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Merry Christmas to all.....

...and to all a goodnight!

My beautiful Christmas dress. Don't I just look like a little doll from the toy store?

Christmas reflection!

So, I am sitting here, not feeling very good, my house is not picked up and my daughter is napping, still in her pajamas...with no energy to really care right now. I decided to do some blogging and catch up with my family and friends.
Maybe it is the season...that I love so much...but I am feeling a bit lonely. This time of year is for families to be together, right. Although I am thrilled to start my own family traditions with my little family of three, I am really missing my sisters and brother. And my parents, of course. I have been reading their blogs and emails and just reflecting on our Christmases past. Growing up, we traveled a lot, in the military and my best friends were my sisters.
Let me just share with you some of my favorite Christmas memories. I wish we could all be together every year for the holidays. (I know what you are thinking, Mom...I shouldn't have moved away, I put this on myself)
1) Sledding down the hill in our backyard in Massachussetts. Then building a snowman together.
2) Rolling down the large hill in Maine on our trips to see relatives.
3) Making gingerbread houses and stealing a bite of candy when mom would look away.
4) Waking up in the middle of the night (potty break), in Belgium and swearing that I heard Santa putting gifts under the tree.
5) Putting our shoes out on the night of the 5th of December, in Belgium, to be filled with treats.
6) Wearing our Candy Cane striped pajamas, that all matched.
7) Going to see the Big Star (I mean like the size of a house) in the Piazza in Verona, Italy.
8) One of my favorites...Making our homemade "secret sibling" gifts. We all wanted to give to our little brother once he was born. Or better yet, we all wanted to receive from little brother, it was often a sweatshirt that said, "I am the big sister of EJ", with some darling hand prints, usually in the most inappropriate position on the shirt.
9) Acting out the Christmas Story on Christmas Eve with the newest baby in the family playing the part of our Savior.
10) Eating Clam Chowder for Christmas Eve dinner.
11) Exchanging our "secret sibling" gifts after Christmas Eve dinner. These used to be called "secret sister" gifts, until the boy was born. Love that boy! By the way, the tradition continues!
12) Waking up Christmas morning, having to make our beds and then go into the kitchen for breakfast. Always a holiday treat...Mom's deliciously homemade cinnamon rolls and hot cocoa. If the tree was in view of our breakfast table, Santa would drape a sheet over the door so we could not peek.
13) Seeing our Santa gift layed out in front of our stockings, filled and neatly positioned on the couch in order of age of children.
14) The many years that Mom and Dad surprised us with a great family activities as one of our gifts in the stocking. My favorite, a sleigh ride in Sun Valley.
15) Being with my beautiful sisters and brother, and sharing each memory with them. Thanks Mom and Dad for making my childhood memorable and almost a FANTASY!

Merry Christmas to all those I have met, loved and shared a memory with. Its time to make my children's lives a memory they will never forget...if not a fantasy.

Sledding in Colorado!

Friday Night Date Night

It's been awhile since I have posted a "Friday Night Date Night" post. Tonight we have carried on a tradition, or maybe officially started one. The last couple years, or so, Carl and I have collected a special ornament for the "family tree". So we have decided to take a night each year to visit Santa and pick out a new ornament for the year. That is what we did tonight. Our ornament is a snowman that says "Colorado" on it. Obviously to remember the year we moved to Colorado. Then we made a trip to see Santa. Nice guy!.....
....Of course, Kya was not too thrilled with the "jolly old man". She really didn't scream, just fussed and looked terribly frightened. However, she did not try to get off his lap. Funny girl! Check out the video below.
Santa made Mommy happy this year. He's not giving out candy to the children, he gave Kya a book...love it. Kya wanted to read it right away. Fun!

Looking scared again, but still ok with sitting on Santa's lap. Topping the evening off with a great movie, "Santa Clause 3". I love Christmas time!

Christmas is in the Air.

We've decorated the house, and I love it. I wish I could decorate my house for Christmas all year long. Sit down for a moment and enjoy this post, I am about to share with you a story, and try to be a loving host (ess).

'Twas the night before...near Christmas,
when all through the house.
Not a creature was stirring....ok so ours was quite busy helping me and the spouse.
She was decorating each nook and each cranny with care,
she knows the season that fills the air.

and the story continues below....

The stockings were hung by the chim....breakfast bar with care.
In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there.

Mamma dressed the table for dinner...a mock setting for four.
She was preparing for a church dinner she was asked to decorate for.

Out by the door, they heard such a knock.
Our Hawaiian Snowman stopped by for the season,
hoping for a cold winter with a white boardwalk.
Aloha!

The kitchen was a mess with cookies and sweets,

But trees glistened bright, as well as heartbeats.

Below you will see,
mommy's decorative tree.


To the left, oh how cute,
family ornaments collected,
We all placed on the tree so fun and respected.



We had such a fun time decorating, especially with Kya. She has not even attempted to touch the tree. We told her "don't touch", so now she walks up to it, looks at it and says, in her very understandable babble, "don't touch" while shaking her finger at it. What an angel, maybe I should put on the top of the tree. We hope you all have as much fun as we do preparing for the season. Remember why we celebrate while you adorn your homes with a beautiful decor of colors and lights. Happy Holidays!

All I want for Christmas is my TOOTH BACK!

So, after all her hard work and pain of getting her teeth, my sweet little Kya has lost her first tooth. This is not a good thing. Yesterday I had a photo shoot and Carl was hunting, so Kya spend a couple hours at a friends house. Long story short, there was playing and Kya fell (with her sippy cup in her mouth), crying, bleeding and all that fun stuff. This happened just 20 minutes before I picked her up. So apparently when she fell, her tooth fell out. How this can happen is a mystery to me, but the WHOLE tooth fell out, root and all. Look closely at the picture of her beautiful smile, just to the right of her top right, front tooth, there is a big hole. All her hard work and now we have to say goodbye to her tooth. Ironically, my friend that watched Kya, is married to a dentist. Needless to say, we have free dental care. Hee hee. Kya is a trooper, she has not been bothered by this (well at least not after she cried for five minutes). She's a tough gal. She'll just be toothless until she gets her adult tooth.

Bye Bye Mr. Tooth. We will miss you, truly!