Holiday Vlog Linkup

 

I'm linking up today with Sarah for her holiday link-up.  I decided to vlog my answers since I haven't done a vlog since the Turkey Trot. 

Here goes nothing....

I used my webcam on my laptop it doesn't seem to be as good as the camera on the iPhone, but I wanted to give her a try.

I cannot wait to read/watch your vlogs about Christmas! :)  

Have a Happy Thursday everyone!!

Christmas Tunes

This is my favorite time of the year, no question about it.  I love Christmas music, and I love that I can turn on the radio and listen to it on a Christmas music station.  I also have a playlist on my iPhone of Christmas music and I listen to that at work, and also in the car when I am out of an area that has a Christmas music station or when I don’t want to listen to commercials.

Some of my family (Steph/Tim) and friends (Erica) don’t particularly care all that much for Christmas music, but when they are in the car with me driving, it’s just too bad.  I’ve even gotten Cooper on the Christmas music bandwagon (although I’ll admit, he’s obsessed with about 3 songs and wants to hear them over and over again).

So, I thought today, I’d share some of my most favorite Christmas songs with you.  I would love to hear yours as well, so please comment and share your favorites with me, I love adding to my playlist each year!

In no particular order……

The 12 Days of Christmas by Straight No Chaser – this is a classic that this male a cappella group has added to and changed and made wonderful (at least in my mind).

O Holy Night – Straight No Chaser/Home Alone Soundtrack/Celine Dion/Norman Rockwell: Christmas Memories

Little Saint Nick – The Beach Boys/Straight No Chaser

Silent Night – Straight No Chaser/Norman Rockwell: Christmas Memories 

Santa Claus is Coming to Town – Bruce Springsteen

All I Want for Christmas is You (not the Mariah Carey song, completely different) – Vince Vance and The Valiants

White Christmas – Home Alone Soundtrack

Please Come Home for Christmas – Home Alone Soundtrack

Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree – Brenda Lee

Happy Holiday – A Swinging Christmas – 1940’s Style

Jolly Old St. Nicholas –  A Swinging Christmas – 1940’s Style

Up on the Housetop -  A Swinging Christmas – 1940’s Style

A Holly Jolly Christmas – Burl Ives

Here Comes Santa Claus – Gene Autry

Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer – Gene Autry/Burl Ives

All I Want for Christmas is You (different song than above) – Mariah Carey

Sleigh Ride – Ella Fitzgerald

Frosty the Snowman – Gene Autry

Merry Christmas Baby – Bruce Springsteen

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year – Andy Williams

Hark! The Herald Angels Sing – Carrie Underwood

White Christmas - Bing Crosby 

Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas – Frank Sinatra

Home for the Holidays – The Carpenter’s

I’m sure I’m missing some,  but that’s a majority of my playlist right now.   I would love to hear yours as well, so please comment and share your favorites with me, I love adding to my playlist each year!

Santa Picture Fail

Friends, today I'm linking up with Darci for the Santa Picture Fail!

I realized after I decided to link up, that I do not have Cooper's very first picture with Santa scanned into the computer, so if I can find it later - I'll scan it in, but I'll most likely forget.

Here is his second Christmas - 15 months old 2010:

I've gotta give Cooper credit on this one, this Santa was super scary.  Just look at him!

Third Christmas - 2 years and almost 3 months old 2011:

This Christmas, Cooper wouldn't even get close to the Jolly Old St. Nick.  Tim had to hold him far away so that he would even sit for the picture.

Fourth Christmas - 3 years and almost 3 months old 2012:

Cooper was a bit scared right after meeting Santa, but he warmed up to him very well, and he told him all that he wanted for Christmas. 

These aren't "gigantic" fails, others will have much worse, but hey, we tried to keep him as happy as we could.

Now, link up and show us your Santa Picture Fail!

Our weekend & Picture Overload

It was a busy weekend for our little family.  We were pretty non-stop from the time we got up on Saturday morning until sleep time last night!

