:: Fetching our Tree ::

:: We had a rather long Cranberry Creek year and didn't end up finishing our years worth of sales until the 15th of december - so we didn't get our tree until the 16th ::



:: We had a GREAT time rain and all, going to Ikea to get our tree and having dinner. Paul's parents were able to join us which made it extra special ::



:: Our family with the beautiful tree ::



:: I got the boys to stand still for one moment, the moment after they both ran through a 1 foot deep puddle...if you can't tell from their water-logged pant legs ::



:: Everyone watching the boys steer the tree out to the van ::



:: Great night full of the traditions that make up our family - including the $2.99 meatball dinner at Ikea! ::

:: 2010 Holiday House Tour ::

:: Christmas may barely be over, but boy am I itching to clear out the clutter, and take down all the beautiful decor we put up just to celebrate Jesus' birth ::

:: So I thought that before I remove it I should post about it - just for memories sake ;) ::

Shawna's Holiday Home Tour 2010

:: The wreath on my front door is one I made from a tutorial you can find here. It cost me a whole whopping $3 - totally love it and hope it lasts until next year! ::



:: We have two different trees, one in our Living Room {front room - just off of our entry way} that is fake and this year, my friend Lisa found this awesome mesh at one of our local Christmas shops, and so I got white, other than the fact that I LOVE white, it was also on for more of a deal than the metallic mesh. I thought it would be beautiful as just a white and silver tree, and of course it would have. But once we got putting on the decor, the boys needed to have some colour - so we chose red, and I love how it turned out! ::

:: We get the boys a new ornament every year, and this is what we chose this year ::


:: My aunt passed down some of her old Christmas ornaments, and this little birdie along with two others found a home on my metal tray ::




:: This was the very first Christmas wreath I put up this year, it was a snowy day in November that we had, I've borrowed this lovely white and green holly wreath from my Marm...and I think it looks perfect in my kitchen window ::

:: A few of our most very favorite Christmas candies ::

:: I picked up some white button mums along with some white tulips to place around the house in canning jars and loved how they turned out ::

:: Lastly, here is our real tree in our family room. It's a perfect little tree from Ikea - it was the perfect little tree for us. All decked out in white and silver along with our beautiful tree skirt and stockings, this is definitely my most favorite room during the holidays ::

:: Beyond the decorations, our home was filled with a joyous celebration for Christmas ~ hope yours was too! ::

:: Merry Christmas ::

:: BoyohBoy, it's been a super busy couple months for us around our home...but I'll be back once Christmas events have settled down and we're back in the somewhat normal rountine ;) ::

:: Merry Christmas Y'all - Pray you're blessed over and over and over! ::

:: This Last Week ::

:: OHMYGOODNESS!!! I must have been busy over the past month cause this was sitting in my "to be edited file" on blogger...ooopss! Must schedule in doing up a schedule of all the things we've been up to as of late! Better late than never I guess ;) ::

:: Monday ::

:: Cole's 3rd birthday was on Monday - we celebrated with our families in the evening. It was a great day, he was well aware that it was "MY Birfday" and we loved sharing in his excitement {more on his celebration later} ::



:: Tuesday ::

:: First thing {like 5 hours after we went to bed on Monday night} I was up and at 'em getting ready to head to Duncan for the day with the boys. We had yet to meet Paisley in person. So since my parents were going over for a couple days I figured we could park our car at the ferry and walk on with them, then return home later that night. So that is just what we did. Me coming over was also going to be a surprise to my SIL --- and I'm delighted to say we pulled off a great surprise. I showed up at Christy's MOPS group and surprised her. And truly, she was surprised! It was so great. So great to hug her, meet and cuddle Paisley and of course to be with Denay ::









:: My parents spent the afternoon with the kids so Christy and I could catch up. It was a great afternoon of coffee & shopping. This was Christy's first time out with out both the babies, so it was great break for her...and me ;) ::



:: Here are all 4 kids together, almost smiling - obviously God was with us ;) ::



:: Getting in my cuddles with sweet Paisley, she and I are really close to God, look how big our hair do's are ;) ::


:: Sweet Paisley - just being sweet! ::

:: Wednesday ::

:: Was a complete write off! It started off with bible study at church then a meeting with our pastor regarding our Christmas event @ church, then off to pick kids up from classes and home to re-group from the whirlwind trip to the island and all of Cole's birthday events, as well as to prepare for his class birthday the next day! Phew! ::

:: Thursday::

:: Was Mr. L's birthday! He turned 30 something, he get's his birthday off from work {as do all the employees} but decided to take it on the 12th of November as then he would have a 4 day long weekend since November 11th is a stat holiday ::

:: Jacob got to go hang out with Auntie Lisa, Emma & Zach while I went with Cole to school for party day. He was so stinkin' excited to have me at school, to have the class teddy bear home with him for the first time and to get something from the birthday box at school...all so SO exciting for my little guy! ::



