Super Secret Christmas Project 2012

Hello and Happy Friday! :)  First Friday of 2013!  Whoo hoo!

Now that all of the intended recipients have received their handmade Christmas gift from Annaliese, we can finally share with you what they were!  :)

While browsing Pinterest, I came across 2 fun and easy ideas to give as Christmas gifts from Annaliese.

First : A "Hand"-made ornament.

1/2 cup of all purpose white flour
1/2 cup of salt
Approximately 1/4 cup of cold water (I had to add a tiny bit more, but didn't measure)

Mix it and knead it with your hands and presto!  You have dough!

Roll it flat to about 1/4'-1/2' thick, get a hand imprint, then cut out the hand leaving about 1/4' around.

*If you're making them into hanging ornaments, make sure you make a hole for the ribbon before baking them.

Bake at 200 degrees for 4 hours.

Justin and I got creative and each made an ornament for Annaliese too 

Here's the finished product, after some acrylic paint, a sharpie and some ribbon!

We loved how they turned out and the family loved receiving them!  We are thinking of doing one every year and having them hanging in chronological order on our wall at Christmas time, but we'll see if that actually happens :)

Second : just for the grandparents, we bought some pre-stretched  canvas frames from Michaels and took Annaliese's foot prints and made them into pictures.  (Also inspired by Pinterest)

We're very pleased with how these turned out and Justin and I (and Annaliese too) really enjoyed making these for our family.  It was really inexpensive, very simple, very fun and most importantly, very treasured because handmade gifts from young ones are the best.  :)

Christmas Happened!

After all of the hectic  preparing, Christmas has bitter-sweetly come and gone.

Shopping, wrapping, cooking, making, painting, tagging, exchanging, cleaning, and making room for all the new toys...it was so worth the many smiles!

Here's a recap of the last week's Christmas festivities!

Thursday 12/20 - Justin and I went shopping start to finish!  It was nice to have a "date day", but it was very exhausting to day the least.  We're still recovering - physically... and financially!

Friday 12/21 - We wrapped our little hearts out and worked on our super secret Christmas project that I can't yet reveal to you because we still have another "Christmas weekend" to be had.

"Good All Year - Just Ask Santa" shirt

Saturday 12/22 - Justin and I cleaned the house and then hopped in the car to go pick up my mother in law and aunt in law and headed up to Hershey, PA to drive through an hour and a half of their "Sweet Lights" Candylane display.  It was a lot of fun, but it was also a long time to be in the car.  Annaliese did really well though!

Sunday 12/23 - We had some last minute shopping to do and had a friend come over and Justin's other aunt and uncle stopped by to give Annaliese a Christmas gift.  We also did some online shopping and ordered Annaliese a "replacement" Teddy Bear because the one she has now and cannot sleep without...has seen better days.

Monday 12/24 - We finished wrapping, had a visit with Justin's cousin, Paige, did some baking enjoyed watching our first "real" snow of the season!  I was very excited to have a White Christmas!  We had plans to go to Justin's dad's old church for their Christmas Eve Candle Light service so we hopped in the car and carefully arrived to church.  It was nice to see familiar faces in a church we used to regularly attend, but since that was the first time we had been there since Justin's dad passed away, it was very hard to see the chair he used to sit in and the pulpit he used to preach at...empty.  The church had a Christmas tree decorated and still put up Ron and Elaine's Christmas decorations, which we thought was very nice.  Annaliese liked hearing the Christmas carols sung by the congregation and applauded.

Then Santa Came...

Tuesday 12/25 - CHRISTMAS!

I'll save the majority of the Christmas pictures for another post, but here are a few from Christmas morning, just the three of us.  Our camera wasn't fully charged yet so these are just iPhone pictures.

Daddy insisted on buying Annaliese this piano!  It's perfect for her and she loves it!

Mickey Mouse Clubhouse table and chairs

Her first puzzle!

Mickey Mouse tent, tunnel and ball pit!

More books!

After Annaliese opened all her gifts, we got ready for the day and had my mom, my grandma, my aunt, my brother, Justin's mom and Justin's aunt come over for brunch and to exchange gifts.  It was a very busy morning for Annaliese, so after she opened all of her gifts she took a nap and the adults finished exchanging gifts. 

(Pictures to come in another post)

Once Annaliese woke up, we ALL (except my aunt) headed over to my brother and sister in law's house for Christmas dinner at 3pm.  It was nice to have my family, Justin's family and even my sister in law's family all at the same dinner table.  Good food was had, great laughs were shared, then onto more presents!

Ashley, Jenn and the back of my grandma's head

Elaine, Ginger, Ricky, Ashley and the back of Judy's head

Annaliese, me, my mom and my grandma

me

Ashley, Jenn, my mom, and I

Wednesday 12/26 - Snow Day!  Justin worked a half day at work and came home and we played in the snow.  Well we tried to.  Apparently Annaliese is more like her daddy when it comes to snow and isn't really fond of it.  But she looked really cute in her new snow suit!

Thursday 12/27 - Justin worked from home due to the bad roads.  We had Justin's cousins come visit us and bring Annaliese some more gifts.  She got 2 new books and a Minnie Mouse chair that she loves!

Friday 12/28 - While Justin was at work, Annaliese and I stayed inside, played with some new toys, cleaned a little, did some laundry and got the guest room prepared for Papou and Nana's arrival the next day.

