Countdown to Christmas 2013 ~ Day 1

We've made it to December!!!
 Our Countdown to Christmas is underway, and the girls couldn't be more excited!

December 1st started with a welcome back to our elf, Holly.
She had planned an entire North Pole Breakfast for the girls.

Turns out snowflake pancakes are yummier than regular ol' pancakes :)

Our December 1st activity was to make a candy countdown chain.
To make your own you'll need:
 saran wrap {I like red},
24 candies,
26 pieces of ribbon,
and numbered tags.

Line up your candies, fold over the saran wrap, tie ribbon and tags between each piece,
and voila ~ advent calendar!

Today we are making Christmas accessories for our American Girl dolls ~ stockings, presents, and the like!

We're also counting down with Bible verses for each day.

December 1st : John 1: 1-5
December 2nd: Isaiah 9: 2-7

Do you have great countdown ideas?
Please share!

Countdown to Christmas 2013!

This is our favorite time of year!!
 I can't believe Thanksgiving is now behind us, and we are staring straight into December!
 My goodness this year has passed by in a flash.

If you've been around here awhile, you know that I organize a Countdown to Christmas each year
 for my four girly girls.

Many years ago I made a Countdown Tree:



We love ours, but I've seen some super cute ones on Pinterest as well :)

And each day they pull a special card from a numbered pocket to find out what our fun holiday activity will be for the day.

 
Some days we actually make it out of the house {if you know Taylor you realize what a feat that is}.
But mostly we plan crafts, baking, and other activities at home.
Most everything is little to no cost; pretty much a necessity for us the last couple of years.

Over the next few days I'll try to post fun activities you may enjoy with your littles.
Sierra and Makenna are getting older now, but I think they have at least as much, if not more fun than my two little ones. 


 What fun holiday traditions do you all have?

Happy Thanksgiving!

Count your many blessings, name them one by one . . .

Oh how thankful I am for my sweet blessings whom I get to share this precious life with!

Many wishes for a happy Thanksgiving for y'all!!

Wordless Wednesday ~ Frosty Mornings

Christmas Bazaar

It's that time of year . . .
Christmas Bazaar time!!

Oh how I love this season!!!

From the first of November until the 1st of January,
I just love the sights and activities of the season!

Our church held their second annual bazaar last weekend,
and the girls and I excitedly set up our table, and kept watch for two days!

Christmas gift tags

It always amazes me how much stuff it seems like we have made up,

when we're busily crafting at home, vs. what it looks like when we get down to the bazaar

and set it all up on the gigantic table, lol!

Crayon Keeper


The first day was terribly slow, but it gave us an opportunity to visit, craft, relax.
All of which we never get to do, so it was nice!

Handmade necklaces 


And come Saturday, things picked up, and Sierra and Makenna made friends
with other girls who were sentenced to manning their own table ;) 

 

Tissue holder 

 At the end of the weekend, we had made friends, a little extra Christmas spending money, and
had a wonderful time!

Sock Snowmen

Can't wait to do it all again next year!!

Wordless Wednesday ~ Little Helper

Crazy Busy

Whew!
I'm trying to catch my breath in between photo shoots,
and apple cider making,
and crafting for the Christmas Bazaar,
and actually attending the Bazaar,
and homeschool,
and Christmas shopping,
and consults for ortho,
and planning for Countdown to Christmas,
and
and
and

But I had to pop in and share a session from last weekend.
My poor photography blog gets even less attention than this blog,
so it's probably time to just consolidate, and post here.

Alrighty, less chatty . . .
Check out this GORGEOUS family
{who just happen to BE my family}

Seriously beautiful family inside and out!

And with that, I am off to sew a Christmas gift,
put the littles to bed, and prepare to start another busy day!

 

Cider Time!

It's Cider-making day, hooray!
Our 2nd annual Cider press!

Chili is made, and in the crockpot.
Cornbread muffins are baked, and cooling.
Dip is ready to meet chip.
I have four loaves of bread to bake,
and one more pot of soup to put together . . .
and then we are READY!

I ♥ FALL!

November, already?

