Ringing in the New year

I love New Year's Eve. For me, it rates right up there with Christmas and Halloween! I love the thought of a New Year, a fresh start. Since becoming a parent, almost 14 years ago, I have always tried to make New year's fun and festive.

This year was no exception. John and I blew up a bunch of balloons. Each balloon had a specific time on it. Inside each balloon was a New Years Eve activity that we would do together as a family at the appointed time. Each of the boys took a turn popping a balloon and reading the activity aloud. Here is our evening, photo style!

We wish you and your family a wonderful 2013. May your year be filled with love, laughter, joy and growth!

December by the numbers

ZERO - Zilch  Handmade Christmas cards designed/created by me this season. There wasn't enough time. Boo that! I better get started on next years cards, NOW :-).

TWO - or 2nd. I won 2nd place for the Ugly Christmas Sweater party this year. Hoping to nab 1st place next year.

FOUR - new Christmas albums to add to the ever growing Christmas collection(Lady Antebellum, Scotty McCreery, Blake Shelton, Glee: Vol. 3.)

FIVE -  new songs purchased (Girl on Fire- Alicia Keys, Casadee Pope - Stupid Boy, Juliet Sims - Wild Child, Raelynn - Boyfriend, Matchbox Twenty - Overjoyed-my current fave)

SIX a. - weeks of maintenance on Weight Watchers was completed by me. Yipeeeee!!! You are looking at Weight Watchers newest lifetime member :).

SIX b.- stockings were hung with care.

SEVEN - soccer games for the boys(more tournaments).

EIGHT- families get together to look at Christmas light for FHE in Rocklin. FUN!

TWELVE a. - single page layouts completed for the Grandma calendars.

TWELVE b. - months of By the Numbers was completed for the year 2012.

FIFTEEN - double batches of candy coated Christmas popcorn were made and shared with friends/neighbors.

TWENTY THREE - blog posts for the month of December

TWENTY FOUR - girlfriends get together at the mall in our best tacky Christmas sweaters and have a great time doing so.

THIRTY SEVEN  - birthday candles on my sister, Amber's birthday cake. Love that girl.

EIGHTY FIVE -  miles logged. The colder weather is keeping me indoors a little bit more.

ONE HUNDRED - sugar cookies were rolled, cut and baked for Garrett's class party and our boys.

ONE HUNDRED and FIFTY - Christmas cards were addressed and mailed off.

That wraps up our year in By the Numbers! We can't wait to see what next year brings, number wise!

W.I.W.S. - What I Wore Sunday

 Today's photo was snapped 2 minute before I jumped into my bed for two days straight! I wasn't feeling well at church. Came home.  I was down and out with the flu! Not FUN!

Skirt - Loft
Long Sleeve black T-shirt - Merona brand from Target
Black, Sparkly(Sparkles did not photograph well) Sweater/Shrug - Mossimo from Target
Necklace - Avenue. My BIL Dee had my name(sibling/spouse draw) for Christmas and this is what I got. It looked/worked well with my new sweater. Thanks, Dee.

Must Be Santa...

Must Be Santa, Must be Santa, Santa Claus.

We had a knock on our door this evening, right before the 8 pm hour. The boys answered the door and were very surprised to find Santa standing on our porch! We invited Santa in and the boys had a chance to sit on his knee and chat with him. They all reported that they had yes, indeed been very good boys.

Thanks for the visit Santa! What a FUN surprise that was!

W.I.W.S - What I Wore Sunday

Toady's festive, holiday attire :-) is brought to you by:

Red Cardigan: New York and Co..
Black Sequin Tank Top: Old Navy
Black Skirt: Loft

We are still here!

There you have it. All is well!

December Tradition

It wouldn't be December without decorating sugar cookies. I am the room mom for Garrett's class this year. When I rolled out and cut 75 plus cookies for Garrett's class party, I made sure to make some extra dough  for the boys to roll, cut, bake and decorate. The boys ate their fair share of the dough. They used their fair share of frosting and about 5 lbs. of sprinkles each. Their cookies were beautiful masterpieces. We love December and all of the traditions...and all of the sweets!

Buster Posey, Our Elf

We are so glad Buster joined our family this year. The little boys love finding him each morning. Brody(who is not a morning person) has been so cheerful, each and every morning this month.

Birthday FUN

We decided at the last minute to head down to the Bay Area and join my family for birthday dinner for my Dad and my sister, Amber.  We are so glad we decided to make the drive. We had a great time...we always have a great time! Mom made a yummy meal with yummier(is that a word-ha) dessert. We visited. We laughed. We listened to the President  talk about the Sandy Hook shootings.We cried. We watched the 49ers do their thing. We cheered. We sang Happy Birthday. We wished Dad and Amber Happy Birthday. We loved being together.