Christmas 2011.....part 3

Christmas celebration part 3.................
On Thursday, Logan and his girlfriend Lindsey came home for the night. He missed Christmas {his year to work}, so they finally came to spend a little time with the family.

Everyone, again, ate more yummy food and received lots of awesome gifts! I think Logan's favorite gift though, were the "moose mugs" that Nathan gave him.

Our favorite Christmas movie is "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation", and they've always loved the part with cousin Eddie drinking eggnog out of the moose mugs!!

We had a wonderful time together {even though it was much too short}!! We said our goodbyes yesterday, and they headed back to MD to have yet another Christmas celebration with her family. Things are so different now that Logan has moved away. This was his first trip back home since he left in Aug., but I can see how happy he is. He's now making his own memories! Each year brings new people, new experiences, and new traditions into our lives. I am so thankful that even though I know it will be stressful, hectic, and at times, a bit crazy come next December, I can look back on this year, and all the years past and remember just how wonderful this time of year really is! I wouldn't have it any other way!!!

Christmas 2011.....part 2

Christmas celebration #1.....
Christmas Eve: dinner at our house, followed by the opening of many gifts, followed by the Candlelight Service at church, complete with the singing of "O, Holy Night"- a family favorite!!

Peter sporting his new Kasey Kahne shirt, a gift from Nathan.

Mom & Dad {can you guess who gave Dad the Dolphins gear????} "O)

biggest sports fan...EVER!

Then Christmas morning came:

one tired lady!!!! {love my new jammies!!!}

Santa was very good to Nathan again this year!!!

We had lots of visitor's including our beautiful niece, Addison.

Christmas celebration #2................

Dec 26: my sister Julie, and nephew Derek came home!! We exchanged gifts and of course, ate yet another awesome meal!!

More great gifts! I think everyone got just what they wanted. We played Scrabble after dinner, my favorite game!! We spent most of Tuesday watching Parenthood.....Mom got Seasons 1 & 2. Julie hadn't seen it, but she is now officially hooked!
If you haven't seen it, please tune in Tuesday @ 10 p.m. on NBC....it's an awesome show!!!

Christmas 2011.....part 1

my favorite new ornament-2011

Wow! I can't believe another Christmas has come and gone! I don't know if it's because I'm getting older or if it's that life has just gotten wayyyyy too busy, but I do know that time just seems to fly by! As I pulled out my new 2012 calendar this morning, I couldn't help but look back at the month of December and think about how hectic it always is. Every fall, when I start to plan for the holidays, I think that this year will be different.....less stressing about buying the perfect gift and not wanting to forget anyone, trying to fit in the many holiday activities, the cards, the wrapping, the baking, the dinners, the church services, finding time to watch Christmas movies, trying to fit in some special time with all of my family, the list just goes on and on!! But then I thought about how much I love all of these things, and how each of these things, along with the most important part of the season, the birth of our Saviour, are what make each Christmas so very special to me and it's these things that make each year so memorable. I had the most wonderful holiday, and I actually got to have 3 different Christmas celebrations!
Here's a look at our December 2011:
Dec 1: We bought our very 1st live tree! Peter was skeptical at first, but he loved it as much as I did. A new tradition has been added!

Dec 3: Nathan is a member of our town's fire department. We kicked off the month with their parade. He loves being a part of the department and rarely misses a call! He received a "Rookie of the Year" award in October. We are so proud of him.

Dec 14: another highlight, our church's monthly prayer breakfast was held at a local restaurant. Mom and I went together, it was wondeful. The owner did an amazing job on the table setting, the music, and of course the food. It was a great time of fellowship and sharing. I hope this will become a yearly tradition! It also made Mom's birthday {Dec 12} a little extra special.

My favorite craft project this year was the shutter card holder I made. It worked out great for displaying all of the beautiful cards we received and I got so many complements on it!

