It's about time...

My poor oven-mitt has seen better days. When we got married I had one hot-pad. I always thought gee it would be nice to have anther one. I never once thought about buying and new oven-mitt when I would go to the stores. Well it has been nearly 5 years and I have still never bought another oven-mitt. As you can see by the picture below the old hot-pad wasn't really doing its job anymore. I am pretty sure the purpose of the hot-pad is to keep your hand safe when handling hot items. The hole at the top of mine was really not working out to well. So my sweet husband bought me a new oven-mitt for Christmas. He asked me when we were going to bed on Christmas night what my favorite gift was and I said it was my oven-mitt. It was a thoughtful present and exactly what I needed.

Update...

Not that anyone really cares but me, but it looks as though my new bedroom set is closer than I thought.

Look at what I found!

This quilt dang near matches the Pottery Barn quilt I have been dreaming about. Well maybe not matches but is close enough. Guess where I found it.

Walmart!!

So for $49.88 I can get the quilt and 2 shams instead of $179 for the quilt and $39.99 PER sham at Pottery Barn. I read all the review and they are great. So that is a plus.

This is the Pottery Barn quilt.

Still beautiful but I will go with the Walmart one for a fraction of the price.

There is always something...

Once the holidays are over and all my Christmas decorations are down I always get the bug to do a little decorating and rearranging. Not that I am getting any of these things...ok maybe one or two of these things when I save my pennies up... here are a few items calling my name.

I think I will attempt, with the help of my sister's vinyl machine, to make this one.

Then these...

they look so aged and weathered. I am loving them.

These hooks are beautiful. They would be perfect for my entryway.

Dang Pottery Barn.

You have such fun stuff and there is no way I will ever pay that much money for your stuff.

I am thinking red curtains will add a bit of drama to my living room.

I love red.

These pillows will soon be plopped upon my couches.

I have had them before. The exact same ones.

I bought them nearly 5 years ago, and love them. Every stripe and flower.

But they didn't last. Not because I didn't want them to though.

Stat, our old boxer (excuse me while I wipe a tear) loved them.

Also he loved to chew on the corners of them.

Bode loved to lay on them and watch movies.

He also love to color, wipe boogers and basically destroy them.

I did all I could to save them.

I washed them, re stuffed them and finally had to cut them down to try to make them last a little longer. Right now they or what is left of them are in Laine's closet.

I just love the fabric pattern and couldn't throw them away.

I am SO happy to have found them again. And at Kmart of all places.

Oh well, they will be on my couch...soon.

And no I don't think they look to old lady for me.

And then there is this. I love it the most, maybe not as much as finding the pillows though.

Again, dang Pottery Barn. I like you just not your prices.

I am so digging the eclectic look of this quilt.

I would look wonderful on my bed.

Too bad that just to buy the quilt and 2 shames is would be over $250 bucks.

I will just have to keep my eye out for it on Ebay.

I love to decorate. Find old things and make them new. Painting rooms, furniture and cabinets. Makes me wish we weren't renting. With the huge horrible mess that has gone on the past 2 years with our Lakeside house it is going to be many years before we are able to get ourselves into a position to buy a house of our own again. I would love to paint the cabinets in this house to make them not look so generic. Then it would be fun to paint the kids' rooms. Oh well. Someday I will get a house that I get to paint and add my own flavor to. Until then I will keep on doing what I'm doing.

We...

Decked the halls

Wrote out letters to Santa

We sat down a few nights ago and wrote Bode's letter to Santa. Bode went and put his in his stocking and brought me another piece of paper and told me we needed to write a letter for Laine Jo too. So we did. I had to run to the store after that and when I came home Bode had written letters for all of us. Jeremiah told me that Bode was concerned that Santa wouldn't bring anything for Mom and Dad and we needed letters too.

This year Bode wanted:
Transformers

A bike

And Lightning McQueen Stuff

McQueen story to follow someday soon

We torched a ham.

Yum. If you ever what a yummy ham make sure you do it this way.

Partied with family.

Took our traditional family picture by the tree.

The kids got to open their Christmas Eve gift.

Of course it is jammies. Bode was super excited to open a present. I wonder what year it will be when he realizes the only gift he gets to open on Christmas Eve is jammies.

Then we all slept like babies and opened presents in the morning.

Well the babies slept like babies. I didn't sleep all that well. I honestly was so excited I could barely sleep. This year Bode has been really into Christmas. I was looking forward to his Christmas morning. He didn't disappoint. He ran down the hall and jumped on our bed telling us the "Ho Ho brought me a bike!!".

I wonder what next year will bring for our family. Judging by this picture below it could be a fun one.

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas this year. We sure did. I thoroughly enjoyed this whole season. Children put a different spin on the holidays. Every Christmas light, song and decoration is amazing to them and I enjoyed the joyous spirit my children brought into our home this year.

