♥ Blessed ♥

At our house, picture taking is just a part of Christmas. Everyone has just gotten used to me having the camera out and making asking everyone to cooperate. Unfortunately, this year my (main) lens on my camera broke a few weeks before Christmas, and most of our pictures were taken with a phone and a small point and shoot camera, thus they are not that great quality and some are little blurry.   I have been completely lost without my camera! :(

Also, anytime our oldest (Colt) is involved in the picture taking, we’ve learned to expect the unexpected. Then add to that a 4 year old (Luke) that laughs at everything big brother does, and it makes for a very interesting photo shoot. The photos pretty much show which ones cooperate (and which ones don't). :)

From Christmas Eve:

 

I finally just gave up and was saying just take it anyway....it is what it is.  :)

 

 

 

Three generations of ladies.  :)  Me, Joy & Mama

 

Koda, Amber & Colt.  See Koda's eyes?  That cracks me up.  Her eyes were glowing green (instead of red) and when I tried to photo correct it, it wouldn't correct anything but the middle part of her eyes.  Koda looks like she's wearing green eye shadow.  :) 

 

 

Mama and Daddy

 

Pop playing with Luke.  Luke was making the Hulk "smash" the tower.  Jason made the blocks for him for Christmas.

 

Mama, Daddy, Luke & Joy

From Christmas morning:

I have no idea why that date says 12/24/2012, because it was 12/25....Christmas morning!

 

Brothers.....Luke sharing a "cupcake" with Colt.

 



Luke loved helping hand out the gifts. 

 





We finally got all the Christmas decorations  down this past weekend. The house always looks so bare after they come down, at least for awhile until I get used to it. Do you think so? But it IS kind of nice to get back into our normal routine. I'm looking forward to a wonderful 2013. One thing I know for sure.......we are blessed. :)

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

 

 

Today is also my Mama's birthday! She and Elvis share a birthday. Pretty awesome, huh? We're going out to eat to celebrate tonight.  Happy birthday, Mama! I love you! :)

 

Thanks for stopping by! :

♥ Tammy ♥

♥ Days of Christmas ♥

Christmas is a beautiful time. I just love it! Time flies though, which is exactly the reason I like to start the season early.

We’ve had our main big tree up since the first of November, with all of the rest of the décor following within a week or so. I just never get tired of that cozy atmosphere!  I don’t ever have to worry about the tree lights being turned on either……it’s the first thing Luke does in the morning when he gets up.  :)

We’ve enjoyed all the wonderful activities that come with the days of Christmas…………

Gathering together in here watching Christmas movies...............

  
Christmas light looking.......

Picture taking......

Getting dressed up for Christmas festivities..........

Cookie making.....

Gingerbread train making.......

Ornament making......

Having a little fun with food.......

A Happy Birthday Jesus party ................

And now Christmas will soon be here!  

Tomorrow evening we'll be hosting Christmas Eve dinner here at our house, so things will be busy, ........but a good busy.......making more memories!  Then we'll be off for a visit to my brother's house on Christmas Day after all the gifts have been opened and we've enjoyed our Christmas breakfast.  :)

So just in case I don't make it back here until after Christmas.........

From our family to yours........

Merry Christmas !!

 

 



♥ A Cozy Christmas Tour (Our Home) ♥

I’m so thankful and blessed that Jason loves Christmas ever bit as much as I do. He’s always willing and ready to get down the tree and start the Christmas decorating.

There’s one part however that he’s never really enjoyed. That’s putting lights on the house. But he did it for years………for me, because I loved them!

Bless his heart, one year, he MADE icicle lights. Now this was before you saw them everywhere available to purchase. We saw a Victorian home that had them outlining their house and I fell in love with them!  We stopped and asked the folks where they purchased them (well Jason asked for me) and they said that they made them. So Jason came home and spent hours making them by stringing lights onto wire (made from clothes hangers). They were much prettier than the ones you can even purchase now. They hung so perfect! We used those for years and they were beautiful.

However, he finally convinced me that he wanted to try something different and that I would love it. He explained his plan and I wasn’t really that impressed. But then again, I wasn’t the one out there hanging lights every year (on a steep roof), so, I reluctantly agreed to it. He said he’d try it and if I didn’t like it, we could reconsider it next year. I thought that sounded fair.

That was the beginning of our new outdoor Christmas décor. I still love looking at lights, and I think they’re beautiful! But this just seems to fit our home. We get lots of positive comments on it and how it glows.

