brown paper packages.

Merry Christmas to you & yours! We had a wonderful Christmas with all of our family & my office was closed the whole week this year, so it was fabulous to get that extra time with everyone.

For some reason, I didn't get a lot of pictures of Paisley opening her gifts & I didn't get even one of Aaron & I.  I guess I was having a really good time?!

We celebrated Christmas with my family on Christmas Eve this year & I vote to swap off with our families every year.  It makes the whole day so much easier & less stressful when you don't have to track all over town & visit 4 different houses in one day.

My sister & Chris got Paisley a sleeping bag & she LOVED it.  She & Jade kept crawling in it & playing with while they were opening their other gifts. 

Nana & Papa got Paisley a life size Barbie.  She is as tall as Paisley & now that I have her in p's room, she has given me a fright, more than once.

This is Paisley's cousin, Colton.  They don't see each other often, so this is the only picture we have of them together.  Their expressions are priceless.

My Nana & Papa got Paisley a karaoke machine & she LOVES it.  Aaron & I thought it was great, at first.  Now, not so much.  The volume control lets her get the music & microphone very loud & she likes it very LOUD! It's funny to hear her make up songs & belt them out with all her heart.

We are nappers in our family & holidays are no exception!

the most wonderful time of the year

This year we decided to go to the Botanical Garden's Christmas garden of lights & it was beautiful. It was super cold, so Paisley & Jade were ready to leave pretty quickly.  

Paisley was super cold & kept asking for me to hold her & was not into taking any pictures, while we were outside. They did have the greenhouse decorated so we were able to go in there & take pictures where it was much warmer & the girls really enjoyed the tall trees & all the winding walkways.

Aren't they precious?

Pais loved the singing Santa that was on the wall outside.  She kept watching it & dancing with the music.

We had a really fun time, even though it was freezing! Next time, we will dress EVEN warmer!

The next day, Aaron took Paisley to the gym with him.  They swam for a bit & Aaron said Paisley wanted to play on the steps more than actually swim, which sounds just like her.

 She's wearing her "workout wear" & totally rocking it! 

Saturday night, Terra & I found matching gold outfits for the girls at Target & they looked precious on Sunday.  We match them on occasion, judge if you like.  We think it is adorable. 

{tis' the season}

Paisley was able to go see Santa & Mrs. Claus at a friend's house & for weeks she has been talking about how she wasn't going to be scared this time.  The last couple of years, she has cried & gotten really upset when it comes her turn to get her gift.

Santa gives each child a gift {that was brought previously by the parents/grandparents}  Paisley was so brave! She walked up & got her present like a big girl! She wouldn't sit on his lap or hug him, but who could blame her? 

 The next day we decorated our tree & Paisley was such a big helper. She was so proud of it!

Later that day, we went to the mall for a bit & she was enthralled with Santa {from afar}. I was able to get this precious picture of her watching him.  Right after this, the "elf" came over & told me that we weren't allowed to take pictures of "Santa".  Pffft.  Whatev.  I got this one & I adore it, elf.

Super Sunday was this week, & last time Paisley had a slight breakdown so I was pretty nervous about how it would go.  Aaron & I kept talking it up & making sure she knew the songs & that it was no biggie & that there was no reason for her to be nervous.

She did awesome & didn't act nervous, at all!

That night, she was in rare form & wanted to take a lot of pictures.  She was being such a ham!

Please note: she is also wearing her persnickety cuffs with this oufit, which is HUGE! I searched & searched last season & wasn't able to get my hands on any.  When they came out this year, I nabbed them immediately & Paisley absolutely refused to wear them. She is at a weird stage, where she thinks certain things are "silly" & then will just be so ridiculous about wearing it, that I usually give up.  Not this time, little p. I wouldn't let up until she LOVED those cuffs as much as I do.  I showed her loads of pictures of other little girls on Pinterest wearing them.  I talked them up so much, that now she wants to wear them with everything.  This is a win, people!  You got that stubborness somewhere, sweet little p. 

