Happy Birthday Baby

AND, another absolutely amazing, fantastic, fabulous thing that happens in the winter.....

Happy Birthday to my sweet Koen James!

Two looks good on you.  :)

I love you forever and ever.

Winter

Baby, it's cold outside!  But that doesn't mean you can't still wear all of your favorite summer dresses!  Today I'm going to show you how I took my Little Black Dress and made it appropriate for chilly weather.  Simply add layers!  Leggings and boots, a cardigan and scarf!  Cozy and warm. :) 

Dress: Forever 21 / Cardigan: Target / Leggings & Boots: Kohl's / Scarf: H&M

But don't get me wrong, winter can go away at any time...  I know it's only the middle of December, but I'm ready for spring already!  I miss being warm, playing outside, sunshine, not worrying about coats and hats and mittens, driving without slipping and sliding...  I can't think of anything that I like about winter.  I know, I know, there are those of you that think you want snow at Christmas, but the thing is, it doesn't just last a day, a week, or even the whole month of December...  It will be months until I see green outside.  I turn into a hermit in the winter.  And that makes me grumpy.  So if you do see me out and about, please, give me a hug!  I need it!

Okay, enough of my whining.  There IS one good thing that just happens to occur during winter.  We get to celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior.  I'm going to focus on that.  Yes.  Yes, I am.  In case you don't hear from me again before Christmas, please, have a Merry Christmas.  Even when the weather is frightful, we can rejoice in knowing that we are loved beyond comprehension.

“Glory to God in the highest heaven,
    and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

Luke 2:14

Linking up: Greater Than Rubies - Remix Rewear Restyle

Red & Green

How was your weekend??  Mine was fabulous!  It started off with a bang with a ladies night ornament exchange at my friend Courtney's house.  I stuffed myself with delicious food and stayed up way too late!

Then Saturday morning we ventured out to our local Festival of Trees, where the kids made some fun crafts and searched for their favorite decorated tree.

Then in the evening, we donned our full snow gear and braved the single digit temps to attend the lighted Christmas parade and fireworks over the frozen lake.  It sure was cold, but worth it.  We're making memories, no matter what the weather may be!

It started snowing over night, and continued all day Sunday, so I volunteered Daddy for playing in the snow with the kids after church.  The first time this season!  We had a nice, low-key day, and then I snuck out in the evening for a much needed haircut! 

Now, on the the "fashion" portion of this post...

Is it possible to wear red and green together and not look like a Christmas tree?  I say, YES! 

Scarf: GroopDealz / Vest & Chambray: JCPenney / Jeans: H&M / Boots: Old Navy

Red and green are complimentary colors, so they definitely look good together.  But I'm guessing most of us avoid wearing them together, because we don't want to resemble a decorated evergreen.  Or an elf.  Which is easy for me to do anyways, since I'm only 5 foot 2...  on a good day.  So yeah, how?  I think it just depends on the shades of each color, and how you wear them.  Olive is a great shade of green to wear with red.  You could also do mint!  Or darken both colors and do burgundy and olive...  Also, using an accessory of some sort for one of the colors is a good way to add that pop of color without being too overwhelming.  And pairing red and green with neutrals will definitely tone down the Christmas vibe.  Of course, I could be giving you crazy advice, I'm just making this up as I go!  Haha!

How would you wear red and green?? 

Linking up:  Greater Than Rubies - Remix Rewear Restyle

Advent Activities

Anyone out there looking for ideas for this Advent season?  Here's the list of what we did in 2012. 

1.  Festival of Trees and Christmas by the Lake (local activities)
2.  Visit Santa
3.  Hang candy canes on the Christmas tree
4.  Bake cookies
5.  Make paper snowflakes
6.  Drink hot chocolate with fun marshmallows (we had chocolate mint)
7.  Elf Yourself (app)

8.  Snow paint
9.  Make Christmas goodies (recipes to come...)
10.  Snowman pancakes for supper
11.  Make salt dough ornaments
12.  Play in the snow
13.  Make Christmas play dough (with glitter and peppermint!)
14.  Buy a toy to donate to Toys for Tots
15.  Make Christmas popcorn to share with friends
16.  Go to the library and read Christmas books

17.  Make (and eat!) ice cream cone Christmas trees
19.  Go to a Christmas party
20.   Koen's birthday party :)
21.  Make Christmas cards
22.  Make Gingerbread houses (with Grandma!)
23.  Open a present (new jammies!)
24.  Drive around looking at Christmas lights

We will be repeating many of these this year, and trying a few new things! 

Here are a bunch of ideas:

Watch a specific Christmas movie (Elf, Santa Buddies, A Christmas Story, The Polar Express etc.)
Watch TV Christmas specials (Frosty, Rudolf, Charlie Brown, etc.)
Build a snowman
Make snow angels
Go sledding
Bake a birthday cake for Jesus
Have a candlelit dinner
Sleep under the tree
Dance to Christmas music
Ring the Salvation Army Bell
Set up a Nativity
Give goodies to the neighbors
Make ornaments or other Christmas crafts

Who knows what we'll actually end up doing!  I just pick and choose as we go, whatever fits into our schedule.  I'll do my best to share along the way!

What are your favorite Advent activities??

Check out my Christmas Pinterest board for all sorts of fun ideas, crafts and recipes!

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

Yay!  Our Christmas tree is up and decorated!  We have quite the hodgepodge of ornaments, but it's fun!  I think the kids did a pretty good job!  :)

As you can see, I decided not to do a book a day this year, but to have our Christmas books available all month.  A certain book lover I know was pretty happy about that!

I put up our Advent calendar last night, and I did it differently this year.  And I love it!

I dug an old, big poster frame out of the closet.  I turned the poster around to create a white background, cut six lengths of this fun silver string, and taped them to the back.  My sweet hubby helped.  :)  We just eyeballed it and tried to space them somewhat evenly.  Then we were able to clip four cards to each string.  We hung it up in some empty wall space in our living area.  This will be so much easier to work with than the giant clothesline above the kitchen cupboards was last year!

We also put up our outside lights yesterday, because it was a balmy forty-some degrees.  This is our third winter here, and our first time actually putting lights on the house.  The last couple years we've just plopped our light-up deer in the yard and put a string of lights on the deck.  I was so excited to make my husband put a little more effort into it this year! 

My husband is afraid of one thing...  Any guesses?? :-D

Scarf Swap

A few weeks ago, I hosted a scarf swap ladies night.  It was so much fun!  Each person brought a new scarf, in a gift bag, and we exchanged white elephant style!  I encouraged my friends to be mean and ruthless... and they were!  But then a few of us swapped afterwards, and everyone left sort of happy.  :)

I actually ended up with the neon scarf you see there on my gorgeous redheaded friend.  I've had a heck of a time figuring out how to style it, but I think I put an outfit together that really works!  All I needed was a neutral base! 

Cardigan & Tank: Target / Skinnies & Boots: Old Navy

This outfit was extra fun to wear, because rather than just throw on a basic black tee, I chose my black lace tank.  It was just the thing to add a little interest to an otherwise simple outfit.  Here's a closeup, since you can't really see it in the picture up there... 

How would you style a neon floral scarf??

P.S.  You could buy a million scarves if you won the $500 Nordstrom gift card from Pinterest Told Me To and Mix and Match Family.  Whoa!

Linking up: Greater Than Rubies - Remix Rewear Restyle