Tree!

I ♥ LOVE ♥ putting up a Christmas tree. 

Love. 

If it were up to me, it would go up the day after Thanksgiving.

If it were up to Jeremy, it would go up on the 18th of December ;)

So, we compromise :)

Sunday we went up to Mom and Dad Fraijo's to pick out the perfect tree.

And Grandma and Grandpa had the fixin's for S'mores all ready.



The girls picked out their tree, we picked out ours . . .



And then, the traditional family picture ;)  We just started this last year, but two years in a row constitutes tradition, right?  {And also?  Heavy coat + weird camera angle = mucho added pounds}.



And . . . TA DA!  Our tree.  All 11 feet of it.  Can you just picture me up on a ladder trying to string the lights?  Good times.

Countdown to Christmas Happenings

We've had a busy start to our Countdown to Christmas, how about y'all??!


December 1st found us making our Hershey's Advents.  We always have so much fun with this.  This year we used the Hershey's Caramel Chocolates.  Uh, yum.

On the 2nd we attempted Christmas Shrinky Dinks.  We cut them out, colored, placed them in the oven, and . . . nothin'.  No shrinkin' whatsoever.  

We'd heard about a local Christmas Bazaar on the 3rd, and went to check it out.  It was pretty small, but one of the tables catered to crafts for kids.  For a couple of dollars they could choose any crafts they liked.  The girls chose Christmas Tree Ornaments.



And yesterday . . . . we got our tree!  YAY!  We've been hit with some sort of cold, and haven't been feeling our best, so we weren't sure when we'd get a tree.  But we sucked it up, and got it yesterday.  And it's HUGE.  They look so much smaller out there in the field, don't they?  Our old house had, I don't know, maybe 7 or 8 foot ceilings, but our new house has vaulted ceilings throughout much of it.  So.  Pictures of that adventure coming tomorrow ;)

How are y'all celebrating?  Don't forget to document your happenings, and come back here on Thursday for a link up!

Countdown to Christmas 2011

Oh my goodness, people.  How can it be December 1st already??  How? 

December totally snuck up on me this year.  And I'm not all that prepared.

But I'll get there.

The past two years I've blogged about our Countdown to Christmas.
We plan a special outing, activity, or craft for each day in December.  I make little notes that I've numbered 1-24, and each day I stick one, outlining our activity for the day, in a corresponding pocket of our "Advent Tree". The girls LOVE it.  And I love it too.  We like to celebrate the whole month! 



Today, we will be making our Hershey's Countdown.  Want to make your own?  Check out how here :)
Enjoy this special time.  Another year will be upon us before we know it!

{Interested in sharing your favorite holiday crafts, activities, or recipes??  Come back next Thursday, the 8th, and we'll link up!  I can't wait to see what y'all are up to!}

Baby Cereal

This little girl . . .

REALLY enjoys food.



It seems as though my baby is in a hurry to grow, and grow, and grow.
{So she can catch her big sissies, perhaps?}



Kam has decided that Taylor's cereal looks absolutely delicious.  Every day she begs for some cereal.  And every day I say, "No, Sweetie.  I don't think you'd like it much."  But today, I gave in.  I figured if she tasted it, surely she'd stop begging for it.



She had a little taste.



And I was right. 
She doesn't think it's so delicious after all ;)

{Stay tuned for Countdown to Christmas info.}

More Myself

I'm finally feeling a little more like myself.  Not really sure who I was feeling like before, but I didn't like her all that much.  I think her name was Debbie.  {As in Downer}.  Anyway.  I'm actually enjoying everyday activities again.  My poor camera {that once used to hang around my neck all day every day} was getting ZERO attention {except for photo shoots}.  Case in point: Thanksgiving.  I did not snap one photo.  Um, yeah.  Taylor's first Thanksgiving, and I have no captured memories from it.  Real nice.  But, I've started picking up my camera again.  I've missed it.  Also, I was seriously concerned that I wasn't going to find an ounce of enjoyment in the holidays this year.  But, we've decorated the house, and are talking about picking out a tree, and I truly am looking forward to counting down the days until Christmas.

Speaking of, I'm trying to decide if I'm going to do Countdown to Christmas again this year {see my fancy schmancy button to the left?}.  I will definitely try to blog all our activities {we still will be counting down, mind you}, but not sure if I'll do a link up or not.  I'm debating.




Last night Jeremy got home from hunting and surprised us with an outing to McDonald's for ice cream treats.



What can I say, ice cream almost always improves one's mood.  And now, I'm going to go make PW's Cinnamon Rolls.  Don't judge.

Thankful

I am ever so thankful for these little lovies this year . . .



