Christmas 08

Christmas morning was calm. We all got to sleep until 7:00. I got my coffee and then Tristan came out of his room. As he walked down the hall, squinting from the bright light, I said look Tristan, Santa came. He said oh yeah. His looked so happy and surprised. Here he is with his hot cocoa yelling "Merry Christmas"


Shortly after, Brayden woke up. He was pretty happy & surprised too.



Here are some Christmas present moments....

A Wonderful Family

Christmas was very nice. I was afraid with limited funds, that Christmas may not be as exciting for my boys. But not true at all. My parents provided some lovely gifts that they all got to enjoy. We then went to my brother and sister in-laws for presents and dinner there too. My sister in-law did so much for my boys. More than I can thank her for.
I was touched by everything she gave us. But one thing that got me was she made those no-sew blankets for all three boys. Not small ones either. They will be able to use them for years to come.

Here is Brayden's



Here is Jayden's




Here is Tristan's

Homemade Christmas Cards

Things are really tight this year. So I made some easy, no skill needed Christmas card. I found these instructions HERE. Very simple, and fun!

Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow

Wow! We are getting hit with snow tonight. I came over to my mom's house yesterday to do a cookie bake with her and my aunt. Well the drive to her house, which is only 10 min on good weather, got me all nerved up that I decided to stay the night and leave in the morning. The weather man said the Big Storm won't start until around 10:00am the next day. So I figure I had time to leave my mom's house in the morning. Well at 8:00am this morning, it started flurring. Plus the road were still messy from yesterday's snow. So, I'm staying the night again. My mom and I brought my 2 older boys out to play in the snow. They had a ball. I did too. After we got down playing in the snow, we came in and had some homemade hot chocolate. Mmmm, memories.

Christmas Tours Of Our Homes 2008

I joined the Christmas Tours of our Homes 2008, & Kimba's Open House Party.
Don't really have a lot up, but wanted to share anyway...

My End Table



My Santa & Elf Clothes Line





My Criss Cross In Living Room



My Criss Cross In The Kitchen



My Hallway Of Lights

Yahoo Best Answer

Wow! I am very honored to get a yahoo best answer on Yahoo Answers. I've got them before with just everyday questions, but this one is a treat for me. It was about Christmas trees, and making them more decorative. My tree still needs a lot of help. But because of the doves, it got reconition. I hope to add more next year. Some one suggested squirrels, nuts, you know more woodland creatures. I've never had a theme before, but it looks like I'm leaning to a Nature Theme.

Here is the question link:
My xmas tree needs a makeover. see pic?

Fruit Loop Garland

My son and I did this. He had fun, and snacked as we put it together.
All you need is some Fruit Loops, Scissors, Tape, and Yarn.


First cut a string to any length you want.
Then place a piece of tape at one of the ends of the string. This will be used to thread the fruit loops on. Don't put to much on it, just enough so the loop will slide on.


Knot an anchor at the other end of the string with a fruit loop.


Now thread the fruit loops on the string...to whatever length you want.




Here is the finish project..

My boys, Grandma and Cousin Robbie

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Office Party

Here is me and my boys and Grandma!

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Tristan Singing The Twelve Day's Of Christmas

A Snowball Fight!

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This is Tristan and his cousin Gabbi vs Uncle Alan, Aunt Shannon and brother Brayden!

Make Your Own Wrapping Paper

Make Your Own Wrapping Paper

What you'll need:

Butcher Paper
Sponges
Scissors
Tempera Paint

Instructions:
Cut a regular kitchen sponge to shape into some simple shape such as a star, holly leaf, berry, etc. Pour paint onto saucer or other flat item. Spread butcher paper out on the flat surface. Dip sponge in paint, making sure to cover entire surface and sponge off excess. Stamp sponge 2-4 times over surface of paper. Reapply paint and repeat. You can sprinkle glitter over the wet painted paper as well to give it a sparkling effect.

My Dancing Elves

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You can do this too at elfyourself.jibjab.com

My Christmas Tree Is Up!

