Picture heavy, Christmas laden post!

On the 23rd I went over to Amber's to stuff stockings for the Fernandez family. Before I went I put on my awesome new plaid shirt from my friend Gabe (that I would have never picked out myself but that I LOVE), made some gift tags and put them in cute little packaging and also made some toppers for the pretzel kisses that I made the previous day. :)

I also crafted some bunting tags and finished up my coasters. :) I absolutely love crafting.
We stuffed and stuffed the stockings till they could fit no more with candy, coffee, ornaments, toys and more.

That evening Paul and I opened our Christmas presents to each other. I absolutely love how he wrapped my present and wrote my name in permanent marker. So glad I got a picture of it before opening it. :)

Before we opened presents Paul said we needed hot chocolate, and boy was he right. We added these Jet puffed mallow bits and it was amazing. We drank out of our matching "together forever" mugs we got from a friend before we were even engaged and had a grand ol time watching military movies, sitting by the tree and drinking our hot cocoa.
Then came present opening time. Paul got it all on the phone, so here it is. Funny thing is I have known what this present was for over a month. It had been sitting out in the spare room waiting to be wrapped. I was still super excited to open it though because it meant I would have a hair dryer that did sound and smell like it might blow up every time I use it. And also my hair would look way better because my old hairdryer was frying my hair every time I used it.

The kittens enjoyed helping us unwrap, they thought it was pretty nifty. Paul got new gloves, I will probably be stealing them! The bottom left picture is the staff room on Christmas at work. It does not accurately portray the amount of food that was there on Christmas day. There was four plates of 70 cookies from costco and then a whole bunch of homemade goodies as well. Crazytown.

The tree came down on the 26th ( I almost took it down on the 24th) because the kittens were making a disaster out of it!

As much as it sucked to have to work the 24-26th, it was actually kinda nice. I had the same patients all three days (which never happens because I get floated everywhere) and they were all nice! I love working with nice patients, I am in a WAY better mood and have WAY more energy when I leave work.

I got off work at 11:30 on the 26th, drove home, Paul and I hopped in the car at 12 and started driving to Oregon. We stopped at 2:22am looking for french fries but the 24 hr McDonalds was closed (lame), so we went to Taco Bell. My eating schedule is already off and I am always hungry when I get home from work, but can usually just fall asleep and forget about it. Hunger does not go away as you sit in a car for almost 4 hours! So Taco Bell at 2:22 am it was. And it was good.

It was an absolute blast seeing my family. I know I always miss them, but then seeing everybody, aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents, brother, and parents always makes me want to live closer. We had a lot of technology going on in the house, but a lot of talking too. A few naps, a LOT of eating (I don't think I had a hunger pain for 2 days). We had some boot stealing because my boots are so so so warm. We had a lot of fun.

The 27th was Grandma Gerts 87th birthday so we made her favorite lemon cupcakes (which I need the recipe for). Grandma opened all her presents and after every one said "we had done too much". After the festivities, including ordering Chinese take out for dinner, Grandpa and Grandma went to bed while the rest of us spent 2 hours picking up all the Christmas decorations. I got the boys to help me with the tree, so the four of us got 100's (not exaggerating) of ornaments down in 10 minutes, lights now, and and then wrapped each one individually in tissue paper. Then we began picking up decorations from around the house. Every time we thought we were done we found more. It was crazy! And the even crazier part was my grandma put everything up by herself besides the tree! I want to be like her when I am 87.

Paul and I went to my other Grandparents from12-4 on the 28th before heading back to washington. We got to open presents, eat an awesome lunch of baked potatoes, ham, salad, and rolls, and play a game of Flight Captian (like sorry with no cards). We started driving home at 4 only to realize we were going to hit awful traffic in Portland. Paul asked if I wanted to go to the woodburn outlet mall (we were a mile away) and I said yes. We went and I finally got the Northface jacket I have been wanting (on sale of course) and a few shirts at banana republic (70% off!). I was in heaven.

