'Cuz You're My Best Friend

We had the pl3asure of having my sister, her husband Michael, and their adorable son Adam stay with us for ten whole days in December. There wasn't much of an agenda, but there didn't really need to be with two babies in the house. Adam will turn one in January and Jake's birthday is in March, so these two are pretty close to being on the same level. So for your Thursday morning viewing pleasure, brace yourself for a double-dose of cuteness:

Did you try the strained peas? I thought they were kind of dry, didn't you?

Quick! Sit still! Maybe they won't notice us hiding in here!

Seriously, dude... that was supposed to be MY puff. You're just lucky that this shiny table is so distracting!

Jake, what did you put in my juice?? It's GOOOO-OOOOD! And where are they taking us anyway?

Jake: I can't believe they're making us pose for another stupid picture. This is lame.
Adam: What Mom? I can't hear you! Must be all the paparazzi yelling at me!

The cuter we look, the less they'll notice what a mess we made, right?

And here's my personal favorite...

I get to hang out with my cousin AGAIN today??? ROCK ON!!!!

We miss you all already, but especially that little man of yours. Come back and see us soon... Jake is already tired of seeing 'boring-ol' Mom' everyday!

Undeck the Halls

The holidays are here and gone... can you believe it? And usually with the return of January 3rd or 4th comes a little bit of let-down. The family has left town or you have traveled home, the cookies and yummy treats that you've allowed yourself to indulge on for the past month have all been gobbled up, and those Christmas decorations that were fun to put up are now just taunting you with the task of taking them back down. But for some reason this year, I actually enjoyed taking them down. Christmas and New Year here in Mauneyland were spectacular, and it was a nice break from the norm, but I realized as I "undecked the halls" that I love the norm... the norm is good. Often times I can get so caught up in checking out other blogs and reading about other lives that I forget how good I have it here. I have blogging friends that seem to have it all, do it all, and have perfect hair and cute outfits all the while I sit here in my sweats and continuously figure out a way to squeeze in three minutes of me-time to blog or workout or whatever!

But then I think about the things I blog about... my wonderful family, our fun vacations, our beautiful house... and I realize that anyone reading my blog might think the same about me. I wade through our mounds of pictures to find the ones where I look the cutest, regardless of how everyone else looks (oh come on, you do it, too!) and I talk about our happiest times. With this, I do hope that I never sound like I'm boasting or bragging, because I certainly do not want to come across that way, but looking back over the past year of posts, I can see how much joy we've shared here. Regardless of whatever other struggles we are going through, and believe me, we have them just like everyone else (as to my perfect blogger friends), there is so much laughter and an abundance of joy and I love that it has been captured here in my own little blogoshere. I used to keep a journal about all of the things that I am thankful for day-to-day, but this is so much better, and it makes me excited for the "norm" of 2011. It's a new year, and with that comes such hope, such excitement, and such a feeling that anything can happen. So as you take down your ornaments this year or get beat up by pine needs as you try desperately to unwrap the lights from its grip (yes, this already happened to me), just keep your eyes focused on the promise that is to come. And most importantly, fix your eyes on Jesus and the promises of His father. I find that my years are full of joy and happiness because I continue to keep my priorities straight. And just think... if I focus even more of my day-to-day norm on Him, 2011 will be more blessed than I can even fathom. I can't wait!

And just because I love posts with pictures (and because I never got around to it in December), here are a few snapshots of our home before the undecking. Our home is truly more cozy at Christmastime...

Our snowman and woman guard the candy, but don't ever seem to do a good job. These two lucky fellows were forgotten about when we put away stuff in 2009, so they got to stay out all year long, even through the summer!

The lighted garland up our banister is always my favorite!

We don't have one- but two!- mantles to decorate. I contemplated leaving the lighted garland up all year round because it looks so bare without it!

And let's not forget the stockings!

My mom has made all of our stockings over the years. As we got married, she lovingly crafted each of our husbands their very own. And then came grandkids and of course she did the same. I searched everywhere for this one as it was a "vintage" kit (meaning they don't make it anymore) and found it on eBay. I think it's now my favorite.

And here's where the real fun begins... and a quick story. This is our living room... or was our living room until the week before Christmas. When my sister and her husband were here, they asked us if we had ever considered putting the pool table in this room and our living room furniture in the room where our pool table resided. We had always felt like our living room was pretty cramped, and the room with the pool table really served no purpose as we rarely play and it is smack in the middle of our house. So within two hours the four of us had made the switch- light fixtures and all! So for Christmas we not only got lots of presents... but we got more space! I don't really have "before" pictures of the rooms before the change (aside from this one) because it all happened so fast! So here's the old living room decorated before...

The tree in its new spot in what used to be the "billiard room"...

And the room undecked! This picture is taken from the old living room, which is the new home to our pool table... confused yet? Our new living room is so much bigger. Thank you, Mike and Mindy for all of your help! We love it!

And one more shot from the dining room. Our living room is now in a much more central location in our house and much more conducive for family and friend gatherings. Why didn't we think of this sooner? Plus (and ironically enough) our furniture actually matches the new rooms better... I never liked the green with the red pool table and the old living room was too beige. Problem solved!

So that's our extreme home makeover for 2011... new year, new living space, new hope! :) I wish you all the best for your 2011, too! Make everyday count!

