2 Turtle Doves

Day 2 of our Advent Calendar brings us "2 Turtle Doves", which for convenience sake has been shortened to "2 turtles" ...

... which we got at the Chocolate Factory!

Stick with me guys, I promise it is not all going to be chocolate related. We were going to do this later in the week, but we had to shuffle a little so our sweet neighbor friends could participate in some of the upcoming events. (We hope you get over your sickies soon!)

2 down, 22 to go!

Froehliche Weihnachten!

This year we are going to do an Advent Calendar. But, not just any advent calendar - no, no, no! I have created a calendar for us to do something fun each day. I feel like December is getting too stressful and I really wanted to make it a time of year for us to have fun together as a family. I don't want to think back on this time in my life and kick myself for not having more fun with Zaida while she is little. She is growing so fast & learning new things each day. And I really want to enjoy this special time of the year with her. And like I said in my last post, I feel like if I don't make a plan and DO it, then I will always feel like I dropped the ball on making wonderful memories for us. And isn't that what it's all about? Well, not ALL about, of course. But, you know what I mean!

Anyway, back to our advent calendar --- I repainted an apothecary cabinet with the theme for the year (yellow), and I think it looks dang cute!

Today was our German themed day, hence the Froehliche Weihnachten! (Merry Christmas!) This morning I explained the idea behind the advent calendar to Zaida - and then we checked out what was in the drawer for today.

Yum! Chocolate for breakfast!

Okay, she really did eat some cereal for breakfast. But, it wasn't too late in the day before she dug into her chocolate - there's just no hiding chocolate from her!

I was going to make wienerschnitzel & spaetzle for dinner to stay with the german theme of the day, but it seemed like so much work just for me. (Corey's at school tonight & Zaida most likely wouldn't even touch it)

Stay tuned for the rest of our fun-filled December.

Christmas 2009

This year I am going a little crazy. I'm sure some of you ladies out there can understand ... I am just so upset with myself that it seems like I can never 100% complete a task. I am unorganized, I am tired, I have such lofty dreams and high hopes --- but normally I have no idea how I'm going to achieve them. Well, NO MORE! I made a plan for this Christmas and I am going with it.

Here it is!

Christmas color theme - Green & Yellow

It's kind of hard to see all the details - here are a couple of the things you might not see on first glance. Candy corresponding with the color theme throughout the house, pears and lemons to add an additional punch of color. And one of my favorite ideas --- I have a holly bush out on the side of my house (which I hate - in fact, it is one of those things that Corey and I have talked about pulling out for years), so Corey cut off some branches and I painted them yellow and disbursed them throughout the house (Christmas tree, garland on the stairwell banister, etc.).

I have plenty more pics to show you - I will continue to add them. But I did want to post about our next Christmas tradition we are adding this year too.

Hey guys, look at the bears!

Where?!

Merry-go-round

Last spring we went out to eat with our cute friends and then took the kids on the merry-go-round. It was a fun night & I got a couple of good photos.

My little artist

I thought these were just some cute pics of Zaida. She was drawing on the table and with the sunlight just peeping in the windows and everything, they just seemed like artsy photos. Zaida is such an artistic gal, she must get it from her Uncle Quinn and Mem. She loves to draw, paint, color, sing, dance and play the piano. Lately, she has been fascinated with drawing frowny faces. I think it is because we pull fake sad faces with the pouty lip when we draw them - she's trying to perfect the look, I think. She will tell you to draw "circle, eye, eye ... crying face". As a side note, the pictures are in chronological order, so these are from February. If you want to know what's happening now you will have to wait until next year to see. :)

Here is another photo - look how proud she is of her picture.

I know, I know!

Okay, so for those few of you who are still interested in us (I don't blame you if your not - we have been MIA for this past year) ... we are still alive. I'm sure I have a lot to fill you in on ... like our trip to Pueblo, Colorado for the Professional Bull Riding tournament or our trip to San Diego with some of our best buddies. Not to mention all of the in between stuff. So, I'll try to hit some of the highlights over the next little while.
Sorry friends and family, we do love you --- and I will try harder to be more diligent.