My latest Hobby

Hairbows!! I guess it's not really a hobby, since I've only spent one day making them. My friend and fellow carpool mom, Heather, was telling me about a lady who's daughter is in the same gymnastics class as hers. The little girl is always coming in with the cutest hairbows. Heather asked her about them and the lady makes her own hairbows. She says she gets asked about them all the time. I know this is a really popular thing for mom's of little girls, especially in Texas where the bigger the better, and I have a few friends who make hairbows and sell them. I just gave it a try last Friday, and it's actually kind of fun. Heather and I spent all afternoon making some bows for our girls. These are all the bows that I did. One thing I need to be careful of is that, like scrapbooking, it's often more fun to buy all the ribbons and accessories, than it is to actually sit down and make them. I will try to be diligent though and use the ribbons and things that I've already bought first, then buy more later as a reward. Although trying and doing are two different things. :)

My hairbow model smiling for the picture. This was taken before we left for a Christmas party last Saturday. All dressed up and ready to go with her new bows.

Family Photo shoot

This year we decided to get our family pictures done from a photographer that a friend referred us to. He does such beautiful photos. We had a fun time taking the pictures together and our photographer kept the kids laughing and made it an enjoyable experience, as opposed to what normally happens when you try to take your kids to get a family picture taken. The location is in Farmington. There's a scenic trail behind Lagoon that worked out great as our backdrop. It's especially beautiful in the fall. Hope you enjoy the slide show!

Christmas cookie baking

Today Dave's sister Carrie came over and we made lots of christmas cookies. We rolled the dough and cut some christmas shapes out of sugar cookie dough. We also made a few gingerbread men. The kids loved to help bake the cookies. By the time we had all the cookies baked though, they lost interest and didn't really want to decorate them with the icing and sprinkles. They were able to do one or two, but Carrie and I did most of the decorating. We'll have to do another batch when it gets closer to christmas. Santa needs his cookies too!! We had a good time baking and getting into the christmas spirit.

Trimming the Tree

I just love Christmas time! I also enjoy all the little family traditions we've picked up over the past 8 years. One of these traditions is decorating our christmas tree together. Whenever it's time to decorate the tree, I make sure to pick up some eggnog at the store. Then we get all the ornaments and tree trimmings out, and we blast the christmas music, sip our eggnog, and start trimming the tree. This year the kids helped me assemble the tree. It's not an easy task, so I was grateful to have their help and enthusiasm while putting it up. Later on when Dave was home from work we all decorated it together. Since it snowed this week, it was the perfect backdrop for our christmas decorating!! And when all the decorating is finished, we take a picture in front of the tree. It really is the most wonderful time of the year.