Unfortunately, we don't have the snow to go for a real sleigh ride here in sunny Southern California, however, we do our best to improvise... Here is Allison on her "sleigh" (dog pillow) with her "reindeer" (Triscuit) pulling her around. (They seriously did this for about half an hour. It was adorable!) And, I decided that I much prefer this kind of ride to the snow. It's been in the 70's here the last few days, with 73 - 78 forecasted for the next 2 weeks. Anyone want to come visit? :)
These star ornaments are also from my mom... engraved on each one is a word that represents what Christ gave to us at Christmas: "hope," "peace," "love," and my favorite, "joy." I simply tied each ornament to a brown ribbon and hung them from the curtain rod. They look awesome in our dining room, though you can't tell from my poor picture! 
This Christmas tree is yet another item from my mom... but this one she hand made! Believe it or not, these are Allison's baby food jars! She spray painted the lids silver, and cut a hole in each one. She then wove white Christmas lights through it, and stuffed each jar with tinsel. When it is lit up at night, it really looks gorgeous! Thanks, mom! :)
Last, but not least... every year since 1997 I have grown either paper whites or chrysanthemums every Christmas. It started as a Christmas present from my aunt and uncle who now live in Michigan, and since it is so easy and looks so pretty and smells so good, I do them every year! I mostly prefer the paper whites, because their smell is so powerful and wonderful. Allison had a blast watering them and watching them grow last year. Hopefully, Natalie will be old enough to appreciate them this year, as well!
How long does it take the average family to put up all their Christmas decor? For me, it used to be one day... Now with the "help" of toddlers, it takes three days! I must admit, the first day was a little rough! Allison was not responding to all my efforts to make it fun; (i.e. hot chocolate, a snowman craft, deocrating the tree.) I'm happy to report, we are now all decorated and truly have had a fun couple days. What's the difference? PRAYER! I was so frustrated and tired that first night, that Daniel and I went 
to our room, got on our knees, and begged for help! God granted me forgiveness, patience, and restored my Christmas joy! So, besides decorating, how else are we enjoying this season? 
When we were in Wisconsin, Rhonda gave the girls an early Christmas present. Among the items were a fun Advent Calendar, which Allison played with often today, a Christmas craft book, which we hope to dive into soon, and these awesome Christmas cd's for kids. It's the first time Natalie actually let me put in a new cd at night! Thanks, Ronnie!
My husband and I share many passions in common.... one of which is organizing. One thing we don't have organized is all our cords; battery charger, phone chargers, blue tooth chargers, camera charger, etc. So, he came up with a brilliant solution! He built this lovely drawer for our front desk, and put an extension cord on the back. It's not quite finished; tomorrow we will stain it to match our desk, then put the tie-downs on to keep the cords neat as well as add a matching pull. But, we're almost there! My husband did a gorgeous job building it, and has labeled every cord. What do you think of his beautiful work!?!?
most definitely ready to get this season started! And, although I won't decorate my house until after our Thanksgiving feast, I figured I could at least change my blog background! (That's not cheating, right? :) )
ear! Then there's Bath and Body Works peppermint soap and lotion... yummy! Now I just can't wait to pull out all the red and white decorations my mom got me a few years back. Just 3 more days...
As promised, today I will brag... I mean, blog about our museum day! As you can see, even the walk into the museum was beautiful!
One of their 5 turkey crafts was simply painting at the easel... what kid doesn't love that?
Here. the girls got a coffee filter folded in half. After they colored it, the helper squirted it with water so the colors would run together... then they glued on the bowling-pin shaped head/body.
After Minnesota and the wedding, we headed to Wisconsin for a few days to see our good friends, Rhonda and Dave, and their 3 adorable boys. We were welcomed with a basement all set-up for us with a welcome sign, candy on our pillow, and coloring books with glitter crayons for the girls. What a welcome! 
So, R and D have a beautiful home, with lots of fun ideas to steal! The one that I will steal right away is having a little basket with all the kids Holiday books in it. Of course, theirs was filled with Thanksgiving books, which I won't have time to do this year.... but, I can't wait to buy a cute basket for all the girls' Christmas books! Perhaps Allison and I can even decorate it! Thanks for the fun ideas and your gracious hospitality, R and D! We miss you! 
Homemade Mac and Cheese... our girls even ate all their broccoli!
A trip to the Cheese Museum... it was freezing cold outside! We got to try cheese curds, and the girls enjoyed watching the cheese being made! Doesn't sweet Micah look like Popeye in this picture? :)
Afternoon playdoh time.
Levi has a thing about making his name out of food. I think it is so cool!
Reuben is an amazing builder... Look at what they built!
Our yummy fajita fiesta!
They got caught holding hands... Isn't this adorable?
So, I thought this was a cute story... For weeks before our trip, Allison kept saying she was the flower girl for the wedding. At first I told her she wasn't, but that didn't seem to affect her opinion that she was. So, I decided to just go with it... After all, she doesn't even know what a flower girl is! On the day of the wedding, Daniel confiscated a few flowers and had her throw them at the bride. It worked! She was such a proud "flower girl."
Lollipops... is there anything more important to pack for a plane ride with toddlers?
fFinally, after a long day of traveling, we arrived at our friends' place and were thrilled to find a patch of snow!
The first snowfall for the girls... can't wait to show you more!
"Come on, sis... Let's explore!"
This morning we once again prepared ourselves for Minnesota... the girls made their first hot chocolate! (Important preparation, I know!) It was a lot of fun, though. After the 
marshmalllows were gone, it was hard to convince them to try their hot chocolate. Once they finally did, it was all over! Enjoy these last few pictures, and enjoy the 94-degree weather forecasted for Friday, my California friends. (Our forecasted high that day is 29 degrees!) I'll be back in 9 days!!!
Does anyine else's house look like this while getting ready for a trip? Yikes! I'm hoping to get it all organized tonight once the girls go down. I guess I'll have to wait to watch the "Amazing Race!"
 | 81 As a 1930s wife, I am |
