Santa Strawberry Hats and Reindeer Cookies (SO easy!)

Probably one of my favorite things about the holiday seasons are all the Christmas parties. 

For me, it's the more the better. 

Ugly sweater parties

White elephant parties

Coco bar parties

Love em all.

But usually by party number 3 I realize that my grocery/party food budget is close to maxed out and I need to get a little creative in the kitchen. 

This past week I was in charge of Rhett's preschool snack, and my budget was almost nothing but I wanted something cute. 

Enter the Strawberry Santa Hats!

So I'm 99% sure this is an original idea, I haven't seen it on Pinterest or else where, but you never know. 

It's pretty straight forward.

Cute right?!

And who doesn't love a strawberry dipped in something sweet?

Along with the Strawberry Santa Hats for Rhett's preschool, we made Rudolph cookies inspired by the wonderful Desiree over at the 36th Avenue. 

Also, super duper simple. 

(Another major plus around the holidays!) 

Happy holiday snacking!!

taking stock

Making : excellent use of nap time by blogging, watching old Marilyn Monroe movies, eating cereal, repeat.
Cooking : does making chex muddy buddies count? I used a microwave and measuring cups.
Drinking : water like a mother after reading this.
Reading: the Book of Mormon in German again. I've forgotten a lot, but I'm sticking with it!
Wanting: to find the best Christmas present ever for Jake. Just shock the socks off him. All for a whopping $5.
Looking: for a new little black dress. I'm loving this, this, this and this. Suggestions?
Playing: Katy Perry's Unconditionally on repeat. Love that song.
Wasting: tubes of Chapstick. I put them all over the house so that I can always find one and then I never can. I'm like a squirrel.
Wishing: that we could be done with Rad's physical and occupational therapy.
Enjoying: my hair cut. i hacked most of it off. picture coming when I learn to take a not awkward selfie.
Waiting: to get on an airplane in less than 48 hours for my home sweet Kentucky! two weeks at home baby.
Liking: when Rhett introduces me to people we've just met. he looks at them while pointing to me and says, "This is my mom." I belong to him and he's getting the word out.
Wondering: why I found a half eaten graham cracker in our Christmas tree.
Loving: the way Rhett says that everything is "cozy."
Hoping:  that I'm a decent mom. Feeling faily lately.
Marveling: at how handsome our boys are. seriously, how did our genetics work out like that?
Needing: new bed sheets. (we're on our  2nd set and have been married almost 5 years...ugh)
Smelling: the glorious smell of our Christmas tree. #realtreesnob
Wearing: dark wash skinny jeans, light denim shirt and my husband's fuzzy leopard print socks. yes.
Following: a lot of grammers decorating their houses for Christmas.
Noticing: yup, Rad's awake.
Knowing: that Jake is working late tonight.
Thinking: since Jake is working late, the boys should take me on a date...maybe Chick-fil-a. Or Nordstroms. Who am I kidding. Chick-fil-a.
Feeling: Rad playing with my socks. he want's me to hold him.
Bookmarking: knobs for this dang dresser. I'm really not finding anything I like.
Opening: myself to the idea that i should stop trying to do it all.
Giggling: as I watch old home movies.
Feeling: like Rad and I should enjoy the Oreo's in the pantry.

loved this idea from Pip's blog :)

our 12 days of Christmas advent calendar and ornements that won't be pinned to Pinterest

Christmas is almost here! 

Even Arizona seems to have gotten the memo and the temp has dropped to a super chilly 50 degrees. 

(For those who don't live in AZ, when you go from 117 degrees to 50 you bundle up when the thermometer hits anything under 60 degrees. Sad but true.)

We are still learning what traditions we like as a family.

Since both boys are still pretty young, we keep it pretty simple and since Jake and I are big on the idea of an Advent Calendar we thought 12 days of Christmas sounded a lot more manageable than 25 days of Christmas. 

Not to make us sound like Scrooge McDuck, but 25 days of Christmas activity seems like a little much. 

Bah humbug. ;)

So we came up with this as our 12 days of Christmas Advent Calendar. 