Our outdoor Christmas decor these days is just simple wreaths, greenery, and bows illuminated with flood lights.

Jason is happy. I’m happy. That’s a good thing.  :)



Welcome!  :)

If you're stopping by for the first time and you missed the interior photos, I'd like to invite you in for a cozy Christmas tour.  :)  You can visit the following links:  The Living Room, The Sunporch, The Kitchen, The Dining Room, The Cedar Loft,  The Foyer & Staircase, and Bedrooms, Bath & Hallway.

Thank you so much for stopping by!  Merry Christmas!  :)


Linking to:  Mockingbird Hill Cottage's A Favorite Thing; Elaine's Sunny Simple Sunday.

 

♥ A Cozy Christmas Tour (Bathroom, Bedrooms, and Hallway) ♥

This year, my Christmas décor didn’t include many “trinkets” and “stuff” sitting around. Those things were left in my Rubbermaid tubs. Instead I stuck with mostly greenery, berries, and pinecones…..things that seemed more natural. Keeping it more simple just seems more peaceful to me and I’m really enjoying it that way this year.

Therefore, for those places where I wanted little touches, I used only small trees. I didn’t even put anything in our bedroom this year, although I have to admit I miss having the glow of a little tree in there. I might do that differently next year. :)

This year, here are the small touches to the downstairs hall bathroom, Luke’s room, Joy’s room, and at the end of the hallway…………..

I love this little twig tree decorated with stars.

Luke's room just has the small tree on his nightstand decorated with little cars.

It's hard to tell, but there are dump trucks, school buses, police cars, and ambulances....all kinds of vehicles hanging on Luke's little tree. 

This year, Joy decided to put lights on her twig tree in her room instead.  She's thinking she loves it so much, she may just leave them year round.  :) 

Sometimes we have the little stove in our bedroom, but this year it's at the end of the hall.

Thanks again so much for stopping by!  I've really enjoyed your visits and comments!  I know everyone is busy with Christmas!  I hope you're making lots of Christmas memories with your family! 

I'll be back tomorrow with a Faithful Friday post, and then another Christmas photo tour on Saturday (of the outside of the house).  I hope you can stop by for another visit!  :)

♥ Tammy ♥

♥ A Cozy Christmas Tour (The Foyer & Staircase) ♥

I think that our new staircase just may be one of my very favorite things to take in this Christmas.  I just love the wooden stairs and staircase wall.

Again, it’s all very simple, but it just feels warm and cozy to me. It has that cabin feel, which is my favorite! I can’t tell you how many years I’ve wanted to remove the carpet from those stairs and have wooden stairs. So this is a Christmas gift in itself.  :)  Can you tell I'm excited?

Today, this is what I’m sharing……our foyer and staircase. This is what you would see if you were our front door guest. So, come on in!

The kids like writing the countdown to Christmas on the chalkboard the snowman is holding.

Tree on the staircase landing

Later I added the greenery and Christmas books to the staircase basket.

Luke likes picking out books from the basket for me to read to him.

Thanks again for stopping by!  I have two more days of Christmas pics to share which I will do tomorrow and then again on Saturday.

Christmas is amost here!  :)   Are you ready?

♥ A Cozy Christmas Tour (The Cedar Loft) ♥

The Cedar Loft is the name we lovingly gave to our little cabin above the carport/garage.

It was a labor of love, but it was so worth it! It’s our little getaway that’s about 20 feet from our backdoor to the stairs leading up to our little cabin loft.

So today, that’s the cozy Christmas tour I’m sharing with you.....The Cedar Loft.

We’ve spent four nights last week out there. It was so snug and cozy. We enjoyed Christmas movies and (way too many) snacks. :) When we were “moving things back downstairs”, Luke remarked, “It’s sad to leave”. He's right. It really was a fun stay, especially since Jason was off work those four days.

The Christmas décor up there is very simple. It’s a good thing I like simple, I suppose, because simple also fits our budget. :)

So, come on in and enjoy your visit!

 

Jason made the TV cabinet.  It's one of my favorite pieces of furniture.

We made all the decorations on the tree (with the exception of the beads)....prim candy canes, twig stars, and rag garland.

I found the little log cabin at a thrift shop.   

The stockings came from Dollar Tree.  I tea stained them to make them look old and well loved.

Thanks so much for stopping by!  :)  I'll be back tomorrow with more Christmas pics.  I hope you're not getting tired of them!  I just took too many to put on one post.....it's much easier split up into separate posts! 

♥ Tammy ♥