Wordless Wednesday

The perfect pitch!

Second...Christmas Morning

Sam woke up bright and early on Christmas morning. Luke slept in, so we had to wait about an hour to see what Santa had left, but I think it was worth the wait!

First...Christmas Eve

We always spend Christmas Eve with my family at my parent's home. We start off with food, move onto gifts and end with a viewing of "The House Without A Christmas Tree". And, Luke fit right in! Oh...and, yes. He is wearing a Santa suit! (The weather here is in the upper 60's, so he shed his jacket later in the evening.)

Lots of presents!

Santa Luke

Sam loves Ben 10

My niece, Ashley

Luke loves shoes

My dad playing with a new toy!

Once we got home, it was time to put out Santa's cookies and the reindeer food. Then, it was off to bed.

Sam's cookies

Sam's note for Santa (and the reply!)

The "set up"

Wordless Wednesday

Photos courtesy of Captures by Summer

The mailman delivers!

The boys received Christmas packages from New York this weekend. We opened one box on Saturday and saved the other for this morning. Oh, the excitement!

Don't you try to take my box!

Sam was very happy to see that Uncle Phil & Aunt Becky sent a Bionicle. That was the main thing on his Christmas list this year, so he and Daddy will be busy building for a while.

Once the presents were open, we decided to take a pizza break. Luke loves pizza. (Unlike Sam, he is a very messy eater!)

What? Is there something in my teeth?

The second box was jam-packed with gifts from Nana & Poppy, Aunt Toni and Uncle Jeff. Sam got a ton of Legos and Luke got a really cute V-Tech helicopter. They both received the annual Hess truck, which is always our favorite Christmas gift!

Presents, cute cakes & shoestrings!

Last weekend we visited with some of my family for a lot of food and a few presents. You can probably guess which one the kids were more excited about!

This was the first present that Luke has ever opened by himself. (It was a little Boz.) He loved the paper most of all!

Sam has been asking to open "just one present" for weeks, so he couldn't wait to see what was in this box. And, he hit the jackpot with a Clone Wars t-shirt, a Rescue Hero and a movie!

This is Sam with his cousin, Alyse. He just adores her!

Sam had his Christmas musical and party earlier this week. It was a great time, but I have to say that my favorite thing was this adorable snowman cake. One of the room-mothers is a caterer and she created this adorable (and delicious!) centerpiece.

Finally...Sam has been interested in learning to tie his shoes for the past month or so. This amazes me because he generally has no interest in learning to do anything that I can do for him. Well, last night I mentioned that it might be easier to practice on one of my shoes because the shoestrings are longer...so...after just a few minutes he did it!! I was actually on the phone with Neil at the time so we could all four share in the excitement.

Sam asked that I take a picture so that dad can see it on the road...

Wordless Wednesday

When "puffs" attack...

Tour my home!

I am participating in today's Christmas Tour of Homes, so here are some photos of our home this year...

This is our little advent tree. It is one of my absolute favorite Christmas decorations. The little ornaments fit in a drawer beneath the snowman and each day Sam puts one on the tree.

This is "Sam's Tree" and our main tree, this year. It's in the playroom. Sam has his own ornaments to decorate with, but this time we also included a lot from my collection, which is about 90% "vintage". (I love all things from the 60's and 70's!) Much of the remaining 10% are homemade.

(I chose not to put a tree in our family room b/c that is Luke's crawling area and I didn't want to be saying "No!" every 5 minutes.)

This is a little tree in our kitchen. Sam made two gingerbread houses this year.

This is a little tinsel tree that Sam decorated all by himself. (We love The Grinch!)

How much is that kitty in the window??? Abby is a year-round decoration!

This is our "Big Tree", which stands in the bay window of our living room/office. It can be seen by passers-by. I don't put traditional ornaments on it, but rather stuffed Santas, elves, animals and even a Christmas Barbie or two.

These are two of my favorite elves on the Big Tree. I bought them last year when I was pregnant so that there would be one for Sam and one for Luke.

This is our fireplace. It features a basket with our Christmas cards, a mouse nativity, a vintage sports-themed tree and of course, our stockings. (Yes, the stockings are vintage, too!)

And, finally, this is our plate for Santa's cookies. It is very special to me b/c I made it right before Sam's 1st Christmas. The beard is an image of Sam's tiny hand at 11-months old!

TOUR MORE HOMES BY CLICKING HERE!

Flashback Friday: Christmas 2005

Sam was about 20 months old...before his hair curled!

Secret Santa Soiree & Book Swap

This was a good week, as far as mail goes. I received my package from my Secret Santa and Sam received his book...all the way from Alaska!

I feel bad for my sender because she paid for "priority" and it took 5 days to reach me, plus the box was totally mangled. That didn't dampen my spirits, though.

Thank you so much, Secret Santa! You did a GREAT job...Yankee Candle melts, cute 'Thank You' note cards, my absolute favorite chocolate, and two adorable hangers. (I put the Christmas one on my big tree!) I love it all, even the card. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

Before

After

Sam's package held quite the stash, too. An adorable "Wonder Pets" Christmas book, a personalized bookmark and candy. We really LOVE Christmas books, and have quite a collection, but we didn't have this one! Thank you, Cali. We've read it three times!

We had so much fun giving and receiving, and want to thank Georgie, Amy and Vanessa for organizing both of these. We can't wait to do it again next year!!

Wordless Wednesday: Catnap

These two actually sleep like this quite often.

This time I just happened to have my camera close by!