Saturday:

We took Cooper to breakfast with Santa first thing on Saturday morning.  Cooper has been scared of Santa since the very first time we brought him to visit him when he wasn’t even 3 months old.  This year though, he did great.  He was a little hesitant at first, but warmed right up to him.

Santa greeted us when we walked in, and let Cooper hold his bells.

Then once we got our breakfast, Santa visited our table a few times for more pictures.

Cooper and me chowing down.

Finally Santa came back one last time for Cooper to sit on his lap.  Tim sat next to him so that he wouldn’t run away in case he was still scared.

Next, we made the 2 hour trip south to visit my dad and Gwen.  Cooper loves visiting my dad’s house because my dad has a horse he can ride on in the basement (the very messy basement).

The only one I got of my dad and Cooper all weekend.  Dad shaved his beard for work, it’s more than a little weird seeing him like this.  This may be only the third time in my life he hasn’t had a beard.

After visiting with Dad and Gwen and giving Gwen her birthday cake and present (which I was so caught up in that I forgot to take pictures) we headed to my mom’s house.

She was having a family gathering later that afternoon.  All but one of the 3 year olds was there – so Cooper got to play with his second cousins and it was precious.  We only see them once or twice a year (if we’re lucky.)

My uncle surprised all of the kiddos with a present, matching trucks for the boys and little outfits and $ for the girls.

Cooper was pretty excited about this truck.

Cooper and Oliver (Abby’s son) playing with their trucks.

My beautiful cousin Sherry with her three kiddos, left to right Finn, Celia and Elliot.  These kids are all 19 months apart. 

She says she is going to wait awhile for another!

Cooper and Oliver posing.

Grandma, Uncle Steve’s face, Jared (my celebrity weatherman cousin), my mom and Aunt Sheila.

My uncle Perry with Madelynn (Abby’s daughter) and Elliot

Coop and Finn hugs.

Coop, Finn and Elliot hugs.

The kiddos had a great time.  I had a great time.  I only wish I had taken a picture of all of the “adults”; our parents generation, then us kids and then our kiddos.  Oh well, maybe I’ll remember next year???

Sunday:

I awoke to Cooper crying for me – he needed to go potty.  So we did that, got him all ready to go back to bed when my mom came in and let me go back to bed.  I didn’t fall back asleep, but laid there another hour – talking to Tim and snoozing.  We had a nice breakfast of homemade waffles with strawberries then got ready to head out to the next event.

I took zero pictures, but my dad, Tim, Cooper and I went to my dad’s family’s family reunion on Sunday.

It was good to see so many people that I hadn’t seen in such a long time.  Some I met for the very first time.  It was great.

Sunday when we got home, we unpacked the car and then got to watch this little bundle of joy.  If you are friends with me on facebook or instagram you’ve seen some of these before, sorry)

Grandpa loves Soup.

My piggies taste good Mimi!!

All smiles!

Cooper giving kisses while Soup plays with her feet.

It was a busy weekend, but a good one.  If you made it this far into my post, congratulations!  It was long and very picture filled!! J  Have a happy Monday ladies!

SWW

Today, I’m linking up with Shannon today over at Life After I Dew for So What Wednesday. This is perfect for me today, as that’s about my attitude for the day, “So what?”

So without further delay here goes nothing:

So what….

• If I’m eating cheeseball and crackers for breakfast.  I’m obsessed with cheese and crackers and it is the only thing that sounds remotely good to me right now. AND, my mom makes the best cheeseball EVER.
• If ordered our Christmas cards back in EARLY October?  I am still loving the way they turned out!

