Catch-up: April and May

APRIL

 Worked on the exterior of the house

 

Watched our Magnolia tree grow

 

Worked inside the house

 

 

Raced some ponies

 

 

Rode a bike

Played with the pup

 

 Made new friends at the mall

 

And the Purdue Vet School

 

 Hammed it up in a box boat

Said hello to an old friend at Columbian Park Zoo

Marched for Babies

MAY

Rode in a ridiculous shopping cart

Fed a giraffe

Celebrated Mother's Day

 

Made progress on the kitchen

 

Matched Daddy

 

Played in a pool

 

Built a fort

 

Ran in a sprinkler

 

 

Christmas 2012

This was the first year Isabella really understood holiday traditions.  She was so excited for Christmas morning that she asked to go to bed at 5pm Christmas Eve! We kept her up a little longer and she stayed in bed until 7am.  I was almost positive she'd come running in to wake us up around 4am.  She also shouted out, "I hear jingles! I hear Santa!" before bed. 

Every Christmas Eve we each open a new ornament and new pajamas to wear to bed that night.  I try to choose something for Isabella that commemorates an event or showcases and interest of hers from that year.  If the ornament doesn't already have the year on it somewhere then I write it on the bottom or the back so we can keep track.  My plan is to give her all of these ornaments when she is grown so that she will already have a collection for her own tree. I will buy an ornament for Leo each year as well.  I try not to by too many ornaments that don't have some sort of sentimental meaning, instead I fill in the gaps with more plain bulbs.  Isabella already likes asking me about each ornament, where they're from and what they mean. 

 Isabella's 2012 ornament to commemorate her first theater movie

Leo's ornament

Daddy's ornament.

 Mama's ornament

 Leaving cookies for Santa

Showing off her new pajamas by the tree

Santa came!

 Opening a gift from her great aunt Kris

Presents from Grandpa Harvey

Isabella was very pleased with her gifts.  She loves her LeapPad2, new bike, and princess castle.  She wore her new Cinderella dress all day.  Daddy had a blast playing with his RC helicopter.  Mama is seriously geeked about her new bedding. Nothing says old lady like asking for new bedding for Christmas! Of course, new bedding means we're finally going to be decorating the master bedroom and that is long overdue.  Clint has some new projects coming up, if only I could get him to finish the ones on his current list.  

Happy Holidays

Ok, I confess that I started my holiday decorating early this year.  I started on some projects the week before Thanksgiving and we got our tree on the 17th.  I've really been into the holiday decorations this year.  It's nice to have something to look forward to.  It's also helped me find ways to include Leo in our traditions and to make sure he is always present in our home in one way or another.  

I've made several new things this year, mostly inspired by Pinterest of course.

I made these red berry wreaths from grapevine wreaths and berry garland.

Yes, the ceiling fan is hideous.  Hopefully we will finally get around to replacing it sometime next year.  We also plan to repaint the living room and change the photos above the couch.

 A new Leo inspired ornament.

And the personalized ornament I ordered for him.  I love it!

I think this is the best tree we've had so far!

My makeshift mantle with Isabella's and Leo's stockings.  I made the "Peace" letters,  red berry tree, twine tree, and bronze hurricane candleholder to the right.  I also made the "snowy" candleholder on the left.

 I need to find something else to go here, but haven't found what I'm looking for yet..  I made the glitter tree.

The red berry door hanger I made.  I need to tie a better bow. :)

 Isabella's tree, pink of course.  You can't see the ornaments, but they are Dora and Disney Princess.  She picked it all out herself.

I'm hoping to find some things to add.  We really don't have much in they way of holiday decorations and now that Isabella is older I feel like we need more.  Of course, Sparky the elf is expected to arrive December 1 so that will help

Busy work

Thank goodness for Pinterest!  These little projects are helping to keep me sane.

Installing peel and stick tiles under sinks to protect from leaks.

Making my own spice mixes, from left: Cream of chicken soup, Italian dressing mix, meatloaf, quesadilla casserole, taco, and chili.

Condensed and reorganized my spices.

I ditched the spice rack in favor of more counterspace.  My commonly used spices are now in magnetic tins on the side of the fridge.

I designed a command center for the fridge complete with a calendar, menu, to do list, and a cleaning schedule (which I've actually been following!).

I cleaned up the fridge and setup a new way to display Isabella's artwork.

And I turned old candles into Scentsy-like bars.

All Pinterest inspired, of course.  I have a never-ending list of projects on my to do list thanks to Pinterest.