Well, hello there :)

Days are flying by at the speed of light, as usual.
We had a fabulous Halloween weekend, and are moving right along toward Thanksgiving.
How this is possible, I'm not sure. But my calendar doesn't lie.

Halloween night we Trick or Treated
{which is code for: we stopped by grandparents houses,
 and then stuffed ourselves on candy while watching The Great Pumpkin}

I think Kam was the only one of the girls who stuck with her original dress up idea :)

We came up with Sissy's costume idea, literally, an hour before heading out.
May I present: The White Witch from Narnia

 

Saturday evening was spent down at the church for the Harvest festival, which was SO much fun.
It was kind of quiet, but I won't lie, that's how we love it.
It was comfortable, and casual, and the girls belted out worship songs onstage.
Ahhhhh. Makes my heart happy.

So, what else?
Life has been busy with photo shoots, schooling, and the like.
But we managed to fit in a few photos for ourselves:

I call this, Christmas Card Photo, Take One . . .
 

My silly girls.

Next up?
Family is coming for a visit this weekend, and
cider-making is on the calendar for Saturday.
We can't wait!
I'm making chili, soup, bread . . . and of course, the main course will be cider ;)

Life

 So.

In between chasing puppies . . .
 

{We kept two, ahem}


And picking out the perfect pumpkin . . .
 

We've been enjoying an absolutely gorgeous Fall.
 

Granted, it's flying by at the speed of light.
I've been kept so busy with photography sessions this year, on top of our already busy schedule, that days are just flashing right by.

But I can't complain.
I love what I'm doing.

We even made time for our own photos the other day.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Oh these little loves make this mama so happy!

If there are any of you left out there,
{and I'm quite certain there aren't},

What have you been up to?
Have you had your Christmas card photos done yet?
Have you started Christmas shopping yet?
Or are you a normal person who is just focusing on Halloween at the moment? ;)

I know I've been a terrible blogger for, like, the last 2 1/2 years.
But I really hope to be around more.
Especially around the holidays.
I can't imagine not sharing in Countdown to Christmas this year.
Anyone want to join?

 

 

 

 

 

Get Away

I realize I'm a terrible blogger.
I'm making peace with that.
There is so much going on around here, just in our day to day, that there simply isn't time.

But I had to check in because . . .
Jeremy and I got away.
Overnight.
Without children.
Pretty much for the first time in eleven years.

Jeremy had a conference to attend in Tahoe, so away we went!

 

 

It was gorgeous.
Absolutely gorgeous.
Chilly.
But gorgeous.

Look at these colors!
Try as I might, I couldn't quite capture the beauty.
But I definitely tried.
 

 

 

We had a fabulous time.
I missed my girls big time.
And we texted approximately 5,872 times in the little more than 48 hours we were gone . . .
 

 

But it was wonderful to have some alone time with my gorgeous hubs!

 

 

 

 

 

Girls Trip 2013

 Life just isn't going to slow down, is it?
I often wonder how I had time to blog so regularly before,
when it's all I can do to whip up a bi-monthly report these days.

Such is the season of life.
I'd better choose to embrace it.

So. Our annual Girls Trip with Grandma has come and gone.
With so many happenings in early September, we couldn't get away until this last weekend.
We headed to Central Oregon on Sunday, and what a fabulous time we had.

Geri had chosen the most beautiful town house at Eagle Crest Resort.
And if you know Kam, that's her favorite part.
She LOVES a nice hotel room or beautiful vacation home.
She could care less about any of the activities.
Just give her a well-appointed place to kick back, and she's one happy girl!
Goodness, I love that child.

We shopped until we dropped on Monday, ordered take out, and headed back to the house for some R&R.

 

 

 {Do you notice little Miss Taylor-Diva?!  She's such a kick these days!!}

 

 

On Tuesday morning we headed home.
A quick stop in Sisters for a bit more shopping . . .
 

 

and a quick photo shoot outside the town house.
 

The property was gorgeous.
This was, literally, right outside our back deck:

 

 

Oh how I love our Girls Trip.
It's an outing we look forward to each year.
 

 

 

 A big thank you to Grandma Geri for planning such a fun getaway!
{And I'm bummed to say I don't have a group shot of us. 
Geri does, though, so hopefully I'll get ahold of one soon!!}