Christmas Bliss

Family was here. LOTS of family. And we ate. And ate. And ate some more. The boys built a snow fort. The girls stayed cozy and warm inside and played with the babies. We played games, watched movies, went to church, and just spent quality time together. I could not have asked for more.

Santa did end up visiting even though I already had everything I could have possibly asked for. As I get older the more I realize that God has blessed me abundantly with an incredible family. And then on top of that I married a man who loves me and encourages me to be a better me. And he has a pretty incredible family, too. This Christmas there was an overflow of love and my heart is beyond full. My only hope is that you felt it, too, however you spent your holiday. And just remember to thank God from who all blessings truly do flow.

And since pictures say it better than I could ever put into words, here is just a glimpse of the past week. It truly was perfect.

I hope you had a merry Christmas, and just in case I'm too "busy" avoiding technology and spending time with those I love instead of posting, have a safe and happy new year. Blessings and holiday cheer to you all!

Snow Daze

On Sunday the weatherman was calling for a blizzard. We weren't necessarily going to get a lot of accumulation, but we had winds of 40mph+, below freezing temperatures, and blowing snow. After much debate that morning, calling other pastors, and hearing that a friend of ours got blown into a ditch out driving that morning, Josh made the decision to cancel services. When I turned on the news it looked as if almost every other church had decided to do the same thing.

So with an entire day of nothing to do ahead of us (which never happens), we watched movies, snuggled on the couch, and just enjoyed our time together as a family. But somewhere in the middle of the day we had the brilliant idea to cut Jake's hair. It had started creeping past his ears and down the back of his neck and there were a few pieces at the crown of his head that could be brushed forward almost to the front! I think they were his last two strands of original hair that I couldn't bear to trim the first time!

Armed with a bottle (which was advice from my sister Mindy) and the clippers, we set to work. Jake is such a wiggler, so I had to keep him distracted and Josh had to work quickly. At first glance upon finishing, we thought we had butchered his hair! From the side he looked like a friar with a weird bowl cut, but once it dried and fell naturally the look went away (thank goodness!). But with a haircut and some boredom we did have a little bit of fun at our son's expense... take a look!

In the chair at Mom and Pop's Barber Shop. I feel like if we opened one of our own, that's what it would be called... has a nice ring to it, doesn't it? We serve free drinks!

Jake's comb-over... looking just like his Great Grandaddy Bullen! (And no, he wouldn't mind me saying that... in fact, Great Mawmaw would have probably pointed it out to everyone anyway)

With it combed straight back, he's a baby version of Christopher Walken:

Yikes! Did someone stick their finger in the light socket?? This is one hair-raising do! This boy can pull off any look, can't he?

But we actually thought it was so darn cute that we left it that way for the rest of the day and took some pictures for our Christmas card (yes, I know we're behind). This is one of the out-takes so I'm allowed to post it... maybe I'll post the rest after our cards get mailed out because there are so many cute ones. Jake wasn't really having much fun, but this one makes me laugh because it looks like a totally posed fake-smile. How does my son know how to fake-smile at 9 months old? What a character! And if this is one of the out-takes I'm sure you're thinking that our Christmas card pictures much be really cute, right?? Right??? :)

We finally did get our cards ordered after I looked through all of them about eighteen times. Estimated date of delivery to our home? December 24th. Nice. I guess I should have ordered New Year's cards like my friend Kristen does every year... I should have known better considering that my nephew's birthday gift from October is sitting on our coffee table. Oh well... maybe next year. You live and you learn I guess.

I hope everyone who had snow had some fun in it! I know that next year Jake will think it's much more fun and we'll actually venture outside!

The 12 Days of Christmas

It seems as if I have a little catching up to do on the first 12 days of December in Mauneyland. So here is what we've been up to so far:

We searched for the perfect tree... (technically this happened in November, but I feel like it's appropriate to mention here):

Sadly we did not end up cutting down our own this year, but after searching through the fields (would it be a field of Christmas trees or something else?) we found this beauty in the barn:

We had some taller help to get her up:

And some smaller help to add the ornaments

He's a big fan of the unbreakable ones we put on the bottom for him

And although we're still partial to last year's tree, we did find another pretty one. We just realized that we're both fans of fatter trees as opposed to taller ones. This year the star actually grazes the ceiling!

Since the tree was up, we also made sure to deck the halls- inside and out
And went downtown to see Santa arrive in the Christmas Parade

And we even had our first snow...
Just in time to celebrate Christmas with Pawpaw before he headed home
So needless to say, the Christmas spirit is certainly here in Mauneyland. It's most certainly my favorite time of year and we are enjoying the coziness of our home, lit by white lights everywhere. And there is nothing like sitting inside and seeing the snow fall outside... my love affiar with the Midwest continues. So these first 12 days of December have been perfect, and there is still so much more holiday fun to come!

And as for Jake? I haven't really done much of an update post on him lately, but he is still growing like a weed! Make this kid stop! He's been pulling himself up on everything, babbling up a storm, clapping his hands, and just making us smile everyday. Other milestones include...

Reading the menu when we go out to eat (seriously, can your kid do that???)

And dressing a bit like a snob at the country club
Luckily the bottle and the pacifier keep him from looking too grown up at these times! And in just 12 more days, we'll celebrate his very first Christmas as well as his cousin Adam's since he'll be in town. Oh how I just love December!