Christmas Craze

It's that wonderful time of year again, ahhhh the wonderful Christmas season. I love Christmas, I really do - I love the sounds, the smells, the sights, the lights, the excitement, the eggnog...mostly the eggnog. Just kidding, although my FIL takes the prize on best eggnog ever! As much as I love the season, it can be so overwhelming. I have vowed to make this year better than last, because last year we committed ourselves one too many times and after all was said and done on December 25th...I found we hadn't taken a single moment of time for ourselves. Not one trip to see Santa (we should be incarcerated for that one), not one trip down to Main Street (my favorite) to see the Old World Santa's and carolers, not even one evening out as a couple. There were great moments with friends and family members, but not with just "our" family. It took a bit of the merriment out of the whole season. So here I write and vow to make this year different. We're trying, even going out the weekend after Thanksgiving for a tree, which is something we've pushed to the absolute limit in years past and now have a not-so-funny story about the year there were only a handful of trees LEFT and we ended up with the Mahoney version of a Charlie Brown Christmas. Not kidding. I have pictures of Josh and Lane standing next to the pitiful excuse of a tree...both of them taller than the goofy thing. Oh yes, it was horrible.




And they will both murder me for posting these...

So far we have:

~ Put up lights outside - thank you Patrick!

~ Bought THE tree and decorated it - thank you Lane and Elise!













~ Taken Lane & friends ice skating....where I realized cold, stiff fingers do not make for award-winning photo's.













~ Bought 95% of our gifts - I mean "talked to Santa to place orders for 95% of our gifts".

~ Had a playdate with Elise's BFF, Lillian.







~ Taken pictures for good friends - thank you Casey & Sheila for letting me practice.







~ Taken pictures of Tiffany and Bill the LAST nice weekend before it turned cold - again Thank You to my friends for setting aside time to let me practice.













~ Spent cozy nights curled up fireside with a mug of this (warm and add cinnamon stick for that little something extra).


Yes, use a mug...a wineglass gets HOT with the steamy wine inside!


I just love catching these random moments....

Bows you say? Where did we score the fabulous bows Elise was sporting in many of these pics? A huge call-out to Jessica in TX who started her own business this year....check it out: Dazzling Darlings Bowtique

And we're off to see Santa this weekend. Watch out - The Mahoney's may actually pull it all off this year!

Low-Key Baby

We had one of those weekends while Patrick was out of town. With the exception of a pre-birthday movie night for Josh on Friday (HARRY POTTER!), we mostly laid low...enjoying a girls-only weekend at home, coming and going only a handful of times, watching chick-flicks, enjoying the fireplace and just chillin. A perfect prelude to the kick-off of holiday craziness this week. Oh and a quick shopping trip to Old Navy for $15 boots (oh yeah!) and Charming Charlies...where Lane decided she wants to pitch a tent and live forever. I scored lots of ideas for her birthday and Christmas!




Yes, it's a FireLog, so shoot me.








The kiss-tackle documented by Lane!

A few random low-key pics:
















Remember that prelude to craziness comment I made before? Let's just say that Daddy shouldn't be allowed to just run to the store for a few miscellaneous Christmas decorations....lest he spy a pink Christmas tree with tiny pink lights. I'm serious. She loves it though, rearranges the little decorations about 5 times a day and turns out her overhead light to just stare at it.





Enjoy this short work week! At least one more post to come before the big feast on Thursday - I'm anxiously waiting for a package to arrive from Texas so I can snap away with the camera and show off THE most adorable Tom Turkey bow ever to be made for little missy. Thank you, Thank you Jessica. More to come....it'll all make sense later, I promise.

Bits of Excitement

An evening curled up within the warmth of home. Little missy and teen miss asleep, hubbie out of town, Food Network humming in the background, Mulled Cider candle flickering and a few precious hours with our trusty laptop - editing pictures and just savoring this "me-time". It has been scarce to find over the past two months, this "me-time", and while we have had bigger worries and obstacles to overcome lately than my carving out time to write and create - that's exactly when I most NEED to carve it out. So here I am, a Thursday evening at home alone for a few hours and loving it!

I feel big changes coming, this excitement that has been fueling me as I learn more and do more with photography, is leading me in a direction I wouldn't have dreamed possible at this same time last year. And as the excitement builds, I remember something that happened about 10 years ago... my friend Amy and I went to a psychic, for fun on one of our birthdays, whatever, that part isn't important. Whether or not you believe in special powers or psychics or what-not, and I'm on the fence, there were a few comments the psychic made that have stuck in my mind all these years. I bring it up to Amy now and then, as well as share it with others. ANYWAY, on to what she said already. She said I would have a long life, two marriages - one very short and the other long-lasting, I was best suited to be in business for myself and would have the means to retire at a very young age. Hmmmm...that speaks to me.

Bits:

~ New job found - and after only 45 days on the hunt. I am so proud of Patrick! He starts after the Thanksgiving holiday. Hoorah!

~ The technically-challenged one figured out how to create a collage header for her blog!! Hoorah!

~ Fall, Leaves, Kids - it doesn't get better than that. Thank you, thank you to my family and friends who are very patiently letting me practice on them. :-) Bear with me if you're a FB friend and have seen some of these already...

Bits from Patti & Ian's "session":










I call this one "The Runaway"....






It's great to be back! I leave you this evening with a new quote..."Life is like a mirror - Smile at it and it smiles back at you." - Peace Pilgrim