Speed Racer

This little speed racer is my youngest son who has been telling us for the past 3 years that he is going to be a pediatric surgeon who owns a NASCAR team, only a mother of boys can understand such logic. Since he got his new dirt bike for Christmas all I have heard is that he wants to race motorcross, he is a really good rider but I have no intentions of letting him race any time soon.

Checkout Bienvenue today she has a fabulous giveaway and her etsy shop is open, I can't wait to order my laundry sign and I hope that I win the initial sign.

Four Generations

I didn't realize when I took this picture that there were four generations of only men in my husband's family. His grandfather had three sons, his father had two sons and we have two sons no wonder I want to adopt a little girl so badly. Tom and his grandpa bought his grandma a little Pomeranian puppy today and she is so cute, maybe I'll just get a little prissy dog!

Christmas Day Happenings

The boys had a wonderful Christmas, they received so many nice presents but their favorites were from Santa. I cooked a huge lunch for all of Tom's family and my Mom, we had roast chicken, mashed potatoes, gravy, green beans, corn, fried apples, dressing and rolls. I didn't bake any cakes this year, I was too worn out from baking cookies so we had cookies for dessert. I hope that everyone had a Merry Christmas and I can't wait to read your blog posts.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas from our family to yours!!

Christmas Gatherings

We celebrated Christmas with my family yesterday, we had a great time! My nieces and nephews are so much fun and the boys loved being with all of their cousins. Everyone received wonderful presents and ate delicious food, thanks Mom! Next year we will have a new addition, my baby brother is expecting his third child in July. I only wish that my Dad could see all of his grandchildren, when he passed away (10 years ago) they had 3 grandchildren and I was pregnant with the forth, he would be so proud of all them. I hope that everyone had a great weekend!

Handmade Gifts

Every year at Christmas I say that I'm going to make a few gifts and I never get around to it, this year I finally took the time to make clipboards for Johnson & Jonah's teachers. I started with .97 cent clipboards from WalMart then added scrapbook paper from my stash, a little Mod Podge, a little ribbon and a few embellishments. These were so easy to make, I finished both of them in about an hour. I love how they turned out and the fact that they only cost a dollar to make is even better. Next time I think I will try spray adhesive instead of Mod Podge, I had never used this before and boy does it stink!!! Today is the boys last day of school until January 5th, YEAH!! We are going Christmas shopping this afternoon, to Grandma's house tomorrow and are going to bake all day Sunday which should be very interesting this year, wish me luck! Have a great Friday!!!

Christmas Home Tours

Hooked on Houses and BooMama are both hosting Christmas home tour parties today, I thought that I would show you a few of my favorite things. I try to put a few fun things upstairs for the boys since I have claimed downstairs as my domain, this year I fell in love with the gingerbread house from Hallmark every time one of the boys walk by the house they ring the doorbell so they can hear the cute song. I love my Willow Tree nativity, my DH bought this for me two years ago, my Mary and Joseph were a present from my MIL, I've never seen any like these they are paper mache. My Christmas tree is my most favorite thing, you can see it here, every ornament on the tree tells a story. Parties in blog land are so much fun, thank you for hosting Hooked on Houses and Boomama!

Santa Sack Fun

I gave the boys a gingerbread house in their Santa sack one day this week, we all had so much fun decorating the house, it was a great family project. It is hard to think of things to put in their sacks, sometimes I put a small piece of candy or dollar tree toys but once a week I try to give them something nicer, I think one day next week I'm going to give them a paint by number set. By the way WalMart has the Wilton gingerbread kits for $6.50.

I have a few more gifts to buy, I'm hoping to finish up this weekend. I still need to make the teacher's gifts and wrap a few more things then I will start baking. I love to bake (and eat)cookies, this year I'm making Reese's Cup cookies and sugar cookie sandwiches. Have a great weekend!!

Garland Party!!!!!

The Nester is having a garland party today. I have always wanted to do up my mantle for the holidays but have never known where to start, but alas I have been inspired. Each day I have added more and every store I go in I want to buy something. I always put up two trees, I do the traditional one in the family room and a sugared fruit tree in the dining room but this year I decided not to do the tree in the dining room so I took my bows and birds from that tree and spruced up my mantle. I think my little birds my have found a new home for the holidays.

Christmas Came Early, YEAH!!!

My beloved husband gave me my Christmas present early this year, something that he normally wouldn't do and guess what I got? If you guessed a Canon Rebel XSI then you would be correct! I love it, even though I don't have a clue how to operate it, but I'm learning something new everyday, I have taken a million pictures and its getting to the point that when the children see me coming they start to run and they are complaining of headaches, maybe its the flash?

Christmas Cheer

I received a special delivery from Lori at Lions, Tigers, and Boys Oh My! What a nice package to receive; 2 books, a package of Kleenex, a bag of flavored coffee and a beautiful Christmas card, Thanks again Lori!!

We finally got the Christmas tree up yesterday, this is the latest that I've ever been putting up a tree, the boys and I had so much fun decorating it. Every ornament on our tree has a special meaning, the first year we were married Tom gave me a beautiful Lenox heart ornament, each year since then he has given me a new ornament, he also gives the boys each an ornament and we give him one as well. I have a red bird from my in-laws first tree and three vintage glass ornaments from my parent's first tree.

I love everything about Christmas! I hope to get all of the presents wrapped one day this week and start crafting a few small projects for the boys' teachers.

Christmas Traditions

A few years ago my Mom made each of the boys a "Santa Sack" to hang on their bedpost from December 1st through the 24th, the boys always get so excited when its time to put the sacks on their beds. Each night they lay in bed, for what seems like hours, discussing the possibilities of what may be waiting on them in the morning. It is the little things that make Christmas so meaningful and special to our children. What are some of the traditions that you share with your children?

Random Thoughts

We had a wonderful and busy Thanksgiving weekend. We started off Thursday with lunch at my Mom's, then we drove 6 hours to the other end of the state to spend the weekend with my in-laws. My MIL and I went shopping on Black Friday and found lots of great deals for Christmas and a few things for ourselves. It was a fun weekend! We came on on Sunday after stopping by Lake Cumberland, we miss the lake so much in the winter months. On Monday I was really tried and not feeling well, a horrible migraine hit me like a ton of bricks that evening. On Tuesday morning I still wasn't feeling well, I ended up in the ER from 7:30am to 2:00pm, then I had to see my family doctor, he is the best doctor in the world. I was so scared, I thought that I was having a heart attack and the worst part of it all was that the boys were home, they were terrified, my neighbor drove to the ER and took wonderful care of the boys until my family could pick them up. It is so nice to have friends and family to help us in our time of need and I'm thankful for them. I have to take better care of myself, my Dad died at 55 and two of his brothers died at 36 and 42. I decided to stop eating sugar (I know I must be crazy at this time of year) sugar is a big trigger food for me and I have also decided to go organic. I think that this was warning for me and I need to put my health first. On a lighter note, I was the runner-up winner in a contest that Lions, Tigers, and Boys Oh My was doing, I can't wait to read my new books.