Christmas is Coming...

And it's coming faster than you think! 60 days people! 60! How is that even possible? I just stopped writing 2010 on my checks. When Christmas comes that means it's time for Christmas cards. Since I never got around to sending out change of address cards after we moved this year I need to get on the ball and mail our cards at Thanksgiving. Creating the cards has been on my "To Do" list for a couple weeks so I was super excited to get an email this week that Shutterfly would be running their Christmas Card special for bloggers again this year. Not only do I get 50 free cards again, but I get a little something for my readers. (Keep reading to find out how you can win!)

Last year I wrote about the joys of finding a good Christmas picture. We are blessed to have amazing pictures to use from the incomparable Julie Paisley again this year. The only problem is choosing which pictures to use!

Maybe I should use this picture... It really captures our personalities!

I have the same issue with Shutterfly this season as well! They have so many cute designs that are new for the holidays. Their photo Christmas cards are always the best choice for us - usually a collage design so that not everyone has to look great in each picture! They have cards for every occasion, including Halloween, Thanksgiving, New Year's and Valentine's Day. (And Valentine's isn't quite sneaking up on us too quickly yet!) If you aren't quite on the ball to send cards before the holidays, you can always print Thank You cards for your kids to send to all the wonderful gift-givers in their lives.

Be on the look out for our card this year. And in the meantime, if you want to try out some Shutterfly cards be sure and leave me a comment. They've given me 3 codes for 25 free cards for my readers. I'll randomly select 3 winners from the comments that are left before November 5th.

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year...

Time for the annual Christmas card picture. I really don't know how our parents did it. How did you know that you'd gotten a decent picture when you just had to trust that it was somewhere on that roll of film?! Just one more reason I'm thankful to live in the digital age! Thankfully this year we already have our family picture from a professional after Caroline was born. Now I just have to get them designed, addressed and in the mail!

I have always used Shutterfly to make our family Christmas card. Their site is always easy to use and has fantastic designs. Plus, I love that any photos I upload to their site are stored there for me. (So when our computer crashed a few years ago and we lost EVERY SINGLE PICTURE on it I still had all my Shutterfly uploads!) This year they have made the deal even sweeter! Bloggers can get 50 free Holiday cards just for blogging about their experience with Shutterfly. All you have to do is sign up here.

If you haven't checked out their new designs you should. They are very well done and you can order everything from simple photo cards to folded stationary cards. And don't forget about all the gift items like calendars, mugs, wall art and photo books. We made a photo book of our trips to Disney World last year to give our grandparents for Christmas. It was a huge hit and way to help them experience a trip they couldn't be a part of.

Do you send Christmas cards? Have you started thinking about them? There's only 37 days until Christmas, you know?

Ignore the Thanksgiving decorations in the background and the fact that my children refuse to look directly at the camera!

Maybe if Mom would stop being goofy Luke would look at the camera and smile...

Now it's Dad's turn to look goofy...

As you can see... it's not easy to get a good shot around here. I'm sure adding one more baby will only make things that much easier!

Nothing Says Love Like...

a heart cookie with the word "love" on it?

Nope. Cookies with sharks and snakes. At least that's what Mark Garrett thinks. I promised him that he could help me make cookies for Valentine's Day to give his teachers. What did he want to put on them? Hearts? Flowers? Nah. We went for the oh-so-manly sharks and snakes.

I did however make a few cookies that were more my style and we actually packaged these for Mark's teachers. But he was happy making his own cookies to eat. And we had a good time making them together. I've been teaching myself to decorate sugar cookies for a while now and have learned so much from the Bake at 350 blog . I think I'm getting better and better.

My lettering still needs some work, but some of these turned out great. (Tim's favorite was the "Hot Stuff" cookie - probably because I told him it was inspired by him!)

For Valentine's Day I wanted to make everyone a special breakfast before church. It's one of my favorite memories growing up that my mom did for us and I wanted to do something that the boys would enjoy. Heart shaped pancakes were out because of Luke's food allergies and so were the heart eggs I made last year. So I opted for pink cream of wheat. It was simple for a busy Sunday morning and the boys loved it. We also had "silly" orange juice (orange juice with a little ginger ale,) and everyone had a little something special at their place mats.

A book, a new car AND jellybeans! What a morning!

Sharks and Elephants, Oh My!

Today was mostly spent recovering from all of us being sick this week - laundry, dishes, more laundry. A stomach bug took Luke down first on Wednesday so he was home from school all day with me. Bedtime rolled around that night to find Mark getting sick. I knew I was next but by the end of Thursday I smugly thought, "Wow. I can't believe I didn't get sick." Not so fast. Friday morning it hit me with a vengeance and I thought I was going to die. Thankfully it was a school day and I could lay in bed and moan most of it, but it shot our plans to go to the Trunk or Treat Carnival at the church down the street. I called everyone I could think of to see if anyone could take Mark, but no one was available. I felt horrible because he has literally been talking about this carnival since we went last Halloween. So, today I wanted to do something fun for him.