Then Paul told me to look on Yelp and find a good place to eat. I wanted a semi-sit down place and not fast food. I couldn't have hit the Jackpot more. We went to Luis's Taqueria. It had 4.5 stars with 38 reviews (you never see ratings that high) and only one $ symbol which meant it was reasonably priced. The prices were amazing. Fresh made burritos for 3.95. The BEST mexican food I have ever had. It was more authentic, no cheese. I would eat there ALL THE TIME if I lived in Woodburn. Oh man, we are definitely stopping again. Our whole meal with a tip was 11 dollars. Fast food prices for restaurant quality.

Me in my north face shopping at Banana Republic (most of the store is gorgeous, this was the clearance section that I actually didn't buy anything out of).

My kitties have been helping me with everything since I got home, I think they missed us. I have all of our thank you cards stamped and addressed but we haven't written in them yet. The books in tissue paper were all wrapped up for my cousin but somehow got left under the tree, I have to take them to the post office today (if I ever get out of pj's).

The present is one for my mom's birthday (in February). The funny thing is I already had a birthday present bought and wrapped for her...but now that one has to wait for mothers day because I want her to have this on first! I LOVE buying things for my mom because she is the easiest person to shop for ever. I know her so well, her style, her favorite things. I love it.

Now how was that for a post? I still have more pictures since these were all iphone pics and I actually took pictures with my real camera, but those will be for another time.

Candice, Amber, and Janae I can't wait to hear about your Christmas's!!

a few little updates

Things the last few days:


- I had my second interview at the montessori. Owner is a little weird and she couldn't really tell me what they would be hiring me to do if they hired me, or give me any guarantee of hours/schedule.  They are calling people back on Friday, but I'm a bit skeptical now if I even want to work there.


- Yesterday I received a call from a church I applied 3 weeks ago for an administrative assistant position.  I figured I wasn't going to hear from them, but I have an interview with them in an hour today!  Crazy, all these interviews!  Hope it goes well - its 30 hours a week and nearly twice as much pay as I'm making right now.


- Had my first midwife appointment - finally!  I really liked her, and my official due date is July 5th (one day later than I estimated).  We heard baby's heartbeat, and Shea emptied a water cooler onto the floor (leave it to my son).  I got my blood drawn and nearly passed out, too.  haha.  She asked me if I get queasy or anything, and I said no, because I've had my blood drawn and needles definitely don't bother me and I've always been fine.  Yeah, after the second vial was filled I started going lightheaded, then my legs went numb and I my ears rang.  I started blacking out a little but managed to keep it together by putting my head down between my legs.  She finished up and I stumbled to the couch and felt better.  So weird.  I've NEVER experienced that before, never even been close to passing out.


- Christmas was exhausting and I'm glad its over!  I mean, it was fun, but three days of Christmas and 4 locations to open presents at is just a little above my limit.  Oh, and getting up at 5:30 two days straight with late nights wasn't fun either.  Still trying to catch up from that!  Jeremy's parents got us a convection/toaster oven and a dutch oven, so I'm excited to be doing some cooking here!  I love toasting things in the oven, its so insanely quick, and now I can make nummy roasts and large pots of chili and soup in my dutch oven.


Fake Christmas tree got taken down yesterday, and I almost have the house back to normal.  There is some relief for me in it not being all holiday looking in here.  Like I can finally just stop and rest and not worry about all the things I have to do.  There are still lots of half-opened presents I have to deal with and my sewing room is the biggest mess I've ever seen.  At least now I can start focusing on those things in stead of just adding to the mess.  My next midwife appointment is in two weeks, and then we get to schedule our ultrasound to try and find out the gender (and if baby has all body parts, of course) within a couple of weeks of that!


Can't wait to hear about your Christmas!

A Merry Christmas Eve!

Oh Girls.


I feel loopy.  haha.


Wednesday night none of the girls showed up for my cookie party!  I had 82 cookies and frosting in like 5 colors, and no girls.  No one called, and that previous monday they had ALL said they were coming.  Oh well!  So I invited my lovely sister-in-law and her three kids to come on over and make some cookies.  They had so much fun, and at least I had tons of cookies left over for relatives!

