Oh Christmas Time, Oh Christmas Time

This Christmas has been a very busy one.  Usually I feel like time is dragging for the Big day to get here but this year it came and came fast.  Luckily Jon and I had decided that it was going to be a simple Christmas this year and were done and ready with gifts way ahead of time.  We got to spend lots of time with Daddy the week before Christmas due to a change in some work hours which was the best gift to me ever!!!!  We love having Daddy home.  On Christmas Eve Jon had to work at the Bee’s during the day so Baylee, Abi and I just hung out at home relaxing.  I figured it was best to let little Abi get as many good naps at home because I knew life was going to be crazy the next few days!  Once Daddy got home we loaded up and headed over to Grandma Tam’s house to visit with Kirt and his family.  Then we all loaded up and headed to Lori’s for our traditional Christmas Eve dinner of hoagies sandwiches (homemade hoagie rolls!!) and salads and chips.  It was all very yummy!  After dinner we did our white elephant gift exchange and the gift of the year was a playboy bunny blanket that my nephew picked and loved and would not let go of the whole rest of the night!  Every year Grandma Tam makes jammies for the kids so they have matching ones.  Baylee asks to wears hers almost every night!  If that one is washing then she wants her princess ones that Grandma Karen gave her. Kirt took a picture of all the grandkids in their new jammies and I will try to get a copy for you all to see. 

Baylee was the first up in our house Christmas morning but it was her regular wake up time.  She was very excited so we sent daddy down to check to see if Santa had come then her and I headed down the stairs.  She was very excited to see that Santa had brought more presents!

I didn’t want Abi to miss out on the unwrapping of gifts so I went up and woke her up.  Luckily for us she wakes up very happy and does well even when we wake her up.  The first gift that was opened(Baylee opened all gifts unless it was to daddy or me) was to Abi and it was the Tutu that I had made for her.  She grabbed it and proceeded to chew on it the rest of the morning!



Well since Christmas was on a Sunday as soon as gift unwrapping was done we started the process of getting ready for church, luckily Santa had gotten the girls very pretty dresses for Christmas so there was no fight about what to wear this morning(Baylee has a different opinion then me on what is cute for church)

My mom made the girls the cutest Tepee and Baylee had to have it set up right away and played in it while I got ready for church.

We headed to Grandma Tam’s church and then out to her house for dinner.  we spent the next day at Grandma Tam’s house playing games,  It was a whirl wind but we loved every min. of it!

Feeling Blessed

I was singing to my sweet girls this evening and had a strong feeling on how blessed I truly am.  At times I look at my life and think "why can't I have this or that?" the this or that changes with my mood but it always seems to be something that appears greener.  But tonight I just thought "Boy am I one lucky momma!"  Here I have 2 very sweet little girls that bring so much joy in my life and I have a wonderful husband that is working 2 jobs sometimes the equivalent of 3 jobs just so that I can stay at home with my children.  He never complains and always is happy.  Yes there is a lot in life that would be nice but not needed for my happiness.  One of the things that brings the most joy in my heart is when I see Abigail smiling up at her big sister Baylee  and Baylee smiling down on her sister, the love they share makes me so happy.  I am so glad to be their mother and feel like the luckiest mother every to have them in my life.  If Jon and I never have any more children then that is ok because we have been blessed so much already, and if the Lord sees fit to bless us with more children we will welcome them into our home with eagerness! 

Picnic Fun

Baylee and I were having a picnic and Abi was feeling better after a few days of being sick so she got to join us.  She sure loved the chicken!  She knew right what to do with the food that was handed to her, it went right to her mouth.  Her favorite was the chicken and hot dogs. 

My Girls!

 

 

 

 

 

These girls keep us busy but they also keep us laughing.  As soon as Abi wakes up for the day Baylee is begging to hold her.  She will hold her and talk to her and sing to her and even when Abi is done and crying Baylee wants to hold her and make her happy.  Abi is getting to a point were she handles her big sisters craziness a lot better.  Abi loves to eat Baylee and Baylee thinks it is great!  At bed time Abi joins us in Baylee’s room as we read Baylee as story, do prayers, and sing one of Baylee’s favorite songs which is fast becoming one of Abi’s favorites as well.  When it is song time Baylee scoots over in her bed to make room for Abi. I will lay Abi next to Baylee and Abi turns on her side so she is facing Baylee and they hug with huge grins on their faces while I sing.  I love moments like that.  I sure hope they continue to have that kind of love and friendship as they grow older.  I know that the age gap will create some challenges but I sure hope they can over come that.  These two girls are the joys of my life!

Baylee’s Room all finished!!

Here is What we started out with.  A basic light tan almost white wall and then we added some color!!

But that still was not enough for us!  We went one step further and added some fun! 

The empty space above the dresser will have a picture of the temple there just have to get it first.

We are loving the way this turned out! 

Our Getting Ready for Christmas Adventures!

So this year we decided to get a tree just for Baylee to decorate and the crazy momma that I am thought oh it would be a blast to make all of the ornaments for it!!  Some of the days I was thinking “What the heck am I doing!” but for the most part it was fun and Baylee really enjoyed it and that was the whole purpose.  We started the adventure out by borrowing an air pop popcorn popper.  Baylee had never seen popcorn made any way other then the microwave that I know of and she was really interested in how this thing worked and thought it was great when the popcorn came popping out.  After we popped as much as I figured we would need for our popcorn garland we let it sit out for a few days to make it easier to string.

While we waited for the popcorn to be ready we worked on the star for the top, I was so busy helping with this project that I didn’t get any pictures of us making it but here is a picture of the finished project, It was fun to see Baylee be creative with it. She was so proud of her star she couldn’t wait to put it on her tree.
After a few days we began work on the popcorn garland,  I have never strung popcorn so I didn’t know what to expect but it was a lot of work but fun in its' own sort of way.  Baylee really loved to do it and was really good at it. Every piece she did she would remind me that she was not going to poke herself so that I wouldn’t worry. 

Next we had to move on to the ornaments.  I had big plans for this, we cut up oranges, limes,lemons, and apples and put them in the dehydrated to let them dry our, well only the oranges really turned out all that great, I think I will try grapefruit another time.  Then I found a recipe on line using Applesauce, cinnamon, and allspice to make ornaments.  It was kind of messy but smelt so yummy when cooking.  Baylee and Grace got to help with the cutting out part and thought that it was fun.  After they sat out and were dry all the way Baylee and I spent fHE putting the finishing touches on them with lots of glitter.  Baylee loves anything that sparkles and had so much fun sprinkling glitter all over.  I am sure that I will be finding glitter for months to come all over this house.

Christmas ornaments VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

I tried to squeeze each of these activities into times that Abi was asleep but she did get in on the decorating part.

The Final Product!!!!

That smile made all the work wiorth it and I can’t wait to keep up this tradition with both girls as they grow.  It will be so fun to come up with new ideas for decorations that we can make! (we do have a real and much bigger tree that Jon and I decorated this one is just for Baylee)

Beans by Candlelight: Quick & Easy Bags!

Beans by Candlelight: Quick & Easy Bags!: Quick and Easy Bags! I have a small bag that I use for my scriptures and everyone asks where I got it,(Which was at a yard sale...

These bags are very cute and my cousin gives a great tutorial on how to make one. hope you all enjoy!!