A few of my favorite moments...

Evan had only opened a few gifts when he picked up this one from his Grandma Nancy.  It was a book of memories and pictures she put together.  And he stopped, and flipped slowly through it all.  With the piles of gifts surrounding him, with the toys and treasures, this is the one that stopped him in his tracks.  As he reached the last few pages, I saw him discreetly brush his hands over his eyes.

And cute little Ryan... who was soooooo excited about the train toy box that Grandpa Steve had made for him.  Even with presents left still to open, he would stop and flip the light on or off... or occasionally climb in.   When we moved it downstairs, he was VERY particular about where we put it... and immediately pulled all his tracks out to put inside.  It reminded me so much of when Evan received his fire truck toy box from my dad.  I have very similar pictures of Evan. 

And the final one for today...

There were hours and hours and hours over the last several days of these two playing peacefully together, which may be the best gift I could receive!  They are in a stage where they are getting along... Evan was sooooooo patient with his brother, playing little boy games and helping Ryan learn BIG boy games (like how to put together legos).  They have been getting along smashingly, and I'm loving every minute of it! 

Silly Boy

Ryan opened a box from his Grandma, pulled out the sheet of those air pillow cushions, squealed with excitement and declared, "It's JUST WHAT I WANTED!!!!"

To be young...

Tis the Season for Gingerbread

 Sunday was COOKIE DAY!!!!

We made up a batch of gingerbread, and then loaded the sugar on the top.

There aren't many times during the year that my kids are allowed unlimited access to sugar....

And probably even fewer that they get to PLAY with their food... 

So combining the two was just the perfect afternoon!

Evan was very excited about his gingerbread "Ugly Sweater" 

 

Ryan was just excited that I gave him unlimited sugar and allowed him to EAT it.

It's SANTA!!!!!

So, I was cleaning the bathroom on Sunday, and I hear Evan "Ho, Ho. Ho!" behind me.  

And I turn around to THIS:

That would be Ryan's dirty pajama shirt he wrapped around his face as a beard.

I laughed, snapped the picture, and went back to cleaning.

Then I walked out into the living room to THIS:

 Yes... Evan and Ryan are playing "Sit on Santa's Lap!"

More laughing.

And then, Evan tired of the game and went off to do something else... and I came across THIS:

Which continued for most of the day!

It's a Marshmallow World

We had a huge winter storm roll through on Saturday... 

And it was the first GOOD snow we've had all year.  

 

Which means on Sunday morning, when the sun came out...

It was time to play.

And play.

And play.

And if you've never heard Dean Martin's Marshmallow world... 

It's Ryan's current favorite.

Early Christmas Gift

Aunt Sara asked if she could give the boys their Christmas gift early... December 1st at the latest.

 

So today she came over and gave the boys each a special advent calendar...

 

 

A LEGO count down!!

 

Each day until Christmas, there is a small figure to put together, each a part of a Christmas scene. 

 

Evan's, of course, is Lego Star Wars... Ryan's is Lego City. 



Merry Christmas!!

We are having a wonderful amazing day together...

 

Just thought I'd share a few pictures of the cute boys...

 

I love the looks on their faces here... these are their Santa gifts...

 

Ryan got JUST what he asked for, a Jessie doll (From Toy Story)

And Evan received a total surprise... a new down comforter for his bed.  I don't think it was even on his radar, but he loved loved loved it!

 

Evan had also asked for a fedora (from Grandma Joycee) and a tie (from the Elves)... paired with his new black shirt and "skinny" jeans, he was looking like quite the ladies man!

 

And cute Ryan... oh, that face!  He loved everything of course!!  His Grandpa Steve and Grandma Nancy got him this conductor hat and remote control Thomas.  It even blows real steam!  His Aunt got him some Thomas the Train books that have a little rectangular reader.  He calls it his "IPat" (He calls IPads and IPods that for some reason). 

 

We were able to skype with their grandparents while they opened their gifts, which was a lot of fun! 

Now, we're just relaxing and playing with some of the fun things we received!

 

Thanks everyone!! 

 

Merry Christmas!

Quick Fun Neighbor Gift

 

 

What family DOESN'T need batteries??? 

 

A simple quick tag, and TaDAAAA!

 

I didn't even have to bake any cookies!!!



The Reindeer Guys

There is a tree lot here in the valley that has REINDEER!!  and SANTA!!! 

