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

this girl

this girl....

loves the color blue

loves her gymnastics classes

is fearless

loves eating burgers & sushi

(not at the same time)

is so sweet and loving

(she has to give me exactly five kisses before she enters her classroom)

loves elephants 

doesn't really have a sweet tooth

loves chips--especially cheese puffs!

says she will be a "cooker" (chef) when she grows up

this girl turned 5 years old today! 

viva las vegas!

in my last post i was being a little cryptic about the saying

does "what happens in vegas really stay in vegas?"

well, i am sure that most of the time it does

but when you elope

that most definitely does not stay in vegas!

yep, my middle sister and her fiance decided to elope

and took us with them!

we had a total of less than 6 weeks to plan (tops!)

she wanted it to be super, duper simple

i was pretty much down on my hands and knees

begging her to have a cake, flowers, favors and a photographer

(what can i say? it's the professional wedding planner in me)

she finally relented (after much heart felt begging on my part)

and i turned to my good friend google

and started hunting down las vegas wedding vendors

i think everything turned out perfect!

all of these photos are just from everyone's iphones 

 i hope to share the pro ones soon enough

you might just see elvis in a few ;)

viva las vegas!

ps. if you think planning a wedding in 6 weeks is tough
try keeping it a secret from almost everyone you know!
now that's tough! 

what we did in....

i was m.i.a last week because our little family was away in las vegas!

now you must be thinking... vegas? for a family vacay? really?

well, if you follow me on instagram

you know the real reason why we went

but interestingly enough... it was pretty family friendly!

husband and i don't care much for gambling or drinking

we really just walked around and took in the sights

and of course ate until our bellies were stuffed

oh, and my parents stole the girls away for one day

and took them to the happiest place on earth
(it was only a 4 hour drive my dad kept saying...)

what my parents do for my girls i tell you

oh, and if you are wondering

does what happens in vegas really stay in vegas?

 you will soon find out

stay tuned for my next post!

it's tradition

at the end of each summer

our little family heads on over to our local fair

i take a photo of the girls against the "how tall are you?" stick 

to see how much they have grown from last summer

we ride some rides

we indulge in yummy (but not good for us) food

we ride some more rides

we eat some more not-good-for-us food

we pretty much just have a blast

and spend too many pennies doing it

but

it's tradition!

it's funny because when the girls were babies

my husband and i started to do traditions with the girls from our own childhoods

but we also started some of our own little family traditions like

going to the pumpkin patch, going to the fair, how we celebrate christmas etc

and now the girls are at the age where they ask

"mama, when are we going to the fair?"

"daddy, when are we going to the pumpkin patch?"

it's really rewarding to see the girls really truly enjoying and looking

forward to our little traditions