Christmas morning

Christmas morning was perfect!

The kids received just about everything that was on their list this year.

We had a great time visiting with family.

Santa Can See Us

I love a rooftop lined in white lights and this year is the first year in such a long time that we have done it.

We hope to add more lights tonight.

Christmas Tree 2015

Love our Christmas tree this year!

The location is perfect this year, we can see it from all areas in the house and the lights shine through the front door!

Almost done decorating!

Entryway is Ready

Our entryway is Ready for Christmas!

I love the softness of the candles early in the evening now. I'm not sure what I will put on top of this table after the Holidays.

Any of you have ideas to share?

Something Small

I added the vase and eucalyptus.

I think it adds a nice touch to the grouping.

Christmas Sneak Peak

I moved the cabinet to this wall and today I pulled items from various other rooms to make this Christmas vignette.

We love how it looks as you walk in the front door.

Christmas Day 2014

Our Christmas was filled with Family and laughter!

I will share some pics of our day with you!

Christmas morning

Crystal opening her Tablet

Tank opening up his Tablet

Abigail opening up her Tablet

My present from Husband, new much needed office chair

Purse from my MIL, so much room in it

a XBOX ONE for the Whole family to play with

I hope your Christmas was as exciting as ours!

Welcome Christmas 2014

I'm so Happy that Christmas is almost here! 

Today I'm sharing my House decorated Simple this Season. 

I'll post a few more Christmas pictures as I finish my vignettes before guests start to arrive. 

Feel free to click on the photos to see more details!

~~Merry Christmas ~~

Cooking Friday- Turkey Soup

We have so much leftover Turkey today and the kids were getting tired of leftovers so I found this very easy Recipe online. 

It has turned out so Yummy and we have plenty of leftovers for dinner tomorrow. The kids have voted this in as a Keeper!

Everything that I used is in my Youtube video and I simmered everything together for about an hour, We believe that it will taste better tomorrow as the flavors meld together in the fridge.

Hope your Friday is as Relaxing as ours tonight!

Merry Christmas 2013

Merry Christmas from our Family to Yours! The presents have all been opened and we are waiting to eat Dinner. 

Kitchen Organization- The Junk Drawer

Every since we moved in to this Rental, this drawer has been a slight pain. We had pencils and pens for homework right beside ziplock bags. Space is limited so I have to do the best I can with what is available and I'm making do until we can move.

It took just about an hour in the afternoon before the kids came home to empty, wash and sort through the items that were stuffed in here. I have purged many items and re-arranged this drawer space.

Here is a short vlog on the before and after, enjoy it if you have time..I love making these vlogs and am wondering how many of you watch?

I'm decorating the house for a Christmas tour but find that I'm just not feeling crafty since it's still hot here and we miss Snow. I'm sure our tree will be Beautiful though!

Joining these fun Ladies~
No Minimalist Here
Savvy Southern Style

Bike Riding in Style

My Christmas present from my Husband Richard was a very nice new bike! It's a "Giant" brand bike and it's the color Mint...Yup like Mint ice cream..lol..

I love it and it goes along with my Resolution of getting back into shape, I shall not use the word "Diet" as I fail at that year after year. We are just making smarter choices in what we eat..which I'm finding very hard since I love to grab something Yummy after the kids are in bed at night. Any suggestions for low calorie but tasteful snacks?

We are riding our bikes about every weekend, if it' just us 2 then we go for a long ride around 20 or more miles but if the kids are along than we just ride for about 3 or so...They all have bikes and love to ride and see the turtles on the bike trail.

Here I am with my new bike, the sweater makes me look pregnant but let me assure you, I am not!..lol..

I'm finding bike riding to be alot of fun which I never thought it would be!

Christmas Re-Cap

Christmas was a very nice time here at the Graves Household, both G'mas came over along with my sister and even though there were moments of drama mixed in, the kids had a great time. I decided to not film them opening their presents this year like I have done last year because I got some very rude comments about how we had not given the oldest daughter enough presents..I'm not going to even acknowledge them since my oldest daughter is very happy!

We went over to my Step-Sister's and helped her bake/frost cookies and we had a blast!

We ate and ate and today I'm happy that Husband bought me a new bike so we can step up our riding this year! I'm having a great time riding with Husband, great excercise and we get to spend time together outside, something I have missed since moving from the farm.

On Christmas day my Scentsy lightbulb blew out and I bought a Wal-Mart Limited Edition Peppermint candle and we were so disappointed in the scent throw of this candle, even being in the same room with it and we could hardly smell it. What are your fav. store bought candles? I can't always run to BBW for their Slatkin candles or Yankee Candle store.

I leave you with a few pics that I was able to grab with my Iphone as the kids were grabbing seconds of Christmas dinner and one of us at my Step-Sisters frosting cookies.

An Early Christmas Present, Reading....

