Christmas Day 2012

Christmas morning started off a little rough...Owen woke up at 4am crying and inconsolable, and once I got him back to sleep it was 5:30. I tried to lay back down too, but no luck. So a little after 6 I got up to make Christmas breakfast. I made Cinnamon rolls and Hot Chocolate. As we opened gifts, the smell of the cooking sweet rolls went through the house and the snow started to fall. It felt like we were in a movie or commercial, so cozy and warm on a white winter morning!

I am always so excited to watch my kids open their gifts and see their faces on Christmas morning, and this year was no exception! In fact with Owen a little older it can only be more fun. Last year he liked the ribbon and paper better than the gifts, but this year he sat on my lap and anticipated what was inside. He LOVES Mickey Mouse and Hot Wheels cars so it was a super easy Christmas on Santa! Emma is even more fun since she is at a perfect age. I couldn't wait to see her face! She is into the Disney movie Brave and anything that has to do with it. So of course Santa planned a Brave themed Christmas for her. The kids had a blast and so did we. Everyone was thoughtful and creative this year! Also getting to spend it at Grandma and Grandpa Anderson's, and the addition of Rachel and Jared, it was a very memorable Christmas. We all enjoyed every minute!

And what can we say, we brought in the evening with a delicious Christmas Dinner. We had turkey, ham, cheesy potatoes, green bean casserole, sweet potatoes, home made rolls, stuffing, and orange salad. Can we say full?? We all looked a little more like Santa. Ha!

The best part of holidays like these? ...the people we spend it with and the memories we make. Every minute is so very special!

The kids finding their Santa gifts. Emma got Brave dress-ups and Owen got blocks and a scooter!

Owen LOVES Mickey Mouse! He got a shirt and shoes! He loved them!

Emma is into Brave! She got the movie, the costume, the doll, and the figures and castle!

Me and my Emma!

Everyone enjoying opening gifts!

Owen's Mickey shoes!

Owen playin Hot Wheels!

Emma playing with her figurines!

The family!

Our little family!

We are headed back to Spokane and the next wave of family! Ringing in the New Year with the Flemings! Woot! We hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas! Have a safe and happy New Year! 2013!

Christmas Eve 2012

So as usual, Christmas blew by rather quickly! I am not even going to talk about where the year went. lol! This year we were going to spend the holiday with Phil's parents and brother, but due to his Dad's schedule they couldn't come that soon. So we opted to go to my Mom's house in Quincy since my sister Rachel and her husband were spending Christmas there. Its only a few hours away and we hadn't seen them since February. So on Sunday after church we headed over with a car packed full into every nook and cranny! Must have looked hilarious!

On Christmas Eve, me and my mom drove down to Pasco to pick up Rachel and Jared from the airport, so most of my day was in the car.  The kids stayed back at the house and played not so patiently! Ha! But when we got back I made Polar Express Hot Chocolate and we read A Christmas Dress for Ellen by President Thomas S. Monson. Then we all opened one gift each and the kids also got new jammies! Owen's are superman with a little cape and are awesome! Lastly, we put out milk and cookies and off to bed the kiddos went! Then we became Christmas elves and put all the gifts under the tree and stuffed all the stockings. By the time we went to bed it was 1am! And of course Owen was up at 4am and then I had to get up at 6am to make the breakfast. Ha! In two days I was workin on maybe 8 hours of sleep!

This is Emma showing off her fun jammies and Owen pointing to the superman symbol like "Ya, I am!" Ha!

Emma and Owen hamming it up together in their jammies. 

Stockings all in a row and our pretty tree and gifts in every nook and cranny!

Santa delivered a great Christmas and he ate our cookies and milk!

Then onto Christmas morning!

The "Cruiser" Express!

Its that time of year again! The annual "Cruiser" Express for the Fleming Family! It is simply our version of the Polar Express. I make tickets to hide on the kids beds for them to find and they are VERY excited when they do. We punch the tickets and off we go in pajamas to see Christmas lights with a mug of Hot Chocolate and a treat. All aboard!!!

This year, Phil put the ticket on Emma's pillow, and as she was getting ready for bed, she found it!(above vidoe) Phil made sure to get some video since we haven't really had any before. Owen is still a bit little to get it, but he went right along seeing Emma's excitement. He had his ticket punched and happily got in the car. He LOVES to go in the car. I grabbed our treats and Hot Chocolate and we went out into the newly falling snow. This year it really felt like a winter wonderland! The snow kept coming down and coating everything as we drove around. It was so pretty! We drove around and ended our fun drive at the Temple where they have a nativity scene set up. Then we carefully came back home in an inch of slick snow.

Emma and Owen had a blast! Owen loves to see the lights and says, " Mommyyyy, Mo!" Which of course means Mommy, More! And if you don't respond he repeats. So its alot of, "Look Owen, do you see that?" and so forth. He just gets so excited. Emma is at that perfect age with such an imagination and to be soaking these memories in. Such wonder in her expression and excited anticipation. I wish I could bottle her up just as she is. Its so much fun! Just wanna keep squeezing their cheeks! Ha!

So another year of "cruiser" memories has been made. Its a tradition I am sure we will keep doing well into their teens! Enjoy the little video of Emma finding her ticket!

New Blog - Pinterest and the Pauper

Last spring, I started a new blog with the suggestion of my friend Lisa. It was experimental at best. I was trying to separate my projects from my family posts. I realized that some of my posts on our family blog, like my table project and Paris Invitations for example, were being viewed by.... well.... strangers. It doesn't bother me and I don't feel it needs to be private, but really my personal blog is for friends and family. So I decided to make a new blog where anyone is welcome to look. I also decided I would try a new blog host, Tumblr. If you want to see this first blog it is www.midnightmommy.tumblr.com. But from the start, this host did not like me. You can ask Lisa! Ha! So after a while I decided to return to blogger. I know it well and it works for me. This time around I am not sure what the difference was, but the new blog kinda took off quickly! I have only 5 posts and have had thousands of visitors from all over. So I am glad I started this little side blog of mine. If you are interested, the new blog is called Pinterest And The Pauper(Thanks Lisa!) at www.pinterestandthepauper.blogspot.com. This particular blog is basically the projects I am finding and creating through Pinterest on a budget. Hence the name. It is purely for fun and for my own enjoyment. I have become a Pinterest addict and I need therapy, so this is it. Ha! Its so fun to look through all the Pins, but even more fun to successfully complete a Pinned project. So I now have a small outlet. Hope you enjoy if you visit! Happy Pinning!