Weekend Wrap Up

Happy Monday Ladies...hope everyone had a great weekend.....man I wish the weekends wouldn't go so quickly!

Seriously...don't we all feel like this on a Monday!!!!

We did not have a super exciting weekend over here...which was actually quite nice..we have been so crazy lately, so it was very nice to just kind of hang out all weekend and not do too much of anything!!!!  My hubby is heading out of town next weekend, then the following weekend we begin celebrating Christmas with family, so it was just perfect to hang out and not do too much!!!

Friday night we were all in our pajamas by 6:00, we cuddled up on the couch and watched Santa Clause 2...totally laid back and totally perfect!  AJ has that "mom seriously stop with the pictures" face!!! 

The kiddos woke up to this Saturday morning, Buddy the Elf brought some treats for the kiddos and some candy canes to hang on the tree...perfect way to start the day...sugar high!!!!

Hanging the candy canes on the tree..Olivia has been OBSESSED with wearing this fairy dress, she wears it every day as soon as she gets home from school, and she put it on first thing this morning....

She came downstairs the other morning and proudly announced "mom I got dressed, and I am ready for school"....she seriously wanted to wear the fairy dress and wings to school....telling her she couldn't made for a very stressful start to our day!!!!!!

It was a rainy day here all day Saturday, the only reason I like rainy days, is because I get to wear my favorite rain boots ...

I love these boots....so I put on my leggings , a white tee, and my vest, I bought this one a few years ago, but this one is pretty much the same, and my hubby and I headed out for a date lunch at Chili's then went grocery shopping...yup we lead a pretty glamorous life over here!!!

Saturday night we had a mish mosh for dinner...some had leftovers, some had cereal and Olivia had a cheese stick and ice cream bar...then it was in our jammies and some college football

My boys are totally into college football these days!

And there was tying up Olivia with a bathrobe belt!

When I went up to go to bed, I saw that Olivia put her American Girl doll to bed in my bed, when I asked her about this she told me that she didn't want us to get lonely at night...what a sweet and thoughtful little girl I have!

Every morning, the first thing Olivia does is run and find where the Elf is, the boys are only interested when the Elf brings treats, otherwise they could pretty much care less, well Sunday morning Olivia found Buddy and I guess he wants us to make a cake today...

Olivia is totally into the whole Elf thing..and I love that she really believes in the magic of it all...but if I am being honest, I can't wait for him to go back to the North Pole...it is so stressful remembering to move him every darn night!!!  

We made a few homemade pizzas and watched a bunch of football, (ugh my Jets lost in overtime), and then we made our cake the Elf left for us!

Olivia has a fierce love of sprinkles!!

So there you have it....our weekend...nothing fancy or glamorous, definitely low key, but perfect in my book!!!! Hope everyone else had a great weekend!!

Thanks for stopping by today!  Have the best day!!!!

Friday Favorites

Happy Friday!!!  I am so glad it is Friday....I am so ready for the weekend!!!  Today I am linking up with Andrea, Erika , and Narci and sharing my Friday Favorites.....grab the graphic and link up!!!!

One of my favorites....my sweet Olivia...we have been having some serious struggles in the mornings before school, she pretty much cries and throws a fit every day before school....yet when she gets off the bus she always tells me she had the best day ever....I hate sending her off each morning upset, but I do love hearing how great her day always is.  

On Tuesday she was NOT happy about going to school, or having her picture taken...but even in her grumpy moods she is still a favorite of mine!!

This week we got to celebrate AJ turning 11, its so hard to believe he is 11 already...it really is true when they say time flies...it sadly does...

Total cutie and totally another favorite of mine!!

Christmas is my favorite time of year and having my tree up and our home decorated for the holidays is absolutely one of my FAVORITE things.  I love when the day is done, the kids are in bed and I can just sit on my couch, turn off the lights, put on a Christmas movie and just enjoy our tree, the lights, the decorations...it just makes me happy!!!

I love candles pretty much any time of the year, but I especially love them at Christmas time, my favorite scent during the holidays is the Yankee Candle Christmas Eve Candle, however back in the fall I was shopping at Anthro and bought their pumpkin candle and absolutely fell in love with it, so last week I was at the mall picking up a few things, stopped in Anthro and got this candle, and it smells fabulous and I just love it.  I will be heading back there this weekend to pick up a few more to use as holiday gifts!!!!

