ThEre IS hOpE.....

Barrett, love the kid to death, but I've always heard that when you have 3 children, one will be a challenge, and well, so far that has proven to be Mr. Barrett...He's always pushing the limits, testing our patience, and is just down stubborn...not sure where on earth he gets such a characteristic such as that..But I was having a VERY challenging day with him, wits end, about ready to throw in the towel...and then I see...there IS hope...the kid can be as sweet as candy, if he wants...the key word is WANTS...Bella, our kitty, had crawled on the couch, all curled up as kitties do, when Mr. Stubborn, went and got all the stuffed animals he could find in close range, including his beloved green baby...AND his favorite blanket...I walked by to check to see what he was up to and why he was being so quiet (usually not a good combo) and he had covered Bella up while she was napping..although she did have to perk up for the picture...this cat never misses a photo op...it just melted my heart, gave me hope that my challenging child does have a heart of gold...I know he does, it's just covered with a lot of boyness...One of the best feelings I can experience...Hope...that one day all the stubbornness will be channeled into a great career, a great person, a great heart...

So long 2009....

Hearth Room fireplace and bookcases...The 6th stocking is Grandma's when she comes to visit...Opps...I guess I never finished..note the right side floral arrangement is missing the poinsettias'...oh well...to late now.....

What goes up, must come down. The law of physics. Or pertaining to the Christmas season, you drag ALL the crap out, now it's time for ALL the crap to be packed away, back into the designated labeled bins, until next year...Usually I keep up all our Merry Christmas decorations until AFTER New Years, but since our house is lookin' like a department store on steroids, I thought I'd get a jump start to the LONG process today, while it was SO cold and rainy outside and the big boys were at tennis camp today...

(this is just a PARTIAL view of the LONG (well LONG when you're makin' bows) staircase..

This season, was the Year of the Bows for me...Count them 83 NEW bows...staircases, fireplaces, outside gate and doorways, and garlands galore...I don't really care if I ever see my bow maker and/or floral wire for ALONG time....

Our Radko tree....

Our Texas Tree....

Mantel in the Kitchen

Centerpiece in the Kitchen

The huge Peacock tree....I have some ideas for next year...I'd like to add some more trees (surprise surprise, right), 3 different sized flocked trees for the dining room.. I've already started to collect birdhouses and birds for tree #1, but I'm undecided for tree #2 and #3, don't tell my husband, he'll have a heart attack!! But maybe not since our very sweet neighbor whom always delivers a WARM poopyseed cake EVERY Christmas told us she has NINE themed BIG trees...see, I'm not the only Looney Christmas Toon out there!!!

So I've had lots of friends and family back home ask to post some decorations of our house...and there ya go...here's a few of them...The boys are all sad that I'm putting "the pretties" away...but Brandt says, "Mom, now we can turn over a new fresh year"...Yes, and he's right..I've already started my "to do" list..some of the things on the list are left over from last year and the year before, but maybe THIS year will be the year?...I love the challenge that comes with a "clean" slate each new year brings...got lots planned, lots to accomplish, lots of dreams to make a reality...I can feel it..THIS is the year...

GiNgErBrEAd HoUSes...

My boys LOVE this party that our neighborhood does each year. Actually Brandt asked when the party was going to be BEFORE Thanksgiving!!!...Gee, and I thought I was the planner in the family...It amazes me how creative they can be for their little ages..and how precise the placement of the candy has to be (Barrett)...he's going to be my little architect or engineer when he grows up....Hopefully Boden will be able to join us in 2 more years or so...But he got to go see Santa at Bass Pro with Daddy...so he was really happy to have Daddy time, oh, AND see the fish!!!

Just getting started....

The finished product.....

And finished product #2 WITH the boy's trade mark, flip-flops...Merry Christmas Southern Texas style...

ChrisTmAs TrAdiTiOns and CoLLectIoNs....

I'm one of those girls that loves Collections, my main one being cookbooks. When we built our house, on my "wish list" was the idea of having a spot JUST for them. It worked out perfectly that the "wine" room-slash-cookbook room turned out just perfectly..

.It seems like the Holiday season brings out a few more collections in our home...I think mixed with some of the TRADITIONS that we practice over the holidays, really makes such a fun and exciting energy in our house for both Scott and I and our little boys....

The first one is our traditional advent door house, where the boys get to open the door right before they get tucked in to a little surprise..They love it and it makes bedtime a little less of a drag!! I've learned that they have to have xmas jammies on, teeth brushed, AND story time must be over, as if we stray from my strict schedule, some how it seems like I'm reading the books to the wall while little hands are very busy with their new trinket!!! I had been searching high and low for little things that will fit inside the doors that won't fall apart as soon as the kids touch it, but My friend Jenn, has the same one and gave me a super hint.She just puts a note in the door, with a clue to where the "goodie" basket would be (which is substantially bigger than the little door) and then her kids figure out the clue and there they find the basket of goodies!!! So, next year, I'm using her idea, for sure!! Sorry dollar store

....Also, one of my COLLECTIONS is displayed in the kid's area, tall, pencil like snowmen, fun ones that the kid's just love..we really have found some special ones, and the kids look forward to helping me unwrap them every year from the storage boxes....

I also collect Tall, pencil, type Santa's...it's so fun to see the diversity we can find and they look even more magical all placed side by side...Also, I LOVE my new old fashion sleigh, I got this year, it just works perfect as a centerpiece down the table, of course I had to spruce it up with some colorful packages!