My mom sent us the ridiculously cute little stockings last year and we used them for Rhett's stocking, tucking a little toy or treat into each one. She found them a few years earlier at J Crew when they were taking their Christmas decor down. 

They sold them to her for .50 cents a piece. #mymomhascrazyshoppingluck #seriously

So after digging around our garage and finding a piece of suitable plywood, staining it, and picking up some tiny nails at Lowes, we (didn't) measured it, laid it out and went for it. 

Once the nails were in and the stockings were hung it looked a little sparse, so I grabbed a paint pen and free handed some "snowflakes." (Or tribal art if you think we could pass as hipsters.)

In each stocking we slipped a little note with an activity and there was candy...but it got eaten. By me. Not gonna to lie in case Santa is reading this...I'm really hoping for some home improvement store gift cards.

Our list of 12 activities includes

1. Go get french fries and milk shakes at Sonic

2. Dance party to Christmas music

3. Read bedtime books by the Christmas tree

4. Paint ornaments 

5. Act out the Nativity

6. Make Christmas cookies

7. Decorate Gingerbread houses

8. Make and deliver treats to neighbors and friends

9. Buy a toy for a child in need

10. Have a picnic dinner by the Christmas tree

11. Go on a walk and look at Christmas lights 

(We have some neighbors who go ALL OUT. Bless them.)

12. Stargaze and look for the star of Bethlehem.

Really most of our activities are free or can be done in 15 minutes or less. 

I think that Christmas should be kept simple; like the way Christ was born. 

The other day we completed number 4 (we don't really go in order), painting ornaments. 

I know I just said that Christmas should be simple and this was a little frenzied. 

Paint! Toddlers! Babies trying to eat paint! Husbands not feeling creative! Wife worrying per usual!

But it was a lot of fun. :)

I'll give you a gold star if you guess which ones the boys did. 

Good thing there's a back side of the tree....ba humbug. ;)

so much to say, so little time part 6

Conversations with a 3 year old are fantastic. :)

#1 Rad reaching for a toy

Rhett: "You have to say please Rad."

Rad:

Rhett: "Rad you have to say PLEASE."

Rad: Bah

Rhett: "Well then you can't play with the toy Rad."

#2 Rhett studying his reflection in the mirror.

"Mom, I'm BIG-MONGEOUS! (humongeous)

#3 "Dad's name is Jake, you're mommy Julia and I'm Rhett-big-awesome guy."

#4 "It's just too hard to wear wonderpants (underpants) today."

#5  I come down stairs and find Rhett licking our couch.

Me: "Rhett...what are you doing?"

Rhett: "I'm helping you clean the couch mom!"

#6 

"Rhett can you say rhinoceros?" (It's almost cruel to ask him because he really can't.)

"Rhino....EAGLE!"

We get a good chuckle daily from him. :)

Click here for parts 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5. 

as quoted in the Sound of Music "I must have done something good"

I just got back from buying all of our Thanksgiving dinner in one fell swoop and I'm pretty sure this should qualify me as an official woman, or official housewife or at least for a lightning round of Super Market Sweep.

(Because that would be awesome. I've always wanted to be on that show.)

I am the biggest fan of Thanksgiving. Any holiday that is about family and has lots of food...food that is largely categorized in the carb and dessert sections of the food pyramid...is my favorite.

In our almost 5 years of marriage we have never not spent a Thanksgiving (or Christmas for that matter) away from our extended families. Jake's family is primarily in Oregon and mine is in Kentucky. This has always meant traveling a great distance on Thanksgiving and then doing it all again 3 weeks later. When we didn't have the boys it wasn't a big deal, but then the travel and the time changes became a little too much.

So we decided to just spend one major holiday a year with our extended families. Which means this year is our first year having a holiday without extended family.

And you know what? As much we love our extended families, we are SO excited to have this time as just our family.

We are so excited to build some of our own traditions. Like this:

Our grateful turkeys for our little turkeys. :)

Each little boy has a turkey with reasons why we are grateful for them, and a small gift to wake up to on Thanksgiving morning. 

