It's just begun

Now Christmas season is in full swing! As usual I'm having mixed feelings, but I'm more excited this year than in years past. Usually I'm thinking about everything that I need to do, but at this moment I'm feeling excited about the gifts that I'll be giving even though I haven't started on them yet, lol.

I am IN LOVE with my camera even though I know very little about how to use it. I'm just amazed at how clear the pictures are compared to my point-and-shoot. Anyway even though my father-in-law was making me feel guilty about getting my Christmas early I have no regrets and will happily be taking pictures Christmas morning :) Here are a few of my first and favorite pics of the girls (click on the pic to get the full version. For some reason I've changed the sizes three times and they're still getting chopped. Sorry about that).



As you can see Grace is in a fun phase of your life where she won't just smile when I whip out the camera :) Last weekend I finally painted the playroom (which is the first room that you walk into when you enter the house). I thought that I was going pretty conservative with the shade of blue that I picked out. After the first coat went up I realized that I hadn't, lol. It's pretty bright and I love it. I don't know that Corey would agree, but it's perfect for a happy place space. Here's a little wall art that I put up the other day.



I've found that I have a hard time focusing on one thing for too long. I love to create things and I have a whole list in my head and on my computer of things that I want to try. The other day I started thinking about crocheting. My roommates in college taught me how to first crochet. I made a blanket for my parents and that was the first and last thing that I made. That was about nine years ago so I didn't really remember much. I went to Etsy and found a cute pattern. Then I asked a girl in my ward to help me get started. The next day while we drove to my brother's for Thanksgiving I made this:



This is my sweet niece Lizzy modeling it! I made it for Abby, but it was too tight so I'll have to try again with a bigger hook. Last night while I was staying up too late I made this hat for Kate:



Needless to say I'm super excited about crocheting now! I have my eye on a few more patterns here and here. Oh and aren't these so cute?

I hope that everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. It's always fun when we get to hang out at my brother's house. The kids get along great, I get some good girl talk time in, and Corey made himself right at home downstairs with the Wii. I put Simon, Isaac, and Grace in charge of making the placecards while we got dinner/lunch going. They really created some cute cards and really took the job seriously. I loved it.



Corey had his first Black Friday sale today at Ogden's. He advertised like crazy in the newspaper and on the radio. The deal was, spend $999 on flooring and get a Wii for $99. There were actually a handful of people lined up when they opened and all the Wiis were long gone by the end of the day. Definitely a success which is great.

Instead of doing any shopping I stayed home and broke out the Christmas stuff! I was surprised at how few things we have. I even went downstairs again to make sure I didn't forget any boxes, lol. That's okay though. I broke out the crafty junk and made a little garland.



It's been a long time since we've had a little crawler at Christmas time. Today I realized that we won't be able to decorate the bottom of the Christmas tree. Kate is super quick and so interested in anything new. Love it. Here's her starting to help me earlier. Have you have a wonderful and restful weekend!

I Can't Believe...

That November is almost over!!! Wasn't Halloween just last week? Time is really flying which I can't decide if that's a good thing or not. That means that Christmas really is just around the corner. Let's take a step back before I start with Christmas though. I have yet to post about Halloween and I had some pretty cute little girls to hang out with that day.



A few friends and I headed downtown for a little trick-or-treating on Main Street which was fun. That night we had a Brady family party which was a lot of fun. Just throw us all in a room with games and food and we're good to go. I really had no idea what to dress up as so I went with pajamas and curlers (very comfortable I might add). Corey was being pretty grouchy about dressing up and then a few hours before we left he did a complete flip and knew exactly who he wanted to be. He even shaved his head for the occasion :)

A few Saturdays ago I finally decided break out the rake. You couldn't even see our grass it was so bad. I didn't realize how big of a job that it would be, lol. I got most of it raked into piles around the house when Kate finally decided that she was not happy outside anymore. So the piles sat for a few days (I had good intentions to finish it up) and one day half of my yard was totally cleared off. A few days later the whole yard was totally leaf free. All I can say is I have some awesome neighbors. Two of my neighbors are retired and it seems always peeking out the window for someone to help. Love it.



It's been two weekends ago now since Chuck and Nicole got married. It really was a fun day and very HOT PINK! The girls looked so cute in their dresses and everyone else looked great in pink, black, and silver. It was pretty chilly, but a beautiful sunny day. Here are a few pics from the day.



They're back from their honeymoon now and opened presents Monday night. It was fun seeing what people gave them. I think I'm going to have to buy one of their many crockpots from them. I think that everyone get's at least one funny gift. Something that someone doesn't want and is re-gifting to you. Corey and I got a glass snowball for a wedding gift. We still have it and have no idea what to do. Chuck and Nicole got some funny swan candle holders. One was even broken.

So since Christmas is coming at an alarming rate I was going to tell you a new tradition that we're going to start this year. This is from the Enrichment night that I mentioned. The idea is to do three gifts. The gift of Meaning (wrapped in red), the gift of Wonder (wrapped in gold), and the gift of Usefulness (wrapped in green). They go along with the gifts from the three wisemen. So the girls will get their Santa gift and then these three gifts from Corey and I. I'm really excited. I've always wanted to figure something out so that I don't go overboard on buying things and I want the girls associate Christmas with Christ more than they do. Here's the idea:



I'm working on some Christ ornaments and also red, green, and gold ornaments to put on the tree that will go along with a few family home evenings that we'll do the few Mondays before Christmas. I'm so excited for Corey's gift of meaning! I'd tell you now, but just incase Corey happens to read my blog for some strange reason I better keep it hush hush for now.

Speaking of Christmas I've been asking for a new camera for probably the last three years. We were in no position to get me a new one, but I always hoped. Well this is the year for me!!!! I order my early Christmas gift the other day and it's on it's way here right now!!



And I'm almost as excited about this:



You just can't have a cool camera without a cute strap :)

Elsie's class started last week and I've having a great time. There's just so much fun inspiration and I'm trying things that I never have before. Fun stuff. I'll be posting things that I make in my Flickr account so if you want to check it out go for it!

Okay, I guess that's all for now. I have Weight Watchers today. Wish me luck.