Shea and his older cousin, Cor.

Cousin Katie

Daddy and Shea decorating a cookie together

Thursday  I was supposed to have my first Midwife appointment, but she had a last minute house visit, and unfortunately, since she doesn't usually have appointments on Thursdays, I slipped her mind and she forgot to call me and I was kind of put off by that, because we were there on time and waited and you know, you don't really want someone who will be delivering your baby to be a flake!  But, there aren't many options out this way, and we are all human, and I've heard good things about her, so I finally called her back to reschedule and she was very apologetic, so I'm giving her another shot.  Hopefully Wednesday morning I'll finally be able to go in and hear baby's heartbeat!
Yesterday I worked from 12 - 10, got home about 10:30 and went to bed exhausted around 11.  Then I woke up at 5:30 and could not go back to sleep, because all I could think about was all the things I needed to get done today!  I told my manager I could be "on call" for work, so I had no idea if I was going to have the whole day to get things done or not, which meant I might only have a few hours in the morning.  Needless to say, I jumped out of bed and started baking and decorating cookies, because they had to be done and set in time to pack them in boxes for my relatives.  By 8:30, this is what my dining room table looked like:

Yes, somehow I decorated over 200 cookies during that time, and had exactly enough powdered sugar to make enough frosting.  PHEW.

So, my husband had to go to Silverdale for about an hour to do some work, so I decided to go with him and try and get a few last minute gifts/pick up some appetizers for the Ellis Christmas party tomorrow night ( didn't know we were supposed to bring anything until today!).  Let me tell you, the nicest thing about living in Kitsap county is that you can go to the mall on Christmas Eve (granted, it was early still), and feel like you are just out shopping on a normal day.  It was so calm and everything was on sale.  Love it.  I picked up something for my older brother and sister-in-law (who are SO hard to shop for), and my little brother.  Done.

We got home and had to clean, because a single guy friend of Jer's was coming over to spend the day and have dinner.  I packed up all my cookies and finished wrapping all the presents, while they watched some weird stand-up comedian on netflix.  I was glad to have a lot to do. I also finished my white elephant for Tuesday.  Imagine this picture, only for an adult and not quite as cute because I just made it up as I went along one night and didn't use any fancy stitches:

After Dinner, our house got cleaned, and we got ready for church.  After service, we came home and Shea got to open his Christmas Eve present.  He was SO excited!  Here he is (impressively) untying the bow.

And although a little blurry, below is afterward in his new pajamas.  The top is so tight, haha.  I can't wait to get better pics tomorrow!  I was so happy he liked it, and I think he understands that we're opening the rest of the presents tomorrow.  He went to bed so easily and excited and I seriously don't know if I'll be able to sleep tonight, because I want to play with him and all his new toys, haha.

In other news, I got a call back about the job last night while I was at work (right after I decided they weren't going to call me and I didn't get it).  I'm going in for a second interview and a class observation on Tuesday morning!  So I guess that means they at least like me, and hopefully it will go well! 

Alright!  Now Jeremy is up visiting at his parent's house for a bit, because his brother who lives in Oregon just got here, and I have to go do some MORE baking.  Just one last thing.  I'm making this for desert on Monday  when my side of the family gets together.  Hopefully it works out, because I only have enough eggs to make it once.

Hope you ladies are having a wonderful Christmas!!

Chores, Crafts, Cooking. :)

Today was an awesome day, and I needed an awesome day after an insane three days of work. Lets just say the job of a nurse is not always glamorous. Actually never glamorous but somedays are better than others. These last few days consisted of getting yelled at, giving enemas, and a death. They were also full of sweet ladies, thankful families, and awesome stories. I will try and just remember the good. :)

This morning Paul and I woke up at 9:30, laid in bed till 10 playing around on our phones, then I got up and made Pumpkin Pancakes. Delish. Then Paul had to get ready for a lunch thing at wrok and I stayed home, did two loads of laundry, vacuumed the house, ran the dishwasher, changed the bed sheets, and cleaned the kitchen and family room which had accumulated junk piles while I was working for three days. Then I went swimming, came home and folded some laundry then Paul came home!