 

And weird dancing, purple flocked trees....

 

But we don't care because...

 

THEY HAVE REINDEER!!!

 

 

And the guys are from Alaska, and SWEAR that the reindeer are Rudolph's cousins.

 

And since they are from Alaska, I think they know what they are talking about.

 

Plus, Santa always stops by their lot to visit, and I don't think Santa would visit just ANY reindeer.  He's busy, esp this time of year.

 

 

AND you can get really really close to them, and so, you know... it's worth the purple dancing tree singing in the background.

 



Christmas Wrap Up

The boys had a great Christmas... and so did Mark and I!

Both the boys slept downstairs in the "guest" bedroom... Because that's cooler than their own rooms I guess! 

I could hear them around 630, and had told them they were NOT allowed to peak their heads up the stairs until I came down and go them.

Such good boys... I went downstairs and found this:

Two sleepy eyed boys trying to be VERY GOOD at following directions! 

We always let them open their Santa gift first... then make them wait while all the gifts are sorted out before opening anymore.

Evan received a set of framed Native American Art prints... Kachina Dolls in fact.  Ryan received a work bench. 

Both boys were totally spoiled again this year!  My favorite moment was when Ryan opened the gift Evan had picked out for him... A "Woody" doll (from Toy Story).  As soon as he saw what was in the box, he shoved it into my lap and asked me to open it... then ran into his room.  Mark could see him from the living room throwing things out of his toy box in a desperate search... and all the sudden, I knew he was looking for his Buzz doll... which was on the couch.  We called him back into the living room... he grabbed Buzz and Woody held them close so they could see each other, and give each other a kiss. 

Evan had unwrapped everything in about 45 mins... even with us trying our hardest to slow him down.  It took Ryan until about noon to finish opening his gifts because he wanted to stop and figure out how everything worked before moving on!  So totally different!!

Anyway, the rest of our day can be summed up in just two pictures...  

Wishing you the best...

This will probably be the last post until after the holidays... Hope you and yours have a wonderful weekend!

Ryan was VERY excited that Ho Ho came to his daycare... when I walked in the door, he started BEGGING to go see him (he had walked through the center, and then went into another room so the kids could come visit with their parents).  He not so calmly waited his turn... and when Mr Derrick called his name, he ran up and crawled right into his lap!  He even talked (a little on the shy side) to him and asked for a Woody and Buzz please. 

And it just so happened that Santa had brought a little Pre Christmas gift...

At this point, he recognized the package and went a little nuts... and everything else is blurry! 

Love how excited they get at this age!

My NEW Most Favorite Thing I Have Ever Crafted.

So, yesterday, my friend Robyn asked me to come over and help her overcome some creative block on a project she had been working on for awhile.

(FYI: While cute, this isn't it... keep reading.)

This is what we came up with... while we were waiting for the paint to dry on the cloths pins that will go along the bottom (to hold snapshots!!! how CUTE!!!)... we were talking about OTHER boards she wanted to make.

She said something about not being able to decide on the phrase and rattled off a few things... and then my brain went into OVERDRIVE. 

One of the phrases she mentioned was "Believe" ... and I said, "Well, we could do Believe and replace the dot on i with a star..." and THEN THEN...

I just want you to be really aware of how excited I was about this idea.

If I had been in the room with anyone OTHER than Robyn at the moment the idea was conceived... I'm pretty sure they wouldn't have understood the words that flew out my mouth in rapid fire... incomplete sentences... mostly because as she started nodding that she was following my train of thought, I'd stop mid-sentance and move onto the NEXT step of the idea. 

While we were designing the layout... and she would pull up an image or a font, and it would BE what I saw in my head... I would literally bounce in my seat and giggle. 

THIS is why I love crafting with Robyn.  We speak the same language... and we get excited about the SAME things.

Anyway... if we're FB friends, you saw the "almost done" pictures... here it is in all it's glory...

It was actually a very simple process... first I painted the board, I used a streaky mix of a bright red, black and brown... it gave it a little bit of a weathered appearance. 

Then, once the paint was dry, we laid down the simple nativity scene in vinyl... rubbed the edges really really well to seal it, and painted over with a solid red... in a fairly light coat so that some of the browns and blacks would show through and provide a little bit of variation.  

While the top coat was still a little tacky, I pulled up the vinyl figures (very gently so that we could reuse them!), revealing the slightly darker paint from my first layer... which makes it appear as a subtle shadow. 

