Christmas Eve & Crafty Time

I have been taking a much needed break from the computer this last month (as you can probably tell) and focused on organizing my crazy Christmas season and attempting to make a few gifts. I managed to make two purses for my mother-in-laws and an apron for my mom. I used this pattern for the purses. Here is how one of the purses turned out (I really wanted to keep it for myself!):While sewing I watched (well, I don't really watch them so much as listen and glance over at the TV every now and again) many movies. This holiday craft time really gave me some much needed down time during the busyness of the season.

And here's a pictures of Colin, my brother Joel and I on Christmas Eve at my parent's house. We all attended church together in Vancouver there and it was very sweet - it's been so long since our whole family has been at the same church during the same service.
Today is Colin and my 13th wedding anniversary! We couldn't do too much exciting, what with three kids and all. But we may get really crazy and watch "Inception" after we put the kids to bed. And that, folks, is what anniversaries look like after 13 years and 3 kids =). Just kidding. We plan on celebrating sometime during the next week by getting out together w/out kids.

I Want To Remember...

I want to remember a brief few minutes last night. It was about 7:30 and we discovered "The Grinch That Stole Christmas" was on TV. And as a family, Colin and I settled into the couch and the boys on the floor, everyone with bowls of popcorn. The room was lit only by the Christmas tree. It was just one of those moments that felt so Christmas-y.
You know your kids are growing up when you can sit and eat popcorn and watch a movie at night. What a sweet time it was.

The Visit to the Reindeer.

Yesterday, the kids and I made a trip to Seven Dees in Lake Oswego to visit their live reindeer. I am completely overwhelmed with how many things I want the kids to do for Christmas (cookies, tree decorating, present wrapping, gingerbread house making, etc.), but I knew this was a no-brainer for a kid holiday activity. Unfortunately, they were in cages and the kids couldn't ride them like Colin suggested, but it was still lots of fun. Samuel won a prize for playing a game The Fish (the radio stations was broadcasting live there) offered. The prize was a insanely noisy toy.


Call me a softie, but I felt a bit bad for these Arctic creatures to be caged in a small area. They didn't seem too chipper.


Juliet squealed in delight while looking at them.
Up next is Juliet's party tomorrow - she will be officially 2 on Monday. I can't believe how fast time has gone with her!

Christmas 2009

Christmas was a whirlwind yesterday! We woke up at 5:45 (everybody - even the kids) to open presents before Colin headed off to work.
Here's Samuel with a light up Spiderman toothbrush.
As Samuel was opening Santa's gifts: "I got ....pajamas. And a toothbrush. Did Santa even get my wish list?"

Here are the boys watching their new movie.

Juliet stood up against the kitchen hutch and admired herself in the mirror. For the baby book: she now says "mama" and always pulls herself up to standing in her crib. So sweet!

Juliet got this ginormous Strawberry Shortcake doll. She really isn't into dolls yet.

Jude looks how I felt at 5:45 in the morning.

We stopped to say "hi" to Grandma Mary and wish her a Merry Christmas. I wish we could have stayed longer, but I had two more stops and super tired/crabby kids.

We stopped in West Linn to hastily open gifts at Grandpa Jeff and Grandma Jan's house - I didn't get pictures, but Samuel adored his scooter and protective gear. He even rode it around the fire station.

Then we were off to be with Colin at work for Christmas dinner. The boys loved "driving" the fire truck and boats.

Here's Jude driving the fire boat.

And the baby being way busy.

And Samuel drove the boat too.

Here's the fam ready to head down the ramp to the boats.

Jude driving the fire engine.

And the boys playing with their new legos.

And of course a picture of the apple pie.

Christmas Traditions

Of course I had to bake Christmas cookies with the kiddos and I have to admit that this year was a bit stressful. Having a busy baby, fussy with snot all over and a 2 1/2 year old that steals sugar whenever he comes near it made for a interesting experience. But, we did get three different baked goods out of the whole thing and I can't really be mad about that!
Here is Samuel searching for our recipes. He's making Peanut Butter Blossoms here.

And then Jude joins in taking swipes of sugar periodically. I won't even tell you how hyper my kids were that night.

Samuel loves baking.

Jude. More sugar.

Here's Samuel's cookie decorating in progress - pretty neat and tidy.

Jude's? Not so neat and tidy. But very tasty.

And the finished product.

I have to mention how much I love Christmas cards. I hang them on my wall and love looking at all the pictures over the month.

And here's what Juliet did during the baking day (when she wasn't scrappin' around the kitchen floor picking up dough or squeezing my leg). She does join in Colin's construction projects sometimes. Please pardon the grainy photo - it was dark and my ISO was set to like eleventyhundred.