This evening after a dinner of soft tacos we ran to fred meyer to get a gift for one of Paul's coworkers and then to home depot to buy a new facet for our bathroom since ours has a broken handle (which we were living with) but then it started leaking too. I also got a foam tube for $1.18 and it was enough to make two wreaths out of! :) I used some of the yar I had gotten at he dollar store and the felt flowers I had made earlier and made myself an awesome little wreath for a total of less than 2 dollars. :)

I made ritzies and pretzel kisses today. So yummy. I am going to package up the pretzel bites in cute little bags for stocking stuffers. :) The ritzies, well we are eating those, haha.

And then there is the kitties. Eric looks drunk in the right picture, and Eleanor always lays like this on the floor when I am cooking. :)

Love to all.

Hallelujah!

FINALLY.  Justin got a job!!  We found out on Tuesday (which was also our 3 year anniversary).  Its an 8 month contract, but who cares, its a job!  It means I'll have a two hour commute to school, but that's only two days a week.  Yesterday we went looking for apartments, and tomorrow we sign a lease for one of them!  I'm so excited, its a 2 bedroom ground floor apartment in a home.  Its got hardwood floors and a laundry room!!  I can't wait to start decorating it and posting before and after pictures!  We move in January 1st.

I am just so thankful that Justin has a job.  We have been praying about this since March.  I was beginning to really worry that we would have to live with family for who knows how much longer.  Again, the Lord has taught me that it never fails to trust in him.

These past few days were just so good.  We went away overnight for our anniversary to a cute town called 'Niagara-on-the-lake.'  We got to stay at a 5 star hotel for less than half price because the original place we had booked at closed for the season and moved us.

Here is our hotel:

Here is a picture I took of our beautiful lamp in our room: 

We walked around Fort George which had been captured by the Americans during the War of 1812:

This picture I took at a cafe because I thought "Angela always takes pictures of her and Paul, I need to put up one of me and Justin": 

Last but not least, our dear Beatrix who put up with being dressed up for Christmas:

Life is so good right now.  Its great.  I feel so relieved and light and excited.  Merry Christmas Everyone!!

Crafternoon!

After leaving church on sunday I stopped at JoAnnes and then Home Depot and then came home and crafted all day long, and did nothing else, and it was wonderful.

I made this cute little vase out of some twine and an old sun dried tomatoes jar. I put in some of the sticks and stuff I had from a huge vase we had in our house that the cats kept attacking, so I ended up switching it out. I love how it turned out! The first thing Eric did when he saw this on the shelf was jump up, knock it over, and attack the grass. This one may have to be a gift...my cats are saying I am not allowed to keep it!

These pictures are kinda out of order. In the evening when Paul got home I made Lemon Shrimp Linguini which was awesome and I don't have a link to the recipe, and for dessert I wanted something quick and easy so I made popcorn balls, they remind me of new years and my childhood! (One of the ladies always made them on new years and she gave me the recipe at my bridal shower when everyone gave me their favorite recipes, it was awesome). Basically is is really bad for you, Karo syrup, sugar, Jello, and some butter. :)

I made those coasters in the bottom right. Such a quick fun project that looks awesome when you are finished! I will have to take some better pictures after i get the cork on the bottom and get the final coat of sealer on.

I made a candle in a teacup, I love this idea, so simple and so cute, so up my alley. Then after being inspired by Becca and my Mom I hung ornaments from the chandelier. Their ornaments looked so cute hung on bookshelves, windowsills, and chandeliers that I had to join the party!

I made this yarn covered F with some leftover cardboard, some yarn from the dollar store (awesome place to buy yarn for projects like this!), and some of the felt flowers originally intended for my wreath (that I am still going to make).

I made this paper balls from a free printable I got online. They are kinda time consuming but fun to do as a simple project while watching tv. I have always wanted something of this sort but never wanted to pay 10-20 for a cute variety of balls and stuff at the store, paper, printable, free was the perfect solution!

