Merry Christmas Eve

Hi all! I'm back! So crazy right! I'm just popping in to give you a little update on Christmas life. We have had lots of fun decorating, baking cookies, visiting Santa and family, and prepping for C-Day that the month flew by! It is crazy.

We took little miss back into town to visit Santa. The same one from last year. While we hoped for a good outcome, we even brought the photo of him and her with so she would look at it, we prepared ourselves mentally that she would scream and cry. We went and had lunch first and she had a mini nap on the drive over so she was in a relatively good mood because we let her run off a little energy through the mall on the walk over. Once inside Santa asked that we not show her his face and I just plopped her in his lap. I backed up and started making faces and being silly and we got a huge smile. She even looked at Santa with a big grin and shed not a single tear (the same could not be said for the poor, yet creepy, Easter Bunny.) We were in shock. He said "don't expect that next year," but we thought the same thing about this year. It was totally awesome!

We are getting to have Christmas Eve dinner at our house for the first time ever and D and I are SO EXCITED. We bought some nice dishes and some accessories so I cannot wait to set the table. Tonight is cleaning and making cranberry sauce in preparation, while tomorrow I will be cooking up a storm all day (with my mom's assistance since I have never made a turkey before.) There will be a fire, various liquors and wine, and of course family and opening of our Christmas Eve gift (pajama's.) I cannot wait to spend the first Christmas in our own home. Here is the menu:

Turkey
Cranberry Pear Sauce
Cranberry Apple Sausage Stuffing (My dear friends recipe)
Sweet Potatoes
Mashed Potatoes
Gravy
and of course Starlight Sugar Twists, Sugar, Scotcharoos and chocolate chip cookies.

I hope you and yours have a wonderful Christmas with your family and friends. This is a time for giving, for families, and for love. Merry Merry Christmas!

Love The Kimball's

Ole St. Nick

Last week was a week of major firsts, but I can't really start to go over those until I write her 5 month post.....which I am behind on, AGAIN! Oh well. Sometimes life happens and things get put on the back burner. I knew I wanted to get Emma in to see Santa before the mall got really crowded and we had to wait in a long line....which sounded like torture to mommy. So last week we decided to take her to visit our mall Santa.

First of all, we walked straight in to see him and as you can tell by the photo, he was an awesome Santa! No stuffed suit and fake beard here! They asked if we were buying a photo...of course! It's her first Santa visit. Now I fully expected her to not cooperate for the camera. She was looking every which way and when the photographer was shaking their noisemakers she looked up at them as if to say "that's really unnecessary." Finally Santa said, "mom why don't you try." I got down low and waved my arms and smiled big and made a fool out of myself but we got this shot! Totally worth it! Cannot wait to see next years photo!

We put up our Christmas decorations and of course Emma's first Christmas tree. I found a frame ornament in our stash and put one of the wallet size photo's that we got in our package from Santa in it and on the tree is went along with the sled ornament I made last year. My mom gave me some ornaments from when I was a baby to put on our tree so this years tree is very special to me.

My mom suggested that we get professional photo's done for Christmas of Emma, but honestly I don't like that JC Penny studio feel at all....so the other night after her bath when she was relaxed and happy, we plopped her on a blanket and plugged in some white lights and went to town with the camera. Under the tree she went and everything tried to go in her mouth. From the strand of lights, ornaments, to the tree branches themselves. I love that she's exploring new things and I love experiencing life and the holiday's through her eyes! While these aren't professional photos I still love them and they capture her personality at this time in her life!

We have some new traditions to start and old ones to pass on, but I cannot wait to experience everything with our little one!

A Date with the Perfect Gift

This Christmas was really hard in determining what we should get our families for gifts. Considering I was wrecked tired and did not feel like stepping in a mall left me with little options. Actually I only went into two stores and that was to get the hubbies gift. I recieved an email from Tiny Prints and it inspired me to create something fun and unique for each member of our families. With our peanut soon to make an appearance in 2014, I knew I wanted to incorporate that in this years gift, along with the homemade Sled Ornaments that I created. While perusing their site I stumbled upon the daily planners....which were cute, but not as customizable as I had hoped. Clicking through all the gifts I finally landed on the calendars. Perfect! They could be customizable to each family, and I loved that you could include special dates (birthdays and anniversaries) already printed on the calendar! Heck YA! Saves everybody a little time!! I included a little card to give a hint to what they were receiving and let the gift do the talking.

I learned that the calendars are hosted by Tiny Prints sister site Shutterfly, and having experience with them I knew that they would be excellent quality. The hardest part was narrowing down the photos to use. Since I made three different calendars for three households I had to make sure that everyone and all the puppies were included as well. The pre-set layouts were great and all I had to do was click and go. You can include text and captions, but I let the photo's do all the talking.

My Parents

D's Parents

My Stepmom

There are also many different styles, fonts, and colors to choose from, but I went for a calm and classic design and used the same one for all three. Since I placed my order so close to Christmas I was a little on edge when I hit the order button. I used express shipping and they made it here with plenty of time to spare. I couldn't have been happier with my decision to make these are really go the extra mile and take the time to create something unique. Everyone was overjoyed with each calendar, and as per her usual my mom cried.

