My Ornaments Dec 13

December 13 - Bear and Clown ornaments
I don't have really any regrets in life, but if I could do one thing over again, I'd buy about a dozen more of these ornaments!  There was a little seasonal store in Washington Square Mall (back when it actually was a descent mall) that sold these hand painted ornaments.  My sister has two adorable cat ornaments and she got cat garland (which I stole for several years and still have at my house - remind me to give that back sis!).  These two actually were Christmas gifts that year from my sister.  I love how unique they are and I so wish I could find them again!!!

My ornaments Dec 12

December 12 - Mirror ornament
One of my favorite classes in high school was home economics.  My teacher, Mrs. Walters, had us make these ornaments for class around Christmas time.  We had to bring in a picture for the ornament.  We used steal wool and paint thinner to take a small section off the back of the mirror, which turns that little section into a spot of see through glass.  You put your picture in the little spot you created, glue a little felt to the back, and voila, you have a neat/homemade ornament!  I always loved this ornament, but even more so now that Tootise is no longer with us. 

My Ornaments Dec 11

December 11 - Caribbean Cruising Ornament
Kevin and I took a Caribbean cruise for our honeymoon and this was the ornament I bought on that trip.  We are dreaming of another cruise sometime in the future - maybe a bigger anniversary - like 10 or 15 yrs. 

My Ornaments Dec 10

December 10 - Annalee Cat ornament

I am 100% a cat person, and I fell in love with Annalee cats several years ago.  There's just something about their painted faces that make them so loveable!  I have two Annalee Cat ornaments, but I wish I had enough to decorate a whole tree. 

My Ornaments Dec 9

December 9:  My Braces ornament
Yes, you read that right.  I loved my braces.  I didn't want to get them off, so when it came time to remove them, I asked the orthodontist if I could keep them.  That was a first for them, but they didn't have any objections!  My mom found the clear plastic ball, and they have been hanging on my tree since my freshman year in high school!  Don't judge, I'm sure you've done weird things too! :)

My Ornaments Dec 8

December 8: Panda Jingle Bell Ornament
When I was younger, I had a huge obsession with panda bears, and I still kinda do!  My Aunt Teresa, who has passed away, had this ornament on my gift for Christmas in 1989.  I don't know if she made it or not, but I'm going to guess she did because she was such a crafty lady.  It was my first panda ornament and it's still my favorite panda ornament I have!

My Ornaments Dec 7

December 7: Baby's First Christmas Ornament
Today is my birthday!  Last year in my twenties - kinda scary!  I thought a fun ornament to showcase today would be one I had to have gotten shortly after I was born.  This is a Hallmark ornament from 1983!  I actually have 3 "baby's first Christmas" ornaments and I love them all - this one just happens to be my favorite of the three :)  I've made sure that all my kids have a couple cute ornaments for their first Christmas too!

My Ornaments Dec 6

December 6:  Hayden's first Christmas hand-print ornament
My sister and mom stole Hayden for a few hours when he was 7 months old.  I thought nothing of it, but was so surprised on Christmas when I opened this sweet little ornament! I've carried on the tradition with Allie, and will do the same with Krissy this year.  I'm sure when they get older they will get a kick out of seeing how little their hand print use to be! 

My Ornaments Dec 1- Dec5

Oh boy, you're going to be so proud of me!  I've actually planned something... while I was decorating my Christmas tree (which is one of my favorite things to do all year), I kept reminiscing on the memories my favorite ornaments hold.  I decided I'd showcase an ornament each day in December until Christmas, and tell you why I love it so much, or the memory behind it.  I also wanted to highly suggest giving ornaments as gifts or getting them when you take a vacation!

Obviously I'm a few days behind so I'll get all caught up in this first post :)

December 1- Merry Merry polka dot ornament
This ornament was given to me on my birthday three years ago, by one of my favorite people, Candice!  It's been on the front of my tree since I got it, and it is the first ornament to catch your eye when you look at my tree.  I was also 4 weeks pregnant with Allie on that birthday (which I didn't know at the time).  It's just an all around happy ornament with lots of happy memories! :)

December 2:  Hand painted tree ornament
Back in 2004 when Kevin and I were dating, and he was trying to woo me, he painted this ornament for me at FiredUp!  Kevin is not into things like this (like at all), but he knew I was and he took the time to make it for me.  Ever since he gave it to me, it's been one of my favorites!  I think this is one of those ornaments when Kevin and I are dead and gone, the kids will fight over who gets it!