So there you have it....my Friday Favorites this week.  Be sure to grab the graphic at the top of the page and  link up.  Can't wait to read everyone's favorites this week!  Have a great weekend....see you back here Monday!!!!

A Few of Our Favorite Holiday Traditions

Happy Thursday!!  The holidays are my absolute FAVORITE time of the year!  I love everything about it...the decorations, the food, the music, shopping...everything!!!!  But my favorite things are the traditions...to me those are the most important.  I hope that one day my children carry some of these on with their own families.  For 31 years we did the same thing on Christmas Eve, and it was my favorite day of the year, it even was better for me than Christmas morning!  Then, we moved away from family and it was time to start some new traditions..I absolutely love where we live, but I do miss my family terribly, especially around the holidays.

 I was so fortunate to grow up with a very close knit family, and at the forefront of our family was my amazing grandmother.  Sadly earlier this year both my grandfather and grandmother passed away, I was so so lucky to have had both my grandparents in my life for 40 years, can you say BLESSED!!!  Here is a picture of my awesome grandmother...yes this is how she would arrive on Christmas Eve!!!!!

My Granny!!!!

Every year on Christmas Eve before we would have our meal, my whole family, it was about 20-25 of us would play a fun little pass around game that my grandmother insisted we do!  Everyone had to bring a gift, it had to be wrapped, it had to be under $5.00, and the item had to be red or green, it did not have to be a holiday item, just anything red or green.  As we would all sit around in a very large circle, I would read Twas the Night Before Christmas, and everytime I would read the word "the" we would pass our gift to the person sitting next to us (this word is used ALOT in this story), then at the end we all got to open the gift in our hand, it was always so much fun to see all the funny things everyone got.  Some of my past gifts have included red twizzlers, coca cola, green tree car air freshners, just to name a few.  We still do this every year, and it is one of my kiddos very favorite things to do.

Another one of my favorites also happens on Christmas Eve, every year after dinner, we let the kids open one gift, it is ALWAYS pajamas, they know they are getting pajamas, but every year they are super excited to gather round and open this one gift....

Making gingerbread houses is another favorite tradition of ours....so every year we buy the little kit from Target, and the picture on the box has that house looking oh so perfect, well, this is what ours pretty much looks like every year.

may not be perfect, but always fun!!!!

 Christmas Movies.....this is probably my most favorite!  I have a MAJOR love of holiday movies, I would watch them year round if my husband would allow it.  The Hallmark Channel is pretty much on non-stop at my house from mid November straight through until New Years Day.  I have seen most of the movies a hundred times, but they never ever get old...I can recite most of these verbatim, but I will still continue to watch them over and over again, year after year.  And what's even better is my love of Christmas movies has rubbed off on my kiddos...to me there is nothing better than putting on cozy jammies and getting all curled up on the couch watching a holiday movie.  My ALL TIME MOST FAVORITE Christmas movie ever, hands down is.....

I grew up watching this movie, and at 40 years old it is still my absolute favorite!!!!

Christmas ornaments....I love love Christmas ornaments, I was completely devastated a few years back after we had moved and realized one of our boxes containing some of our ornaments was missing, I searched high and low, and it was just gone, I cried for days, no joke, days....the box contained many of the ornaments the kids had made over the years, things that I could not just go out to the store and replace...ugh!!!  Our tree is a mish mosh of all different types of ornaments, we have lots of popsicle stick reindeer, quite a few bead candy canes, and I love them all!!!!  Of course my favorite ornaments are the ones that my children have made, but I also LOVE LOVE LOVE the ornaments that my hubby and I get each year...I am always super excited to hit that little ornament stand in the mall and pick out an ornament and have it personalized...I can't wait to be like 90 and be able to fill a tree with our special ornaments.

  

two peas in a pod:)

this is my favorite....our first holiday together...and the start of so many wonderful memories.