This is perhaps, my favorite tradition that I came up with for the kiddos. It's our "book" tree where Santa leaves new books every year on Christmas...but this year we changed it up a little...we now have a sleigh full of JUST Christmas books. The kids each get to pick one (total of two) books a night and then we sit by the lighted book tree to read them. They love it...The book tree holds very special ornaments. It has many childhood ornaments from when I was little and it also holds all the hand prints, feet prints, home made type of ornaments that they kids make at school, parties, or at home...aka: the crafty tree!! The tree also has special ornaments from Grandma and our K.C. Omie (Lynne) that has gotten the boys very special ornaments since they were born...This year, they also got to put up there own trees in each of their rooms...and pick out the ornaments....again, they LOVE it...and it such a given to me of what kind of ornaments they will pick out...so predictable...so fun....

View of the book tree.....

Then as several of our friends down here take part in this tradition...Elf on the Shelf..our elf's name is Charles...He watches over the boys all day then flies to the North Pole at night to tell Santa of the behavior that the boy's had that day...a good or not so good report...then when he comes back in the wee hours of the morning, he changes spots, and the boys have to go and find him..which has now become THE very first thing they do in the am....You can't touch Charles, or his special powers go away...I thought they'd try and sneak a touch...OH no..never..it's so fun to hear them talk about him, and I've used on more than one occasion..."You better not do things like that, cause you know who is watching YOU..".....Sometimes Charles doesn't move, (Mommy forgets to move him)...but with the rather large not on my bathroom mirror, this problem has been somewhat eliminated....I just told the boys that Charles must of "really like THAT spot!!"...it worked, thank goodness!!!

We also have several places that have stockings...Santa always leaves a little something in all of them..you know, you gotta spread out the goods...it's kind of like a Easter egg basket but with stockings watching them scurry from room to room...FUN....

I started collecting Christopher Radko ornaments around 10 years ago, when we received several for wedding gifts. Of course they are my favorite since they were the first and cause they scream wedding!!!....So over the years each Christmas, I've added to the collection and now we are able to just have one tree dedicated to only Radko exclusively.....They all have been selected very carefully and they all have to have a special meaning only to our family...no buying cause it's cute, it really has to mean something...For instance, the July ornament in the picture is special to our family as both Boden and Barrett were born in July. Other examples, Daddy has Santa riding a golf cart with clubs on the back of the cart and Mommy has sparkly red ruby slippers to signify my special town in my heart of Kansas City... Now that the boys are older, we make a trip to Fredricksberg to the Christmas shop that specializes in Radko and they boy's get to pick out something significant to them. This year Santa playing soccer, and Santa swimming, how perfect!!!! Mommy's this year: An awesome leopard purse..Love it...!!!

Another collection that is so special to me is my naivety figures. I have 5 different ones so far: from Italy, Greece, Costa Rica, and Mexico, the other one is the Willow Tree figures, which I LOVE and have gotten from my sweet sisters and step-Mom, Linda.. While traveling, it's so fun to be on a hunt and find such intricate works of art...and I would rather have something special for a souvenir, it just means so much to me....So I'm always on the hunt for at least TWO items when I travel... that perfect cook book, which...most the time, half the ingredients I can't even pronounce, let alone get at HEB (our local grocery store), but the pictures sure make your taste buds excited!!! I'm really kidding, most of them are just fantastic and so fun to sit in the wine room with glass of vino and remember the yummy food and beautiful sights.....

More shots of the naivety.....

And now something JUST for Mommies: this tradition was on hold for a few years but made a fantastic come back this year....My annual cookie party!!!...Gosh, I have pictures going way back...even before lots of my friends had children...I've done it several different ways, just to mix it up a bit...so of course you gotta have a cookie tree...so fun with the wooded spoons on top...more on the cookie party in an upcoming post...it was FUN and yummy this year and for me brought back fond memories of my KC friends, whom I miss so dearly...

More of the cookie tree

....One last tradition,....I'm a huge scrapbooker...I could do it all day, every day and NEVER get tired of it....I plan to be pretty much a full time scrapbooker once all my kids are in school..in 10 years...ha!!....I have a scrapbook just for our Christmas cards that we've sent that year. It's so fun to look back and see how children where added, then another and another...Our first card together was our engagement in Greece and our second one from our wedding....so special...I'm wondering if I'm just extra sentimental today??? or am I just realizing at this time of year, how blessed I've been? I love creating such a special childhood for the kids...I hope they appreciate me, being boys and all...but hopefully when they are looking for their lifelong partner someday in the far distant future, these memories and the type of Mommy I was with them will be embedded in the back of their pretty little minds...I do know that all I have and give is because of the true meaning of Christmas. When the Savior was born, and that is the most wonderful TRADITION and COLLECTION them of ALL...

TiS THe SeAsON....foR JaMMiEs.

Well, you know how I LOVE jammies...especially ALL matching...here are the boys modeling version #1 for the holiday season....Gosh, they are so excited for Christmas this year. They've always have been excited in the past, but this year it's reached a whole entire new level. It may be the fact that Brandt can now write his OWN list, or the fact that they now understand when they see a commerical on tv that the toy really does exist, or it may be the fact that they can really grasp the fact that Santa CAN fit down our fireplace and you don't HAVE to have snow for a sled to work, and there REALLY are elves that help Santa....It's such a magical time of the year with all the anticipation that comes with the waiting and wondering..the new traditions that we've started in the last few years, that the boys just love. It's such a rewarding tribute to us, as parents, to know that we are molding the kid's childhood memories into what we hope will be enjoyable happy ones that will be pasted along year after year...from child to child...