled hamburgers & I tried these 2 recipes (Sweet Potato Fries & One Pan Skillet Cookie) for the first time - both a success! We opened gifts afterwards. It was a wonderful visit! Thank you for coming Po & Nana! We love you!

 Kate loves her Puppy in a Purse (We named her Patty Puppy) & her tea set. 

David had no problem figuring out how to open his first gift! He tried with all his might to eat the wrapping paper, tissue paper & ribbon!

Michael was "Santa" & passed out gifts.

Salvation Army

Through a connection in our neighborhood, Michael & Andy got to ring the Salvation Army bell at Wal-Mart yesterday. It was a 2 hour shift which is a long time for a 4 yr old! They had a great time!