These are just a few of my favorite holiday traditions, and a few things that our family loves to do.  Of course we do lots of other things, bake cookies, visit with Santa, etc.  Santa is a pretty big deal over here with our little ones, and yes we LOVE presents and everything Santa, but I really try so hard to teach my children what Christmas is truly about.  I want them to always know how lucky and fortunate they are for all that they have.  

Would love to hear what some of your holiday traditions are!  Happy Thursday!!!!!

What We Wore Wednesday...Some of My Favorite Things Right Now

Happy Wednesday Ladies!!!  So glad we are halfway through the week...by Wednesday I am ALWAYS ready for the week to be over and for the weekend to be here...can I get a heck yea for that!!!

Today I am sharing with you some of my very favorite things that I am wearing these days...I am pretty much wearing these things like everyday....and I love it!!!

Right now my ABSOLUTE FAVORITE thing to wear are my Kate Spade Glitter Earrings ....I love anything sparkly, so the second I saw these I knew they needed to come home with me....and they did!  I probably wear them like 4-5 days a week, even with just a sweatshirt and some leggings, because adding a little glitter never hurt anything...right?????

I have quite a collection of the Kate Spade square stud earrings...they come in some great colors, they are big and are the perfect earring to pretty much any outfit....they have been my go-to earrings since the summer...these earrings would make great holiday gifts for any ladies on your list...and the great thing about giving earrings....you don't have to worry about what size to get....trust me anyone on your list would be THRILLED to get these beauties!!  Check out all the fun colors here !

I have said it before, and I'll say it again...I am ALL ABOUT COMFORT..when I am comfy, I am just happier!  I absolutely love my GAP jeans , but in my opinion, even my favorite jeans just don't scream comfort to me!  So....I am oh so happy that I found these denim leggings...

PERFECT!!!

I was never really sure how I felt about denim leggings, well I can tell you that these days they are my favorite...super cute and more importantly, super comfy!  Awesome to wear with boots (no trying to "stuff" your jeans into boots) and I love wearing them with my flats.  I wore these leggings on Thanksgiving and they were the perfect pants to wear...I was able to eat lots and not feel uncomfortable in my clothes!  I have a feeling I will be getting a lot of wear out of these!!!  And they happen to be on sale right now for under $30!!!

I wear a watch every single day, I feel naked if I don't have my watch on.  I have had lots of watches over the years...some expensive, some inexpensive, some middle of the road...but my favorite watch is a Michael Kors Watch...I just love them, here is the watch that I wear every single day!!!

I LOVE it...its bold, and does what it needs to do..tell the time..I don't love a whole lot of busy on my watch!!!  

Pajamas....because you know I am all about comfort and well what is more comfy than jammies!!!!  I love this time of year, it gets darker earlier, which in my world translates to putting on my PJ's by 5:00pm!  There is something about buying a new pair of pajamas that just makes me happy!!!  Shay, over at Mix and Match Mama did a post a few weeks back about holiday dresses, you can read about it here , and at the end she talked about some cozy pajamas....she raved about them, and they looked adorable...so I ordered a pair...and yup they were awesome!!!!  And after I wore them 3 nights in a row I decided that I would want to wear these every single night during the winter, so I happened to be out shopping that day and picked up another pair!!!!

Super cute and super comfy....they have so many different fun patterns to choose from, you can check them all out here .  They are a little more expensive than some pajamas, but not as expensive as others, a good middle of the road, I knew I would be wearing these all winter long, so that is how I justified getting 2 pair!! If there is one thing you are going to treat yourself to this holiday season, it should be these pajamas!!!  They would also make fabulous gifts for any lady on your gift list!!!

If there is something that is a "must" have in your wardrobe, I would love to hear about it!!

Thanks for stopping by today....have the BEST day!!!!!

Come On In....Christmas Decorationss

HAPPY TUESDAY GIRLS

Today I am linking up with my sweet friend Andrea , and joining in on her "Come On In" series...it is always so fun getting a peek inside everyone's homes....especially at Christmas time...so grab the graphic and link up too, and share with us your Christmas decorations!!!  

I am loving our tree this year...its very hard to get the "perfect" tree when you get a real tree, but I think this is pretty close to perfect!!!  

