Well, the blizzard has arrived and I'm feeling grateful that we can snuggle up inside and watch the snow through the window!
We've been playing with Cleo and Sadie, dancing to Christmas music, and having a leisurely breakfast.
Also on the agenda - put dinner in the crock pot, finish making & addressing Christmas cards, mix up some sugar cookie dough for baking later this week, start a few handmade gifts, and wrap a few gifts. I might even try to make a scrapbook page!

Hope you have a safe and cozy day.

decorating

Now that Thanksgiving has passed, I'm ready for Christmas spirit, music, and decorating! We put up our trees over the weekend and Lachlan helped decorate. It was so cute, he loved unpacking the boxes, and even tried to put the bubble wrap and tissue paper on the tree!

Here are some photos of our decorations:
Tree #1 has a black, silver and red theme and also features Lachlan's new ornament for this year - Santa Mickey!

Tree #2 has all the handmade ornaments I've collected, and lots of my childhood ornaments and other family ornaments.

Our little kitchen Nativity scene.
My new baby Christmas cactus.
Some festive star/snowflake lights and the Christmas card box I made a few years ago.
Mr. Moose and a little berry bush.

And finally, our GIANT wreath! I noticed last year that this was buried way back in our basement, left for us (or forgotten?) by the previous owners. So we pulled it out this year, cleaned it up, and I wrapped it with ribbon and tied on a bow. A big nail was already in the stone, so we just had to climb up the ladder and hook it on!

I'm happy to have so much decorating done, but I still have a couple ideas for homemade decorations I'd like to make. First, a garland for above our kitchen windows, and a Christmas wreath to hang in the bathroom.

We'll see - even though I have most of my shopping done, there are still cards to make and send and lots of handmade Christmas gifts to start and finish! Good luck with your holiday projects!

Thankful

I'm not sure how many of you may have already heard this through my Facebook page or Twitter, but our Lachlan is going to be a big brother! I am pregnant with baby #2 and the due date is June 10th. We are very excited and so thankful!
I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We had two great feasts on Thursday, one with my family and one with Bill's family.
Lachlan was very happy to be part of the festivities, although he wanted my plate instead of his.
We had a nice long weekend, spending time together and with family. Lachlan has been busy with the trains this weekend, at nana's house and at our house. He has the idea now how to put the train cars together and carefully pushes them around the track.
He also found some time to kick back and watch football and Yo Gabba Gabba. (don't you love the crossed feet?)
But my favorite part of the weekend was pulling out our Christmas decoration and trimming the tree with Lachlan's help. He was enthusiastically going through the boxes of ornaments and pushing them into place on the tree. He also thought that the bubble wrap and tissue paper the ornaments were packed in should go on the tree. :)

Well, long time no post! I haven't had much time or energy for making things lately, so I haven't had much to update. Of course, this little guy is growing and changing every day. He's trying new words, having little temper tantrums, pushing through all four incisors, and wanting to spend more time with Sadie, especially feeding her and giving her treats.
One thing I have been making this week is granny squares. I took a "how-to crochet granny squares" class at Home Ec last Saturday, and I've been working on them every night since. Very easy and relaxing!
Speaking of making, some of Lachlan's new favorite activities are coloring, stamping, and squishing play-doh. We ordered a table with two chairs for him for Christmas, but I decided I would give it to him early since he is ready to use it. I'm sure there will be *plenty* of other things to open on Christmas morning!

Lachlan's activity box

Last week I ordered this book, in search of some fun and easy toddler activities. L is a busy boy, and I think he is ready to branch out with some new games and crafts. I also wanted to provide his two great babysitters with a reference if they were looking for something to spice up the morning routine, especially as we head into the winter months. Deb had a great idea to make a box that could hold some supplies necessary for the activities in the book. I thought this was a great idea, since things like this usually end up all over the house (L likes to "rearrange"). I think we have a good start on our activity box.

new layouts, finally!

It's been what feels like forever since I have made time to do some scrapbooking! Last night I buckled down and finished these two layouts that have been sitting on my desk since August. Now I'm inspired to get working on all the other photos that are piled up - must find more time and energy soon before the holiday craziness sets in!

Thor & Caeli

Thor and Caeli's wedding photographer posted some photos on Flickr today and I have to share some of my favorites. They look so happy in all of them, I love it!