I'm dreaming of a white Christmas...

This post is sponsored by Shutterfly.  As always, all opinions are my very own!

I'm dreaming of a white Christmas....with every Christmas card I write...

There could not be a more perfect song for this past weekend.  Only the original version by Bing Crosby version will do for me!  We ended up with about 8 inches of snow over the weekend. I spent some of my weekend looking out at the snow in our backyard while addressing envelopes of our gorgeous holiday cards from Shutterfly.

creepy old man...

We all know at least one. Most of us know more than one.  

 All of us know the same one.

Santa Claus. 

He's making a list...

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This is the first year that Bubba doesn't have a wishlist full of action figures.  Because of this, I have become all too aware of the fact that he has grown up a ton in the last year...and that it is only going to get faster from here...His #1 item that he has been begging for is a dirt bike or four wheeler.  We are not ready to go down the dirt bike path, so we are currently looking at used four wheelers.  Whether or not we actually go through with it...we shall see.  He has plenty of other wishlist items to pick from in the meantime...

The day I was afraid of...

Up until this past Saturday, the hubs has been home splitting the duties of having two children during the weekend. Saturday, the hubs had a Christmas dinner function to go to for work.  I normally go with him to this event, but there was no way we were going to leave our colicky, refluxy baby with Nana, or even our worst enemy, during the hours that are most intense for her colic.  She is a sweet baby...but early nighttime with her is not for the faint of heart.

I was anxious about having both kids all day.  Being outnumbered is scary.  Because of the long commute to the holiday party for work, Hubs was gone almost all day and would not return until way after the kids bedtimes.  Needless to say, I was scared of my kids and worried about what the day would bring.

The day went a little like this...

I sent the hubs to the holiday party with buttermilk pie, spinach salad and homemade sugar scrub for his supervisor and his wife.  Buttermilk pie is one of our favorites during the holidays and it is SO simple!

Once the hubs left I got the kids ready to go see Santa.  I had really dropped the ball this year as Bubba still had not gotten to see Santa yet.  I found a Santa Paws event that was going on with our local humane society and high-tailed the kids, and our dog, over there.

It was minor chaos at the event as there were tons of dogs.  They were barking, baying, whining and sniffing.  Their paws caused major clatter on the hardwood floors where Viv lay resting in her car seat...Would you know, she slept through the whole thing?  My ankle will pop on my way out of the room after laying her down for the night and she wakes right up...But a room full of dogs ranging in size from a Pit Bull to a Chihuahua...oh she can sleep through that no problem...

After seeing Santa, we decided to go for a walk.  Our town has a walking trail that is 16 miles long.  It goes right through town, the college, through the woods and even past a dairy farm.  It was good to get out in the cool air for a bit before the sun went down.  Bubba and I always have good talks during our walks on the trails.  During our walk, we actually ended up having a conversation about Native Americans and how terrible our ancestors were to them.  His response to our whole conversation was "Why can't everyone just be nice to one another?"

After our walk we picked up Chick-Fil-A for supper and headed home to hunker down for the night. We were all in our jammies with our teeth brushed when I had an idea.  A local church does a Christmas light show on the weekends.  It is free and only lasts about 20 minutes, the perfect pre-bedtime trip. So we piled into the car with blankets and drove up the road.  Bubba had such excitement in his eyes during this little trip.  We rarely ever veer outside of our nighttime routine, so it was a thrilling experience for him.  The light show was pretty good too.  We will be going back a few times before Christmas is over because hey...free entertainment!

Bubba was in bed asleep by 8:30 and Viv had a bottle and was asleep by 9:30.  I even got to have a glass of wine and wrap some presents in silence while I waited for the hubs to get home.

Basically, the day was amazing.  We missed having Daddy with us, but we still managed to have a great day.  I was so unbelievably proud of myself for making the day a good one for the kids.  Going from one to two kids is hard.  I have it pretty easy in that my oldest child is 5 and is super inclined to help out with Viv, but it is still a hard adjustment. This weekend gave me the boost of confidence I needed.  

I may be outnumbered when it is just me and the kids... but I am not outmatched!

It's The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year!

It's holiday card season!  Very soon mailboxes of our family members and friends will have our holiday card waiting to greet them with warm wishes!  One of my favorite things about the Christmas season is sending and receiving holiday cards.  I hang up every card we receive and proudly display them throughout our home.  Through the years I have kept the cards we have received and enjoy seeing how families change and grow from year to year.  While we are all friends on Facebook and see family pictures throughout the year on various social media channels, there is something so much more special about receiving a card in the mail.  The gesture, and the feeling it brings, can never be replaced by social media updates.

This year, we ordered our holiday cards from Tiny Prints.  This was our first year using Tiny Prints and we were very impressed.  The quality of their cards is incomparable and the options are endless! They have Letterpress, laser-cut, glitter and foil stamped cards.  You can choose to add trim to your card such as rounded edge, like my cards, or scalloped edge.  They also have lots of options to jazz up the envelopes as well!  I ended up choosing the glitter detail for our holiday cards as I wanted them to be extra festive this year.  The glitter does not rub off and adds a nice dimensional effect to the cards.  I am not going to give away everything just yet, as I want there to still be a small element of surprise for those receiving the cards in the next few weeks.

This holiday season is a special one for our family as it is our daughter's first Christmas.  Since our daughter was born at the end of October, I did not want to send out a birth announcement only to turn around and send holiday cards out less than a month later.  Tiny Prints gives you the option to use the back of the card for more pictures and updates, so I decided to use the back of our holiday card as Vivian's birth announcement.  I am so pleased with how the announcement turned out.  Traditional and classic.