I have a very strong love for chalboards lately, I have a few throughout our house, this is the one I have hanging in our kitchen...this is one of all my all time favorite lines from a pretty great Christmas movie!!

Our table in the kitchen...I found those Santa hat chair covers at Dollar Tree and the kids think they are the greatest things ever!!!

One of our favorite things to pull out at Christmas time, the kids fight pretty much every morning as to who get to change the numbers...we love the countdown to Santa's arrival.

A few things by our fireplace, that Santa was given to me from my mother-in-law, back in 1992,  to this day it is one of my best favorites!

A little table in our living room...it is so simple, but I just love it.

Brooke and Harrison, Christmas 1996....I love bringing out this picture every single year, hard to believe those two sweet little ones are now 22 and 19:(  And of course my Christmas Eve candle....my favorite holiday scent.

My grandmother loved to crochet, and last year she sent me these knitted sparkly bells.

AJ was so excited when he gave me this ornament back in 2007, one of my faves on my tree.

This is by far my absolute favorite Christmas decoration of all time.  My great grandmother made this many many years ago, it is on a red velvet background, and it is lots and lots of costume jewelry all glued on to make a tree...as a little girl, I would see this in my grandmother's house and just ooh and ahh over it, it was sparkly, filled with beautiful jewels and just the prettiest thing I had ever seen, every year I would look so forward to going to my grandmothers and see this tree.  Sadly, my grandmother passed away earlier this year, she knew my love of this tree, and she left this to me...words cannot describe what it means to me to have this in my home now.  

So there you have it...a little look into some of our Christmas decorations!  I can't wait to take a peek into everyone's homes to see all the beautiful holiday decorations!!!!!

Have the BEST day.  Be sure to check back tomorrow, I will be sharing with you a few of my favorite things that I have been wearing these days!!!  

Weekend Wrap Up....AJ turns 11...and We Break Out Christmas

Happy Monday!  Hope you all had a wonderful holiday weekend!!!  Wow...it is already December...how did that even happen....this year has flown by so quickly!!!  We had a crazy busy weekend...but it was oh so fun.  I had mentioned last week that we have never had an Elf on the Shelf, well now we do...and on Saturday morning our Elf arrived and brought the kids a very special breakfast to kick off the holiday season.

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a few yummy treats from the North Pole!

3 happy littles!!!!!

because every girl needs a leopard Santa hat!!

eating their breakfast...and yes Olivia is eating cotton candy for breakfast...

After we enjoyed our yummy breakfast we loaded up in the car and went on the hunt for the perfect Christmas tree, this is always such a fun time for us...the kids love going and looking at all the trees, and of course they always pick the 12 foot tree that won't even fit in our house...but after some time at the tree lot, we did find the perfect tree...now home to decorate!!!  Yay!!!

minus Harrison...he was at work:(

Liv liked this big tree!!

Olivia had enough and was ready to go home!

The kids absolutely love going through the boxes of ornaments and hanging them on the tree, and I absolutely love when they pull one out and start getting super excited and telling us why they love it so much, it is these memories that I cherish...

not a bad view while doing dishes

This is my favorite Christmas decoration ever of all time.  My great grandmother made this tree out of old costume jewelry, and I when I was a little girl I would just oooh and aahhhh over this at my grandmother's house, it was sparkly and just beautiful, and it was always my most favorite thing to see at Christmas.  Sadly earlier this year both my grandmother and grandfather passed away, and my grandmother left this to me, I have no words to describe what it means to me that this is now in my home.....it is truly one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen, and today at 41 years old I love it just as much as I did when I was a little girl.

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On Sunday my sweet AJ turned 11...I don't even know how that is possible, I feel like he was just born yesterday...time surely does fly by and though I love watching him grow up, I just wish time would slow down a little!!!

his new Nike sweatshirt...this boy is all about anything Nike (and was less than thrilled that I asked him to take a picture, he is kind of over the pics!!!)

this sweet boy makes life so fun!!!!

It was a crazy busy weekend for sure, but it was the BEST weekend!  We kicked off the holidays here at the Atwood/Florence house and we are in full Christmas mode, and we love it.

Thanks for stopping by today....check back tomorrow for some of our favorite holiday traditions.  Have a great Monday!!!!