Finally, it took me 3 days to get my tree up. Of course I was sick one of those days, so I couldn't do to much. Not to extravagant but, I like it. I did do the doves like I mention earlier this year. Looks neat. Here are some pictures.

Where Is Christmas? Not At Walmart!

This is the most ridicules story I have heard. A wal-mart employee dies because of disrespectful, uncaring, selfish, and barbaric shoppers. This is not Christmas. Christmas is about love, caring of others, help in need, giving of oneself and being thoughtful. These shoppers didn't have any of this. They were just thinking of themselves. I was sad as I read the story about the employee, but disgusted and angry about the shoppers. How can buying a present be more important than someones life. It's just material, it's not a life. Then, some shoppers were mad because the security wanted to close the doors because now it's a crime scene. Some shoppers complain because they were in line all night. What? Not even caring that someone had died, doing his job, more concern because they waited in the cold night for a stupid bargin. I'm outrage. There are no morals here. These people need to learn about Christmas, because obviously they don't know what it is.

Jesus wouldn't want us to go chaotic for a gift, he'd want us to be with our love ones, which is the best gift anyone could get. Of course some people now a days believes the more gifts, the more expensive the better. That's were Christmas isn't in there hearts, it's just about material.

Giving a gift, is special, and yes that is the point of Christmas, is to give, but giving with love and care behind it, not a person's death, not fighting crowds and being rude to one another.

Make Your Own Gift Tags

Here is another idea on how to make your own gift tags with things around your house.

Materials:

Piece of Paper
Scissors or Cutters
Tape or Glue
Aluminum Foil
Hole Punch
Stickers
Colored Pen

1. Take a piece of paper and fold it in half



2. Then fold in half again


3. The fold it half again


4. Now unfold it


5. Cut along the folds with scissors or a cutter



6. Take a piece of aluminum foil, bigger than the tags, and wrap it around the tag as it was a present. Make sure the shiny side is facing out.





7. When you're all done, flip it around.


8. Now decorate anyway you want. Add a hole for the tie or not.

A Small But Merry Christmas

As I'm putting up the tree today, and listening to some Christmas music, it's really hitting me that Christmas is not that far away. I also realize how small it's going to be this year. Small with gifts, but I'm going to make it big with warm memories. I'm going to do all that I can to make it a happy Christmas for my boys. I love them so much, and of course as parents we all want the best for our children. Though, they're young and really don't know what Christmas is. My oldest, Tristan who is 4 is starting to understand, but still don't do the "I Want" speeches. Looks like I'm going to be only afford 1 gift each this year for them. Just writing that, brings tears to my eyes. But, I grew up with small Christmas' and you know, they really warm my heart when I think of them or look at the pictures from my childhood. My parents didn't have a lot of money, but they always made it great, even if it was just the 4 of us. I just hope I can give my boys those kind of memories too.

I was watching the news, and all those people standing in line for Black Friday, and spending lots of money on gifts, that makes you wonder if their child will appreciate it. I admit, at a different time, I was one of those shoppers. I also remember before I had children, I would go to the local bank, and pick 2 angels from the tree, and buy like crazy for those who would have small Christmas'. It felt so good to do something good, even though I would never meet those children, but I would think of them Christmas morning,unwrapping their gifts and hoping they loved what they got. Someday, I hope to do that again, someday.

For now, I'm going to make this Christmas as special as I can for my boys. They're only 4 years old, 22 months old and 9 months old, but there's always pictures for them to look back on.

Thanksgiving Centerpiece

I'm not really creative, as you can see, I need a little work. But here is our Thanksgiving Centerpiece for tomorrow. I should have got more flowers, but there's always next year.

All you need is

Pumpkin
Knife
Spoon
Floral Foam (or Salt Dough & Aluminum Foil)
Fake Flowers


1.
Take your pumpkin and cut off the top.


2.
Remove the top and gut it out.


3.
Place your floral foam inside.
I did not have floral foam so I made some salt dough and wrapped it up in aluminum foil.






Salt Dough Recipe
1 Cup Salt
1 Cup Water
2 Cups Flour

4.
Place your flower arrangement how you'd like it