December 2014

December is one of my favorite months of the year. I love all of the fun holiday things there are to do with kids, spending time with family, and focusing on the true meaning of Christmas, the birth of our savior. I love all of the traditions we're starting with our own little family. One thing that we started this year was going to our town's holiday parade. It was a really cold evening so we all got bundled up and headed right down the street to the town center. A whole bunch of groups marched in the parade including the school where Mike works and at the end Santa comes in on a horse drawn carriage. On the town square they have music, hot cocoa, cookies, and they even have a sleigh ride around the square and read "The Night Before Christmas" to the kids. The kids can also meet Santa, so we figured we'd give it a try. We didn't have high hopes though. Riley is a bit shy when it comes to meeting strangers (which in a lot of ways we're thankful for). When it was our turn, we brought her over and started to place her on his lap and immediately she burst into tears. So we just went for the quick picture and went on our way. We weren't about to let the poor thing suffer. Maybe in a few years she'll be more excited. It was the perfect way to start off a festive month!

The school where Mike works also hosts a holiday party every year and this year was an Ugly Sweater themed party. We definitely got in the spirit! 

Riley also turned 10 months old this month! We can't believe it!

 Once school was out for the holiday, we headed up to my parent's house for a pre-Christmas Christmas with my family. My sister and her family even came up for the weekend so we had the whole crew together for the first time since Riley was born. It was a great weekend together relaxing and enjoying each others company.

Then we headed to South Carolina to visit my in-laws for Christmas. We had great quality time together. We went did a bit of sight seeing at Parris Island and exploring the old southern homes on Beaufort, went to Savannah and saw my brother and sister-in-laws new home, shopped at the outlets, Mike golfed, Riley and I "lunched" with my mother-in-law, we spent Christmas with the whole family including Mike's brother and his wife, watched It's a Wonderful Life, made cookies, played with their dog Toby, spent quality Grandma/Grandpa time, went on walks, and really just enjoyed being together. It was so magical experiencing Christmas with a child even if she is just 10 months old. 

We left on New Years Day and got home just in time to watched our Alma Mater, The University of Oregon, play in the first College Football Playoff. Riley was ready for the game, decked out in her cheerleader outfit she got from her grandparents for Christmas. We also taught her how to do "touchdown" while we were visiting in SC. What a great win by the Ducks and we are counting down the days now until the National Championship game!

 Since being back, Riley got to see her first real snow in our new place. We decided to take her out and let her play in it. It was perfect snow for snowball/snowman making.

Then we headed inside for some cuddles and hot cocoa to get warm.

It was a wonderful month filled with so many wonderful memories, quality time with family and friends and thinking about the blessed life we have.

Hope your holidays were just as wonderful.

-A

DIY Photo Collage Letters

I have been thinking of some new DIY home decor projects to work on and thought of this idea. A photo collage letter. I made mine as Christmas gift for my parents. I found the letter of my maiden name at Michaels, for me it was the letter "T". I would get the larger letter because otherwise you won't fit the pictures. Then I printed collage 4x6 prints from Walgreens. The wallets were more expensive (and you get 4 of the same picture) and the 4x6 prints were way too big. The collage prints on a 4x6 were perfect because they were small enough to fit and only $0.39 per collage picture. I opted for black and white photos because I think they look classier that way. Here are the directions..

What you'll need:
-photos
-wooden letter
-black paint & paint brush
-glue
-mod podge
-scissors

1. Paint your wooden letter black (so it isn't obvious where gaps are) and let it dry.
2. Once dry, cut out your collage pictures and arrange on your wooden letter the way you'd like the finished project to look.
3. Remove pictures a few at a time trying to keep them in the order you had them placed on the letter and glue them to the surface then let it dry.
4. Once dry use scissors to cut along the edges of the letter so the pictures line up with the edges and really make your letter shape.
5. Coat the letter with a thin layer of mod podge to set it then let dry.

A great gift idea idea that is afforable, easy & special.

Happy holidays!

-A

Family Christmas Traditions

Mike and I have been married for over 3 years now, but this is our first with a child, so it has taken on a whole new meaning for us. Both of us had wonderful childhoods filled with lots of traditions, and we really want our children to grow up looking forward to and remembering holiday traditions too. It has got me thinking, which traditions will we continue with our children and which traditions of our own will we start? Here are some ideas..

1. Christmas PJs & a calendar opened on Christmas Eve.
2. The weekend after Thanksgiving go and cut down our tree and go home and decorate with hot chocolate/eggnog.
3. A movie in their stockings.
4. Go to a holiday storytime.
5. Read "The Night Before Christmas" on Christmas Eve.
6. Leave cookies & milk for Santa.
7. Make Christmas sugar cookies & pass them out to the neighbors.
8. Write Santa a letter and deliver it to Macy's.
9. Go see Santa.
10. Send out a family holiday card.
11. Go shopping for a toy drive with the kids & have them pick out what gifts to give to less fortunate.
12. Do an advent calendar.
13. Do a version of Elf on the Shelf that focuses on gratitude and having a giving heart (see this post A New Kind of Elf on the Shelf )
14. Do a cookie exchange playdate.
15. Watch a Christmas movie on Christmas Eve (It's a Wonderful Life was a favorite in my family, but maybe something like Frosty the Snowman when they are young).
16. Take a drive one night to look at Christmas lights.
17. Have the kids pick out a new ornament to put on the tree each year.
18. Do a holiday craft.
19. Choose a charity to give back to each year.
20. Attend Church Christmas service.
21.  Go see a live Nativity.
22. Let the kids sleep on the Christmas tree one night.
23. Have the kids do jobs around the house to earn money for Christmas gifts for friends and let them shop at the Dollar Store for loved ones.
24. Do a Polar Express train ride at a local train station.
25. Make a snowman.
26. Go ice skating.

I am sure I will think of more ideas as the years go on, but these are just some things I have been thinking about and wanted to get them written down before I forget. I hope these ideas spark some of your own ideas for family traditions and you have a wonderful, magical month of December.

-A

Thanksgiving in South Carolina

For Thanksgiving this year, we headed down to South Carolina for the week to see Mike's parents, his brother and sister-in-law. We flew on Sunday the weekend before (first time flying with Ry) and she did great. We landed, got some deli sandwiches for lunch and headed to the house. On the way to the house Riley started feeling like she had a fever. She had had a mild fever the day before we left and we thought it was due to teething so we weren't too concerned, but on that Sunday as we were driving I knew she had more than a mild fever. So we got to the house and took her temp, which was reading 104! We immediately took her to the ER. They were so  accommodating at the hospital; took her back right away and we didn't wait long to be seen and tested to figure out what was going on. She ended up having the Roseola virus. Poor thing :(. So that is how we started our trip. We spent the next few days taking it easy while Riley got better. By Thursday she was feeling much better, which was really nice to Thanksgiving. We spent the day with Mike's parents, his brother & sister-in-law (who have a baby on the way!). We watched football, took a stroll around the neighborhood and enjoyed a delicious meal together. It was the perfect, relaxing family time we were looking forward to.  The rest of our trip was spent out and about and how enjoying time together. We also went out to dinner a few times while down in SC.  We got home late Saturday night and spent Sunday decorating for Christmas and doing a little bit of Christmas shopping. Overall, a wonderful (albeit tough week starting out) week. We are so grateful for time with family and all the other wonderful blessings in our life.