Our Merry Christmas

We made it back from New Mexico with plenty of time to spare before the big guy arrived!  We enjoyed a quiet dinner at home with the kids followed by a viewing of "A Christmas Story."  It was a late night even after a long day of travel, but luckily everyone slept in.

Santa's big gift to the kids were plasma cars.  He left a string of lights for them to follow which was a huge hit!  The cars are getting lots of playing time in the basement and so glad he brought one for each.

Parents put so much time and effort into Christmas each year to make it better than the last and it can be stressful but usually in the end it's always worth it.  And this year especially, it was so worth it and so rewarding to know that the time and effort spent made their Christmas.

We then hurried to Grandma's for brunch and presents.  The kids were completely surprised and in love with the wagon they got.  Thankfully grandma's house was big enough for us to take the kids for a few laps because it probably won't get much use for awhile.

The time change had certainly caught up with Lauren and William and they both crashed right before dinner was served.  What a perfect Christmas gift they gave us...wink, wink.

I hope that Santa was good to all of you!

Merry Christmas from The Crawford Clan!

XOXO

Aubrey

O Christmas Tree!

It's been such a fun holiday season and all the little things have lead up to the big day.  The tree has been decorated for awhile, but really isn't complete until surrounded by all the presents!

I loved decorating the tree growing up.  Searching for favorite ornaments and rediscovering all my homemade treasures to hang.  Our personal ornaments were ours to hang and we all wanted ours displayed front and center.  When the other wasn't looking, my brothers and I would take turns moving each other's ornaments to the back.  

Our tree doesn't have many personal ornaments, but my favorites are carefully displayed and out of little one's reach.  I added a little leopard this year since I'm so in love with it lately.

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The other new addition were stockings.  I scored these at Target last year for next to nothing and had our family friend personalize them.  I think adding some gold to the stockings would really complete the look and tie in well with the rest of the decor.

Lastly, we put a tree in Lauren's room this year.  This was my first tree that I bought when I first lived on my own.  It fits perfectly in her room and displays all her homemade ornaments.

XOXO

Aubrey

It's Cookie Time!

We had a great day making cookies with grandma!  These recipes are only brought out once a year and I thought I'd share a few with you.

The holiday biscotti is one of my favorites.  I never give these away and this year we made two loaves so we could enjoy even more with our morning coffee.

I'm keeping the peppermint bark and jelly thumbprints to myself.  But here is the recipe for the chocolate chip holiday logs (Billy's favorite).

CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE HOLIDAY LOGS:

2 1/4 cup flour

1/2 tsp salt

3/4 cup margarine or butter (1 1/2 sticks)  plus 1/4 cup to 1/2 cup margarine for coating

3/4 cup sugar

1 egg

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 pkg (6oz) semi-sweet chocolate chip pieces (minis work best)

1 pkg (12 oz) semi-sweet chocolate chip pieces (for chocolate coating)

2 cups walnuts (chopped)

Preparation:

-Mix flour and salt in a medium bowl.

-In different bowl beat together margarine, sugar, egg and vanilla..then blend in flour mixture.  Stir in  chocolate chips.

-Shape dough into logs (2x1/2 inch).   Place on ungreased cookie sheet.

-Bake 12-15 mins at 350 degrees.

-Cool on wire rack

-Dip ends of cookies into chocolate coating, then roll ends in chopped nuts, and place on wax paper till set.

TO MAKE CHOCOLATE COATING:

-Melt together 1 pkg (12oz) semi sweet chocolate pieces and 1/4 cup margarine in top of double boiler. Stir until blended and smooth.  If mixture is too thick add more margarine 1 tablespoon at a time.....(could use 1 whole stick of margarine.)

We usually try one new cookie recipe each year and I decided to make it something Lauren could have fun with.  Frosted Reindeer Cookies were perfect for her.  Not quite what the pillsbury picture looked like or what a reindeer looks like for that matter...but close:)

I balanced the baking day out by only having one child in the mix at a time.  Lauren was in school in the morning so William could get in on the action and while he napped she went to town on the sugar cookies.  Grandma and I also made some dough ahead of time to simpilfy things as well.  Baking is precise and measuring ingredients with screaming kids could make turn a good batch bad.

I think Santa will enjoy his plate of cookies at our house, any favorite cookies you only make once a year?

I'm sharing with a holiday link party at Schuelove, looks like some great recipes to check out! 

XOXO

Aubrey

Thanks for the Creativity!

Behind the scenes I feel like I have been running an insane amount of errands in preparation for Christmas, leaving me at a loss in the Christmas craft activity department.  Lucky for the kids my neighbor put in enough effort for the both of us.

Lauren and William were invited to decorate enchanted Christmas forests.  Isn't this spread amazing?

William surprisingly showed little interest and Lauren's sense of decorating was to create mountains of candy on the plate and not on the trees.

(Grandma...birthday shirt was worn twice in one week:) Not bad!)

Almost all of the decor on the trees was me.

Pond of fruity pebbles, you guessed it!

