Christmas Day

Because we had done most of our celebrating with my side of the family the day before it really made Christmas and enjoyable day this year. We didn't have to split the day between 3 families and it was really nice. (Maybe we should do that every year from now on!) Matt had to work until 3 on Christmas day, so the kids and I slept in a little bit and then got ready and went next door to my parents for our traditional Yancey brunch on Christmas morning. We had pancakes, sausage, fruit and juice. It was yummy and a great way to start the morning. The kids played for a while and then we went home and loaded the car to head out to Unlce Kendall and Aunt Stephanies for the Keller get together. We got there early enough that we were able to skype and visit with Elder Keegan Keller that is serving a mission in Spain right now. He has been out for a little more than 10 months and will be home before we know it. It was really great to see him and talk to him and hear how he was doing. I know it was a highlite for a lot of the family. For the Keller lunch they did a pasta bar. There was lasagna, spaghetti, fettuchini with shrimp, and shrimp alfredo with salad and garlic bread. It was so fun to have all the different types of pasta, and pretty much all you could eat. We never go hungry at a Keller get together. Grandma Keller gave away some of her jewelry to her granddaughters, and great-granddaughters and Paige and I fell into this catelgory. It was fun to look through and pick something out special that belonged to her. I wore some of the jewelry this last Sunday and got several compliments. So that is fun! After dinner we did the pass around gift exchange. This year they changed the rules so that once a gift has been open it can only be passed 3 times before it is out. That made the game go quicker, but dissapointed some of the people that were at the end of the game because it made it so a lot of the items were out of play. Also we all drew numbers for the order in which we picked a gift so it was all random. I ended up with a $25 gift card to Chili's and a box of whoppers and Matt got a grooming kit. It was one of the better years for us! We had a fun time with everyone.

After that we went to Grandpa & Grandma C's house to open more gifts. Paxten got a new outfit, 6 books all about trucks and tractors, Jake and the Neverland Pirate toys, toy dinosaurs, a pack of gum (that was his favorite), and at our prior Christmas Party he got a headlamp and a Mcdonalds gift card.
Paige got a new outfit, a cheetah print jacket, the movie Brave, Tinkerbell toy, Fur Real Friends bunny, gum, and a lalaloopsy and a McDonalds gift card.
Parker got: A new outfit, remote control truck, Ben 10 4 in 1 gun, gum, Avengers book all about the characters, and a headlamp and a Mcdonalds gift card.
The whole family got the game Cootie and Matt got an affliction shirt and I got a bag and Adobe Photoshop, which I am really excited to use! We had a great day with family and spending time with the people we care most about.

Christmas Eve Dinner/Celebration

This year for our traditional Christmas Eve dinner we had lobster, prime rib, baked potatoes, spinach salad, yogurt salad, and rolls. It was all delicious and we all were stuffed after dinner. The kids could hardly take waiting until after we got the table cleared off and the dishes done to open their presents. After sorting out all the gifts into piles of who they would go to we started opening gifts. This year we did it differently having each person open 1 gift and then going around the room from youngest to oldest so that we could all see what everyone opened. Ususally there is so much wrapping paper and boxes flying around that we miss seeing half of what people open. So we tried something new this year. It did end up taking a little longer, but it was fun to see all the excitement and expressions on everyones faces as they opened each gift. Once again we were all spoiled and had such a great time together. We really do have a great family. This year Paxten got: A church outfit, a play outfit, a twin mattress (for the bunk bed), twin sheet set, dino racer, socks, drum set, RC & Woody car, Cars couch, elmo pop-up tent, bubble bath, cars slippers.
Paige got: Cinderella dress up outfit with a crown and glass slippers, church dress with tights, minnie mouse outfit, Rapunzel barbie, Hair bow holder, gold sparkly boots, 4 easy bake oven refills, bubble bath, duets sing-a-ma-jig, and an ipad mini with her name on it and an itunes gift card and a pink cover.
Parker got: a track outfit, a church outfit, socks, star wars lego set with a storage bag, Avengers acrion figures, angry birds hat and gloves, angry birds slippers, dream lite, bubble bath, and an ipad mini with his name on it with an itunes gift card and a green cover.
Erika: Amazon gift card, scrapbook paper cutter, cake decoration class and lesson kit, photo display frame made from an old door, lotions from Bath & Body Works, 3 iphone covers, scrabble shuffle game, dish drying mats, jewelry display holder, and a cricut cartridge. (I also got a cute decoration that spells Frosty from Sheri!)
Matt:a Harley shirt, golf balls, tees, 2 golf shirts, Callaway hat, white socks, Cal-Ranch gift card, earbuds, Wii Cabelas gun & game, otterbox iphone cover, Blackfoot Golf Course gift card and as a joint gift to Matt and I we got a Traeger grill and cover and 2 bags of pellets... which Matt is very very excited about!

