Celebrating Christmas...

Christmas traditions are a must and we definitely have our share...

on Christmas eve my sister's family and my dad and stepmom come over and we celebrate with a big prime rib dinner. a definite favorite of the men!

we always, get a {Christmas ornament} from dad and janice and the older kids do a gift card gift exchange. we make it alittle fun by doing a scavenger hunt in order to find the gift cards and then they do the dice thing/white elephant thing to see what card they end up with.

in the end, i think suz and i end up with the cards and the kids get our cash...

the evening ends with me reading {The Night Before Christmas} a 12 year old tradition

and the sprinkling of reindeer food on the lawn, again a tradition that's as old as gavin.

after everyone leaves i give the kids their Christmas Eve present...Christmas pj's!

ok. so here's this year's drama...

i ordered all (but gavin's) pj's online at old navy

i ordered a 4T for nolan and apparently his {muscles} were too big for the stupid arms.

he cried and cried that the pajamas were too tight, but when i told him to take them off, he cried more! so. i did what every mom would do and i cut off the sleeves!

ThEn...he cried and cried that the feet were too tight. so. yep, i cut off the feet.

well. it worked. he was happy and in the collage below you can see him flexing his big muscles.

oh yikes!

{and one more thing...notice his hair. in fact, take notice of both the boys hair...

i cut their hair. always have. but for some reason i absolutely, positively MeSSeD up BoTH the boys hair and all i can say is that i was tired and delirious and i shouldn't have been given scissors! Gavin was so mad at me that he didn't talk to me until the day after. UgH!}

back to traditions...

cookies for santa. always.

this year masyn decorated one of the many {gingerbread houses} that i made and gave it to him. chocolate milk accompanies the tasty treat.

Christmas morning begins at the crack of dawn!

stockings, presents, a huge mess, dad's breakfast, and laughter.

happy birthday Jesus!!!

1

then it's off to nana and pa's {next door!}

all the aunts, uncles, cousins, and extended family come and the boys TrY to stay out of trouble! {we DON'T SHOOT PEOPLE with BB GUNS!!!}

{PleAsE note NolaN's HAIR! yep i got SO much grief from EVeryOnE that i took Nolan ALL THE WAY HOME and had shawn shave his head too!}

after nana and pa's, we walked back home and got ready for mom, george, derrick and my sister's family to come for dinner.

turkey, ham, cheesy potatoes, pretzel jello salad all are a must.

mom made suz and i cheri's newest pattern black lovely! very LoVeLY!

we played a game of tonk {a very long time family tradition!}

gavin beat george and i think we were all shocked!

and this year the kids all got coats of some kind. great idea mom!

i LOVE Christmas and all the memories and traditions that we pack into every moment. stashed away in our hearts and minds awaiting the next generation to pass them on to.

it makes my HeArT happy!!!

and i hope yours was just as wonderful!!!

lots of love to you all!

Cookie Parties!!!

for the last several years {with the exception of last year} masyn has had a christmas cookie party. it's always the same party with new and old friends.

i keep it pretty simple and short {only 1 1/2 hours}
i read a story {christmas magic} then the girls decorate cookies that go along with the story.
this year the girls were {WiLD}
they decorated cookies, RAN around the EnTIrE house and played on the swings outside.
the end result is always happy girls and one TIRED mommy

and this year nolan decided that because masyn was having a party, he needed one too!

oh brother!

he invited 3 {girls} from preschool and siblings/cousins. cracked me up!

i did the same party but i read {the Night before Christmas} with cookies to go along with it.

with two parties back to back i learned a few things...

{one} i'd rather have {8} 3-5 year olds than {3-5} 8 year olds!

{two}it's a good thing that nolan's party was after masyn's

or else we wouldn't have had any sprinkles left!

{three}don't decide to make a really fun gift for each kid/family 2 days before the party!

and {last, but CerTainLy not LEasT...}do NoT host a party the week of Christmas!

so for the record!

i survived by a thread and i am GraTefUl to my husband for helping me with all the darn cookies and for making the cookie cutter and the icer 3000 ;)

Have Yourselves

a Merry Christmas and a wonderful New Year!!!

{just a few pictures taken from my friends home}

For Your Enjoyment

just a little holly jolly reality to keep it real...

the night {and day} before masyn's cookie party

holy disaster!!!

and with not a second too spare...

it all got cleaned up.

just in time for the children to arrive and make it a mess again :)

{clean, party, clean, party, clean...}

gotta LOVE the holidays!

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVE, EVERYONE!!!

Just in Time...

i have a couple cute ideas, just in time for your holiday entertaining!

i got this idea from my VERY talented friend carrie. {we all WiSH she blogged!}

{liquid snowflakes} were a BiG hit with the kids! Reaaalllly CoLD water!

and a creative way to hold your plastics...

yummy cupcake toppers...

YuMMy starbucks hot cocoa that i found at vons. i bought peppermint and salted nut caramel {my niece's favorite!} stuffed into an old teapot and held by something from the yard...

and i don't have a picture, but family fun has a DELICIOUS recipe for hot caramel apple cider!

it's to die for and i don't even like apple cider!

{just a note...i did not make the "caramel" for the cider, i took a note from carrie and used caramel syrup instead. top it with whip cream and YuM!}

i found these candy cane garlands at tj maxx for $8. super cute!

My Holiday Home...

getting back to {decking the HaLLs}

here's some shots of the dining room

i've done some more decorating in the kitchen and have some cute ideas for your holiday entertaining that i'll share. are we ever really done decorating?

hope you all are enjoying the merriest of a merry Christmas.

YikES...Santa comes tomorrow!!!

Gingerbread House Cookie Kit

this is the CuTEsT thing EVER!
a friend of mine calls me last week and say's "you gotta go to eighteen 25 and see the cutest thing. you should do it for masyn's cookie party!" ok. so she knew i was probably the only crazy one who would attempt it days before the party and she was right.
but seriously! how cute are these!!!

they are sugar cookie houses iced in brown and decorated like gingerbread houses! so stinkin cute AnD you can download the cute card here at bee in our bonnet.

so...shawn and i set to work to make enough for the masyn & nolan's party guests.

{these are pics of our version, you can go over to the other sites to see the original}

and yes, i did say shawn and i. we had a baking date. he was making his famous chocolate dessert for a work party and when he was done, he decided he'd {help} me.

the first thing he did was make me a cookie cutter so that i didn't have to cut out houses with my homemade template. LoVE him!

then, after attempting to flood the cookies with a bottle and a toothpick, he disappeared yet again and came back with his {the icer 3000}

see what i mean...masyn comes by it honestly!

he's not happy with the {LoOK} but come on...

it worked great! lots and lots of perfectly iced {gingerbread} houses!