the best gift of all..

i am so greatful for so much.

we had an amazing christmas filled with much love.

we went to church christmas eve, made cookies for santa and left carrots for the reindeer.

when morning finally arrive, the girls bolted down the hallway to see if santa had come..

they took their time opening every gift carefully..

we had christmas breakfast..

got in our christmas best..

climbed in the car and were off to grandma and grandpa's..

we spent the day with the whole family of aunt's, uncle's, great grandma, cousin's and..
it was AMAZING..

we ate lasagna..we then climbed back into the car to go see grandma, papa and aunt julia..

we opened even more gifts..

we ate eggplant parm..

we played wii, watched sleeping beauty and played tag.

it was a wonderful day.

we are so blessed to have so much love in our lives..

warning- a venting session is in your future..

so today i had 2 faces saying mommy, mommy well before 7am..

i got us dressed and out of the house for my dr. appt..

yes, i took them both..

we get there and come to find out i missed an appt and owe them an additional $40 for a no show...

as i am arguing with the receptionist makena yells across the waiting room "chloe pooped"..

i say "ohh nooo she didn't"..

ran over to her and "ohh yesss she did"

i proceeded to the bathroom to her clean up..

joy.

we went to jamba juice and chloe ended up tossing it on the seat and drank none of it.

we get home and i bake 2 dozen cookies and as i am pulling them out of the hot oven, i find a blob of green plastic on the bottom of the oven ( it was a melted chip clip)

i am sure the fumes most likely poisoned the entire 2 dozen cookies..

so.. i tossed them..

i also attempted an "art session" and busted out the easel..

20 minutes to set up.. 2 minutes of painting and 45 minutes of hosing down the kids, walls, floor and doing a load of wash trying to save yet another oufit from going in the trash..

i found an apple under a couch cushion, an old cup of milk under a bed and the girls bumped heads while twirling and singing, cried for 15 minutes then forgot why.

*sigh*

but aren't they precious?

week before christmas..

makena sang her little heart out at the christmas performance at school.. as usual i was trying to compose myself.. it was hard but i think i am getting the hang of it. better at it..

that is her in a red dress, in the front 5th from left..

these two are best friends and are adorable together.. i mean totally PRECIOUS..

i think they will be friends forever.. do you remember your best friend in kindergarten? i mean these are the years when you make friends for life.. insert wipe of tear and sniffle here.. are we really there already? really?

i made some chocolate cupcakes with peppermint sprinkles.. do you know the key to a good cupcake?

A LOT of frosting...

we went to candycane lane.. sort of..

it ended up just being one house i dragged my WHOLE family to, thinking it was blocks of houses..

(sorry dad)

but it was pretty fabulous.. :)

drumroll please...

so the winner is ALI..
i asked makena to pick a number..not fancy but it worked for me..
they are canvas grocery bags.. well, they can be a whatever bag but i am promoting going green and that is how i gifted them. sets of four.. i got the design idea here..

cookie party take 5..

 only 5 ingredients to worry about..

that's my kind of cookie..

cooking i can do..

baking, not so much..

except for cupcakes..

those are a piece of cake (love a pun)..

so.

will they be a hit at the cookie party?

get the recipe here

10 days til' christmas

this little elf has been busy.
we have 10 days until the big day. has it hit you yet?
i have been making these and am so excited to gift them this year....
can you guess what they are?
leave a comment by monday {the the 21st} and i will randomly pick a winner to mail one to...
your chances are pretty good since only 2 people read this.. :)

a visit to santa

one wore her santa hat..

one did not..

one was ooooooo'd ...

one was awed..

one said nothing.. she only glanced..

one you would think had ants in her pants..

one did have a quiet request to make..

afterall..

they have been good..

"for goodness sake"

camera shy..

as i was looking back on the last couple weeks posts.. i noticed that chloe has not made the cut so much..
she is going through a phase of refusing to get her picture taken.. she will not stop and sit still for a second.. afterall, there are much more important things to do in chloe land..
this being one of them...

braids and a loose tooth

she is obsessed with her hair being curly..
i have been braiding her hair every night after bath and in the morning it is curly..
she loves it!
ohh! and she has her first loose tooth..
that means the tooth fairy will be visiting too..
maybe after santa?
hopefully not on the same night..
i wonder if they have ever met? :)

puddles..

& umbrellas....

& boots...

ohh the fun!!

lights, camera..ornaments

my favorite ornament..and treat..

 a cupcake..

the girls stockings..

i made these last year, if you look closely, the felt

flower centers are vintage glass buttons given to me by my beautiful grandma..

we put up the lights..

in the dark...

and now, we wait..

  soon that jolly old man will be here..

:)