December 3:  Dumbo Ornament
Every vacation I've ever taken, I've bought an ornament to remember that vacation.  This one was bought (I think in 1999) when my family drove across the country to visit family in California. One of the biggest highlights of the trip was going to Disney Land.  I was so excited to ride the Dumbo ride, and that's why I bought the Dumbo ornament. 

December 4:  Sweet stuff ornament
Back in 1986, I was 3 years old, and I colored this ornament!  My mom (or sis) will have to correct me if I'm wrong (or if anyone even remembers) but I think this came in a kids meal, I want to say Long John Silvers, and you colored it, then baked it, and it shrunk.  That's the story I have in my head (who knows if it's right?!), but this ornament has been on my tree for as long as I can remember, which makes it one of my favorites!

December 5:  Canadian Soldier ornament
In 1995, my family drove East to visit my cousin in New York.  It was our first big family vacation.  I still have several souvenirs from that trip, but this guy happens to be my favorite.  We were close to the Canadian border and decided to drive across and see Niagara Falls.   It was amazing, the trip was great, and this cute little ornament reminds me of that whole fun trip!  This happens to be one of my kids favorite ornaments at the moment too!

What's Been Going On...

My blog has been put on the back burner since Krissy has arrived.  Adjusting to life with three little ones has been/was quite a challenge for me!  I struggled with post partum issues as much as I did with Hayden.  Things really started to turn around, for the better, when Krissy was 7/8 weeks old.  Since the beginning of November, Krissy has slept all night (going about 11 hours between bottles).  She is the most consistent sleeper and it's been such a blessing!  Keep it up Krissy!

I'm not trying any new recipes - and to be honest - it's an accomplishment just to get a meal on the table!  I haven't sat down and really browsed Pinterest in months, so I haven't had any fun projects to post.  Those two reasons, plus having very little down time, are the biggest reasons I haven't blogged much lately. 

Here's what has been going on:

• We spent the night at Christmas Lake after Thanksgiving.  It was our first overnight trip as a family of 5.  We got to see Santa and I was able to take Christmas card pictures of the kids.   I had a really hard time choosing a picture because I had too many cute ones!
• Any spare minute I get, I'm trying to get my Christmas cards ready to mail!  I am planning on mailing them from Santa Claus, IN at the end of the week!  It seems like there is always some little task, whether it be laundry, dishes, picking up, decorating for Christmas, ect. that is keeping me from blogging. 
• For months, I have felt torn about whether or not to send Hayden to public school, a Christian school, or home school.  Just in the last couple weeks, I've really felt led to home school.  It's not written in stone, but that's the option I'm pursuing the most.  I may post more on that later since 95% of the people I know aren't supportive of the decision.  Right now, I'll leave it at I think it's the best decision for Hayden and our family. 
• We installed new blinds in our house and I LOVE them!  I need to dedicate a blog post to them because they are that wonderful :)
• Have I mentioned that we temporarily got cable back.  I am staying up later than normal and the oldest two kids are going to bed about 7pm and I was just getting bored... with that being said, one night I saw New Moon was on.  I haven't watched any movies in the Twilight saga or read any of the books, but I decided to watch the movie.  I was so into it and I never thought in a million years I'd be so hooked on vampire movies!  Twilight came on the next night and I watched that too.  Then, I rented Eclipse and Breaking Dawn part 1.  I think I got Kevin interested too!  I need to go see part 2 while it's in theaters!  Definitely on Team Edward... I agree with Bella - I love Jacob, just not as much. 
• ALAMABA won the SEC Championship (WHAT A GAME!) - which obviously I'm thrilled about - but I can not wait for the BCS Championship game!!!!  Alabama VS Notre Dame.  Any unbiased predictions (which means my sister, a huge ND fan, isn't allowed to comment!) on who will win???  Roll Tide Roll~!
• I've decided next year, and probably two more years after that, I'm not putting ornaments on my Christmas tree.  I've already had 4 ornaments broken this year, either by the kids or dog, and I just have so many favorite/irreplaceable ones that I don't want to risk them getting broken too.  
• My house stinks like beef/deer jerky.  Kevin got a dehydrator and jerky canon for his birthday and he's already made 15lbs of jerky in the last two weeks!  Everyone that has tried it, and likes jerky, thinks it is great.  I'm glad he's found something he likes to make - just wish it wasn't so stinky!

Do you feel caught up on my life now? :)  Maybe, just maybe, I can try to squeeze in a post or two every week so I don't have to do another one of these lame generic posts!  I'll leave you with the second runner up for my Christmas card picture...