Making Good Use Out of Christmas Presents

Because Alex is training right now, I had to make him his christmas gift this year. A while back we had set aside some tee shirts for tee shirt quilts. Just a few weeks before Christmas is dawned on me that this would be a great christmas idea. I went to work on it and here it is. I am not a particular fan of the bright green shirt in there, but it was a good memory shirt for him. Above is the front of the quilt and below is the back of the quilt. I was also going to do a boarder, but alas I ran out of time and it was too complicated.







Blake got some boots for christmas. I was a little worried because 2 years ago Nathan got elmo boots for christmas and when he opened them he said, "boots, no thank you". It was pretty funny. Blake on the other hand loves his. When we are just sitting around the house, Blake will randomly show up in his boots, as in this picture. I'm not gonna lie, I like his style a lot!

Heather, My Sis

I love my sister. She leaves for school next week and the family will miss her. I always laugh when I talk with her, that is, unless we are arguing about something. I remember the days when she used to take my stuff and I could tell she had, even though she denied it. Now, I take her stuff, but I tell her. She has just turned into a cute, stylish, and fun girl to be around. I like her and Nathan and Blake like her a lot too!

Christmas Rest of the Day

I am in total love with the green glasses. I hope they get passed down to me. We had Christmas dinner at my grandparents house. It was very yummy and nice to be with family. I also lost my voice this day as well, from a pretty bad cold. I could still whisper at least. I totally felt like Mrs. Brady from the Brady bunch when she needs to sing at church on christmas day but looses her voice.



My Grandpa Spisak carving the roast beast.



I made a cake. It tasted yummy, but the frosting job is not the best.



We usually take family pics outside and so we did again this year.



Later that night we went to my Grandmother's for breakfast. It was nice to see more family and my grandmother gave me some beautiful dishes and rings that I can't wait to show on here! I also met up with my best friend from high school, Serena. I hadn't seen her in a while and it was fun catching up, even though I could only speak in a whisper.

Christmas Morn

Nathan asked for a batman book, a globe, and a "skelescope" (a microscope, so he can look at germs) from Santa this year. He got lots superhero and star wars items. Blake loves Lion King, so he got some Lion King figures, a new tricycle, and a motorcycle like Nathan's, plus more superhero and star wars stuff.



Nathan also wanted a slap watch. This one ended up being a bit too big. So big in fact, it could fit around his neck!

The Night Before Christmas

The boys putting out milk and cookies for Santa. Blake would have eaten those cookies if they weren't for Santa. Also, Blake gave a whole new meaning to the name Cookie Monster this weekend. He was also candy crazy. I didn't even know what to do with him and his madness.



We also made reindeer food last week and we poured it in the yard before bedtime. Nathan also has a sweet bruise on his head from falling on the concrete outside our house. But that happened last week.







We always go to my Grandma Spisak's on christmas eve. Nathan had a long day and was scared of a dog there. So long story short he fell asleep in a chair. After an hour we were going to open presents and I woke him up. He was not happy. Once we got him to stop crying he was then grumpy and didn't even want to open presents. Blake was having a blast with everyone's presents though.

Frosting Cookies

Blake's first time frosting Grandma Mary cookies.



Nathan was pretty into it this year, if you can't tell. He also used up an entire thing of sprinkles on like 10 cookies.



You know Blake is really focused when his tongue is sticking out!

The Nutcracker Night to Remember

Nathan had a nutcracker play at his preschool on Thursday night. We had a lot of family there and even a few surprise family members showed up. Nathan was loving life!



His roles included and were not limited to: a candy cane dancer, a clown, and a "fighter".





In other news, Blake has decided that every night he needs to sleep in his chair rather than his bed. I have to go in every night and move him to his bed... I just don't get it.

Gingerbread House/Stuffing Face Full of Candy Night

This year I decided to go all out and make my gingerbread house from scratch. I also decided to add a porch. This is the result. The gingerbread is actually really really good too. I didn't use hot glue this year either. 100% edible y'all!



Nathan obeyed the rules of only eating a few pieces of candy...Blake...not so much. He just kept popping the m&m's in his mouth. I would continue to tell him no more. One time I was looking the other way but I could still see him out of the corner of my eye. He looked at me and then put a piece in his mouth and I said, "Blake I can still see you" and then he put it down. We rocked out to Christmas music and a fun time was had by all!

All the Stockings were Hung...

