Christmas Card pictures

We were hoping to get something like this...
But with pictures we often get mostly this...

We had fun, though!

After a very warm fall, we had snow today. Makes it feel like Dec!


(He's hoping his nice smile will keep him on the nice list!)

Kid Christmas Survey

I've worried that having our kids write out a wish list fostered the wrong focus on the season. Yet, my better half felt differently, because he wants to give them specific gifts they want. This year we came up with an idea my husband & I both loved...a Christmas survey!

We printed out questions for everyone like, "What's your favorite Christmas tradition? What is one new thing you'd like to do this year? What are some things you'd like for Christmas?" 3 lines were provided to answer the gift question, so we have a few ideas, but are not building expectations they they'll get everything they can imagine. Plus, we like to surprise them with gifts not on their list too.

The last question was "who do you think we can help this Christmas and how?"
It was good to hear what makes Christmas feel special to them so we make sure we do those things.
And I like that their lists were not just about gifts, but about memory-making and serving others.
Hope your Holidays are sweet & filled with what matters most!

Angels

LOVE THIS VIDEO from the Piano Guys. I love the humility portrayed by the wise men and the sweet little bell ringer in the angel choir. Simply beautiful!


MERRY CHRISTMAS!

"Hoppy" Holidays

10 things to do when school is cancelled.
1-Take Christmas pictures.

2-Bribe smiles with candy canes & hope that your best group shot doesn't have the youngest child's fingers in her mouth.

3. Play with your pets. Take pictures of them too.

4. Give up the photo session once you hit nap time whether you have a perfect picture or not.

5. Take a cue from the bunny & watch the pretty snow out the window.
6. Build a fort with blankets.
7. Read books.
8. Drink hot chocolate.
9. Hide the marshmallows so they last more than 1 day.
10.Update your blog & show the kids how darn cute they are!

Merry Christmas!

Winter fun from A to Zebra!

A snow day! We played with cousins at G'ma & G'pas recently & went to the zoo. We bribed some smiles for a Christmas pic... Our lil' stinker has given up on us getting him a pet. So, he took it upon himself to adopt an invisible lion (friendly, luckily) and a stuffed zebra. He loves his zebra & can even type "zebra". It's pretty cute. Hope everyone is enjoying plenty of hot chocolate & holiday music. Merry Christmas!

White Christmas

Today we had sunshine & snow... what a fun combination!


Kids went sledding, built a snowman, & made snow angels.

More snow is supposed to be on the way b/f Christmas.

Short & Sweet

I'm thinking of keeping the Christmas letter short & sweet this year. Something along the lines of...
Sweet Highlights from our Year…Sold our townhouse & bought a new(not to scale)
Babydue in 4 months!
D (8) was baptized. Miss H (5) loves Kindergarten. Our lil'Stinker (3) keeps us smiling! Hope you’ve had many sweet moments as well. We wish you joy as we remember the birth & life of our Savior.

(Sooo... just in case the month gets away from me b/f making & mailing them, now you know what it WOULD have looked like. And we DO hope you have a Merry Christmas!)

Sweet "Home sweet gingerbread Homes"

Our townhouse hasn't sold yet. We've had 4 showings and really positive feedback, but no offers & it's hard to keep cleaning & stay hopeful week after week, but we're trying...
We have an idea of doing an open house with a GINGERBREAD theme. I found these adorable mini-gingerbread houses to serve w/ hot chocolate on notmartha.org
So, I'm excited about that. And if we don't get many visitors for the open house, then we'll just have to throw a party afterwards & show off the cutest gingerbread houses ever made!

Here's the gingerbread "townhouse" I made to look like the house we're selling (2 Story w/ balcony).

Anyone who has tips/ideas on selling a house in a buyer's market, please pass them along.

Nativity video

Here is the nativity video our family made last year- I can't believe how much they've grown in 1 year.
I still think it's precious...

MERRY CHRISTMAS!