christmas day

mia and her pile of presents...

george and his pile of presents...

jolly old st. ute and his ukelele

(i'm thinking christmas in hawaii sounds pretty good)

george may have been disappointed with the puppy santa gave him, but he LOVED the hulk punchers papa steve gave him!

the aftermath, which took FOREVER to clean up and organize!!!

eve

on christmas eve we went to my parent's house to enjoy a delicious dinner with my whole family as well as my grandparents, two uncles and aunt. after dinner santa made an appearance! papa steve missed out on the santa fun. no one knows where he went, but he showed up again right after santa left. he barely missed him!

mia had no problem sitting on santa's lap and whispering what she wanted for christmas (a stuffed puppy the barks and wags his tail)

george said there was NO WAY he was sitting on santa's lap...

once george saw santa was giving out presents, he decided he might try to sit on santa's lap.

george got a little puppy to which he replied, "my puppy is cool, but i just wanted hulk punchers."

mia got a little kitten...

after we got home we put out cookies for santa and a carrot for the reindeer. mia's note says, "these are for you, santa. i love you santa." then she drew some mistletoe. santa and the reindeer loved their snack by the way...

hair wars

hair wars {a definition}: an annual touring event for artists and salons to create unconventional, elaborate, vibrant hairstyles and fashion using hair as the medium.

over the past year there have been six local hair wars competitions, each with one winner. my brother, skaught, was one of these winners which qualified him for the hair wars finale!!! the theme was "holiday spirit." skaught and 3 others from his salon created an AMAZING angel for the event. she was the product of lots of thoughtful planning, MASSES of hair, and hours upon hours of creating and assembling. i don't think skaught slept for 3 days getting ready for this.

jamie, trevor (jamie's beau) and i headed to the palms (moon nightclub) for the finale on december 20th. it didn't start until midnight, but we wouldn't miss the unveiling of this masterpiece for the world!! each of the six finalists were so creative and amazing. there was: the angel (skaught's), 2 ice princesses, hope (her hair was fashioned like a bird's nest and had eggs nestled in it), an ornament (her hair was shaped in large bulbs and also had ornaments incorporated into the creation), and a new year's themed contestant. even though i felt like i had been hit by a bus the next morning (i didn't fall asleep until around 5 am and then had to get up to take care of my kids), we had the BEST time celebrating skaught and his accomplishment. they didn't win the competition; however, i think it's pretty spectacular that they made it to the finale! i'm so proud of my big brother!!!

here she is! it's hard to see in this pictures, but the rays coming off her head are made out of hair and light up...

skaught doing some finishing touches before the runway walk...

me, jamie & trevor...

jamie, skaught and me...

the {creators} of the angel...

the other contestants...(hard to see i know, but this is the best shot we could get)

'twas the sunday before christmas

here are the kids decked out in their christmas outfits...

bellagio conservatory

every year we head to the bellagio to gaze in wonder at the amazing winter wonderland display of polar bears made out of carnations, reindeer crafted out of pecans, snowmen created out of carnations and poinsettias in such abundance, it's hard to believe they are all real! they use natural, organic supplies whenever possible, and it's amazing to look at each detail and figure out what was used...seeds, beans, plants, etc. so creative and breathtaking!

mia's class christmas party

thanks to my mama watching george for a few hours, i FINALLY got to help out in mia's class for her christmas party! they did a rotating party where the kids went to other kindergarten classrooms to learn about different culture's holiday traditions (hanukkah, holland wooden shoes and mexican poinsettias). mia's teacher, miss whisler, taught about the mexican poinsettia tradition. we had so much fun learning about the poinsettia legend and making a really pretty "stained glass" poinsettia ornament. miss whisler also surprised each student with a thoughtfully chosen christmas present...a book to practice reading over the christmas break (mia zipped right through hers as she is already reading at a 3rd grade level!!!)

thirty-two

on december 10th, my dad and i celebrated our birthdays...yes, we share a birthday! my cousin, clint, and i also share the same birthday (same year in fact), but he lives in another state, so as of yet we have never been able to party together (one of these days we will, though!). i had a great birthday filled with lots of calls, texts, emails and drop-ins, which was wonderful {thank you so much!}. i feel so lucky to have such amazing friends and family. on the 11th, we celebrated as a family by going to claim jumper and then back to my house for some birthday cherry oat squares...my favorite!

my grandma jo is 100 today!

today is my grandma jo's 100th birthday! isn't that amazing? she is such an incredible lady...one who i daily strive to pattern my life after. yesterday she was a guest on cbs radio out of washington d.c. in celebration of the century that she has spent on this earth. i am posting her interview on my blog in case some of my relatives weren't able to listen {it's about 25 minutes long.} i laughed and cried through the whole interview. i love this woman, and i think of her daily!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, GRANDMA!!!