I also made this little cupcake plate. I love looking for cool plates at random thrift stores or sometimes even ikea and then finding candle holders that look cool with them. I glued them together to make a cupcake plate (I have made cake plates too) and the idea is to give them to people on their birthday with either a cake or cupcake on it. I have done it for one friend so far and it was a hit. I want to continue doing it for people. :)

Here is my new dress that Paul said looked like a mafia hankechief but that he liked it. :) And my lunch of grilled chicken and wheat pasta with homemade pesto (from my momma). So yummm. Me crafting and sick of cutting out cork, and the vanilla cotton candy that I had to buy at JoAnnes because I am addicted to cotton candy!!

And that was my sunday full of crafting. I had a blast, it made me tired too, but I got to lay on the couch with the hubby and cuddle all evening and it was awesome. :)

Sunshine in the sickness.

Everybody hates having the dreaded yearly cold. It progresses from the sniffles and sneezes, to body aches, chills and maybe even a fever. I am on my second round.
Yes, round two of this cold. I vanquished the first cold after a week and a half of fighting. But to have it return with a vengeance?
There is no wrath like a mutated cold virus!
However threatening colds are, they will still not keep me from my creativity. While napping and movie watching have mainly been my ventures, I took the time and effort today to make this....

Coconut Hot Chocolate.

2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

1 15-ounce can coconut milk

1/4 cup dark brown sugar

Pinch kosher salt

1 ounce bittersweet chocolate, chopped (about 1/4 cup)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract.

I, of course, altered the recipe. In stead of brown sugar I used two soaked dates, maple syrup, and vanilla stevia (to taste). I also added soaked raw cashews. Then slopped everything into my vita mix (best blender ever). Amazing! Rich, creamy, decadent. Just perfect.
i recommend you try it.

cheers.

'tis the season

Yesterday I accomplished so much on my day off!


- Went and did my interview (went really well and I think I would LOVE to work there, but sounds like they are interviewing a lot of people.  They said they'd let me know by Thursday or Friday of this week).
- Went for a trip with Shea out to run errands/try to finish Christmas shopping.
- Stopped at Staples to get something printed for my sister's present.
- went to Joann's because they had 70% off clearance on all Christmas stuff (seriously, WHY buy things earlier??), and picked up a few last minute gifts.
- Went grocery shopping
- Put gas in the car
- Stopped at Wal-mart for a few more items.
- Came home and put Shea to bed for a nap.


Its amazing how much more that seems like when you have a child.  Having to get him in and out of the car every time you go into a store means you can't just run in somewhere real quick.  Shopping is always exhausting for me with him when I have to go to multiple stores.


During naptime, I baked 82 sugar cookies.  I'm having the jr. high girls over on Wednesday night for a cookie decorating party.  PHEW.  And I will still have some more cookies to bake on Christmas Eve for some relatives/parties.

I also put together some goodie bags for the girls.  Each one has a small container of shower gel with a kit-kat bar and a candy-cane tied to them.  

And I finished up some giftwrapping and put Shea's 2 year old photo's in some new frames.


I also finished this cutie!  

I finished crocheting it for Shea last night while watching a few episodes of Arrested Development.  He has been totally into penguins lately and rather than buy MORE gifts for him (he already has so many), I used up some yarn I had lying around.  It is actually really comical looking because the wings are like totally lopsided.  This is about how excited I was last night when I finished at 11PM (lovely no-make-up-crazy-hair me for you all).

Jeremy started work at 7:30 yesterday morning and didn't make it home until 6.  Apparently after work he went Christmas shopping for a few hours, which he hasn't done any of yet.  He was hiding behind the couch wrapping my presents while I promised not to look.  And my stocking looks like its going to fall off the hook. Silly boy. :-)


I am tired today and leave for work in about an hour.  I only work three days this week though!  Which is nice, but its a good thing Jer is working this week.  I really hope this new job works out though!   And Thursday is my fist Midwife appointment - I'm so excited to finally go in and have this feel real!  And we've been talking a LOT about doing a home-birth.  Jeremy is actually the one who is more on-board with it than I am, I think.


