Christmas Cheer!

This month has flown by, as always! I feel like most of it I have wasted at work. I haven't felt that I've been able to enjoy the holiday as much as I have other years. But we've tried to do fun things together as a family. Here are the hi-lites.

We decorated the tree a little differently this year - I used this pretty ribbon I found at the craft store instead of the red wooden beads I've used for the past 10 years. I was met with resistance, so I'm sure next year it will be back to the good ole' beads. :)

The girls participated in the ward Christmas party - this year (Finally) with no drama from Sadie over it.

All Christmas season, Sadie has been saying she wants new dolls for the dollhouse she got last year. At the last minute on Santa's lap, she asked for a pink camera! Ack. (Because that's what her best friend was asking for.)

Cydnie, on the other hand has been steadfast from the beginning that she wants a Barbie Muskateer doll - the one with the pink sword. (Santa might also throw in the movie for good measure.)

We also had the Big Dudley Family Christmas Party at our HOUSE this year. It was actually very enjoyable. We had a traditional dinner of ham and potatoes and jell-o with desserts. It was somewhat stressful before-hand, but I think it ended up working out okay. And for ONCE my gift was actually opened during the game and people fought over it! It was kinda weird for me. I really just picked it up for myself, not worrying this year about the whole thing. Kinda funny how it worked out.

The next day we had so much food left over that almost everyone came back over for the second day and we had games and more food and watched a movie. I'm glad it went fairly well and I'm glad it's over! :) Although I enjoyed planning it and I thoroughly enjoyed having it at my house, where I could decorate for months in preperation for it.

Unfortunately, I was so busy during the thing that I only got one picture. Here are the smaller kids decorating their gingerbread houses:

In other Christmas news, I have been getting back into my old self and finding fun crafts to do. I took this wreath from Costco,

And added some bulbs to it to make it a little more festive. I like how it turned out. I eneded up hanging it in the stairwell over the family pictures and stockings. (I'll probably take some more pictures around the house later.)

One of my favorite projects this year has been this fur wreath that I found on a blog somewhere. I look at so many I forget where I see stuff!  I made the one and had so much left over that I made 1 more in that size and 2 smaller ones. I think they're adorable - they remind me of those little hand warmers people used to wear outside - like while caroling.

One of our favorite new things we recieved in the mail was from my sister. She made the girls new pillowcases with fabric that looks like it's been dusted with fairy dust. But this is even more special than that - it's dusted with Christmas magic. These pillowcases make your dreams dance with sugarplums!

Thanks sis!

Hope you're all having a Christmas time full of Christmas magic, too!