Christmas Decor

I sure love Christmas decorations - they make it seem so homey and cozy!  And the light put off by the tree is just amazing (it is also welcome in our living room - we don't have enough light in there)!  Here are some of my favorite spots of décor from this year.  I have to say - I do look forward to when I have coordinating stockings and tree skirt and all that jazz.  And I really want to pick a "decorating theme" - I feel like I have such a hodge podge of things!  I love red and green.  And burlap.  But sometimes I like other colors!  Or sometimes silver! And I know better than to get nice things when the kids are this young! 

 

Here are our outdoor lights!  Love them!

And here is the nativity scene on the table in the foyer!  I am glad I actually set it up this year.  I really want to start a Willow Tree nativity and collect the pieces over the next few years, but this one definitely works!

And here is our tree once it had gifts under it on Christmas Eve!

And one where you can actually see the lights looking all pretty! :)

And I took these pictures of the stockings this morning - there is still so much out from the craziness of Christmas morning that I couldn't get a "mantle picture" of the whole thing.  So a picture of each side will do!

And the other side!  See what I mean about a mix of styles?  Just look at all of the figurines on the mantle!  And a mix of styles of stockings!

Here are the towels hanging on the oven!

And this may be my favorite spot - under the TV in the kitchen!  Handmade goodies, annual Santa picture in the frame, wooden handpainted nativity blocks, and that decorative plate that I love!

Katie and Jack made these at school this year - love them!

And since all 3 of the kids have had the same teacher at the youngest age of mother's day out, I have a set!  LOVE them!

It also means I have a set of nativity baby snow globes!  Except Ryan knocked Katie's over this morning, so I ordered a new one and I may ask his teacher if she can do Katie's so they all have the same handwriting and look - ha! 

This is the wet bar area - love that Santa plate!

And this is another nook of the kitchen - the kids did such a great job on the gingerbread house!  And I do love that Merry Christmas platter too!

And another favorite - the Christmas cards!  It is so fun to have so many of our friends and family hanging in our kitchen!  I actually ran out of space this year - will definitely add some ribbon to other cabinets next year!

And this is Katie's tree in her room.  I love that it looks like it glows pink!  We also were going to set Jack's tree up, but he wouldn't stay in his bed consistently in the mornings, so we didn't do it this year.  Hopefully we can next year!

 

I have to admit that I did begin the undecorating this morning - I am ready for things to get back to normal and to attempt to find a resting spot for half of Toys R Us that now resides here.  Ha!  Next year I hope to get some garland with lights to put on the staircase and potentially the mantle (and find a new spot for the figurines)!  I'm going to try to make 2016 the year of "less is more" - so maybe while finding a home for these toys, I will also do a big purge!

 

Easter 2015

Well, Easter wasn't THAT long ago - HA!  Since then we have had the end of school, all three kids turning a year older, and countless fun moments!  But.  I can't forget it!  So here we go with Easter 2015!

 

Here are two of the three when we got to church!  We were dropping the boys in their classes...

...and Katie got to go to big church for the first time with us! Thank goodness they had a fun activity sheet and crayons for the kids :)

I love picking out outfits for the kiddos that at least coordinate.  And hooray for spring colors!  Here was Katie on Easter Sunday...

Love that sweet girl!

And the crazy dude!

And baby's first Easter :) 

And one more...I love when you can see teeth just barely showing in pictures!

And a family pic!  Not too shabby with three kids to try and get focused on smiling and looking at the camera!

And even though I almost chopped Katie's head off in this picture, I do love it - sweet kiddos!

After church and a few pictures, we headed inside to see if the Easter Bunny had come (we don't have time to check before church since we go to the early service)!  Look!

Katie was excited to dig into her loot!

And I think the same goes for Jack!

Ryan was a little unsure, but he quickly got the hang of it!  He especially liked the easter grass!

And evidence that he quickly figured it out :)

And we can't forget about Sadie!

And Brad's mom and aunt, uncle, and cousin came over for Easter lunch - this was our spread!  YUM!

Then we went outside to hit the ball - Grandma gave that bat and ball to Jack and hit has been a hit (pun intended)!

She gave Katie a book - Katie got right into it!  I love that she loves to read!

And this was the best picture of Grandma and the kids we could get!

Katie did have a turn at bat - LOVE her determined, fierce expression...with a smile of course :)

We took turns at bat for quite a while! SO fun!  And it was a beautiful day!

Later in the day, Cee Cee and Will came over for some egg hunting and dinner!  The kids were ready!

It took a few minutes, but once Jack figured it out, he was determined to beat Katie to every egg.  A little fierce competition on Easter never hurts does it?

Katie was in the lead here - there MAY have been some tears during the egg hunt!

Meanwhile, Ryan just hung out in the swing.  Sweet boy!

And then I got this quick picture after we got inside!

We ate dinner and visited and then they headed out before we started the bedtime routine.  Here are the big kids sitting outside waiting to wave at Cee Cee!

 We had a super Easter and were so glad we were able to spend time with family! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Easter Fun + Decor

 Well here we go in an effort to catch up on this little ole blog.  Whew.  It is going to take a while, but I am going to do it!  (I know I say that time and time again, but I am really trying!)

 

Katie was out of school on Good Friday, so we took the opportunity to go see the bunnies at a local toy store! We have done that the past 3 years or so and the kids really enjoy it.  Of course Ryan didn't get a whole lot out of it, but I think he had fun looking around :)

 

Here are the kids before we left the house!  If that's not a fake smile on Katie's face, I don't know what is - ha!  And no clue what Jack is doing.  That's real life around here though!

But there's a real smile for Jack!  That smile gets him out of a lot of trouble already.

And these two...they certainly act the part of siblings.  One minute they are sweet, sweet, sweet and the next minute they are tackling each other and aggravating the fire out of each other.

 And Katie asked for a picture with Sadie.  I love this!  Katie loves her sweet doggy - and Sadie loves her too!

And then one of Katie before we left!  That's a little bit better of a smile :)

And then we got there and got to see all the cute bunnies! 

 They love trying to pet the bunnies from over the side!

And they love playing with the dollhouses and train tables in the store - and watching the model train they have set up.  That also means there are major meltdowns when we have to leave all of that and not buy any toys either :)  Looking at this picture, you think "Awww how sweet - they sure love each other!"...well, in reality, Jack was screaming because he didn't want to leave and Katie was pouting because she was in trouble for not listening.  HA!

But they somehow managed to pull it together for this cute one! 

 There is a plantation/winery nearby, so I stopped by there to take a few pictures of the kiddos.  Love this one that I got of them!! 

I just love holiday traditions!  I hope they always want to go look at bunnies :) A mom can wish, right?

 

We also had some Easter decorations!  This was the wreath on the front door! 

 And these were the little decorations on the console table under the TV in the kitchen!  I thought those little carrot bundles were so cute!

 And then I put this banner up on the mantle - along with those carrot bundles and bunnies and chicks! 

I love having festive decor up!  It makes everything look so fun  - and it makes me sad to have to take it down! 

 

Next post coming up with be about our actual Easter - sweet, springy outfits, family, yummy food, and some fun time spent out in the backyard!