Christmas Fun...

Christmas is almost here!!! We have had so much fun doing our cute little Christmasy activities. Above are some photos of a few of the fun little things we've done. Of course there was the all important letter to Santa. Brooke stuck it in the mailbox and I had Bryan sneak out in the middle of the night to retrieve it so I could keep it. Another night we make Gingerbread houses and a few nights ago we made Santa faces out of graham crackers and other treats...they went perfect with the homemade hot cocoa I had cooking on the stove. Yum!
We have had such a fun few weeks. We have been so very spoiled by our neighbors and friends. Over the last few weeks the kids could not wait until after dinner and the doorbell would start ringing with treats galore! It was amazing and it filled my heart with such joy. We truly have been blessed to have moved into the most amazing neighborhood and ward. I love walking down our stairs and seeing the Christmas cards just piled everywhere on top of our piano. I'm very excited for the next few days and to spend our very first Christmas in our very first home.

Homemade Cinnamon Rolls

I snapped these picture with my phone so they are not the best, I need to be better at placing the camera in a handy area of the house closer to all the fun. I came across a recipe for homemade Cinnamon Rolls on Pinterest and really wanted to try it out. It claimed to be the best ever cinnamon roll recipe out there. They sounded so yummy and perfect for Christmas morning. So I decided to do a practice run before Christmas morning (to avoid a meltdown in the kitchen that day) and they came out fantastic!!! This was my very first time experimenting with homemade cinnamon rolls. Wow is all I have to say....I don't think I can ever buy that Pillsbury ready made cinnamon roll stuff ever again. There were tons of steps for this recipe and I started it at about 10 pm last night ( I didn't go to bed until 1 am and fall asleep until after 2 am because I was thinking about them). It was tons of work but well worth it. I think once I have the recipe down I'll be less intimidated and much faster at making them.
My favorite part this morning was spending time with my sweet girl. She immediately grabbed her little step stool and watched me with careful eyes almost like she was studying my every move. I love that I can create homemaking memories with her. I loved hearing "Wow Mom!" "Look at that Mom!" "Mom, are you sure thats enough sugar? I think it needs more." "Mom when I'm a Mommy someday I'm going to make Cinnamon rolls just like you."
Love her.

Enjoy the marathon of posts below...

25 Days Continued....Mesa Temple Lights

On day 9 of our 25 fun "Christmasy" activities we bundled up (yes it gets cold here in AZ) and headed over the the Mesa Temple to see Christmas Lights. It was beautiful. I have to admit I was a bit biased...my favorite Temple is the Los Angeles Temple and I was a bit sad that we were not fighting horrible traffic on the 405 to get there to see Christmas lights. I was blown away at how gorgeous the Mesa Temple was. The lights were magical and beautiful. Despite the crowds there was a peacful feeling that filled my heart just being there.

Crafting Fun

I don't consider myself a crafty sort of person at all. I can't sew, scrapbook, knit etc...but I can try to be more crafty thanks to Pinterest. I can't even explain how wonderful that website is. Recipes, crafts, decorating, ideas and more. I saw these on there and I thought I'd give them a try. I'm so excited with the results! I love them, and my hope is whomever I decide to give these pretties to enjoys them as much as I did creating them.

My Cowgirl!

We rocked Western Day at School!

Saturday Fun!!

What a fun day!
Bryan hung our Christmas lights this morning after Brooke's very last soccer game of the season (that technically ended the weekend before Thanksgiving). We went to like 4 different hardware stores to find this pole thing that makes hanging lights so so so so easy and fast! Afterwards we were able to spend time at a fun birthday party with great friends. After the party we had dinner and Brooke and I started our 3rd "Christmasy" activity tonight. I made this cute shirt for her while she did the exact same thing only on paper. Brooke's cute little tree is missing it's tree trunk ( I blame ABC family for the Harry Potter Marathons that are on every single weekend, total distraction!) but she had fun too.
Brody never sits still ever for a photo and right before we left to the birthday party Bryan was able to snap up one...I just love that sweet very silly little boy of mine!

Christmas Bells Are Ringing......

...Hear what they say to you, I don't even know if I wrote that verse correctly, oh well!It's Christmastime! Technically I could have done this post November 8th or something because that is the day I decided to bust my Christmas stuff out. I'm crazy I know but I don't care, it was fun! I've still yet to have the kids' names sewn on their stockings and order Bryan and I matching ones, hopefully I'll get to it before Christmas.
I'm planning on doing something fun and "Christmasy" every night with the kids...tonight I think we might decorate cookies but I'm excited for all of the fun little things we can do thanks to Pinterest and all of the creative ideas that come from that wonderful website.
I started wrapping presents the other day and my sweet Bo thinks they all are for him. It only took a few days to teach him not to play around with the presents under the tree. I love our tree and memories that come from the ornaments that adorn it. I'm most excited about my new Willow Tree Nativity that my sweet Bryan surprised me with on our anniversary. It took my breath away. What a great memory to have every Christmas. I think next year we might graduate to a bigger tree and this lovely one will become the kids' fun Christmas tree in loft. I love this time of year and I hope that I can sit back and soak it all in before the New Year begins.

It's Here!!!

