I'm getting old{er}

Stella:  I know why they call it a forehead!
Me: Why?
Stella: Because YOU have 4 lines on there!

3 Dog Family

 

Meet Barkley, our new puppy.  He is a yellow lab.  Neighbors of my parents had 12 puppies and the girls' Papa couldn't resist one coming to live at our house.  Charlotte picked him; she walked right up and scooped him up in her arms.

 Adrianne:  His name is Broccoli.  I mean Barkley.  I get it confused with my vegetables.

 Stella (after hearing him whine):  It's okay Barkley!  We're on your side!

Overheard at Story Book Land

Charlotte:   WHHHHAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!

Santa: She really has a piercing cry!

 Adrianne:  Where is my letter to Santa??

 "Dear Santa,

I would like M&M's, a barbie, a necklace, a bracelet, nail polish and a new dress"

 Daddy:  Stella, Don't you want to sit with Santa and tell him what you want for Christmas?

Stella:  THAT Santa is not getting us any presents!

 Merry Christmas From The Langs

Favorite Christmas Traditions....

I love this time of year.  I love the richness of it...the family time.  The break of our regular routine...the regular books we read...the regular way our house looks.  Everything about Christmas to me feels cozy and comfortable.  Some of it has to do with the way we do Christmas that has really helped to take the stress out of this time of year.  We have many family traditions and are always on the hunt for more!

Our favorites so far are:

1. Traveling Nativity:
On the 1st of December, Mary and Joseph start their journey to the manger from my bedroom closet.  Every night when the girls are in bed, I move Mary and Joseph somewhere else in the house.  The girls love to hunt around until they find where Mary and Joseph have traveled to.  Christmas Eve they arrive in the manger and then Christmas morning, Jesus is there!

2. Tag-less Christmas presents (Thanks Tammy!):
Every year I pick a different wrapping paper for each child and wrap their gifts in that paper.  The presents go under the tree with no to and from on it and it isn't until Christmas morning that I reveal who's paper is whose.  This helps my girls keep their "mitts" off the gifts since they don't know which one is for them.  I don't have to hear any "Hers is bigger then mine" or any other such silliness that make me turn into the Grinch.

3.  Present limit:
We bought a book last year called "The Three Christmas Gifts" and ever since, we've begun limiting what we buy for our girls.  This year besides the usual small stocking gifts, our kids will receive 2 presents.  We want them to know that we picked special things for them and we don't want that to get lost in "over giving".  I've also asked the grandparents to limit their gifts, which was a challenge but hopefully will go better this year! 

4. Christmas Party:
We no longer exchange presents with my siblings.  Instead we have a party a week or so before Christmas where we decorate cookies and make crafts.  My kids LOVE this!  On Jonah's side, we draw names so my kids only receive one present from all of the cousins.

5. Christmas Birthday Cake:
We want to emphasize the fact that it is Jesus' birthday that we are celebrating.  Every year since Adrianne was 2, we've been making birthday cake for dessert for Jesus.  We go all out, decorating it, candles to blow out and then we sing....!

6.  We stay home!
This is by far my new favorite tradition.  We've always been torn between families since we live in the same town as both sides and while we enjoy seeing everyone on Christmas Day, it gets a little harried by the end of the day.  The kids are grouchy, they want to play with their new toys, they are overstimulated.  We are all too tired.  So last year I finally put my foot down and we decided that the grandparents can visit us on Christmas Day but we are not going anywhere.  We had a wonderful, relaxing day last year and I'm expecting more of the same this year.

I know there are some other cool traditions out there that I'm missing out on.  I know I want to start a "Jesse Tree"  (Bethany, you're going to make me ornaments, right?  Ha!).  What is your family's favorite Christmas Tradition?

My Talented Husband

Jonah has began calling himself "The overenthusiastic Hobie-st", since he has many things he likes to do, wants to do, dreams of doing.  When he comes up with a new thing, he gets all the "stuff" and then learns everything there is to know about it.  To my benefit, this past year, he has gotten the photography bug. 

Jonah did a photo shoot yesterday with my sister Stephanie, her husband Josh and their kids.  Even though it was really cold, he managed to get some great shots of their family.

Ready for the weather!

Our favorite past time.  Hot tubing when it's snowing!

For Free!

I am super excited that it is the 17th of November...That means it's almost the 26th of November....That means I can get out my Christmas decorations without my husband thinking I'm totally crazy!!  I'll admit; I have most of my shopping already done.  I've been secretly snacking on mint M&M's for weeks now and humming Christmas carols.  I even broke out the Little People Nativity.  I can't wait to start the count down!
I was really excited to stumble on a promotion that Shutterfly is offering bloggers right now.  They have an amazing line of Christmas Cards and for telling you about them, I get 50 free cards!  SCORE!  Now I'll lay awake at night trying to decide what pictures to use for this years' card...
I'm thinking about using this layout:

http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/cards-stationery/with-love-blue-christmas-5x7-folded-card?sortType=1&storeNode=93491

Or this one:

http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/cards-stationery/we-heart-you-holiday-card-5x7-flat?sortType=1&storeNode=93491

Or this one:

http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/cards-stationery/joy-love-story-holiday-5x7-photo-card-5x7-photo?sortType=1&storeNode=93491

Mostly, I'd just be happy to successfully get Christmas cards out this year instead of sending them as thank you's in January!

You can get your own free photo cards by going here:  http://bit.ly/sfly2010

Oh I can't wait to trim my Christmas Tree!