Giddy at the gym

I joined a gym yesterday. I am so excited! We joined as a family so we can all go together. They have a nice child care center for the kids and Ethan can play indoor soccer next season too. They have all kinds of classes including yoga & body pump and a fitness center loaded with all the good stuff. I am so excited about getting in shape!

Erica and her family joined yesterday too. We met up there and were hoping the kids would do better all together. After we signed up and dropped off the kids, we felt so strange! I was nervous and giddy at the same time. I never get to drop off the kids anywhere and have time to myself. I actually couldn't help but smile as I huffed and puffed because I was so happy. The kids were having fun and so was I! I got to use the elliptical machine for 35 minutes before the child care lady came over to get me. Hey, it could have been worse! Hopefully my little Austin will get use to his new place to play. We will just keep going until he does!

The would have been, could have been, should been Christmas cards

We headed to the park yesterday after visiting Santa. A cold front blew in and the weather was crisp and cold. The boys had a great time playing on the big tree in our neighborhood.

We already finished our Christmas cards, so we had no intentions of taking family pictures. We were just having a good time and wanted to get some cute pictures of the boys playing on the giant tree. My friend Samantha is an awesome photographer and she snapped these shots for us. It's just my luck that we got so many cute shots after I already finished our Christmas cards!

Santa came to town

We went to see Santa today. The boys were really excited when he pulled up in the big, red firetruck. Ethan ran over to him immediately to greet him. They did really well waiting in line for 45 minutes to see the big guy. We almost abandoned the attempt, but were saved by candy canes and Christmas stickers. It was worth the wait.

Ethan was really excited to see Santa. He gave him a big hug and showed him with two fingers that he was two years old. He also told him that he wanted cars for Christmas. Austin wasn't too enthused with the whole thing, but did stop squirming long enough to take this picture when he saw that we had cookies.

Trail of Lights 5k

Debbie, Jill, Laurie, Erica and I ran the Trail of Lights 5k last night. It was so fun! I was worried about running it since I haven't run in two months, but I did it! Debbie and I ran together and finished in 38 minutes. We had a great time at the race and celebrated with some cold margaritas and yummy Mexican food.

The Trail of Lights is awesome! It's a mile long walk with beautiful Christmas scenes & walkways covered with lights. This was my first time to see it & I am so excited to take my family to see it too!

Feeling crafty

I have been in craft mode this week! I made two minky and satin baby blankies. I have made many blankies before, but these are my favorite. To make them special I made my own piping out of coordinating fabric. I love picking out the fabric and designing them. Too bad I don't really like to sew!

A friend of mine ordered a growth chart from me and I got it finished today. I think it turned out really cute! I have some already done and just waiting to be hung in a little boy's room if anyone wants to buy one. They are on Christmas clearance!


We got together for girl's night last night and made some Christmas aprons. I'm pretty happy with how mine turned out. It was a lot of fun as always and it made the treachery of sewing more bearable!

Christmas ideas for your wish list

My favorite things...

Aveda lip tint in Spice - It's a great lip moisturizer and it has a little color too it.

Covergirl colorstay eyeliner - It doesn't fade off

Pacific Coast feather pillows - I love the ones with a core so they are not too squishy

Sonicare toothbrush - I love how clean it gets my teeth

Chi flat iron - It makes my hair smooth and not frizzy

Merle Norman Luxiva Delicate Balance cleanser, toner and moisturizer - It really improved my skin!

Stackable mother's rings - I love how delicate they are and three of them will fit on my finger just in case we have another baby :)

Nike iPod+ - I love that it will tell me my pace, distance and time while I run.

Sony under the counter cd/radio - I love listening to music in the kitchen

Aveda Comforting tea - It's so soothing and really does make you relaxed!

Gold Canyon Candles - They smell awesome and they burn down evenly

Dirt Devil Broom Vac - It does a great job of picking up stuff off hard floors

Kitchen TV - Every girl needs a TV in their kitchen to make washing dishes a little easier!

I couldn't think of many things for my Christmas list this year, so I hope this helps you get some good ideas for your list!

Tired babies

Sometimes you are just too tired to lift your head off the table to eat.

And you love sleeping so much you pretend to sleep when you are playing.

And your favorite place to hide is in the covers.

And Daddy's arms are the best place to sleep.

Hand stamped jewelry

I stumbled across Lisa Leonard's blog a couple months ago and really enjoyed reading it. She makes stamped, handmade jewelry that is so sweet. She has two adorable boys and she takes great photos. My sister bought me a piece of her jewelry for Christmas and I can't wait to see it! This is a picture on her blog of her newest necklace and I just love it. I'm not much of a jewelry wearer, but I'm trying to branch out. I love the handmade look and I love that it's personalized. All orders have to be submitted by December 5th, so if you want one order it soon!

Oh Christmas Tree

After years of hauling an entire herd of lighted deer in and out of the attic, we decided to sell them last year in a garage sale. The year before Eric dumped half of them in a dumpster. We were just tired of dealing with the lights going out and them taking up space in our attic.




We looked at many stores trying to come up with a new look for our outdoor Christmas decorations. Eric decided to make these big Christmas trees. I think they turned out really well! He made them with PVC pipe, lights and tiny hooks. The kids absolutely love them and think it's really fun to play inside the trees.

The trees in the boys' rooms are working to distract them from our Christmas tree! They are having a great time "decorating" it with ornaments and stuffed animals. Tonight we are wrapping our first round of gifts to put under the tree. Maybe they won't notice the presents under the tree. Yeah right!

The baby shower

We had a great time today at Sammy's shower. Her mom and sister came in town to celebrate. She had a great turnout full of family and friends. This baby is much anticipated and is so lucky to have Sammy and Chris as his parents. We can't wait to meet him!

The hostesses

The food

The cake

The friends

The cake fiasco

I was a hostess today for my best friend Sammy's baby shower. On my list of things to do was order the cake. She is gluten-intolerant, so the cake was ordered from a hip, gluten-free bakery in town. Here is a picture of the cake we picked up...
We immediately decided that it needed a little fixing. The colors were all wrong and it was not very pretty. Our friend Sarah makes awesome cakes so she agreed to help fix it up. One thing turned into another and before you know it, the cake was completely redone. Here is a picture of us at 1:30 in the morning working on the cake and a picture of what a kitchen looks like after decorating a cake for 4 hours.

Didn't the cake turn out so cute?

My sweet husband let me sleep in late this morning and woke me up with breakfast. He had cleaned up the kitchen and fed the boys breakfast. He helped me load all the stuff in the car and then watched the boys all day while I was at the shower. He is such a sweetie and I feel so lucky to have such a supportive hubby!

Deck the halls...

We put up our Christmas tree and all our decorations today. The boys had a great time "helping". I just love how the house looks all decorated for Christmas. We got them each their own tree in the hopes that they will play with their trees and not ours. I sure hope it works!

Eric worked outside all afternoon putting up the lights, hanging the wreaths and making our new lighted Christmas trees for the yard. He does such a good job! I love that he is such a hard worker. He does remind me a little of Clark Griswald with how borderline obsessive he is about it! :)