Christmas Morning

After finally getting up at the kids perisitence, we got to opening gifts. Each of the kids got Something to Wear, Something to Read, and Something to Play With. We decided to keep it simpler and not get too extreme, after all we just took the kids to Disneyland and they knew that was part of their Christmas this year. Parker got Perry the Playypus slippers, new jeans, socks, and underwear. The Magic Tree House bookset, and some Cars2 cars. Paige got a Sunday coat, a maxi dress, and a black shirt. She also got the Junie B. Jones books set, her own kitchen cooking utensils and a Hello Kitty CD player for her room. Paxten got a Mater Christmas book, a sweatshirt, and another outift, and a Batman car to ride on. Santa did a familt gift this year and we got a Wii game system with 5 games. We got the wii sports game, Wheel of Fortune, Cars2, Toy Story 3, and a Tangled game. Along with the games we got 2 extra controllers, so that more than one person can play at a time. We all got some great stocking stuffers including some of out favorite snacks and treats. Matt got me the Hunger Games movie and I got him some new workout shorts, socks, and cologne. We were all pretty happy with our new stuff and got to work setting up the game system. After about an hour and it not working, Matt decided that the game system was defective. Luckily it wasn't actually Christmas Day and he was able to take it to exchange it at the special "Exchange Store" that Santa has. So a few hours later, we had the new Wii working and were having fun. Later on we got together and my parents house for our annual Christmas Eve dinner and gift exchange.

Christmas Jammies

My mom has started a tradition with the kids to give them Christmas Jammies, a book, and an ornament on Christmas Eve each year. This year she got the kids adorable jammies, as always! Paiges said, "I've been sweet all year." and Paxten's said, "All you want for Christmas is me!" Parker was excited that he got angry birds shirt and flannel pants that were long and fit him well. The book she got the family was a new book written by Thomas S. Monson called, "The Christmas Train." We enjoyed reading the book that evening about when our prophet was a little boy and the decision he made to make Christmas special for a little boy in his ward. It was a great story with beautiful illustrations. The ornaments the kids got this year were wonderful as well. Paige got a little girl building a gingerbread house, Paxten got a boy dressed as Batman, and Parker got a red Angru Birds ornament. The kids love having their own ornaments to decorate the tree each year and love to look at all the ornaments from previous years. It really is a fun tradtion.

Matt had to work on Christmas morning this year, so we got special permission from Santa to have out Christmas on Monday morning instead of Tuesday morning. So that made out Christmas Eve on Sunday night. The kids really had no idea that is was a different day and we so excited about the thought of Santa coming that they could hardly sleep. Who wouldn't have been excited that Santa was coming a day early?! Parker woke up about 6 times during the night and Paige woke up twice. At about 6:45 we decided that we shoule just get up and let them open their presents, we weren't going to be able to go back to sleep anyways.

Gingerbread House Building

The kids look forward to making gingerbread houses each year. I think it is one of their favorite traditions. We had Grandma Yancey over to help us out and she brought a bag full of goodies to contribute to the house building. I helped Paige and Parker was helped by grandma. Paxten decided he wasn't too interested and ended up laying with Matt and taking a nap. Between Paige and Parker we used 2 batched of frosting and about 6 bags of candy! It seemed like it became a competition to see who could put the most candy on their house without it collapsing.  We didn't decied on a winner, but I am sure it would have been a tie. They both had gobs of candy on it and wanted more and more. I finally had to tell Paige that there was no where else to put any more candy! Both houses turned out fun and reflected the personalities of both the kids. It was a fun evening and we had table centerpieces for the next 2 weeks! December 18th, 2012.