I plan on using this site again in the future, maybe baby shower invites or announcement cards! I highly recommend this site for their quality, ease of use and customer service!

Disclaimer: I received compensation from Tiny Prints, however all thoughts and opinions are my own.

DIY Sled Ornament

Before I was born my grandmother made all her "grandkids" a sled ornament out of popsicle sticks. My mom gave it to me a while back and it has been displayed on my tree every year since. This year I wanted to create the same thing to include as part of our Christmas gifts to our parents. I went online to see if I could purchase pre-made sled ornaments and while I was scouring, the hubby plucked it off the tree and stated "Diane this is popsicle sticks. You can make this!" Well duh! Why didn't I think of that?!? I blame pregnancy brain! So that's what I did! And I am here to share with you how I did it! It's super easy, just in case I didn't mention that yet!

What You'll Need:
(7) Plain Popsicle Sticks (you can get them at any craft store)
Xacto knife
Paint and brushes
Super Glue
Modge Podge

Directions:

1. Before I painted the sticks, I made my cuts. I suggest using a brand new blade on your Xacto knife. Our was dull and VERY hard to work with! Please be careful with your blade, its very sharp!! First I took four popsicle sticks and drew an arch on them and cut out the arch. Here are the sizes you will need:

Leave the 2 middle arched sticks as is; just cut with a arch
The 2 outside arch sticks will be 3.25"W to the longest point with a 45 degree angle
(1) 3"W with 45 degree angles on each end
(1) 1.5W for back
(2) Full size popsicle sticks

2. Paint your popsicle sticks in your desired color. I chose red....obviously.  I wanted it to look like the other one as closely as possible. I painted two coats on all sides and let dry overnight.

3. Arrange your four arched pieces appropriately. Take your super glue and glue onto the entire length of the short piece and place onto the back of your piece. Press and hold for 30 seconds or until the glue has cured. Repeat with the other short piece.

4. Put superglue on the top of your two middle pieces on the opposite side as the short pieces and then place your angled piece on the top. Flip over and press for 30 seconds until glue has cured.

5. Take a small portion of glue on the very edges of the small back pieces and place one of your full length sticks perpendicular and centered evenly. The stick should be flush (or as flush as possible) with the edge of the piece. Repeat with other full length stick.

6. I didn't take photo's of the next steps, but you can see in the finished photo above what it looks like. Next I took my paint pen and wrote "Baby Kimball 2013" on the top. That took two light coats to make it nice and even.

7. Once everything is completely dry I put one coat of modge podge as a sealer. I used the glitter kind on accident. I would recommend just the clear matte or gloss. The hubs didn't care for the glitter, but I think it work for the application.

8. You can add a hangar if you like. We just rest our on a branch so no hangar is needed for us!

See! You too can make your own sled ornament out of popsicle sticks!

Christmas Traditions

Every year the hubby and I try to accomplish Christmas traditions to be able to share with our growing family. With our big announcement that we posted yesterday we have kind of fallen off the tradition wagon. I get home and by the time dinner is made all I want to do is sleep. I have been desperately trying to keep the holiday spirit alive.  In true holiday tradition the hubby lugged all our holiday decor up to our apartment the weekend after Thanksgiving. It seems like we are getting gypped on a week here and maybe the tree will stay up until after the new year. Honestly it most likely will. Haha. We took our bokeh shots and even made a GIF of us putting up the tree. We always have such fun decorating together. Then we had dinner and watched both of the Home Alone movies.....only the ones with Maculay Culkin count people! Our pup laid on her bed pouting because of the cone of shame the entire time. Poor thing.

Poor conehead pup!

We took a break for the week because I was wiped after doing just the tree so we finished the rest of our decor the next weekend. We had an unusual cold spell last week and it made me feel incredibly bad for our pup. So I decided to put her in a t-shirt to "attempt" to keep her insulated. The dog hates clothes which is why she doesn't have a sweater, but I think she might get one this year from Santa.

Also every year, with the exception of last year....the hubby and I paint a craft. We usually go to a ceramic pottery place like Color Me Mine but this year we decided to make something at home. It's going to be a little special Christmas gift that you should stay tuned for!

The Bear was our holiday craft from 2008

I think that it's wonderful that the hubby wants to make something together every year with me as a reminder of each year we are together. I love that we can continue this tradition with our children as well! What kind of Holiday traditions do you have?

25 Days of Xmas Photo Challenge Complete

Here it is. The completion of my 25 Days of Christmas photo challenge. If you want to know what the categories were click here. I have to say that It was really fun doing this Christmas inspired photo challenge. It got me to really appreciate the people I have around me and appreciate the things that are traditions too. This time of year can be stressful for most, but I made the best of it. Shopping wasn't bad, and I only made one purchase online. Even though I went out on the busiest weekend of the year, I made sure to keep my people anxiety in check and just enjoyed the company of the people I was shopping with. Some of our traditions fell to the wayside; we didn't paint a ceramic piece, but I think all the crocheting I did made up for that. I also didn't bake any cookies since my Kitchenaid mixer is in need of service, however we did make Scotcheroos.

