Christmas Tree Time!!!

The kiddos are still in that super fun stage, loving the Elves on the Shelf and making it look all things Christmas around here. We had a blast putting up the tree this year. Everyone played their part and it made for one amazing tree....

All ready to work their magic!!!

Daddy's favorite ornament!!! Ha!

Best teamwork EVER!

Ty's better than me at spreading them out and making them balance!!!

(I'm IN LOVE with Tay's low ornament hanging this year. She was sooooo proud and, despite the fact that there wasn't much room for presents under the tree, you know that I didn't dare move one of her beautifully placed decorations. So stinkin' cute!!!)

Amazing job, Munchkins!!! You did fabulous...and I couldn't imagine a better tree!!!

Red, White, and Blue Lanterns...

decorated our patio and were made by the kiddos. Trey sped through the decorating process. So fast, in fact, that I should have taken his picture first!!!

It really was a super easy craft involving colored card stock, scissors, and stickers....can't get much easier than that!!!

Tay's turn to decorate hers....she's loving the flag stickers....

Ty's masterpiece in progress...

Tay had fun gluing on the extra dots we didn't use. Not bad for a newly turned two-year old! And, yes, she's definitely going to be my lefty!!!!

Finished products!

Not sure why I didn't take any pics of them hanging up outside...but they looked great strung across the window and held up very well in three days of sunny and windy weather!

Great job on the lanterns, Munchkins! Love you lots and lots!!!

My PhotoBoards have Arrived...

and I LOVE them!

A while back, I bought a GROUPON for a company that turned three of my pics into 12x12 PhotoBoards. They finally arrived and are up on the wall...

It was soooo hard for me to pick three pictures to turn into PhotoBoards, but I chose these three for a couple of reasons...One, they were taken within weeks of our move up here to the Des Moines area and just mark sort of a "new chapter" point in our lives. Every time I look at this set of pics, all our hard work and family strength shines through. We had a lot on our plates last summer and these pics were taken on a weekend that really was relaxed.

Two, they really capture a sweet, baby face time for Ty...she's growing up so quickly and I feel like she's gone from a two year old to, what seems like a five year old in the blink of an eye!!! She just adores her sibs and these shots capture those moments perfectly!!!

Three, I just love them!!!  

Each and every time I walk into the kitchen, these pics are the first thing I see. Every time I walk in from the garage, these are the first things I see. Every time we eat dinner at the table, I see these happy little pictures and I'm instantly overcome with a wonderful feeling and am sure to count my blessings. These capture that Life. Is. Good. feeling and I just can't get enough of them!!!

The perfect little addition in the perfect little place...

The Tree is....

officially UP!!!

Jason, the kids, and I all had a great time putting up the tree last night.

We are really excited to celebrate our first holiday season in our new home and getting the Christmas decorations up and ready to go was the first fun step. The kids are super excited and loved helping...we've been putting up a few things here and there over the past week or so and, the tree was the last thing to get set up.

Watching Trey and Tylee have fun going through all the ornaments and get excited about what ornament they put where was so stinkin' cute. They seriously looked through all the ornaments and talked about how cool they were and where exactly they wanted to put them. (Which was a little surprising because I wasn't exactly sure how long their excitement would last.....) Most the ornaments got them a gigglin, which in turn, had us all gigglin.....

I loved sitting back and taking it all in...I hope they remain excited about this each and every year. It really was a fun way to end the weekend.

Trey & Ty putting on the first ornaments of the year....

Tylee doing an EXCELLENT job of finding the perfect spot for each ornament!!! Who cares that the tree was bottom heavy.....

Moving on up the tree :) I still can't believe how big she is...THREE!!!

Trey Man being a silly goose!!!

This was one of those HILARIOUS, but you gotta be there, moments. Tylee was looking through EVERY ornament in the boxes and talking about each one. We told her that some of them were Mommy's and some were Daddy's and that they came from all over. She came across this ornament and quickly said, "Look, Daddy!!! It's YOU!" So this is now our "Daddy" ornament....these kiddos crack me up!!!!

