Our 2011 Christmas Card

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With only days until Christmas I thought now would be the perfect time to share our Christmas card with all of you! I wish that we could send a card to each and every person we know, or who reads our blog but unfortunately we can't. I hope that this is the next best thing!  Our Christmas cards were ordered from Shutterfly, and just like years passed we were not disappointed. They have the cutest designs and really affordable prices, too.

We have received so many beautiful Christmas cards this year from family and friends and I LOVE it. I really look forward to coming home everyday in December and seeing if we got any cards in the mail. It is one of my favorite things about this season! I hope that Christmas card giving never goes out of style...

I have noted to purchase more cards next year...hopefully we will remember to up our order so we can send out even more!

What about you, how many cards do you usually send out? Do you love receiving them, too?

a much needed update...

Hi y'all!  December is a busy month, yes? I feel like we have been going, going and going. I could not imagine how tired I might feel if we had not been done with our Christmas shopping and wrapping 2 weeks ago. Thank goodness all of that is already done! I have many things to share with you, including pictures from the past couple of weeks- get excited!

But first, I want to start this post off with some bulleted points-because sometimes, it is just easier to get things out that way!

• I am so excited that it is only 4 days until Christmas. I kind of can't believe it.
• My parents plans have changed and they will be here on Christmas Eve, instead of the day after Christmas. I am excited about this too!
• Actually, I am just excited about everything Christmas. This is an incredible season!
• Our live Christmas tree is still green and going strong. Think we will be able to leave it up into January?
• I thought I had all my grocery shopping done for the rest of this year, but things changed as of this morning and it looks like we will be having ham instead of enchiladas for Christmas dinner. To the grocery store I go!
• I have baked and prepared some meals ahead of time for next week and now my freezer is stock full. I don't know if I could fit another thing in there!
• Speaking of the above, we could really benefit from having a deep freezer or even an extra standard fridge/freezer in the garage.
• Also speaking of the above, I REALLY could use some more Pyrex dishes because they are all occupied right now!
• We have had some snow in our area, but it has all disappeared pretty quickly. I am not too happy about this. The white Christmas I was dreaming of doesn't even seem like a possibility now.
• Louie's fur is growing in after his grooming a couple week ago, I think he looks so cute!
• Speaking of Louie, we go to the vet this afternoon to get re-tested for heart worms. Please pray that he is heart worm free. I don't think his little body or our wallets could handle more treatments.
• I got new low lights in my hair last week and I went redder than I ever have before. I have to say, I kind of like it!
• My cell phone battery will not charge. It is getting really old having to take a charger with my everywhere and plug it in constantly. Thankfully, a new battery is on it's way and should arrive very soon.
• We have SO much food at work. It is crazy...no wonder people gain weight during the holidays!
• I look forward to getting the mail everyday in December. I love getting Christmas cards. Our display is currently out of control and I LOVE it!

Are you ready for some pictures?

Well, here goes:

This picture was taken in the car on the way to my department Christmas party. We were waiting on a very long train that was going super slow. Don't you just love that? 12/9/2011

One Sunday we watched our nieces while their parents did some Christmas shopping. We had made salt dough ornaments weeks before so they were excited to paint them!

Hadley was a speed painter and finished all hers pretty quickly. They were all a mixture of every color paint we had-fitting for a 3 year old! Emma was careful and spent some time working on each of hers. They turned out beautiful!

Stephen was a great helper, especially with Hadley.

Louie wasn't sure about the painting, but he did look super cute in his sweater! :)

The girls with their finished ornaments and smiles. Love them!

Saturday 12/16/2011 we woke up so snow. I was SO excited! It was all gone by Sunday afternoon, but it was so beautiful while it lasted. This day was also the Christmas gathering for Stephen's extended family. We ate, and ate, and ate all while watching different basketball games. Delicious and fun! :)

Snow and new red hair, you can really notice it in this picture because of how it stands out against the white snow. Love it! :)

We tried to get some family pictures in front of the tree...I guess we were successful. I am hoping for a round two sometime this weekend though!

Look at those brown eyes! Oh how I love them! :)

That is what we have been up to in a nutshell these past couple weeks. Well, that and trying to relax and trying to remember the true meaning of Christmas. I am so thankful for this season and for the love of Jesus. What an incredible blessing!

I plan on taking pictures and posting a Christmas tour of our house tomorrow. The pictures may not be that great though if I run out of daylight today. Pray for a good, fast and easy vet visit for me and Louie. I really hope that he is heart worm free!  That would be the BEST Christmas present!

Have a great day!

"For to us a child is born,  to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."

Isaiah 9:6  NIV

Weekend Wrap-Up, Mid-Week Randoms & Louie!

So this is a little late...I am sure everyone can understand schedules being delayed and messed up with the busy Christmas season :) So yes, that is my excuse!

Last weekend we...FINISHED OUR CHRISTMAS SHOPPING! I don't know if I have ever been done this early, but it feels so good! On top of being done buying, everything is also wrapped! I feel like it was a huge weight lifted off my shoulders when everything was done. I love wrapping, really I do-but from now until the end of the year our weekend calenders are full. That would leave no time for shopping or wrapping. See?