Last Sunday night was also the children's production at church.  Shea was supposed to be in it a little more than he ended up being, but at least he did the drummer boy part at the beginning.  I wish I had gotten a better picture - he was so cute!  He went right up in front of everyone and drummed away.  During the second song he started drumming on all the other kids' drums.  When everyone clapped he was just beaming, like all the applause was for him.  Someone likes to be the center of attention, obviously.

Getting excited for Christmas over here!!

One week till Christmas.

This week was my first week on my own at work and it was wonderful. The first two days I was crazy busy and didn't have time to sit down except my half hour lunch break and the second two days were just the right amount of busy.

A conversations I had with an 81 year old lady:

Me: Hi, my name is Angela and I will be your nurse this evening.

Her: Not Angelic?

Me: No but I will answer to that.

Her: I will answer if you call me Brad Pitt!

I loved this lady. She was awesome.

Now for some randomness from the week. I didn't swim at all during the begining of the week because I was hanging out with Paul, lame excuse I know. Then Thursday rolls around and I told myself I HAVE to swim today. I finally get my butt out of the house to swim, walk into the locker room at the gym to find no cap and goggles. Walk back to the car to find my cap..but no goggles. I found them hanging on the drawers in my bathroom when I got home. Fail. No swim on thursday.

Eric scared the living daylights out of me yesterday when I went to put away some pyrex lids...he was staring down at me from up on top of the cupboards. I screamed.

And a cute little Christmas card a friend made, I thought it was an awesome idea!

My kittens continue to be the best non-helpers around when it comes to wrapping gifts. While they may be in the way the entire time I am wrapping, and they may be attacking every string in site they are pretty good company to have around.

I got to hang out with my friend Sara yesterday and it was wonderful. We were at Panera for close to four hours just chatting, playing mancala, and hanging out. She got me this wonderful frame for Christmas and I am so excited to fill it with pictures! She sent an apology text to Paul after we hung out for the present as she knows just how much he enjoys me hanging mega amounts of pictures everywhere. Haha.

Our Christmas card wall is growing and I love it! Cards make me so happy. The one I took a close up picture of is the kids I used to nanny in Spokane, I miss them dearly. The right picture is just some of the crafting stuff I got yesterday. I had a 20% of everything including sale items coupon for Michaels and had been meaning to go there for weeks, so yesterday I finally went! I got quite a few different pieces of felt, some cardstock because I have been low forever, and some super strong magnets to make some gifts with. I also got some sewing stuff and other random stuff that I am super excited to craft with!

I was able to make all of those roses from 50 cents of felt! I can't wait to make a wreath and put them on there! I also made the bunting from 50 cents of felt. I love love love easy 10 minute crafts. And the last picture is Eric trying to attack the steam from the dishwasher. Oh how my cats make me laugh. Haha.

That is the end of the pictures and stories for now folks. I am off to make some awesome coasters (my mom inspired me), and probably some other random crafts. I should be vacuuming the house and cleaning the bathrooms and cooking. We shall see what I get done!

Love to all.

Angela&Becca Show

Sorry, looks like we're dominating the blog again.


I had a LONG DAY.  I had to be in Bremerton at 9:15 for a stupid pregnancy test. I get my insurance for maternity benefits, then I have to use my insurance to prove that I'm pregnant, and Bremerton is the only place that's covered on my plan.  And then the lady told me this totally weird date for my due date because she didn't listen to anything I said.  Oh well, that's why she is NOT my doctor.


