Christmas 2010

Well, Christmas has come and gone and we are still trying to recover! We made WAY TOO MUCH FOOD!!!! I don't think Joel or I ever want to see another Christmas cookie again..ha ha! Well, at least until next Christmas. We really did have a wonderful Christmas this year. We were all looking forward to Bodie's reaction to all the festivities and while he didn't quite get it....he was still such a joy to watch! Once he opened his first gift...he was done for the night...we had to coax him into opening all the rest of his gifts...ha! Hope you enjoy these Christmas 2010 pictures...I even threw in a few Sunday pics...yay!


Bodie opening his first gift....he was amazed that I was actually letting him rip into the gifts! He kept looking at me waiting for me to shout "NO BODIE"!! He is such a doll!
Saige helped him out a little bit!
The first gift he opened was from his uncle Quinton! A baby tickle me Elmo....it is sooo stinking cute! Quinton was able to come up from San Diego to spend Christmas Eve and morning with us...it was really nice to have some family here with us!

As far as Bodie was concerned, he was done for the night!!! It was so cute to see his reaction to the giggly Elmo...ha ha!

I love how Bodie is looking at his Uncle in this pic....sooooooo sweet!

Sagie got lots of fun stuff! She is showing off a ring from Aunt B!

Saige gets Joel a knife every year...it's become a solid tradition...I love it!

I sure do have a handsome hubby!

Trying to coax Bodie into opening another gift......

But, he only wanted to play with baby Elmo!

My Mom and Dad sent Saige all 50 state quarters and a nifty little map book to display them all....Saige loved it! I guess my Dad was going to the bank every day trying to find all the quarters!!

A beautiful bracelet from Uncle Regan and Yvette!

The sock monkey got his attention for a few minutes!

Joel got his annual tie.....I sure picked a nice looking one...ha ha!

I always get everyone Christmas jammies...and I was sooooo excited for Saige to get these this year! She has been begging for footy p.j.s all year! And we have a small obsession with sock monkeys in this house and much to my delight, I found these at Target a few months ago and couldn't wait for her to open them!! She put them on right then and there! Of course this picture won't rotate...but, she is sure cute in these jammies! Poor thing doesn't have to freeze anymore, these will keep her nice and toasty!

Joel trying to get Bodie excited for more gift opening!

Mom sent Saige lots of movies this year and we have really enjoyed watching them all!

Yay!!! Some cars for Bodie!! Just his size too!

One of the hats that Saige picked out herself and then had a cow when I said I had to wrap them...ha ha!

Bodie has had a really good time with these cars! I think the boy is starting to come out...my future with all things "BOY" is coming!

Bodie's Christmas jammies...they are sooooo stinking cute! Totally grown up jammies!

And then of ALL things....Bodie opened up a gift from Aunt B and low and behold, it was a grown up Tickle Me Elmo!! Bodie got a kick out of these two Elmos!! What a lucky little boy....he has Elmo and his little mini-me!

Q with his little friends!!

Some Sunday pics....this last Sunday was the last one that we'll be meeting at 9:00...so, maybe this year I'll do better with getting some family shots!

Mama and daughter!

Such a pretty girl....inside and out!

I love it when she allows me to dress her...ha ha!

A boy and his sissy!

I sure do have a cute family! I just love them all so much!

I had to get a shot of the whole outfit!! She was a bit underwhelmed when she opened the cheetah print boots...but, I assured her they would be cute...ha ha~

Does it get any cuter????

I think not!

Well, folks...that's a wrap! We sure did miss Jade and Kyle this year...it wasn't the same without them. But, we know how much our family means to us and we are so lucky to have so much love for each other. Really, when the day is said and done...FAMILY IS EVERYTHING!

Catch up post!

December has been a CRAZY, BUSY month!! I really can't believe that Christmas is this Saturday...Wow, is all I have to say about that! We've had so many things to do this month that it overwhelmed me to do a post about each one, so I decided to combine a few of the highlights!

The first is Saige's Christmas parade. We bundled up early and quite enjoyed watching Bodie's excitement for all of the fun floats and bands.
He waved, he clapped, he squealed!!! I think we watched him more than the parade!! Until of course Saige went by!!
Hesperia Junior High!

They walked by so fast that I could hardly keep her in my view....but I ran with them and got some good shots when they were marching in place.

There she goes......

I totally called out to her and embarrassed her for this pic....she's probably thinking that she wants to kill me right about now!

And now, it's back to business!

After Saige went by we contemplated leaving, but Bodie was having too much fun! And he even got to see the jolly old fat guy! It was a good morning!

The next pictures are from Joel's Christmas party down in San Diego. We walked away with a 15.oo dollar gift card to Subway, so the night wasn't all bad...ha ha! We were a little bummed when we learned that our friends at another party won a flat screen T.V.....but, ah well...we had a good time chatting with Joel's co-workers.

Here are the kiddos all dressed up....so cute!

I love Bodie's face in this pic.

Next we have some random Sunday pictures! Not sure why Kyle wouldn't move his hands from this position...probably a silent protest to the dreaded Sunday pictures!

I love Bodie's expression in this pic too...he such a little ham!

He does love his sissy...even more than me sometimes!

Sweet picture.....

And FINALLY...the highlight of the month so far....Bodie got another haircut! I was so freaked out when she started to cut off all his hair with the clippers! He looks so grown up now...makes me sooooo sad. My little baby boy is growing up. He did so well...we thought he would totally freak out when he realized he was back to get another cut, but he sat there like a little trooper and admired himself in the mirror! I faux-hawked his hair for these pics...sooooo cute!

