Sometimes I just have to sneak into their room and watch them sleep.
Silent night, holy night…
All is calm, all is bright.
Round yon virgin, Mother and Child.
Holy infant so tender and mild.
Sleep in heavenly peace.
Sleep in heavenly peace.
Category Archives: Christmas
Now what do I do with these Christmas cards?
I love displaying Christmas cards and holiday greetings from our friends and family throughout the month of December. I tape them all to our kitchen door, where we see them every single day. It’s the one time of year that people still sit down and mail out greetings, and I love seeing the updated family photos and the creative cards that my friends come up with each year. By the time January rolls around though, the tape is no-so sticky, some several cards are piled on the counter beside the door because I get tired of taking them away from toddlers, and there are always a few that are MIA. Now what do I do with them? I’m much too sentimental (and aware of the cost and effort put into them) to let them anywhere near the trashcan.
This is what I came up with: simple pocket scrapbook pages!
Filed under Christmas, crafts, Scrapbooking
A Christmas Miracle
Anyone that has ever had 2 under 2, or just 2 small children in general, will tell you that family pictures are not judged on whether everyone is smiling at the camera. If all four of us appear in the photo, some portion of all 4 faces is visible, and Mom isn’t crying – it’s a good picture. With that in mind, imagine my surprise when this picture appeared on my screen as I was downloading Christmas pictures from my camera!
Yes, that is all four members of my family, looking at the camera, eyes open, and NO TEARS (from me or the kids) at my parents’ house on Christmas Eve. It’s a Christmas miracle.
I think I have a problem
My name is Emily, and I am addicted to Christmas stuff.
That doesn’t look like a lot of stuff, does it?
Not pictured is:
3 more boxes like the top one, containing my snow village
1 more box like the top one, full of outdoor Christmas lights
2 Christmas trees
6 outdoor wreaths
2 outdoor Christmas tree topiaries
2 square wreaths
lots of tin cookie boxes
lots of wrapping paper, bags, and ribbon
I can quit anytime I want. Promise. 🙂
Filed under Christmas
Christmas 2008
Although Christmas isn’t technically over for us (one more to go!), I thought I’d go ahead and get a post up of Christmas so far.
Our Christmas started on December 23, when Steven and I exchanged our gifts. Usually I am opposed to opening gifts any earlier than the 24th, but Steven just gets too excited! Good thing he waited until the 23rd to buy my gift or we would have been having Christmas in November!
Christmas is an odd holiday for us. With our anniversary and Steven’s birthday only two weeks before, sometimes there isn’t much left to ask for! Some years we both get big stuff at the same time, some years both small stuff at the same time, some years it is a mix-and-match. This year I got my big gifts (iPhone and our Snowball trip) for our anniversary, and Steven got small stuff for his birthday and our anniversary.
For Christmas, he got his big gift. Steven got a paintball gun and accessories. He said he didn’t think I had gotten it because I told him I only spent $50. Which was true…somewhat. That’s all I spent from our checking account! 🙂 He didn’t know I’d been hiding money from my photography work. He seems pretty happy with it. The pile of wood waiting to be burned in our backyard was yellow by noon the next day.
I got the Wii Music game, which is a lot of fun! We spent Tuesday night playing it. You can play 1+ player games or you can create a 1+ player “jam session.” Our first creation was a video of Twinkle Twinkle, Little Star featuring my Mii playing banjo with Steven’s Mii playing tuba. It was pretty funny.
We also gave Emerald and Minnie Pearl their gifts. Roush was nowhere to be found at the time. Apparently the girls had irritated him enough that he retreated into hiding all night. Minnie and Emerald enjoyed their stockings full of toys though…for about 24 hours that is. Emerald managed to chew a hole in and eat a portion of all of them by the next afternoon! Good thing they came from the dollar aisle at Target!
Wednesday we spent the day at our house. We cooked breakfast together, watched a movie, tried out Steven’s paintball gun, and were just genuinely lazy. Wednesday night, we went to my parents’ house to exchange gifts with them and my sister and her husband. We also brought Emerald and Minnie Pearl so my mom and dad could give them more presents. My parents got each of the animals (our 4 dogs and 1 cat and my sisters 2 dogs and cat) a goody bag filled with treats and toys. Each of the dogs got a new tennis ball, and so far Emerald hasn’t destroyed them. Steven says Mom is “hinting.” While that may be a bit true, my sister and I also agree that she really wants another dog. We give them a year before they have another one, probably another little cocker spaniel.
Emerald and Sage, trying to get into Biscuit’s and Poncho’s gifts.
Minnie Pearl is such a cuddly dog. She insisted on lying in the floor next to Steven, patting him on the face and snuggling with him.
Thursday morning we got up about 7 and headed to Pine Tree for the annual breakfast feast at Big’s (my mom’s mom) house. The second photo below is of the table cloth. Big has had this table cloth for years. I’m not sure exactly when the first time it was used was, but I know I’ve seen signatures from the late 70’s on it. Every Christmas, everyone in attendance has to sign and date it.
That’s all for now. I hope everyone had a great Christmas!
Merry Christmas from the Andersons!
UPDATE: Please note that our Christmas card this year was a collage of images of my attempts to get good Christmas photos of our five pets. We do not have 20+ animals, even though it may seem like it at times.
Also, I need to mention that the names on the card are not in order of the last row of photos. Oops! L-R they are, Biscuit, Emerald, Roush, Minnie Pearl, and Poncho.
