Wordless Wednesday {Snow Angel}

{Have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! I will be taking a break from blogging until next year! Happy Holidays!}

"Not Me!" Monday

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and so many others have not been doing this week!

The final Monday before Christmas...and I am not ready! {true!} There are not still presents to be wrapped and still more presents to be bought! I never wait until the very last day to finish everything!

We certainly did not have a minor scare when our alarm system started beeping letting us know there was fire trouble in the basement! Holy smokes! When the alarm company called to check on us...we were not relieved when he told us it was just a minor maintenance problem with the smoke detector. {Whew!}

I absolutely did not get pretty annoyed when I tripped over someone's boot walking through this tiny space...only to look down to see my boot...well, I definitely did not put that there! Good thing, because I sure wasn't going to be the one to get in trouble for not putting their shoes away!

We did not love seeing Emily as a little lamb for the Children's Christmas Choir program at church.







She did not almost miss her first sheep debut because her costume was up on stage when the program already started! It was not me who tried to go undetected right in front of the whole congregation to retrieve it and get her dressed right before her cue! {That will not look great on the video playback!}

We did not have a great time eating lunch with Grandma, Grandpa and Great-grandma Martha afterwards and then home to decorate Christmas cookies that I made from scratch and individually cut out took from a package in the freezer, precut and popped in the oven! {It's not the tradition that counts...right? But if I were to make some amazing homemade sugar cookies...I'd bake these, because Amanda's cookies are like little pieces of art! Delicious! Check them out!}











Alex and Emily did not end up with just as much icing in their mouths than on their cookies...and I certainly could not be found licking some icing here and there either...not me! {Yum!}

"You're Gonna Miss This...Moment" Is There Really a Tooth Fairy? {And I'm a WINNER!}

Time to join Pam and share the moments we're going to miss one day...because life is so short! Sometimes it's hard to find those moments among our busy schedules, but that's what I love about participating in this...it makes me stop and think about it and appreciate them so much more!

Alex is just a tug away from losing his 5th tooth...and I can't wait! He will be ready to ask Santa for his two front teeth for Christmas! Last night when I was tucking him in for bed...trying desperately for him to pull his tooth...he asked, "Do you get up in the middle of the night and put money under my pillow or is there really a Tooth Fairy?" Ugh...my heart sank. I wish he would always believe in those precious moments...and for now, I think I detoured the question so that he is still awaiting the Tooth Fairy's visit. I am really going to miss the excitement he will have of believing in that magical visit from the Tooth Fairy...and Santa...it's only a matter of time now when he starts to doubt that Santa swoops down the chimney with all of his goodies. Right now...we all cherish the secret arrival of the Tooth Fairy in the night, and sitting on Santa's lap one more time to ask for a few surprises for being good this year. I'm really going to miss it!

{2008}
{2007}

{2006}
Aw...how I miss it already...here's to another year of believing in the magic! {Be sure to stop by Pam's and share your special moments with us too!}

...and I'm a Winner! Kelli from Random Thoughts of a Supermom was having a super fun giveaway for one of her adorable, handmade monogrammed shirts...and I'm so excited that Emily did not receive just one...



...but two super cute shirts!



I love them! And Emily was thrilled to get the mail and find these shirts made just for her! She is one lucky girl! Thank you so much Kelli! You are so talented! Be sure to pay her a visit...her 3 boys are absolutely adorable and they sport some of her extremely fun monogrammed shirts too!

Have a wonderful weekend! And don't forget to cherish all those little moments! {Alex is about to lose that tooth...stay tuned!}

Wordless Wednesday {"Chestnuts Emily Roasting on an Open Fire"}

I ♥ Faces - Week 49 "Pets Only"

I ♥ Faces is a photography site focused on the art of capturing faces and their various emotions. Each week, people from across the world have the opportunity to enter their favorite face photos into two categories ~ kids and adults, and sometimes pets!

Aw...it's Pet Week at I ♥ Faces! I didn't have many good ones of our pets...especially one of me pulling Whiskers out of the Christmas tree for the 99th time! Why is it she can scale it so effortlessly...but getting out is such a challenge...{sigh} Anyway...


...here's our other kitty Snowball behaving for a moment!

Be sure to check out all the amazing soft and furry entries over at I ♥ Faces and if you'd like to join us just click here! It's easy to enter, not so easy to win {so many great photos}! But lots of fun!

"Dear Santa..."

"I want a drum set!"


"I want a Barbie and a Christmas dress for my American Girl doll!"


{Alex and Emily had lots of fun talking to Santa, eating donuts and making a craft with our MOPS group today! Let's hope they can stay on the Nice List until Christmas!}