A Happy Little Christmas

It is 9AM and our house is quiet - Mason is recovering from a busy busy past 2 days. He has been not wanting to sleep for some reason - going to bed past 11PM for 3 nights (then waking up at about 3AM wanting out of his crib) - last night he was asleep before 9 which is good, but still later than his usual 8PM. I think it has been all of the excitement about SANTA, new TOYS and going here & there... It was so fun watching Mason open his gifts this year (and everyone elses's gifts too, it took awhile to learn the concept that not every gift was for him to open!)

Friday we spent most of the day at my parents', and Saturday Bobby's family came to our house.

To give me some uninturrupted cooking time Sat. morning, Bobby and my sister took Mason sledding behind the snowmobile in the little park by our house - he had SUCH a blast and did not want to get off! "Ride Ride!" was all we heard.

We are so lucky to have much of our family so close (we really missed Bobby's brother and his family this year!!) and was nice to spend time with everyone relaxing, laughing, eating, and visiting. Today we are going to enjoy a nice, quiet, family day at home!

dancin machine!

Oh oh -- looks like Mason has inherited his mom's dancing capabilities!!! (sorry it's sideways)

day 5....

(sportin' reindeer ears!" daddy and mason shoveling!)

Brea, Bobby, Preston me & Paige Brea & Preston

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Last night Mason and I made the dough for the spritz cookies-- tried to bake them last night too but that plan did not go through! Instead we ended up with smooshed cookies and everything on the counter thrown on the floor...and a little boy with a bright green mouth from "sneaking" the dough for the Christmas tree cookies! It was so fun though, even though Mason probably won't remember it, I know I will!

Like my friend Jackie wrote on my facebook "the experiences that don't go quite as planned and are messy, chaotic, etc. are the ones you remember. reminds you life isn't perfect, it's usually best and more exciting when it isn't" Love it! How true is that???

Mason with Santa Claus on Saturday:

Eating frozen raspberries tonight (such a good idea by me to do this AFTER bathtime!! haha!):

Tonight my grandparents stopped by to say good-bye as they are leaving for sunny Florida tomorrow moring. It is getting harder and harder to say goodbye to them each year! We are so spoiled to have them so close... we will miss you!

I am off to bed to read my Twilight: Breaking Dawn book...Im still working on that new years resolution from last year to read 4 books!! This is only book 3 (when I finish it!).

day 1....

Day 1 of Bobby being gone :(

Bobby left early this morning for NCOIC school down in Little Rock Arkansas. He has gone to these trainings before but for some reason it was so much harder to see him leave this time. But whenever I start feeling sorry for myself I just remind myself how lucky I am that he is gone for 2 weeks and not an entire year! To help pass the time I made a mental "to do" list of all kinds of projects I want to finish (yes-- in two weeks -- i know this is not realistic!). A lot of them I probably won't get done but for sure want to get our Christmas cards sent out!



Tonight my project was hooking up our new TV in the scrapbook room (soon to hopefully be family room if I can find some cheap furniture that fits!). Was also going to put up my new floating desk but instead I got side tracked because I just hooked up the internet on our Wii... and so I am trying to catch up on old private practice episodes! This might get to be dangerous... might have to add a wii keyboard to the wishlist! ...And look into a netflix subscription.



Today Mason and I went to see Santa Claus at the Community Center this morning - then went to Grand Forks for some Christmas shopping. Mason wasn't in the mood to shop, so it was a shopping trip cut very short! I only got 2 gifts picked out! Hurray for online shopping!



Lots to catch up on -- over Thanksgiving we flew down to see Bobby's brother and his family down in Oklahoma City, and Mason stayed at my parent's (we didn't know how he would do on the flight). My neice Paige has officially gotten me hooked on the Twilight books. Seriously. And I have a huge crush on Edward (sorry honey). We mostly spent time relaxing, eating, and of course watching football! It was so great to get to see them, I miss them all so much! I have a ton of pictures to post but don't think I will get them all posted tonight!



Thursday night we had my grandparents over for dinner so they could say goodbye to Bobby - they leave for Florida next week... Last night Bobby & I went to the hockey game for a little date night before he left. Our most wonderful daycare mom and friend Amanda even offered to watch Mason just so we could have some alone time before Bobby left (thanks again Amanda!!!!!) - we met up with our long-lost (!!!) friends from g-town! So great to catch up with you guys, we love you.