After the paint from the top layer was completely dried, we laid down the wording and the star. 

I then took a black stamp pad and rubbed it along the edges and in a few choice spots to give it an weathered, dimensional look.

Last, a light coat of MinWax Finishing Paste to give it the perfect aged patina!

I LOVE LOVE LOVE it.  

And I can't wait until we make the second board we invisioned...

*sigh* Brothers... Holidays... Heart Stings...

Last week, Ryan and I had the chance to walk Evan to school.  As a working mom, it's something I don't get to do very often.  It may seem silly, after all, it's just two brothers walking down the street... but did you notice the Santa hat???  Did you notice Evan swinging Ryan's hand back and forth as he looks down at his little brother... you can't hear it, but they are singing... "He knows if you are sleeping... he knows if you're awake... "

I never thought there would be enough room in my heart for this!!

Love Love Love Pinterest

I know it's simple... a clear ornament, a little holly, and my wedding invitation.

No one can actually READ the curled paper inside, but as I hung it on the tree, I knew what it was celebrating... and after all, it's all about me, lol!

Oh, how I love this time of year...

I surprised Ryan with a vase full of lights as his new night light.

I think he liked them.

And this is one of those moments that recharge my "mom" batteries!

Evan's Ornament

I love the song Silver Bells.  It's not my favorite Christmas song at all.

But it is a song loaded with memories. 

It was my Grandma's favorite song. 

Last year I found these little wooden bells in the clearance sales, and bought up every one that they had.

This year, as I started to prep for Christmas, I pulled out my stash of wooden ornaments and of course, I had to start with the bells.


I'll admit it, I got a little teary eyed... My grandmother had lived with us (well, she had a trailer on our property) for many many years.   We spent a lot of time with her.  She died when I was a teenager.

Evan asked what was wrong... and I started telling him about Grandma.   We stopped painting and pulled out scrapbooks and talked about her family (it's the Irish side) and where they came from, and it was a huge trip down memory lane. 

After it was all said and done, Evan asked if he could please have a silver bell as his ornament this year so he could remember Grandma Alice too.

The Giant Tree of 2011

 Yes, I realize that allowing a 2 year old to climb to the top of a ladder might not be high up on the "good" parenting decisions, however, in the case of allowing him to actually decorate more than 1/10th of the tree that he could reach without the ladder, we decided that it would be appropriate with supervision.

And no matter how many times we tried to get him to use the step stool he would have NOTHING of it.

And please, don't point out that my window frame still doesn't have a all the pictures.  Today... maybe.

Anyway.  It took FOR-Ev-ER.

It is about 50 feet tall, and 100 feet around.  The lights took me all of one day.  Ryan was sick on Tuesday... not deathly ill, but sick enough he just wanted to watch "Monkey" (Curious George), so I spent most of the afternoon arm deep in the tree, tucking lights around the branches.


Most of our ornaments are hand painted wooden ones.  Each year I make a new one for the boys... when they move out and have their own tree, they will get to take them with.  I also make one or two for Mark and I.  I love them.  They each have a memory and a story.  There are several that have been gifts from loved ones and friends as well.  I love that about our tree!

I am glad that one of my purchases a few months ago at Michaels was a $2.50 skein of yarn... the white "garland" is actually white pom pom yarn!   I had bought it on sale thinking it would look cute tied around packages, a little on the tree, some on the banister, etc.  After all 46 yards would go a long way.

46 yards, minus the 3-4 yards I used on the banister is what it took to cover this giant!  But for $2.50, I was pretty impressed.  I love it, esp on this giant!

So, it's all decorated... a little sparse toward the top on the lights... and a little sparse all over on the ornaments!  But each ornament has a wonderful story and memory, so it's fuller than it looks!

My Little Birdy

Evan's job in bringing home the Christmas tree was to SIT on it.  He rode on the back of the Ranger, and in the tree!  The whole ride down the mountain, Ryan kept turning and looking at his brother through the window and saying "Evan a BIRDY!" 

When we stopped to unlock the gate, I jumped out and snapped this picture of my very grown up looking birdy. 

Seriously, he's breaking my heart this year with his adorable "young man" looks and attitude!  

Not sure which would smell worse...

Riding behind a bunch of reindeer rears or in Mark's stinky shoe????