Having fun decorating the tree. And, I do have to say....they finished all the ornaments!!!

Daddy putting on a couple of his favorites. We love all the memories associated with each and every one!!!

Miss Tay realizing that the funny things hanging from the tree look waaaaaay more exciting than her light-up, music playing ball....

And, she goes in for a grab....

What a fun little night for the Weites.

 Can you even believe that Christmas is right around the corner.....

Where has 2011 gone?!?!?!

Night y'all....hope you and your families have fun taking part in all the holiday hoopla and get an opportunity to enjoy all the little things!!!! Happy Decorating!!!!

My munchkins all ready to go celebrate an early Thanksgiving with Jason's family....lots to be thankful for, that's for sure!!!

I'm on a Roll...

LOL!! And, you can start laughing now too...don't worry, I already know that decorating and design is NOT my middle name!!

No, seriously...just wanted to capture my new wall "art"....LOVE this and I was secretly stalking it at Gordman's! I wasn't sure it would look good, but I'm happy with the way it looks and am glad to see some things going up on the walls around here!!!

How true is that?!?!

Happy Friday night...I've finished the cleaning and am off to make a few Hello Kitty things for Tylee's celebration and my version of a "table-scape"....wish me luck ;)

Night all!!!

I think it's PERFECT!!!

And, that is all that matters!!

After a month and a half of searching high and low for the "perfect" laundry room decor, I'm FINALLY happy!! This new house has many bare walls and I've been looking for wall decor for a while now...for the kitchen, the living room, our bedroom, bathrooms, and, well, you get the point. I've seen friends with the most ADORABLE decorations, countless "must haves" in magazines and, of course, all those fantastic designs on HGTV. If only it were that easy....

Then, tonight, after looking through a bunch of pictures, I realized that it was THAT easy!! I decided to create my own little version of a "centerpiece" above my washer and dryer. After all, I am the one who does a majority of the laundry around here and I am the one who has to look at whatever it is I decide to put up time and time again....

SO......

I used a wall saying that my mom sent me in the kiddos Halloween package and decided to surround it with my MOST FAVORITE sights in the WHOLE WIDE WORLD.....

MY MUNCHKINS!!!

It may never be featured on a designer show or make it's way onto the cover of a Better Homes & Garden mag, but I think it's PERFECT and I can't think of anything else, trendy or not, that I'd rather look at while washing, drying, and folding all of the clothing that our family of five manages to go through!!!

Who needs an interior decorator anyway?!?!



October Equals....

PUMPKIN TIME and today marked our first little fun time with those good, old, orange globes!! 

One of my students grows pumpkins and just happened to bring in three today for the kiddos!! So when I got home this afternoon you can only guess what we did!!! They were PERFECT size and the kids had a blast decorating them...

We are planning on hitting a lot more of the fun, fall festival activities they have up here just about every day this month, but this little decorating activity definitely got us all in the mood and itching for more!!

Trey and Ty decorated away while Taylen Jae got a few much needed ZZZ's....(She hasn't slept through the night for about 2 1/2 weeks straight...awful little virus going around!!! Ugh!!) So, I wasn't about to wake her up for this...her time will come, soon enough!!!

Ty making sure the mouth and nose were in the "right" spot....Looking Good!!

Her masterpiece!! (Notice the cat's ears and the witch's hat....she wanted them both and Trey man was nice enough to hand over the purple hat, without much fuss, I must add. Which doesn't always go so smoothly!!!)

"Ta-Da!"

 Good to Go!!

The perfect little pumpkin family....

Here's to all the little Fall and Halloween fun to come!!! What a great time of year....

Happy Carving....or decorating like we like to do this early in October!!! Nothing is worse than rotting, stinky, moldy pumpkins by Halloween night!!!