Tomorrow -- off to Argyle for the sr. class bbq with my parents/grandparents and also to celebrate Christmas with them. Next week: a lady is coming with countertop samples (new countertops are on my "to do" list too) on tuesday. Then Friday I have a girls-only Christmas party that I am impatiently waiting for, and Saturday Im having a group of girls over in the morning to bake Christmas cookies (and maybe have a few mimosas????) together! December is always the busiest month - which

i love sunday mornings...

I have said this before but I just love quiet sunday mornings - it's almost 9:30 and BOTH of my boys are still alseep - enjoying a nice cup of coffee (which is especially wonderful today because I bought more hazelnut creamer yesterday- I was without for almost a week!) no noise in the house other than the computer keyboard. An added bonus was waking up to see the ground covered in snow, and it is still snowing! Bobby will be happy when he wakes up!

Just a short post - will need to put up some pictures later today... I must've jinxed it when I said they were still sleeping because Mase-dog just woke up! :)

we (heart) hats!

We are STILL having so much fun with my "you cam" --- today we decided to model our new hats..and then dug out some old hats and model those too! Someday Mason is going to look back on these pictures and hopefully laugh and not be too embarrassed that sometimes we are a little weird!

make a page monday

Did another Make a Page Monday over @ Cathy Zielske's blog- here's my take. What a great motivator to get some scrapping done each week. I'm still adjusting to the time change, think it might be time for bed...

halloween and more

Mason missed the memo that we got to sleep in an hour today. His schedule has been off all day - and of course we were @ church during "nap time" Did not go well!

I finished this page while Mason napped this afternoon - we were all LIONS for Halloween! It was so much fun this year - Mason was LOVING running down the sidewalks with his trick or treat bucket (which was almost as big as him)!

We had a suite @ the hockey game Friday night - Mason's big trick of the night was walking around with a cup in his mouth. Saturday our friends Joe & Molly came up, and Grandma Marilyn watched Mason for us!

We are also VERY PROUD to say that we are the parents of a DANCING STAR! Friday night Mason got to participate in a chicken dance showdown during intermission and he WON as crowd favorite! Guess the dance moves he and I have been practicing have paid off!! :)
Today I was really in the mood for Christmas decorating, but the furthest I got was lighting one of my Christmas candles!

So glad it's going to be a short (but super busy) work week - Thursday is a day off (wahoo!) and Friday Mason has a checkup.

Give Thanks for Kids

Came across this website today - what a wonderful idea! Not only that but they also give away prizes. Basically they ask volunteers to design a 4x6 scrapbook page/card, and then they give those cards to children in hospitals. Maybe I am just feeling a little more emotional than usual but it brought tears to my eyes! So often we take for granted the health of our children and families, but it is really something we should be thankful for everyday. So now I'm off to make some cards and hope you will too!

picture overload!

I have not really posted many pictures lately - so here are some from the past couple of weeks. Yes, Mason actually lifts and carries around his pumpkin that we decorated a few weeks back-- the pumpkin no longer has eyes or a nose - just a white painted smiley face!

Been having LOTS of fun this week using the webcam on my computer to take photos - got the idea from Ali Edwards blog. Downloaded a free program called "Cyberlink You Cam" and we have been having a blast! Mason thinks it is just GREAT!!!

last night we went to my aunt's house for some yummy happy joes pizza - my 2 cousins from Las Vegas & Florida were up! ((and of course it was nice to see my "local" relatives too)) So lucky we got to see them!! Thanks Gwen & Terry for having everyone over!

Sunday we left for Jamestown for our nephew COLE BUG'S 3rd birthday party - the kids all had so much fun playing together, although you'd never tell by this picture! They are both just so worn out!

cupcakes in the car = BAD IDEA!

Also got to spend the evening with these two beautiful smart wonderful ladies on Saturday night - we went to a chick flick, dinner, and of course had some cocktails after. A perfect girls night out!! Love you both!!!!