Last year I made these fun stockings out of old shirts I had in my closet and some felt. This year I needed a place to hang them and seeing that we don't have a fireplace, I needed a place to hang them. So, I went online for ideas and I came up with this one. Has anyone else hung their stockings from a clever place besides the fireplace?

Grove Park Inn

Every year Grove Park Inn in Asheville does a gingerbread house competition. It is free to go walk around and look. Last night we went with some friends and it was a lot of fun!




It was nearing bed time and Nathan was being a bit of a grinch and didn't want to take our family picture, so Abigail has now been adopted into our family.



Blake was a bit sad that his brother didn't want to be in the picture.



This one was my favorite and only won 2nd place. Even the box is gingerbread...holy cow amazin!



I just love the despicable me gingerbread house...so real!

It's a Parade!

We went to the Fletcher Parade this weekend. It doesn't look that cold out, but gosh dang it...it was! We had to walk a mile to get there, for no reason at all. The boys did have a good time, even though their hands were straight up red and frozen. Nathan looks gangsta in this picture. They just so happened to get those beads from the girls scouts of the greater Fletcher area.




The boys chillin... literally.



Llama's... such strange little animals.



Blake waving at the fire dog.



Blake and yours truly.



Overall it was fun, but I was cold the rest of the day.

And So the Fun Begins!

This weekend we did a lot of fun christmasy stuff. We went to the mall so the boys could tell Santa what they wanted for Christmas.



Blake refused to sit on his lap.



Nathan was a little hesitant at first, but then got right up. On the way home he said, "Mom, I can't believe I am going to get 2 skelescopes for Christmas. One from Grandma Karla and the other one from Santa." I am glad he let me know that. Once we got home he asked me how Santa got to the mall and I told him that was just one of Santa's helpers. He then asked me how he got to the mall again and I just said that I didn't know. I could tell he had been thinking about it the whole drive home. I am not ready for the Santa questions yet!



There was also this free Holiday Fun Fest. It was okay, yet a lot cooler than we had thought it would be. There was a fire truck, ambulance, and police car. There were also bounce houses, tee shirt making, balloon making, free food, and much more. We only stayed for 30 minutes and hit the road because of nap time. But, alas, here we are in the fire truck.



We also went to the Fletcher parade that morning, but I will post those pictures soon!

Awesome Bird Finds

No! I haven't been bird watching, I have been bird hunting! I have noticed owls have been "in". I don't know why, but they are cute, so I few months ago I was on the hunt for some birds. I found this one at an antique store in downtown Hendersonville for $5. I was a little hesitant when I first saw it because of the price, so I didn't buy it. I couldn't stop thinking about this stinkin bird, so I went back and luckily it was there still and bought it! Yay! O and the dish I got from a yard sale for $0.50 in Asheville.



I found this owl at a different antique store in Hendersonville. The price was much better for this one. It was $0.50. Hurrary! It is in Blake's room and he loves carrying it around sometimes. I have been trying to decide if I should spray paint it white. Its eyes are a little creepy. What do you think? Are its eyes creepy enough to paint the thing?

Fun

Last night I went to cheesy christmas party for Young Women's (youth group of girls from church that I help out with). The girls had to wear an ugly sweater and I too had to wear an ugly sweater. I actually had one in my closet. My dad had this little gem made for me in Gatlinburg when I was in 8th grade. I can't throw it away because it is so awesomely awesome. Anyway, it was fun and we had lots of cheese related items to eat and watched a cheesy christmas movie.

On the way out though I apparently stepped in some animals poop. It was actually snowing in Asheville last night so I had the foot warmer vent blowing on me as I left the party and something smelled bad.....real bad. I thought, maybe someone is burning something that stinks. I soon realized that was not the case because it didn't go away. I thought and thought. I truly wondered if I had possibly forgotten to throw away a dirty diaper or something. And then it hit me, try turning off the foot vent and see if the smell goes away. I did so and the smell went away and then it hit me again.... I just knew I had stepped in poop. So, I got home and smelled my foot and sure enough, I had. So sad...I threw away some really comfy $7 Target shoes :( and my floor mat is sitting on my back patio, not wanting to be touched by me. O and FYI, I used a clorox wipe on my gas and brake pedals....just in case you were worried.



Also, I have been lovin me some JCrew. There is no way I would ever buy something from there because of the price, but I will surely look through their "looks we love" and catalog and go to goodwill and find something similar...o yes.... I will....and I have! I really want some orange pants...goodwill probably doesn't have orange pants though...so sad...but maybe!