Have a Holly Jolly Christmas!!!!

I would like to wish all my friends and family a very Merry & Magical Christmas!!! I hope you all enjoy every minute spent with your family!!!! Also, may we all remember the reason we celebrate this exciting time of year. Happy Birthday Baby Jesus!!!!

Sneak Peak......

I feel like I have lived in my sewing room the past couple of weeks. I have been busy sewing some fun Christmas gifts for Reese from us and from Maga, as well as a few gifts for others. Here are a few sneak peaks into what Reese will be getting on Christmas morning. I had such a fun time sewing them. Hopefully Reese has even more fun playing with them!!!

I decided that Reese's dolls needed some new clothes. Some of the dresses coordinate with dresses I have made Reese. The others are just because. Don't they look so cute sitting there together :)


Of course, I couldn't just make one dress per doll.....



I also decided that each doll need a new diaper. I used a great tutorial from Lindsey over at The Cottage Mama. She is such a sweet person and another blogger I hope to have the privilege of meeting one day. I know that Reese and her daughter, Savannah, would get along so well! I also love all of her fun and timeless designs and her use of trims (especially piping)! Here is the tutorial I used. I am also hoping to try out her camera strap tutorial after the new year!


I just want to squeeze them :) Of course each doll needs more then one diaper!!!


I love that Reese will have a few new, home-made things to play with....even better, they were free since everything I used was from my scraps and sewing desk!!!

AND....a little sneak peak at the project that Maga asked me to make for Reese. I will have to wait and take picture after Christmas since I didn't have the entire gift here at my house. I can't wait to see what Reese thinks when she opens this gift :)

I am so relieved that I finished Reese's last princess upcycle dress this morning. I hurried up and wrapped them while she was napping and forgot to take any pictures. I love how they turned out!!! I will post pictures of them as well after Christmas!

Now to go relax and enjoy the last little bit of this Christmas season!!!

It's Chritmas Time.....

Christmas time this year has been so much fun. Reese is starting to understand what is going to take place Christmas morning. She has also been having so much fun finding out what Christopher Pop-In-Kins new hiding spot is each morning. She has also really enjoyed taking a star off of our Christmas tree calendar each morning. She takes one off and gets so excited....because she only has "____" number of days until she gets her Rapunzel dress (her number one request for Christmas this year). I also love listening to her sing all the fun Christmas songs. My favorite though is when she sings "Happy Birthday" to baby Jesus. Makes this Mama's heart melt!

We have been busy busy here at our house....well, I have been really busy! But, we have managed to have some fun during this busy season. We had so much fun getting together with some of my mom's family for a nice, casual Christmas get together. It was nothing fancy, but was so nice to relax, talk and especially to laugh with everyone!!! Here is Reese modeling the Christmas out fit I made for her.

And of course, we can't have a Christmas party without Santa. We are so lucky to have a Santa in our family...Uncle Darrell!!!

HoHoHo......

Reese made sure she let Santa know she is expecting a Rapunzel dress on Christmas morning. She has been obsessed with her ever since Maga & I took her to see Tangled a few weeks ago.

Someone please enlighten me on when we will be able to get a good family picture again!!! It is pretty much impossible these days!!

Thanks so much Uncle Darrell for going out of your comfort zone and giving the kids (big and small) so much enjoyment!!! I also let Uncle "Santa" know how special he is. Reese was not in the least bit afraid or cautious of him......The mall Santa was a completely different story. He was a little strange looking though

We also had so much fun taking Reese to see Disney On Ice. Reese talked about it for days and was so excited on the morning of the show. Some of the characters she was familiar with, but the ones she did know....she went nuts about. Of course Mickey and Minnie are always a hit with Reese.

BUT the one person she asked about over and over and over again.....The Little Mermaid. She was awe struck when Ariel made her appearance!

Of course, Rapunzel had to be in the picture too :)

Now onto wishing and dreaming about what Santa is going to bring us in THREE short days!!!

Hope everyone is enjoying this magical time of the year!!!

Fun Cousin Photo Shoot

Reese had a fun photo shoot with my sisiter's kids a couple weeks ago. Have I mentioned how much Reese is resisting pictures these days!!!

