Showing posts with label Its. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Its. Show all posts
Sunday, July 30, 2017
Its beginning to look a lot like Christmas
I don't know about you, but decorating my house for Christmas is something I look forward to every year. I just love the way that our home feels during December....twinkling lights, Christmas music playing 24/7, baking cookies, the smell of the Christmas tree...it's just a magical time.
Growing up, the day after Thanksgiving, our family would load up in the car and head to the Santa Cruz mountains to cut down our Christmas tree. It was one of my favorite traditions.
Kevin and I did this the first 5 years of our marriage (before we had kids) And we have have done it about 3 times since having kids. There is nothing like going into the mountains & chopping down your tree. So fun.
We hadn't gone since 2010, but because of the California drought (and dry trees) and busy schedule we decided to postpone again (nothing worse than cutting down a tree that sheds tons and tons of pine needles)
When we don't go to the mountains to cut down a tree, we would go to Home Depot (ugh) but 2 years ago, we ended up getting a tree at Lucky (which is a grocery store) It was an awesome tree, so we have gone there the past 2 years. We went there again this year, but the trees they had there didn't look so good, so we went to Home Depot again. All those trees were too skinny, so we left and went to a local tree farm in our town, which is where we ended up getting our tree. It was almost double the price than we usually spend, but I am all about supporting a local business, so I didn't mind paying a little bit more.
Next year maybe we will head back to the Santa Cruz mountains and cut down a tree!
2 years ago, I gave up "control" and let the girls decorate the entire tree by themselves.
Kevin and I put the lights on, but let the girls to all the ornaments.
They do a great job! The first couple of years the spacing was a little off, but this year, the tree looks so great.
It feels good to "let it go" and just let them decorate how they want to. I remember my mom let my sisters and I decorate the tree how we wanted when we were kids.
So, here is a little tour of how our house looks decorated for the holidays!
Christmas cards displayed on the window by our dining room table. I love seeing all my friends beautiful families!
As you can tell, I love using ornaments as decorations :)
One of my favorite decorations is our Willow Tree Nativity Set that we got for a wedding gift 14 years ago. I love it.
For the kids, we have the Little People Nativity Set. They love playing with it!
Kevin's mom made this Advent Calendar for us when Kate was born. It is all handmade with felt & burlap. All the Larson kids/cousins had these growing up.
Nighttime views....because Christmas decorations are so much prettier at night.
Our staircase:
Other Decorations around our house (I like to keep things very simple because I don't like a lot of clutter!)
In our family room, I just have a glass Christmas tree on a side table:
And some JOY letters above our TV:
In our kitchen, I have a Merry Christmas banner hanging up:
I have some ornaments on the kitchen table:
I have a wreath on the kitchen window:
Very simple decorations in the kitchen:
It's a fresh wreath, so it smells good. I added some lights to it so that it twinkles:
Front Porch:
Kate made this snowman with her Girl Scout troop (the other side is a pilgrim, it's so cute)
This year, Kevin's mom snuck into our house on December 1st and put mini trees in each of their rooms.
They were so excited & they think they are from our Elf on the shelf :)
Speaking of our Elf..... that is another main decoration we have in our house during Christmas! Our Elf on the Shelf is named Candle.
For the first 5 years that we had our elf, he arrived on the first Sunday of Advent which is the Sunday after Thanksgiving.
Last year we waited until the first Sunday in December because we wanted to have one less week of dealing with the Elf :) We left this letter for them:
Last year we waited until the first Sunday in December because we wanted to have one less week of dealing with the Elf :) We left this letter for them:
(A little background: Marshmallow the Elf is Candle's "sister". A few years ago, Claire wanted us to have a girl elf instead of a boy elf, so I bought an elf skirt at Target. One of the mornings that the Elf arrived, the Elf had the skirt on & a note saying that Candle was sick, but Marshmallow (his sister) would be filling in for a few days. So, since then, Marshmallow makes an appearance 1 or 2 times each December)
The kids loved the letter last year (and Kevin & I loved the fact that we delayed the Elf by a week) so we decided to leave them a similar one this year:
So, just like last year our elf left a letter saying he was asked to be a part of the "N.E.W.T" (New Elf Training Program) Our kids thought it was so special our elf was chosen to be a part of it.
And, I loved that we only had to do the elf for a few weeks instead of a month.
You better believe our elf was asked to be a part of the N.E.W.T again this year.
Feel free to this idea :)
So, this past Sunday, Candle the Elf arrived...He is always in the same spot on day 1....in the bowl of ornaments on the coffee table in the living room.
The kids loved the letter last year (and Kevin & I loved the fact that we delayed the Elf by a week) so we decided to leave them a similar one this year:
And, I loved that we only had to do the elf for a few weeks instead of a month.
You better believe our elf was asked to be a part of the N.E.W.T again this year.
Feel free to this idea :)
So, this past Sunday, Candle the Elf arrived...He is always in the same spot on day 1....in the bowl of ornaments on the coffee table in the living room.
Candle brought their new Christmas jammies & a new DVD.
Candle also brought our 24 Christmas books of Advent all wrapped up...1 to read each night (we will have to double up some nights because we started late!
We do Elf on the Shelf slightly different in our house. Our elf does not "watch" the girls and report back to Santa. That is just not our style. Our Elf just likes to move around each night & the girls look forward to finding his new hiding spots. It is the first thing they do each morning.
And, I don't really do elaborate Elf ideas. Most of the places our Elf hides are simple. Maybe 1-2 times a week I will do something more elaborate, like a snow angel with flour, fill the sink with marshmallows in their bathroom like the Elf is taking a bath, but mostly we just move him around.