. . . and also my sweet hubby . . .

. . . .and the rest of my family too.


Wishing all of you a wonderful Thanksgiving full of turkey, pie, family, and memories!

This & That

So, funny enough, life is not getting less busy.  Who knew?

I love this time of year, but good grief, it's busy!

So, what are y'all's plans for Thanksgiving?

Sierra has already told me that she is going to skip breakfast on Thursday so that she has more room for the big Thanksgiving feast.

I love that girl.  She's such a smartie.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I think I've finally gotten our Christmas cards together.  Yay!

Wanna see?

5x7 Folded Card

View the entire collection of cards.

Turns out I kind of liked some of the "outtakes" ;)

Have y'all done yours yet?

♥ 5 Months ♥

Happy Five Months, Miss Taylor Grace!


I cannot believe how quickly time passes.  You are getting so big, and changing daily.

You are now:

♥ Rolling over.  Especially if you see a toy just out of reach.
♥ Smiling & laughing.  You are the happiest little thing, giving all those smiles away.
♥ Down to two naps most days.  Usually a morning nap and one in the afternoon.
♥ Still waking to par-tay in the middle of the night about half the time.  The other half you wake several times to eat and drift right back to sleep.

You are growing before our very eyes, and such a tremendous joy to us.  From your sweet little cheeks to your infectious smiles.  We don't know what we'd do without you, sweet girl!

Photo Tip Thursday

Just a quick tip for today :)

Change up your point of view.

Get low.  {Lie on your tummy and see things the way your little ones do}

Shoot from above. {stand on a chair or step stool}

Enjoy telling the story from a different vantage point.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

No tip next Thursday due to Thanksgiving, but keep practicing, and put that White Balance to work.  I still want to see your photos taken on a different WB setting than you normally use! :)

Wordless Wednesday ~ Christmas Card Outtakes

Back?

Whew, it has been hard getting back into the swing.  Partly because life has gotten crazy busy here.  And partly because I've been in kind of a funk.  And blogging {among many other things} just aren't as enjoyable when you're in a funk, don'tcha know.

But I'm missing my blog reading.  And I'm missing my journaling.  And I don't want to be completely flung out of the loop altogether!  So, I'm going to try to do better.

Anyway, what's new with y'all?

♥ Quick catch up ♥

♥ We had a very busy deer hunting season {and Jeremy's gearing up for his season which starts this weekend}.  I passed on the hunting this year since Taylor is still so little, and Sierra took my place.  I won't go into detail,  but let's just say . . . her first year of hunting was a success!

♥ We've been spending a lot of time in our studies.  This year has been especially time-consuming with two official homeschoolers.  Makenna needs a lot of my time and attention {and God bless her, she constantly needs to be kept on track or she veers WAY off}, and as Sierra gets older, and I'm still using my hand-picked curriculum, she needs quite a bit of guidance as well.  It is so rewarding, and I really wouldn't change a thing, but some days it feels like it's all I can do to get the basics {laundry, meals, clean-up} accomplished AND put in a full day of homeschooling.

♥ Bible study is coming to a close for the holidays.  I've struggled a bit with this recent study.  It's like my heart just isn't in it the way it should be.  And then I feel guilty that I'm not giving it my all.

♥ I've been re-working our budget, and trying to find ways to save money and ways to make more money. {It's tough!} Really considering investing in one of Dave Ramsey's books.  {Anyone use his plan?}

And finally, we took a mini trip to the beach last weekend.  Last year Jeremy traded fire wood for the use of a beach house, and we just never got around to using it.  We figured we'd better use it now, or lose it, so away we went.

The weather was miserable, but we still had a good time.

{This about sums it up.  A total of 10 minutes spent on the beach before we were soaked to the bone and Kam could no longer stand up to the wind!}



We came home with crab though.  So, totally worth it :)

Hi There

Well, hi there.

I'm always at a loss when I've been away from the blog for more than a few days.  Not quite sure how to jump back in, other than to just jump back in.

I want to thank you all so much for the sweet thoughts and prayers.  And for those of you who emailed to check in, you are dear, dear friends to me.  I think it's natural to go through phases when life is a little overwhelming, but prayer is so powerful.  As my dear friend, Kelli, stated so beautifully, even when circumstances don't change you can still find His peace.  Amen to that, sister!

So. Moving on.

We have been enjoying some beautiful Fall weather.  I love all of the beautiful colors.  The crispness in the air.  Delicious smells coming from the oven.

We've been keeping ourselves busy with homeschool studies, dance classes, a new bible study, and life!  {And I had another Senior Portrait session!} 

How about y'all?  Catch me up for goodness sakes!