Christmas Came Early

This year we started Christmas a little early.  At least, early to be celebrating on our own.  We planned to let the kids open a few gifts Sunday evening even though we're not leaving until Wednesday night so we can cut down the number that will travel with us and I didn't want to try to cram present opening in the mix of stuff to do to be able to leave.  Plus, they had some time to enjoy them.

We started Sunday morning with bikes - Joey's parents got both kids a new one this year.  Since we're travelling to Kentucky for the big day, we knew they would be getting them before we left.  However, after we put them together Saturday evening we decided to just leave them out for them to find Sunday morning so they would have time to ride them a bit.  Well, Gracie comes down to my bed about 5:30 and says, "Mommy!  There's bikes in the living room!"  I convinced her to go back to sleep somehow, but when Logan came in a bit later she popped and said "Logan!  There's bikes in the living room!"  And that was that.

I did a lot of baking on Sunday while also doing laundry, and squeezing in a trip to Target for more chocolate chips.  I mentioned to the kids that we would open some presents after dinner on Sunday, but Logan wore me down and we ended up opening them around 5:30.  I let the kids open 4 presents each.  First, they opened hats & gloves which they both needed.

Then they each got to open a movie, which they would then be able to watch on the drive to Kentucky.

Next they opened their gifts to each other - the only "toy" present they opened.

Gracie got a Dora makeup set.

Logan got new Legos.

Finally they each opened a new pillow/back rest/blanket combo simply because it was too big to make the trip.

Gracie's had a angel theme...

...and Logan's was frogs.

All in all we had a great weekend and a fun time opening presents.  I think it was actually the first time we opened presents with only the four of us there - usually one side of the extended family is with us.  It was fun to take our time, really see the kids open their presents, and since they only got four they really enjoyed what they got - as opposed to getting a bunch at one time and being sort of overwhelmed.  It was a great beginning to what promises to be a fun holiday in Kentucky.

Wreath Happy

I have a new obsession - wreaths.  It's sad, but true (although there are worse things, right?).  First I made my lovely coffee filter wreath.  Then I decided a Christmas wreath I made many years ago needed a change.  So I removed all the decoration and ribbon for a fresh start.  I purchased two "sleeves" of ornaments from The Dollar Tree - one red and one gold, each had matte, shiny, and glitter ornaments.  I also bought two bunches of fake poinsettias there.  Then I simply hot glued the top of each ornament and stuck it to the wreath.  I then removed the poinsettia blooms from the plastic stems and hot glued them on too.  Here's the final product:

I totally love it and it took no more than 20 minutes to make.  When I started I intended to cover the whole thing in ornaments but when I ran out I improvised the flowers and am really pleased with how it turned out.  That being said, I think I'll pick up some more ornaments next time I'm at The Dollar Tree to fill in the outside more.

The other wreath I made was based on inspiration found in blogland.  I bought a wreath form, white yarn, red yarn, glitter snowflakes, and ribbon from Micheal's.  I took the yarn and wrapped it around the wreath form in alternating blocks of red and white.  Then I hot glued the snowflakes on and stuck a bow on top of them.  Here's the result:

*Yes, it is hanging from the light in my sister's dining room.  If she had a wreath hanger I didn't see it.

Again, I'm really pleased with how it turned out.  As I was wrapping the yarn I got concerned it was looking a little shoddy, but in the end it worked.  I gave this one to my sister Jessica, so as soon as I can get back to Micheal's I'm going to make one for myself.