:: Here is my little boy talking about the class teddy bear and his show 'n tell...he brought his leash, his leash that Grampy & Grammie bought him for his birthday as he loves anything with clips and the fact that it's expandible is just so much fun to him! ::



:: Here he is blowing out his candles for his class birthday cake {Don't worry that's not really cake, it's just a pretend cake} -- after that we enjoyed cupcakes that I made and then headed over to Aunties house to have a visit and lunch together ::

:: Later that afternoon I dropped the kids off to my parents place for them to have a sleep over {ahh, BLISS!} -- Mr. L met me at home and we got ready to go out to our favorite local restaurant for dinner - we both ordered steak and it was AWEsome! After dinner we headed to one of my personal favorite places to hang out; Starbucks! We both had a red cup of bliss and lovely conversation -- I decided to take pictures of each other. This is the order in which they were taken ::




:: mmmm, our lovely red cups of bliss ::



:: Mr. L being, Mr. L ;) ::






:: Me, being a dork ::



:: Mr. L commented that he couldn't get my "bump-it" in the picture - HA --- he knows that I don't have a bump-it, but I don't doubt that he was having issues getting all that mane in the photo ;) ::



:: And a somewhat normal shot of me :) - and yes, I was wearing white jeans with my black stiletto boots...in November, so sue me! ::

:: Friday ::

:: Wake up, pick up the boys from G&G's - take JJ to school, run some errands with Cole, return to pick up JJ from school, go home for lunch and naps, have a visit with a super sweet friend, make dinner, start making cake for super sweet friend, bathe&bed boys, and die on the couch at exactly 10:09 pm ::

:: Saturday ::

:: I wake at the crack of dawn {which is 5:54 am to me} start back on decorating the cake as it was due by 1pm that day ::



:: Here is the finished product of the 60th birthday cake - cute colors hey?!? I loved it and Mo did an absolutely fabulous job putting all the details for the party together ::

:: Later that afternoon I was off to a baby shower for a life long bestie that had a baby boy a few weeks ago. Malachi is a darling little warm bundle and I couldn't wait to celebrate with her & hold him! ::



:: Here we are, Lisa looks awesome and oh, that sweet boy, I could eat him right up! ::

:: Sunday ::

:: Our boys were up an hour earlier as we had turned our clocks back on Saturday night...which meant that at 4:45 am we were saying our good mornings...hmph. We headed off to church then ran a few errands, then home for brunch and naps. We all needed them but didn't all succeed at getting one. Around 3 pm we headed over the bridge to Mr. L's parents place to celebrate our birthdays {Cole's, Paul's & Mine} with his family ::



:: Here are Mr. L & Me with our cakes -- doesn't everybody need TWO cakes!?!? Ha! ::



:: Here is what our family photo looked like...I should have entered this one into RH photography's loony family photo contest! Look close, Mr. L is smoking a chocolate cigar from the top of the cake, JJ is pulling a "watchalookingat?" pose, Coley is saying "itwasn'tme!" and I'm oblivious to all the crazy antics the boys are up to! Ha Ha Ha! ::



:: Here is a close up of the chocolate cake -- It was oh so yummy and rich! Thanks Mum & Dad for hosting us for our birthday...lemme tell you, the talk of our household has been the train set at Nana & Papa's house, JJ told me today that he dreamed of going to your house to play with the train set last night - too cute! ::

:: Pumpkin Patch {sort of!} ::

:: Due to our Hawaiian vacation in the beginning portion of October, we didn't get to go to the pumpkin patch until it was almost too late! But we fit it in going to a local farm market on Saturday - just enough of a memory to make it fun for the boys and to provide Mr. L and I with something to do while we watched a movie later that night ;) ::

:: Here is my little family & one of the pumpkins ::

:: Out boys with their treats, they were served popcorn and hot chocolate for free --- Ahh, I love this market! ::

:: Lookin' at all the goods ::

:: Off they go to pick out some pumpkins with Daddy ::

:: Later that night Mr. L and I made short work of carving the pumpkins...mine is the traditional Jack O Lantern and Mr. L's is a little more creative. The next morning the boys woke up to see them on the counter and they called up to us, "Mum, Dad...come see! There are Jack O Yanterns on the counter!!!" It was so sweet that they were so excited about them! ::

:: Friday Night ::

:: On Friday night we went out to a local restaurant and celebrated Lyla's birthday planned by her lovely husband Steve. This was a big birthday for her...and we were SO delighted to be invited to celebrate with her ::



:: Here are some of the guys including my super handsome hubby, Mr. L ::



:: JD is Lyla's niece -- I know, I'm surrounded by amazing creativity when I'm with these ladies! ::



:: Lois & Pam ::



:: My brother Jordan and SIL Lindsey ::



:: Happy Birthday Lyla - You're just as beautiful on the inside as out..and let me say, that's pretty stinkin' beautiful :) ::



:: XoXo ::