Our Christmas

My favorite Christmas picture tradition! The room dark, the gifts under the tree and the glow of the lights.

Love them all...this was after church on Christmas Eve.

Christmas morning with their new pj"s. 

My borther and Linda made the long drive to AZ this year. It was a joy and pleasure to see them both. They were great with my kids. They are driving home today...

We got a horseback ride adventure for Christmas and the package came with the little hat. Believe it or not, this is the only picture of us taken together this Christmas...

Azul found his special place under the tree.

I acutally didn't take many pictures of gifts this year so I could enjoy them opening up stuff with out the camera in my hand but I knew to be ready for picture in particular. Samantha has been begging for boots and we waited until Christmas to give them to her. After this shot was loud squealing and jumping up and down!!! She loves them!

Merry CHRISTmas

Bathroom Makeover

For the past year or so I have seriously felt bad for my son having to shower in a Winnie the Pooh bathroom. Sure, Pooh is not bad for the little ones but this is a shared space. I knew I could come up with some sort of decor that was both gender equal and could span the age range of the kids for the next 5 years or more. So I started thinking. I didn't want to do some bathroom cliche, although Bed, Bath and Beyond had some adorable monkey stuff. So I kept thinking!!

Finally in the November I had made a decision. I had a vision in my head but could I actually make it match in the acutal bathroom. So, since my hard drive on my laptop has crapped out I cannot access my "before" picuters so please close you eyes and begin to use your imagination!! Two of the walls were a bright, sunny yellow and the other to were more of a moss, earthy green. The shower curtain was Winner the Pooh but the old stuff...more like the orignial book illistrations. I had some wonderful Pooh framed pictures thanks to my sister in laws collection when she was a kid and a few stuffed Pooh animals. I also had white shelves on a couple of the walls. a few towels and that describes the room. I was adorable in its day.

I chose to go with a non-character bathroom and instead went color themed. Red, black and white. I also was itching to pull up the 90's cream, blue and rose colored laminate floor but really didn't want to go too expensive when a bathroom 5 kids use. I found laminate tiles...so cool! (SUPER easy to install!!!) When I am able to get a few before pictures I will post them but for now it's just the completed project!!!

 First tile going down!!!

 Half way done with the floor...you can see the yellow because I waited to paint behind the toilet until it was out of the way.

 Floor complete, valance complete...waiting for calk to dry before putting in the toilet in the morning.

FINISHED!!! And yes, it took over a month but I do have 5 kids so it's ok right?  My hubby is amazing and keeps saying what a great vision I had and to see it all come together...perfect!!! He is adding a can light above the shower because it is too dark. The most amazing part is this whole make over cost about $125. Now that is my kind of project...HUGE impact, small change! (and by change I mean $$$)

Over the weekend Ayana had a Christmas Mini-Meet. It was basically an opportunity for the parents to come in and see what the kids have been working on for the past several months. This girl is BENDY which is why we jumped at the chance to put her in gymnastics. (well, that and the ADHA...it helps her get the extra engery out!) Anyway, she did a small floor, bar, rings and beam rountine. She was beaming with pride after each 'event'. Then they lined up the little girls and gave them a medal. Her smile tells it all. Her teacher has amazing patience with her and it is a blessing to see her do well in something that gives her so much joy. Can't wait to see her what she can do in the spring!

Princess Resort...mini photo shoot

Samantha had her Christmas Piano Recital this weekend at the Scottsdale Princess Resort. It is an unbelievably gorgeous venue and I couldn't resist taking a few photos. (Blog post about the recital to come...)

They had this huge tree in the middle of a pond...would have loved to see it at night.



Mi Amore!!!

Priceless!!!

Speechless!!!

Lovely!!!

When these kids get bigger we may have to have family photos done that this resort...it was a photographers dream.

Spreading some joy

I have been talking to the kids about serving others, that Christmas is not all about them and "getting presents", but that it is about serving others. Since we used the services of our local fire station twice this year I came up with the idea of making a special treat for the firemen and having the kids take them and sing a carol. When I talked with them about this idea they were so excited and I knew I was getting through to them. So with early release on Friday we made the cupcakes, decorated them and waited for Shane to get home before we headed out. It was a joy to see my children bless others.

Here they all are singing to the firemen who answered the door. LOVE the smiles on everyones face as they sang!

Here is the delicious treat!! I got a little creative...chocloate cupcakes with vanilla frosting piped on with my cake decorator. Then Samantha crushed up all the candycanes and we added green sprinkles and the candycane to the top. We never ate one so I assume they were amazing because they LOOKED amazing!

34

I turned 34 this week...eeek! That's sounds so strange. I can't avoid the fact that I am definitely in my mid-thirties now. And as crazy as being 34 sounds I can't imagine my life being any different than it is in this exact moment. 10yrs ago never could imagine the possibility of adopting children, although I always thought it would be pretty cool, even as a kid. So here we are today, about to enter into adoption in 2011 and I couldn't be more excited or at peace with the whole idea. My family "feels" perfect...exactly the way God designed.

I wanted more than anything to spend my birthday with my family. We headed out to the mall where I wanted a charm bracelet, but I wanted the kids to each pick a charm specifically for me. The were all very thoughtful and took their time making a decision which was s stinkin sweet. We then went to the Cheesecake Factory for dinner and although the restaurant was a bit formal for our crew they all did really well with the waiting and eating of such a fancy dinner. It was a blessed day for sure...