Christmas 2017

How is it that another Christmas has come and gone? I feel so lucky to have such a good family to spend the holidays with... all of the people that surround us fill our hearts with so much love and joy.

I always feel like it is hard to truly get into the holiday spirit when lives are so consumed with the mundane day to day things that have to get done. Which is always so sad. My little empathetic middle child, Luke, came up to me on the evening of Christmas and began to cry. When I asked him what was wrong he said "Christmas is over and I want it to be Christmas again." We talked about all of the fun time we will have between now and next Christmas. He was still sad but thought it would be fun that next Christmas he would be in Kindergarten. Now... onto the gift part..

Does anyone else have children that create these elaborate lists, then you get your shopping done early, and then their lists change? No? Just me... okay.

When Luke was asked what his favorite gift was he said it was his Fingerling from Santa (thank you Facebook world for telling me what to get my children!) Aiden could not decide on a favorite gift and said everything was his favorite. Leila's favorite (I think) was "Moana Dog" a.k.a. Pua, the pig from Moana.

I cannot wait to see what this next year brings for us. I am going to put together a list of New Year's Resolutions and how we did on our resolutions from last year. But anyway, here are some of my favorite pictures from our Christmas holiday this year:

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas or whatever holiday you celebrate! 

Luke is FIVE!

I cannot believe my sweet babe turned five in November... How is that even possible?! This year we decided to do a small party with family only and went to dinner and Jump Street! All of the kids were sick, but we still managed to have such a fun time!

What is your favorite color? Green

What is your favorite toy? A buffalo

What is your favorite fruit? Apple

What is your favorite TV Show? Wild Kratts

What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? Mac n Cheese

What is your favorite outfit? Jeans and a football shirt

What is your favorite game? Duck Duck Goose

What is your favorite snack? Gummies (a.k.a. fruit snacks)

What is your favorite animal? Giraffe

What is your favorite song? "Rolex"

What is your favorite book? Little Presidents

Who is your best friend? Jonathan (I have no idea who this is)

What is your favorite cereal? Cheerios

What is your favorite thing to do outside? Play football

What is your favorite drink? Lemonade

What is your favorite holiday? Christmas

What do you like to take to bed with you at night? Donnie

What do you like to eat for breakfast? Waffles

What do you want for dinner on your birthday? Cake

What do you want to be when you grow up? Help people

We love you little, Lukey-Bear! 

Fall Family Room

It feels like it has been 100 years since I have blogged anything house related. Since I started working full time over a year ago, I still decorate (duh) but actually getting the time to blog about it is a whole different issue! We had quite a debacle getting our basement finished as the contractor we hired, which we knew through family, ended up because a total quack and half-assing most of the project and we ended up having to fix a lot of things. Needless to say, it is almost done, with the exception of the railing because that costs a lot of money, money in which he took from us and did not finish the job. Freaking pig! If you cannot tell, I am still bitter about it! :)

Anyway, our fall family room as of late:

Sources:

Mantle decor: Hobby Lobby & TJ Maxx

Coffee Table Decor: Home Goods

TV Stand: American Furniture Warehouse

White chair: Target

Floor Lamp: Target

Rug: HomeGoods

Oars: Thrifted and DIY'd

Tall Vases: Ikea

Courches: Pottery Barn

Blinds: Overstock

Pillows: HomeGoods

Clock: ZGallerie

Luke: First Day of Pre-K

Little Lukey man! I cannot believe he is already in his final year of preschool! I think he will be my smartest kiddo... he excels in school and at the end of his first year of preschool, he was already in the Kindergarten areas on some of his assessments! I guess it helps that his birthday just missed the cutoff so he will be on the older end of his classmates!

I cannot believe how fast this babe is growing up! Almost five years old.... how is that possible?!

Aiden: First Day of Second Grade

I have been terrible at blogging lately. Or for a long time actually. We have been in the midst of finishing our basement which is pretty amazing. We love having an extra place to hang out while the upstairs stays much cleaner! We added another bedroom (which is really a playroom) and bathroom, a bar, and another family room to our home. Besides on less than amazing contractor bailing, everything is amazing (in great thanks to my brother)!

Anyway, on to the point of this post! My biggest little started SECOND GRADE this year! Holy Moly where has time gone?!

Friends over the years! 

first day of kindergarten

first day of first grade

first day of second grade

I hope this dude has the best year! 

Our next big project!

We are so excited to finally be finishing our basement! When we first built our home we knew it was something we had wanted to do but rook the advice of many professionals to wait until the ground surrounding our foundation settled. We are so thankful we did because we had to deal with flooding issues with Richmond for the first three years until they finally put a retaining wall and French drain in our back window well. Plus, we get to design everything how we want without being put into the 'Richmond" box! They are starting tomorrow and I cannot wait to share the progress!

Here are the inspiration photos that we gave to our contractor:

And lastly, we bought this bad boy from the Restoration Hardware Outlet this past week, and I am SO excited about it!

We are so excited to be expanding our house!

Aiden: Last day of first grade!

This dude! From sight words last year to chapter books this year.... He is simply a growing machine! Not to mention pretty amazing at football as well!

And our yearly funny face collage continues....

End of first grade.

End of Kindergarten.

End of preschool. 

I cannot believe in a week and a half this kid will be seven. My goodness, time flies when you are having fun & as busy as it gets!

Luke: Last day of preschool!

I cannot believe my little Luke man finished his first year of preschool. He has grown up so fast!

A unicorn party for a magical TWO year old.

How on God's green earth is my baby girl almost two? These have been two of the most girly filled years. The days have certainly been long, but my how time has flown! I so vividly remember her coming into this world screaming bloody murder and NOT calming down. Such a Gemini. Although she turned out to be a very easy baby, cuddly toddler, she definitely has a little dose of fire inside of her. She loves purple, telling her brothers they are naughty, actually tattling on anyone, and the girl LOVES unicorns. Or, "coins," as she calls them.

References:

Leila's tutu: Wraredoll

Cupcakes: Target

Cupcake Stand: Crate & Barrel

Wrapping Paper: Target

Pinwheels: Target

Mantle decor and straws: Gift, Meri Meri brand

Cookies: Local baker "Cookieliciousness on Facebook

Cake stands: TJ Maxx

Paper plates and napkins: Hobby Lobby