we made it...

We made it through all the hustle and bustle of the last couple of days.  I hope everyone had a very nice Christmas.  It's actually hard to believe Christmas Day is over.  I love that day and wish there were more than 24 hours to it.  Luckily I found some stashed cookies in the back of the pantry {smile}.

Isn't this snowglobe the most adorable little thing?  I love it. 

Happy Tuesday!!

Merry Christmas...

Joy to the World.  That says it all.

Merry Christmas!!

i can't help but smile for bokeh...

I love bokeh.  I know I've said it before, but I absolutely love what it does in a photograph.  I actually even love it when I'm watching a movie and you see bokeh in the back of the shot.  I'll be watching a movie and I'll have a conversation with my husband that usually goes like this:

me: ooohhh bokeh
my husband: what?
me: the pretty little blurry lights in the back
my husband: what?
me: the pretty little blurry lights.. never mind {smile}

This week has been crazy.  I think Snickerdoodle is even overwhelmed with all the hustle and bustle this time of year brings.  We are so thankful that he is part of our family.

Happy Wednesday!!

twinlke twinkle little star...

I just can't keep up the way I would like to these days.  Does anyone else have this  problem?  Please tell me I'm not the only one with this problem.  This time of year I wish you could just put it in slow gear and take off the cruise control. 

We did get to spend two night this past week enjoying our kids Christmas concerts.  The oldest plays the french horn.  I never played a instrument, well that's not exactly true.  I did try the violin in grade school but the teacher told me she thought it was best if I didn't pursue it any further.  What?  I loved that violin and nobody played Twinkle Twinkle Little Star like I did.  Looking back maybe that was the issue {smile}.

The youngest sang a couple songs at his concert.  They were so adorable singing All I Want For Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth.  The middle child escaped without having to do anything this year.

Back to the french horn.  I walk, actually sometimes trip passed this thing everyday.  It's beautiful.  It draws my in.  I want to make beautiful music come out of it like my daughter does.  How does she make it look so easy?  Here's the thing, I am a very competitive person, anyone who knows me knows this about me.  Several times now in the trance of this beautiful instrument calling my name I have tried to get a note out of it.  Just one note that's all I'm asking for and I just can not do it.  I don't defeat easily but that horn beats me every time.  So I guess I'll have to just enjoy the music my daughter magically plays.

Happy Friday!!

joy you can't buy...

I made chocolate chip cookies last week for the kids.  To be honest, it wasn't really just for them to have cookies to eat.  Mainly it was so I could see the excitement on their faces when they walked in the door and and can't drop their backpacks fast enough to get them.  Isn't is funny how the easiest little things light them up.   Even though they don't know it, I get the biggest reward {smile}.

It's starts with a few simple ingredients...

... and ends magically like this...

For the record, I did eat all these cookies at one time {smile}.

Happy Tuesday!!

scents of the season...

I love how the house smells this time of year.  Fresh baked cookies and pine trees.  The smell of the Christmas tree has to be the best.  I do medicate myself because I'm allergic to it but I just can't break the tradition of going with my family to the tree farm and picking out the "perfect tree".   Call my crazy.

But this year we had a new scent..wet dog.  Poor little thing he can't help that it's been raining so much.  He's still so adorable no matter if it rains or not.  Hopefully some of that rain turns into little white snowflakes.

http://www.iheartfaces.com/


He makes me SMILE.

Happy Monday!!

reindeer please...

Monday I showed you a couple of boxes I was planning to use for a project.  Remember?

Well it's finally finished it.  Ready?!



I made a cardboard Rudolph for each of my boys.  My husband used to hunt before we had kids.  The boys are starting to show some interest but they aren't old enough yet.  So I thought I would make each of them their own deer head display for their rooms. 

This project was free.  I used some cardboard from boxes or if you don't have any you could buy some flat pieces of cardboard.  I think they sell them at office supply stores.  I'll post the link for the directions.  If I'm out and see a decent priced wreath like the one they used in the design I'm going to add that also.

Hope you think he's as cute as I do!

http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/holidays/christmas-ideas/scandinavian-christmas-decorations-reindeer#slide-3

Happy Wednesday!!

transformation...

I wanted to have this box transformation finished to show everyone this morning, but other things came first this weekend.  Like snuggling up on the sofa and watching the Santa Clause movie with the family. 

My new goal is to be able to post it tomorrow, wish me luck.



For now I'll show you what I started with.  Two boxes that packages were dropped off in.  I can't wait for my kids to see these.

Happy Monday!!

pencils please...

We have three school aged children who bring home homework everyday.  Why is it that everyday we can never find a pencil.  Oh wait, I should correct that, we can never find a sharpened pencil.

This drives me nuts.  What happens to them.  Is there a lead eating fairy that comes and destroys pencils at night? {I know there really isn't, but that's the only conclusion I could come up with}

So I've declared war.  It's me versus the pencil.  Let's take a look at all the options we've used.

Option #1 the little basic sharpener.  Makes a mess and doesn't do a good job.

Option #2 the bigger basic sharpener.  The kids thought the bigger one would work better.

Option #3 the electric sharpener.  It just eats pencils. Oh and don't try this for crayons, just saying.

Option #4.  We decided to go old school.  Turns out it may be the best purchase I've ever made.



It's fabulous.  This sharpener offers eight different size options and man can it sharpen a pencil.  I love that it can sharpen the larger pencil my youngest uses.  And even though I didn't time it it seems like it only takes two seconds flat to do the job.

Look how pathetic these poor things look before using all the other options.

Now, look how nice and pointy they are after just a few cranks in the new sharpener.  Can you hear me singing with joy?  Actually, you don't want to hear me sing, although I do know every word to Keith Urban's songs {smile}.

I think I sharpened  give or take 57 pencils last night.   Thank you X-Acto KS.  I love you.

Happy Thursday!!