Month: January 2012

The beginning of the Christmas Break, we made a list of things we wanted to do during the break:

Here it is~
Gingerbread Houses (Check!)


Make Gingerbread Men (Check!)



Frost Gingerbread Men (Check!)


See the Christmas Lights (Check! See Future Post)

Christmas Movie and M and M Popcorn (Check!)

(We watched Charile Brown Christmas

and A Christmas Story, which by the way has QUITE a bit more Adult Language then I remembered!)

Singing House (We missed it! But did watch it on our blog from previous years! 🙂 )

Go to the Grandmas’ Houses (Check! and Check!)


Make X-mas Ornaments (the boys made some out of legos, but we didn’t do the ones we were planning on!)

Make a bed for an orphanage
(Tucker added this one to the list, and instead of making the bed, we decided to earn/send some money instead…much easier right?)

Toy Day (Check! All the old toys came out, for mom to evaluate which ones could be ‘donated’ and which ones were keepers 🙂 )

Wrap Family Presents (Check!)

Library Reading Day (Check!)
No pictures.

Make Elf Slippers (Check!)

Play Wii (Check!)
(No pictures, 🙂 )

Go to Cabin (Unfortunately we didn’t make it, but want to get there soon!)

Have a family day. (Check, see future post!)

And with that (and so much more!), our list was mostly completed and Christmas Break was practically done.

and a fun night during the holidays.

Playing wii and the computer, getting on jammies, and just being together as a family, and a little bit of laughter.

For a few weeks, Elliot talked and talked about this party.
An extra party, we got to go to at his school, to visit Santa!

In the main gym, there were big blow up toys, to run and jump around on.

We made an Christmas Eye Spy bottle,

Listened to Mrs. Claus read stories,

Sat on Santa’s lap,


Made a candy cane cookie,

Ate some real candy canes,

Sang Jingle Bells (I love these sweet kiddos!)

and played around in the gym some more.


I am grateful for moments like these in motherhood.

Pure bliss and enjoyment of being a mother, and watching your children enjoy things so much!

We have an unwanted guest at our house, the laundry monster! (ONLY One week may I add! Still blows my mind, what happens when I get behind!)

Here’s a sneak peak, before the boys and I conquered him! (with the help of a few christmas favorite videos: The Grinch, and Yes, Virginia there is a Santa Claus.)

“The best way to spread Christmas Cheer is to sing loud so all can hear!”

And I must agree, it’s the truth….

Some of my most memorable christmas seasons, and ones that I look back on with fondness, involve singing Christmas songs, and so I was grateful for the opportunities this year to go caroling with our youth, as well as to attend ‘Music and the Spoken Word’ with them. I realized the importance this year, and connection of singing and sharing.

See awesome picture below…

(drat! Wish I had gotten a better pic!)

Hearing spoken accounts of our Saviors birth, and sharing it with others is just exciting. And I am grateful for this time of year, for the music that is around us in abundance, that testifies of our Saviors birth. It’s just plain. wonderful…

Almost 100 percent of the time, I love my phone! It is usually pretty close to me, and allows me to capture so many pictures and videos, that many times I would not have been able to get had I tried to go get my bigger camera/camcorder.

Like this glorious moment one morning:

Talking eggs?!?! I totally had forgotten about this video, when I found it today. And never would have remembered it.

That is why I love my phone.

But I hate my phone, because, it’s convenient. Yeah. I know, that’s why I said I loved it, right? It is so much easier to not lug my big camera around, when I know I have a camera in my pocket (and I’m trying to lug 2 of my children in my arms usually anyways!). But that’s one of my new years resolutions, it to try to use my big camera more. I miss those nice pictures, and the quality that comes with it. I miss being a ‘photographer’. So look forward to nice pictures again on my blog. Because there coming this year. Convenient or not! 🙂

For Tucker. He practiced, and practiced, and practiced.

And it was another great concert.

And it was fun to watch him, and the rest of the family.

(What a great hubby I have, whilst I video and tape record, he juggled the others…not an easy job 🙂

And the concert… (Warning, like 7 songs, and really long!)

And his special part as Santa’s elf helper: (he’s on the top row (Back) with the clipboard. :))

He auditioned for the part, and got it. 🙂
So proud of him!

Tucker really got into creating presents this year.

He made this present, (a Nimbus 2000 broomstick and matching wand), and wrapped it.

I wish now I would have gotten a picture of the broomstick, as well as when this present was wrapped, but I had to smile as Tucker taped all these boxes together to get the present ready to give!

And this sweet video is too cute not to share.

A few of my favorite things I made this year.
Handsoap with Vinyl (and tag ‘we wash you a merry christmas and a healthy new year)

I made some elf shoes for an ‘couples’ party, and when my kids saw them, they all wanted some.

My favorite by far were Lorelei’s…

(Wishing I would have gotten a pic with everyone’s feet! That would have been cute!)

A baby doll for Lorlelei (Was supposed to be for her birthday, but I didn’t get it finished in time!)

And a t-shirt blanket for my brother in law Patrick.
(Here is Tucker making sure the picture album corresponds with the quilt)

My kids helped me sew it, and although it didn’t come out as perfect as it was in my mind, I think the main point, of how much he is loved came across. 🙂

Love this time of year.

I found a new song that I love and that I had on repeat for a few weeks. I love it.

One morning, the big boys left for school, Lorelei went down for a nap, and I was making my bed, when Elliot (Fresh from the ‘chub’) hopped in my covers, and proceeded to tell me this about Horchata:

Made me smile. What a funny awesome kid.

We saw Santa quite a few times this year, and I thought it might be fun to put all the pics together in one place. (well, I didn’t take pics of all of them, but here are a few of them!)

And Yes. Lorelei cried at every single one. She doesn’t like that man. Maybe next year!