christmas card & tree

please don't mind the creepy 'stache... it was movember, unfortunately for the family photo.

So now that its officially after Christmas... how about an update? We did manage to take a Christmas photo... with all of us...minus the dogs...and well minus henry's screaming but adorable face. We did it....while cutting down a Christmas tree! And I even mailed them off. Yay! How do families do this with 2+ kids... I thought we were stretched thin with one kiddo. Yikes. When I see a mom out and about with a couple kids (all dressed), and the mom even looks like she had a shower...I am in awe. I feel like asking her how she does it, what's the trick? But if someone would dare hold me up while successfully shopping with kids, I'd kill them.

Let me reminisce a little at the past years...

2012

 

2011

which wasn't actually a card... somehow I was too busy?...and yet kid-less...blows my mind.

 

2010

which is actually the same spot as this year's photo!

Oh yeah, so we cut down a Christmas tree a month ago too! We tromped through the snow, crossed a river (ok, maybe more a like a stream) and went through the woods to find some grand trees. It was actually on Thanksgiving. My sister and her fiancé and adorable puppies joined in on our tree-cutting tradition in Idaho. Totally a blast.

my little loves

the trees!

this little girl could eat snow all day long, and she has a friend who enjoys snow also.

 little kid and puppies? nothing cuter.

halloween 2013.

I am quite proud to say we pulled off Halloween this year. Henry was born just two days prior...so I wasn't sure if we could do it. Cora was an owl, which I made her costume thanks to some pinterest inspiration. She was adorable. She knew how to knock on the doors (well, three to be exact- grandparents, auntie, and a friend's house), say "whoo whoo" and said "tree" for trick or treat and would exchange one candy from her bucket for a new one. Freaking adorable. Anyways, it was a success. Baby steps on this whole parenting thing with two kids.

This was also our first outing as a family... all cora wanted to do was hold henry's hand in the back seat. Pretty sweet.

 

This is henry's first Halloween...so he was a panda, courtesy of a cute hooded towel. We will do better next time for your costume little oaks...more time, more planning.

2012 cora was a sack of spuds

 

2011 an xray baby in utero.

Oh, and check out this graveyard cake I made for Matt's work party. Cute right?! Tiny candy rocks? Fun. I finished this the morning I went into labor and dropped it off on our way to the hospital. I put time into this cake... had to be enjoyed.

christmas cards!

Umm yeah. We got the christmas cards done this year!! I'm so proud of us. Instead of waiting on the snow (which gets less and less each year... weird. what could cause that to happen?!)...we took a family photo in front of a wintry tree, sans the snow. It was far from grand, but nonetheless completed. And, sure our little sweets looks like a frigid little boy bird. But whatever, her name is Cora... blatantly on the card for our distant relatives to see, seeing how I sucked at sending out birth announcements. Designing cards/gifts/paper items- one of my top favorite things to do, but alas sometimes something has to give in a busy life I suppose. Next kid I'll do better, and maybe next year I'll even throw a bow in her hair! Or maybe we'll do something real crazy and wrangle our dogs in the photo too. Oh, next year.

So these cards I made on adobe photoshop- our picture, a few turquoise words... then uploaded to Costco as a blank greeting card...simple. 50 cards, 50 envelopes...done in 1 day. Can't beat that. Want to see two years ago?! Same thing, but I used Costco's template. This year I thought I could pull off doing our own thing. I just love sending out cards christmas cards and receiving them... seeing what long lost cousins look like these days, being thought of during the holidays- just a blast.

Cora-the christmas present helper.

And you better believe my not-cheap-canon camera has blue paint on it. And I like it even better now.

Shhh....we are also working on christmas presents over here. So. much. fun. I love christmas. And do you even know matt asks for christmas music to be played in the morning (unheard of)... I think Cora is helping along our giddy christmas spirit. I can't really tell you about the projects right now, but in January I'll show you the cute photos... in addition to the one above...where she also looks like a little boy. Hmm. Why do I like turquoise/blue so much?! Perhaps I should reconsider her color choices...but her big blue eyes look soooo good in it. Big ol' dilemma.

a christmas tree and hot springs.

 

Yup, you read it right... our uber fun winter combo, perhaps a new tradition... cutting down a christmas tree in the idaho wilderness.... then taking a swim in the silver creek plunge hot springs. 

Oh my gosh....INCREDIBLE.

Cora couldn't stop laughing and smiling in the hot springs. So much fun.

 

...here cora, hold the axe sheath for dad.

 

Matt would like you to see this crazy picture... him scaling the side of a mountain for our christmas tree...when we found "the one"...
 

 

But he wanted me to crop out the road. Less impressive right?! Sorry matt, Cora and I still think you're amazing.
 

 

Anyways, we wanted a tree to put in our out-cropped window seat, so we were looking for a half-a-tree.  One with branches only on one side. This way it is out of reach of sweet, grabby-crawling babe. Well, we found it!

 

It was raining, foggy, cold... so dreamy. Cora loved all of it, what a trooper.

 

Then we drove a bit further to a pool-type hot springs that was just fresh mountain water, maybe 102 degrees, and no sulfur smells! We were the only ones swimming around. Usually the road is closed to get up there in the winter with all of the snow, but thanks to global warming...we had open roads for our hot spring fun!

 

We did the blow-in-the-face and dunk baby thing, super fun. She didn't even take on any water! Then just swam around for about a 1/2 hour. We didn't want to leave that's for sure.

 

So we  got home, decorated our charlie-brown-esq tree, and now we are a little closer to the holiday spirit.  I just need to stop dreaming about the hot springs, wishing they were in our backyard.

christmas!

[christmas last year...our only 3 photos taken]

 

I love christmas. I have been thinking about decorating for a month now...oh, fine maybe two months. And now that thanksgiving is over...we can actually crank up the christmas tunes... hang some lights...and go cut down a tree. Finally. It seems that last year we were a little preoccupied with being pregnant, that we didn't get in true christmas spirit... or even take a family christmas photo (such a bummer). That is all about to change, starting now. Cora won't remember all of this, but we will. And it's going to be fun.

We are lucky enough to get to have Matt's family in town for Christmas #1...on the actual christmas day... then we head out to California to spend Christmas #2 with my family and friends a week later. Did you catch that?! Two christmases. Twice as long to celebrate. Fantastic. I'm so excited.

Matt will surely get tired of christmas music in about a week and his nose will be irritated from the endless christmas candles. Too bad. We are doing christmas this year 100%, no sallys here.

Yea... I just typed christmas 14 times. That's how pumped I am.

sack-o-spuds

 

 

Happy Halloween!

 

This was Cora's first halloween, so... of course she had to be a homegrown sack-o-spuds. You might have seen it on pinterest (I pinned it back when I was pregnant). It was a must do for our little idaho spud.

 

Pretty simple costume...

• Make a few spuds- This is how you make a panty-hose spud...with eyes! So fun.

• The body is just natural canvas that I had lying around from our wedding tablecloths.

• Draw some brown lettering on the sack with brown sharpie (hers said- homegrown spud pacotti farms idaho est. 2012)
• Then a brown outfit underneath

• An adult brown headband, sewed down to size with a spud sewn to it.

Ta-da! Homegrown Spud!

She is no sack of potatoes though, I assure you. She is more like a wiggle worm- but that costume would have taken me a bit longer to make.

 

 

We thought her outfit was hilarious.... she tolerated it surprisingly well too! I guess bring on the headbands with big flowers. Little spud is down. I also had a blast making it... no wonder so many moms make halloween costumes. Totally fun first halloween!