... And now its time for Christmas

Nordstroms is a little high end for me... but I like their thought process.

"Happiness is celebrating one holiday at a time. That's why you won't find any holiday trim in our stores until after Thanksgiving. So relax. Reminisce. Enjoy the day as we will - with family and friends. Then when Friday, November 25th rolls around feel free to stop by for a bit of good cheer, it's then we'll be decked in our holiday finery - and eager to welcome the season with you."

Yes friends, I love celebrating Christmas too, but holidays have their appropriate spots on the calendar. I.E. Fourth of July, Labor Day, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas...

Not Hobby Lobby's mentality... Fourth of July, Christmas, Labor Day, Christmas, Christmas, Halloween, Christmas, Thanksgiving, Christmas.

Now that it is post Thanksgiving... it is TIME for Christmas! Bring on the music, hot chocolate, ginger bread houses, time with family, and most importantly.... celebrating the birth of Jesus.

So what did we do one day post Thanksgiving? Visit the Fantasy of Trees at the Knoxville Convention Center with my in-laws.

The Fantasy of Trees is an event to raise money for the local children's hospital. In addition to the entry fee, people can also buy the decorations off the trees.

I told the hubby for our future 10 bedroom house, I would like multiple Christmas trees with decorative themes. He just shook his head and laughed. A girl can dream, right?

The "50's Tree"... there were a few of these. Must have been a popular decade.

The "50s - Barbie Tree." All the barbie outfits were made by hand!

The "Circus Tree"

The "Nature Tree"

The tree that the hubs liked... it was decorated in green and brown

A tree with a nautical theme

Sleepy nephew!!

Origami tree... one of my favorites!

Weather tree

Diary of a Wimpy Kid tree... after I saw this one, I was hoping for a Harry Potter one... was not in luck :(

We have not set up our Christmas tree yet, and only have a "red" theme. haha! Maybe we should go a little bolder and decorate with one of these awesome ideas!

Will your tree have a theme?

And the rockets’ red glare, the bombs bursting in air...

This year was the first year in a while that we didn’t go to a professional firework show for the Fourth of July.

Initially a little bummed..

I didn’t realize how much fun we could have with our home concoction or how close we could "reenact" the real reason we set off fireworks for the Fourth.

Haha. 

A few sparklers... Roman Candles... and ducking for cover after one of the fireworks fell over (and started round house shooting) ... I think I am set until next Fourth of July!

 

 

Dust free... trying to listen to Frank Sinatra.

We were truly blessed this holiday season.

Not only were we off during Christmas, but we were able see BOTH families and share hugs, smiles, and memories.

As we have become adults, we definitely do not expect any presents. As long as we can see and hear from our families, we are happy. But our families continue to give us gifts, and for that we are grateful.

I asked J what present he was excited about using and this is what he shared…


The vacuum cleaner… with a bag.

Explanation… Vacuuming has become a chore and health hazard. J has asthma and is allergic to most everything with the exception of cows. (Random, I know.) You think vacuuming would solve this problem. Of course it does! Until you have to empty the dust/dirt/allergen/killing agent container. I have had MORE issues with our bag-less HEPA filtered dust machine then picking up visible dirt bits from the carpet by hand.

The directions said it was simple. It looked simple. I realized the only simple thing about it was re-inviting everything you have just extracted from your carpet back into the house. The interesting thing is, I have never emptied the vacuum cleaner in the house. ALWAYS outside. But, one simple “click” from the release leaver, the high pressured container expels from the machine and half of its contents are released in to the air, my nostrils, and ALL over my clothes. I am very sure this is hazardous to my health. (AKA it is probably better just leaving the non concentrated dust IN the carpet then vacuuming it up.) Poor J has to wear full protective gear including a mask, or he will be taking all of his emergency asthma meds before he’ll be able to sleep.

Yuck.

Here is the culprit that we cannot wait to get rid of.

(Currently sitting in our garage. Take note of the dust covering the machine from the last time we emptied the container.)

And…..

Which present am I very excited about using?

The turntable!!!

Justin and I have a bit of “old souls” in our hearts. We LOVE listening to records. My grandparents said that they were looking to get rid of their old records if we could have them if we wanted… we just needed something to play them with.

Ta Da!

And here are some of the lovely records… we listened to a young Frank Sinatra last night. Absolutely lovely!!

(Funny story last night. Me: Why isn't it playing? J: You didn't unwrap the needle. Me: It has a needle?)


hahaha.... oh I need to learn how to use this thing.

Merry Christmas!!!

Sorry I have been a little MIA... but we have been BUSY!!!

(I am supposed to be cleaning and unpacking... so this is all I have for now.)

I hope everyone had a blessed Christmas celebrating love, family, blessings, and Christ's birth!!

Which one of these is not like the other... Gingerbread House Edition

Which one of these is not like the other...

 

One of these just doesn't belong...

Oh we tried. We really did. Making a ginger bread house has become an annual tradition at the Cotton Household. It has never turned out well ...  yet... and the house pretty much came assembled this time! Maybe next year... Can tell where we went wrong?



1. Step One... Open the box and look at the instructional pictures..

2. Step two... Take everything out of the box and look at how yummy everything looks...

3. Step Three... Follow the instructions by "gluing" everything together with icing...

4. Step Four... Add cotton balls to the roof because it is much faster then spreading the icing...

5. Step Five... Take creative rights and start coming up with other "unique" ideas... like attempting to make it look like the lights are on in the house.

