A Very Pinteresting Happy New Year 2012

I love me some Pinterest.  I wasn't sure what we were going to do for New Year's until I started seeing all this cute stuff on there...and so...a party was planned!!!  How did you ring in the New Year?  We had a little New Years party thanks to all the fun finds on Pinterest - I love me some printables!!!!  We toasted to a great 2011 and looking forward to the future of 2012, made resolutions, ate some yummy desserts and watched the ball drop!!!

It was just a little dessert party since we had already gone out to eat beforehand.  Sparkling cider, cream puffs, chocolate covered almonds, cashews, and macadamia nuts, and vanilla cupcakes - YUM!

Countdown bags - another cute idea I got from Pinterest - these had a New Years resolution sheet inside, a pen, and a blower...and guests picked up their hats to go with!!!

Mom and John ready to party!

  

We all wrote resolutions on the chalkboard and took our pics by them:)!  Another pinterest idea!  Here's Jae, John, Kai's hand, and baby C (in Jae's tummy).  Resolutions:  baby, home, clipped (John's vasectomy - ha ha), love more, etc.

Mom and Dad, resolutions:  bible study, sell art, read, travel, etc.

My in-laws David and Susan and Malakai - resolutions:  be positive, pray more, view challenges as things I get to do, and David wrote stop smoking as a joke!!!

Me, Curt, Kaden and Kinsley, resolutions:  Read, date (as in Me and Curt need to go on more dates), Run, create, Kaden's:  pass lego Harry Potter, and Kinsley:  lose a tooth:)

Resolutions up close:)

Christmas Decor 2011

Keep Calm and Jingle On...love this saying...This was totally my thinking this Christmas - my first official Christmas since going back to work - I was more into soaking up the time with family this year than the decorating - so I went for a much simpler look this year than before and here is how it all turned out!

Christmas in Pictures 2011

Here is our Christmas 2011 in pictures - it was beautiful and everything we wanted it to be:)!!!

Kai, Curt, Kins at the Downs house - snuggling and football watching

Kins and Kai making cookies with Susan

Happy cousins on the couch!

Santa Came!!!!

Kinsley loves her new guitar!

Kaden wanted to make sure Santa knew he did not have to eat the yogurt if he didn't want to - I'm sure Santa appreciated the reassurance:)!!!

...and we begin the year of the DS...we put it off as long as we could - but she was sooooo excited:) - as long as my family is not the one in restaurants where the kids are on DS's and the parent are on Iphones and no one talks to eachother - can I get an AMEN?!!!!  Please Lord, help that not to be us!!!

new Wii games for Kaden!

...and on to the Westmorelands house...here's Kai with her new bike helmut - so cute!  Yes we have 2 Kai's - Malakai (aka Kai) on Curt's side of the family, and this sweet Kai - on my side of the family!!!

Showing off her new bike - she cracked us up wearing this onesie which she wouldn't let anyone button!!!  She ran around all day like this - sooo funny, this girl!!!!

Something was funny!

This is the aftermath of opening presents at Mom and Dad's - gotta love it!!!

Happy pretty girls!

 We went to the Gaylord Texan hotel to see Shrek the Halls ICE!  It is beautiful there at Christmastime!

John and Kai

Brrr, it was a chilling 9 degrees inside but so fun!!!

Kai, Kins, and me on an ice bench!

Gingy and friend:)

Huge crazy dragon!

The beautiful ice manger!

You better believe we had some hot chocolate after this place - but it was such a fun memory to make!!! We had an amazing Christmas full of Christ, family, food and fun!!!

Smiley Elfibob's Adventures!

Oh my, do ya'll have one of these?  Smiley Elfibob became a member of our family for the first time this past December, and whooo wheee, he was tough to keep up with.  He got into all kinds of shenanigans and just plain wore me out - but the kiddos LOVED him, and couldn't wait to wake up every day to see what he'd done next - loved their giggles as they ran down the stairs to find him, and then their little pattering feet as they ran down the hall to tell me what he had done this time...

The first night he drew on our family pic - elf hats and reindeer ears!

Here he is sitting on our mantle just watching...

Then he put reindeer noses on the kiddos to make them look like his friend Rudolph with my lipstick!

Sneaky little stinker - he even gave himself a Rudolph nose:)

That next morning we found him in the fridge and he had turned the milk pink!!!

Our fave was when he showed baby Jesus some lovin'!

Would you believe that rascal got into our kitchen pantry and made snow angels in the sugar!!!

And...one night he forgot to move but when Kinsley went to the bathroom he moved real fast and she thinks he might have taken a peppermint from our gingerbread house - I think he was trying to trick us!!!

He also had a date night with Barbie!

And partied it up hanging from the chandelier!

Here he is getting a little midnight snack!!!

And we even caught him watching TV one morning!

One night he used my computer to write a letter to Santa letting him know how good Kaden and Kinsley were being!!!

And he even came to school with me one day to deliver a message to my students!

Then, him and Barbie had a snowball fight one night!

and he left us this message in the bathroom - in red and green toothpaste of course!

He helped Kaden and Kinsley hang some new ornaments they made...

decided to color a picture of baby Jesus one night...

helped us count down the days until Christmas...

and even helped wrap!

We loved Smiley Elfibob and will miss him until next year but we are so glad he has adopted us as his family to visit each year!  On that note...here are my two little elves on Christmas Eve!!!  Love these two!