New Traditions

Every year is full of change...and change is good. Well sometimes....   This year I am having a really hard time with change. Usually on Christmas Eve we celebrate Christmas with the whole Bloemers side...this year it will be different. Which really is a good thing, since it will be easier for more people to make being the Saturday before. I was hoping we would do our small Bloemers family gathering that night instead, but not he case, which I too understand.   This leads me to my issue...we now have NOTHING on Christmas Eve, or really Christmas Day. Usually both night and day are filled with family and they will, but just the 4 of us.   This I am dreading...   Toby says we will come up with something special to call our own, but it really just makes me miss my mom all that much more...   We have some ideas...but I am slowly working myself up. I wish I could just push it back and think of all the special memories we will be making with our kids, but sometime less isn't more and in this case less people, especially one that will be missing is being missed an extra lot this year.

Holiday Rush

I don't know about any of you but the holiday hustle and bustle is in full swing at our house. We have already attended one Christmas party, we have another one this coming weekend and then 2 the following weekend.   In between there we are working hard to finish the playroom, craft room, have carpet installed, finish up our shopping, and for me...making gifts!!   I love to give people small tokens to let them know just how special they are to me, especially at this time of year! I also really enjoying adding some fun new crafts that have been on my "to do" list to my "done" list!!   Currently on my to make list is: *Initial cup *People blocks *Matching shirts (for my neices!) *Cookies *Ornaments with the kids *Holiday tags *Hot Chocolate mix/chocolate dipped spoons *Popcorn Seasoning Kit *Holiday shirt for kids   I think that is it for right now...but I'm sure I will think of many more things that I should make!!

 

And I finally got around to ordering my holiday cards, so at least that part of things is done! YEAH!

Sneaky Elf

With Christmas comes one of my favorite Holiday traditions...Chip our Elf!! He usually shows up sometime after Thanksgiving and then gets into all sorts of different adventures.   **If you haven't heard of Elf on a Shelf...you need to check it out, it really is A LOT of fun and the kids just LOVE it!!    Here is his arrival....I think he arrived in style!

 

Day 2:

 

Day 3:

 

 

 Day 6:

 

Day 7:

The kids are really loving all the adventures "Chip" is having this year!! I am too!!

 

Frosting

Now everybody knows that once you bake cookies you just have to decorate them...so of course we got out the frosting, sprinkles and went to town!! 

Tim "x" marks the spot!! Gotta love the Michigan cookie cutter!!

Emmah thinking closely about what to add next!

Pure concentration!!

Even the BIG kids got into it!

I have to say I love to decorate cookies...it's so much fun and I LOVE to what creative ideas will come out!

Chips Last Visit

Since I have posted most of Chips adventures this year I thought I should post Chips last visit with us...or at least for this year!! On the 19th of Dec. the kids woke up to find Chip here: 

And he added this message:

Can't wait to see what exciting adventures Chip will have next year!!

Thanks for visiting Chip see you soon!

*Family Time*

On Dec. 26th my brother Jeff and all of his 3 kids headed over to my sisters for some fun family time with lots of kiddos running around!!Altogether we had 19 people (6 of which were kids!)We enjoyed a delicious meal and then got right to catching up!Some played some cornhole...not sure they followed all the rules, but there at least they were having fun! 

Did some scooter riding

And just enjoyed each others company, catching up and spending time together since many of us don't see each very often.

This is one genetically loud family, but one loving family! 

Let's Bake

It's cookie day and we are ready to bake! On the plans for today are:

1. Grandma Henkel's Holly Cookies
2. Sugar Cookies- for Santa!
3. Candy Bar Sugar Cookies
4. Peanut Butter Blossoms

And we'll see what else we add to the list!!
Cookie baking is always fun and since we didn't do any at home I'm super excited that we get to do it together as a family!!First up, Sugar Cookies: 

Next Grandma Henkel's Holly Cookies (My Fav!)

 Baking is so much fun!!Of course sampling when you're done isn't bad either!! 

Oceans of fun!