And, because I have forgotten to move him in years past, last year I started setting an alarm on my phone...anyone else have an alarm for their elf? Every night at 10:00 it goes off :)
Remember that song?!?
Thanks for taking a peek into our simply decorated house.
I love the way our home feels during Christmas.
The twinkle lights, the warmth, the anticipation of Christ's birth.
December is just a magical month, don't you agree?++++++++++++
If you haven't entered my $250 Amazon Gift Card make sure you enter {HERE}
Giveaway ends this weekend!
Tuesday, July 25, 2017
Its not a monday
....but I have random thoughts in my head. So it's time for a miscellaneous list, mmmmkay?
-I just spent approximately 2 more hours of my life uploading pictures from my computer onto CDs. These are the pictures I need from the last 1.5 years of my life to complete our album. I could have sworn I didn't take too many pictures over the last year and a half. I thought I only planned a freaking wedding and moved, but I guess I still took pictures because I'm sufficiently overwhelmed right now. I have a funny feeling that this "catch up" for our scrapbook may eat me alive.
-If I survive, I think I might do something a little wild. I may offer my scrap-booking services to some of you girls for free. I'd only ask to be reimbursed for the supplies I buy, but other than that I may just do it for fun. And to see if I like making scrapbooks for other people. If so, I may just TRY and start a little side business. But that's only if I don't die making my own. Any takers out there?
-Speaking of being overwhelmed....I managed to get 87 blogs on my Google Reader. It was too much and I'd waste too much time reading them all after work. So I downsized to 64 and feel very proud about this. Someday maybe I'll update my blog list on the right column. We'll see.
-Does anyone else think that people falling down is the FUNNIEST thing ever? Some of you may know that it's my weakness. It will always make me laugh to see someone bite it [as long as they are okay, of course.] Well yesterday morning, I was getting ready for work and heard this piercing scream outside, followed by an, "Ouch, ouch, ouch." Then I heard sobbing and mumbling of words. I thought, "Did someone just bite it outside on the ice? And are they talking and crying to themselves right now?" Just as my husband emerged from his slumber, we both went to the window to see our upstairs neighbor pull herself from the ground. I thought, "Ooooh, maybe I should go check on her to see if she is alright." But all of a sudden she threw herself into her car and sped off. Okay? I guess she wasn't all that injured. And why was she talking to herself after the fall? Seriously, she bugs the hell out of me for some reason [oh wait, I remember why....because she is one of those overly nice, peppy, and annoying girls. I also have a sneaking suspicion that she flirts with Nate a little too much. I will kick her arse if I have to, but apparently she can do that on her own]. So it's really funny to me. Does that make me a bad person?
-Tomorrow is friday. Some Ecards has a few freaking hilarious 'weekend' cards on there, but most of them include the F-bomb. Although the F word makes every card a little bit funnier to me, I cannot in good morals post one of them. So here is a backup:
-Speaking of Some Ecards, remember how one of my big ideas was to write for them? Well I had some really great ideas the other night. And now my geriatric mind lost them all. So why don't you help me fill in the blanks. You guys have to have some good ideas, right?
1. My New Years resolutions include: ________________________
2. I'm sorry, you must think I'm a person who ____________________
3. I should be exercising right now, but instead __________________
4. You strike me as the type of person who ____________________
5. Sometimes you remind me of _________________
- Go Packers, go! They play their first playoff game this Saturday and I expect you all to cheer for Favre. You have to admit he's a freaking hottie for being 38 years old. Henry will certainly be donning his jersey, Nate will be screaming at the TV, and I'll be pretending to watch the game while I'm on my computer:)
-I have an illness. It's called "I can't resist posting every day." I don't know why because most of the time I don't plan on posting each night. It just kind of happens. Does that make me a loser?
-My mom emailed me some pictures of their "wedding tree." No, it's not a Christmas tree because it's too skinny to qualify. But she liked their Christmas tree so much she wanted to use the wedding flowers and ribbon all year. So she went out and bought this little guy to keep up all year. It doesn't resemble a Christmas tree at all, right?
She scanned each picture from her wedding album and put them in frames. She doesn't help my "moving on from the wedding" cause, either. Love ya, mom!
-A new pet peeve: Michelob Ultra commercials. Why does everyone have to be running and exercising? It's not like I want to go for a jog and then down a Mich Ultra [not usually, at least.] Just because it has a few less calories doesn't make it healthy. Or a sports drink. Pay attention to the next commercial you see and it will annoy you, too, I hope:)
Tuesday, July 11, 2017
Its Time
You know it's time to start potty training when you find your 2 year old like this during naptime:
She had taken her pj's AND diaper off and was screaming that she had to go potty.
So, guess how we are spending our 3 day President's Day weekend?
She had taken her pj's AND diaper off and was screaming that she had to go potty.So, guess how we are spending our 3 day President's Day weekend?
Before {diapers}:
After {big girl underwear that she picked out at Target yesterday} :
After {big girl underwear that she picked out at Target yesterday} :
We'll be watching a lot of this today:
The time has come. We are potty training Claire.She has shown signs of being ready for the past few months.
*I* just haven't been ready to deal with potty training.
We are using the same method we used when we potty trained Kate, which is the 3 day potty training method.
That means we go cold turkey.
Throw away the diapers & start using underwear.
We have the potty treats all ready to go.
Mini m&m's for pee-pee.
And, gummy bears (which are really gummy vitamins) for when she goes #2.
Claire is so excited about being a Big Girl.For the last few months, EVERYDAY in the afternoon she takes off her diaper & goes into Kate's room to put on Kate's underwear.
Let me tell you....there is nothing I would rather be doing on this cold, rainy, 3 day weekend.Try not to be jealous of our awesome weekend cleaning up pee all over the floor.
Good times, good times.
Wish us luck!
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