Hello Out There!

Hi to everyone out there! I hope you all had a FABULOUS Christmas holiday!!! I'm sure you have been as busy as I have been... {WHEW!} The Christmas whirlwind is over and I'm proud to say that my focus was on my family and kids, enjoying the special moments with them, rather than the usual hustle and bustle I seem to get overwhelmed with. I wanted my kids to get out of their crazy mindset of what they wanted for Christmas, so I had them play "Santa's Helper" for a few other children we know whose parents needed a little Christmas help - and they did great! What a good thing it is for kids to focus on someone else instead of themselves!

ANYWAY...check out this gorgeous cardinal I found perched in a bush outside my back door! Isn't he stunning?! Red is my fave color - so I love when I see splashes of red in the gray of winter.

...So now on to preparing for the new year - lots of excitement to come! { I have this phobia of psycho stalkers who cut babies out of women...so I'm reluctant to talk about my "condition" - but it's going along well! } I'll keep you posted on when the big moment happens, but I've got a little while longer yet, so now I get to focus my attention on making adorable baby stuff!!!

'kay, well have a HAPPY New Year!

Cute Chocolate Cups

Who says you can't have berries in the winter?! They're so gorgeous!

I found these cute Wilton chocolate molds at Jo-Ann's and they are FUN!!! We had a party for a friend today and I couldn't resist sharing my beautiful little chocolate cups & berries!!! They're super easy to use and work up fast, and I love how they look filled with yummy stuff. {{Ahh!}} ...PLUS, you get to eat the dishes, so cleanup is easy...

My Baby is DONE!!!

{AAAKKK!!!} It's done, girls! Can you believe it?! I can't even see from the tears!!! {...give me a minute to compose myself...} I really feel like I've given birth to something here - all of the creation process, time, and patience has resulted in a 3-month ordeal!!! {if only real childbirth were this easy.}

I think I'm going to stitch some snowflakes on the tree, and maybe something cute on the star - but I'm in no hurry! It's up and hanging and I can always add the details whenever I want!

It's gorgeous, perfect, and I couldn't be more thrilled. I almost feel like it needs a name and social security number. AND...how am I going to put this away when Christmas is over?! Guess it has to hang in my bedroom because you just don't treat a living, breathing, beautiful thing like that.

I love you, Santa and Baby Jesus!

And here are some pics of my beautiful Peppermint Tree! Another thing that occupied so much of my time at the beginning of the month - but it has to be done right! You don't MESS with the tree...

This precious little box with the slit in the top is our "mailbox" where the kids can put notes in there for each other! It's become one of our traditions and I love it because it makes them think and look for good things to write about their siblings! {ingenious, I know...}

I LOVE Christmas time!!!

Exhausted

This picture pretty much sums up how I feel! For those of you wondering what on earth has happened to my advent calendar post, it hasn't happened yet...I'm STILL finishing it. OY! I'm still in love with it even though it's now December 4th and my time limit came and went. Because I want to do it right and not slop it together, I'm going to {hopefully} finish it this weekend for good.

We had...Thanksgiving weekend = BUSY, my anniversary {gaspity gasp!} which included a fun-filled, quick trip to Chicago - LOVED IT - we got back on Tuesday night, and this entire week has been full of Christmas decorating {fun!}, shopping, and taking care of kids. My projects have to take a back-seat when it comes to the family, so that's the deal.

How about all of YOU?! Are you enjoying the Holidays and getting things decorated?!