Sugar Cookies!

I make Christmas cookies every year. It's one of my favorite traditions. I have so many wonderful memories of helping my Mom each Christmas baking cookies. I don't make as many as she does but I still have 3-5 different kinds. I decided to make sugar cookies this year since I haven't made them since Christmas 2009. They are not my favorite to make since it usually takes me almost all day to bake & decorate them. This year it did take all day since I have a 3 year old & 18 month old to look after also. I decided that Rya could help a little this year with decorating. I only let her put the sprinkles on though. She tried to put some frosting on but made a huge mess. She was perfectly happy with just doing the sprinkles though. I love it so much that everything I used to do with my Mom, I can now enjoy doing it with my daughter.



Perfect!



All the fixings.

She is such a big helper!



The finished cookie!



Christmas Tree!

We finally got our Christmas tree! We kept having to put it off because it kept raining. That was the first time since moving here that I hoped it would stop raining! Garyn was out running errands & found a place. He got a beautiful 6' Douglas Fir & tree stand for about $30! He brought it home & set it up but had more errands to run so he let myself & our babies decorate it. This was Rya's 1st time decorating a tree. She had a blast & was so very excited! Hayden was just too curious & got in the way & wouldn't leave things alone. He ended up having some time out time in his crib.

I love alot of lights on my tree & that's alway's the part I hate! It's even harder when you have a 3 year old constantly asking if it's time to put the bulbs on. Rya had so much fun! I did bring Hayden back out for some pictures & some time with us. I think we did a great job & I love our tree this year!

The pink ornaments were her favorite.

Getting some help from Mommy.





My happy little man!



Beautiful Christmas Tree!

A Favorite Christmas Tradition

We have many Christmas traditions in my family. Almost all of them I got from my Mom & Dad & carried them into my family. Garyn is so terrific about all the traditions. He loves them & always encourages to make sure we do each one every year. I have too many favorites to pick one but I know in my top 3 is that I go to Christmas boutiques every December. I remember going each winter with Mom & always having a blast. She even was in some & she'd let me come & help. I went to one yesterday in honor & memory of my Mom & because I can't go through Christmas without going. I did get a little teary eyed as I walked in thinking about how much fun Mom & I used to have. I wish I could have gone with my Stepmom or Grandma but being in different states sure makes that difficult. Maybe some year we'll be able to go together. I can not wait until Rya is old enough to go with me!

The one I went to was at Mesquite high school in Gilbert. It was pretty good sized & there were so many vendors. I had a blast walking around looking at everything. I even went back today & got a few more things. I was not used to how they do it there. When Mom & I would go, you bought each item from each vendor. I remember Mom had her cash box & a calculator. That's not how they did it here. Every item had a vendor # on it & you pay at the end. It was alot more convenient that way but that must be a nightmare for whoever has to sort all those vendor tickets.

I'm very happy with my treasures & am even happier that I was able to find one to go to this year. I always remember Mom & our boutique adventures everytime I'm at one of these & always find myself thinking 'Mom would buy that if she were here'. I treasure my memories of her & am so thankful that I can still do some things today that we used to do 10 years ago. I'm so excited to take Rya in 1-2 years & I hope she'll enjoy it as much I did when I was little & as much as I do now!

*In honor & memory of you, Mom! You're with me today & always!*

These snowflakes were made from the plastic rings that holds soda cans together.

They were really awesome!

Adorable "R" and "H" ornaments I found as I was walking in! There's fake snow inside!

I got an identical black flower the 1st day I went & Rya requested I get her a pink one. She loves it!

I have at least a dozen Egyptian perfume bottles in storage in WA. I started collecting them when I was in my teens. Garyn loves them too & always gets me a new one when we find them. I totally forgot about them until I saw a lady selling a bunch. Just wish I could have gotten more than 1 but I'm so happy I could get this one & that I am reminded of the ones I have. Can't wait to get them back!

I've wanted Mistletoe for the past 3 Christmases but could never find any. I found this at the boutique. It was hand picked in Prescott, AZ! So excited I finally found some!!

This is my little personalized welcome sign! It's so cute & was a great price & my 1st thing item with my family's names on it! I'm so excited about this!

I had a great time at the boutique & am so happy with my treasures. I got another small Christmas decoration but it was too hard to get a picture of it. I did pick up a few gifts as well so can't put pictures of those up. Already can't wait for next year!

Toddler Bed Sleeper!

Rya slept in her Tinkerbell toddler bed for the 1st time last night! We got it & set it up almost a week ago but she refuses to sleep in it. I've tried a few things that haven't worked. Garyn & I wanted to relax on the couch & watch Supernatural last night so I waited till Rya was asleep & moved her to her bed. To our surprise, she stayed in her bed. She must have been super comfy because she didn't move at all! I was hoping she'd stay in her bed all night but she woke me up at 3:30am & wanted to sleep on the couch. I'm just so incredibly proud of her that she slept in her bed at all! We're getting there!

Now if we can just get her potty trained!

My 1st Holiday Craft!

