CHRISTMAS!!

I am so sad that Christmas has come and gone already! We have enjoyed the season so much! The gals have loved all things Christmas the Nativites, lights, songs, Christmas books, talking about Jesus, anything to do with Christmas. I loved how they were as much or more excited to talk about baby Jesus as they were to talk about Santa. It is such a great time of year and it is so fun and magical with little kids. I love the innocence they bring and the joy they are to me!

For Christmas Eve, we headed out to Stone and had a great time at Sean's grandparents house. They always spoil us rotten- his grandma had gone to so much work and made a nice meal. We found out while we were there that she had fallen down the stairs outside on ice earlier on the week and was really sore and had been to the doctor and was on the verge of pneumonia. We felt so bad that she had done all she had, but also so loved that in spite of being sore and sick she still wanted her family to have a good Christmas.

We came home and the gals opened their Christmas pajamas and got a plate ready for Santa and went to bed. They were so excited in the morning- when we told them they could come in they came holding hands- it was so cute. They were so excited to see the presents they both just sat and stared at them for a minute. It was so fun watching them open them. We scaled back this year and they were as excited as if they would have had a ton of presents to open. Brooklyn kept saying over and over, "Thank you Santa! Thank you so much Santa!" And so then Gracie started saying it to. It was so cute and made me happy that they were so grateful for the things they were getting. Christmas day was crazy busy, but fun. After we were done opening presents we went down the Ric and Paula's and had a yummy breakfast. We came home from breakfast and loaded up and headed to Smithfield to Sean's parents house. We had another yummy meal, opened some more presents, and headed to Newton. All my siblings arrived and the Andie's came and we had another delicious meal. (I think that I have eaten more this year than any other year.) We opened more presents and headed home to bed. Sunday was busy again going to my parents and Sean's so it has been so nice the past 3 days to do nothing!! The gals have enjoyed playing with their toys, we may or may not have gotten out of our jammies, I have looked at the million things that I should be getting done and not doing them, but we have just enjoyed the time together! This Christmas season has been so wonderful!

The usual playing in the snow. The gals had a blast and Gracie LOVED eating the snow. Brooklyn had to take it easy and couldn't go on the sleigh because earlier she and Sean were playing and she hit her head on the corner of a chair and cut it open. Luckily, she didn't need stitches- it was a really close call. But she had fun riding around in the Ranger with her daddy and her sissy.

Every time we leave Sean's grandparents house I am always so sad that I didn't get a picture of us with them. It was a priority for me to get one. I even got a cute one of the two of them together. They are so cute and call each other 'babe' which is what Sean and I call each other. I love hearing them say that to each other.

Brooklyn got Santa a nice plate ready.

They got to open their Christmas jammies and their presents from each other before they went to bed. They were so excited and loved both things!

Christmas morning is the best! That was the best picture I could get of them coming in together.

I love the top left picture- Brooklyn had asked for a DS and was THRILLED when she opened it and even more excited that it was pink! And the bottom left she was so excited that the family got Kinectimals for the Kinect.

Gracie loved opening her presents to. Of everything she got, her favorite thing is the Color Wonder light up paint set. She is painting non-stop.

Brooklyn also wanted an American Girl doll. (I found this great set from Target with the doll and 5 outfits for less than what an American Girl doll costs.) Grandma and Pops gave it to her and she was in awe when she opened it. She didn't say anything for a minute and just stared at it and then she squealed with delight! Uncle B put Gracie in the box and she was the present. It was so funny. And she got a new baby to replace the one she has loved and worn out. Nat gave her the dress-up outfit and she was strutting her stuff it was so FUNNY!! She would put her hand on her hip and stick it out and then walk and do the same thing over again. She had us all laughing so hard!

We pulled out the Easy Bake Oven grandma and grandpa Harris had given Brooklyn and made some yummy smores.

December Happenings

Before I do my Christmas post, I need to get caught up on the rest of December. This year we had our Petersen Christmas party at Logan Lanes. (My cousin's husband owns it- so we had the hook-up.) It was a great time and the gals had a blast! They looked so cute in their little bowling shoes. Brett and Chels went to an ugly sweater party after- they looked great! Brooklyn also had her Sing-A-Long at school. She had a part and was able to memorize it and nailed it. She had been sick the whole week before and missed the whole week of school. She ran a fever for 5 straight days. I took her to the doctor and they tested her for strep, influenza, checked her oxygen levels and then determined it was a virus. She was one sick girl. I was worried Gracie was going to get it just in time for her birthday and Christmas, but she didn't get it. The gals had their annual Christmas dresses- my sister and I were able to get matching ones for my gals and Abby. I love getting my gals Christmas dresses- it is such a fun tradition for me. We also took them to see Santa. Brooklyn was all business and enjoyed her time sitting on Santa's lap. Gracie on the other hand- wanted NOTHING to do with it! She wouldn't even go up with Sean or I. So the only picture I got of her was the pouty one. :) Up next- my Christmas post!

