After Christmas Shopping

I've only had time to hit one store after Christmas this year. But I had to share my great finds!

I've learned that the week after Christmas is the time to go to Bath & Body Works. All of their Christmas candles, soaps and sanitizers are on BIG TIME clearance. Plus, you can usually score some regular-scented items at great prices too.

So, here's what I got:

- 4 small candles

- 1 large candle

- 3 "travel" candles, with glass holders

- 1 decorative metal candle wrap

- 3 hand soaps

- 3 travel hand sanitizers

- 1 tube of my favorite lip gloss

all for the grand total of.... wait for it... wait for it...

 $20!!!!!

 Okay, $20.73 to be exact. But the large candle alone normally retails for $20. 

Why would I ever buy things at regular prices???

Such a Special Birthday

I had to do a special post to just say thank you to everyone for making my birthday so special this year! 

It was full of:

* SLEEP - Hubs let me sleep in, AND I took a nap in the afternoon!!!

* The sweetest cards filled with special wishes from friends & family
* Gorgeous, amazing-smelling roses

* Tons of texts, emails, phone calls and Facebook comments from people far and wide

* The biggest piece of chocolate cake from Wrights Gourmet Deli (the best ever!)

* Beautiful, thoughtful presents from my awesome hubby

* Visits and such sweet gifts from my special girlfriends (love ya'll!)

* And even a bit of shopping!

What a great day it was. Thank you so much to everyone for thinking of me and making me feel so loved!

This Christmas

This is the first Christmas in 7 years that I have not either been pregnant, been trying to get pregnant (e.g. hopped up on all kinds of hormones & drugs), reeling from a pregnancy loss, or wishing I was pregnant.

This is the first time in 7 years that I have actually felt the true feeling of contentment at Christmastime.

I didn't feel like anything was missing. I didn't feel a sense of loss, loneliness, abandonment, resentment, confusion... oh the list could go on and on.

This Christmas, I truly just enjoyed my family. I relished in the gifts God has given us this year. Not fancy gifts wrapped up in packages with big bows. But the gift of life. The gift of contentment. It's something I will never forget. This Christmas is one that will forever live in my memory. It is one that I will forever thank God for in my heart.

Here are just a few pictures that express the happiness that occurred in our house over the past week...

Christmas Eve, Payton spread Reindeer food on the front lawn:

And wrote a very detailed letter to Santa & put out some snacks for the big man and his reindeer:

Christmas morning couldn't come soon enough for that sweet little 6-year old! He was bursting at the seams Christmas morning!

He helped his little brother open his stocking:

Then enjoyed opening his own:

And then the craziness began of opening the gifts...

But really, all Parker wanted to play with was the boxes:

And of course the best part, was spending time with our family.

I hope that you also had a wonderful Christmas, and that you will take time in the next few days to stop and reflect on all of the many blessings that you have. 

Happy New Year's everyone!!!

 

Last few elf sightings...

So as we wrap up this Christmas season, we will also be saying goodbye to our dear elf Percy until next year. Tomorrow is his last day with us and he will fly back to the North Pole on Christmas Eve and stay with Santa until next Christmas. But before we say "adieu" I wanted to share his last few days of mischief...

First, we found him in the freezer.

(Who can blame him... Ben & Jerry Cookie Dough ice cream - gotta love it!)

 The next night we found him sharing some merriment with the treetop Christmas Angel:

 I've heard elves have amazing dance moves!

 And finally, last night, he seemed to pull off his all-time sneakiest move.

He got out the paint & paint brushes, snuck into the boys bedrooms in the middle of the night and...

Painted everyone's nose red like Rudolph! (I've heard that is his favorite reindeer.)

He also left a message for the boys on their bathroom mirror...

We sure have enjoyed your hi-jinks this year Percy!

Why is this fun?

Sometimes I am baffled at what entertains my children.

For example, why does my youngest son like to take off and replace anything with a top or cap on it? It could be anything from an air freshener to a spray butter container. If it has a top to it, he loves to take it off, then put it back on. Over. And. Over. Again.

