{There's No Day Like Today}

What a Christmas!

We had such a great Christmas down in Oregon. I just can't express enough how much I love being with my family. We all get along for the most part and holidays are relaxed (generally).  The kids were totally spoiled of course and had a great time too.  Dominic and Vivian loved looking at the Christmas lights on Christmas Eve after Edward and I opened the "family" gifts with them. I think Dominic was going to have a fit if he didn't get to open a present soon! They were both so good though and fun to watch. 

On the Friday before Christmas, Dominic helped me bake cookies for Santa. Yeah, I know, store bought dough isn't exactly traditional, but it's all the creative energy I had left. He didn't care and Vivian was right there stealing dough with her brother! She kept saying "thank you" and no one really said anything so soon we saw her toddle off with an unbaked cookie in her hand! 

On Christmas morning, Dominic was up early as usual, and after I turned on the tree, I brought him down to look at the stockings. He really didn't care much about the stockings being full all of a sudden, but was in utter amazement that the cookies and carrot sticks were gone! He was thrilled and wanted to put out more cookies so Santa would come back!  And he was such a help when setting out the cookies in the first place....taking a big bite out of one of them before putting it on the plate.  Luckily my mom got a shot of that so I will have to ask her to e-mail it to me.

Yes, it was a great time and I really enjoyed the time with my family. The Christmas season is truly my favorite. I love what it means and the meaning behind it. I think often times we all get swept up in the busy-ness of the season and the stores play into that with shoving the commercialism of the season into our face. But I do like to try and step back some and reflect on it all.  And really, we have been so blessed this year it is amazing.

Have a happy New Year everyone (in case I forget to update between now and then!).

Dominic setting out the dough with a little hand (Vivian) coming in for the kill!

Dominic thrilled about the dough he just ate.

Vivian laughing at her own antics.

The kids on Christmas morning.

All hail gift wrappers and our decorated deer

I have to applaud anyone who can wrap a package. Because I cannot! I am horrible at it. And to top it off, nothing comes in a nice square box anymore.  So, while I pay attention to detail (most of the time) on my layouts, recipients of gifts from my family will be less than impressed at my wrapping skills.

And since this has been a hectic month and we haven't been home much, we didn't get a tree this year. It made me sad that the kids didn't have a Christmas tree, but at this point, it just wasn't feasible. SO, we decorated Tigger.  I moved him to where the tree would have been, put a sheet under him, and surrounded him with presents. The kids and I hung a couple of ornaments on him too.  It looks like he's wearing earrings.  I think it's hilarious and maybe a bit pathetic, but the kids are enamored by him, and really, that's all that counts in my book.

Picture Perfect

Finished a layout today using some of my Christmas pictures from yesterday's "photo shoot".  I think I am going to submit this one to the Scrapbook Answers design team call.  Long shot of making the team, but hey, I have a great layout that I love!

Christmas Photos

I would say, on the whole, I have pretty cute kids. But try to take a picture of them and forget about it!  Today, I dressed them up in their Christmas outfits, had a decent amount of sunlight coming in the front room, and attempted to get some shots.  Talk about frustrating.  They didn't want to smile. They didn't want to hold still. They didn't want to do anything but make my life, well, you get the picture.  In summary, they were 3 and 1 1/2.  I think I took about 100 shots on my digital.  I think I got 3 of them together that I like, and they are not looking in the same direction.  But really, as a scrapbooker, I have to think about the big picture.  This is life. This is real. Our life is not a perfect little family portrait. It's usually chaos tied up with a lot of love.  So really, I guess when I think about it, I did get the perfect shots. I got the shots that reflect them "NOW".  So, here are a few of my favorite chaotic shots. If you have a favorite among these, let me know, because I need to choose a photo for our Christmas card!