• If I am the laziest blogger that I know.   My brain matter is being sucked in too many different directions during this season and during this pregnancy that I have nothing to talk about.
• If I am excited to be skipping teaching Sunday School this weekend;  I am thrilled to be going south to visit my family all weekend!  Family reunions and family Christmas gatherings are more fun anyway!
• If I haven’t wrapped a single Christmas present yet this year?  I mean I still have 19 days, right?!?  They are piling up though, so I need to start on that soon.
• If I ate cereal for dinner again last night.  At 9 o’clock.
• If I’m already in my fatty jeans again, at least I’m not in maternity ones yet. (They have been ordered though, thanks to the Old Navy Black Friday sales.)
• If Cooper wears his Halloween costume every night when we get home.  That little football uniform was the best $10 I’ve spent in a long time.  He LOVES wearing it.

What are you saying So What to this week?  Link up with Shannon and tell us!

Birthday Recap & Hubby Guest Post is SCHEDULED!

For my birthday last week, I had the pleasure of taking off work (mostly because it was going to be pointless to go into work with the shortened day (day before Thanksgiving) and because Cooper had a doctor appointment, but that’s another story). 

So, I took Cooper to the Indianapolis Children’s Museum.  And, oh my goodness, that kid had a great time!  I only have one poor quality iphone picture with me right now (all my others are on my camera still), but he had a blast playing with the sand table, the water table, the dinosaur area and especially the big Hot Wheel car section.  They have an area where kids can build with blocks, can dig in mulch and so much more!  He had a blast!  So much so, that we applied our admission cost that day to the price of a year long membership and that is part of Little Mister’s Christmas present this year.  He’s going to love it!  I cannot wait to take him back!!!

When we were finished at the museum, we headed home, where Tim was already off work and was waiting for us.  We ate lunch and started the great clean.  Tim’s sister and kiddos were coming to stay on Friday night, and since we were to be gone all day Thanksgiving day, we needed to get moving.  Thing was….. I wanted our Christmas tree up and decorated, so that’s what I did.  We had gotten a new Christmas tree at the end of the year last year, so it was pretty exciting to get it up and take a look.  Here is it all lit up before decorations.  The final product along with my other measly decorations will be shown in another post.  We had a hard time figuring out how to get all of the lights on this tree to come on, but once we did, easy peasy.   The tree is over 8 feet tall, so I had to get a step stool to decorate as high as I could, then I had Andrew decorate the rest, thank goodness for tall people.

  

Later that day, I got a few pictures from Stephanie via text message.

Isn’t she the sweetest thing you’ve ever seen???

I made an Oreo Poke Cake and some Taco Soup for Thanksgiving.  I highly recommend both if you haven’t had them, you should! 

That about wraps up my birthday fun.  Now onto the good stuff.

I have been hinting that hubby was going to guest post for me for a while now.  It has been a long and hard journey trying to get his butt in gear to write something for me.  But guess what!  He finally did it!!  I have that scheduled for tomorrow, so be sure to check back, he’s got a pretty good story to tell you, if I do say so myself. 

Speaking of hubby – he has been amazing lately.  With this pregnancy, I have been more tired than I can ever remember being.  And by tired, I mean I am usually in bed before 9pm everynight.  I have really slacked on cooking, cleaning and pretty much everything in between including laundry.  What does this mean….. It means that my dear Tim has been stepping up with EVERYTHING.  He’s been Mr. Dad and Mr. Mom.  He’s been amazing and I cannot thank him enough.  Thank you honey!! J  Love you!

Happy Tuesday Friends!

Christmas 2011 Recap – In Pictures – Part Two

The Loot.  The massive amounts of loot.

See all of that stuff???  That is all stuff from Christmas.  For Tim, Cooper and me.  We are really so blessed to have so much given to us. 

The first half of Cooper’s loot. 

The second half.

Tim’s goodies:

My goodies:

Our shared goodies:

Cooper’s new car!!

As you can see The Johnson Five had a wonderful Christmas!

Christmas 2011 – Recap – In Pictures – Part One

I had posted this earlier today, but somehow, when I was working on part two, this one disappeared.  So, here are the pictures, the words will have to come back later, when I have more time.