What Christmastime means to me...

Well, this isn't ALL that Christmas time means to me, but there certainly are things that inspire that feeling of the Holiday's...

Christmas Pajamas!

Here's a cuter picture of Taylor's little PJ tutu!

Holiday treat making day. I didn't go all out like I did last year, if you remember, but I did make some peppermint bark for our family and friends.

My once a year craft. This year it was Jewelry making. I made this for my sister in law.

Of course, it isn't Christmas without the yearly visit to Santa. This year we went out to Cabela's for free santa visits and where you can take your own picture! Too bad both of our kids didn't want a thing to do with Santa! :) I love the look on Taylor's face.

Ben's once a year doughnut making. He makes these every year for our Ward Elder's Quorum party. They are delicious! Coated with cinnamon and sugar! It's probably a good thing that he only makes them once a year! :)

Here's to a great start to our Holiday season! :)

We're so glad when daddy comes home!

Remember how I said that Ben went to Alabama for a week at the beginning of December? Well,

he made it home safely and soundly and BOY were the kids and I excited and happy to see him!

This little girl had this man wrapped around her little finger!

It's a good thing he made it home when he did, because we were starting to look like this every evening, and I didn't know how much longer I could last! :)

While daddy's away....

Ben went to Alabama last week to help his parents finish a room in their house. And while he was gone, we were some busy folk. I had to keep these two busy so as not to drive myself crazy! :) But we had a good time and I survived not having daddy around for a week.

We got our craft on...

It helped that I have an advent calendar that I put a different activity in each day. It rotates between watching a Christmas Movie, reading a Christmas book, making a Christmas craft and baking a Christmas treat. We got to do a little of each while daddy was gone.

I made a well for our ward Christmas party. We did 'A night in Bethlehem' program and I was asked to make a well for the party. Tucker had fun playing with it as I was making it.

The finished product. I think it turned out pretty good! :)

We also got our cooking on. We made sugar cookies for our friends and neighbors...

{My little helper, who isn't really a little helper at all!} :)

We also made some of my favorite, banana bread muffins with chocolate chips...

We watched a lot of movies. I had the kids bathed and in their pj's by 6 most nights. I think more for my sanity than anything else. :)But it worked and we were able to watch a lot of great Christmas movies and specials before bed time. It was perfect!

Tucker insisted on sleeping on the couch one night. He wanted to sleep out by the Christmas lights. I thought it sounded like a fun idea. I went into my room and read and ended up going to sleep at 9 that night! :)

We ate most meals picnic style out in the living room. Per the kids request...

And we drank lots and lots and lots of hot chocolate!

A few dance parties may have happened...

And we just hung out at home and played a lot! I think it was a successful week. For all of us, Ben got all the work down in Alabama that he went down to do and I am so proud of him! I'm glad he was able to go help his parents, it will be so nice to have the extra room when we are there at Christmas time. And all of us survived up here, and dare I say, had a great time! :)

Oh, and my happiest moment of the week? Getting our storage room organized! I finally did it! This room was a disaster with most things just thrown in and balancing on the things next to or underneath. Anyway, I am a happy lady with this room finally cleaned out! (6 bags to goodwill later)

decorating the Christmas tree...

Here are the only shots I got as we were decorating the Christmas tree. I love decorating the Christmas tree as a family and listening to a little Ray Charles Christmas. Perfect for getting us in the Holiday Spirit. I can't tell you how many times I've just wandered into the dark living room lit only by our tree lights and just sat and stared at the beautiful Christmas decorations. It's best with a mug of hot cocoa! :)

{guess I'm a little bit more shaky than I thought!}

Pics of the kids...

I went out a few weeks ago determined to get some good pics of my kids. I always take pictures of other people's kids and hardly ever get good pictures of my own. So, we went out. I was thinking about sending out Christmas cards this year, but have just recently decided against it. Too much work! :) I will next year. So, If I would have sent out cards, these are the pictures that would be on them. We were outside for a total of 7 minutes before the tantrums started and the whining and complaining. Luckily, in those seven minutes, we got at least 3 OK to good shots. And we were done. They were my worst clients ever!

I had Tucker hold up 5 fingers for him being 5 now!

These are the shots that wouldn't have made the card. This is the reality:

Hopefully next year we'll get some good family ones taken!

Four Eyes to New eyes

A few months ago my husband entered a contest on the radio to win free lasik eye surgery. The contestants had to enter a 4 minute video on why they should win the surgery and then the videos got judged by the am radio hosts. Here is Ben's video that he worked long and hard on. Alas, it did not win and Ben did not get the surgery, but I wanted to share, because I thought it was pretty funny and that he should have won! :) You can see why I am so proud of him! :)

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

We love this time of year around here!