And oh so lovely!!! Remember my family rules post? Well it took a little over a month but it arrived just before Thanksgiving. It's perfect and I need to brag about how wonderful Shelley at Our Hobby To your Home was...she was a absolutely great!!Check out this creative lady on etsy.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving was wonderful. We were able to spend Turkey Day with both of our families and eats lots of yummy food! We spent a whole week in CA...Bryan worked while I was so fortunate enough to spend lots of time with my mom, family and my awesome friends. Bryan and I were able to celebrate our 9th Wedding Anniversary with a yummy dinner at Salt Creek Grille (thank you mom and dad for babysitting!) and I had a great time shopping on black Friday with my mom.
I must have been starving because I have zero pictures of the delicious food we ate at both family parties...bummer! At least I have one cute one of myself with my sweet little girl!

Nine Years Ago Today.....

I married the greatest guy ever.


I married the most loving, patient and kind man I have ever met. I love his sweet personality, I love how he spends every minute he has after work with me and our two little ones. I love how he helps me without fail every single night bathe the kids and get them ready for bed. I love that he tries so hard to help me around the house when he can and is so appreciative of the work I do in taking care of our home and children and in my role as a wife and mother. I love everything about him, even his flaws.

Bryan you are the best of the best of the BEST and I'm so very blessed to spend forever with you. Happy Anniversary!! Thank you so much for making today so special!!

Primary Program

Last Sunady was our Primary Program at church. It was so wonderful. My heart was full of joy watching my sweet girl up there singing and she even had her own little part to recite in front of the whole congregation all by herself which was
"I know that Heavenly Father made the earth for me."
Way to go Brooke! We love you!

Crazy Hair & Sock Day

Today was crazy hair and sock day at school, my little girlie rocked it!

Ward Trunk or Treat!!!

Amazing. That is the word I would describe our ward Trunk or Treat. Tonight was so much fun. I had heard from some friends at Church about how awesome our ward trunk or treat was so as it got closer and closer the more excited I was. There were tons of bounce houses and slides, pony rides, a swing carnival ride, a train ride, a mechanical bull, rock climbing wall, face painting, unlimited snow cones and cotton candy that seriously never ran out. Hot dogs, chips, chili, mud pudding, cookies, doughnuts on a string, and more. Brooke summed it up the best..."Mom this is like the best party ever!"
We had such an amazing night and I'm so grateful to live in such a fantastic ward full of the most giving, loving and most friendly people I've ever met. Enjoy the pictures, my camera died not even 30 minutes into the fun and I was so so so bummed. At least I was able to capture some of the fun! I should mention that Brody was being a stinker and did not want to ride the ponies, swing ride or eat any cotton candy hence there are no pictures of him having fun at the party but i was able to snap up some pictures of my sweet little werewolf and my leopard kitty before the party. Enjoy!

The Pumpkin Cookies

A few days ago we made Pumpkin sugar cookies. Yum!! We had so much fun and Brooke really enjoyed decorating the cookies. It was so nice to sit around the table and nibble on some goodies and get creative with our faces. Brody is obsessed with candy corn and asks for it every single minute of the day, during our little activity that is all he wanted. All this week I found my little stinker sneaking candy corn out of my pumpkin candy dish, I guess I underestimated how far he can stretch his arms on my island to reach his beloved candy corns. Tonight we go searching for our pumpkins!
Next post the picture quality will be better, took these on my phone because I was too lazy to run up the stairs and search for our camera...terrible I know! I was so tired that day!

The Albee Family Rules

Months ago I was browsing through pinterest and saw something similar to this. The wording was a bit different but very cute. It had me thinking, I'd love something like that in my living room. So I searched and searched and stumbled upon this on Esty.
I. Had. To. Have. It.
It was pricey...so I had to wait. Brody's room is in transition and I finally bought his dresser to complete his bedroom set. I had his changing table/dresser combo to sell since we no longer have the need for it and lucky for me someone snatched it up very quickly on craiglist. This gave me the extra funds for this piece. I'm so very excited! I was able to work with the seller and change all of the fonts so it will match the decor better in my living room. I have to wait over a month and 1/2 for it to get here since it's being custom made and the seller is entering her busy season with the holidays fast approaching.
I need to put the brakes on Pinterest. I'm so addicted. It has its pros and cons. I'm getting in touch with my DIY side but the recipes and treats are tempting me far too much and I don't want to pack on the 50 plus pounds I've shed in the last 15 months. If you have not joined pinterest yet, check it out! It's super fun!

You Need An Exterminator!

"You need an exterminator!" Those were the exact words of a lovely older couple that walked by our home last night. It took me three days to decorate our home for Halloween. Three days of figuring out that crazy spider-web stuff, climbing up and down our ladder (not realizing how tall our house really is) and making spiders. I had a Halloween decorating budget and totally blew it at the very beginning of the month on those super adorable Halloween yard stakes. I could not resist. Lucky for me that spider web stuff is super cheap and 10 bags went a long way. Brooke and I really wanted to get those giant outdoor spiders but because I blew our budget we could not get them this year...so I went to Hobby Lobby this morning and 10 bucks later, two bags of foam balls, a bag of black pipe cleaners, and a can of spray paint and voila! We now have giant black spiders! I can't wait for Brooke to be surprised when I pick her up from school this afternoon. I saved some for her to choose where they go on the house.
I love, love, love the holidays and even more so now to be a homeowner and have the opportunity to decorate the outside of a house that is ours. Yay! Enjoy the pics below and don't mind our poor little dead tree in the front, it's being replaced soon!