Look at that personality? I love her so much that my heart could burst!

turkeys & shopping

I am so thankful for everything in my life.  I have a beautiful family, a wonderful church, a job that I enjoy, & friends that we adore. I am blessed and have much to be thankful for year round; but it nice to have a day set aside to spend with family & eat loads & loads of pie!

I normally make a ton of stuff & end up bringing it home with me & eating massive amounts of dessert for days on end.  This year, I only made what was requested so that there wouldn't be a ton of extra food after Thanksgiving.
Paisley is such a good helper & she is actually very good at doing small jobs to help out when I'm cooking.  We made mini cheesecakes, green bean casserole, & sweet potato casserole.  They were all super yummy, but I didn't take any pictures of the process or the final product, so you will just have to take my word for it!

We make the sweet potato casserole from scratch & Paisley liked taking the skin off the potatoes.  

We always eat lunch with Aaron's parents on Thanksgiving & then go to my family's house in the afternoon for another round.  We all matched a bit so I wanted to take the picture for our Christmas cards & Paisley insisted that Taylen be in the picture with us.  She wasn't in a very great mood to begin with, but as soon as we started taking pictures she really clammed up & started making a fuss. Taylen & Paisley posed for a few & she was all smiles!

I think Taylen crouched down to be closer to Paisley, so she thought she should do the same.

The pictures went downhill from here, but we still managed to get some good shots of everyone else.

Aaron kept telling everyone to throw the leaves in the air & Paisley did not like the idea.  Look at that face! 

I downloaded the preview version of Photoshop & worked for 3 days to take Taylen out of our "family" picture & finally managed to make it look presentable enough for our card.  Photoshop is so foreign to me, the instructions may as well be in Hebrew.  I am really forcing myself to work through it though & trying to edit at least 2-3 pictures each day to work on my skills.  It's a work in progress, people!

I'm not 100% happy with the results, but I was ok with it enough to use it for our cards.  

*I am aware I photoshopped p's arm out, I'm not familiar enough with the software to make another one for her, any tips would be welcomed.  :)

Terra & I have a tradition of always going Black Friday shopping on Thanksgiving night.  This year with Black Friday starting so early on Thanksgiving, we almost didn't even go.  I wish that retailers would leave it late on Thanksgiving {midnight!} so that the shopping actually is ON Black Friday! 

We did end up going & still had fun, but we were finished shopping by the time we are normally going out, so it wasn't near as exciting as previous years.

We were lazy shoppers this year... we waited in the car at Target until they opened the doors, insead of standing out in the cold in line.  There didn't seem to be as many people out shopping this year, so maybe that will persuade retailers to change it back! Here's hoping.... We did score some great deals & had fun so it was still good.

Hope your thanksgiving was blessed!

{sunday style}

Sundays are a busy day at our house & we go big, every week.  We bring our A-game for worship, our hair, & our clothing.  I LOVE to dress up so it's not a big deal for me to dress up twice on Sundays, but I also think it's important to put our "best foot forward" when attending Sunday services.

With that in mind, I've decided to start a weekly "sunday style" post to highlight mine & Paisley's hair-do's & outfits.  I am always on the hunt for new hairstyles for both of us & I love seeing the way other people achieve big "pentecostal" hair, so I'm going to share my limited knowledge of all things hair! 

Let's get started!

Paisley has naturally curly/wavy hair & so her hair is easy, most of the time.  She likes to wear it down & it takes a lot of product & time to get the curls just right.  I saw a tutorial on maskcara's blog {here} for no-heat waves & I adapted it to what I thought would work best for Paisley's hair.

supplies:

texturizing/beach spray {I like Not Your Mother's, Beach Babe Texturizing Sea Salt Spray}

small bobby pins {like these}

hairspray {my favorite}

I start with fresh washed hair & I try to get it pinned up while it's still wet.  I always use leave-in conditioner in her hair to comb it out & I also put some curl cream {this one} to keep her curls a little under control.

I part her hair in the front how I want it to fall the next day. Then, spray all over with the texturizing spray. Next, take about a 1" section {larger for looser waves & smaller for tighter curls} & comb through to remove any tangles.  

Then, twist all the way down.  Again, twist tighter for tighter curls.  I keep Paisley's pretty tight because I use the beach spray to loosen them up.  I twist each pin curl into a small bun & bobby pin it at the base.

