Christmas time...

Really, only 12 days until Christmas?!? We have been busy around here celebrating the fun season that I just wish it would slow down so I could soak it all in. The kiddies are having so much fun watching every Christmas movie, writing letters and visiting Santa, making cookies, decorating the tree, hot cocoa nights and most of all they are excited that Chippy our Elf is here!

Chippy arrived on December 1st with a letter from Santa reminding them of the true meaning of Christmas and to take really good care of Chippy while he is here for the month! They were beyond excited. They talk to Chippy everyday, write him letters, draw picture of and for him, and they just sometimes just simply stare at him. My heart melted with pure joy the day they saw he was back. Ethan's excitement and squealing that came from his mouth was priceless, just wish I would have recorded it all. But every morning I get to re-live it again as they are both excited each morning when they see Chippy has come back in a different location.

We visited Santa a few weeks ago and visited the Christmas Tree at Fashion Island (our yearly tradition). Ethan asked Santa for a Fire Station house and Taelor wants a Barbie house...guess we will just have to wait and see what Santa brings. We wrote out our letters to Santa and dropped them in the "Believe" red mailbox at the Macy's store.

Each night I try and have some kind of "activity" for them to do. Most nights have been Christmas movies, but we have also made cookies, had a hot cocoa and popcorn night and craft nights. Here are a few other things we have on our list to do in the next 2 weeks:

• Santa Train Ride @ Irvine Park - we have never done this and we are so excited to go
• Ornaments- I am going to attempt to make salt dough ornaments, I will post up after I do them :)
• Gingerbread House decorating- we are going to a friend's house and having a decorating party
• Christmas lights- one night we will drive around to see all the Christmas lights around town
• Boat Parade- LOVE this! 
• Balboa Houses- love walking down in Balboa and looking at all the decorated houses
• Rogers Gardens- I really want to go there and see how nicely decorated it looks
• Christmas parties...Love getting together with friends and family
• Shopping, shopping and more shopping...I actually love all the hustle and bustle of this time of year
• Ice skating...maybe...Taelor really wants to go!
• Toy Express Train- wish I could go to this, heard it was great! This weekend Amtrak will have a train that comes to Orange County all lit up with Mr and Mrs Clause, hot cocoa and caroling. The train collects toys and then heads to the next stop. You can check it out here.

So much fun stuff going on this month, but I am enjoying every minute of it, especially seeing Christmas through the eyes of children. In the midst of all of this I will be figuring out what to do for my New Year's Eve birthday girl! Oh the fun doesn't end...just looking forward to some vacation time after Christmas! 

Hope everyone is having a great Season, take time to enjoy the sights, sounds, lights and all the fun of Christmas time! 

Until next time...

{Lynnae}

Christmas Card Book

I LOVE Christmas cards, I love getting them in the mail throughout December. I love seeing how families have grown and how big all the children are getting of the people I know. I love the thoughtfulness of others to send you warm holiday wishes for the season. A few months back I saw on Pinterest all the great ideas of what to do with your Christmas cards when the season is over. So I dug out all my Christmas cards back to 2006 and organized them and put them together by year in their own albums and had them on display in a Christmas basket throughout this season. It was fun looking back at all the cards we have received over the last 6 years, and what good were they doing in the abyss of a drawer all these years! So as this season came to a close and the Christmas decorations came down a few days ago, I finished up our 2011 Christmas Card album before I stored them away in the decorations box until I pull them out again next holiday season. 



Just 2 hold punches and 2 ring binders...simple and easy



The inside a mini album of all the wonderful cards

I wish I would have seen these printable covers before I made my books over at Eighteen25 but I am thinking I will start next years with these covers. You can go here to download the free printable.

Happy card making!

Until next time...

Lynnae

Gifts I made...

Just thought I would share a few of the gifts I made this year, simple, and can be made throughout the year (changing colors and themes) for your loved ones! Everyone loved their gifts!

Yarn felt wreath for my sweet Mother in love

Mod podge Christmas coasters for 2 sweet friends

Simple  2 ring photo album for both sets of  Grandma's

With a cute felt flower

and of course it was filled with our Christmas family pics

Coasters for a sweet friend

Did you make any gifts this year?

Until next time...
Lynnae

Christmas has come and gone...