Merry Christmas!!

With Much Love- The Maynard Family

Happy Birthday Gracie Girl!

On Monday, we celebrated Gracie's 3rd Birthday!! I can't believe that my baby is 3. Ever since we had Brooklyn's Birthday party at Chuck-E-Cheese (in April), Gracie has been talking about her birthday party at Chuck-E-Cheese with a pink cake. She got both and we had a great time!

Gracie 3 Years Old

We had a blast playing games- Gracie even got into this time.

I love the top left picture- she was so excited for her pink cake (THANKS Paula)! She also loved the pink cupcake and got nice and messy from eating it.

She got to party with Chuck-E (she didn't want to get to close).

Sean went into the ticket blaster and scored 500 tickets. (It was classic watching him in there.)

Gracie was so excited for her presents. The top left picture is her when she first woke up and saw her presents. She tried to hold up 3 fingers, but couldn't do it. Brooklyn was just about as excited as she was to open a present.

Gracie is such a joy to have in our family. She is so low-key and mellow. Her big brown eyes and her dimples melt my heart. She loves to play with her sister. They currently are loving to play Tangled. I feel so blessed that she is part of our family. I love you Gracie!!

Catching Up...

How did it get to be the middle of December already? I guess the same way I lost the whole month of November. We had a great and cold Thanksgiving. It snowed before Thanksgiving and then was about 10 below the whole week. We are loving all things Christmas in our house right now. The gals were so excited to get the decorations up this year, we started before Thanksgiving. We have been trying to really get the true meaning of Christmas into the gals heads. They love talking about Baby Jesus. Gracie's birthday is on the 20th and we keep asking her whose birthday is coming up and every time she says, "mine and Baby Jesus." I bought a gingerbread house kit and we had a blast creating it one night. There was also an awesome live Nativity that we went to. It was a real spiritual experience to me to walk into a barn and see the scene and there in a manger Baby Jesus way laying. He really was born into the most humble of circumstances- how blessed we are to celebrate his birth this season!!

Gracie cracks me up. One night she put 2 of our stockings on and was walking around the house saying she was Santa.

The live Nativity was rainy and muddy but we had a blast. Thanks Keith, Shawna, and girls for going with us. I have to explain the picture of Sean- he came straight from work and had barely gotten new, white shoes that he had worn once maybe twice- so he covered them with grocery sacks. The gals thought it was so funny and were kinda embarrassed by it. They also talked us into going on the hay ride- it was a fun night!

One night after we had gone to the Nativity, Gracie wrapped her blanket around her and said, "Look mom, I'm Mary." She also had a complete and total meltdown one day. She said she wanted to go and see Baby Jesus again and I told her it was over. And she started crying as hard as I have seen her cry- huge tears were coming down her cheeks. She then said to me, "I just miss Jesus so much and I just love him so much." I got tears in my eyes as my 3 year old testified of her love for her Savior.

The house is all decked out and we are LOVING it. We went to Preston on Monday for FHE to see the Hollingsworth's house. If you have never made the drive up there to see it, you really should. They have a couple field's filled with wood painted scences from Disney shows, Shrek, Mickey. This is a tradition that my parents did with me and now we are doing it with the gals. They LOVED it and we drove through it 3 or 4 times. (Up next, Gracie's 3rd birthday!)

9 Years

Happy Anniversary Babe- I Love You!!
(We will be celebrating tonight by taking care of sick kids- very romantic)

Bow Giveaway

I have an amazingly talented friend named Chantel that makes the most adorable bows!! She sent an email out last week asking if anyone would be willing to do a giveaway on their blog for her bows. And I thought why not?

The Darling Daughter is the name of her company. Check out the website. She makes awesome boutique looking bows, way cute fabric flowers, the cute knit hats (my gals LOVE these), cute headbands for little babies, and she has started making posh petals. These are a new twist on the flowers that you see everywhere. These are interchangeable! So you pick the colors you want and then you build your own flower to match the outfit your little one is wearing. How great is that? You reuse, rebuild, and create lots of different flowers. I LOVE this idea!

Posh Petals

Another great thing about Chantel is that she will custom make any of the bows to match your daughters outfit perfectly. She has made a lot of my gals bows to go with their Easter and Christmas dresses! If you aren't sold yet, the prices will sell you on these bows! I have seen similar bows to the ones she makes sell for double or more of what she charges!

BUY IT

Head on over to The Darling Daughter and buy your favorite bows. (You will have a hard time choosing.)

WIN IT

The Darling Daughter is giving away a $20 GIFT CERTIFICATE for hair accessories to one person from my blog!! That is awesome!

MANDATORY ENTRY

Visit The Darling Daughter website and tell me what your favorite bow is.