Here are some of the serious pictures from the shoot:

(click on collage to view larger)

And of course some silly pictures were captured as well:

(click on collage to make larger)

Fall Family Photo Shoot and Thanksgiving

I have felt like life has been so busy lately....and it is not going to slow down any time soon. I have been trying to choose the important things in my life and let some of the not so important things go in hopes of making the important things more enjoyable!!! I have also tried to make myself not worry or stress and enjoy life as it is happening....I know...much easier said then done!! My MOPS group is discussing How To Be a Positive Mother, so I have also tried to think more positively and rid my life of all the negative things...another thing that is easier said then done. One thing that doesn't seem to get less stressful is having Reese's pictures taken. Unfortunately for me, she has been in four photo shoots in the past couple of months. This is the expression that seems to be used the most in the photo shoots.

My how I hope this phase goes by quickly. Here is a family, fall shoot that my bro-in-law, Tyler, did for us. We were able to get a few good shots but most of the shots contain Reese with the oh so famous expression. Here are a few of my favorites from the shoot.

I will be sharing some of my favorite pictures from the other photo shoots over the next few days (since I am way behind on posting them on here).

Yesterday at church, the pastor shared some Thanksgiving verses with us and this one really stuck out to me. It goes right along with the lower stress and positive outlook I am trying to incorporate into my life.

"Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Phil. 4:6-7

And since this is one of my dad's favorite verses, I thought I would include it as well.

Finally, bethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy-meditate on these things. Phil. 4:8

Very Berry Trick or Treat

Trick or Treat was so much fun this year. We were invited to our friends house for a quick dinner before heading out trick or treating with some of Reese's friends. Reese really enjoyed having some of her best buds to go trick or treating with (and so did mommy & daddy!)

I usually try to make Reese's costumes and special outfits, but I decided to buy her costume this year. I am so glad I stumbled on this costume! I LOVE it and think the peanut was just so "berry" cute in it :) I just want to squeeze her every time I looked at her.


The "BERRY" cute STRAWBERRY!!!




LOVE those tights!!!! and the beret!


See what I mean!!! So fun and squishy!!!



OK Mama......NO more pictures!!! I am ready to go play with all my friends!



Checking out the goods....

Look what I got!!!!

And her first choice for taste testing.....DOTS....up next....PINK nerds of course!!!

YuMmY!!!!

And an attempt at a group picture...take one.......

and take two......

OK I guess a group shot was just not meant to be :)

Such a fun night of family, friends and CANDY!!!!

Thanks Brinkman's for the invite.

We had a blast hanging out with all of you.....

you too Wilson's :)

Pumpkin Patch

Even though I love all the activities of fall, I am not usually a huge fan of it since it means SNOW is just around the corner. BUT this year, I have really, really enjoyed everything about fall. One of the favorites of fall time is PUMPKINS!!! We tried a different pumpkin patch this year. While it is closer to us then the other one we have gone to, it was definitely not as enjoyable. We will definitely be going back to the other one next year. Regardless, we still had a good time picking out our pumpkins.

Reese and daddy heading out to find some pumpkins.

They were having a very serious decisions over which pumpkin they should pick :)

"I think you should pick this one, daddy!"

Stopping for a photo shoot with Mama.

So excited to carve the pumpkin she picked out. She decided that she wanted a cat face for her pumpkin. Daddy did a fabulous job on it, but I forgot to get any pictures of the finished pumpkins :(

Can you pick whose pumpkin is whose :) I think Lee's pumpkin weighed more then Reese and my pumpkin combined!

Scooping out seeds while making sure to NOT touch any of the "guts". Her response to seeing the inside of her pumpkin...."EEWWW GROSS!!!!" Such a girly girl :)

No way am I touching that!!!!

Maybe we will try painting the pumpkin next year :)

I had to throw in a picture of Reese dressing up after church a couple weeks ago. She is loving all things girly, princess and super hero lately....yes I said super hero :) A new cape is in the works to replace her receiving blanket she insisted on wearing all day every day. I am loving all the fun dressing up these days :)

Fun Times

Wow...Have I been horrible at blogging or what!!! Guess it is time to catch up.

A couple weeks ago, we had a fun, girl's only day to Amish Country. Nothing better then a good day of shopping (especially when it includes good fabric shopping) and yummy, yummy food!!! Reese had a blast since she had Mamaw and Maga all to herself. I tried (with little success) to get a good picture of Reese with Mamaw and Maga. This was as good as I could get.

Hmmm....not having much fun with this picture taking thing!

Oh look....a plane....

You both are so funny :)


Like I said before...she was in heaven to have both Mamaw & Maga that day.


Reese had a blast "swinging"

Ready ONE......


TWO........

THREE.......

Best part of the day :)



I even lucked out and got a decent picture of Reese and I!

Hmmm....I think this was the best day ever!!!

Thanks for spending

such a fun day with us

Mamaw & Maga!!!!!