This Christmas I was surprised by my Husband with an Kindle Touch, a early Christmas present, My new toy that I'm having so much fun with!

I have already loaded her up with a few FREE Kindle books from Amazon. My Husband surprised me by buying and loading the new Diana GaBolden book "The Scottish Prisoneer". She is my all time fav. author and I'm eagerly awaiting her next book in the Outlander series. I still love hardback books but this is oh so easy to slip in my purse and my nightstand is looking clutter free since I don't have a stack of books on it..I found a nice candle to put in their place!

I am looking for a pretty cover for my Kindle's safe keeping...Do you know of any Etsy shops that sell these or maybe pretty ones in a store?

I'm linking up with Flip Flops & Pearls  for her Christmas Party!

The Tree is Trimmed

So we finally trimmed the Christmas tree, It was a nice evening with G'ma Terri and Christmas music playing in the background. 

It has been hard for us to get into the Christmas Spirit this year since FL is still in the 80's and it's getting colder in OH. We are putting our Smiling faces on for the kids though and hoping that next year will be a better year.

I have enjoyed looking at everyone's Christmas decorations and seeing what ya'll have bought this year and the baking I have seen...Yum!!

Am I the only one that will be out finding the last Hot toy of the season? Yup..not done yet with the Christmas shopping...lol..Every year I swear I'll be more prepared but it never works out.

I did receive a Christmas present early and I'm having so much fun with it, I'll share more on this tomorrow!

Crystal's Christmas Band Concert

Last night Crystal had her Christmas Band Concert.  She did really well, She brought home her Saxophone and practiced Jingle Bells many nights.

She gets her musical talents from her Dad, not from me..lol..

We are very proud of her!

Happy New Years~ 2011!!!

Happy New Year my Friends!!

We have taken down our Christmas tree and the bay window tree is put away and all that is left is the Christmas village. We have eaten our Pork and Sourkrout with mashed tators and I made chocolate no-bakes for dessert. I'm relaxing and pondering on some major changes which we have coming our way this New Year. The kids are relaxing and watching a few cartoons on "Sprout" channel.

So now that Christmas is put away my house feels bare and I have bare spots...not liking the empty feeling so I'm going to have to get creative and find/make some changes.

How do you handle the bare spots in your home? Do you run out and buy new to fill the space or is less more this year?

Merry Christmas~ The Day After!

We had a very nice Christmas here by staying inside warm and trying to get WELL, that's right the kids had the stomach bug which started Thursday afternoon as we were at the movies watching "Tangled" and celebrating my now 8 yr old's Birthday. Lil guy started to cry/scream about his ear hurting followed with a spike in temp all before movie had ended, we never made it to the Pizza Place, instead we ran to the Urgent Care where he was loaded up with meds for an Ear Infection/ stomach bug. Then Friday my Birthday girl got the bug with 102 fever. Christmas day we did open present but went back to bed where we all slept till 5.  We tried to salvage some of the Holiday by driving around town in the warm car looking at Christmas lights and Chinese food since I wasn't in the mood to cook. We weren't as wel as we thought and came right back home to just lay on the couch and watch "A Christmas Carol" with George C. Scott.

Today the kids are feeling a tad bit better and oldest is at her best friends playing but now it seems to be Husbands turn to feel icky and stay close to the bathroom...I'm sure I'm next...I'm glad that this hit us while the kids are on break though.

Hubby gave me a Flip Camera in my fav. color Blue so I'm ready to post more videos on my YouTube channel. I'm having fun and "meeting" new families.

I hope every one of you had a Blessed Christmas Day!!

What was your Fav. gift to receive this year?

Christmas Decorations 2010~ VIDEO

I've been so busy with a sick lil boy and a very hard working Husband who has been coming in late every night.

I kept it simple this year but love how the kitchen looks when you first walk in. I have started to collect Santas but after Christmas I think I'll find some Snowman to carry me thru Winter.

Here is a very cute Santa that shares my comfy chair. I received him in a Swap last year and love how cute he looks!

I have loved looking at Everyone's Christmas decorations and every day there is more to see. I'm gathering ideas in a journal for next year which I hope will be calmer than this year. I'm not going to complain too much though, my Husband has a great job but boy they work him....I just wish we weren't getting sick, seems everyone is sick with something this year. Drink lots of water and take your vitamins my Friends!!

The weather here has been very cold and we've had Snow, Sleeting rain and ice, more bed weather coming here on Friday from what the weather man said.  How are you holding up, staying warm?

Christmas Band Concert 2010

Crystal is in Band this year and learning how to play the Sax. Lots of practicing and last night was their Christmas concert. She was so very nervous but looked so pretty in her new dress we found at Kohl's. She was sitting behind the piano so we couldn't see her play the Sax, but we know she did great for only a few months of practicing!

The video is rather shaky, I have to work on that but Please enjoy the Festive singing!