Making a list, checking it off!!

I'll admit it- I was feeling a little down about the holidays.  A little overwhelmed, a LOT tired. Unmotivated.  And stressed.  Very stressed.  There is just so much to do and so little time.  So many expectations (mostly that I set for myself).  But this weekend I tackled some of the things on my holiday to-do list and am feeling so much better!

1.  I finished my Christmas cards!!  This is always such a daunting task!  This year I had Andrea from Slightly Askew Designs design our card and let me tell you, I LOVE IT!!  She did such an awesome job.  I am already excited for her to design our cards for next year!!  I'm giving you a sneak peek...if you're on my Christmas card list, skip over this section!  Excuse the darkness of the photos...I was too lazy to get up and prepare proper lighting for photo taking!

2.  I ALMOST finished my Christmas shopping.  And more importantly, I finished the stocking stuffers!  On one hand, I love finding special little gifts for the boys.  On the other hand, it is such a pain in the you-know-what.  I was seriously dreading it this year.  But hooray hooray hooray it is done!!  All I have left to do is a couple Lego sets for Nick.  Ahhhh (my sigh of relief).

3.  I have my Christmas menu well under way.  Thank you Pinterest for all your great ideas and
recipes!!  Usually our Christmas dinner is something with an Italian flare...lasagna, stuffed shells, etc.  But this year, I am trying to prepare something a little more heart healthy.  I don't want to do turkey since we just had that at Thanksgiving, and I don't like ham.  So my plan is to do a roasted chicken.  I found what looks to be a delicious and easy Ina Garten recipe.  What does your family have for Christmas dinner?  Do you have the same thing every year or do you mix it up?

4.  I ordered the kids' Christmas photos!  I don't know why this took so long to do, but I was having the hardest time deciding which ones I wanted and what sizes.  But now it's done and the photos are on their way!   I also found this amazing site- www.photobarn.com where I ordered some awesome photo boards!  What are photo boards you ask (I didn't know either)?  Well, as they say on their site, "print your photos directly onto wooden boards...the natural tones and grain of the wood combine with your image to create a truly unique work of art."  I am SO EXCITED to receive these!! I'll be sure to post pics when I get them!

5.  Christmas shirts!  Christmas day is very laid back in our family.  But I did want the kids to be wearing something other than pajamas when their grandparents come to dinner.  Enter Honey Pie Accessories!  See her blog HERE.  She made these adorable shirts for my boys!  Check her out- she has tons of adorable creations!

I still have many things to do of course.  At the top of that list is wrapping which I am definitely NOT looking forward to!  It's going to be a lot of gift bags this year!!  Also...

1.  Figure out what to have for Christmas morning breakfast.  Cinnamon rolls?  Waffles?  What do you do?   Growing up, we would have a big breakfast- eggs, toast, bacon, etc.  But since we're having a big lunch/dinner, I want to keep it on the lighter side.  AND, I would like to choose something that will become a family tradition!  See... so much pressure!  LOL

2.  Christmas Eve dinner.  It will probably just be the 4 of us Christmas eve.  We've done all sorts of things for Christmas eve, depending on the year and what our plans have been.  We've had big dinners, we've had Chinese take out, we've done a big array of appetizers.  I'm thinking I may go the appetizer route again this year, but I'm not sure.  One thing I know for sure is before bed, we will be reading Twas The Night Before Christmas!  We started this tradition last year and I hope it lasts for many years to come!  The edition we have is similar to this one:

3.  Christmas cookies.  Honestly, I don't think it's in the cards this year.  But you never know.

So there you have it.  Bring on Christmas!  I am ready for you (almost)!!  How are you all making out?  Are you almost ready?  Not ready at all?

Come on in...Christmas decorations!

I'm a little late to the party, but better late than never!!  I absolutely LOVE decorating for Christmas and am excited to share a little bit of my home with you!  I'll be honest, I used to be VERY particular about my decorations, especially the tree.  I would not allow anyone else to decorate it and if someone did happen to put a decoration on, I usually moved it.  It also needed to have a theme, and no random ornaments that didn't match the theme were allowed!  But this year I vowed to "let go" and let the kids help.  So here is a little peek into our Christmas home!