Anyway, this meant leaving at 8:15 (its a 50 minute drive and I wanted to get there a little early) with Shea, but I woke up at 7:45, so I rushed a bit.  We got there on time, and met my mom and brother so they could watch Shea while I went in.  The appointment was quick and we were on our way.  I had to kill about 40 minutes because we were stopping by the toyota dealership to get my oil changed, so we went to mcdonalds for a little bit and Shea played with my brother.  The car ended up taking an hour and a half to get done!  I love this dealership though - you get a free latte from the cafe (I got an iced vanilla latte - some of the first coffee I have had in months!), and they have free wi-fi and a little kids area.  Shea sat and watched Dora on my i-touch until he got bored, and then I had to walk around with him for like half an hour.  Then we had to stop at Walmart on our way home, because one of our headlights was out.  And the library to return some books.  FINALLY we got home at 1PM.  Jeremy had done all the dishes and started a pot of tomato soup!  So we had soup and grilled cheese sandwiches and some french fries.  yummy.  Shea went to bed and I worked on some church stuff and applied for a job...which I JUST got an email back from and I have an interview on Monday!


Its for a full-time teacher's assistant for 3 and 4 year olds at a montessori school on bainbridge island.  Basically what I did all of last year, only more hours.  This would be great, because my current job is so inconsistent hour-wise, and Jeremy's boss is not always able to pay him on time.  I hope it works out - it would start January 1st, which gives me enough time to give notice at work.  It would mean a little less time with Shea during the day, but we are barely making it now that I have so few hours at work.  Say a prayer for me! :-)  This might just be God's way of providing the money we need to get us through the next bit of time before the baby comes - I know 100% He will provide for us, just don't know if this is it or something else.  But I haven't often heard back from a potential employer less than an hour after applying, so I'm hopeful.


Anyway, since I rushed so much this morning, I still haven't taken a shower!  Going to go to do that now while Shea is watching his show.  I have a playgroup tomorrow morning here, so that entails me cleaning the house tonight and hopefully getting some laundry done...and something baked to serve.  Boy that sounds a little daunting to me today.  Have two long days of work Friday and Saturday and then Sunday off!

Lots and lots and lots of pictures.

I have slowed down on taking pictures of everyday life and am trying to pick up the pace again. I absolutely love looking back and seeing all the random everyday events.

Eric loves to roll on his back and act like a goof-ball before getting fed at night. Paul and I were cracking up last night as Eric rolled around and Eleanor sat looking all cute and meowing every five seconds. Haha.

Today Paul and I drove up to Redmond to the British Pantry to get presents for Nana and Grandpa for Christmas. I brought along my real camera and was so proud of myself...and these three pictures are the only ones I took. Oops. Ps. Paul was trying to get out of the pictures, fail. Angela wins.

I got kinda grumpy on the ride home. I hadn't eaten, there was traffic, everything was taking forever. Paul was being super sweet and I couldn't snap out of my grumpyness till we go home. It was so weird. I obviously needed some chill time. I know my body.

Tonight we made a gingerbread house! I kinda cheated this year but it made it so much more fun. No mixing, baking, rolling, cutting, just a premade gingerbread house to decorate. So much fun!

I made sure to take pictures!

This is how I am going to display our Christmas cards this year. Next year I will make something cute from pinterest but for this year paperclips and a ribbon will do!

This is the granola I made the other day. Yum, Yum, Yum.

The kittens are anything but helpful when I wrap presents, but they are sure dang cute. I can't help but laugh everytime they attack a ribbon as I am finishing up the present.

Eric is my craft room buddy. He is always on the desk or the chair next to me. Usually when I go in there I turn on the heater and that is Eleanors FAVORITE spot ever. She sleeps and sleeps and sleeps by that heater.

I have been so into cooking and baking lately! Yesterday I made biscuits and gravy and coffee! Yum. The cookies are the egg nog cookies I made the other day, and the rice is the crab fried rice. I love food.
I cleaned my fridge today and love how it looks! Who knew 10 minutes and some glass cleaner could make me so happy!

And for a random compilation of pictures. Paul ordering our lunch at Fred Meyer because I was so hungry (it was 2pm) and I wasn't going to make it home (hence the grumpyness). The camera on my lap, virtually unused. Me super tired, half sleeping on the couch after we got home, and my babies snuggling with Paul and I last night.

How are you girls doing?! Are you loving the little things in life too?!