25 Days of Christmas - Day 12

Sorry to disappoint, but there was no Christmas activity tonight. We just had fun as a family and spending time together. Ava and Bradley are in her bedroom playing right now and we have just had a lazy night. I spent a little time scrapbooking, we watched a little TV, and have just been playing. But, I do have some recent pictures of Ava doing something holiday like. My mom and I found this at the Dollar Tree. Ava loved it for a few days and we had fun playing with it. But as all things do, this went straight into Ava's mouth and it is so cheap that dye started to get on her from it. Straight into the trash it went. It will be missed for she looked so cute. However, it added another item on my to-do list. Number 643 - Teach Ava where a headband goes...

And this is too cute not to share. I would put the headband on and do an evil laugh. You know the one that goes,"MWAHHAHAHA." And Ava would hold it up to her head and say,"Ma, Ha!" It was so funny. That's what convinced me to spend the dollar in the first place!

Nobody ever told me that as a mom I would someday have to say,

"Ava, please stop stealing Baby Jesus!" "Ava, put down the Baby Jesus!" "Give Mommy the Baby Jesus." "Ava, please don't try to eat Jesus. He's made of glass." "How sweet of you to kiss Baby Jesus, now put him back."

Ava loves the trees and lights, but she also loves the nativity scenes. The animals and Baby Jesus are her favorites.

25 Days of Christmas - Days 10 and 11

For the last 2 nights, our family Christmas activities have consisted of addressing Christmas cards, signing Christmas cards, stamping Christmas cards, writing names on pictures for Christmas cards, and stuffing said Christmas cards. We have been busy, but they are ready to go. Last night we got the cards ready and today Ava's portraits from Wal-Mart came in so we stuffed those and her pictures into envelopes and now we are ready. So let's just say we have been a little lacking in the photograph department, because let's face it, stuffing envelopes is not really photo worthy. Anyway, Bradley did take a couple of pictures of Ava and I tonight and as a little bonus, here are 2 of Ava sleeping that Anne took.

25 Days of Christmas - Days 8 and 9

On Saturday, my mom came down for a "Girls' Weekend" with Ava and I. She got here at about 9 on Saturday morning and Ava was still in bed. After she got up, we fed her and headed out to do a little shopping. We hit the Dyersburg Mall and then headed to Charlene's in Halls. It is a cute little set of shops that offer girly items. The main shop had the most beautiful Christmas ornaments! They also had a little scrapbooking store, not quite my style, but I picked up some stickers and Mom picked up a few sheets of paper. No shopping trip is complete without a Mexican lunch at El Patio and a stop at the Dollar Tree. I love good deals and sometimes you find neat things there. I picked up some cute Christmas decorations and some items for my secret pal at work. After a quick stop at Wal-Mart we headed back home for some serious scrapbooking and crafting. We scrapbooked from about 3 until midnight and we were exhausted. I got some serious scrapbooking done and Mom got quite a bit done. We made some cute ornaments and little Christmas decorations.

Sunday morning we went to church where our preacher did a service on Peace and they lit an advent candle. I love the festivities that go along with Christmas. Then we ate at Ryan's and headed home to play my favorite game, "Photo Shoot." Now you all know you can't see the pictures until I get my cards made and sent out, but I'll tell you this, they are cute! They involve Ava dressed in pink and purple with a lollipop! Messy? Yes! Adorable? Yes! Can't wait to share!

So anyhow, I am caught up on Days of Christmas through today and tonight's activity involves Christmas cards. So by next week, start checking those mailboxes! Hope you had a great Monday!

The pants say it all...

25 Days of Christmas - Day 7

So I am a little behind on our days of Christmas. That is just because we have been so busy celebrating the holiday season. I am currently just going to post pictures for a few days until I get caught up and then maybe we can resume our little scrapbook pages. Thanks to you all for the all the kind comments you have been leaving. There are each like little presents that I unwrap when I wait for it to load whatever you all have written!

So on Friday, Day 7 of the 25 Days of Christmas, Nana and Pop came over for us to share Friday night dinner with. I cooked a nice pasta dinner and then for the Christmas activity, we decorated Gingerbread Men that I had baked earlier in the day. I had never had Gingerbread before and it is really not one of my favorites either. We did have fun decorating the cookies and laughing at each other. I gave Pop a can of whipped cream to help Ava decorate with, but she was really having none of that. By the end, however, she was eating so much powdered sugar frosting that I was afraid she would get sick!

Day 8 activity - Girls Day and Scrapbooking Day with my Mom

Day 9 activity - Church and Christmas pictures

So stayed tuned as I try to catch up on my postings! Have a great week!

Festive even after a bath: Ava in her new reindeer towel