Merry Christmas Eve, Eve, Morning!!

I can not believe it is already time for Christmas! It has completely snuck up on me this year!

I'm finished with my shopping, but still have several things to do, and tons of wrapping to finish before all of the Christmas AND FAMILY CHAOS begins!!

Today is officially the last day for me to finish all my odds and ends, relax, and most importantly... prepare for being in a Christmas Celebration bubble for the next three days! My dad's Christmas is tomorrow morning, Ryan's immediate family is tomorrow night, our family is Christmas morning (the folks always come over to see the girls excitement- and eat breakfast!) And then we have Christmas again with Ryan's extended family that night, and then we will finish Christmas off with a bang, driving down to good ole' London, KY for Christmas down there with my family and our mom.  Whew! I'm worn out just thinking about it! 

Please tell me we are not the only ones running around like mad on and around like Christmas! What do you do for your family gatherings? Although, we always have a wonderful time and love having a reason to spend time with all of our families!  It's one of the most special times during the year! 

This year has been exciting for me already, becuase the girls came home with some Christmas ornaments! I love when the girls come home with things they have made at school, especially things I can't wait to get out year after year!  We will have to turn this into a tradition now... since we really don't have any yet! What traditions do you have? Please tell me, and hopefully we can steal some of them for our own!

These are Sloanie's...

 And this is Chaysie's... It took some major finagling to get her to stop wearing it as a bracelet!

I also love all the Christmas cards during this time! We have received some beautiful ones!

And then, there's ours....

Take a good look! This is the only one you will see! I always plan on a Christmas card... but never execute it! Which is exactly why no one received one this year! And I just couldn't decide which one to use, out of all the great pictures we took!!

See what I mean!? My children cooperate so well! Not to mention the combination of snot and vaseline under Sloan's chin!

It started off so well with them posing, (only individually of course)! I was so excited thinking they actually wanted to take some pictures... But, like always... I don't know how hugging always ends up chocking each other!! 
And of course... Sloan only wanted to be beside the flower ornaments...

And then of course, Chayse had to do the same!

As for Sloan's big singing debut...

It was originally cancelled due to all the snow and ice- but that didn't stop Sloanie... she was bound and determined to get out there and sing! It's all she's talked about for the past month! Luckily, they changed the date and Sloan's heart was healed when she found out she could sing in her program! How adoreable!

She was soo excited to see all of her family that came out to see and support her!

And of course, she was the best one! So, I gave her flowers to make her feel like the star of the show! (which she was of course!) aren't your own kids always the best one!!!

And then there's Chayse... who's always the star of wearing out Trey and Brady!
I think she succeeded with Trey... check out his face!

and not to mention... check out her socks she fought me over wearing! Obviously she won!

She was on a mission to completely wear them out, and would not settle for anything less... especially if she succeeded in getting her lipstick on Brady!

 She's chasing him down!

Persistence!

OK... so now that we have gone over that... lets get down to business!
If you are in need of some last minute gift ideas... I have one for you!
Simple, easy, super cute, cozy and affordable (around 20 bucks- if you buy on sale like I did!)

We love these blankets!

Our cousins, Alle and Amy made one for Sloan for her 1st Birthday and we have loved them ever since! And since the girls fight over the only one we have... I have made them each one for Christmas!
It was easier than I expected!
step 1- get two pieces of anti-peel fabric in the size you want (make sure they are the same size)... I used around 2 yards.
step 2- lay both pieces of fabric together (the way you want the blanket to look) - so the right sides of the fabric should be showing, the wrong sides of the fabric should be touching on the inside of the blanket. (and the edges should be lined up... not like below)

step 3- cut strips into the sides - however wide you want, and long you want (mine were about the length of my hand and about 2 inches wide)

step 4 - cut out the corners, where the strips meet and having the same length of the strips

step 5- tie the two strips (the top and bottom) together into knots

step 6 - finish tying all the strips into knots... and viola! You have a blanket!
I would cut a few at a time, then tie... cut some more, tie... that way you can fold it up and come back to it...
(Tinkerbell and Rosetta are displayed for portion size of blanket)... although we did finish our little tea party, just three of us, after I finished the pictures...

Once folded... you have the perfect blanket!
All business in the front...

and party in the back!

A true mullet blanket!

And last but not least... the hot chocolate recipe as promised!

Ingredients:

2 pounds Chocolate Nestle Quick

1 Box Carnation Instant Dry Milk

1 8 ounce Jar Cremora (Coffee Creamer)

1 pound Powder Sugar

and a wonderful helper to mix... or two!

Directions:
Combine all ingredients together in a large pot/bowl...

 Hopefully, everyone who received one of these from us... puts really hot water in the mix... to kill the germs! (Fortunately, we washed our hands well before we started this project!)

pour into individual containers to pass out as cute, fun, thoughtful little gifts... or pour into a large container for safe keeping for yourself! Or, better yet... do both! (but make sure to double the batch!!)


Also, don't forget to include the directions on making the perfect cup for drinking!
1/3 cup mix per 1 cup water.

Mix and enjoy!!

