Trimming The Tree

The boys decided to break into song and dance.

and Vivi would not be upstaged.

Jasmine needed a different viewpoint.

So everyone joined her!

Christmas Projects Continued...

I wanted a new wreath for our front door, but felt bad just tossing the old one that I made our first Christmas married...it felt wasteful. But as you can see...the wreath was tired looking, plain and not at all cute!! Plus, over the years pieces of it had gone missing.

It definitely needed a makeover.

So I took everything off it and fluffed the branches...

And with my clean bare wreath, I used some red and green tulle I had left over from last year's package wrapping to tie bows all around it.

Then I hot glued a $2.50 package of 6 red glitter balls all around.

I added some small ornaments I had bought last year on clearance, a bow made from coordinating ribbon, also left over from last year and....

Tada!!!

A brand new wreath that this year only cost me the price of the ball ornaments!!

The wreath needed to match my new porch rug bought last year on clearance (do you sense a pattern here...I hate paying full price for Christmas decor!)

And our flag has the same shades of green and red.

Perfect!

Here are the before/after shots of my wreath transformation:

Does this inspire you to take something you are tired of looking at and make it brand new?
Have fun crafting for Christmas!!

Christmas Projects

I have been adding some new Christmas decor to the house this year. I will do my house decor reveal post this weekend. Some of it I bought last year on clearance, and the other stuff I have found this year on sale. Here is one project I completed.

Kitchen chair wreaths!
They really dress up the table.

The wreaths were $1.50, then I bought ribbon and chose 6 packs of bells for 99 cents each.
A hot glue gun later and Viola!

Every time some one goes to sit at the table you hear the gentle ring of bells. Love!!

Last year I bought this snowflake table runner at Target on clearance and forgot all about it.
The wreath ribbon matches perfectly!

Stay tuned for my other projects....coming soon.

Oh How I Love Those Christmas Cookies, Sugar

This Friday I am hosting a Ladies' Christmas Cookie Exchange. I will spend the week narrowing down my cookie recipes to pick my favorite ones.

My question is, do I go with a traditional decorated sugar cookie like these found on surebabyblog?Or some yummy, gooey bars?

Or something easy like these from bakedperfection.com

I could always try a different treat.
Are ya'll with me in our love for peppermint bark? Mmmmm.
This recipe can be found anywhere, but here it is on recipegirl.com.

I love, love, love using oversized sugar crystal sprinkles at Christmastime. Here they are on molasses cookies which I also LOVE.
Featured on Martha Stewart's Traditional Christmas cookies recipes.

Well...I sure have some searching to do!
I can't wait to see what everyone else brings.

The Cousins

Last week, we had our boys' cousins here for three days. It was the second Thanksgiving in a row they have spent with us and we are hoping this continues to be a tradition for them. For those of you who are just tuning in to the blog: last year we were told that Jayden's cousins whom he had been raised with, had been removed by CPS on the same day he was. They were living in two different foster homes about an hour from our house. CPS wanted us to have a "goodbye" visit with them. But that was not good enough for us! We were able to get clearance to have them for Thanksgiving, a weekend in December, and about 3 more times throughout this past year. We enjoy having them, but two pre-teen boys are not an easy transition to our 4 little ones. Isaac and 11 year old "T" get along so much better than they did a year ago. And 15 year old "K" loves to play with Jayden and Jasmine. Vivi...well she just tags along.

Atleast she doesn't seem to mind being outnumbered by boys!!

Last year we gave them lots of presents, but this year with the baby and all, I just didn't have the energy level for that. So several friends, some church members, and Billy's parents contributed to getting us the boys' each a $100 giftcard to Walmart, a box of treats, games, and a trip to Main Event. It was a fun-filled 3 days! We appreciate our support network SO much in making this another special Christmas for the Cousins.

I took them to Walmart and "T" spent some of his gift card on a guitar. Of course he wanted Billy to give him lessons the minute he got home from work! We noted that "T" asked about Billy a lot when he wasn't here and engaged him constantly when he was. We really feel for him that he does not have a Dad in his life. We can see how very important that is for a kid when he is here.

The boys enjoy watching all the movies and cartoons we take for granted. K told me that his mom's parental rights had been terminated. I asked how he felt about this and he said "I dealt with the emotions awhile ago. So it was okay." These boys will age out of the foster care system, and that is a sad reality for them. It is our goal that they always know they have family with us. K told me that 5 of his foster brothers go with family every weekend. It made me sad we can only get them every other month or so. But I know that he is in a solid foster home with a very devoted foster dad. K made all A's on his recent report card (first year in highschool) and his foster dad gave him $100 cash. Woohoo! I told him I was so proud of him and I see him going far in college. We are hoping to get them again early January for Jayden's birthday.

All I Want For Christmas Is You

My Christmas wish from last year has been fulfilled this year.
Our baby is home!

And she turned 8 months old today!
We felt it appropriate that she take her monthly photo in front of the tree...in Christmas pj's of course!

She is crawling ALL over the place now.
That is when she lets Mommy put her down...which is only after a nap and bottle and while a sibling plays with her!

I need to point out those two pearly white things on the bottom of her mouth! Yep, she has teeth!!! They popped up together on Thanksgiving day. We were so happy.

Jasmine is the JOY of our family. Everyone adores her and she is super cute and silly and fun!

A little bundle of baby sweetness.

Last Christmas, we had our surprise blessing: an almost 3 year old son! But we were still a waiting family, waiting on our baby to come home. I couldn't wait to see FOUR stockings on the fireplace. What a blessing it was to see that come true today!

Our mantel is complete!
This is the Christmas I grew up dreaming about. A loving husband, a comfortable house, a small, intimate church where we are home with people that I trust to do life and ministry with...and of course a bunch of little kids to love and adore. The Lord has been very good to me over the years...in abundance and in want. He has given me the desires of my heart.

I will never forget the pain of facing the holidays barren.
I will never forget the first Christmas with a child, a toddler foster daughter.
I will never forget the next Christmas when our son was home and was officially OURS.
Or the Christmas after that, when our baby girl was 9 months old.
And then 3 years later...when our surprise son was home and safe.

And I will never forget this Christmas...

When our family was complete by an infant daughter.

For an infertile mom....A Baby Changes Everything.

Today we went to visit Santa and tomorrow we will decorate the house.
Christmastime has begun around here!
Pictures soon.

Thanksgiving Day

We had a wonderful family Thanksgiving.

Jasmine has not quite acclimated to Mama's over-the-top way of doing the holidays!
By next year, I expect she will be all smiles!!

I baked and cooked all day.

While the kids played lots of games.

And watched the parade and football.
Billy also took them all on bike rides to the park so I could shower in peace!

And before you knew it, it was time for dinner!

Jasmine's Feast was sweet potatoes and avocado.

I didn't get the other stuff made that I wanted to do for her. The day was just too busy!

But she did enjoy some cranberries for dessert.

An hour after dinner, we had our dessert.

After dessert, we all watched America's Funniest Videos and then I left to get my shopping on! I was out with a college friend until 5 am!!

We had tons of fun and I was able to buy all of my kids' presents. Woohoo!
Now onto wrapping and house decorating. Bring on Christmas!