A family weekend...

For as long as I can remember, we have gotten together the weekend before Christmas with my mom's side of the family.  I tried to nail down a year that we started this tradition and everyone just says that they can't remember NOT doing it.  The group has grown as spouses have joined the mix (balancing out the estrogen to testosterone ratio) and in the last eight years we have added 7 kiddos.  It is always so fun to be together!

We spend most of the time eating.  We wake up to large pots of coffee and lots of laughter.  Hey there are a lot of Italian women in my family, so constant talking WITH OUR HANDS was inevitable...

It does not feel like Christmas unless we have this time together!

We love you all and are so thankful to have you in our lives!

We look forward to many more Christmas' together.

Some Christmas Tid Bits

Ryder got some Christmas jammies, which led to a photo shoot... 

The fact that they had a monkey on them was just too perfect!

I will be using these to make some thank you cards...

We also have had some fun with Christmas cards this year...

After we got together for a family photo shoot with my side of the family, we put this card together: 

And can I tell you that one of my favorite things this time of the year is getting Christmas cards.

I love seeing our friends and family and their growing families and seeing updates from each year to the next.

I put them on our prayer wall above our desk, in the center of our house, and Ryder and I pick someone each morning at breakfast to pray for.  I will be honest, A few mornings ago he woke up at 6am and I was not on my A game to be intentional with our prayer. 

 Thank you for sharing life with us!
We are off for our annual holiday weekend with our extended family...
See you on Monday!

Lights!

Last night was filled with Christmas lights!

First we went to our favorite street in Fullerton with our good friends the Thrashes.  The kids loved it! (So did the adults...)  Something about Christmas lights is just so beautifully breathtaking! 

Then we headed over for a quick peek at the Disneyland fireworks, snow, and decorations.  Disney thinks of everything!  It is so magical and Ryder LOVED every minute of it!

 While everyone else is watching the fireworks, my favorite is to watch Ryder's face... 

Right after the fireworks, the snow came...

 Then we headed over to see the lights of It's a Small World...

It was a wonderful night!

Ryder and his room...

We have been spending a lot of time in his new room.  With pretty much all the furniture cleared out, we moved all of his toys in there and he just thinks he is in heaven!  When you ask him to show you his room, he takes you to his new room which makes me very happy!  I don't want him to feel like his sister gave him the boot...

Sometimes I read to him, or we just play music, and while it has made for a relaxing environment, it has also lent itself to some pretty funny dance parties:

Kit and I laugh at where this little man got his moves.  He loves music!

The Rae Christmas List 2011

I am a list maker.  I am the type that makes a list more for the satisfaction of physically crossing something off, than the actual accomplishment of the task. It is so satisfying! It's a bit a sickness.  The best thing about holiday lists is that the creation of the list is an exciting activity in itself because it allows you to get excited about the coming days and weeks.  I realize that I have had a running list in my mind for the month of December and I thought I would jot it down to share with you.

The Rae Holiday Fun List 2011:

Get a copy of The Jesse Tree Advent Devotional 
Make english toffee (Grandpa Pierce's recipe)

Family photo shoot

Send christmas cards

Disneyland to see the christmas decorations

Get a holiday drink at Starbucks

Drive around and look at christmas lights

Hot cocoa and a christmas movie with Kit

Make my own christmas tags for gifts

Decorate a gingerbread house with Ryder

Make christmas thanks you cards

Christmas pajamas for Ryder

Put christmas lights on our house

Bake with Ryder

Get as much time with family and friends that we possibly can!

We are excited about all that this season holds.  

An oldie but goodie

We have been watching A Charlie Brown Christmas pretty much every day.  This sucker came out in 1965 and it still keeps kids captivated...  I remember it when I was little and I am so excited that Ryder likes it so much.  The message is so good!

This is one of our favorite parts:

Our other favorite is when all the kids sing at the end and Ryder hums along.  I really am addicted to my kid.

weekend projects and an under the weather kiddo

We spent this last weekend with a sick kiddo.  He got bitten by a little flu bug (which left him with a fever and yucky runny nose...) Do you like that official nursing terminology there?
So we stayed around the house and just tried to lay low.  Ryder was completely content to be in his jammies, on our laps, either reading, sleeping, or watching a movie.
So we decided to tackle a few little things for his room. (Or should I say the room that is going to be his...)
We gave the fish tank to our neighbors and we sold the futon, two HUGE things that we wanted to happen in order to paint and prepare for new carpet.
Here are the before pictures:

Here are some of our progress pictures:
(It feels like we have so much room since we got rid of the big bulky pieces...)

Then, I got inspired to take things off the walls to prepare for paint:
(Now it is really feeling empty...)

 

Our next step was to tape off, prep walls, paint (I hate the cutting in...) Kit and I divided up the work so I taped off the walls and prepped for painting, and then Kit did all the hard work:

Here Ryder thought he would help out:

Here are some pictures of the finished walls:
(We still have to touch up the trim and put a boarder on the windows and hang the blinds...)

It's hard to see the difference, but the main change is it has more of a gray undertone to it.  We call it clay, when it's against brown, it looks gray, and when it's against gray it looks brown.  We love the dark furniture with it!
I am really exited to get his room all ready and getting him settled so that we can then start working on Miss Eden Marie's room.
We can't wait to share the progress with you!