The gifts (a soccer ball for Rhett and a new board book for Rad) are gifts that we can use as a family together. We feel that probably our greatest blessings are the Plan of Salvation and our family. And so since that is what we are most grateful for, we want to make our family a priority. So we plan on the "gifts" always being something that we do as a family to bring us closer together. 

And we are SO excited for the food!

Even though it's just us, we are still going all out with a full meal. 

We're planning on adding a few new things to our smorgasbord like this, and this, and this. 

We're going to see Frozen on Thanksgiving day and set up our VERY FIRST Christmas tree, which we are beyond excited about. Previous years we were in college and just didn't worry about it, and last year we were pretty house poor from just buying our house to afford one. And Jake and I are real Christmas tree kind of people, so yeah. I don't know why that last part really matters, but now you know. :)

But I think the reason I am most excited for this particular Thanksgiving, is that I am with my family. 

The family I am helping to create.

The family that I never understood I could love so much. 

The family that seriously drives me crazy some days because all three of my boys seem to have an unending list of needs. But I'll keep em. :)

The family that loves to wrestle and loves to play the Wii together and loves our walks to get the mail when dad comes home and the family that loves to pick little presents at the grocery store for each other (like the can of cream of mushroom soup Rhett so excitedly gave me the other day).

I keep thinking of what I am grateful for this year and all I can think of is my boys and my husband. 

Because really, if I didn't have them, blessings like good health, our home, our possessions...really wouldn't mean that much.

We have a good, perfectly imperfect life. 

I don't know how I deserve it, or what I did to be so blessed, but I think this sums it up.

"For here you are, standing there, loving me

Whether or not you should.

So somewhere in my youth or childhood

I must have done something good."

                              -Sound of Music

Happy happy happy happy Thanksgiving to all you wonderful friends!

great family moments brought to you by shopping carts

As I've been trying to keep up with organizing and printing our pictures, I've noticed we have quite a few pictures of our kiddos in shopping carts. 

(We also have a slightly ridiculous amount of selfies of Rhett, but that's a whole other post.) 

I realize that posting a montage of pictures of kids in shopping carts falls lands right up there with pictures of cats wearing moustaches, but whatever.

And I also realize that most of these were taken at Costco. We may have a membership there mostly for the free samples, large bags of pita chips, churros, the toy aisles, and how much we love dropping major bucks on diapers. Oh and how they always draw smiling faces on our receipt when we leave. Seriously, Rhett keeps those receipts till I can sneak them into the recycling.  

But I digress. Back to the totally not random post about my kids in shopping carts. 

And personally one of my favorite reasons for these pictures is Rad's facial expressions. 

They are legitimately some of the cutest out there. 

Caption? Anyone?

"...ITSY BISTY SPIDER! Sing MOM! SING NOW!" -Rhett (I sang. True story.) 

"No, really his head is THIS big! For real!" -Rhett 

"Let's see what's on Mom's to-do list...um pretty sure she would want me to eat it. Yeah. That's on there." -Rad

8 months of Rad

 

Ladies and Gentleman, we have finally reached 8 months with Rad. (Actually almost 9 months...)

He's thrilled.

And as the beloved second child, he doesn't get a monthly post like his brother did; and let's face it...it's nap time and I'm worn out and just want to show some cute pictures and call it good. 

 

Rad has a mad love of pickles.

And Oreos.

And the knobs on his dresser. He loves those the most.

But lest we forget. Not much makes him happier than sitting in the car.

Yes. This is what it looks like. Wake up to early in our house and we make you play in Mom's closet. (With the door open. Of course.)

 And probably the highlight of this month was Rad getting his fantastic helmet to help with the flat spot on the back of his head.

We call him mini Magneto. (From X-Men)

And lastly to make me feel better about this less than stellar tribute to our favorite 8 month old, 2 videos of his radness. 

You just keep trying to crawl Rad...we'll be here all year.

And that baby in the reflection? BEST. FRIEND. EVER.