DIY: Winter Wonderland Snow Globes

For day 16 of our annual christmas countdown

the girls and i made 

waterless winter wonderland snow globes

i was first spotted these lovelies at anthropologie

they looked simple enough to recreate at home with my girls

and they most certainly were!

take a peek below

see how simple that was?

we opted to do waterless snow globes

but you can also add distilled water

for water filled globes

just make sure the trees (or whatever you decide to use) will last in the water

and glitter will probably work better than the snow

the girls have been thoroughly enjoying

our christmas countdown this year

 you can follow along on instagram to see what

we have been doing daily!

our 25 days of christmas countdown

for as long as the girls can remember

we have been preparing for the 

birth of baby jesus with our 

25 days of christmas countdown

essentially it's just an advent calendar

but instead of chocolates to count down the days

husband and i try to do activities

with the girls that embody the spirit of christmas

of course with the girls in school during the day

and busy, busy evenings with after school activities and homework etc

there are days when treats and not activities make it onto the calendar

we also have our whole family get involved

both sets of grandparents choose a day and activity

and so do both of my sisters

the activities don't cost a lot

actually most of the ones we choose to do are free

(since the holidays get so costly already!)

here is what the first week of advent has looked like for us

(if you follow me on instagram you already know!)

 

day 1: breakfast with santa

day 2: santa claus parade

day 3: toy slinkys

day 4: visit and photo with santa

day 5: donate toys to the toy drive

day 6: go to the store and choose your very own ornament

day 7: christmas movie night

and today for day 8 it's extra special

 they had waffles for breakfast and received mini blythe dolls

and in the evening my in laws

will be picking them up and taking them to a christmas party!

the countdown is really fun to do

but it really does showcase how time just flies

the first week of december is almost over!

 (eek!)

i'm off to wrap more presents

happy weekending folks!

a new tradition

wow! was this new tradition

quite the adventure for our little family

i have always wanted a fresh tree

but growing up we always had an artificial one

and our first christmas together

husband and i lived in a townhouse 

where they didn't allow fresh trees

so we bought an artificial one and have been

using that for the past eight christmases

last christmas husband proclaimed

next year we are finally getting a real tree!

so a few days ago 

our little family bundled up and headed to a local tree farm

we were greeted by a friendly gentleman who proceeded to show us

the fresh trees he had just chopped down

no thanks we said, we are going to chop one down ourselves!

after much deliberation (and i thought nothing would top our pumpkin hunt!)

we finally settled on a 10 foot (yes! TEN FEET FOLKS) noble fir

husband got down to business

it was quite a feat because they didn't allow axes or power saws

he had to use a hand saw

and he may or may not have gotten pooped on by a few 

birds once or twice

ok, so after the tree was chopped down

we had to drag/carry the 10 foot, very heavy tree back to the lot

(of course pia had to use the bathroom at this time... side note: porta-potties are not

mom and 5 year old friendly)

phew! now we had to stuff this tree into our mini van

which we managed to do, but the top was sticking out

therefore we had to drive with our trunk slightly open

and pia crying and saying that we were going to get a ticket

the whole 10 minute drive home

after a quick trip to wal-mart to get a stand we finally got home

and seriously folks, i wasn't sure if we were going to get

this tree into my home!

we finally did, and wow was it tall!

yes we knew it was 10 feet and our ceilings are about 11 feet

but it reached our ceiling! 

we needed to make not one but two more trips to wal-mart because

we didn't have enough lights for this monster of a christmas tree

i honestly wasn't sure if we had enough ornaments to decorate it either

(but of course i would have happily obliged to shop for more!)

but as you can see we had more than enough

(ahem-- i have a slight christmas ornament addiction)

ok, you might be thinking

she said tradition--she actually wants to do this again next year?

oh yes i do!

and you want to know why?

mommy, we have the best tree, it's like 

one huge air freshener

proclaimed by my zoe

 age 7, christmas 2012

our very merry christmas!

you may or may not be able to tell

but these photo booth photos were taken at 2:30am christmas morning!

yup! i don't even know how zoe and pia were functioning

my husband's side of the family always celebrates on christmas eve

presents are exchanged at midnight

so it always means a long day for us!

but it's always super duper fun

even though it was a late night the night before

the girls were wide awake christmas morning to see if santa stopped by

he sure did! 

making sure to take a nibble out of the sugar cookies we left for him
but the girls were upset that we forgot to leave carrots out for his reindeer
sorry reindeer!

santa left me the she & him christmas cd in my stocking!
wasn't that sweet and so hip of him? haha!

after we opened the gifts from santa

we open up the gifts from the rest of the family

our girls are truly so blessed

receiving so many lovely and thoughtful gifts each year

after gift opening, it's become a little tradition 

for my hubs to make breakfast!

this year he made waffles... so yummy

in the afternoon, we head over to my parents house

for more food and more gifts

it really truly is the most wonderful time of the year

being surrounded by family

 and celebrating the birth of our savoir jesus christ

hurry up  and come again christmas! we miss you already!

25 days of christmas: day 24 christmas eve!!!

for day 24--christmas eve! zoe and pia had a very special day

for christmas my baby sis and future bro-in-law

bought tickets for zoe and pia to watch a musical of the wizard of oz

and before the musical, they had a lunch date

 at a restaurant of their choice

(they chose red robin of course!)

after lunch they headed off to see the wizard!!

the girls had such a good time!

it was the perfect way to wrap up our countdown

they kepy telling me their favorite parts of the musical

and telling me the story over and over from beginning to end

and i pretended that i had never seen it or heard about it

and zoe has now informed me that she needs her very own pair of ruby red slippers!

and there it is, our christmas countdown has come to an end

i can't believe how fast it came and went!

i hope you all enjoyed following along

i also hope each and every one of you had a wonderful christmas!

i will be back tomorrow with a christmas recap post (fingers crossed!)
i am still trying to recover from all the festivities and eating!

25 days of christmas: day 23

day 23 of our countdown was extra special!

our favorite oregonians were in town for christmas

so the cousins had a date: bowling and sushi!

the kids had so much fun bowling

they didn't even care about points or who was winning

they were cheering each other on even when no pins were knocked down

and after bowling, we headed over to our favorite sushi joint

i think everyone had the same idea

because it was super busy!

but the long wait didn't damper our spirits

just increased our appetites... haha!

after sushi, the kids were pooped from their cousin date

so we all headed home

so the girls could go to bed early to get some much needed rest 

for christmas eve!

and i also had a few presents left to wrap!

merry christmas eve eve everyone!