Christmas Part 3 (Indiana)

Our third and last Christmas was at Grandpa Thomas’s house in Indiana. We exchanged gifts, and Nathan got a lot of fun new toys to keep him busy. In addition to fun gifts, I also got a not so great surprise in the form of strep! I really hope no one else gets it.

We also had fun in their pool, played games, and went to the zoo!

CUC Challenge -- The Muppet Christmas Carol

So what if Christmas movies can be a bit sappy? They warm our hearts, restore our faith in humanity and generally bring joy to the world. This month at Cookin' up Creations, YOU have the opportunity to share your favorite Christmas & Holiday movies with us. How you ask? - by completing challenges based on them.  I chose to use The Muppet Christmas Carol as my inspiration for this layout.  For my challenge, you can either specifically reference the movie (by, for example, using "Muppets" somewhere in your title or a picture of any of the characters), or you could include a picture with someone making a silly face and/or laughing.  For my layout, I scrapped both a silly face and a laughing face.

You can see all of CUC's challenges on their forum.  A new Blue Plate Special challenge is posted each Monday (sketch), Wednesday, and Saturday, and participants have until the 3rd of the following month to complete and post their creations in the Cookin' Up Creations Gallery.

Prize will be a $10 Gift Certificate to their favorite online store (random drawing).....

*Any month that we have more than 50 completed layouts/creations, the prize will be a $20 Gift Certificate instead of $10.

Christmas Part 2 (Michigan)

My sister Rachel hosted Christmas this year in Michigan! We got to see her new house and enjoyed seeing Detroit and Ann Arbor again.

We bought matching Michigan pajamas for Christmas morning, and enjoyed opening presents, putting a puzzle together, decorating cookies, and playing.

Christmas Part 1 (New Mexico)

Merry Christmas!  We started off our celebration with a ride on the Polar Bear Express train, where we enjoyed hot chocolate, cookies, and jingled bells to Christmas music.  The train took us around the River of Lights and ended with a meet and greet with Santa!

After the ride, we walked around the River of Lights.  The trains completely captivated Nathan!

On Saturday we celebrated our little family's Christmas.  Stockings, presents, and toys, oh my!

Our big present to Nathan for Christmas this year was a new "big kid" bedroom.  We set it up while he was playing with his new toys and then had the big reveal!  Nathan loved it.

CUC Challenge -- How the Grinch Stole Christmas

So what if Christmas movies can be a bit sappy? They warm our hearts, restore our faith in humanity and generally bring joy to the world. This month at Cookin' up Creations, YOU have the opportunity to share your favorite Christmas & Holiday movies with us. How you ask? - by completing challenges based on them.  I chose to use How the Grinch Stole Christmas as my inspiration for this layout.  For my challenge, you can either specifically reference the movie (by, for example, using "Grinch" somewhere in your title or a picture of any of the characters), or you could use a bright grinch green as one of the main colors on your page.  For my layout, I scrapped a picture of my son in front of Grinch character art.

You can see all of CUC's challenges on their forum.  A new Blue Plate Special challenge is posted each Monday (sketch), Wednesday, and Saturday, and participants have until the 3rd of the following month to complete and post their creations in the Cookin' Up Creations Gallery.

Prize will be a $10 Gift Certificate to their favorite online store (random drawing).....

*Any month that we have more than 50 completed layouts/creations, the prize will be a $20 Gift Certificate instead of $10.

CUC Challenge -- A Charlie Brown Christmas

So what if Christmas movies can be a bit sappy? They warm our hearts, restore our faith in humanity and generally bring joy to the world. This month at Cookin' up Creations, YOU have the opportunity to share your favorite Christmas & Holiday movies with us. How you ask? - by completing challenges based on them.  I chose to use A Charlie Brown Christmas as my inspiration for this layout.  For my challenge, you can either specifically reference the movie (by, for example, using "Charlie Brown" somewhere in your title or a picture of Snoopy), or you could include a pine tree on your page (either in your photo or as an embellishment/on your patterned paper).  In this layout, I scrapped a photo of my son with lots of pine trees in the background.     

You can see all of CUC's challenges on their forum.  A new Blue Plate Special challenge is posted each Monday (sketch), Wednesday, and Saturday, and participants have until the 3rd of the following month to complete and post their creations in the Cookin' Up Creations Gallery.

Prize will be a $10 Gift Certificate to their favorite online store (random drawing).....

*Any month that we have more than 50 completed layouts/creations, the prize will be a $20 Gift Certificate instead of $10.

Fall Family Fun

After thanksgiving we decorated the tree and added a light up Olaf to our outdoor decorations.

We also got in a lot of Nathan play time!

The highlight was taking Nathan to Frozen II.

The rest of the group enjoyed a lovely sunset hot air balloon ride!