Then again, why does my oldest son enjoy putting things on his brother's head? Anything Parker is playing with, Payton likes to take and try to balance it on Parker's head. From the above-mentioned top/cap to a stuffed animal. Over. And. Over. Again.

And for whatever reason, their latest favorite spot to play together...

The trunk of my car!

They LOVE it!

I seriously think they would sleep back there if I'd let them.

Go figure. Kids are strange sometimes. :)

Some random iphotos

In no particular order, with no particular subject grouping, I wanted to share some pictures that I took with my phone this past week:

 First off, some fun at the park! Parker LOVES the slide, but he's not quite ready to go down on his own. So instead, he got 2 people willing to go with him!

 Arriving at the bottom...

 Always happy at the park!

 We even ran into one of Payton's best buddies from his Kindergarten class.

 That evening, Brian and I went to a Christmas party at a local country club. It was a beautiful evening and we had a great time getting dressed up and going out (or at least I enjoyed getting dressed up!)

 Parker has learned how to crawl up into the kid-sized Adirondack chairs on the back porch. He thinks he's hysterical when he does it...

I just took this one tonight while we were playing outside in the front yard. They all 3 laid down on the blanket at the same time and I thought, "PICTURE TIME!" Glad I did.

 Have a great last week before Christmas everyone!

Random Christmas-y pictures

Today is the first day of Christmas break, so Brian took the morning off and he and Payton headed out to play some miniature golf. Payton was so excited, plus they had perfect weather! Couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day today. But don't let Payton's pants and long-sleeves fool you. By 11 a.m. it was 75 degrees. Gorgeous!
In other Christmas-related news, our elf Percy has been up to some funny things. I won't bore you with a ton of elf pictures, but I do want to post one funny one. We had packed up the Polar Express Train because Parker had decided that throwing the remote and the trains was much more fun than watching it go around the track (maybe next year??). But I guess Percy wasn't ready to say goodbye to the Polar Express just yet. The next morning, we found him on the half-wall between the play room and the family room riding the train! 

What a crazy little guy he is. We sure are gonna miss him next week!

Another funny thing we captured on film this week was Parker's reaction to a little plastic, wind-up snowman. It came on the top of a bubble gum tube, but I think it may just be his favorite gift this Christmas! Sorry in advance for the picture overload... they were just too cute to cut any out! :)

Can't you almost hear him giggling???

He's thinking, "Do it again Payton, do it again!"

 I love Payton's expression in this photo. He's so proud that he made his little brother so happy.

 He finally got a hold of it!

 But decided it was much more fun on the ground.

It's always the least expensive things that thrill kids at this age. Go figure! 

 

More Elf Antics & Some Fun Pics

We have had some fun Christmas activities lately including a Suzuki Violin concert for Payton's best friend Lilly. She was incredible! I honestly didn't know a 7-year old could play a violin so beautifully. The concert was fun, and Payton sat through all of the other participants anxiously awaiting the buffet table full of desserts in the back of the room. Lilly got a trophy for completing a book of music, which is a huge accomplishment for the Suzuki program.

Another fun activity that Parker has discovered is playing with the Christmas centerpiece on our kitchen table. He finds is oh-so-fun to sit on the table, and put the red Christmas balls into the top of the candles. Then he chucked one on the floor and it smashed into a hundred pieces. So much for "non-breakable ornaments."

This has nothing to do with Christmas, but I had to post these pictures that I took the other day. It was a gorgeous day out, so Parker and I were playing on the back porch in his plastic car. He started making these "squinty" faces at me, which in turn made me laugh hysterically. Once he figured out he was getting a reaction out of me, he kept doing it over and over again. Then he'd LAUGH, then I would LAUGH. Finally Brian came out and took a picture of the two of us cracking up together. There's just something contagious about baby laughter...

Now, for a brief elf update!

Percy has been up to some high-flying antics this week! On Wednesday morning, we found him hang-gliding from our kitchen ceiling!

He must have worn himself out, because we found him "refueling" this morning on the kitchen counter:

Hope you are enjoying some fun holiday activities as well!