EXTRA ENTRIES (leave a seperate comment for each entry)

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1 Entry: Update your Facebook status with a link to this giveaway

2 Entries: Add The Darling Daughter button to your blog. Code at the bottom of the page.

4 Entries: Post about this giveaway and include a link back to my blog (please put the link to your post in your comment)

Giveaway closes December 12th at Midnight

Winner will be chosen using Random.org & announced the following day

(Open to U.S. Only)

GOOD LUCK!

(Remember to include your email in one of your posts or have it available on your profile so we can contact you of your win)

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Shutterfly Chirstmas Card Giveaway

I have been thinking about my Christmas cards for quite awhile now. I was excited a couple weeks ago when I was looking at one of my favorite hair ideas blog and she had a post about an AWESOME giveaway from Shutterfly. This giveaway is for bloggers you go here- and follow the instructions and can get 50 free Christmas cards!! Who doesn't love getting things for free and I usually end up spending quite a bit of money on my Christmas cards. Although I have never used Shutterfly I am excited about this website because there a lot of choices to choose from. It is going to be super hard to pick which one I am going to use for our Christmas card. They have other great products to- like calendars and cute invitations.

In the things I have been seeing lately, bright colors are really in for Christmas cards- I love this one.

I love browns and I thought the presents were so cute!

I love the folded styles they had!

Fun in the Leaves

A couple weeks ago, when it was still warm, the gals got the rake out and played in the leaves. I have so many fun memories of playing in the leaves. My parents have a big maple tree in their yard and we would get a lot of leaves from it and our neighbor Donna had an awesome leave tree. My sister and I and the Christiansen gals made some epic houses out of leaves. We would make walls and rooms and have so much fun. The gals had a ton of fun playing, raking, and jumping in the leaves.

A 6 Year Olds Declaration of Love

My little Brooklyn is so boy crazy- I don't know what I am going to do with her. This is her conversation with me on the way to dance.

Brooklyn: "Mom, I have a boyfriend and it isn't even Justin. His name is Peydon."
Me: "He isn't in your class, how do yo know him?"
Brooklyn: "We chase each other all the time at recess. He had another girlfriend before me and she broke up with him. I told him I am SOO not breaking up with him."
(Imagine her using a dramatic voice, head bob, and rolling her eyes and such)
"And mom this is not just a crush- I like like him. And when we pass each other in the hall I'm like 'Hi, boyfriend' and he's like 'Hi, girlfriend'"

Heaven help us!!

HaLLoWeeN

We had a great Halloween this year! We started our festivities on Tuesday when our Ward had a Trunk-or-Treat. Then on Saturday we went to Sean's parents for a little party, did some trick or treating in Wellsville, and then ended our night at my Aunt Paula's for the annual party. The gals decided on what they wanted to be this year. Gracie wanted to be Tinkerbell (and we already had the costume- score!) Brooklyn wanted to be Dorothy and my good friend had the cutest Dorothy costume she let us borrow. All I bought this year for costumes was Brooklyn's shoes- yay!! The gals looked so cute and are loving all the candy they got. Sean looked awesome in his mullet wig and I told the gals I was dressing up as a mom (I am a dud and don't love Halloween)!

Fall Happenings

I have been in somewhat of a blogging slump lately, so I have a lot to get caught up on.

Sean celebrated his 30th birthday. We had a little party at our house and then him and I went out. It was low key, but a nice birthday.

We have also reached a very happy milestone with Gracie. She is POTTYTRAINED!!! Most milestones kids reach are kinda bittersweet, but I can't think of anything sad about her getting pottytrained.

The gals played doctor one day. It was way cute!! They got all the gear out and Gracie was having a baby. She took it very seriously, as did Brooklyn being the doctor. These 2 are the best of friends and I am so glad. They play so well together (most of the time).

The Petersen men made their annual trek up to the mountains to try and secure food for the winter. The gals and I headed up one day after school. The gals were so excited to go on a horse ride. Brooklyn even got to ride her own horse. She was a little scared, but my uncle Ron led and they had a great time. They are still talking about the horsey ride.

We also went up to Stone to visit Sean grandparents. They are so good to us. The gals talked grandpa into taking them on a ride in the tractor and then in the Ranger. I was sad I failed (again) to get a picture of grandma. :(

Tonight we painted pumpkins for FHE. Brooklyn decided she wanted to paint them instead of carving and Sean and I were more than happy to go along with that. The clean-up is so much easier. We also made caramel apples- they were delicious!

This fall has been BEAUTIFUL!!! I love the fall and it seems like it never lasts long enough. I feel like it was perfect this year. It was warm and sunny and dry- until the past 2 days. And we have paid for it. Our window started leaking yesterday and we have a mess! The paint down the wall has bubbled and looks bad. Here's hoping for a perfect winter!