Here Comes Santa Claus

Ava woke up from her nap the other day saying, "I want to see Santa and sit on his lap."  I'm thinking ummmmm, ok.  This was coming from the girl who takes a good while to warm up to people she already knows so the the fact that she brought up Santa and wanted to sit on his lap was huge.  After dinner we loaded up and went to Bass Pro Shop which has a great free Christmas village and a free picture with Santa.  We walked right up to Santa (no lines or time for her to change her mind) and he was amazing.  I can't stress how non-scary he was for her.  He talked to her and held her 2 little hands and then asked if she wanted to sit on his lap for a picture.  I know that again none of these pictures show big smiles but there were no tears and that was great in my book.  Her and daddy colored, played with rc cars and she loved the train.  I even got a little Christmas shopping for my dad done while we were there.  On the car ride home she announces from the back seat, "I love Santa."  That kid just melts my heart. 

The Elves are Here!

Ella and Emma Elf finally made it to our house.  A few days late but they did make it.  These two little ladies are admittedly not very elfish but more Christmas-y.  This was my first attempt at doll making of any kind and overall I am happy with them.  I used this template from Martha Stewart's website to get a rough idea of what I was doing but improvised a few things.  I learned a lot and will make a few changes next time.  I have a feeling that I will be making a few more of these but bigger and for everyday use like tea parties, hugging and reading time.  I've already got a gazillion ideas for accessories and hair for these little ladies.  

Every morning Ava wakes up and searches the house for the 2 elves and her wrapped book.  These 2 tricky elves hide in a new spot each night which makes our normal mornings a lot more fun.  She loves to hold them both while we read her the Christmas book that Ella and Emma have left for her each morning.  I cherish making these memories with our family and can not wait to add our little boy to the mix too.  

I'd love to hear about any traditions you and your family have for Christmas.

Free Holiday Tag Printables

 

Seriously cute *FREE* tags to print off at www.welovetoillustrate.com.  Just in time for all that wrapping you have to do this holiday season.  I just started wrapping this past weekend and with a 2 year old helper it takes just a wee bit longer than usual.  Oh well, she's having fun wrapping and that's what matters.

Chilly Day

Image: Pinterest

Our furnace stopped heating today so lets just say we are busting out the sweaters, warm socks, blankets, etc. until we can get it fixed.  If I had a sweater for our bun like this little guy I would have him in it.  Here's to hoping you're spending your Friday nice and warm! 

Go check out the cute little pig in red rain boots on Pinterest, too.  He made me smile.

Family Pictures

I am in love with our family pictures this year.  Ashley and her sister of LeLe Photography work together and take amazing pictures from weddings to births to little ol' families like us.  After rescheduling twice due to weather and Ava being sick, we finally had a gorgeous day to take some pictures with Ashley.  Ashley was amazing with Ava.  She did a great job telling us how and where to look and smile. She even did a great job of not making me feel like the giant blob that I am right now!  Steve and I joked that she is now permanently on our calendar for at least the next 10 years.  If you live in the St. Louis area I would highly recommend these girls for your pics of any kind.  They were awesome!!

Freebie from Lemon Squeezy

Sharon over at Lemon Squeezy designed this adorable holiday card and you can print it out for FREE.  My kind of holiday cards!  Her style is always so clean and simple.  Love it!  

We're off for a play date and some mommy chat time.  Hope your Wednesday is off to as good of a start as mine is.  The little is spending the night at my parents house so the hubs and I are off tonight for a solo dinner and then Potter.  I'm so looking forward to it :o)

PS:  Our family pics are in and I am completely in love with them.  I'll post some of my favs soon.

Advent Conspiracy

So I'm going to go there with today's post.  I'm talking about religion.  Actually, it's more about my church and some of the awesome things they do and promote.

We've been attending our church for almost a year now.  We had been at other churches and moved around every so often.  We never found something that really fit both of us.  In January of this year, we visited The Crossing and have been going ever since.  One of the things they promote during the Christmas season is Advent Conspiracy.  There are 4 main themes: 

*

Worship Fully

*

Spend Less

*

Give More

*

Love All  

*

Even for those of you reading this who are not Christian the last 3 themes apply to everyone.  Try spending less money this Christmas but give more of your time to the people around you.  In this economy who can't benefit from spending less money.  Instead give your time to your friends, your family, volunteering somewhere important to you, etc.  Finally, love all by donating to those in need whether it be your time or your money.  

I know this Christmas I'm trying to put more thought into the gifts I am giving my family and friends by giving them relational gifts or gifts that will build and strengthen our relationships.  The example our pastor gave at church was about a 20 something son giving his dad a pound of coffee.  Doesn't sound like much until you read what the note attached to the coffee said.  His dad was only to drink that coffee with his son and he was to tell his son stories about his life when he was younger.  Now that is a gift that I think any dad would like to get from their son or daughter.