I want to start doing more crafts especially around the holidays. All my holiday decorations are in storage & I don't want to buy too many more. I found this online & it looked easy so I thought I'd try it. It only cost $4 for all the supplies & they were very easy to make. Each pumpkin took me about 15min. It would have been less if my hole punch worked better. At least I know I need a new one! I love these little pumpkins & what's great about them is I can collapse them down & store them easily until next year! Now I'm wondering what I can make for Christmas!

Rya's 3rd Birthday!

November 10th was Rya's 3rd birthday! I love that she's old enough to understand that's it's her birthday! We got donuts for breakfast which is our tradition on someone's birthday. We let her open a few gifts throughout the day. We had to keep them hidden since we knew she'd want to open all of them at once. Garyn took her to a special father/daughter lunch at his favorite sushi buffet. Rya's loves that place also since they have this coconut shrimp that she loves! The server ladies even surprised her with a small orange cake.

We went over to our good friend, Chuck's place that evening for a BBQ, cake & play time on the
playground. Rya had an absolute blast! We were even able to get Hayden to walk around. He had alot of fun & then discovered that there are rocks & sticks on the ground.

Rya had such a good birthday! After we let her open her 1st gift in the morning, she looked at us & said "I'm so happy!". Then that night she told us "I had good birthday". Those little words just totally melt my heart & make me cry. All I wanted was her to have a good birthday & she did!

*I love you, Rya Michele! You are my angel, beautiful daughter & my all! I can't believe you're 3 years old!*

Trick or Treat!

We knew early in October that we were going to take Rya & Hayden trick or treating for Halloween. We picked up their costumes about half way through the month. I wanted Rya to be Rapunzel & Hayden to be a lion but when we got their costumes, Party City didn't have Rapunzel so Rya picked out an Ariel costume. We thought Hayden would be too hot in the lion costume so Garyn picked out the skelton costume. After Rya tried on the Ariel costume at home, we decided we didn't like it. She & I went to Target the next day & she picked out an eskimo girl costume.

The church that we attend in town (Epiphany Lutheran Church) was doing Trunk or Tteat on October 30th. We got the kids dressed in their costumes & headed over there. Hayden refused to walk so we ended up trading off carrying him. Rya was so adorable running from car to car, holding her pink pumpkin out & whispering "trick or treat". Everyone couldn't stop saying how cute she & Hayden were. Rya was so great & is the best big sister. She'd grab a piece of candy for herself & then go back & get one for Hayden. We were able to go through the entire thing in about 15min. We all had a really good time & Rya was super excited about wearing her costume again the next night!

 

Halloween night! Getting the kids in their costumes was a little easier said than done. Especially Hayden but we managed. We headed out around 6:30pm & were going to Kim's (Garyn's mom) neighborhood. Once we got there, we wasted no time & started right away. We knew Hayden wouldn't walk & Rya might get tired so we brought the double stroller. We started out down the street from Kim's house. Rya was a little scared at first because of all the costumes & masks but she seemed okay once we sat in the stroller. I knew we'd have to skip some houses here & there because of the stroller. The ones that had cars parked in the driveway or too narrow walk ways. We also would wait until everyone at the door walked away so it'd be easier for us to get there.

What is wrong with kids today!? The 1st coupld houses we went to there were no kids at the door so Rya would get out of the stroller & we'd start walking up to the house. All of the sudden, 4-7 kids would be running past me, bumping into me, almost knocking down Rya, not even say excuse me or sorry, get some candy & run back almost knocking Rya over again! I just can't believe how rude kids are today. Rya is not even 3 years old & always says excuse me when she almost runs into someone. Poor little Hayden got ignored at the 1st couple houses we went to. I don't think the people realized he was dressed up & probably didn't think he could have candy even though he had his bucket. I then figured out exactly how we'd have to do this so Rya didn't get hurt & Hayden got his share.

From then on, we waited until there were no kids around before going up to a house. If there was a house with alot of them around, we'd skip it. Rya was such a good big sister. I told her one time after she got her piece of candy to get one for baby & she'd grab 1 piece & put it in Hayden's bucket. Every single time she did that the people would say how awesome that was & what a good big sister she was for taking care of her little brother. They'd usually even let her come back & get a 2nd piece for herself. We were able to make it to quite a few houses & Rya & Hayden had enough candy for a 1 year old & (almost) 3 year old. I did have to open a pack of M&M's (Hayden's favorite) for him because he was getting awfully fussy & we weren't done yet. He loves his M&M's!

Once we were back at Kim's house, Rya wanted to go inside & visit with Kruzer so we did that for awhile & I let them have 1 candy each. We went outside for awhile because Kim's neighbor turns their garage into a mini haunted house & Garyn wanted me to walk through it. It was very good! We spent some time outside just chatting & visiting with Kim, Greg & the neighbors. Hayden had a blast running around on the sidewalk. He was barefoot which is the only way he'll walk but he was having fun. He was the entertainment for the moment. Everyone was laughing at him & saying how adorable he was. Once the kids were good & tired we packed up & came home.

 When we got home around 9:30pm, the kids weren't up much longer before going to bed. I always like to end Halloween with a snack & a scary movie but it occured to me that I don't like scary movies so why do I keep watching them? Garyn & I popped some popcorn & got comfy on the couch with a blanket & watched some of the older Supernatural episodes. Very relaxing end to a fun Halloween evening!