I start from the front & work my way back, but if I were doing this on myself, I would probably start from the back & work forwards.  

After I finish, I spray all over with hairspray.  She says they don't bother her at all when she goes to bed {& she is pretty particular}

This is what it looks like when I start taking them out the next morning.  Try not get them knotted up & to not mess with them too much.  They tend to frizz if I keep messing with the curls.   As I take out the pins, I spray the beach/texturizing spray every few curls to loosen up the curls & make them more relaxed & wavy.  After you spray, scrunch them up a bit to add texture.

After I spray it with texturizer, I lightly tug on them & fluff here & there to make the curls even & uniform all over.  

Sometimes I bobby pin the top part back, but this week I just added a headband & set with hairspray.  Isn't she precious? She seemed so grown up on Sunday, it makes my heart hurt.  It goes by so quickly, cherish each moment! 

.messes & masterpieces.

I LOVE LEOPARD! and stripes....and black & white... so I adore everything about this table.

My sister, & I started on this many moons ago. I changed my mind about what I wanted more than I care to admit, we procrastinated, she had a baby... Long story short, a lot has happened from the time we took this table from our parent's garage to the beauty it is now.  It was definitely worth it, right? It is GORGEOUSNESS...

Oh yeah, hey...here's my sister! Her name is Terra & I love her guts.  We make messes & masterpieces together, usually at the same time.  Our husbands love it.  She's a lot more skilled in sewing & detail work than I am, so she contributes a lot to my diy projects {sometimes she takes over & does the whole thing for me...I like that the best}

Ok, back to the table.... here is what we started with {this was seriously over a year ago..that is embarassing}

 

 We started by sanding the entire thing with an electric sander & painting the top of the table with  Behr black suede.

I didn't get many pictures of the detail work because I didn't realize I would be using it for a blog...my apologies. 

 Terra is pregnant with Jade here.  Doesn't she look precious?

We also had a little helper.  She was such a hard worker.  She also thinks she is the boss, in every situation.  She was telling Terra how to pain the base.  She knows everything & likes to make sure everyone around her knows about it {she must get that from someone}

Terra freehanded all the leopard spots from a picture I took of a table I liked at a local boutique.  Pretty good, right?

We used Martha Stewart vintage gold for the base color.  The spots were done with a basic black (that I had on hand) & Martha Stewart pyrite textured metallic.  

I painted the apron with Glidden red delicious, while Terra worked on the base.

For the stripes, we used Behr heavy cream & Behr black suede.  Terra eyeballed the stripes & just taped it evenly, starting from the center & working outwards.  I painted the top with the heavy cream color first & we painted the stripes after laying the tape.  I painted 4 coats of the black.  I let it sit overnight & then sealed the whole table with Rust-Oleum clear enamel.  I did 4-5 coats  of the enamel so it won't chip.  We use our table for everything & I don't want all of our hard work to get messed up later. 

I am so happy with the results & LOVE everything about the way it looks.  What a difference a little paint can make!

.snapshots & souvenirs.

We recently had family pictures taken by Tonya at 374 Photagraphy & I am in love with them. Tonya did a wonderful job & I am so glad we finally decided to get them done.

I have wanted to get family pictures done for a while, but we just never got around to it. I take tons of snapshots of our daily life & of Paisley, but there is just something wonderful about having a professional photographer capture your memories. We all change so much from year to year & I'm hoping we will continue having them done, every year.

I saw some pictures on pinterest of a family taken at the fair & I fell in love with them. I was instantly drawn to the bright colors & all the different options for backdrops.

Tonya was fantastic with Paisley. She captured her personality & expressions perfectly. Paisley is strong-willed {understatement of the year} & doesn't warm up to people quickly so I was worried she would clam up & not act like herself. Tonya had her helping her & talking to her within just a few shots.


   

Look at her...Isn't she gorgeous?  I might be slightly partial,  but just a bit.  See that ornery face?  You can really see her personality in these & I love it!

I'm so glad we finally had pictures taken & I'm sure in a year {or 10} I'll be even more thankful that I have them to look back on.

Until next time!