{First Grade Valentine's Party...

Jackson: "Mom, you made my Valentine's last year, this year I want to make my Valentine's."
Me: "Okay Jackson, what do you want to make?"
Jackson: "robots"
Me: "Oh, fun" (and I'm really thinking 'Seriously? HOW are we going to make robots?')

So we talk to grammies and she points us in the right direction (like always!), we head to Safeway and this is what we came up with. There was some hot glue involved but Jackson was the brains and most of the elbow grease behind his Valentine's this year. I love that Jackson is my crafting buddy. I think we're two peas in a pod that way!

...and thanks to my dad for this super fun lollipop tree that he made for me a few Christmas's ago! It made our Valentine's treats a breeze to display!

{Knock off Wood...

I love, Love, LOVE this blog! Knock off Wood. I ran across it a few weeks ago and found myself inviting a few friends over to make Ana's version of PB Kids Collector Shelves. We modified the size and added some routing to make them look a little more like the PB version and they turned out SO cute! I have to say that for a bunch of girls that haven't ever worked with power tools (I think I qualified as the most experienced and I have really only used Todd's miter saw for a cut or two) that we did pretty good for ourselves! They came together fairly easily and will hopefully be as useful in our kids rooms as we have imagined.

After I painted and stained my shelves I was inspired to make Jackson a dry erase calendar for his room using my vinyl (if there is any interest, I may add them to my BNB blog). Hopefully I can move Sam into his "big boy" room by the end of the summer and give both boys' rooms a makeover. Nothing like a few little projects to get me motivated to switch things up around here!

This has to be one of the funniest things I've EVER seen!

{Hammonds Candy Factory...

Every year we go over to the Baer's to make homemade candy canes. It is truly one of my very favorite Christmas traditions. The day after Christmas we met my family in Denver to tour one of Colorado's oldest (still operating) candy factories. Wow... the difference that equipment (and highly skilled hands) can make! Julie, we've got to take you up there! Perfect swirls, airy centers and they are at least an inch and a half in diameter! It is most definitely a lost art and made for a very fun day. After the factory we went to lunch and shopped around downtown. I love the city at Christmas time!

We could not let this photo op pass us by! When we see anything heart shaped and Miss Loveland Valentine is in the vicinity, a picture must be snapped!

{Christmas morning...

My Christmas decorations are down and I've started my annual 'tear through the house organizational process' (although this is the first year that I've had my vinyl cutter and WOW! more on that later... let's just say "I heart labels!"). So, I'm trying to get the last few posts of 2009 out there so that I can move on to 2010! This year we stayed home for Christmas. It was nice. It was relaxing. The boys slept in until 8:30! We did Christmas at our house, had a nice breakfast, gave the boys Christmas haircuts and then we went over to sANNta's (that's my new nickname for my very generous mother-in-law!). We played games and ate until our stomachs nearly exploded. It was fabulous!

{Christmas Card Ooops...

Merry {late} Christmas

...and...

Seriously. So. Embarrassed.

OK, so this year I had no idea where my brain went to but it was no where near the rest of my body. At a recent birthday lunch for one of my friends my Christmas cards came up as a topic of conversation. Apparently this "birthday friend" gets a note in her mailbox from the post office that she has a package and needs to pick it up. So she goes down and waits in some crazy long Christmas lines to pick up her 'package'. Well, her exciting 'package' was my Christmas card. I totally forgot to put a stamp on it and they made HER pay for it! When I heard this, I thought I would die! How embarrassing?!? Just to defend myself a little I had planned on hand delivering cards around Colorado Springs and had them in a separate pile. Then, knowing myself and that I wouldn't find the time to go and make personal visits, I just put them in the mailbox -without stamps-! So, I sincerely apologize to anyone else that had to head down to the post office during a super busy Christmas season and pay to receive our Christmas card!

I'll be reimbursing those that I inconvenienced! :o)

{The Polar Express...

Grammies, Semi and Tanner came down last weekend to surprise the boys with a ride on the Polar Express!! Our trip was complete with PJ's, hot chocolate, cookies, fun little elves that got the kids all worked up, Santa Claus and brass bell ornaments. It was a night to remember! My boys LOVE the movie and they LOVE trains so it really could not have been a more perfect surprise! They are still talking about it. Thanks Berry's!