Holiday Review ~ part one

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

One of my many resolutions this year is to be "on time"! We kinda had an issue with being late (a lot) in 2008 especially after Kara's birth. All I can say is that we didn't mean to be late, it's just that we love to keep the kids on a schedule and sometimes special events fall around nap time or feeding time. We promise to try to not be tardy in 2009. I am also NOT going to give "time stamps" out when asked when we (as in The High Family) will arrive to events that we are honored to be invited to this year. We never make it by "said time" and in doing so makes me the mommy even more stressed. So don't be surprised when we say,

"we will be there when we get there!"

Thanks for your understanding in advance. :)

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This past week has been one of relaxation, reflection and ORGANIZATION! I loved having Chris home and we got a lot accomplished when it came to getting this house in order. Don't get me wrong, we still have a ton of things to do but at least we put a small dent into the house list. I hope we continue this "resolution" and complete many projects in 2009. Wish us luck!

Before I get into the much anticipated Holiday Review (yes, I've been somewhat of a slacker!) first I have to say, I sure did get lucky when I married my husband. He cooks, he cleans (when I give him a detailed list!), he amazes me on a daily basis with how he is able to fix anything and everything in our house and that he loves me and our children unconditionally every day. Here's an example of our Mr. Fix It: On Friday we noticed the house was VERY cold when we woke up that morning. Chris quickly found out the problem was that the pilot light was out in our heater. He lit it back up and we thought all was fine once again. Well, turns out it wasn't ok. Chris would have to light the pilot light over and over throughout the afternoon. It just wasn't staying lit. While I was freaking out about staying warm and keeping the kids warm, thinking about being able to get a professional to stop by to look at it during the weekend hours and if it came to that, how the heck would we pay for this extra expense?....my "handy man" husband stayed calm and started to investigate possible causes online. Within an hours time, he had driven to Lowe's, bought a $12 part and replaced it. Viola! Fixed and the heat was back on!

Simply amazing. Oh how I love this man....

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Ok...I think I made you wait long enough. Here is our Holiday Review. This is only part one of many...there are too many pictures and events to put it all in one post. Look for several more coming soon! Now without further ado....

The High Family Holiday Review ~ part one

{Holiday Preparation}

We are lucky to live in a house with a fireplace (even if it doesn't work properly) and I love hanging our stockings each year for Santa to fill up with cute little surprises! Can you guess which one is Kara's? I hope to get new ones made with our names for next year.

And just in case he forgets where he needs to enter...

(I got these adorable SANTA letters as a gift when I worked in a daycare while in college)

The year Ryan was born he received a lot of ornaments and I decided it would be neat to have a tree just for him. And to be fair, Kara got her own tree this year as well. She didn't receive nearly as many ornaments but I am sure that will change as the years go by. You can also see a small portion of my HUGE collection of snowmen I have collected over the years. I am a snowman fanatic! There are snowmen in every corner of our house during the holiday season. The best part: they can be left out the entire winter season!

Aren't these trees adorable?!

Kara's tree. The star on top is a gift we received this year from my dear friend Katja who lives in Germany. Thank you Katja....we miss you!!

Ryan's tree. He decorated it all by himself (with a little help from his mama). Gotta love the PENN STATE snowman in front of the tree!

Each year we receive many wonderful Holiday Cards!! It is always exciting to visit the mailbox during the days leading up to Christmas and getting surprises from our family and friends. We truly love seeing and hearing all about your families! For now I've been displaying them on the wall that separates our Family Room and Kitchen.

I especially LOVE the photo cards! We even jumped on the wagon and did our own photo card this year as well. * please ignore our "work in progress" kitchen wall. The kitchen is last on our long project list! I also did not find a 10 x 13 frame that I liked before Christmas to put our cute photo collage of Ryan and Kara in that is located in the middle of all the cards. *

Decorating the TREE! Chris let Ryan cut the rope this year. Ummm. Just so everyone knows, I was upstairs changing Kara when this took place. I would have never allowed Ryan to do this "honor" because we all know what happens after the rope is cut, right?

And this is the last shot that Chris got before the tree opened it's wide branches and knocked our son off his feet!

Daddy has the job of "stringing" the lights on the tree. Mommy has the job of putting all the ornaments (with a little help from Ryan...he gets the non-breakable ones!) on the tree.

Kara had fun guarding the family ornaments!

Ryan decorating his tree. Too cute.

And finally...the last thing to do is put the STAR on top. Ryan has been the "tree topper-upper" for the past two years. I think he does a marvelous job!

and yes, those are the streamers from his birthday party. Christmas is a celebration of Jesus' birth right? It fit perfectly in with our theme then. :)

Our beautiful tree. One thing I learned over the years is that we have a lot of heavy ornaments so the top of the tree gets more ornaments then the bottom half. We also need to buy new color ornament balls to add next year. I wish I would have gotten a great picture with the tree lit up in all it's glory.

Here is a little video I created that shows off a few of our favorite ornaments we've gotten over the years. Enjoy the High Family Christmas Tree.

Oh Christmas Tree... from Bobbi-Jo High on Vimeo.

Holiday Review ~ part two....coming soon!