Christmas

It was so fun to have Christmas at home this year we had a great time. On the 23rd we went to Dollywood again, Brooke was excited to go on adventure mountain where they harness you in and you get to climb around on different courses. It was so cold, but it was fun bundling up and drinking hot cocoa.




Christmas Eve we went over to some friends for dinner and acted out the nativity, Owen was a sheep and Brooke was an angel.




Then there was Christmas morning.

This is the BEFORE



DURING







and AFTER


Brooke's favorite presents were her pillow pet unicorn and pop up beads. Owen really only had eyes for the train table and is now sleeping with his Thomas the train engine. We had such a great Christmas and hope you did as well!

my sister is amazing

I obsess about a lot of random things and one of those things is stockings. I've always wanted striped knit Christmas stockings, but I can't knit. So I've looked and looked and it is so hard to find what I wanted. I even tried this Martha Stewart idea where you take and old striped sweater and cut it into a stocking (it really didn't work!). And then I realized, I have a sister that knits so I begged a lot and my very nice sister made me these lovely stockings. I love them! My sister is amazing! Thanks Elizabeth!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Reid's family was here for Thanksgiving and we had a lot of fun! We had some projects saved up for them, so we mostly put them to work, but we did manage to do a few fun things as well!
Turkey Bowling


Big Ed's
Dollywood
Dollywood was so fun for Christmas! It was all lit up and it looked so great! Also, Brooke was tall enough to go on a few new rides and we had so much fun!





Turkey Trot


We had a great time and are so grateful Reid's parents were willing to drive 22 hours to see us! Also, Reid loves all the projects his dad and brother helped him with in the garage and I am so grateful for Marcia's help with some sewing projects! Thanks guys!

Copycat

I am not really a creative person. I rarely come up with any cool, original ideas. But, I can copy. And, I do, a lot. Anyways, awhile ago I saw this picture in Pottery Barn
and I tried to think about what I could do to get a similar feel. So, I went to the thrift store bought a couple old platters got out some challkboard paint and here it is. It is not quite the same feel as the pottery barn picture because I couldn't find anything so big but I still like the feel and I think it looks kind of Thanksgivingy just the same. So I'm happy with it, even though my handwriting looks a little weird!

No camera = No cool stuff

Shortly after posting about how Owen likes to throw things, he threw our camera and broke it. Luckily, my mom is coming to visit in a couple weeks and offered to bring us her old camera. So the problem is, it is Halloween season and we don't have a camera and I've noticed the lack of a camera leaves me unmotivated to do cool stuff. Why should I make cool halloween food or come up with cool costumes for my kids if we have no way to document it so that in the future I can show them that we really were fun? I mean without pictures it's kind of like it never happened anyway, right?

I Got A Haircut!

It had been a year since my last haircut. My hair was disastrous and I hadn't been able to wear it down for months. So I finally made an appointment and I am so happy. They had to take over 4 inches off because it was so damaged. So hopefully I won't wait an entire year before my next haircut!

A Ball and A Hammer

So I don't know if it is a boy thing or just an Owen thing, but in Owen's world there are only two objects. Balls and hammers. Owen thinks that every thing is either made to be thrown or to hit things with. He throws everything: cell phones, cameras, food, books, dishes, toys and balls. And our beautiful new walls have plenty of scars to show his obsession with hammers. I think when Brooke was this age she thought everything was either a phone or shoes. Funny kids!

We do fun stuff

So we haven't gone on any fun beach trips or done other super cool things this summer, but we have done some fun stuff.