Today- Saturday 12/29 - We're waiting for Papou and Nana to arrive and Annaliese is in rare form today.  The teething monster has stolen my happy baby girl and will not give her back!  Hopefully this doesn't last all weekend and we can have a good and semi-peaceful visit.  (Believe me, you don't want to see a picture of this)  haha!

So there's a little recap and our family life up to date.  Christmas presents post to come later!

Hope you all had a very Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa ..whatever holiday you celebrate :)

Getting More In The Christmas Spirit

Happy Tuesday everyone!  I hope you had a great weekend!  I meant to post this yesterday, but was just too tired.  

Our weekend was filled with lots of cookies and lots of Santa!

Annaliese and I went to spend time with Aunt Jenn on Friday and made some cookies!  I made some Heath bar cookies and Jenn made Andes Peppermint cookies.  Mine came out a little harder than I expected, but they still tasted yummy!  Jenn's cookies were delicious!

Jenn's yummy cookies

My yummy cookies

Annaliese had fun looking out the glass door into the backyard.  We don't have that luxury at our house ;)

Then on Sunday, Justin and I took Annaliese to see Santa for the first time.  She did very well waiting in line for about a half hour, then when Justin put her on Santa's lap, she looked up at him and wondered why she was sitting on him.  She only fussed a little bit and we were able to get some really good pictures of them together before she wasn't having it anymore!  Haha!  Here's our favorite!

T minus 2 weeks until Christmas!!

My Many Thanks

Thanksgiving is a time to reflect on all that you are thankful for in your life.

I am thankful for my husband who supports me, talks with me, laughs with me and cries with me.

I am thankful for my daughter who reminds me everyday how strong love is and that life is short.

I am thankful for my mom, who has taught me how to take care of myself and not rely on others.

I am thankful for my dad, for bringing out the "kid at heart" in me and always being philosophical when needed.

I am thankful for my step mom, for always listening to me vent and being there for me.

I am thankful for my brother, for being my best friend (and punching bag) growing up.  We're always each other's biggest fan.

I am thankful for my mother in law who is one of the kindest and most giving people I have ever met and I am blessed to have her as a mother in law.

I am thankful for my brother in law, who is a great brother to Justin and always helps us with handy work around the house.

I am thankful for my sister in law, because we are close in age and personality and have also become friends over the years.

I am thankful for my friends, old and newer, who have stuck by me and been there for me through my good times and bad.

I am thankful for my blog for allowing me to grow as a person and  rediscover my love for writing.

I am thankful for my health and my endurance to still be smoke free.

I am thankful for sleep and my warm bed that I am able to rest in every night.

I am thankful for the food that nourishes our bodies especially on days like today.


Happy Thanksgiving to you all!  Be thankful.


What are you thankful for on this day of giving thanks?

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Family's First Holiday Parade

Today was a busy day!  Justin had plans to meet his brother at their mom's house to help her do some fall cleaning (I guess you could call it that).  While they did this, I took Annaliese to my Sister in law, Jenn's house where she was having a Thirty-One party.  If you don't know much about it, click here to see more about their product, as Jenn has just signed up to become an Independent Consultant.  She would be more than happy to explain to you about their product and how you can earn free stuff!

Annaliese and I had a great time, ate some yummy snacks and left to return home.  It was only a 20 minute drive home and Annaliese slept the whole way home.  We allowed her to sleep about 45 minutes and woke her up, put her in some warm clothes and headed downtown to see her first Holiday Parade!

It was a lot of fun!  Arriving there just as it was about to start, we set up camp right there the parade was beginning.  Annaliese was waving her arms clapping and doing her infamous very high pitched "Eeeeeeeeee!" sounds!  We danced to the marching bands and watched all of the brightly lit Christmas floats go by, but after an hour of standing outside in the cold, Annaliese became very cold and irritable so we left and headed home to our warm house.

We will definitely be doing this every year!

Pretty float from a local church

I'm a sucker for classic cars

Another church float with live animals!

Santa at the finale!

I can't wait for Christmas!  Happy Holidays!

Thanksgiving Dinner

It's official!

This year Thanksgiving dinner will be at our house!  I am excited to have our family gather here to enjoy a home cooked meal, filled with lots of love, laughs and football! :)  This will be the 3rd time we've hosted dinner here since we've lived in this house (in 4 1/2 years)

This year my mother in law will be making the turkey at her house and bringing it over.  One less thing for us to make.  On the even brighter side, she is a great cook, with respectively much more experience than I so it's guaranteed to be tasty!  Unfortunately our sister in law, Jenn, will not be joining us this year because she is in the middle of helping her parents move here, to Pennsylvania, from Texas.  Although she will be missed, we will still have a full house!  It will be Justin, me, Annaliese, my mother in law, my mom, my grandma, my brother and Justin's brother.  Technically that's 7 1/2 people ;)

The Menu -

12 lb whole turkey
6 lb bone in ham
mashed potatoes
gravy
sweet potato casserole - a recipe I got off of the daytime TV show, Kelly and Michael Live!
stuffing
cranberry sauce
broccoli casserole
green beans
rolls with butter

I think that about covers it!  Oh and of course, some beverages including a bit of wine.  My dad and step mom will be arriving on Friday to stay with us the rest of the weekend, so it will be much time with family.  Then on Monday, since Justin has off work, we plan to go pick up our Christmas tree and decorate it.  It will be a challenge warding Annaliese off of the tree for a few weeks, but I am more excited about Christmas this year with her because last year she was only 2 months old.  Now she is able to smile, laugh and enjoy the lights.  I can't wait! :)

Happy Holidays!