Let's start with the tree because that's my favorite part!  This is the first year in like 13 years we've had an actual LIVE (vs artificial tree).  It is also the first time we went with colored lights vs white.  I love the look of white lights, but Nick really wanted multi color so I went with it.  And honestly, I love it!   There is something so peaceful and festive about it.  There also is no real theme this year. We've got lots of gingerbread and candy themed ornaments, but we also have some special ornaments from my childhood on it, as well as ornaments we gave to the kids and ornaments they have made.

Next up is the fireplace.  I've got an evergreen garland across the top, and a few Santas placed around.  I haven't hung the stockings on the fireplace yet, because Alec loves to try and pull them off!

This is where we have the stockings right now-  our bookshelf above the TV.  No one can reach them there!!  I got our stockings 2 years ago at Personal Creations.  Alec hadn't been born yet (he was born on Dec 28), and we hadn't decided for sure if he would be an Alec or a Zachary.  I was leaning towards Alec, so that's the stocking I had made. :)

This buoy hangs above the sink in my kitchen.  It is special to me, because it is from Maine (one of my favorite places), and it is from my mom (one of my favorite people)!! Lots of good memories!!

  

Also in the kitchen- just a little bling on our chalkboard :)

 A little bling here and there in the dining room...

And a welcoming entryway.  The stockings on the table were handmade by my Grandmother and are very special to me.

Look- it's John the Elf!

There are a few more decorations, but I am out of time to take pictures, and I'm sure you have seen enough!  Hope you enjoyed my little tour!  I apologize for the crappy camera phone pics taken in the dark (it all looks prettier in person), but I really wanted to link up today and had to act quick!  I have had a blast checking out all YOUR Christmas!!

Linking up with Andrea for her Come On In series!!!

Weekend wrap up-Thanksgiving, North Pole breakfast & a wedding!

What a great 4 day weekend full of fun, family and food!!!

Wednesday afternoon I left work early to pick up the kiddos from daycare AND to try and get home before the worst of the snowstorm hit!  I know it was a huge pain for those traveling on Wednesday, but I absolutely LOVED having a white Thanksgiving!  It was so beautiful out!  Today the snow has pretty much ALL melted away and I sad.  I can't wait for the next snowstorm!

Wednesday night Nick and I also worked on some turkey crafts :)

Thursday was all about family and food.  AND sledding!  This is the first white Thanksgiving I can remember in a looong time and it was amazing!  We had so much fun playing in the snow!

Friday morning we woke up to find that John the Elf had arrived and made us all breakfast!!  And yes, I know,  We are just soooo creative with our Elf name!  :)  Anyway, our North Pole breakfast was a HUGE hit and I definitely see it becoming an annual tradition!  Besides making breakfast, John also gave the kids an ornament for the tree, an Elf for their room, and a jingle bell.  Oh- and Rudolph gummies too!

After a delicious sugary breakfast, we headed out to get our Christmas tree!  This is the first "live" tree we have gotten in like, 13 years?!  I decided I wanted that amazing evergreen smell this year so we kept the artificial tree in the box in our basement.  I wanted to go to a tree farm and cut down our own tree, but hubs wasn't having it.  So I had to settle for picking one out from the greenhouse.  Still lots of fun!

Saturday morning I had an early hair appointment, did some Christmas shopping, and then in the afternoon we had a wedding.  My husband's cousin Kara got married and they had a lovely Adirondack mountain themed reception.  It was really nice to see some of our extended family we haven't seen in a very long time!  Virtually none of my picture came out, so this is all you're gonna get!  :)

Sunday we had a family party and then Sunday night it was tree decorating time!!!  I love our tree and I could sit and stare at it all day!  

It was such a busy weekend but so much fun!!!  I hope you all had a wonderful weekend too and your December is off to a great start!