A few fun arrivals at our house!

Yesterday was a great mail day! My Pink Christmas gift is here......I can't wait to open it!

Another swap I entered was a Snowflakes and Sparkles Christmas Swap hosted by Holly. My package arrived from my swap partner, Heather.

I opened the box to an especially sweet letter and super cool red & silver snowflake.

A delicious scented candle,

Some great bright, shiny red ornaments that I just love and

to make the box even sweeter, she added my favorite.....Reeses!

She quilted stockings for each of us. I am so touched that she took the time to do this for me and my family.

Thank you so much Heather for all of the gifts....swapping is so much fun!


Much to our surprise this morning, Santa left us a letter along with one of his best elves. Freddy the elf is staying at our house for 12 days to check on us. He is going to report to Santa every night to let him know how we have been behaving. On Christmas Eve, he gets to leave with Santa on his sleigh. He is sleeping under our Christmas tree (he sleeps there all day) right now. Isn't he cute?

Has any fun mail arrived at your house? Any elves?

A mid-week update.

With only 15 days until Christmas, it is starting to get a little crazy over here. I know, you all are probably feeling the same pressures.

Here's my list.

Get our Christmas tree & decorate it.

Go Christmas shopping... I have only bought a couple of items so far.

Wrap those items.

Get Christmas cards done.

Mail those Christmas cards.

Start our elf tradition(on the 12th)

Mail out of town items.

Decorate the outside of the house.

Grocery shop for Christmas dinner at our house.

Visit Santa.

Go to Zoo Lights.

Go to Winterhaven.

Make ANY type of Christmas cookies.

And I left out all the other fun stuff like laundry, etc. Is it possible to get all that done in time?

But, in an effort to see the positive, this is what we have completed so far.

The kids wrapped their gifts and made cards. Wonder who they are for?

We got out all of our decorations...and played with some of them. This was their Elmo/Cookie/Oscar Christmas sleigh they were playing with.Started moving furniture around to figure out where we wanted the tree. The kids didn't want to move the loveseat from in front of the tv. They said they were at the movies:)Found some wonderful reminders of when the kids were younger. This is Tyler's handprint wreath he made when he was 2. They were so little...sigh...time goes by.

We rec'd a fun good mail surprise in the mail. Jill, the Good Mail Queen, sent me a wonderful Christmas mix cd, along with a nice note. Thanks for the treat, Jill! I love all the music.

We took several cat naps in between. Is he cute or what?

Angels were about at our house! They did a good job, but this was about all they had the patience for. The parts were so tiny to glue.

A major highlight? Santa writing them all a letter! They couldn't believe it....no better photos due to battery failure(really, I just forgot to charge it) Thanks Aunt Pat for making that

sweet memory happen.

Scavo stars and snowflakes....known as starflakes around here, were made. Lori...you got to love the buttons!


How is your list coming along?

Happy Phrases heard.

"Mommy, can we color while we wait for our lunch?"~~~Michael
"Thanks guys, you are the best!"~~~~Natalie
"Mom, can I help you with that?"~~~~~~Tyler
"I love myself!~~~~~Lindsey



How about you? Any happy phrases in your house?

Yes, Tyler does live here too!

{Photo stolen from his school id. Due to no participation in anything that involves Mom's camera}

I do have 4 children. Although, I do know that lately it seems I only talk about the littlest of the crew. My oldest really has the kindest soul. His smile makes me happy and I can't believe I have been so blessed to have him in my life. Here is just some of what he has been up to lately.

1. Last I checked on-line, he has straight A's......an awesome feat for him. We are so proud.

2. Last Sunday, we finally made it to see High School Musical 3 together. It was pretty good, but I still like the second best. We had fun. I let him pick anything he wanted at the snack bar and imagine my surprise that along with his popcorn & soda, he picked Dibs!!!! He was a gentleman and offered me some of his snacks throughout the movie.

3. He is hysterical. His imitations are spot on. Ask him to do Squidward....seriously good. I will have to video it sometime.

4. LOVES Ecko clothes. Especially cut&sew jeans....have you seen the price tag on those? YIKES!

5. Is a fantastic big brother....they are so lucky.

6. We love him and are so proud of him.

Shhh...it's a secret.

Last night the Scavo elves were creating....A smock was needed.

These were involved.
Utensils were used.

And lots of concentration was necessary to make surprise Christmas gifts.

Oh, remember those felt trees I scored at the Dollar Tree?
Natalie decided to put the Santa she found in her toy box under the tree.

Michael positioned Rudolph in the perfect spot. Wonder what they will add to their decorations as the days go by?

The night ended with a treat Daddy brought home for them. Christmas tree brownies. Thankfully, there were only 5 in the box. Who knew how many calories were in a little snack cake? Do you like Little Debbie snacks?

Craftiness, Kris, and cookies!

Is it starting to feel alot like Christmas to you? We are gradually getting into the swing of things at the Scavo house. Last night while we cooked dinner, the kids enjoyed making their own Christmas trees.

Their finished trees.....so festive, don't you think?

We also "decorated" their rooms...which means we put the felt Christmas trees I found at the Dollar store on a shelf in their room. Who knows, maybe Santa will leave something small under their tree!

Then, we watched good ol' Kris Kringle....it was on abc, but is anyone else loving abcfamily & the 25 days of Christmas programs like we are?

And what good is watching a holiday movie with no holiday refreshments? No good comes of it at all! These generic Kroger butter cookies are pretty good and way cheaper!

We had a fun family night.....how bout you?

Natalie..isms.

Before I forget them, here are a few of Natalie's favorite words and phrases with her own unique spin on them.

1. These are "Cwismas Wights"

2. This is Natalie making "sAWce".....with a new york accent.

3. These are "cancakes".

4. This is a "babypop".

5. "Come on, read with me". Which really means read it to me. Can you stand the cuteness of this photo. He read the whole book to her. I love when they get along so well.


6. And my favorite.....a "Caillou-ote"

Four that I am thankful for.

Our Thanksgiving was nice. The day was filled with family, yummy food, laughing and

BIG DREAMS!