WOW was this a busy last few weeks, blogging has taken a back seat (sorry), but we are back to normal blogging! We hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and enjoyed every minute of this very busy season! So Christmas has come and gone and as much as I LOVE this holiday I am always glad when the craziness is over. As of today my house is put back to "normal" (whatever that may be) and all the new toys have found somewhat of a new "home", we have organized, purged old toys and re-organized all week (this is a never ending battle of trying to keep the toys "organized", it lasts for a week, maybe, and then barbies and princesses end up in the car bin or in the train track box or vice versa), but I feel like the house at this moment is in pretty good shape, let's see how long it lasts! Today my sweet girl asked if I can make another Advent Calendar to start counting down the days till next Christmas?!? and then she asked if Santa is still watching her , WOW I think I might be able to keep this Santa thing going all year! As you know we had an Elf on the Shelf this year and my two kiddos were actually quite sad a few days after Christmas that he wasn't in the house anymore, they really missed him, and YES I got through all 24 days of moving the silly Elf! I was thinking maybe he can make a surprise visit in the summer just so they know he is still around, we will see what the hubby thinks :) Well I hope Christmas was joyful for everyone and now we can all get back to a non-busy life (if that even exists!)

Until next time...
Lynnae

Yarn wrapped letters...JOY

This is such an easy project to do with your kids, yarn wrapped cardboard letters. I cut out small letters JOY from an empty cereal box, gave my kiddos some yarn and they wrapped the letters ( I did the O it was a bit harder to wrap). They may not look "perfect" but they are perfect enough for me, and Christmas time always reminds me of the word JOY! Oh the endless possibilities with this!

Until next time...
Lynnae

Christmas through the lens...

Do you ever take the time to photograph your life at Christmas, not just the parties, or decorating the tree, visiting Santa, etc.... I mean your house at Christmas time, the things you do, the crafts you make, the stories you read, the cookies you bake, the real moments that make Christmas! Here are a few of my favorite moments of this busy season. I encourage you to snap a few pics of the things around your house that make Christmas, well, Christmas!

Until next time...
Lynnae

Christmas Craft

This weekend I finally finished my snowmen ornaments, I had been seeing ideas on pinterest for yarn poms and I thought how cute would yarn pom snowmen be..........super cheap and easy.


Basic white yarn and a plastic fork wrap yarn around fork then slip piece of yarn thru and fork and tie in middle

Slip off fork cut the side and tada a cute little pom

Hot Glue 3 poms together add some red ribbon

Toothpick nose, puffy pant buttons and eyes cute ribbon loop for hanging on the tree!

2011 Snowmen Ornamnet

<3 rosette



Christmas DIY decorations...


I love Christmas decorations and I love finding new ideas on things to make either for myself or as gifts. Here are a few ideas that I love. Hope they inspire you to get crafty... you only have 17 more days till Christmas!

Tatertots & Jello Felt Wreath



Monogrammed napkins with a bleach pen
Tatertots & Jello

Wooden letter ornament- Two Peas in a Bucket

Felt tree from Scissor Variations

Stenciled sign with of course Martha Stewart paints and stencils
Tatertots & Jello

DIY Fabric bow from Whipperberry

Until next time...
Lynnae

Free Printables for Christmas

Here are some FREE printables for Christmas. Just follow the link to the blogs they came from and download for yourself. These are great to give as gifts to in a cute frame. Happy printing...

From It Works for Bobbi

From Eighteen25

From Simple as That

from Eye Candy Blog



Holiday Snacks...

The other night we had a Polar Express night and what better way to watch the movie than with Trader Joe's Cocoa Drizzled Kettle Corn (so delicious!) and Nutella hot cocoa with fresh whipped cream (yes I whipped it up fresh, it tastes SO much better then the canned stuff or even marshmallows!) We are HUGE fans of Nutella around here, my daughter would eat it for breakfast, lunch and dinner if we let her. So after seeing all the great recipes on Pinterest that you can do with Nutella I decided to give it a try. I heated up milk in a saucepan, put a scoop of Nutella, whisked until hot and melted and then enjoyed a little piece of heaven in a cup! Seriously I don't think I could ever go back to "regular" hot chocolate, it's that good!!

Until next time...
Lynnae

A fun tradition...wrapping up Christmas books

This year I started a new tradition of wrapping my kids Christmas books (that they already own) and putting them under their tree in their room. I did let them know that I wrapped them and that they are their own books but that didn't matter, each night they are so excited to pick one wrapped book and read that story for bedtime! I dont' have 24 Christmas books but a few of the books are a collection of many "Disney Christmas stories" so those will find themselves wrapped up again and I will buy a few new ones just to add a little surprise when they open them. I love this new tradition and it's not to late for you to start doing it this year. I think my kids love the unwrapping part and not knowing which book it will be! What are some fun traditions you do for your kids?