6. Step Six... Make window panes around the pre placed candy...

7. Step Seven... Get side tracked because this has turned into a very messy endeavor...

8. Step Eight... Divide the house in half. Both of us get our own sides of the roof... this includes adding out names...

I don't understand why our house didn't turn out like this.... Maybe next year!

 
Photo Credit/Gingerbread House Competition

I’m going to need you to smile… bigger!

I L.O.V.E Christmas pictures. If I receive them as or in Christmas cards, they immediately go up on the fridge.

With that said, I also love having Christmas pictures taken of us. We don’t have kids yet, but I think it is a fun tradition to start.



Our friend Matt Muller, a wonderful photographer, took this fantastic picture last year. (You can visit his website at...www.amattmuller.com)

This year, we have a slightly different genre. Something more along the lines of…

(photo credit/awkward family photos)


I CANNOT wait to get the pictures back and sent out. So ExCiTeD. (I just chuckled out loud.)

Hope everyone had a fantastic weekend!

Turkey Recipes from the Experts (aka Children)

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!!




In honor of Thanksgiving, I wanted to share turkey recipes from the children at Tulip Grove Elementary (right down the street from us).

Enjoy.


(PS It seems that they had the number 4 and sprinkles on their mind. I also probably would not actually try these recipes.)



"My Thanksgiving Turkey recipes…"

* Get a pretty big turkey. Sprinkle a little bit of salt on it. Sprinkle a lot of pepper on it. Sprinkle 4 pieves of bread on it. Cook the turkey in the oven for 4 minutes on five degrees. Take it out and cut it up. Eat the turkey with peas and stuff. Carli

* Get a 20 – foot long turkey. Put M&M’s on it. Bake the turkey for 10 hours in the lunchroom on 20 degrees. Put 20 chocolate chips on it. Take it out of the oven and let it cool. Eat it with hot dog soup. Evan

* Buy a turkey and put white stuff on it. Stick a rose on top of the turkey. Cook it with a fire for 5 minutes. Let it cool off a minute. Put some sugar on it. Put one butter on top, but not on the rose. Put the turkey in the oven and let it bake. Take it out and eat it. JaDonte

* Get a 5-ounce turkey. Put 3 celeries on the side. Pour 4 ranch dressings on top. Chop up 4 carrots and put them on the side with the celery. Cook the turkey in the kitchen for 4 seconds on 8 degrees. Take it out and eat it. Brilie

* Buy a turkey about the size of a dog. Pat the turkey with a rolling pin for two days. Put pink and purple sprinkles on it. Roll some squash with the rolling pin and cut it up. Wait for two days for the stove to head up. Cook the turkey in the stove for one day. Put the number 2 on it and then some ice cream. Emily V.

* Get a turkey that is 5 inches tall. Put sprinkles, 3 creams and another pack of cream on it. Give the turkey to momma and she’ll cook it in my own oven that’s at my house. She’ll put it out with her big stove gloves on. Matthew

* Buy a turkey about as big as a tiger. Then, put it in the oven for 4 minutes. When you take it out, put 3 salts & three peppers on it. Then, put 44 candy corns on it. Eat the turkey with French fries, oranges, green beans and mashed potatoes. Dameon

* Get a 4-inch turkey. Put sprinkles on it. Put one salt on it. Put more sprinkles on it. Cook the turkey for 6 minutes on one degree. Let it cool off. Eat it with French fries. Dominic

* Buy a size ten turkey. Put a rose on it. Put 2 sugars on it. Cook the turkey at a bakery for 10 hours on really hot. Take it out and put a rainbow color of sprinkles on it (and pink too). Eat the turkey with broccoli, potatoes, macaroni and cheese, applesauce and Dora Soup. Madison


Found on WSMV Channel 4

I don't think we are in Kansas anymore!!

Oh Toto!

I don’t think we are in Kansas anymore!!

This land is so much different than the one we are used to…


In our land, many have yet to meet Jesus in person. But here, Jesus and a Catholic School girl show up as a date? … And the girl is obviously pregnant… Oh my!





Toto, Mardi Gras only happens once a year in our land, and that is in February. But here, it is every day!





Do I believe my eyes? Is that a Tiger and a Ninja Turtle being friendly with one another? They must be Animals… instead of regular animals!





In this land, even Waldo is looking for himself! Oh he might just have to go to the Emerald City with us to ask the Wizard of Oz for help!





And if I had thought I had seen everything, here come Mario and Luigi, and they have found Princess Peach! I wonder what the witches will have to say about the Princess!





Oh and I think I met some celebrities that I just have to tell Auntie Em about…



Their names were Tiger and Elin… and boy was Elin fit to be tied !





There was also a gentleman named Alan and he was caring around a baby! I think he had lost his marbles, mumbling something about a one man wolf pack. I kept him far away from my toto!





And what has made this land the most interesting? I found an honest to goodness Tin Man! He told me that he didn’t have a heart, but we found him one.




Oh Toto!

This has been such a strange land, but I don’t think I want to leave. I am pretty sure I will just keep these Ruby slippers and hang around here for awhile!