Our Elf Fritz

Our elf Fritz was very busy during the holiday season. He made his way throughout our house and the kids loved having to search for him every morning. I think it became the highlight of their day finding our elf. He was pretty well behaved and only made a few messes that I had to clean up, thank good ness! The kids expecially loved it when he would hide in their rooms. Fritz was a good elf and he helped the kids remember to be good so he could report to Santa how they were behaving. Parker and Paige were especially sad when they learned that Fritz would be leaving out house and returning to the North Pole for the next year. They cant wait for him to return next year, meanwhile I keep reminding them to be good all year long! We will see how long that lasts. We are so glad that this is a new family tradition and we are very excited to have this special elf be a part of many more years of family fun in the years to come!

Parker's School Program

Parker had his 1st grade Christmas Program on Monday. He was so excited to be performing at the performing arts center for us. They had 2  programs, one at 1:00 in the afternoon and one at 6:00 in the evening. There weren't very many people at the afternoon one, but Grandma Yancey and I were able to make it to watch Parker and his class sing their songs. The evening performance was huge, there were close to 1000 people there to watch the 1-3 grades perform. They all did a great job, but the first grade was the best! (I can say that) Parker actually sang, which is a bug improvement from his Kindergarten program. He is loving being in 1st grade and loves his wonderful teacher.

A New Tradition

We have started a new tradition at our house this year. The Elf on the Shelf. We had a special visitor come to our house, the day after we werent feeling so great. So it was such a nice suprise to see something good and to have something fun and exciting to look forward to. The kids and I named our special elf Fritz. Fritz was sent to our home from Santa Claus to help watch after the kids and their behavior before Christmas time. He then reports back to the North Pole each evening and lets Santa know what the kids have been doing. He can watch them and the kids can talk to him, but he cannot talk back and the kids are not allowed to touch him, because his magic will wear off. So far the kids love getting up each morning and seeing where Fritz is hiding. They talk to him and they are quick to do something I ask them when I remind them that Fritz is watching. Paxten even gets excited when he spots our special Elf. He has also been really great not to touch him. We are thrilled that this has become a tradition and we look forward to the rest of the month and many more years with our new favorite Elf Fritz!!

Christmas Ornanments

If you remember last year, Parker ruined the Christmas ornament that he gave me in 2009 that said,"Merry Christmas mom and dad, love popper" I was devastated!! (mostly because I was extremely pregnant and hormonal) He still feels bad about it and when we were putting ornaments on the tree this year he brought it up and said how sorry he was for erasing the message. I'm still sad about it, but I know it was an accident and at least I wrote about it so it will never be forgotten. Well this year, my mom helped the kids, Paige and Parker, make new ones for me. My mom had watched the kids for me for a little while one evening and when I came back they had s surprise for me. I opened the presents and they had each recorded a message on an ornament for me. Paige's said, "I do love Christmas and presents, and I do love mom and dad!!" it was so sweet!! I love that it said that because that is how she has been talking lately and I always want to remember it. Parker's said, "Merry Christmas. I love you mom and dad." It was sweet as well. I was very excited about getting them and gave the kids strict rules on listening to them. I put them up high on the tree so no kids could reach them and have very carefully played them back. I am very sentimental and these ornaments melted my heart. I can't wait to listen to them next year when the kids have grown up and to hear how they have changed.

Christmas Morning Photos

 

My computer is being retarded and won't let me download the rest of the pictures, so here they are in a collage. Better than nothing!

Christmas Morning

On Christmas Morning Matt and I woke up early and got ready since we knew it would busy trying to open gifts, eat breakfast, and get ready for church by 11:00. We ended up having to wait for the kids to wake up, which they finally did about 8:15. They were surprised to see that Santa had put together Paige’s new table and chair set and had set out her new tea set. They were eager to try it out. Then they realized that Santa had made it and couldn’t wait to open their gifts.




Parker got new Cars 2 toys that he didn’t already have and 2 Cars 2 lego sets to put together. He also got chocolate pop tarts, watermelon gum, pickle Pringles, Root beer, a new toothbrush and toothpaste, coloring paint book and a looney toones coloring pages all in his stocking.

Paige opened some makeup from Santa along with an Easy Bake oven, which she was exstatic about, and she got chocolate pop tarts, watermelon gum, ranch Pringles, root beer, a toothbrush and toothpaste, and some Hello Kitty crayons, notebook and coloring pages all in her stocking.

Paxten got an elephant ball game, and a fabric tool set. He got a toothbrush and toothpaste in his stocking along with apple cinnamon puffs and some cookies.

