It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas!

Merry Christmas, y'all!  I thought I would show you around my home, and share some of my favorite decorations this year!  Burlap is ALL the RAGE right now, but I've stuck with my bright red, lime, and white theme...and, I still think it's so fun and festive.  There were A LOT of things I decided not to put out this year; I just wanted to pull out some of my most favorites, and enjoy not having to go overboard - and, it has been a nice break!  (and, as a disclaimer - yes, all of these pics were taken with my iPhone...I'm still waiting for my camera to get fixed!)  

Ok, so ON WITH THE SHOW!!  

The tree...

The foyer...

The living room...

 

The bathrooms...

Our bedroom...

 (almost 11 years ago - WOW, we look YOUNG and SKINNY!!!)

The 4 Favorites room :)...

I have been very intentional this year on choosing what Brad and I would be a part of this season, and it has been a HUGE blessing to not have so very many obligations during this Christmas - including not doing as much decorating this year!!  I think so many times we work so hard to be a part of every party, get together, and holiday activity that we lose sight of why we're even doing it.  I want to CELEBRATE this season - CELEBRATE my Savior's birth - CELEBRATE my family - CELEBRATE CHRISTmas...and, not be exhausted doing it!!!!

Thanks for stopping by!!  From our home to yours - Merry Christmas!

Happy Birthday, Ellie Jane!

Our sweet girl - Miss Ellie Jane - had her first birthday a few weeks ago!

She of course had no clue, but we couldn't let the day go by without having a little celebration :)  The 4 Favorites just adore Ellie, and were very excited to celebrate her birthday.  Since I love pretty much any excuse to decorate, we had the kids over for a sleep over and we partied while they were here.  I had helped a friend decorate for her daughter's birthday party several months ago, and the theme was "Pink Poodle"; I had made these polka dot tablecloths and pink poodle fabric runners for that, so I got to reuse everything for our "puppy party"! 

I made them each a little party hat out of felt, complete with a black paw print on front and paw print ribbons to tie them on...

We had paw print cupcakes from the bakery, and we made bone shaped Rice Krispie treats for our party snack.

We sang Happy Birthday to Ellie with a cupcake, but don't worry - we didn't actually let her eat it.  She got to celebrate by having some chicken :)

It was a GREAT party...

After the "party" the 4 favorites had a BLAST! (They always do...they play so good together!)

 

 

We all had a great time with the kids here, and celebrating our little Ellie being in our family!  It was a great weekend!

 

Happy Birthday, Ellie!! 

My View From Here...

Snow and ice are every where you look!  I've decided instead of grumbling about the inconvenience of it, to embrace the beauty and enjoy the time the Lord has forced us to stay home and relax.  And, it is sooo very beautiful!!  From the...

Icicles hanging off the eaves of the house...

to the thick blanket of snow hovering over our back door steps...

to the frozen pool...anyone up for ice skating or maybe a polar bear plunge??

 

To the snowflakes trickling down again... 

 to everything captured in a shell of ice...

to snow finding a home in any place possible...

And, quietly sneaking closer and closer to our front door (no worries, friends...I learned my lesson last year - all these pictures were taken while standing on the porch!!)

 

 All the cold outside makes staying inside and sipping on some hot chocolate taste even better! 

Hope where ever you may be you are embracing the beauty of the season :)

First Snow of 2011!!

Have you heard the entire South East is covered in snow?? 

Across North Alabama, there is between 6-12 inches of snow...I know, I know - to most of the country that doesn't seem like a whole lot to write about.  But, in the South, that's a WHOLE LOT to write about!!  Pretty much everything is closed - schools, banks, businesses.  Even Brad's company closed due to severe driving conditions. 

We've had a blast getting to be home, and play :)  We took a little walk around our neighborhood and everything was just so pretty!!

There were lots out tubing and sledding, and a few were trying to build snowmen (it's not good snow for snowman building though...way too icy).

Miss Ellie Jane liked this snow lots better than the snow we had at Christmas.  There is a thick sheet of ice on top of the snow, so she could run and not sink down into the snow...she was so funny running around!! 

 

We've spent the rest of the day staying warm in the house, and getting ready for the BIG GAME tonight!!!!  Can't wait to watch our Tigers!! :)

A Merry Little Christmas

Throughout the month, we have all sorts of Christmas get togethers with extended family and friends, but my favorites are the ones we have on Christmas because they're with our closest family! 

On Christmas Eve, I have brunch at my house for mine and Brad's immediate families.  I love that we can have a special time with both our families together, and the 4 Favorties LOVE getting to be at Aunt Hayley and Uncle Brad's house!!  This year, I had gingerbread cookies for them to decorate after we ate.  They were so cute!

Christmas Eve night, we went to Brad's parents house for dinner, exchanging gifts, and playing games.  We had a great time!!  We had been hearing "rumors" that we might get a little snow on Christmas day, but we were not really expecting it to happen...BUT, we woke up to a Winter Wonderland!!!  After Brad and I had our traditional Christmas breakfast and gift exchange at home, we headed to my mom and dad's.  Besides a little dusting we had one year when I was a child, it has never snowed on Christmas day in my life, so we were just as excited as the kids! 

We had snow ball fights...

 

Built a giant snowman...

 

 ...and well, Sam mostly ate the snow! HA!!

And, this little girl thought her first snow experience was AWESOME!!  Ellie was like a streak of lightning running around the yard in the snow!! HA!

 

We had such a fun day playing and laughing, eating yummy food, exchanging gifts, and watching Christmas movies!

We always have our Bailey Christmas gathering the day after Christmas.  We stay all day long, and we have a wonderful time.  This year we had it at the Bailey Farm, and got an awesome picture in the snow of EVERYONE - even my cousin came home from California for Christmas this year - with my grandparents house in the background...isn't it beautiful?!  (I hi-jacked this picture from Lori's facebook page - thanks Lori!!)  I really am so very blessed with an incredible family!! 

After all the family gatherings, my immediate family went and stayed at the lake for 3 days and it was W.O.N.D.E.R.F.U.L. to sleep late and not have anywhere to be or anything to do but play and relax...and, I didn't take a single picture!

I hope that each of you had a blessed Christmas!