I thought I'd make a special lunch of "worms and dirty rocks." When I told him that's what we were having for lunch I thought he was going to cry. I had to quickly explain that it wasn't really worms and rocks, but just beans and hot dogs. So much for that plan.

Then a friend called to invite us to a small party at her house to culminate with trick-or-treating. We headed over there and it was fun, but it was so hot here today that the kids were just miserable. After an hour or so we had a sand-throwing incident, followed by a time-out/fit-throwing incident, immediately followed by an accident in our pants incident. (And all of those were the 4 year old.) Needless to say, we didn't stick around for trick-or-treating.

Mark being a mummy at the party - before the incidents!

I told Mark that if he obeyed when we got home that we'd take a bath and go to a few houses on our street. He did indeed start obeying so we dressed up one more time and trick-or-treated just on our street.

Mark wanted to dress up like a shark this year after seeing the costume in the Pottery Barn Kids catalog and getting a Hot Wheels "Shark Park" racetrack from Uncle Eric and Lauren for his birthday. He also would say he wanted to be a shark so that he could "chase Luke around." (Sweet brotherly love!) But he changed his mind to a "nice" shark and since I'm too cheap to pay PB prices (and they were sold out before they went on sale) I had to make one with a hoodie and some felt. I think it turned out pretty cute! Luke, as usual, was what Mark was 2 years ago. Although, I couldn't have picked a cuter costume since he already walks with a little waddle in his step.

Now, if you'll excuse me I have some Reese's Peanut Butter Cups to eat while my children sleep. I consider it good mothering. No child needs that much candy - it'll rot their teeth out!

How's this for Scary?

And this was how Luke's hair looked when he woke up this morning...

Happy Halloween!

More pictures to follow....

Mamaw's Burgers...

For as long as I can remember, my Mamaw's burgers have been my favorite.  But since we make it back to Texas so infrequently, I hardly ever get to eat one anymore.  But Memorial Day, Mamaw made burgers for me and they were as good as they ever were.  Most of the family came over and we had a great afternoon seeing everyone.  I feel incredibly blessed to be able to share my Mamaw and Papaw (G.C.) with my boys.  They mean so much to me and I am grateful every day that they are still in my life!

Here I am with a mouthful - I told you I liked them!

Mamaw has many, many "famous" dishes, but this is another recipe I can 

remember her making most every Memorial Day and 4th of July.

Easter Fun!

We had a great Easter weekend with Tim's parents.  G.G. and Papa came on Saturday afternoon and Mark was so excited to show them how to dye eggs.  We also got to go to one of our favorite local seafood restaurants and the park nearby.  Sunday we went to church together then came home and put the boys down for their naps.  We had a great lunch and followed up naptime with a little Easter basket action and some egg hunting.  It was a great weekend!

Dyeing eggs

Our results

Sliding with G.G.

Swinging

Walking with Daddy (Isn't this picture precious?)

As usual, my children were very cooperative for picture taking

The boys each got a truck for their sandbox, a book, some candy and some stuffed animals

Those Tricky Leprechauns!

While Mark was playing this morning the St. Patrick's Day Leprechaun's visited us and played a few tricks.  He was very impressed with what they did to our breakfast...

Our milk and Cream of Wheat was green!

Today also happens to be our favorite aunt's birthday.  Happy Birthday Aunt Lindsy!  We love you!

Mmmm...bacon!

Mom got up early to set a nice table for our family breakfast. It happens so rarely that we all get to enjoy a relaxed breakfast together I thought I'd make it a nice one!

Mark slept until 8 am this morning. Happy Valentine's Day to us!


We had heart-shaped "Toad-in-a-holes" and bacon...



Poor Lukie only got bacon. He seems pretty happy with it though.
Notice his spoon. He insists on having one when he eats now.



Mark got a magnetic cars fridge set and a new Thomas DVD.
Luke got a new book that squeaks and Dad got his favorite candy - Sweet tarts!

I hope you all had a wonderful Valentine's Day with the ones you loved.

Dinner In...

I mentioned that we aren't going to dine out for Valentine's Day this year. Tim just got home from sea and I wasn't expecting him home in time for celebrating. Since the holiday falls on a Saturday I imagine a call now to reserve a table would be met with a hardy chuckle on the other end of the phone line. And I want to do something special for Tim that I think he will really enjoy. No dressing up. No pressure. Just a romantic dinner in.

Our kids go to bed early and well. (I don't think I'd be a sane person if they didn't!) That means that we will have the television and house to ourselves around 7:30. My plan is to set up a picnic in the living room. I'll be serving Tim's favorite fondue. (Don't worry it's a very manly recipe that he always enjoys.) We'll have lots of bread and Lil' Smokies for dipping, along with some veggies. Then we'll watch our wedding video. I don't know if you have a wedding video, but we love ours. I recommend a videographer to all of our friends getting married. It costs a little extra, but we watch our video at least twice a year.

After the video we'll have chocolate fondue with fruit and angel food cake. It's the perfect plan for an evening in. We don't have to fork out money for the babysitter, drive to Jacksonville to find a nice restaurant or dress up. We can just be together and remember how it all started.