OK, so I'm going to leave you with this photo displaying the weather around here lately, and of course showing two perfectly content and odd little characters! 

Chaysei - for some reason... loves, loves, loves.... Jim! We are all a little confused by it actually! But, have concluded it's because they both love food and everything having to do with it!

And Jim... well, he's just a character all together!

Snow, ice, "bermuda's" (Jimmy's shorts), and a florida hat...? The sad part is... this is not an unusual sight for jim! He's always in his bermuda's! Hot, freezing, rain, snow, and yes, even ice! The bad news for me is... my husband is very similar to him! And the even worse news for me is... my girls have some of his genes!!! Maybe I'm the strange one... I married into the family, and I'm even stranger because I love Jimmy-bo just about as much as Chaysie does! Strange I know! 

 But then again, how could you not love this CBA-Pharma investor!

I hope everyone has a WONDERFUL CHRISTMAS!!!
FYI... I hear its suppose to be a white Christmas too!!! I LOVE IT WHEN IT SNOWS!!! Especially... ON CHRISTMAS!!!

Merry Christmas to everyone!! And Happy Birthday to Jesus!!

Wishing you a Merry Christmas, Peace, Love and Happiness!!!

FINALLY!... The moment you all have been waiting for...

Well, OK - more like the moment only one of you have been waiting for... either way... here it is!!!

AN UPDATE!!

Ok- So I am officially a slacker! With all the holiday shopping, decorating, baking, festivities, blah, blah, blah, excuses, excuses, spending time with friends and family, fighting through the snow and ice, and batteling against all the cold weather bugs... (ok- i'm not going to even go there... with my little bug obsession... an obvious poor choice of words!) OK- how's this one instead... and batteling against all the cold weather coughs and colds! - I should have used that one in the first place anyway... it is much more clear on what I was going for!

~ well, since I did already mention bugs... this is what I found while I was cleaning...

 No wonder I had bugs!!!??? What were those two hooligans of mine doing!!? Clearly they were not interested in eating the crackers... much less cleaning them up!!!

Anyway- putting all of that aside, I am finally able to sit down and pay some much needed attention and TLC to my blog! Going on nearly a month now since my last post is a little disheartening for me... I'm sure I've lost a few readers... which has put me back down to only one... still... again... Thanks for staying loyal and hanging on!! But, good news for the future!!! I am off of work for the next 2 weeks!!! YYYYYYAAAAAAAYYYYYY!!! CAN I TELL YOU HOW EXCITED I AM~!!!!!??? Is it that obvious!? So, needless to say- I will be doing all kinds of fun things with the girlies and will be dying to tell you all about it- so stay tuned... there will be (hopefully) several little posts throughout the next couple weeks!

As for this post...

Here is a taste of what we have been up to: Well, not really a taste... more like a SMORGASBOARD of things we have been up to... (how do you even spell that!? Is it even a word...) oh well- strap on your seat belt- I'm about to throw all kinds of pictures at you... I'll do you a favor and let them speak for themselves instead of explaing every last detail... neither one of us want to be tied up with this blog for the next 5 hours... so - I'm sure pictures will be just fine with you too!!


Here goes...
Thanksgiving was great! Spending time with our family and loved ones is always a blessing, especially during the holiday season!
Sloan's class luncheon was also a hit with all! (I particularly loved the placemats, and what they were thankful for on the bottom..."the beautiful world"? someone clearly was giving her options of things to put down! but still absolutely adoreable!)

The first snow brought much excitement! They both looked out the window screaming and  laughing at everything that was covered in snow!

The snow motivated me to decorate for Christmas and wrap some gifts...

even if it was only a couple little presents...

 Chaysie wanted to wrap a better present instead!

And decorate their tree's in their rooms... 

 Notice the heavy Belle ornament she wanted on top of the tree, completely weighing it down!  Well, nevermind that... whats up with the random piggy bank she grabbed off her dresser and wanted to pose with!?  But either way... it is Sloanie Balonie... so it all makes since now!

Caki made gingerbread men with the girls so Ryan and I could go out on date-night with some friends! However, they couldn't find the cookie cutters... 
So I guess they are just gingerbread cookies...?

We drove through the "drive through Bethlehem"

 

We made our Christmas gift baskets... 

And our other Christmas gifts...Homemade Hot Chocolate Mix: apparently this is a huge hit this Christmas.  I've noticed several people are doing this this year... Hopefully that means a lot of people like it!! Although I never realized there are so many different ways to make it! Every recipe I have seen from people making this are completely different... I'll add this recipe in another post ~ This post is quite too long already!!! 

 And of course we are always dressing up...

and sneaking off into mommie's lipstick! 

So there you have it! The basics on what we've been up to, and what has been stealing my time away from my blog!

And surprisingly enough the post was not too long after all... cutting back on what I say really helps out!! hhmmm... imagine that!? am I telling myself something?! nah!

Have a wonderful weekend! And don't be a stranger~ Check back soon... I'll be posting again shortly!

Hope everyone is ready for the Holidays!! ~ If not... we still have a few days!