Bobby & I at the Vikings/Cowboys game - tailgating. We had such an amazing time together that weekend! Tonight Bobby is gone to Bismark for a leadership conference. He is 1 out of only 14 people in the state selected to go - I am SOO proud of you honey!!

working on some headbands for my beautiful nieces - and if I want to mail them out this weekend I better get working!

hurray for fridays!!

so happy tomorrow is friday! I am looking forward to a much-needed girls night with my two lifelong best friends - dinner & a movie! can't wait girls! bobby & I had such a great time in Mpls last weekend - so great to see a vikes win! We got back late late late Sunday night - then went to my parent's to pick up Mason- it made for one long day @ work Monday. Wednesday I had church council, and I was supposed to work late tonight, but ended up not having to do that. Instead had a night @ home with Mason, and my mom came over for dinner (Bobby was in Fargo for work tonight) - playing "tag" and reading books!

If I haven't written this already, Mason has started saying "ni-ni lub-you" (translated=ni-ni love you) when we put him to bed. Then we say our goodnites and he sings himself to sleep!

After Mason went to bed, I finished folding some laundry (thanks Bobby for putting the clothes in the wash!) ....and then made a scrapbook page about it!

So much for going to bed early tonight!!!

I think I may have converted

to digital scrapbooking. At first, I didn't really think that I would enjoy it as much - there was just way too much fun rub-ons and ribbons, but I have been downloading like a mad-woman and finding so many cute things!

Anyway- tonight my friend Amanda came over and scrapbooked with me. Bobby went to the Sioux vs. Bemidji game w/a friend (in Bemidji). Tomorrow we are leaving for Mpls. I have not packed a single thing for myself or for Mason! We are so excited for the Vikings game on Sunday- it will be my first one this year.

make a page monday - my take

This page has been my project tonight while watching the first half of the Vikings game! I downloaded the template from Cathy Zielske's blog and made it into a 1-page spread rather than 2. I just love her blog - it always brings a smile to my face!

Hot hot hot

Was the weather today! 82 degrees to be exact, according to the thermometer in my car.
This week has been exhausting - both physically and mentally. We have been busy every night with fall cleaning -

I FINALLY finished the scrapbook room, with taking off the last of the wallpaper and PAINTING.. when I painted, it turned out the original paint color on the other 3 walls has FADED - so where I went and "fixed" some of the marks on the wall (by painting over them) now there are splatches of darker paint on the walls in random places... Then I went to do the same thing (the "fixing") down in the laundry room, assuming the walls were the exact same color. As you guessed, no they aren't. They were completely different, so I ended up painting the ENTIRE laundry room. To make matters worse, it's not even a color I would have LIKED to paint it. I just couldn't win!!!

Today was a very busy day - which I realize was my choice - Mason & I went for a 1/2 hour jog, then headed out to Old Mill (two weekends in a row!) to meet up with one of my friends and her beautiful little girl Miss B so the little ones could decorate pumpkins. It was oh so much fun! Then I headed over to my grandma's to get some flowers to transplant into my sad flowerbeds, and spent the rest of the afternoon digging in the dirt! Bobby grilled for dinner tonight, and then the two of us had a lovely campfire in our backyard after Mason went to bed.

After all of that it feels like it should be a) Monday tomorrow and b) WAY later than 10:30pm!!

I did take some pictures of both the "new" wall and pumpkin decorating today but have exactly enough energy to make it up the stairs to my bed! :)

Saturday

So many things I should be doing this Saturday - but instead I decided to try out my new AE brushes I downloaded @ Designer Digitals (I am in love, can you tell??) and get a few pages done

(this "love you" brush you can download for free HERE)

I have also been experimenting with some "actions" that I downloaded from The Pioneer Woman blog (she also has a very yummy pancake recipe that I love!!). In the first page above, I used an action called "Seventies" -- isn't it neat???

new hat!

Mason got this new hat and a matching peacoat from his uncle dustin this weekend. thanks to this beautiful weather, he hasn't been able to wear his coat around, but it will sure be nice when the weather starts getting chilly ((which will be here before we know it!))

soo glad it is Friday tomorrow- it has not been a great week @ work for me this week! Very excited to just relax and spend time with the two loves of my life!

I also put up some more pics from our Boston trip on my facebook - you can find them here. I was really planning on getting some scrapbooking done tonight, I had even downloaded the cutest template to use, but instead, my bed is calling my name!