Category: Uncategorized

Lights, Camera, Action!

We have lights!
 
Tonight we did something I thought would NEVER happen…we got Christmas lights!  I just love the wreath above the driveway.  We ordered it from Balsam Hill online.  It came in great and it’s really big….here is Terence “fluffing” it 🙂
 
I have been begging for Christmas lights for the past three years and I get so excited around the holidays.  We found a really nice guy who was putting them up down the street and he came and did our house too.  He was very reasonably priced and he bought the lights, hung the wreath, and everything!
Last night I was playing with “bokeh” on the Christmas tree.
 
I Heart Faces had a great tutorial here and I had fun playing with the camera!
 

 

Come on cold weather come our way!

 

I don’t know how I’m going to deal with an 80 degree Christmas here in Texas! UGH.

 

Oh!

 

The winner of the Starbucks contest via Random.org was Katie from Once Upon a Dime!

Yay Katie!!!! I’ll email ya!

 

Jingle Bell Rock Blog Hop

 

 

Join us next Monday for Jingle Bell Rock Blog Hop!


 

We have some fabulous (I mean seriously FAB prizes up for grabs) and we’ll be showcasing some Christmas link-ups on some of your favorite topics.  Everyone join us in linking up!
 
The schedule is above.
 
Each day come back and link up with us, we’d love to see/hear your ideas too!
 
HOSTS:

 

It’s a Dunkin’ Donuts Holiday!


It’s no secret to all of you that I LOVE my coffee!  I am a self proclaimed addict.  I also Looooove Christmas too!  So what better way to ring in the holidays than with the smell, taste, and feel of the things I love the most.  Coffee + Christmas = Perfection!
 
I have always loved Dunkin’ Donuts, in fact we have one just around the corner.  But I know everyone has those days where they just want to stay in their jammie’s and watch Christmas movies on the sofa.  Days like that are when I want my Dunkin’ Donuts coffee at home. 
 
The holiday season is my favorite time to get coffee because there are so many yummy flavors.  As a working Mom, I don’t always have a lot of time in the morning to stop for coffee.  Dunkin’ Donuts offers exactly what I want this time of year and it’s at my local grocery store.

I recently tried the new Gingerbread Cookie Coffee from Dunkin’ Donuts.  Gingerbread is one of my favorite holiday flavors!  It was rich and smooth, with a hint of gingerbread.  It made me feel all Christmas-y inside.  Even if you don’t have a coffee drinker in your house they’ll be drawn to Dunkin’ Donuts Gingerbread Cookie Coffee while brewing….because it makes your whole house smell warm and cozy.

Dunkin’ Donuts® packaged coffee is available at your local grocery store.  Nothing evokes the joy of the holidays like sharing memories with family and close friends over a cup of delicious coffee.  We love to drink coffee while watching Christmas movies after dinner.

There are so many flavors to choose from: Original Blend, Dunkin’ Decaf® and special seasonal varieties including Mocha Mint, Pumpkin Spice and Gingerbread Cookie. But act fast as these seasonal varieties are only available for a limited time.

The new seasonal varieties even have a cute gift tag on them so it’s easy to use them as stocking stuffers or hostess gifts.

I can’t wait to try the other festive flavors Dunkin’ Donuts has to offer!
 
Cheers & Merry Christmas!!!
 
Thank you to Dunkin’ Donuts® packaged coffee at grocery for being a sponsor. I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls Collective. All opinions expressed here are my own.

Gaylord Texas ICE!

On Saturday we got to do something I’ve been wanting to do since moving to Texas over 5 years ago.  We got to go to the ICE! exhibit at the Gaylord Texan.  It was like stepping into a winter wonderland.  If you weren’t feeling the Christmas spirit before you walked through the Gaylord you definitely left with a jingle in your step! 

The Gaylord Texan has a huge atrium in the center of the hotel.  The atrium is always decorated beautifully, but at Christmas it definitely looked spectacular.

 The big Christmas tree…I’m sure it’s so pretty at night time!

Can you tell these two were a little excited about visiting the Gaylord & going to see ICE!?

Walking through the atrium are gigantic candy canes and bigger than life Christmas figures.  One of Connor and Ellie’s favorite things was the train that chugs through tunnels and bridges.

All the decorations were so pretty and there were so many things to do you could stay all weekend and never leave.

One of the activities they had was gingerbread decorating.  It was set up so cute and of course Gingy was a part of all the gingerbread fun!  The gingerbread house is actually made out of real gingerbread too!

When we got to the tent where the ICE! exhibit was we were all drawn into a theater where we were shown how they make the ice come to life. 

From Gaylord Texan’s website about ICE!:

Gaylord Texan’s popular ICE! winter holiday attraction returns with an all-new, hilarious theme: ICE! featuring DreamWorks’ Merry Madagascar. From November 8, 2012 to January 1, 2013, the DreamWorks animated holiday TV special will be brought to life in an interactive world of colorful ice sculptures and 20-feet tall ice slides carved entirely from TWO MILLION pounds of ice. Relive the story of how Alex the Lion and his friends saved Christmas after Santa and his reindeer crash onto the island of Madagascar. ICE! is hand carved by 40 artisans from Harbin China who will be arriving in early fall. They are very excited to be working with our new Merry Madagascar theme, and so are we!

 Everyone was given big blue coats to put on because it is COOOOOOOOLD in there!!!!

 Here we go to see “Merry Madagascar”!!!
 Grana, Ellie, and Pop came too!
 Sweet cousins all bundled up. 
Ellie and Connor are 22 hours apart & they just love each other  🙂
 Amazing ice sculptures
My favorite characters are the penguins
There were slides made completely out of ice. 
I know the kiddos loved it!

 Madagascar characters helping Santa in his sleigh
 It’s so cold the waterfall froze!
 The Fam

I especially loved that they had a nativity carved out of ice at the very end….it was a beautiful way to end the ICE! exhibit and so pretty.  They also told the story of Jesus’ birth.

When we walked out and started to thaw……we were greeted by Alex the lion!

Gaylord Texas also had a variety of sweets and hot chocolate to warm you up!

 Grana, Ellie, & Connor with the really really tall toy soldier
 Dashing through the snow!!!

We had a blast! 

 

If you haven’t yet experienced the Gaylord Texan at Christmas then you MUST.

 

It’s an absolute Christmas paradise! 

We had the best time and made memories that will last forever!

Christmas Photo Tips

I love to use rolls of wrapping paper for photo backdrops.  Instead of spending hundreds of dollars on cloths and vinyls.  It’s all about proportion.  I did these shot pretty close up because I didn’t want to plaster my wall with paper….but you get the point!  They turned out pretty good!
 
He was actually just sitting on the bed, on a stool, in the extra bedroom. 
 
I had the windows open and the light shining in……
 
Candy and bribery go a long way when photographing 2 year olds!

 And eventually it comes to this…”Mom stop this….you crazy yo!”

Thankful Heart

We had a very blessed Thanksgiving today with family and friends.
 
Every day is a gift, but it’s nice to spend a day sharing in thankfulness for everything and everyone around us.  I feel eternally blessed for my marriage, a son I thought I’d never have someday….and the love and grace they show me every day. 

 Thankful God has allowed me to be a wife to this man and a Mama to this little boy…..
Thank you Lord for this life and the grace and love you show us all every day!