{ Christmas Memories 2008

A little myriad of Christmas photos - big item presents like the Ipod (Avery got a shuffle and Hannah a new nano) and an electric scooter for Gracie. Avery putting our reindeer food for Santa's little friends. So cute! Santa's cookies (yum, yum) and the girls standing in their Santa sacks to see if there was anything else at the bottom :o). And somewhere in there is a self-timed photo with half of Lance's head cut off. Hoping your holidays were memorable!

{Twas the Week before Christmas.....

and boy, what a fun week we have had. The girls spent their last week at school. Christmas parties were changed to Thursday from Friday for an impending ice storm. We spent Thursday afternoon making our gingerbread house. Lance and I finished up our shopping on Saturday morning. He was called in to plow at 3pm, just after we got home and "unloaded". As I was folding laundry waiting until 6pm when we were to be at my sister's for a Christmas party, I heard Gracie yell "Mom, Santa's outside". "I'm sure he is Grace" was my answer. "No, no Mom, really he is". So I went to look out the window with the girls and sure enough, there were two elves, Santa and a sleigh coming down our street. The girls went to the door and yelled "Hi Santa" to which they said "Put your coats on and come outside to say Hi to Santa". So I grabbed the camera, bundled the girls and trekked outside. A local family that owns a horse stable/riding lessons business sleighed through town finding kids, taking photos and giving out stuffed animals. How fun and what a neat surprise! Then, we traveled to my sister's (6 miles away) in blizzard, white-out conditions. Stayed about an hour and a half and then headed home before we were snowed in there! Came home and drank hot cocoa and watched Christmas Vacation. That show never gets old! Today we are chilling at home due to the temperatures (-25 with wind chill) and finishing all of our wrapping. How was your week and did you get snow/ice too?

{ You Gotta Believe....

Apparently, someone is questioning if Santa is real. As my friend Missy and I were chatting this afternoon in the living room, I looked over at the Christmas tree to find this little notebook and "note" with marker set in the tree. Sure hope he has time to find her note in the Christmas tree and sign it.

~All Gathered Round for a Birthday

Here are some pics of Gracie's family birthday party, which we had Friday night at our home.

{One Happy Family}

My niece Kylie, my brother Shannon and Hannah

**Time for Presents!!**

Gracie got to open one present before school ~ see earlier post. This was a new outfit she could wear to school because everyone should look super spiffy on their birthday. She also took Christmas decorated cupcakes to school for treats (no picture, though, because apparently no one here has enough willpower to refrain from eating the leftovers so I could take a photo). Here she is after school, with Mom and Dad home and the girls helping her open the much coveted birthday gifts!! Gracie, Happy 9th Birthday Baby Doll, hope you got everything you desired and more!

This Girl = 9 years {Happy Birthday Gracie!}

{9 Things You Didn't Know About Gracie}

* She is the only child I experienced the real labor pains with. Got all the way to pushing and she wrapped her cord around her neck.

* She was originally named Maggie Marie Noble, but after about 8 hours of looking at her, we decided she looked more like a Gracie Josephine.

* She has naturally curly hair (a nice body curl).

* She has had Baby Boy (as seen above, ratty tatty rag doll) since she was 1 year old. I should say some type of rag doll like the one above, she's been through many, but this one has lasted about 5 years and she goes to sleep with him EVERY night.

* Her favorite ride at Disney World was the Tower of Terror.

* Her favorite fruit is an orange.

* Her favorite foods are tacos and spaghetti and she even enjoys sesame chicken chinese from Hyvee.

* She had a febrile seizure at the age of 4 and was transported by ambulance to Illini Hospital where her fever was over 104 degrees.

* She loves to ride her bike, make crafts and sing. Her favorite singer is Taylor Swift.

Happy Birthday Gracie baby! I love you more than life itself. I love you to the moon and back sweetie pie.

Love, Mommy

{ The Winner!

Here is the winner ~ went a little more classic.

{ Believe

This says it all, doesn't it?

{ Holiday Card - Version 2

Leaning towards this one!

{ Holiday Card - Version 1

Playing with ideas for this year's Christmas Card. So fun!!

{ Dabbling with Digi

It has been a while since I have dabbled in the digi world....spent a lot of time over the weekend downloading free kits off the internet. Here's the one layout I created so far....didn't realize how much I'd forgot how much I love digital!