After the kids opened gifts from Sanata, they opened gifts that Matt and I had gotten them. Each of the kids got new socks, and a new outfit. Paxten got some new board books and Paige got her first set of scriptures. Then both Parker and Paige got a new 7" Android tablet. They are always wanting to play on my Dad's and Grandma C's IPAD, but we couldn't justify buying an IPAD for a 6 year old and a 3 year old. So we opted for something smaller and not near as expensive. We even downloades gamed prior to Christmas so they would be ready to use when the kids opened them. They were both excited and have played on them quite a bit this week.

Matt received mostly practical stuff; socks, a belt, new jeans, and some new cologne. Matt also suprised me with a new professional cutting board, some salad tongs, and a silpat. I was suprised and proud of the fact that he came up with the idea all on his own and he did in fact suprise me with it.

After opening gifts we went next door for the traditional Yancey breakfast. Per Parker's request we had French toast, sausage, cutie clementines, and juice. It was delicious.

We then went to Church for just Sacrament meeting. The kids were dressed in their new church outfits and all looked so adorable.

Christmas Gifts

Paxten had a fun first Christmas, he was even big enough to tear into some of the wrapping paper. He did get tired of presents being put in front of him to open, he just wanted to plat with his new toys! He got:
New jammies, blanket, book, pillowcases, fisher price fireman ornament, bath toys, Lion King movie, 3 outfits, church outfit, and a steering wheel toy.


Paige opened:
Church dress, church shoes, tights, hairbows, and a ring, Monster High dolls, holiday pillow cases, makeup, jean purse (my mom made this purse out of an old pair of my jeans when I was a little girl) table cloth, table and chairs, LalaLoopsy doll, blanket, jammies, book, Barbie clothes, tea set, crocheted hat, 2 outfits, and a tinkerbell ornament.


Parker opened:
New jammies, blanket, book, snow boots, sneakers, Cars trouble game, holiday pillow cases (my mom made each of the kids pillow cases for each holiday, they are so cute!), batteries –for all his toys!, cars walkie talkies, Cars ornament, Mcdonald’s gift card, 2 Cars2 toys, church outfit, church socks, and an Air Soft BB gun.


Erika opened:
I got a new Christmas tree after Thanksgiving, a jean jacket, Pampered Chef Large Lifter, 2 King Size sheet sets, Our Best Bites Cookbook, the game Scum, Edwards Gift Card (with babysitting), Itunes Gift Card, Amazon Gift Card, 2 hot pads, 2 king size pillows, set of 3 bowls, tile plaque of Family Rules (made by my Mom), scrapbook stickers, Scrapbook ink set, dish towels/dish clothes, dish scrubbies, and money to go towards our future Disneyland trip.


Matt opened:
an Itunes Gift Card, Cal-Ranch Gift Card, Famous Footwear Gift Card, an IPOD Shuffle, PS3 Controller, Walker Mower Blades, John Deere Hat, Family Logo Game, Truck Floor Matts.

Christmas Eve

 

This year for Christmas my side of the family got together on Christmas Eve, so that we could go to Matt's family on Christmas Day. (It was getting too hard to try and fit all the family in on one day) We got together about 3:00 and had potato bacon soup in bread bowls, chicken taquitos and homemade salsa, spinach salad with poppyseed dressing, veggie tray and dip and eclair cake for dessert. We were all stuffed. After our early dinner we opened presents. Parker and Paige were the designated gift organizers and separated all the gifts into piles according to who they were for. That kept them entertained for a little while. No matter what we say about cutting back and not doing as much, we still seem to have pretty big stacks of presents to open. It takes quite a while to get through them all when we are watching each person open gifts. But it is so fun. This year I tried to minimize my picture taking so that I wouldn't have 500 pictures of just Christmas (for some reason I hate scrapbooking about Christmas, probably because of the overwhelming amount of pictures) So I took a few pictures of the kid opening gifts and a picture of them by their "Pile" before they oepened and after they opened. We all got spoiled and received so many wonderful things. We have such a great family and wonderful parents that take good care of us. By the time we opened everything it was getting to be the kids bedtime and we wanted them to go to sleep early so Santa could come so we didn't end up playing any games, they will have to wait until next time we get together.

