Christmas Tree 2012

 

Yay!

 

The Christmas tree is up and I think our little elf loves it!

 

I was nervous about using the decorating mesh..but it was super easy to work with.

 

I’m glad we changed the tree up this year and went with more traditional colors of red and green.

 He’s wearing his penguin hat….silly boy!
 He also asks to build a fire every night. 
He loves helping his Daddy build fires.
 I got this little jar for $1.59 at World Market and I love it!
I had all these “extra” sprinkles laying around the house and I just dumped them all in and it saves storage room in my pantry.

I also found this Peppermint Piggy Dust.  I’m just dying to use it on a cup of hot cocoa or sprinkle it on cupcakes.

Another Christmas-y item I’m excited to use are these felt ribbons.  Aren’t they so cute?  I just love the rounded edges 🙂

What are you excited for this Christmas season?

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!

These are Few of My Favorite Things….

I love Christmas.

 

I love everything about it.

 

The traditions, family, food, and first and foremost what it stands for….

Jesus our savior was born, and because of that we can all live today! Amen!

 

I also love celebrating, singing songs, the spirit of giving!

 

Through this blog I’ve met so many wonderful people and we’ve shared so much throughout the years.  Ya’ll have given me advice on parenting, food, what kind of concealer to buy so I don’t look like a zombie….etc.  I could go on and on….but that would take forever!
So, in the spirit of sharing and giving I wanted to share a few of my favorite things….now it’s not going to be like Oprah yuns…..but it will be fun and you’ll score some good deals and maybe some free stuff too 🙂
First up is one of my favorite places for paper goodies!  Milo Paper is such a cute shop.  They have an adorable line of Christmas cards and gift stickers this season.  Not to mention they are some of the nicest folks around….they’ll make sure your order is exactly how you want it and the best quality too.

Love these gift labels!
Milo Paper is offering Java Mama readers
40% off anything on their site!!!!
Woohoo!!!!
Use code : java2012
(You have to create an account on the website for the promo to work)
Have fun shopping ya’ll!
I know you will be very pleased with everything you see at Milo Paper 🙂

 

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!

Gobble Til Ya Wobble- Branch Family

It was so nice to have both my parents and T’s parents together for a Thanksgiving feast this year.  That hardly ever happens.  I took some photos of the family below.  We are so blessed that we both have such loving families with a strong faith in the Lord.  We are so thankful for everyone and all they bring to our lives. 

As we approach Thanksgiving Day tomorrow remember to tell those you love how much they mean to you, give them a big ole hug….even if they are the “Uncle Eddie” of the family. 

(But if they have a dog named Snots then…I wouldn’t kiss it…

Also remember to wear stretchy pants, because ladies now is not the time to worry about calories!

Also- I’m so thankful to all of you and that you care enough to read my little corner of the Internet! It means so much to me…all your comments show me you care and I’m so thankful that throughout the years I’ve made so many beloved friends through this blog. Thank you.
Well, for me sometimes pictures speak louder than words, so I’m just going to leave you with a few lots of photos of our Thanksgiving together.
My beautiful Mom and I
 My parents
 Grandaddy and my goofy Daddy!

 Oh mercy….the food…..

 The kiddos table
 MY plate. Uhm….

 

May you all have a blessed Thanksgiving 2012!!!

 

And please if you go out shopping….don’t tackle, stab, or bring pepper spray!

A TV marked down $100 bucks just ain’t worth it!

 

Oh!  And a HUGE shout out to Jessica at Diamond Doll Designs for changing up my PAGES and BUTTONS!!!  If you have any blog needs you need to holler at her ASAP!  She is so awesome!

Pre-Thanksgiving with a visit from Mom & Dad

My Mom and Dad drove here from Arkansas Friday night and left this morning….waaaahhhhh!!!!

 

I miss my Mom and Dad so much sometimes.  Mom and I had a great time shopping and talking about life.  We also got to see Breaking Dawn together!  I was so excited about this!  I am a huge Twilight fan (Twi-hard) Fan.  The movie was so good…it was a little surprising at the end because it’s a bit different than the book, but it was SO good!  I’m sad that it’s over, but glad to see it come to life on the big screen.
 
A team divided.
Mom=Team Jacob
Me= Team Edward

 My Daddy got me an eggnog latte 🙂

I love my Dad, he has a heart of gold and is the sweetest person ever.  I love that he and my Mom and been married over 30 years and he still treats HER like gold.  I love them both so very much.  They are the best parents I could have ever prayed for!

My Mom worked so hard on this sparkly green scarf for me to wear.  She made it this weekend while here so I wore it to work this morning.  Someday I want to learn to crochet/knit.

Connor got to take his Bible to church on Sunday….as long as he promised not to tear out any of the pages.  It was nice to have my parents in service with us!  We also celebrated a pre-Thanksgiving at Terence’s parents house Saturday night.  More on that later…but it was great being able to have both our parents there at the same time!  That hardly ever happens if you live in separate states!

 Riding on Poppy’s shoulders 🙂
 We miss you already!!!!
Thank you so much for coming to see us & we will see you soon at Christmas!!!!
WE LOVE YOU!!!!