I Promise To Actually Post Words Sometime Soon

Here are some shots from a wedding I did yesterday. I don't do weddings very often and I freak out a little when I do since its kind of a big deal if I screw it up. They really are fun to do (most of the time) but boy is it a work out.

Anyway, just wanted to share a few favorites....

Nine Years Ago Today

(The end of the night and my mom wanted just one more family photo--we'd taken a million already. So glad we have that moment documented for posterity!)

Merry Christmas!

My Kind of Craft

Remember how I said in my last post that I love the idea of being crafty but I kind of need a nudge (or maybe more like a shove) in the right direction?

Lucky for me I have a friend who came up with this really great kit that allows you to make a bunch of really cute hair clips with and for your girls. A and I did some together today.

We did some for her and C and we did some for her two cousins for Christmas (we exchanged gifts with them tonight; nothing like the last minute, huh?)

It was fun and easy and rewarding to give something handmade. And A really did a good job of putting them together (with just a little bit of help with some gluing).

This is the kit. The packaging is gorgeous.
The name of her company is Kensy Lu and she has poured her blood, sweat, and tears into getting this business launched.

With the kit you get I think eight clips (she threw in a few extras for us--I love having connections!) and ribbons, glue, appliques, and rhinestones in all different colors and sizes. There's even a little instruction booklet to walk you through it if you're like me and want to make sure you're doing it exactly right.

And the best part is, anyone can order one of her kits. You don't have to live around the corner from her like I do. Check her out here.

Getting Crafty

Along with all of the firsts that have come along with A's foray into the world of school has come the first teacher Christmas gift. I must admit that though this will probably someday become just one more thing on my list of things to cram in at the last minute (when I have three kids' teachers to worry about), this year I was really excited about doing something special for A's kindergarten teacher. We've been really happy with her and she has made A's first experience with school such a positive one.

I decided I was going to attempt to be creative since I've seen so many fun and cute projects out in the blogosphere. I've always had this desire to be crafty and as long as someone else comes up with the project and then gives me step-by-step directions on how to accomplish said project I can live out my crafting fantasies.

So here's what we ended up with:


I painted her initial on this simple little canvas tote (found the idea here--you wanna talk about crafty, this girl eats "crafters" like me for breakfast.)



And made a little puppy-dog applique for a onsie for her adorable little baby boy.



This I just kind of made up based on other appliques I've seen around. Its definitely homemade looking but I think its cute (we won't talk about how long it took me, its pretty ridiculous).

I also included a little box of homemade toffee, but didn't take a photo of that for some reason.

I have a few more things I'm going to attempt to make for Christmas and if they turn out, I'll show them to you. If not, we'll just pretend like this conversation never happened.

Date Night

My husband is out on a date tonight with a pretty lady.

I'm sitting at home in my pajamas.

I would be jealous except his date is barely over four feet tall.....We were all going to go see the new Disney movie, "The Princess and the Frog" tonight, but unfortunately someone else didn't take a nap like they were supposed to so she was no longer allowed to go.

You'd think that would have bothered her (we were hoping to teach her a lesson).....But her attitude was pretty much, "Oh well, maybe some other time".

Have I mentioned how you just cannot win with this girl? She's crazy but I sure do love her.

So what started as a family fun night turned into daddy-daughter date night. And A wore her princess dress-up dress and her "fancy" shoes and Daddy dressed up for the occasion too. It was his idea and I love him for it.

The movie looks really cute and I like that its in the 'old fashioned' (like the movies I grew up with) cartoon style. Maybe I'll still get to see it eventually....(sigh)....

That's ok, we had a party goin' on up in this hiz-ouse tonight without them....

Well, something like that.

Is There A Contest For America's Gaudiest Christmas Tree?

Cuz I think we could win....

I'm grumpy tonight. I'm not one of those people who loves to decorate for the holidays. Especially this year. We don't have a ton of holiday decor to begin with and somehow in the past 24 hours, my girls have managed to break I'd say a good 50% of it. And really its my fault for pulling everything out before we were ready to decorate. I'd started the tradition of collecting an ornament for each of them every year and I think pretty much all of A's are now broken. I don't know why it bothers me so much when real stuff (like my keys are missing) doesn't seem to (and should) (I've got a spare car key....if I was stuck without a car it'd bother me a lot more).

The past couple of years putting up the Christmas decorations has really felt like a chore more than anything. It just takes me awhile to get into Christmas; probably because its still basically shorts weather here. Also because most of my stuff is a mish-mash of hand-me-downs and clearance items that I don't particularly love....and I can think of so many other ways I'd like to spend the money I don't have than buying more Christmas decor.

Sorry I'm a downer. I'll be over it by morning. My kids are thrilled with the Christmas tree. In fact, A said it was the MOST BEAUTIFUL TREE EVER! And really, that's what's important. They don't care that Martha Stewart doesn't live here. Someday I'll look back at the photos of my girls' smiling faces in front of the Tammy Faye tree of '09 and I too will reminisce over its loveliness.