We hit two malls on Saturday and they were already a little too crazy for my taste. Both were offering gift wrapping though, so it was very nice and convenient. At one mall, Habitat for Humanity put together a wonderful display of Christmas houses and villages for you to walk through. The tour ended at a gift wrapping counter where there were sweet ladies ready to box, wrap and tag gifts. It was a huge blessing to get that done right there at the mall. Brilliant I tell ya, BRILLIANT!

Here are some pictures I snapped of the villages:

They had a village set up that looked exactly like the set from A Christmas Story. We really enjoyed that because we just watched the movie last week AND it takes place in Indiana. I loved that they had a life size leg lamp on display too!

On Sunday we went to church and our niece's basketball games. In between church and games we had a snack at home, wrapped the remaining gifts that did not get wrapped at the mall and watched a new Christmas movie that we picked up; The Christmas Hope. I think this movie was originally a Lifetime movie, but they have released it to DVD now. Stephen and I both enjoyed it and thought it was a good $4 purchase from Family Christian Bookstores!

Monday and Tuesday were pretty usual days...nothing out of the ordinary.

Wednesday I took Louie to the groomers for the very first time.

We snapped a before picture in the car:

See how furry he is? Well-not anymore! It was difficult leaving him at the groomers because I could tell how scared he was. I can't imagine how I will feel when we need to leave our child with someone one day...my heart might not be able to handle it. Anyways, I worried about him most of the day until Stephen picked him up and told me he was okay but that he looked like a girl. Ha! I begged Stephen to email me a picture and this is what I got:

The groomer said that he did really well-especially for it being his first time. He was not matted at all, so we are doing a good job brushing him out a couple times a week. Thankfully he does not fight us when we try to brush him, so it's pretty easy. The visit only cost $25, so I was thrilled about that too. I was expecting a higher bill!

When I got home I went to town taking pictures of the little guy and getting the bows out of his fur. I have NO idea how they tied the bows in, but I ended up cutting them out. I agreed with Stephen that he looked much more "manly" with his hair bows in the garbage. Here are some of the many pictures I snapped:

Whats the verdict on the groomers? We will be going there with him again, but not often. I really like him fluffy and furry, so I think I will just trim this cut around his face as it grows out but let his body curl again. I am thankful that I can see his pretty eyes now since his face has never been cut or groomed professionally. I think that having a cut to follow will be easier for me to maintain than starting from scratch with him. Did he like it? I am not sure he liked the groomers. He was jumpy last night...it was quite funny!

On a positive note: he lots so much fur that we have 2 sweaters that were too small for him, but they now fit! Our next Louie adventure will be on December 16th when we go back to the vet to re-test for heart worms. Pray that his treatments worked and that he is heart worm free! :)

And last but not least, we have this cute video of Louie. He gets so excited when we come home that we thought we should video it. I am so glad we did-it's my favorite time of the day!

This was taking on Sunday, so before his grooming!

Have a great rest of the week everyone!

 

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...everywhere you turn!

Well folks, we finally got our first snowfall this season! I had been waiting anxiously for quite some time, so I was maybe the only person who was actually excited about it. Seriously, I ran to the window at work with excitement and was met with grouchy, bah humbug comments from co-workers. Apparently people do not appreciate the beauty of snow!

What's not to love!? Well, I learned driving home Tuesday night, that driving is what's not to love. The roads were HORRIBLE in my opinion. Since I am a Florida girl and have very little driving in snow experience I thought that it might just be me, but no. Many people reported horrible roads and had serious problems commuting home. I can't even remember how many cars I passed that had slid off into ditches or fields.

It was scary!

It ended up taking me almost an hour in a half to make it home (about 25 miles), and it was dark. I was so thankful to finally be home, safe and warm. I will tell you that I prayed a lot on the drive home Tuesday night!

We snapped some pictures on Tuesday night while it was still snowing and I took some Wednesday night too. Louie is not a fan of the snow yet, but I hope he comes to like it. If he doesn't-it could be a very long winter for him!

Here are some pictures:

The flakes were big, heavy and wet. They stuck to things like electric poles, wires, trees, fences...you name it. It was beautiful!

Louie in his winter coat...poor pup was not happy!

Isn't he cute!?

These were taken on Wednesday:

Louie was so excited to see me when I came home. He was running and jumping and it was so cute. I tried to capture some pictures of him, but it was difficult! I love the above picture though...

He had to take a break and do some licking, this just cracks me up!

And of course I had to take some pictures of the glowing Christmas tree :) Have I mentioned that I love this time of year?! I do!

See that ruffle tree skirt? I made it and I love it with our tree!

LOVE the reflection in the window on this one!

Has anyone else been hit with snow this week? I am sure ours will melt because it doesn't look like we will get anymore for about a week. I do hope that we have a white Christmas for my family from Florida. I have been praying for that everyday! Have a great Thursday everyone!