Dec 17-18: Peter & I went to MD for some shopping, and dinner & a movie. We also drove to Ocean City to see the Festival of Lights for the first time. We got home late Sunday, just in time to hear the church choir Cantata that night. Then the last few days before Christmas were spent cooking, last minute wrapping, parties at school {Nathan got out for break on Dec 22}, and watching a few Christmas movies, and just hanging out with the family.

part 2 coming up...................

5Q Friday...12/30

1. What's the oldest piece of clothing in your closet? I have this khaki-colored trench style long raincoat that I've had forever. I keep thinking it's something I'll eventually pull out again but never seem to have the nerve to wear it...{it needs to go to Goodwill} I did finally replace it with the cutest raincoat from Land's End {color: pink begonia}.

2. How many random blog readers have you met? haven't met any random blog readers.....although I do have a few friends/family members that follow my blog...:O)

3. Do you let your kids stay up till midnight on New Years Eve? (Or, if you don't have kiddos yet, did you get to stay up until midnight as a child?)

We are a family of night owls, so you know we have always watched the New Year come in...complete with watching the ball drop in Times Square {via tv of course}, and a few fireworks!!

 4. What are the gas prices where you live? right around $3.22

5. What is one resolution that you know you should do but are too afraid to try?

I don't usually make resolutions because I never seem to stick with them. I guess the resolution I've made the most over the years is to exercise more. I start off great, but sometime around mid-January, my enthusiasm seems to wear off, and I'm back to my old habits again. Maybe this year...............

Merry Christmas!!!!

Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas and a healthy, happy NEW YEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!

Destination Disney The Letter "Zzzzzzzz"

Well, we made it!!! Hope you enjoyed seeing our Disney fun from A-Z!! We leave for our next trip to WDW in just 3 short weeks, so I hope to get lots of pictures to share in Heidi's next challenge for the New Year! Thanks again Heidi for hosting Destination Disney A-Z!!  Zzzzzzzzzz........

Nathan & Logan catching up on some much needed rest after a fun week in WDW!!  We stopped for the night, after a long day of driving back to VA {in a snowstorm!}. -2010

 

Thoughtful Thursday Dec 22

busy....busy....busy

 It's such a busy time of year...............only 4 days until Christmas! Peter & I went to MD last weekend. We shopped {yaaa!!! finally finished!!!}, had a yummy dinner at Outback, drove to O.C. to see Festival of Lights, and finished the night by heading to the movies {New Year's Eve} at 10:30 p.m. 

Ocean City, MD

Festival of Lights

I've been busy this week.....

I made white chocolate pretzels

lots of wrapping...........

& more wrapping...............

Oh yeah...we got Disney mail!! Our trip is just 3 weeks away.....

and the new rug came.....I really like it!

I still have lots to do.....more cleaning and baking....dinner here on Christmas Eve....candlelight service....visiting family & friends.....busy....busy....busy!!

Top Ten & Pin It Tuesday....12/20

This week on Pinterest.......
{1}

DIY painted clear glass ornaments

{2}

DIY countdown to Christmas

{3}

mirror made from an old window

{4}

house numbers on the door

{5}

just add a scarf :O)

{6}

chevron pattern

{7}

Pioneer Woman's recipe....time to pull out my panini maker!

{8}

baby it's cold outside....

{9}

Christmas printable

{10}

all I want for Christmas is you.......................

DIY Project: Binder Ring Mini

Yes, I do have another obsession: binder rings! They come in lots of sizes, are just so handy and make it so easy to put together a notebook, or mini-scrapbook. I've been looking for an idea for storing the many user names/passwords I have scribbled on note paper all over the place, most of which I can never find or remember!! Do you know how many times I've forgotten a password???? A fellow blogger shared this idea on Pinterest, here is what I came up with:

For this project I used some scrapbook "scrap" paper, a few embellishments for the cover, and a 2" binder ring to hold it all together. I divided the book into sections alphabetically and used my label maker for the dividers. Now, whenever I register on a new site, I make a card for it with the web address, my user name, and my password and add it to the ring. I keep this in the desk drawer, right by the computer. No more searching for passwords!! This was my first project using binder rings, but I'm already working on a mini-scrapbook. I'll share that project soon!!