pictures from Christmas '08

The following pictures are from Christmas Eve, which we spend with my Mom, Step dad and siblings each year.

 
CJ & my Niece (13yrs)

CJ posing with his new Leap Frog quick start computer
He LOVES it!!!

opening his new train set (one of them)

giving his Mackle (Ma-cole) (what he calls his Grandma (my Mom) a hug for all his great gifts.

my nephew(4yrs) posing with a couple monster trucks 

my niece (3.5yrs) with her Fur-real dog

The following are from Christmas morning at my Grandma's house...

CJ & two of his cousins, (3 & 4 yrs)sitting on his new Lightning McQueen couch/bed
 
checking out his new Thomas train set

opening more gifts

The following are pictures from Christmas at our house, just the three of us.

posing with his first gift to be opened in front of our tree

such excitement. It was a Thomas game for his Vsmile
 
PJ's friend is a UPS driver and CJ just loves him. So we bought him his own "Craig suit".  lol He is now asking for his own UPS truck.  Oh my!!!  ;)

a Thomas blanket...it is SO soft.

his play-doh table

watching a new dvd while I was cooking dinner, waiting on PJ's family to arrive.
The following are from Christmas evening with my husband's family at our house

Opening his gift from his Grandma & her husband, a giant fire truck that lights up and makes sounds (very nice)

so excited to have more gifts to open

the mess that was our family room on Christmas evening.

And finally...getting his gift from my Grandma on friday morning...



opening a couple games for the smart cycle

last but certainly NOT least...

his fishing bear that sings and dances

That was a collection of our Christmas'.
Was it enough pictures for you?  ;)

I'm Baaaack!!!

Did anyone miss me?  ;)

To say that I have been busy would be an understatement. (I am sure that most of us are this time of year)
My house is back to itself. The tree is down and packed away with the rest of the decor. My floors are swept and mopped. All clothes are washed, folded and put away. Dishes are done. All toys are opened and put away. And both CJ's playroom and bedroom are re-arranged and organized with all his new things.

WHEW...We made it.

Our Christmas was AWESOME. We are truly blessed.
Everything went smoothly. With the exception of my Grandmother, she is 83, making a trip to the ER. She is fine, but she has been having some trouble with her eye itching her. She rubbed it so much that she bruised it. (OUCH) So she missed the little ones opening some of their gifts, but we made sure to go back friday for her to give them the gifts from her, so she could see them at least open those.

My MIL has been fighting cancer for about two years now. First it was ovarian cancer, then it was a couple spots in her stomach (which they are still attacking with chemo), then a couple spots on her brain (which she had radiation for) and is now back to the chemo for her stomach.
She is worn down. PLEASE pray for her. She can use them. (THANKS)

About a year ago PJ and I read a Purpose Driven Life (by Pastor Rick Warren). A couple months ago we did a Bible study by him called 40 Days of Community. For Christmas I received another book by him called The purpose of Christmas. I am so excited to start reading it.
I also received lots of other FUN stuff.

CJ though...he hit the mother load. That happens when you have a Grandma and an Aunt that SPOIL you.  He received, two game systems (the Smart Cycle and the Leapfrog Computer system for the tv) He also received a couple games each for them as well as for his Vsmile. Other things were a Little Einstein's globe and rocket chair, an aqua doodle, too many dvd's to list, three new Thomas the Train sets, a few Handy Manny things, including the cutest rolling backpack that will be PERFECT for pre-school (just the right size), a lightning McQueen couch/bed, a fire truck puzzle that he can color himself,  a HUGE fire truck (it is longer than he is tall), a dress up fire costume, a talking fire helmet, a Thomas blanket, a new train table and wooden train set, an alphabet sponge puzzle rug, a new bathtub toy, a small kid sized hall tree for his own coats and hats, a dart gun superhero thing, (it shoots balls through holes or something).
I know there is more, but my mind is going blank.
OH, he also received a check from his Grandma. (which we do not know what he will get with that). For now it is going in the bank. The boy needs NOTHING!!!
I will post some pictures later. ;)

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and made lots of memories to last a lifetime.
I am still catching up on reading your blogs, but I will get there.

I am coming up on my 100th post (this week) And I think I will do a give away for it. Details will follow soon.

HUGS

Our 2008 Christmas card

check out Faith's Christmas Card Carousel to see more Christmas cards.

does the picture look familiar? ;)

This is the first year I did a photo card. I usually buy cards and include a Christmas picture of CJ. With not putting our Christmas tree up until after Dec. 10, it made it kind of hard to get a picture or two of CJ in front of the tree, get them ordered and out in the mail and still have them make it to their destination in time for Christmas.
So, this year I opted for a picture that was taken at my Birthday dinner in Oct.
It was quick and easy and I am so happy with them.

I would love to see your Christmas cards. ;) (hint hint)  lol

CJ's Christmas pics (well some of them) ;)

for me? Thank you!!!

 

I received a couple of awards over the weekend and want to take the time now to post them and once again say THANK YOU so much for thinking of me.

First Stacey from McCrakensx4, gave me this award...THANK YOU!!! I am so blessed to have met you through this bloggy world.

 
"These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find, and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers."

The rules: pass along to eight bloggers who are to include the text above and then they pass it onto eight bloggers.

I know I say this A LOT, but there is NO way I could pick just eight of you. So, if you do not have this award, I am tagging you. PLEASE, take the award and pass it on to others. I consider each of you my bloggy friends and I heart you all.

