Christmas Memories - 2010

I wish I had the time (or actually the energy) to do an individual post on our Christmas activities this year.  We had a lot of fun, and did many of the things on my "wish" list - we went to ride the Pink Pig (an Atlanta tradition), we had an elf party, we went to the Christmas parade downtown, we decorated, we made treats for friends, we attended Lindsey's holiday dance show, we visited Santa Claus, we had fun with our elves, and we spent a lot of time together as a family.  Unfortunately Emily got very sick a few days before Christmas (she had either the flu or a similar virus, even though she had a flu shot.  At one point, her fever got above 106 degrees), so a few of our plans got thrown out the window.  We tend to have bad luck in the weeks surrounding Christmas as far as illnesses go - last year our entire family (except for Carter) had rotovirus!  Anyway, since I'm so behind on posting, I thought I'd just share a few pictures of our Christmas season 2010!

The Macy's Pink Pig:

Christmas Parade:

Lindsey's Holiday Show:

Snowman Treats for Emily's Classmates:

Some of the CRAZY Things Our Elves Did This Year:

Carter Enjoying His "New" Horse, Rocky - this horse was Rodney's when he was little.

Seeing Santa (poor Carter!):

Getting Into the Christmas Spirit:

Snuggly Christmas PJs

Enjoying a New Christmas Book:

Christmas Eve at Bebe and Bapop's House:

While I am sad that a few of our plans got messed up at the last minute, I am SO thankful for all of the fun memories we made this Christmas.  It was truly one of the best Christmases we've ever had!

Christmas at Our House

Wow - this month has FLOWN by!  I have missed so many good blogging opportunities.  I can't believe how busy I've been!

I just want to preserve some of the images of Christmas around our house - so that's what this post is, a bunch of pictures of some Christmas decor in our home.  Thank you for looking!

Entry Way:

Looking into the office at my tree:

Dining Room:

 Family Room:

These are just a few of the images I have captured this Christmas season at our home.  I know I am no professional decorator, but I hope that I've made some sweet memories for my family by sprucing up our house for the holidays.  I know my kids won't remember how the garland on the staircase was totally skimpy and tacky, or how I wish I'd had more mesh for our family room tree, or the fact that I could never quite figure out what I wanted to put in the middle of our kitchen table - they'll just remember that their mom wanted to make Christmas a little more fun and magical for them.  I hope they always know how much I love making them happy.

A Tree for ME!

Every year since I've been married, we've only had one tree.  It's our family tree, and it's full of sentimental ornaments.  There is no theme or real color scheme, which has always been fine with me.  I love all the ornaments made with little hands for me, as well as the special ornaments for each child that I've collected over the years.  However, I've always longed for a tree that was just for me, with pretty colors and matching ornaments.

Last year, after Christmas, I was rummaging around Target and it was about the time all of their Christmas items were being marked down to 90% off.  I was so surprised at how much they had left!  There were a bunch of ornaments left in some gorgeous colors - pink, aqua, lime green, red, and orange.  They all looked very vintage-y to me, and I just had to have them as a plan was brewing in my mind.  I went to several Targets over the following weeks, and got all kinds of cute things for MY tree!  I even got a tree skirt for around $5 - score!

Fast forward to this year - as I was opening my boxes, it was like an early Christmas present for me!  I had forgotten what all I had bought last year - it was so much fun digging into those boxes!!!

So now,  I present - a tree for ME!  I have to say that I love it and it makes me smile every time I see it.  It is in our newly painted office (more on that later!) and it's so sparkly and shiny!

Why yes, that is an empty frame ornament, smack dab in the middle of the tree, for you detail-oriented people out there =)  Oops!

A few details...

This ornament is so special to me - it was on my grandfather's tree when he was a little boy.  I love it so much.

Red, aqua, and pink - my faves!

This is an ornament from my childhood tree.

Aqua + polkadots = love

Another sentimental one - this Santa was on my mom's tree when she was a little girl.  I love old ornaments, especially when they belonged to someone in my family.

And here's another shot, from the dining room across the entrance hall.



I hate to take "my" tree down - I wonder if my neighbors will think I'm crazy if I leave it up for a few more weeks months???

Thanks for letting me share!

Elf Party

I know many of you have heard of the Christmas tradition of having elves come to your house, such as The Elf on the Shelf, or the Magic Elves.  Around our house, we have accumulated a whole menagerie of elves over the years.  Our family just LOVES elves, and I think Santa knows that, which is why he has sent us so many!  We decided this year to invite a couple of friends over for an elf party.  This is the fastest party I've ever put together, as we decided to have it the morning of the party!  Here are a few pics to share.

Emily made the sign to welcome our friends and their elves =)

Our elves, waiting for the party to start!

Quick tablescape, thrown together with stuff we already had.

Elves are VERY mischevious!  You have to watch them every second (kind of like 21 month old boys - ha!).

This candy cane holder is very sentimental to me - my sweet grandmother Nanny made it for me.  I think of her every year when I take it out for Christmas.

These ADORABLE little elf pant favor bags were purchased last year from a catalog - I can't remember which one =(

Cute little elf craft "we" made (my BFF and I pretty much made them for the kids - they were SO hard and required hot glue).

A group shot - the girls and their elves!

Someone having his first taste of M&Ms - yum!

My three little elves!  They fill my life with so much joy!