Ready for a photo dump?
I know no better way to catch up on what we've been doing since our trip in September. This all feels like forever ago, the holidays really went by so quickly this year, and now it's almost March?!
Where has time gone?

We had "Friendsgiving" with all of our close friends:

Getting everyone to sit was interesting:
(yes Bennett was dancing for the picture…that kid doesn't know what 'sit still' means)

The first Chrismassy thing we did was our annual trip to Zoo Lights with our friends The Hartmanns:

The zoo train wasn't running this year, so they created a new 'light tunnel' to make up for it.
It was pretty awesome:

Buck just wanted to touch all the lights:

Getting our Christmas tree:

Found the perfect one:

Decorating it:

The boys in a box admiring the tree:

Outside lights:

I love the coziness of having Christmas decorations up and the tree lights on instead of lamps, but isn't it funny how quickly we grow tired of it?

While at my mom's group before Christmas, the kids came and sang us Silent Night,
hand motions and all.
See Bennett in the front/left?

Our first snow of the year.
Buck was pretty excited:

Chris had two weeks off so we took a few trips to the library:

And Chris fashioned an obstacle course one day during nap time:

We went on the Polar Express in Hood River with my whole family, how cute are the boys' elf pjs:
(I hope they never grow out of them)

Santa with the cousins:

Their first ever visit to see Santa:
(and his reindeer too!)

This Santa looked so much like Will Ferrel, it was kind of crazy:

Our Christmas Card:
(Paperless Post is really the best)

Christmas Eve service at The Schnitz:

Buck and the sea of presents at my sister's house:

Photobooth fun:

Craziness always ensues at Chris' family Christmas with all the kids being so close in age.
This year Buck had to stand on all of the presents:

Wrapping gifts with Ember's help:

Gifts all set out for Christmas morning:

The best picture I got of these guys on Christmas morning:
(I don't think these two have ever sat still at the same time)

Checking out his new puzzle:

Testing out our new things before breakfast:

My mom found a Fisher Price parking garage in great condition,
I'm not sure which one of us likes it more:

We had a New Years party with our friends and I put together a photobooth to document the occasion:

The kids weren't too interested in the Photo photobooth:

And we proved that we are photobooth-challenged:

Case in point:
(at least he's got the cuteness factor going for him)

Happy New Year:


…a very, very belated one!

Before Christmas gets too far in the distance I wanted to share the gifts I made for people.
This is the one time of year that I feel like I really get to be creative and do the projects that I've been wanting to do all year long. Crafting is quite a bit more difficult with two little guys and I was pretty much making everything after they went to bed, having to clean up everything before I could call it a night myself. Regardless, it's still a lot of fun and a major stress buster for me.

I love coming up with projects that suit each person and I like to think about each person using their gift while I craft the night away.

For the guys I made most of the treats that I mentioned in this post.
It sounded like they all loved them.

This year's wrapping:
(note to self: get a stamp made that says "{CB^3}")

Utensil crock and dipped spoons for my sister- in-law:

Chalkboard wine glasses for my sister:
(I thought these would be perfect for the wine parties they have quite often)

quick tip: use a pencil sharpener to give chalk a nice writing point!

A chalkboard hors d'oeuvres plate also for my sister:

A chalkboard for my mom:

Homemade granola for Chris' mom:
(I didn't get a picture of it all wrapped up, so this picture is an oldie but a goodie. To get my granola recipe click here.)
And I also made a few pom bookmarks for people.
They are so easy I thought that I'd post a little tutorial for you guys!
(get original tutorial here.)


*Grab sharp scissors and yarn.
-cut one 15 inch-long string
-cut one 10 inch-long string
(set the two strings aside for now)

1. Take the end of the yarn and wrap it around three fingers 90 times. You can do more if you want your pom super full. It doesn't need to be wrapped neatly, but just make sure it's not too tight or else you won't be able to take it off of your fingers.

4. Holding one side of your yarn ball, slide your scissors into the loops on the opposite side. Cut the loops over the garbage can, because it makes a huge mess. Make sure you get them all. Holding the tail, do the same to the other side and trim it up to make them all even, this is what really makes it into a ball. Be careful to not cut the long tail!

And there you have a super cute bookmark!

Did you guys make any gifts this year?
I've already started collecting ideas for next year!

Happy Weekend Friends!

Yep, I inadvertantly took a bit of a blogging break to hang out with family.
I kind of loved it.
Chris took more than a week off, and it was awesome having him home with us.
Unfortunately we all were sick at some point, and the boys are finally just getting over the bad colds they've had for two weeks.

Regardless of being sick, we had a great Christmas, and it was Buckley's first one!
 He loved to eat the tissue paper and had to taste everything he got.
Bennett "helped" everyone open their presents, but he really just opened them himself.
This is a complete picture overload so I'm really just going to post the pictures because it's pretty obvious what is going on...

An early Christmas with my family at my sister's house:

Stockings with cousins:

My mom's strata and French breakfast muffins:
(A tradition every Christmas. SO good but so bad.)

On Christmas Eve we celebrated with Chris' family.
We had brunch, the kids played and we opened gifts, though I didn't feel well and I didn't get any pictures unfortunately.

Later that night I was feeling better fortunately!
The boys got new pajamas to wear to bed and we attempted to get pictures of them in the new pjs in front of the tree. I've learned that it's next to impossible to get both boys looking in the same direction for pictures, let alone smiling.
We took SO many using both our DSLR and my phone though we still didn't get one of both of them looking and smiling.
(go figure.)

Here are a few:

Christmas morning at our house with all of the presents under the tree:
(We were so excited for the boys to wake up!)

I couldn't wait for Buck to get this little hedgehog guy:

Buck got stuffed animals, clothes and toys this year:

Bennett got a ton of puzzles, art supplies and a cd player (which he calls a record player) for his room:
(I also made the boys some hooded towels for after bath time.)

I made this for breakfast. It was good, but not amazing.
(Note to self: Next year don't search around for an exciting new recipe for Christmas morning. Make your tried and true crockpot casserole.)

We took all of our decorations down on the 27th and our house is finally back to normal.
Chris went back to work today and while we miss having him around, it's nice to return to our normal routine again.
We're almost feeling back to normal, with just a couple of runny noses, but nothing I can't handle.
I really hope this sick-for-two-weeks-healthy-for-one pattern is coming to an end...I'm pretty sure at least one of us has been sick since Halloween!


Happy 2013 Friends!