Our holiday was spent with our wonderful families, telling stories and sharing memories. It was the perfect holiday season! New Years is going to be very low key for us. Just D and I and little miss Shelbydoo. It's not because of a lack of invitations, just because we need time for ourselves and just we time! Every couple needs that every now and then! What are your NYE plans?

Merry Christmas from the Kimball's

Wishing all of you a very Merry Christmas! Today is the last day of my photo challenge. Day 24 was Christmas Eve and I took a good photo with my love at our Christmas Eve party at D's parents house.

Today, day 25, the theme was unwrapped. I took a photo of our dog who successfully unwrapped her toy in 3.5 seconds. I got a new Coach purse and some vintage tees from Victoria's Secret to add to my collection. I have almost an entire rainbow of v-neck comfy soft tees! I am in love with those shirts.

I got D a new compact video camera and a video game for his play station. He keeps telling me how he wants a new video camera for when we do have kids, so I thought a little pocket camera would be perfect!

I hope Santa was good to all of you and you all had a wonderful holiday with your families!

Update: After visiting my in-laws and opening gifts with them, D got a great leather jacket and I got some great comfy clothes as well....I love scarfs and boots, and pjs! We surprised my folks at my Grandma's house in Simi. My mom made me a beautiful bag, and crocheted me a cowl scarf and a head band. She also made us a wonderful Christmas scrapbook and inside it was a trip to Catalina Island for our 11 year anniversary from my folks!!! The bucket list looks like its going to have some checks next year already!! Thanks to everyone for making our Christmas so special! We love you all!

Day Twenty Two/Twenty Three - Cookies/Sparkle

Day 22 was cookies. Knowing that the hubby was going to make his family Scotcheroos to take to work I decided to wait until they were made to take the photo. Not technically cookies, but still a holiday treat that we don't go a year without making!

Day 23 (today) is sparkle. Now we had glitter and lights already over the course of this photo challenge, but I thought I would take inspiration from the Bokeh trend and take a whirl at my own shot. Taking the "sparkle" of our Christmas tree and making it unique, in a way. Figuring out how to do it on our DSLR was interesting, but I finally got a couple of cool shots! Whoop!

Holiday's with my work family

Yesterday was our final day of the 12 days of Christmas at the office. Our office manager brought in stockings for us all and there were lots of goodies in them. Tons of chocolate (including a chocolate orange) some little toys and a giant bar of peppermint soap. It smelled so good and I can't wait to use it. We also had a craft to accomplish. She bought mini 3x3" canvases and we had to create our own artwork. The joke is that next year she is going to give us a theme. My boss' son participated also. We had a desert Christmas scene, Jerusalem, a reindeer, a fireplace scene and I did an abstract version of a bokeh photograph. Essentially it's the look of Christmas lights that are out of focus. It was really fun.

The best news though was that D's gift came. In the final hour I was starting to panic that it wasn't going to arrive on time! Whew! I dodged a bullet. I came home and wrapped it immediately and included it under the tree. I am glad to know that all my shopping is done and wrapped. Now all I have to do us relax and wait for the festivities! Yay! I hope you all are ready for the season, and if you have to shop still, I hope that the crowds are kind to you! Have a wonderful weekend!

Day Twenty One - Bells

Day 21 was bells. If you have ever read The Polar Express you know what the role sleigh bells play in the spirit of Christmas. This little guy is a door hanger and gladly chimes every time we open our front door!

Hilarity Ensues at TWG

Every year at our office we do fun Christmas crafts and contests to keep the spirit alive. On Friday we all decorated foam snowmen, and its funny to see how different each one turned out with the supplies that we were given. We sit, listen to music, and converse while we get glitter all over ourselves.

Mine is on the left!

This year, our boss gave us the Ugly Christmas Sweater task. I really did not want to buy a sweater that I would never wear again, so I went to the dollar store/big lots to get stick-on bows, then 'designed' my own sweater. Safety pinning those bad boys on took some time, but I thought it was worth it. I was joined by a tape Christmas Tree with battery operated lights, cut poinsettia's, bells, and pins. I am sure we would have all had some raised eyebrows if we walked out in public like that!

Next item is to decorate holiday inspired bird houses. Stay tuned for those! I love being creative!

Day Sixteen/Seventeen - Ornaments/Wreath

Yesterday (Sunday and Day 16) was a tired day. I managed to post my photo to Instagram, but was too tired to go into blogger and make the post so you all get a twofer! If you recall at the beginning of the month I did A Peak at my Tree post. These are some of my favorite ornaments on my tree. If you click on the link above you can read all about them!

Day Seventeen (today) is Wreath. This was the first wreath that D and I ever bought, in our first apartment. It's really small and I want to upgrade it to a bigger wreath for our entry, but it works for now. Even if I put something new on the front door, this will still be placed on a door, because it makes a wonderful Christmas sound with the bells. I love it!