On Christmas Eve we enjoyed having family over for dinner. We had a great homemade honey-baked ham made by Jeremiah. And stayed up later than normal having fun with the Brooks family. (same time next year?) Bode was so wound up I was afraid he wouldn't ever go to sleep. But he finally did thank goodness. Although Laine had no idea what was going on she was silly all evening because she could tell things were different. As soon as Bode was asleep and family was gone Santa came ;)

Luckily Bode and Laine were nice to Mom and Dad and they slept in until 7:30. We opened presents and then got all ready to spend Christmas day with the Davis and Brooks Families. I am grateful that we have such good people in our lives. It was fun to spend the day with people and not sitting around the house. Jeremiah was able to have Christmas Eve off but not Christmas day. I did however really miss not seeing my parents and family for Christmas. I was talking to my mom and she was talking about having a beautiful white Christmas and at that time I was driving and all I could see was dirt and cactus, it made me homesick. I am glad that I get to see all of my family this week for our Merrill White Elephant Party.

Just one more small story before I get off the computer and on to taking down all my Christmas decorations. We had lunch at the Davis's home on Christmas morning. There are a bunch of people and kids around and Bode loves to go and play with everyone. We were all inside while all the kids were outside playing. After a little bit I noticed all the kids were inside but I didn't see Bode. I went outside and there was no Bode. I went back inside to get Jer. We started looking for him. The Davis's house is kind of off the road with a bunch of other custom homes around and land. I was trying not to panic but we couldn't find him anywhere! I knew there were pools around and my heart was pounding. Jer enlisted the help of Rena, Lee, Aaron and Heather and we all were looking for him. Right about the time I was about to really panic we found him. He had followed some people to the neighbors house to see horses and chickens. He wasn't gone for more than 10 mins but oh boy it scared me. It was such a relief to hear Jer yell that he had found him. Bode just told us they said he could go see chicken so he went. Needless to say he got a good talking to about letting Mom and Dad know where you are going. BUT that wasn't the only little scare of my day. We were over at the Brooks's house in the afternoon. Bode was outside playing when I thought it was about time to go check on him. And again, no Bode. We looked around the property and the garage and then I saw him in our car. He somehow open the door to the Tahoe and locked himself inside. Oh man, I need a GPS on this kid.

Now I am off to take down Christmas. This season has gone my too fast. I normally can't wait to take down Christmas stuff but I am loving the warmth all my Christmas decoration have added to my house this year. I am feeling reluctant to take it all down.

Happy New Year Everyone!

Merry Christmas Blogland...

Packages in the mail...

Bode and Laine were the lucky recipients of a wonderful Christmas package this week. Bode has been so antsy to open something, anything! So on Friday the postman rang our doorbell and on our front step there was a package. Bode was so exited. I just opened the door and he squealed "A package, its for ME!!". Funny kid. It was a package for him and I kept reminding him it was for Laine to. I am not sure he believes me. He is so lucky to have his Great-Grandma Joncas to send him letters and packages in the mail. He LOVES them. I was going to make him wait for Christmas but I didn't think he could hold on that long. So we tore into the package. Bode was so excited to get candy, books, little crafts, oh and did I mention candy :) Don't worry Grandma Joncas, we did save the wrapped presents for Christmas morning.

Bode loves doing crafts. This was a little ornament in the package that he got to color. He was very sure that it was Rudolph and he needed a red nose.

He even signed his name on the back.

Thank you Grandma Joncas! We love you!

My first...

bow!!

Laine barely has enough hair to accessorize with a bow.

She sure does look cute,

and she sure knows it too :)

Kids and cameras...

Bode swiped my camera the other day. These are this things I found. I assume they are the best things in his life.

She would only cheese this much for her big brother.



He was laughing so hard when he told me he took a picture of the toilet.
Boys and bathroom humor.

And the little picture taker.

Funny kid.

Someone get this kids some new jammies...

Hopefully Bode asked Santa for some jammies this year.

I noticed the other day that he is busting the seams of all his jammies.

I can hardly keep up with this kid.

They grow so quickly!

Dear Santa...

We got to see Santa last week. Didn't even know he was going to be at the store. Bode was shocked to see him. He barely said a word. He just kinda sat there and gave me a goofy face. Laine on the other hand took one look at him and screamed her head off. She cried all through the picture and was done right when I picked her up.

So she wasn't a big fan of Santa but she loved playing a reindeer.

I could just eat this girl up. She is so cute!

Mom...

take a "chichure" of me!

Bode is always wanting me to take pictures of him.

He will set up something and then scream for me to run and take a picture.

Sometimes they are cute and posed...

Others kind of boring...

And sometimes are just a bit weird.

And then there is bug. She has been taking steps since Thanksgiving but they were sporadic and never more than 10 steps at a time. She knew that crawling was much faster.

Not now!

