merry happy day after Christmas

From the cutest boys (in their matching jammies) on the block.... merry happy day after Christmas!

Yesterday was fun!  Crazy, but fun.  12 adults and 7 children under 4... obviously a little nutty in our little 1400 square foot home.  There may have been more than one fight over Lightning McQueen (even though there are 4 different ones) or a fight over monster trucks (though there are well over 7 different ones)... or too many cooks in the kitchen at one time.  But overall the food was delicious, the company was wonderful, and we celebrated the birth of Jesus with a gusto.  We sure feel blessed.

it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Snow, snow as far as the eye can see.

LOVE IT!

Last weekend we had a super major storm, which dumped about two feet of the white stuff in 2 nights.  NICE!  Sadly it was followed the same night by some nasty heavy rain, which compressed it and turned many a road and driveway into unpassable messes...  Luckily not my driveway, because Dave stayed out late to plow it before the rain, and I shoveled out the walkways and garbage cans and whatnot.  Phew.  The next day (Sunday) after the rain was pretty bad though.  After debating back and forth, I finally decided to head to Church and brave the road.  It was... messy.  5 mph messy and only one set of tracks on the unplowed road, so when I met another car we both had to venture into the nasty slush factory.  I made it halfway there, only to be thwarted by a tree across the road.  Sigh.  Turned around and came home!

Other than that snow excitement, we've just been enjoying the season and preparing for Steve to come home (tomorrow) and for Christmas.  Here's a few photos for you to enjoy :)

 Mark cut down our tree and hauled it back to the house for me too - thanks!  I could have done it myself I am sure, but it was much nicer to have someone to share the tree hunting experience with.  Forest tagged along in the Moby.

Our little Grand fir ('abis grandis' if I remember correctly, dad?)

 Olaf watches Nick plow the driveway from the windowsill.  You can just see Nick's back bumper in the far left of the window.  Nothing like 14" thick walls to provide a great viewing area!

 Best present under the tree this year... Forest :)

 He batted that Olaf/snowman ornament around for at least 30 minutes :)

 Hey mom check me out!  Camo, old coat, messy hair.  Redneck in training? Apparently so!

 I tried to capture a photo in the middle of a snowstorm as Dave was plowing the snow with the tractor.  As you can see, there was a LOT!

Gitcha Goomsba Up

I think this is hilarious.
Leavenworth's new "viral video" ad campaign.

I've read other comments and reviews of people who say it was so "trashy" that they now refuse to visit Leavenworth.  Ha!  Okay.  I mean seriously people, it's meant to be funny.  Did no one see St. Nicholas dancing in the background?  I don't think it's trying to change Leavenworth's reputation into a college party town.  Anyone who has ever visited knows that's not even possible.  Too many trinket shops, not enough bars.  But this ad sure is generating dialogue, which I am sure was the whole point in the first place!

So without further ado, please take a look at "Gitcha Goomsba Up"

Umm, just ordered these with my store credit at Zappos.
SO EXCITED.
Free overnight shipping.

Merry Christmas, TO MYSELF!

Are we shoe twins now Tara?  I tried to order a different color but they didn't have it in my size.  So when I wear mine you can wear one of your other two pairs :)

who wants to visit?

It's easy to get in the Christmas spirit when your address is Leavenworth, WA!























I love this place.

I especially love that I live 15 miles outside of town and can just visit whenever I want, but still call it my hometown :)

Schedule for this weekend:
Play with Sorensen family in the snow.
Cut down Christmas tree on the property.
Put up Christmas tree.
Sled.
SLEEP (if the children allow it...)

So glad that tomorrow is my FRIDAY!  YAY!

First snow day play

Nov. 20th was our first day of snow here in Plain.  So we headed out to do what is most fun - sledding!  There wasn't a ton of snow so the sledding mostly meant I pulled everyone around.  And let me tell you - our three Saugen cousins are NOT light!  I think Micah weighs more than his older sister, and Olaf is close behind :)  Luckily with both Christie and I we managed to pull them up the hill.

Olaf looks totally prepared, right?  Nope....  his boots from last year don't fit and I haven't found him any yet for this year so he's wearing skater shoes.  Also those mittens he's wearing -- we already lost one so now he's down to socks on his hands!  I looked for cheapos at WallyWorld yesterday but no love.  No mittens, no snow boots.  Poor kid will just have to wait until I can get out to shop again!

Yum!  We all shared a thermos of hot cocoa when we were all done.

Finally, I win!

I have noticed that a lot of bloggers get free items to review from companies all the time.  Sometimes they even give a duplicate of the item away on their blog.   Usually to win one of these giveaways there are requirements - you must follow that person's blog, you must 'Tweet' about it, post it or 'like' it on Facebook...  Too much for me.  I am not going to follow someone's blog just for a shot at winning a prize.  However, if I truly genuinely like to read your blog, then sure, sign me up, and I'll be happy to read and comment away!  (Know that if I follow your blog, it's definitely because I find you interesting, not because I want your swag.)   I will say though, that even of the blogs I know and love, I have entered probably a hundred giveaways and never won.  Even when there were only like 5 entries.  I have pretty much given up hope of ever doing so :)  But I digress.

Now on to the actual topic of this post -- finally FINALLY someone is giving something away to all bloggers, without (many) strings attached.  You don't have to have a million readers, you don't have to post it all over the web, you just have a write a short post and they give you something for free.  So this year we will be getting our Christmas cards from Shutterfly, thank you very much!

I usually ALWAYS make my own cards.  Basically I make a scrapbook page of our year in review, then make color copies, then send em all out.  And y'all, it's expensive.  Color copies are 99cents per side usually.  Which means I usually spend at least $150 and a lot of time on them.  Honestly I don't really mind, actually I really enjoy making our little 'year in review'.  It's our little gift to people over the holidays.  But sometimes it is overwhelming because I usually leave it to the last minute :)  Of course!

But seriously people, Shutterfly just offered me 50 FREE Christmas card prints just for telling them (and you) what my favorite new designs are, and I can't pass it up.  I have never used Shutterfly before, so this will be a new experience. I have heard good things, and hopefully I will have the same good experience that other folks have had.

Here are some of my favorite card designs I have found so far:

Maybe you can see a theme here -- I am drawn to the ones with lots of COLOR, lots of DIFFERENT FONTS, and color pictures over black and white.  I know they are all customizable though, I could always put in my color pictures instead of the example black and whites.  But I guess I am just drawn to these ones with so much color.  And I don't know why I love the different fonts... maybe the scrapbooker in me?

Of course they also have typical photo gifts like this.

I used to make fun of these corny mugs, keychains, etc... and then I became a mom.  And now I get it.  They are awesome little reminders of your family.  Cheesy as they may be!

I am totally buying these gift tags.  Even though they are not free.  I want them.

Well that's enough talk I think.  I am stoked about my Christmas cards!  If you are a blogger (even if you have only 2 readers and it's your mom and your grandma) and you want some nice cards, just follow this link. 

I think that Shutterfly probably may have made a lifelong customer with this little gift to me. 

Don't worry, I didn't ACTUALLY show you the card we picked to send out; you'll all see that soon enough!  Know that it will have lots of color though :)