Until next time...
Lynnae

Trader Joe's bags

I LOVE Trader Joe's, and after this weekends grocery shop I was so thrilled to see their Holiday bags! They are filled with gift tag printouts and the side has cute designs for any crafting or gift wrapping. I know it's the simple things in life that make me happy! So don't throw out your bags next time you go shopping, recycle them for good use!

Until next time...
Lynnae

A million reasons to....BELIEVE

On Saturday we delivered our letters to Santa in the Believe Santa Mail Box at Macy's. This is such a great tradition. For each letter that Macy's gets they will donate $1 to Make-A-Wish-Foundation. Remember to address and stamp your letter to Santa at the North Pole. The smiles on your kids faces when they drop their letters off is nothing short of making you BELIEVE!

Until next time...
Lynnae

Our Elf arrived....

Yep our Elf arrived under our tree on December 1st, and let me tell you the squeals I heard from the kiddos first thing in the morning, it was priceless! After a whole day of figuring out a name, we ended up with good old Chippy...yes it's the same name as the Elf from the movie, but the kids just kept coming back to that name (my name of Pixie was voted out!) So Chippy is officially apart of our family! He has showed up on our tree, over our pictures and today he was in a tea pot (which the kids got a kick out of). Taelor has grown to really love him and talks to him all the time and wants to sit by him when she can, I love it, I love the innocence of a 3 and 4 year old, it's what makes the holidays even that much better. I will keep you posted on Chippy's whereabouts around the house, if you have any fun ideas I would love to hear about them!

Until next time...
Lynnae

Christmas Tree Day!

The smell of christmas trees makes me very happy...which is why I will never give up the live tree. Today Matt and I went to pick out our tree.

Home Depot not the most festive environment but the best prices

7ft-9ft tree!!!!

naked tree :P

 lights!

tada!

<3 rosette

Elf on the Shelf

OK so I think we will be adopting an Elf this year! I had no clue about this Elf on the Shelf  thing until I started seeing a few ideas pop up on Pinterest and it caught my attention. Then after this weekend when "An Elf's Story" (an animated Christmas special) was on, I was sold and tomorrow I will be out getting the Elf on the Shelf for my kids! They loved the little 30 minute special, they have watched it over and over again. If you have never heard of this, well, in a nutshell, you "adopt" an elf from the North Pole, you name the Elf so he gets his magic, he watches over your house "observing" and reports back to the North Pole to Santa every night. Each morning he is in a different hiding place so the kids can find him. He is not allowed to be touched as he will "loose" his magic (what a great idea so that the kids will not "love" on him too much) and on Christmas he goes back with Santa till the next Christmas! Sounds like a fun tradition that we will have to start this year! I will keep you posted on how it goes....my only problem would be remembering to move him each night!!!

If you want to know more about Elf on the Shelf go here.

Till next time...
Lynnae

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

A family tradition of ours is the Fashion Island Christmas tree. I love this tradition, it is always a fun night of ohhing and awwing over the tree, then a visit with Santa, dinner and Starbucks of course. I love this night, I look forward to it every year, seeing the joy and excitement on my kids faces and the meekness when they sit on Santa's lap, just makes you see a little bit of magic in their eyes!

I was wondering what he was doing under the tree....

And this is what I found....ornaments hanging underneath....I kept them there...it made me smile!

As for our home, fall stuff is down and Christmas decorations have come out. Our tree is up and the coziness of Christmas is around. I LOVE this time of year, I especially love seeing Christmas through my kids eyes. Growing up, Christmas was so magical and I want my kids to experience a whole month of it! I try and make it very special, each year I buy them and us an ornament, something that reminds me of them for that particular year. It will be fun years from now to look back at all the different stages in their lives. In years from now when they are married, I plan on boxing them all up and giving it to them on their "first" Christmas ( I know I am such a sappy mom like that I can't help it). Tonight we decorated the tree and since I had kids I gave up on the "perfect" tree with all the ornaments in the right place. I do move some but I try to keep them where they put them it makes the tree look "perfectly imperfect".....but Ethan made me smile when I saw him under the tree a few times and I realized he had hung them underneath, such an Ethan thing to do. Being the nice mom I kept them there :)

December I will be doing my December Daily project which I am so excited to share with you our daily activities, so check back for some fun ideas to do during the month of December as we are counting down the days till Christmas! What are some fun things you do for the holidays??

Till next time...
Lynnae