I know we can occasionally feel competitive when a mom may go above and beyond the call of duty, but lately I've been more appreciative of others efforts in the creativity department during this time of year (not that mid-summer I'll be talking behind your back about your 4th of July spread).  Life has certainly gotten in the way of making my pinterest crafts come to life for the kids, so this post is little bit about telling myself that I just can't do everything my mind imagines.  I need to pat myself on the back for all the balls that I juggle, but also be grateful that someone else has picked up one that I dropped.

I was in awe of Amy's time and effort spent.  The holidays are busy for everyone and taking time out to do something extra special for your kids will always get high marks from this judge!

XOXO

Aubrey

Let The Countdown Begin {DIY Advent Calendar}

Besides preparing for and celebrating Lauren's fourth birthday, we have been busy getting the house decorated for Christmas.  I've added a few new projects to share and up first is my DIY advent calendar.  

I wanted to make something this year that we could hang in our foyer and use for years to come.  It's great that it's hanging and out reach because you know who would do just about anything for some chocolate!

There really isn't a crazy tutorial here.  I had Billy cut a board to the size I wanted and then stapled fabric and batting.  Once complete, we again used the staple gun to hold the kitchen twine in place on either end and I added decorative ribbon and torn fabric.  I tied each bag lightly for easy access.  And no DIY on the adorable bags, that was all etsy.  

Like last year, I've written an activity we can do each day and of course two hershey kisses.  Also on display are each year's visit to Santa.  We actually took Lauren and William to visit the big guy today and the picture is CLASSIC!  Can't wait to share!

Any new Christmas decorations in your house?

(Pardon the horrible yellow pictures, an overcast day didn't provide good light)

Sharing With:

Hi Sugarplum

Home Stories A to Z

XOXO

Aubrey

HO, HO, HO!

We had scheduled and rescheduled our visit to see Santa for a bunch of different reasons, but finally got there on Tuesday morning.  I had them dressed up and was even wetting and combing William's hair seconds before he was placed on Santa's lap.  And who even knows if it even matters, getting the perfect photo is all a big question mark.  Really, if you were placed on this dude's lap wouldn't you start crying?

I had asked the grandparents a few weeks back for pictures of Billy and I around the same age as Lauren and William to compare reactions and of course, how similar they each look to us.  I'm 3.5 yrs old in this picture and PJ is about 10 months.  What I LOVE about this picture...my pants!  You can't go wrong in plaid pants.

I forgot to get confirmation on ages, but if I had to guess Billy is about 3 or 4 years old and Cara is oneish?  Surprisingly, none of us are crying.  Maybe not crazy smiles..ok, I think the candy canes helped below.

Everyone was smiles and in good moods.  With a few minutes to kill we took some pictures.

Lauren patiently waited as they called our names and proudly asked Santa for a dollhouse for her birthday.  She got it half right.

A little bit better facial expressions then their parents, but not by much.  Though they look good, you have to admit that!

William had to get his own picture with Santa since it is was his first visit to see the big guy.  Lauren said he isn't getting anything from Santa because he can't talk.  

That makes it easy!

XOXO


Aubrey

Lets Make a Gingerbread House!

Lauren's friend, Camille invited the play group over last week to make a mini gingerbread house.  Everyone was asked to bring different candy and our host supplied the houses.

Upon arriving, Lauren's eyes saw the table-o-candy and I knew "don't mind if I do" was coming next.  There were a few swipes of M&M's here and there, and if you can't beat 'em, join 'em!

The newly minted three year olds enjoyed painting and decorating their houses.

Making a gingerbread house was part of The 25 days of Christmas.  We are having fun with our list and I know Lauren is enjoying each day's activity.  Last night we drove around and looked at Christmas lights...the crazier the better for kids!

Thanks to Camille, Kelly and Drew for hosting!  What a fun idea and hope we can do it next year.

Lauren really wanted to showcase her house!

 XOXO


Aubrey

It's Christmas Time

As one would guess I'm very particular about what goes on my tree.  Billy said that sooner or later my designer tree will be no longer so we can make way for all the kids ornaments.  My response...we'll have two trees!  Ha!  

I'm so happy with how the tree turned out this year.  I've kept the same color scheme of red and gold for a few years and have gradually added more and more finishing touches.

I picked up these poinsettia's that have really completed the look.  If only I could find the right angel, I could sleep at night:)

Here she is all lit up at night!

Our mantel is the only other area we decorate.  I have some ideas for our buffet, but I'm going to wait to purchase those items until after Christmas.

I've had the same mantel decor since I had my first place.  We just cut a few branches from the back of the tree and voila!

My favorite part is the red string beading.  My mom and I bought it at a speciality shop and I love the way it sparkles and hangs off the mantel. 

Outside I recycled my fall wreath with some Christmas garland, ribbon, and berries.  It was so easy to pull out and replace.  

I'm linking up with a few blogs that I follow.  


 Honey We're Home  

Check out her beautiful home and Christmas decor along with all the other trees.

And here

XOXO

Aubrey