Santa's Lap

 

The kids were able to see Santa last weekend at our ward party. Paxten was the least excited about sitting on his lap and was screaming. Paige was the most excited and ran and gave him a big hug when he walked in the doors. This year for Christmas Parker wants Cars2 toys, anything Star Wars, batteries, and new socks. Paige wants and Easy Bake Oven, barbie clothes, and new play makeup. Paxten doesn't really care and I am sure he will be more thrilled with the box the toys come in than the actual toy. We can't wait to see if Santa gets them what they want...hopefully they are on the "Nice" list!

Ornament Exchange

I had my annual ornament exchange last week and had a great time. It is always fun to get together with a group of girls and to visit and laugh with each other. Some of the people that are in the group I seem to only see this time of the year. It is fun to catch up with one another and to get to know others. This year I made baked chicken taquitoe from my recipe. I think they were liked because there were no left overs! We had great food, great company, and I came home with 16 new ornaments to put on my tree. Yay!! This kids had fun looking at the new ornaments and then putting them on the tree. It is so fun to reminise about each ornanment as it gets put on the tree and to see all the different ones that I have collected over the years. This was my 8th year doing the exchange, I can't wait until next year!

Christmas Eve

Me opening a gift from my mom - a decorative post with seasonal interchangeable signs.

Parker with all his stuff including: a gun, robot, tool bench, church clothes & shoes, new jammies and Christmas book, new shirt/pants, toy story 8 in 1 game set, Iron Man ornament, 2 new movies, double ended light saber, 2 lego sets, a magnetic toy set and a Sword and Sheild that Grandpa made for him.

Me with everything I got including: a Gift Certificate for a pedicure, winter snow boots, candle warmer with 2 different scents, 3 scrapbook binders, sheet protectors, tall brown boots, gift card to scrapbook store, scrapbook set with paper/album/pens/scissors/embelishements, seasonal post, winnie the pooh ornament, 2 scrapbook paper packs, amazon gift card, 6ft table, Bath and Body lotions, Bamboo Pampered Chef salad bowl and tongs and a set of lids for some bowls I have.
Parker with his gun

Paige with her Pink Barbie Car and Dora Microphone

Paige with all her stuff including: New jammies and christmas book, dora backpack, dora doll, dora microphone, dress up clothes and container to put them in, Belle barbie, swim suit barbie, 2 sets of Barbie clothes, salon chair and accessories, 3 pair of shoes (pink, brown, black), 3 new dresses, lady bug pillow pet, cinderella ornament, 2 new movies.

Matt with his loot: Steaks, microfiber garage towels, golf balls, golfing snowman ornament, gift cards to cal-ranch, itunes, 5 guys, the movies, a harley shirt, ipod nano, and a relica of the new step bars he will be getting for his truck-they were on back order. He alson got a grinder and a shelf for the garage.

Grandpa and his new Harley stuff

Paige trying out some of her new dress up clothes

Big Brother opening some gifts



Little Sister opening gifts

The living room before we began opening gifts

We have a tradition of going to my parents on Christmas Eve and playing games, having dinner, and opening a few presents. This year my Sister only had her step-son on Christmas Eve so we opted to do the whole celebration that evening. We got together about 3:00 and played on the wii for about and hour. Then we had a great dinner of Prime Rib, baked potatoes, olive garden salad and rolls. For dessert we had cheesecake. It was delicious and hit the spot. After dinner and cleanup we gathered together and the kids helped sort out Christmas gifts into piles. It seemed like it took us forever to divvy out all the gifts. We each had a substantial pile when we were ready to begin. My kids knew exactly what to do and both of them immediately got started unwrapping. Little Sister was on a roll, she opened her first gift, looked at it and got excited for a second then moved right on to the next gift. She just would unwrap a gift, put it in her pile and move to the next gift. So I didn't get to see a lot of what everyone else was opening because I was helping her. It was a little chaotic, but everyone got spoiled and had a good time. Big Brother was especially excited when he opened a gift from Grandpa that was an air soft BB gun! After that gift he didn't seem to care what else he got, he stopped opening and began assembling his gun, getting in ready to shoot.(it makes a sound when he pulls the trigger and I don't think he even knows it is a real gun, we will keep that a secret for a while until he is bigger!) He did manage to unwrap a robot from my mom and he was pretty excited about that as well and took time to open that box and play with the robot before opening any other gifts.