 

Second, Keli @ Dream.Imagine.Live, gave me this award...I am so excited to get this. I have seen it floating around out there and secretly wanted it. ;) So THANK YOU Keli for passing it my direction.

The Rules are simple:
You must be a true Christmas lover to receive this award.
The person to whom you give the award must also be in love with Christmas.
You must link back to the person who gave you the award.
You must list 5 things that you love about Christmas.
If you can't limit it to 5 things, then keep going till you run out of space! :o)
Pass the award along to as many people as you like. That can be 1 or 45; it's up to you. But, you must pass it on to at least one person in order to keep the Christmas cheer going!
Let your recipients know that you have tagged them by leaving them a comment on their blog.

5 Things I love about Christmas:

1. celebrating Jesus' birth (we are starting a new tradition with our son this year to sing Happy Birthday to Jesus and as dessert have birthday cake)
2. getting together with family & friends
3. going out looking at the Christmas lights
4. baking
5. candle light service @ church
6. CJ with his ?'s..."can I have this for Christmas, and this and this and this" and when he saw the first snow flakes this season, he announced to EVERYONE..."it's Christmas". I love his innocence.

Ok...for this I must choose at least ONE person to pass this on to...I choose three.
1. Lisa @ MY JOURNEY THROUGH INFERTILITY -
(bc I share her Christmas decorating style)
1. Susie @  Mommy, Just One More Minute! 
(bc she is an awesome Mom. She has an advent calendar and puts a gift in each day for her adorable daughter, Sophie and they do Christmas crafts together, etc and she takes pix of all of this to share with us)
1. hilltoper @ life on the hilltop 
(bc she is opting for a "free" Christmas and has made several of her gifts this year. Neat ones too)

Check out these ladies if you have not already. They are all AWESOME and my life is more blessed each day by getting to know them more.

Did anyone notice that all three of the ladies are listed as 1. ?   ;)

Opinions please

I have been working on some picture editing today. Lots of fun. I enjoy this and find it relaxing.

I was thinking of doing something like this for CJ to give to his little friends and some family members.

What do you think?
Also, should I add this years picture to it too or leave it off since the families will already be getting a picture of him this year?

THANKS!!!

My crazy husband thinks we should do this every three years and then buy a frame to put ALL of them in up until CJ is 18. Good idea for us, expensive idea to do for EVERYONE!  ;)

Christmas questions...

             (this is last Christmas' picture 2007)

I found this on Nancy's blog. ( Faith, Family & Friends ) And thought I would play along. Welcome to the Christmas edition of getting to know your friends, read on to find out a bit more about me!
1.Wrapping paper or gift bags? both
2. Real tree or Artificial? artificial ( I am scared of real trees)
3. When do you put up the tree? After Dec. 10th
4. When do you take the tree down? Dec. 26th
5. Do you like eggnog? No
6. Favorite gift received as a child? any Doll that I was ever given
7. Hardest person to buy for? my Mom, she has everything
8. Easiest person to buy for? CJ
9. Do you have a nativity scene? No, but I have my eye on one that I want
10. Mail or email Christmas cards? mailed
11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? when I was little there was this doll I wanted, it came in a large box, I wanted that doll so bad. I saw a box under my G-parents tree a couple weeks before Christmas that had my name on it AND was the same size box as the doll I wanted. I just knew it was the doll. WRONG....it was the most hideous looking coat EVER. (ok, hindsight being 20/20, it was probably not that bad, but since I was so sure it was the doll, I never did like that coat.
12. Favorite Christmas Movie? I really don't have a favorite. I like How the Grinch Stole Christmas and Elf.
13. When do you start shopping? it is different every year, but I try to start no later than October
14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? I am really not sure. I think I have, but I can not recall a specific gift
15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? EVERYTHING
16. Lights on the tree? Yes
17. Favorite Christmas song? lol...right now...I want a hippopotamus for Christmas...it is so cute. Really I like most all Christmas songs
18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? both
19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer? if I sing the song :)
20. Angel on the tree top or a star? Angel
21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? both, we have Christmas with my Mom and step dad and all my siblings on Christmas eve.
22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? rude people
23. Favorite ornament theme or color? my snowmen ornaments, no fave color...I can not wait or CJ to start making ornaments for our tree.
24. Favorite for Christmas dinner? rolls, dessert
25. What do you want for Christmas this year? SNOW.SNOW.
I would love for you to play along too. If you do, be sure to let me know, so I can learn more about your Christmas'.

48 days to Christmas

PJ and I went Christmas shopping this past weekend. I am happy to report that we are DONE. Well, sort of. Since CJ was with us, we could not buy for him, but I do have a few things for him already. His "big" gift this year is a portable dvd player. While he wants one, this is more a gift for Mommy and Daddy. We make a lot of car trips through out the year and if CJ has a movie or something to watch, he is content. (is that selfish?) He will get his (kid tough, by fisher price, I think) dvd player earlier too, just in time for our Thanksgiving trip to Indiana. Besides our own 3 yr old son to buy for we have 11 other kiddos to get for. Ten of which are 5 and under. (can we say Baby Boom?) The 11th child is my niece, who just turned 13. She will receive a gift card to her favorite store, Aeropostle. The five and under crowd obviously is getting toys. The rest of the people we buy for are getting pictures. PJ's side of the family is getting a picture of all the grandkids. There are five of them and they have never had their picture taken together. That is scheduled to be done after Thanksgiving. My side of the family is getting a picture of the three of us. We have never had a family picture professionally done before. So this year, we are. Once these pictures are done, our Christmas "shopping" will be done. YAY!!! I think this will be a record for me. How about you?