Having Valentine's dinner in works for me and is just one way I'm honoring my husband this week. Read more inspiring stories of loving our husbands at We are THAT family this week.

Clash of the Big 12...

Today is National Clash Clothes Day according to Sandra at Celebrate Every Day. She's put a challenge out there, so here's our attempt at clashing. We decided to go for the creative approach and wear all of our different Big 12 gear. If you don't see your school represented, well, send us some clothes. We don't discriminate except against t.u. You'll notice there is no burnt orange here. Tim won't allow it in the house. But the orange crocs are a tribute to Oklahoma State. What do you think? Can you beat our clash?

Golf hat, Tech onesie, Oklahoma jacket, cammo pants, blue socks, orange sandals...

Oklahoma hat, red shirt, Aggie jersey, plaid shorts, argyle socks and orange crocs...

My New Years Gift...

Have you ever spent 15 hours in a car, airport and plane with my children? I have. I don't recommend it. Ever. Let's just say New Year's Eve 2008 can be cataloged with all our other stellar flying adventures...

It all started with a simple ride to the airport. Our friend Jerry (who now deserves a very nice gift, along with his wonderful wife, Laura) was going to take us so that I didn't have to park in long-term parking and ride the shuttle with our bag and the stroller and the kids. An 18-wheeler on the interstate interfered with our plans in a huge way. The 30 minute drive to the Jacksonville airport took 90 minutes and the day went downhill from there. We missed being able to check our bags and get on our 2:15 flight by 10 minutes. So, they booked us on the next flight out at 6:10. We spent the afternoon playing on the airport floor. We watched Thomas, ran around, ate a little dinner and prepared to board our flight. We were halfway through boarding when it stopped and they had everyone deplane. Our flight was cancelled and they had us exit security to rebook. We called Laura to come get us so that we didn't have to spend the night on the airport floor. Then, the flight was back on - at midnight. So, we called Laura again to cancel our ride and went back through security and spent the evening riding the moving sidewalks. We finally took off about 12:30 am New Year's morning.

As exhausted as I felt, I wasn't able to fall asleep on the plane and throwing a bit of a pity party. Both boys were asleep and I was listening to music. New Year's Eve has always been a special holiday for Tim and I. Our first date was 7 years ago on New Year's Eve. We've celebrated in Vegas, at parties with friends, and at home with other couples. Each year has always been a special time for us together. I was feeling particularly sorry for myself with Tim at sea and the long day I'd had in the airport when Luke started waking up. He couldn't seem to get comfortable in his seat to sleep. I unlatched his seatbelt and held him close to me and he immediately fell back asleep. As I sat on that airplane I thought about what an amazing gift God had given me this New Year's Eve. As I sat with my youngest on my lap and my eldest leaned against my arm I could not have been more moved than I was in those moments. I might not have been with my husband the moment the new year arrived, but I was blessed to be with my kids. If we hadn't missed our flight they would have been in their beds and I would have been alone. Instead, God reminded me of all my incredible blessings by allowing me to hold my precious children when I needed my family most.

I don't know how many more times Luke will even sleep in my lap. And I don't know when Mark will sleep with my arm around him again but I know that I will never forget New Year's Eve 2008. It wasn't the night I'd had planned. It was so much more.

Our DVD player and new Thomas movie were highly entertaining...

Good thing the airport wasn't crowded...

This is early in the day...when I thought we'd only be there 4 hours, not 10...

It was looking a lot like Christmas...

Welcome to our new home!

I've been intending to do this for several weeks now, but I thought I'd post a few pictures of our home decorated for the season before I take it all down. Plus, I've hardly posted any pics of our new house here in Georgia so this satisfies that need as well. Enjoy the short tour...

This is our entry table. It's one of my favorite spots this year.
I love the Luminous Nesting Bowls and the Celebration Wreath.



We haven't put curtains on our back doors, so I hung two fresh greenery wreaths. The sun shone on them every morning so the house smelled so nice all month.


This is my snowman collection on top of our media console.


We don't have a mantle so I improvised with an armoire and used my Holiday Tabletop Tree to decorate the large space.


One of my favorite features of our house is the tall ceilings and space above the kitchen cabinets. Here's one of the spaces that I decorated this Christmas.


My china hutch in the dining room.


I loved the way this turned out on my dining room buffet. It felt very whimsical and fun, yet still dressy enough for the dining room.


Our HUGE tree. Tim and I did not realize it was this big when we saw it in Hobby Lobby. But thankfully it fits and really was lovely in our living room this year. We just can't ever move to a house with smaller ceilings!

My Cathedral Luminary - so simple and elegant. I just love this!

Okay, so maybe I love it all. I wish I could tell you that I didn't go shopping yesterday and hit all the post-Christmas sales. I did though. But that just means that I have more beautiful decorations for next year. Christmas certainly isn't about the decorations, but there's just something so beautiful about celebrating the holiday in your home with your family. For me, this is what our new home looks like. I hope your home gives you the same warm, comfortable feeling however it's decorated and wherever you are.