Our Christmas Happenings

Christmas festivities were a lot of fun. I decided to do gingerbread houses with the kids. This was our first attempt. Luckily, Leah was there to help me.  I really had my hands full because while they were constructing the houses,  I had to whip up some cookies for Santa Claus.

I must say, the kids did a great job. Harry was especially engrossed in this activity. It is something he enjoyed immensely. Harry likes doing projects and has good concentration.

It doesn't hurt that all the decor is edible and sweet!

After decorating some Santa cookies and gingerbread houses, we had a family gathering to remember what Christmas is all about. First, we read the Christmas story from Luke 2 and the kids dressed up for it. Noelle did a smashing job as the baby Jesus and Julia loved being Mary.

I tried to talk Harry into being Joseph, but he insisted on being a sheep.  Well, it was a dog costume, but close enough.You can see that he really enjoyed representing the barn animals for this reproduction! Raef was the angel, Dad played Joseph, Eli represented the shepherds and Zach brought it home for the wise men.  We also had Jamie play the donkey and bring "Mary" in on his back.

After we did our production, it was time to dance. We jumped and spun around to some Christmas music. The kids were really excited. But, what kid wouldn't be, right?

Then it was time for some pictures in front of the Christmas tree. Noelle was being especially cute.

We put some cookies and milk out for Santa and then sent the kids off to bed.

It is always fun to make them wait extra long in the morning. Here they are at the top of the stairs waiting for the big moment when they can run down to see what surprises await them under the tree.

I don't think they were disappointed. It was mostly a LEGO set kind of year. But Eli also got Skylanders Swap force and a scooter. Raef got some snow camo, Zach got a few laser guns, and of course Julia got various dolls.

I also made a picture book for each of them with photos of the last four years. It was neat to see them all stop to look at the pages. They loved it. It wasn't hard to guess that they would since they love to look at pictures of themselves.

After we were done giving gifts and when everyone was off playing with their stuff, Harry and Julia asked if they could eat their gingerbread houses.  Why, yes, of course you can kids! Dig in.

And they did.

Merry Christmas Time

Every year, same time, but usually a different place. This year's Christmas Eve get-together was at Lani's house. We had fun celebrating Grandma's birthday and exchanging Christmas presents.


Lani and Jeff. Lani is pregnant with a girl! Expected arrival will be some time in May.

Obviously, matching my clothes did not make it high on my priority list. Oh well.

Nordel does not like the Yankees, FYI.


Lyf and Angie...

Gramdpa and Grandma...


Here is the recipient of my purse, Mary Jane. And she loooovvvveeesss her Kelly Bag.

Jayde with Harry. She loves holding my babies.

Ooh, so exciting, opening presents.



And the fun continued on Christmas Day. Eli was in no mood to wait. Let's get the show on the road!



And what you have all been waiting for...Raef opens his present from Santa Claus...

Kelly Bags

I have been busy in the weeks leading up to Christmas because I pulled out my sewing machine (my gift from Rinar last Christmas) to make some gifts for Christmas. I decided to make bags. It is kind of ironic, considering the fact that I have only owned a handful of bags in my lifetime. I think I just get annoyed at how expensive they are.



Please! If I were to add up the cost of the 5 purses shown in these pictures it would probably cost well under $15 to make all of them, even less than that, most likely. It is the time that is so costly. But I started to get the hang of it, so it came a lot easier with each new endeavor. I am especially enamored with ruffles right now. They are just too cute. The picture of the green purse doesn't do it justice because it has lots of ruffles you can't see and it is much brighter.



I even put my brand label inside. I have such an original name for my creations. They are called Kelly Bags.

I really enjoy making them. I have a few that I am planning on doing for some people. Who knows, it might be you. It doesn't hurt if you slather on the praise. I may be more inclined to whip one up for you. They make great scripture bags as well.

I love, love, love Erin's blog called Sutton Grace. I added her to my link list. Anyways, she loves to re-purpose things. It has helped me to rethink how I do things. Today I was at DI and I saw a whole stack of purses. But most importantly, I noticed the straps and hardware on the out-of-style bags. Guess what I bought today? I am so excited to get to work.