I tried to get a picture of us all with everything we got, but it didn't happen. There was too much going on way too many fun new things to play with. We had a good night and enjoyed the time spent with our family. Ready for the next day. The kids were professional unwrappers by now!!

Ward Christmas Party

We had our ward Christmas Party on the 17th and had a good time visiting with friends. It just so happened that my Aunt and Uncle from Coeur d'Alene were on their way through to Park City and stopped to stay the night so they came with us. This year we had soups and chilis with cinnamon rolls and desserts. It was sure yummy and tasted so good on a cold night. Of course the evening wouldn't be complete without a visit from Santa Claus. The kids were so excited when he walked through the door. Paige was especially excited and couldn't wait to go and sit on his lap. I had forgotten the camera and sent Matt home to get it really quick, but the kids didn't want to wait. I tried to hold off as long as I could and then before I knew it it was their turn to sit on his lap and Matt was still not back. Just as the kids were about to get off he showed up and snapped a few pictures. I didn't hear what the kids told him they wanted but one of my neighbors asked if Parker was going to get what he asked for. I said depends on what he asked for. She said he asked for an AX!! What 5 year old asks for and ax!??? He had seen an add for a medieval nerf set that had a shield and a toy ax and I think that is what he was meaning when he said it, but still...my kids has a fascination with weapons and it is beginning to worry me!!

Paige asked for "Lots of toys". This should be an easy one to fulfill. She wasn't even specific in what she wanted so she should be happy with whatever she gets! Although she did mention that she wanted a Pink Barbie Car and some Barbies... I think we can handle that request!

Sad Sad Day

(This is what the ornament looked like except it was green and had my kids picture on it!)


I had a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day last Saturday. Parker was really being a little stinker last week and Saturday was the last straw. Early in the week he had written on my dresser with a pen, leaving deep engravings in it. I was pretty upset about this because this is my last piece of nice furniture that Matt and I have. The kids have ruined all the rest, so I was mad at him for doing that, but I was able to look past it because after all it is just a piece of furniture. We had the talk of choosing the right and how it makes you feel and also how to know if something is wrong and the feeling you get right before you make a choice. I don't think he understood any of that conversation!! Then on Saturday morning the worst thing (remember I am pregnant and very emotional) for a mother that can happen. Let's rewind a few years back to 2008 at Christmas time when as a gift from Parker (and a little help from grandma Yancey) he gave us an ornament with a recording of him saying "I love you daddy, I love you Mommy, Merry Christmas, Love Popper" (how he said his name at the time) It was one of the best gifts I have received, I even cried when I listened to it. It was precious and invaluable. We have enjoyed putting it on the tree each year and listening to it on and off throughout the holiday. Well back to the present, we of course put the ornament on the tree this year and Parker has loved hearing his sweet little voice on it. I have told him not to play with it and that if he wanted to listen to it that I needed to help him. On the bottom there is a button for "off", "Play," and "record" and I didn't want him to hit the record button and erase the message so I told him over and over again not to touch the ornament. Well on Saturday guess what he did!! He was trying to listen to it and I grabbed it from his hands only it was too late! I pushed the play button and heard NOTHING. NOT A SOUND!!! He had erased the sweet little message from when he was 3 years old!! Immediately I burst into tears, sobs really, and was hysterical. I ran over to my parents house to cry on my mom's shoulder. I was so hysterical that she thought something had happened to the baby. I am overly emotional right now, and that just was my breaking point. I cried and cried for over an hour and couldn't even look at Parker after that because I would start crying. I couldn't talk about it to tell Matt what had happened and it pretty much ruined the rest of my day. I know, it is a stupid thing to get so worked up about, but it was so priceless, and now it is gone. I am really sad about it and still a little upset, but I don't think he really realizes what he did and how much that meant to me. So I had to write about the incident so I can remember just how much that ornament meant to me and maybe I will still be able to hear that sweet, little, innocent voice in the years to come. Kids!!! Good thing I love him!

Ornament Exchange

I went to my annual ornament exchange on the 1st and once again came home with a basket full of cute ornaments. I look forward to this every year and enjoy getting together and having a fun girls night out. I need to get on the ball and think of a cute idea for next year and get it done early so I am not trying to get them done the week before. This year I made little snowman out of paper mache boxes. They turned out pretty cute and didn't take me as long as I was excpecting. Now I just need a bigger tree to put all the ornaments I have recieved on!