She has decided that walking is the way to go. She can now stand up without holding on to something for balance. Since she figured that out she has decided walking is fun.

She is getting better and better.

I think all she wants to do is run and follow her big brother around.

I have been enjoying my early Christmas gift from my husband. I got a gym membership. I know this my not sound like a great gift but it is exactly what I wanted. Well to be truthful I want my prebaby body back and unless I work out it will never be here again. It has been so nice to get away from the house and the kids and do something for myself. I have been struggling for the last little bit. I had been feeling like I have lost who I am. I love my life and wouldn't change things. I do feel like I have lost myself though. I do the same things everyday, clean, laundry, take care of kids and in between all of this I forgot to take care of myself. Jeremiah is always so good to make me slow down and try to take care of me. I am so thankful to have him. I have loved going to the gym! (lets see how long that lasts) It makes me feel like the person I used to be. Strong and confidant, not weak and well flabby. Working out is defiantly a mental booster. Now to really work on losing this baby weight. (well it has nearly been a year, I guess I can't call it baby weight anymore) Ok, this is rambly. Time for bed.

Win you some Down East Basics goodies...

Go here to enter...

Christmas Tag...

1.WRAPPING PAPER or GIFT BAGS? Wrapping paper for sure. I love buy new rolls every year.




2.REAL or ARTIFICIAL TREE? Real all the way. I am not opposed to an artificial tree. I just love trekking into the woods and finding the perfect tree.



3.WHEN DO YOU PUT UP THE TREE? During the first week of December.



4.DO YOU LIKE EGGNOG? I like the taste of it but only in small portions.



5.FAVORITE GIFT AS A CHILD?An American Girl doll. I might have been a little old for it but I really wanted it. I still have.


6.DO YOU HAVE A NATIVITY SCENE? Yes we do! I got it last year. It is the last item we put up. Bode loves to put baby Jesus in the "barn".



7.HARDEST PERSON TO BUY FOR? Family. I am horrible at gift giving.



8.EASIEST PERSON TO BUY FOR? Bode.

9.EMAIL OR CARDS? Cards. Which reminds me I need to order them and get addresses!

10.FAVORITE CHRISTMAS MOVIE? "I can't put my arms down" Best Christmas movie ever is "A Christmas Story".

11.WHEN DO YOU START SHOPPING FOR CHRISTMAS? The day after Christmas.


12.FAVORITE THINGS TO EAT DURING CHRISTMAS? The Christmas bread loaf my mom makes.



13.WHITE LIGHTS OR COLORED LIGHTS? White Lights!



14.FAVORITE CHRISTMAS SONG? "I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas" by the Drifters. It puts me in such a Christmassy mood.


15.TRAVEL FOR CHRISTMAS OR STAY HOME? Stay home.


16.CAN YOU NAME ALL OF SANTA'S REINDEER? Nope. Not even going to try.


17.ANGEL OR STAR ON TOP OF THE TREE? A Star.


18.DO YOU OPEN PRESENTS CHRISTMAS EVE OR CHRISTMAS MORNING? New jammies on Christmas Eve. Then presents on Christmas morning.

19.MOST ANNOYING THING ABOUT THIS TIME OF YEAR? The Crowds!



20.UP EARLY OR SLEEP IN? I sleep as long as the kids will let me.



21.ARE YOUR GIFTS FROM SANTA OR MRS.CLAUS? Our gifts are from Dad and Mom. Santa brings the stockings.


22.DO YOU TELL THE CHRISTMAS STORY? We are starting that family tradition this year.


23.DO YOU LEAVE COOKIES OUT FOR SANTA? Yes. (we kinda forgot last year though)


24.FAVORITE CHRISTMAS TRADITION? Cutting down the tree, being with family, watching A Christmas Story... I like it all.

I tag you. Yes if you read this, you are tagged.

On the hunt...

for the prefect Charlie Brown Christmas tree.

Our family tradition is to pack up and head to mountains in search of our imperfect tree in the woods.

Bode loves to ride in Grandpa Dave's big truck.

Some of us are not as active on the search as others.

We took quads this year to go deep in the woods to find our trees.

They didn't help us find a tree but they sure were fun.

And there it is... our imperfect, perfect Christmas tree.

Even Laine woke up to see our tree.

Bode had a blast running around in the snow.

Then we played "spot the three year old the the woods".

I hope we can always plan to get our tree this way. I remember doing it as a child and those are fond memories. I hope my kids feel the same way.

Happy Turkey Day...

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving at the Papa house this year. I love to get together with family.

I think the company is better than the food.

Some little kids didn't make it to the actual dinner.

Nice... got to love my boys.

Laine celebrated Thanksgiving by taking her first steps.

Jett celebrated by having his first taste of mashed potatoes.









I am not to sure he was a fan...

Even all the men pitched in to make the meal a success.

I am so very thankful to have this family!