New family member

We got a new addition to the family today. Meet "Tigger the Ear"

Yes, Tigger the Ear is our new beloved holiday pet. Dominic and Vivian adore him. He was supposed to go on the back deck, but I thought it would be more fun to have him inside. I love the soft glow of the lights.  And in case you are wondering, Dominic named him.  "Tigger", who knows, maybe because he loves Winnie the Pooh.  "the Ear", because that is how he says the word "deer". 

I love the name. So as long as we have him, he will always be "Tigger the Ear".

Happy Birthday to ME!

Okay, so is it totally lame to wish myself a happy birthday?  Or to even "blog" about it?  I don't know. I really don't care to be honest. Today IS my birthday. I AM blogging. Therefore, I am going to recognize it. 

The day isn't really any different than any other day. I don't look older. I don't feel older. But according to the calendar, I am older.  33 to be exact. An age that sounds so much older than I feel on an average daily basis. But I guess that's a good thing.  I would hate to feel 80 for example and still be 33.  That would stink.  I haven't really "accomplished" that much really, except have two beautiful children who are my world with a great man with whom I have a great marriage. That's an accomplishment, especially in today's society.

So, no words of wisdom or epiphanies about my life. I still love my husband. I still love my kids. I still love my family. And I still love myself.  Maybe that's new.  I know there were some years when that really wasn't the case (but we won't go into that!).

I have certainly made my share of mistakes.  And I know that I will continue to do that. 

I wish for myself this year a little more patience.  That's the big thing for me. Patience.  I run out of it pretty easily. I also wish to be a better mommy, wife, friend, etc. I know I am a good one now, though I have my days where I could use a little work, but I want to improve myself none the less. I also want to try to make a difference (a positive one!) in people's lives. Sometimes it is the little things that count and I need to do more of those "little" things.

My goal for this year is simple: keep scrap booking and get more items published! Everything else, I just want to keep on doing.  Oh, and be more patient.

On a less introverted note, only 3 WEEKS until CHRISTMAS!!! Wooo Hoooo! I love Christmas. I love what it means. I love the celebration. Today Dominic and I were talking about it. Because aside from his Veggie Tales movie, most Christmas movies deal with Santa, not Jesus. I told him that on our own birthdays we get cake and presents. But on Christmas, Jesus' birthday, instead of us giving Him a present, we get to have presents because he is so generous.  Well, Dominic is 3, and I think it went over his head, because his response was. "And we get birthday cake too? I loooooooove birthday cake!". I tried!

So in the spirit of the season, for my birthday I wish all of you a wonderful day. I hope this season brings you peace, not chaos. Joy, not frustration. And the most precious gift of all, Love

Snow Angel

So by the time the snow really started to stick to the ground, it was time for the kids to go down for their nap.  Dominic woke up a couple of hours later and wanted to go outside. Vivi was still sleeping, which I was kind of happy about since she would want to crawl and get soaked in the slushy snow.  I got Dominic all suited up and he went right out, ready to go.  At first he was pretty impressed by his footprints and made sure I took notice. The photos are a little dark since the sun was going down, but I still managed a couple of shots.

I helped him make a snow angel even the snow was super wet.  He was fine with it. But then he was ADAMENT that I make one too! I ended up with a REALLY wet backside but one happy little boy.  We had to go in soon after that because wet clothes don't work very well in the cold. But we had fun for the short time we were out there.

It's Snowing!

Happy December 1st. It's snowing here.  Nothing really on the ground to speak of since it is only 33 degrees outside. Pretty much anything that hits the ground melts. But the flakes are getting fatter and there's a lot of them! It is sticking a bit on the grass and barkdust.  If there is any on the ground after the kids wake up, I guess we will be going out to play!  I like the snow, but I don't like getting cold. Yes, I know they go hand in hand, but well, I'm spoiled and I like to get my way.  But I don't think it's going to happen. Oh well.  I will leave you with a couple of shots I took of the snow.

This is the huge tree at the front of our driveway:

This is a shot of the side yard. I took the photo from inside at the bay windows. There is a little glare from the glass, but I think you get the jist of the photo!