Okay really it was the Gulf...yesterday we traveled a little southwest to stop and see my dad at his place. It was fun, since we didn't tell the kids where we were going just that Jill was leading us on an adventure. Jake knocked on the door and was a little shocked to see Grandpa...it was funny, he even jumped back!! After visiting awhile we headed to lunch at one our favorite spots, Sweet Tomatoes. We sooooo need to get one of these in Michigan. It's so YUMMY! Then we headed to Clearwater Beach so the kids could see the Gulf. It was fairly warm, but I didn't know how much swimming there would be....not sure why I questioned that. The minute we got suits on and headed for the water they were in!! They had fun jumping the waves, playing in the sand, collecting shells and just splashing! All in all, it was a nice day! Next on the agenda....cookies!!

This photo album personalized with Smilebox

Family Fun

Well the warm weather is here and we are enjoying every bit of it! The kids have been swimming everyday since we arrived and there is so much fun yet to be had. Our list of activities is long and we can't wait!

1. Legoland
2. Swimming
3. Disney Quest
4. Beach
5. Cookie Baking
6. Santa Visit

And of course some game time with family! The memories we will make will last a lifetime and we can't wait!!

Chips Adventures

Here are some of the fun adventures our Elf Chip has been on since he arrived: 

Obviously he needed a litlle snack and some time with his friend the Nutcracker!

Tis the Season

Sorry, I have been missing it has been a crazy week and I have been going holiday crafting crazy!!I of course really do have a Pinterest problem...and of course I found another project I just had to make.I have been on the look out for something unique to hold all of Christmas cards every year and have just not been happy with what we had so...I got myself a extra black frame I had around and then bought some super cute festive ribbon. To make your own card/photo holder here is what you need:

• festive ribbon
• empty frame
• stapler

1. The first thing I did was lay my frame down back side up.
2. Lay your ribbon across the frame, you'll want the ribbon pulled tightly.
3. Staple the ribbon onto the sides and then you can trim the ends.
4. The there you have it!!!

And now we have a cheerful and festive holiday card holder ready and waiting for all the holiday cheer!

The Chronicles of Chip

Have you heard of Elf on a Shelf? If not it is such a wonderful and fun holiday tradition we started a few years ago. Here is how it works, each elf comes with a story explaining the magic. Your child/children get to name the elf, which it half the fun! Ours is named Chip. Then each night Chip heads back to the North Pole to report to Santa how everyone behaved. Each morning when he returns he finds a new spot to sit...so you can imagine the fun in finding where Chip is every morning! Chip arrived at our house this morning with a special note:

I can't wait to see what crazy things this elf has planned for this year!!

(Don't worry I plan to keep you updated!)

The Loot

Christmas is not about the gifts, we have tried to keep this in mind and teach our kids its about giving and not getting, but sometimes as a mom I like the getting!! I love both parts, the part where I get to give someone something they really wanted (even without them knowing!!) and the part where I get something I really wanted!! The kids got a lot of great things this year that they really wanted including some legos, Apples to Apples, doll clothes, and matchbox cars. In the end we got quite a loot!

For at least a year now the hubby and I have been talking about getting new appliances. We had some oven trouble so we went looking and then decided to wait. Well going from having a dishwasher to not has really been a killer lately!

So guess what??? My darling hubby got me one for Christmas!!! We don't usually do gifts for each other, but decided to this year and low and behold I got my dishwasher!!

This is the one I am getting:

Frigidaire Gallery 24" Built-In, in Stainless. This is the stainless that doesn't leave finger prints!! I love the look and am hoping to get the rest of the matching ones soon!!

What was your favorite gift to give or to get this holiday?

Tis the Season

This year in our family we have added A LOT of babies! I thought that opened up a great opportunity for some cute pics with some adorable coordinating shirts!! So of course I totally jumped on board and got started.

I wanted to make them somewhat matching, but still have some individual style. I decided that I would go with a tree for the girls, and festive ties for the boys.

These are the 2 girl variations.

And the boys!!

Here they are altogether...can't wait to get some great group shots tomorrow!!

Letters to Santa

Well we decided it was time to let the big man know what we wanted for Christmas and although we went and met with him, we wanted to be sure he remembered what we wanted!! I mean he is a busy guy! So here are this years letters to Santa: