Catch Up

So I thought I should do a catch up post after our week of Christmas posts last week.  We have been so wonderfully surprised with how much there is to do in and around Murfreesboro! They have a wonderful children's center that has parent and tot classes 3 days a week, beautiful parks with hiking trails, and phenomenal playgrounds.  For the price of a family membership to the Orlando Science Center we got a membership to the Nashville Zoo and The Discovery Center!  Having all of these things available to Hudson and I has really made my life easier!!!

This weekend we went took Hudson to the zoo for the first time.  To say that he loved it would be an understatement! We were also happy to hear that they will have a dinosaur exhibit this spring :) Today Hudson and I checked out a new church.  They were having their Christmas pageant so I knew H would like it!  I really liked the church and can't wait to go to more services and get involved. Getting excited about Christmas and seeing H's excitement! 

my mom was here the week we moved in and I forgot to post this pic :)

my dad came to town 2 weeks ago for an overnight visit with the little guy

these 2 just have so much fun together

M and I always love to lie under the tree and look up at the lights, we taught H this year!

M made clam chowder and I used my new Erin Condren tags to give some to our neighbors

here are the zoo pictures, it was freezing when we got there but we pretty much had the whole place to ourselves!

the zebras were eating so they didn't come over to where we were

(excuse my weird hand placement)

Tigers!

the Lynx were so cute washing each other 

so happy he spotted the sleeping alligator

the awesome playground at the zoo

daddy slid right through the water!

somebody was throwing a little fit...

he got over it...

Hope everyone had a great weekend! The countdown to our Christmas road trip begins tomorrow!

Oh What Fun It Is....To Decorate!

It's the last day of the Oh What Fun series and I must admit I am a little sad, this has been fun!  I am linking up with Erin of Blue Eyed Bride who is an amazing momma of another little Hudson!

When we lived in FL I did not do a ton of decorating inside the house but apparently moving has made me a decorating fool! Here are some of our decorations, enjoy!

I love this sparkly HoHoHo, scored from Target $1 section last year, is on 1 side of the stove

I bought these cute ornaments at Target this year, put some ribbon in the bowl and then placed the ornaments on top...turned out pretty cute I think

Presents wrapped, instead of 1 theme we do paper for each family so we can be organized!

I haven't had a mantle in 3 years so it was fun to decorate one again!

Snowman hanging out

Little People Nativity, I thought next to the palm tree was the prefect place since there were palms in Bethlehem 

The sparkly Noel is on the other side of the stove

I had a vase laying around and decided to put the ornaments in it, I loved it so much I bought a matching (shorter) vase for the other side!)

The tree

Always need a bowl of Christmas M&M's, they are also great for potty training ;)

Our fridge with some of H's artwork and Christmas cards

Santa dish on the foyer table

Garland on the loft balcony 

I love turning off all the lights and looking at the tree

Garland on the banister 

These were the offending topiaries that were outside, I simply moved them inside....

Another view of the foyer table

Powder room hand towel

Beautiful Tree!

So those are our Christmas decorations! I am also going to link up with Kelly for the holiday tour of homes.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Oh What Fun It Is...To Make Memories

Today is the 4th installment in the Oh What Fun Series....I did not post anything yesterday because I did not get the creative gene from either parent :(  I'm linking up with AP to talk about making memories!

Growing up I have such wonderful memories of our Christmas traditions!

• Our church always has a pageant the Saturday before Christmas and that was the thing to go to!
• When my cousins lived in the same town we would all pile into 1 car and drive around to see the lights in their neighborhood
• Richmond is the only place I've lived that has a tacky light tour and to this day it is my favorite thing to do
• We always had Christmas Eve dinner at my maternal grandparents house, Big Daddy would sing Silent Night in German and then read us The Night Before Christmas, my mother has taken over dinner hosting and my dad reads to H, we now also do a reenactment of the Christmas Story with my younger cousins and H
• Christmas morning we weren't allowed to go into the living room until daddy started the fire, Santa never wrapped his presents just left them on the hearth, we would have breakfast casserole & toasted pound cake for breakfast before heading to my paternal grandparents house, then to my godparents open house, and finally dinner at the Japanese Steak House for my Aunt Betsy's birthday dinner (she is a Christmas Baby)

Here are some of the traditions we have started with Hudson

Cutting down our Christmas tree as a family

Baking cookies

We also want to make sure Christmas is about Jesus and not completely about Santa or how many presents you get.  I have been letting H put money in every Salvation Army bucket we see, it is an easy way to show him at this age how to give. I saw on Meredith's blog that she and her husband wrap 25 books about Christmas for their boys to open 1 everyday, I will be stealing this idea :)  I am so excited for Christmas this year, a part of me really wants to stay at home and have it be just the 3 of us but I am excited to see our families and spend this wonderful holiday with them! Merry Christmas!!!

Oh What Fun It Is....To Cook!

Today I am linking up with Molly for the 2nd installment of the Oh What Fun series! The topic today is cooking, which if you know me at all you know I am not the cook in our house!  While M does the majority of the cooking I still love to get in there and make a few things....

Chocolate Chip Cheese Ball
(this recipe is from Kelly)


What you need:

1pkg softened cream cheese
1/2c butter, softened
3/4c confectioner' sugar
2TBS brown sugar
1/4tps vanilla extract
3/4c miniature semi sweet chocolate chips

• beat together cream cheese & butter until smooth
• mix in sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla
• stir in chocolate chips
• cover and chill for 2 hours
• shape chilled cream cheese mixture into ball, wrap with plastic, and chill 1 hour
• roll into ball or put into bowl
• I like to use the peperidge farm entertaining cookies as dippers but you can use any cookie!

Enjoy!

Oh What Fun It Is....To Entertain!

Hello Hello, today I am linking up with Nina for the Oh What Fun Series!  We aren't hosting any parties this year since we don't know anyone here in TN!  

Last year we had a little cookie decorating fun for Hudson and his friend Jack! The boys had a blast and the grown-ups had fun as well!

exchanging gifts

decorating can be yummy :)

 we set up the little table for the boys

Mmmmmm!

We had a lot of fun as you can tell by that face!  This year H and I will make cookies and have our own little party!

No Decorating

Please excuse the rant....

Yesterday I got an email from our HOA (homeowners association) saying that I would have to take down my Christmas topiaries.  The reason being that this was an upscale community and nothing is allowed on the front porch.  I'm sorry but when did living in an upscale neighborhood mean that you can't decorate for Christmas? My front porch looks nice, Clark Griswold I am not.  I have not taken them down yet and every fiber in my body tells me to stand my ground....we shall see.

The offensive decorations