I promise once our cards have reached their final destinations, I will reveal our holiday card for 2016! The next time you are in need of greeting cards; whether it is for Christmas, Easter or announcing a marriage or the birth of a child...check out Tiny Prints. You will not be dissapointed!

I hope everyone receives lots of greeting cards this season and is able to spend the holidays with the ones you love.

*This post is sponsored by Tiny Prints, but all opinions are my very own.*

Want, Need, Wear, Read

Image via Pinterest

I have always wanted to limit the Christmas gifts to something you want, need, wear and read.  I would love to do that for the kids as well as the hubs.  Every year I say this and it never happens. This year is no different.  The kids will be getting entirely too much again this year.  Since I can't stick to this for the kids, I decided to at least make a list for myself.

| WANT |

\\ GoPro HERO5 Session Camera \\

http://amzn.to/2h6MIPS

While most people view the GoPro as a camera for adventure, I would LOVE to have one of these to film Bubba's baseball games as well as get good footage of Vivian's latest milestones.  There are so many uses for a GoPro in a domestic setting, they are not reserved for Devin Supertramp or Dude Perfect on You Tube...Mamas need them too!

\\ Canon EOS T6 Rebel DSLR Camera \\

http://amzn.to/2hjHSCb

I am ready to start learning more about photography and, while I would love to have a side business in photography, I would at least like to not be at the mercy of overbooked photographers and photographers that charge an arm and a leg.

| NEED |

Image via Pinterest

I struggled trying to come up with something that I desperately needed.  Then, I realized how blessed I am to not be able to think of something I desperately need.  There are plenty of things that I need like socks, underwear, bras, shoes...heck, we are even going to need a new car in the next year or two...but truthfully, my family has everything we have a warm house, tons of food, transportation, plenty of clothes and shoes...and most importantly family and friends that we love and that love us.

| WEAR |

\\ Sperry Top-Sider Women's Saltwater Rain Boot \\

http://amzn.to/2gfmTjW

I have been dying for a pair of duck boots.  I have larger calves, which makes it hard for me to find tall rain boots that fit well (Like the Hunter rain boots I would love to have) so I have set my sights on traditional duck boots instead.  I think these would look great with a pair of jeans in the winter.


| READ |

\\ Magazine Subscriptions \\

While I would love to get into a good book, I have no spare time and when I do have moments of time, I am trying to catch up sleep.  So, I am being realistic and am dreaming about the Southern Living Double Issue for December as well as a subscription again.  Another magazine subscription I would love to have is Garden & Gun.

What is on your Want/Need/Wear/Read list this Christmas?

*This post contains affiliate links*

Christmas Bucket List

The holidays are getting away from us.  December is already here and I'm over here like "wasn't it just September?"  Christmas is my favorite time of year.  I love the lights, the smells, the warmness in peoples' hearts.  Christmas makes me have the optimism of a child again.  So, in efforts to get the most out of the holiday season I decided to create a small, doable, bucket list of things we can do between now and December 25th to soak it all in!


| 1 |   MUSIC

It has taken me a lot longer than usual to get into listening to Christmas music.  It is one of my favorite things to do while I am working or cooking.  Some of my favorites are:

A Charlie Brown Christmas | Vince Guaraldi Trio

I am partial to Charlie Brown as our wedding ceremony recessional song was Charlie Brown, but every time I hear this album I just want to be sitting at Starbucks with my red cup soaking in the holidays.

White Christmas | Bing Crosby

This man has been a part of my life for...well probably forever.  I melt over his voice and blue eyes.  I have even thought of naming a future boy Crosby.  These songs are iconic to most American households.  The nostalgia and tradition of it all just makes me happy.

The Christmas Song | Nat King Cole

This album has so much Christmas cheer.  Nat King Cole had such a festive voice.  I love The Christmas Song in particular and just want to snuggle up in a chair with a blanket by a fire with some Irish Coffee in my hand.

| 2 | MOVIES

Oh the movies of the season!!  Some of these movies I watch year round.  There is nothing I love more than watching a Christmas movie with nothing on except the Christmas lights around our house.  It makes me feel like I am in the movie.  Here are some of my favorites:

Some other favorites are:

Claymation Christmas Movies | I grew up on these.  My parents raised me on oldies

It's A Wonderful Life | This has become one of my favorites over the last 5 years.  I can't watch it without boohooing.

| 3 |  ACTIVITIES

I really want to take some time with Bubba this year to do a couple of Christmas crafts together.  I want to make memories.  Maybe in the process we will find an activity to make our tradition.  Check out my Pinterest board for some of the ideas I have.

Follow Red Velvet Rooster's board Christmas Activities on Pinterest.

| 4 | FOOD & DRINK

Obviously, food and drink are two of the most important components to a festive holiday season.  I have plans to make North Pole cupcakes and Santa Hat Brownies for various holiday functions coming up.  I have made Grinch Skewers for Bubba's school parties in the past and they are a huge hit.  You can see the pin on my Pinterest board.  This year, I plan to cut rounds of Monterey Jack cheese instead of using banana slices, just so I don't have to worry about browning.  Plus, a little calcium and protein never hurts.

 

Follow Red Velvet Rooster's board Christmas Food on Pinterest.

| 5 | PRESSURE OFF

You can ask the Hubs...I tend to try so hard to make a picture perfect Christmas that I kind of lose sight of what I was originally trying to do, which is make memories.  Not every night is going to be a Norman Rockwell front page sketch for the Saturday Evening Post.  Heck, not a single night in our house will look like that and that is OK.  We are not some idyllic family, we are us.  Our house is full of love and imperfections and that makes it our perfect family home.  

Happy Friday, y'all!  Spend time this weekend making some holiday memories.  Don't put it off, the season is upon us whether you are ready or not!