Showing posts with label Christmas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Christmas. Show all posts

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Crack-Town Christmas Parade



You probably didn't know that I am a parade Princess. Our whole family actually. Including precious. Unfortunately I don't have any pics of myself, Rick, or her, as we were sitting on our high perch. The best part was when the crazy horse Socks peed on the ground next to Rick, and it was so forceful that it splattered on his legs. The second best part was decorating the horses. The worst part was that we didn't actually get to see any of the parade except the people who were directly in front of us.

Kyley rode Montana, and Brittney rode Smokey. We decided not to put Snow in it, because she needs a little work. Mainly she needs brake pads.

Montana's butt. We got tree skirts for them, bows, and bells.


Smokey in her pretty bows. Brittney did a great job with these.


Here is Brit and Smokey. Check out these reins. I wrapped tinsel around them. So Cute!




Kyley and Montana




Our girls together


The HayRide. Check out Andrew and Jake's faces. They are so happy to be here. Did I mention that it was really cold? And we had to wait forever?


Finally moving!!! That is a long line of horses!


In this pic. I zoomed in from my perch as parade queen. See if you can spot Kyley and Brittney!


Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Christmas Tree Smell Tip



The best part of having a real Christmas tree is the smell. If you want to increase the Christmas aroma, or if you have an artificial tree, you can recreate the real Christmas tree smell. I like to keep the clippings from my tree, and use them a little at a time. You can take a few clippings and put them into a pot, bring to a boil, and then turn it off. Just sit back and smell the Christmas aroma fill your house. If you break up the clippings first, it releases the aroma even further. So if you are wondering what to do with those clippings, that is my Christmas tree smell tip. If you have an artificial Christmas tree, you can go to any road-side vendor of real trees and ask for some left-over clippings. There you have it, the simplest, cheapest route to creating the real Christmas tree smell. Of course, if you choose to use a pre-made candle to create the smell, I highly recommend "The Yankee Candle Company"

Monday, December 1, 2008

The Snow-Tree



We went to cut down our Christmas tree today, and I would love to show you all of the awesome pictures I took, only I don't have any. There was no memory card in my camera, and my camera holds a total of 3 pictures without a memory card. Plus, I don't even have the cord to get those 3 pictures from the camera onto the compututer.

It was so special though. We went to the same place we went last year, about 2 hrs. north, in the mountains, and it even snowed for us. We only get snow about once a year, so it was awesome for the kids. On the way up the mountain, we finally saw snow about 10 miles from where we were going. Josh was so cute, because everything he saw was newly named. instead of rocks, they were snow-rocks. He saw snow-trees, and snow-roads, and even snow-cars.

When we got there, the kids all ran out to play in the snow. Snow-ball fights, tastings, and lots of falling down. They finally got on task though, running through the trees, looking for our perfect Christmas tree. The kids kept finding the best, perfectly shaped trees, but the ones they wanted were 9 feet tall!!! Uuumm...no guys, not this year. Although I wish we had the space for a 9 or 10 foot tree, that's not going to happen. Then we saw it. Rick actually spotted it first, but we all agreed that it was the perfect tree. 7 feet tall, and beautiful. We wasted no time. Rick got down and started sawing it, then every kid took a turn. They only lasted about a minute a piece, lying on the ground in the snow, and when all seven of them had a turn, the tree was all of 1/3 cut through. I took a hack at it, but then decided that it was much more fun to have a snow-ball fight with Josh and Brittney. So Rick stayed on the ground with the dull blade, and sawed and sawed until it fell.

The four girls proudly picked it up and carried it out of there. Then the kids all had to use the bathroom, of course, and the little Christmas store was closed because it was a Monday, so the owner actually let us all track wet muddy feet into his house so the kids could use HIS bathroom. Josh went first, and when he got out, he immediately took off his coat, and sat down on the couch, and ASKED FOR SOMETHING TO EAT! That boy is not what I would call bashful. I was embarrassed, but Rick laughed it off, and the guy loved it. We told Josh we would get McD's on the way home, and just when he was starting to take off his shoes, the last kid was finished, and we headed the 2 hrs. home.

Oh-yeah, and we're the coolest parents ever, we were even told we ROCK! Because we signed all the kids out of school early for our little field-trip. And in the school they asked why they were being signed out, and we told them they had an appointment, as soon as we got into the parking lot, we exclaimed "An appointment to go get a Christmas tree!" Brooke actually thought she was going to get a shot. But we were tricky about it. We waited until after 1:30 before we got any of the kids, because that way they would be counted as there.