enJOYing the little things . . .: Christmas Traditions and other holiday stuff

Ronald and I have made it a point that he, the kids, and I spend Christmas day at home relaxing and enjoying our gifts and each other. We typically spend Christmas Eve and the weekend after Christmas celebrating with our families who all thankfully live in our area. When the kids wake up on Christmas morning they always go straight to their stockings and we have breakfast before opening the gifts under the tree. I thought I'd try a new tradition of having Amish Breakfast Casserole on Christmas morning. I might try Sticky Buns or Monkey Bread as well. Must get myself to the grocery store!

I had most of my Christmas shopping done by the time December rolled around, so I ended up shopping on Etsyfor the cutest little things. For myself. Haha. Etsy can be an oh-so-very dangerous place, but the homemade goodness that you can find there . . . so lovely.

Got these adorable felted acornsfrom CityCrochet. They go so perfectly with the tree that hangs up in our family room.

I'm putting together a collage of art prints for our stairwell. I've admired the work of artist Rebecca Peragine for awhile now. She has this print and this print available for purchase at The Land of Nod. She sells her prints on Etsy as well. She's running a sale right now - buy 2 prints, get 1 free. I picked up the two bird prints and the 3 trees print (in the image below) for my soon-to-be stairwell collage. I'm thinking that I need to add this print to the collection.

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The kids had a Christmas concert at one of our local churches two weekends ago. Miss Cadence had a solo in one of the songs that Kinder, 1st and 2nd grades sang together. I'm a proud momma! She did such a fantastic job despite the fact that she my shy child. (Notice the crossed arms and how she's turned away from the audience, haha.) Clark sang his heart out as well. In fact, he was even swaying to the beat of the music as he sang.

Rocket was a donkey for a song that the preschoolers sang. But he didn't sing. He bit his lip and stuck out his tongue instead. So funny considering we can't get him to stop singing at home, in the car, at the the store . . . you get the picture.

As for what is on the kids' Christmas lists . . .

Cadence wants to learn how to sew. So she's getting a few sewing kits and a mini sewing machine.

Clark wants a new Buzz with wings that pop out. This one is a lot fancier than the hand-me-down ones he got from his cousins a few years ago. Buzz has become popular again in my house ever since Toy Story 3 came out last summer.

Rocket is so funny. All he wants for Christmas is what he calls The Pink Dancing Doggie. He hasn't asked for anything else. He really has his heart set on this dancing dog.

Pink Dancing Doggie