Wreck-It Rhett

 This sweet, calm, happy, content, little baby has left and I would really like him back. Whoever has him, please send him home, we ALL miss him! His nickname for the last few months around our house has been

Wreck-It Rhett.

 

He is climbing impossible things and then falling, pulling food out of the cupboard and turning it over and dumping all the contents out on the floor, refusing to eat in a high chair and now stands on the kitchen bench while shoveling food because he won't let someone feed him. He pushes me out of his way when I'm holding him and when I put him down he cries because I'm not holding him. He empties all the toys out of the toy bins constantly, he loves to pull every one's hair, if someone is sitting in a chair; he will then go sit in it and steal it, he tries to squeeze through the stair slats, he steals the remote and then presses buttons to change channels and just laughs, the list could go on.

 

Sometimes, I think Audra was a piece of cake(which she wasn't) because she was a hard baby but then got easier as she got older. He was an amazing baby and when he hit about 1 year, he flipped the script. I guess he just became a toddler!

 

When he gets mad, he will try to pull at his hair and sometimes I want to pull out my own hair with some of his shenanigans. He is our happy, mischievous, Wreck-It Rhett but man we still LOVE that kid!

some of our Christmas traditions

 

Hanging our stockings/ Our Elf 'Jack' arrives at our home on December 1st

during our North Pole Breakfast. 

 

 

We trim the tree with our favorite ornaments we collect on all our travels throughout the years. Here are a few - Cancun/Bahamas/and Mickey from our December Disneyland trip last year.

 

We have started a tradition of leaving a bag of old toys that the kids pick out to donate. We leave the bag for Santa on Christmas Eve and when he leaves their goodies, He takes the bag of their toys to give to some other deserving children. 

 

 

Our Christmas Advent keeps things fun. Each day is a scripture about the birth and ministry of Christ, a hymn/Christmas song to sing and an activity to do. Some are as simple as putting a wreath on the door, others are to go ice-skating, gingerbread houses, go see Christmas lights, make cookies etc. I'm most looking forward to having a little Mother/Daughter Date at the Nutcracker Ballet. It may be a little young for her...but finally, I have a date to the ballet!

 

Our humble and unbreakable nativity set

50th Birthday {Bowling Bash}

PARTY DETAILS:

For Jennifer's birthday, we kept it casual with a relaxed bowling bash at the private bowling lanes at Red Rock Casino in Las Vegas. 40 of her closest friends and family got their bowling shoes on, chomped on sliders, rings and fries and sipped on their beverage of choice. The music was set to a mix of her favorite songs and videos played during the course of the evening. The cake was a red velvet cake from Retro Bakery (which completed the color scheme of reds and pinks). Guests left with gumball pipettes (bowling-ball-esque). Now that's a way to turn 50!

Owl/Fall Themed Birthday



PARTY DETAILS:

The menu incorporated food typically served in Fall (pomegranates, sweet potatoes, butternut squash). Food was easy to eat as well as kid-friendly. There was a fire-pit going on outside during the party with marshmallows to roast for smores. Mini Babycakes donuts were a hit! And the birthday girl blew out her candles and we all were served up a slice of red-velvet bundt cake. If you are ever in Las Vegas, you have to go to Nothing Bundt Cakes. They are divine!

The decor was simplistic with colors of orange, pink and green. Orange sunflowers spiced up the food table. The guests were sent home with 'Owl' favors. They were easy to make. All it is is half of a chocolate graham cracker. Then place two large marshmallows on the cracker and microwave for a few seconds till the marshmallows puff up a little bit. Then press in 2 candy melts(you can find these at a party store). Use some light corn syrup to stick on two chocolate chips for the eyes and then press in a candy corn nose to finish it off. I packaged them in small party bags and they were good to go. The party was a hoot and we loved this fall/owl themed birthday for Audra's 2nd birthday!

Parties on my short list

I am in the mood for a party. Here are a few of the parties I'm contemplating throwing.

1. Pinterest Party

2. Dinner en blanc

3.Progressive Party (Paris is ideal, but could be just as fun back in the states)



What parties have you seen that make you want to throw one yourself?

'Bloom Where You are Planted' Sign

I slept with my baby blanket till I was 16 years old. Yes, I know - that's weird. It's not like I carried it around with me everywhere, I would just scrunch it up and use it as an extra pillow. When I turned 16, I decided enough was enough - I needed to let it go. But I couldn't throw it away, so I cut it up into pieces.

10 years later... I wanted to keep my blanket as a memento but in a useful sort of way. And I love the vintage look of it. So, I decided to frame it. I got some vinyl decals with a phrase that I loved and voila!! Now it's hanging over my baby's crib and everytime I get him out, I can't help but smile!

In this Home...

Last night, we decided to do a family art project. After looking at some craft blogs online, I came up with making a family motto/proclamation we could hang on the wall. We thought Preston was getting older and could help with a little bit of it.

We narrowed down what we wanted to include based on what we are into on a day-to-day basis and what we feel strongly about. I was happy Eric even thought of some great ones to add (can you tell which ones?). We used scraps of paper and mod-podged them onto cardboard. Then we cut out a picture of a house. We let it dry and wrote our motto. "In this home..."

It turned out crafty and I think pretty dang cute! The lines aren't straight, the paint dried a little weird but I love it! Because everytime I look at it, I will remember that we did it as a family!

Personalized Storybooks

One night as I was trying to wander off to sleep, I got an idea to have the kids create their own storybooks.

We do stories and songs everynight before bed and the story time includes everyone making up their own story to tell. I love the opportunity to hear their imaginations come to life and I love being able to use stories from me and Eric's childhood and weave it into their memory. So creating a storyline and putting it down in a book was something I knew they would love.

I had some blank books that I purchased years ago and finally had a reason to use them. The next day we brainstormed ideas for their storybooks. Audra's is Abigail Goes to Grandma's (a story about a girl who goes to Grandma's and has so much fun. When her mom is supposed to pick her up, she can't because she got in a car accident so her Grandma drives her home. They sing songs on the way home and when they arrive back to her Mom's, all is well.)

 

Preston's is David gets Lost (loosely based on his own experience - a story about a boy who goes to Target with his family to pick up a few groceries for dinner and gets lost. He goes to a worker who calls his mother over the loud speaker and him and his family reunite. They get their groceries and come home, make dinner and have a nice picnic dinner out front with the misionaries.)

I helped guide the story a bit but I wanted everything to be authentic to them. Even down to the illustration. I wrote the words of the story and they created the pictures. I had to help Audra some but she colored each page. She is still learning to stay within the lines but I didn't care if it was perfect because I wanted her to feel like the way she did it was perfect. Preston wanted to draw each scene and color it himself.

They really enjoyed creating their own storybooks and feel proud that they made it themselves from beginning to end.

Marshmallow Fight!

When Dad got home from work, he saw this on the front door. We were waiting inside with our ammo.
The fight was on. The kids loved it!!