Happy Easter!

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. 

-1 Peter 1:3 

Our Valentine Celebrations

I'm not really one to go over the top with Valentine's Day celebrations. My hubby and I rarely celebrate the day with gifts, just not our style. Actually, one of my favorite V-day presents he ever gave me was a brand new pair of red Williams-Sonoma oven mitts, something I desperately needed at the time and have used almost everyday since then. Not very romantic, but something I loved! This year we're celebrating with our new appliances (whenever they are delivered).

Anyway, we are celebrating a bit more than usual this year since Little Man is in preschool. His class is having a little party and he is bringing Valentines based on an idea I found (& copied). It's just perfect consider Little Man's love of cars!

We also made hot pink Rice Krispie treats this past week for our Friday playgroup (affectionately called "Brunch Bunch" since the mommies sit around gabbing and eating brunch while the kids play). We had so much fun making them, but he's not the least bit interested in eating them. Oh well!

Just added some red food coloring to the marshmallows and voila! That hot pink melted marshmallow was a sight! 

Finally, I am making Oreo Truffles after falling in love with them this week. My best friend & her daughter included them in a goody bag for Little Man. It was almost a race to see who could eat them faster - he's definitely inherited my love for chocolate! I'm planning to make two batches - one traditional and one made with Mint Oreos. 

They are supposed to be for J's preschool teacher and I'm hoping to have enough left over (after we devour them) to share with our family and hubby's coworkers. We'll see....

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!

Merry Christmas!

Happy Birthday Jesus! Party

Yesterday we had a "Happy Birthday Jesus" party for Little Man and two of his little girl friends. Our party consisted of a craft, a game, and cookie decorating while we sang "Happy Birthday" to Jesus of course! Here are a few fun pictures from the morning

Craft Supplies (our version of this craft)

Ms. Leslie giving instructions about painting

Little Man's finished product...these turned out so cute!

 Next we played "Put Baby Jesus in the Manger", a spin-off of "Pin the Tail on the Donkey". I used re-positionable contact paper on my kitchen wall for the manger scene. I used my Silhouette to cut out the angel, star, and bean shape for Baby Jesus (below). I cut the manger free-hand.

Our ultra-quick and not particularly accurate "Baby Jesus" wrapped in swaddling clothes of course.

Ms. Nicole blind folded the girls, who definitely enjoyed playing the game...Little Man just wanted to watch.

Finally, we had snacks and the kids decorated sugar cookies. So fun!

You may have noticed we had birthday plates, napkins, and even balloons. We wanted it to seem like a real birthday party. It was lots of fun and I hope it becomes an annual tradition!

iBand Holidays

This is SO cool! There are three songs in the video...be sure to watch them all.

And now I want an iPad :)

Sunday

Welcome to my Home: Christmas Edition

Welcome to my home! So glad you're here when it's all decorated for my favorite time of the year!

In my dining room, you can see my red & green chargers provide a festive background for my fine china.

My dining room table is adorned with a gold table cloth and centered with white candles wrapped gold leaves atop a cake stand (they're good for more than just cakes!).

Just a little snowman & sparkle fun.

 

That is my absolute favorite little plate - so cute & full of the true meaning of Christmas.

A little jingle to let you know someone has arrived (or a toddler is trying to escape).

Cranberries, pinecones, & greenery - my favorite Christmas trio.

I wrapped an oversized picture in some festive paper, but it needs a bow.

I love little Christmas touches, like this sparkly candle holder.

My simple mantle decorations.

We got a new exterior wreath, so this is actually the wreath we formally used outside. I removed the old bow and just stuck berry sprigs in - didn't even glue them!

Our tree with coordinated packages - I just love it!

Willow Tree Nativity high out of the reach of a toddler's grasp.

The most useful Christmas decoration - our Christmas Quilt! So snuggly & family sized!

Little touches of Christmas in the bathrooms.  

Simple kitchen table with our red & green cloth napkins in the middle.

These little holly plates are perfect for a snack with a cup of coffee or cocoa.

Simple bowl of pine cones in the dead space in front of the sink. 

Festive scents fill our air for $3 at Walmart :)

One last Christmas touch before you head to the basement & garage.

 Of all decorations, these are my favorites to see...Little People Nativity set & tons of Christmas books. So thankful for my life as a mommy & wife!

Thanks for stopping by! Y'all come back!

Also linked at Kelly's Korner.

Frugal Friday: Handmade Holidays Wrap-Up

Since we're only 8 days away from Christmas, I thought it was a good time to make sure I have all my hand-made gifts made (or scramble over the next few days to get them done). Giving handmade not only seems more personable, but it's also quite helpful for our Christmas budget. I'm counting my homemade & semi-homemade gifts, so here they are.

1. Picture Calendar: I do this every year for my side of the family. Make the pages in my Digital Scrapbooking software, then upload & order at VistaPrint when they're having a sale (which is pretty much all the time). Huge hit!

2. Reindeer Pops: Made these for Little Man's preschool buddies. He was really excited about the "Flying Deer"! You can find out more about this project here.

3. Car Playmat: Little Man is getting an awesome playmat that I made from felt. This is a picture from the beginning stages, but unfortunately I forgot to take a finished picture & it's all wrapped up. I'll take a final picture later. You can read about this project here.

4. Christmas Pickles: These are pickles made from cucumbers out of our garden. I've done this the past two years and it's always a hit! I think the Christmas Pickle ornament & story behind it is a nice extra touch. Here's my post from last year describing it.

5. Jam: I canned a lot of jam this summer. I'm not sure what came over me, but it was definitely "year of the jam"! Although last year we gave everyone at Josh's work pickles, I opted for jam this year. Wishing them a "sweet" Christmas! Best of all, all the jam I made (except the Damson Jam) was low-sugar and even one batch of sugar-free for his diabetic co-worker.

6. Glass Ornaments with Vinyl: I made several of these glass ornaments with vinyl, which turned out oh so cute!

7. Candle with Vinyl: I also fancied these plain jar candles up with some red vinyl.

8. Etched Beer Stein: My Dollar Store mug looks great now that's it's etched with personalization.

I exceeded my 5 gift goal - yay! Also, these were all frugal, yet not "cheap". Definitely something everyone can use or enjoy. And I had fun making them!

I'm linking up to Frugal Fridays at Life As Mom.

Sunday

Where are your presents going?

Do your presents stay all in one place, never leaving your house? I doubt it. If you're like me, then you have presents to take to both sides of the family, parties, and so on. In a holiday organizing effort, I have wrapped all my presents by location...everything going to my side of the family in silver snowflake, presents to my in-laws in red/green snowman, and so on. There are a few exceptions for this system, like when presents end up in gift bags but otherwise it works! No more looking at every single tag to figure out where each gift goes.

As for that striped package on the far right hand side, that's my birthday present from my hubby - I'm a Christmas Baby! Honestly, I'm shocked that it's already purchased and wrapped. I'm also quite curious about what it is!

Notice my packages have no bows...I learned my lesson last year when a certain toddler removed them all. After that incident the presents no longer resided under my tree but tucked away in the lonely guest room. I think Little Man is old enough to resist the packages this year, but I think the bows would have been too tempting so I just left them off completely. Whatever works!