His hair is so light now.

Hey there Mama....what up? He loves pointing at everything now.

And he loves to find ways to escape his highchair!

So, there you go...a small glimpse into our lives this month so far. I hope to do another post soon for Bodie's 18 month update....yes, 18 MONTHS OLD. Makes this Mama want to cry...and he even started nursery today...boo hoo! He loved it and didn't cry one bit when we left him...dang it! I think Joel and I both wanted him to miss us just a little bit...ha ha!

A few of my favorite things! Christmas Decorations 2010

I can't believe that Christmas is in 15 days! Where in the world has this year gone? We moved to CA one year ago and it just doesn't seem possible that it's gone by so fast. Last year we were sleeping on air mattresses and eating on paper plates, we got our furniture AFTER Christmas, so it was a pretty sad holiday to say the least! So, this year seemed even more fun pulling out all our Christmas bins and I bought a bunch of stuff before we left Germany that I totally forgot about...BONUS! I also felt very crafty this year, so I made a bunch of new things for the house.....I really enjoyed decorating this year and now that it's all done, I can spend the rest of the month just sitting back and enjoying the holiday with my family!

(there are a ton of pictures....my sister has been hounding me!!!)

The piano "scape"! I love how the browns and silvers look together....I think I want the whole house to go in this direction, but it will take years to fade out all my old stuff!!
Joel was very happy to see that I was using my cricut up a storm for my craft ideas! I think he was beginning to think he had wasted his money on that gift...ha ha! I made the canvas with the different languages for Merry Christmas. I used languages that meant something to our family. I even got Navajo in there. The only one that is completely random is the the "bo nada", I think it's Gaelic and I just needed something small to fit in the space...ha ha! I really liked how it turned out and it only cost me the price of the paper!

Heavy ornaments....European Country Living...I miss that store!

Humongous cinnamon sticks....they were even bigger, but Joel cut them down for me. Another ECL find! I really like how they look in the crock, I could never figure out how to display them, but I think they have found a home!

My contact paper chalkboard cabinets...I did this a while ago and I love using them.

One little area above the cabinets...I don't like to get too cluttery, so I kept it simple.

This arrangement can't stay here for long....Bodie will destroy it in a blink of an eye! But, I love how simple it is.....and I love the grey pillows on the white couch....Target love!

A closeup shot

Entry way mirror....I noticed that I had so many wreaths around that I decided to do a spray on the mirror.

Dining room

My dough table....totally love this table for a little vignette. I bought these sleighs years ago at Big Lots and I've never really liked them until I used them for this....probably one of my favorite spots in the house. I bought the glass village when Jade was 2 or 3 and I have fallen in love with it again!

Tree in the urn....found the clip on poinsettias at the dollar store...and I super duper love them!

Simple. Love.

Not so simple....ha ha! I saw a bucket advent in Pottery Barn and decided to run with the bucket idea...I found the buckets at the dollar section at Target and thought it would be a cinch to paint them for this project....well, I should have used primer...but, I was waaaayyyy too lazy for that and it cost me!!! 7 or 8 coats later and finally had the look (kind of) that I wanted!

On some of them you can still see Snow White and the princesses if you look close enough...ha ha! I used my handy dandy cricut to cut out the numbers and overall, I think it turned out really cute. The kids are loving the candy canes they get everyday as they count down to Christmas...Bodie thinks they should ALL be his everyday!

Another shot of my do-it-yourself subway art!

Buffet in Dining Room....I've had the Noel dishes since Jade was little too...I only have a service for 4...wish I would have bought more...but, I'm sure I was too poor at the time!

More Christmas dishes that I picked up in Germany

I'm thinking I have too many wreaths...ha.

These kitchen canisters were red, I painted them orange for fall and then I painted them red again for Christmas....I'm a dork! But, I do love that cricut honey!

All time favorite kitchen decorations (thanks Valerie for giving me the link to find them!) Valerie and I both found these on a blog and she bought them and I loved them soooo much in her house that I just couldn't stand not buying them too! They are the perfect place to decorate for the seasons!

Hot chocolate station...a must in this house!! I have more mugs than you can shake a stick at (as Joel would say!!) I really love these mugs because they are huge and I love anything with writing on it!

The kitchen tree...lots of gingerbread ornaments!

Above the fridge. I love the saying on the chalkboard.

All my Santas....kinda over this collection, but the kids love it!

I had a hard time with the bookcase. Every thing I tried, I didn't like! I even had Joel drill some holes for the village lights and then I took it all down because it was bugging me! (hubby not so happy with that...ha) I separated the houses and I liked it a bit more....but, it's not my favorite....but, it will do for now. Maybe next year I'll get some inspiration for something new!

Family room tree. I have lots of RED! My tastes have changed...but, the pocket book is not catching up!! I'll just have to deal for a few more years! I do love how the poinsettias look in the tree and the little berries that stick out.

Burlap stocking for the kiddos...I do like the jingle bell letters!

Old sleigh found at Sledgers....miss that place too! And my shopping trips with Valerie!!

Little spot in the entryway.

Love the white, grey and browns!

And finally the nativity....the reason for the season. I can't even tell you how happy I am that my friend Valerie was able to get this nativity for me from Poland.....it really is a treasure to me. I initially wanted it for Bodie's room....but, I wouldn't be able to see everyday and it's just too awesome not to see everyday!

Christmas time is such a special time for family and above all remembering Christ our Savior.

I never forget his birth and his sacrifice....Merry Christmas.