Happy December everyone! I have so many pictures to share and am way behind on posting so look for lots of new stuff this week as I get caught up. In the meantime, Christmas is charging toward us full steam ahead and we've been having a great time getting into the spirit!
This year we started a new tradition in our house by welcoming the season via a North Pole Breakfast hosted by our new house elf, Pookie...ahem. That is, I
thought her name was Pookie but Teagan has very different ideas. She insists that her name is Kiersten as a reminder of her much loved cousin... so Kiersten it is!
Elf Pookie/Kiersten left a special basket Kade, Teagan and Isla found in the morning amidst much excitement! It included a letter introducing herself and special Christmas pajamas.
The letter told them Kade's house elf Zachary (also named after his cousin...see a theme here?) had shown her how to get to our house! She said they need to put on their new pjs and head downstairs for a very special breakfast!
The breakfast table was set for a surprise visit from Teagan's buddies Jackson, Caleb, Lauren, Olivia and Landon who came over at 9:00! Each child got a special bucket with Christmas socks, sparkly Christmas cup, candy cane and reindeer food to sprinkle on the lawn on Christmas Eve!
We had "snow" covered donuts, chocolate donuts, fruits, cheese danish, Christmas breakfast casserole, hot chocolate, oj, mimosas, and lots and lots of coffee!
Check out Dave, Shanna, Caleb and Liam's matching jammies!! I love this idea but Brian so won't do this with me. Boo.
Speaking of cute jammies, I adore mom Blair's Christmas paisley pair with frilly hem! Aren't they oh-so-cute? Little Lauren is always a fashionista and looking sweet!
Good Morning Olivia and Landon! Landon is a HUGE...I mean HUGE FSU fan so I he wore his sporty pjs!
One of the few pics I got of my busy Teagan that morning! She is so not into mom taking pics this year which makes me wonder if we will get a Christmas card pic out of her at all? Still, there never was a happier girl that morning which made the lack of sleep worthwhile!
Speaking of sleep, Isla's ready for her morning nap after all the excitement. Sleep little angel! It's a busy, happy season.
A few of my friends asked for the recipes from that morning so I thought I'd share them here. Both are super easy!
Breakfast Cheese Danish
Ingredients
2 pks cream cheese
1/4 c sugar*
1 tbsp vanilla extract
2 pks crescent rolls
1/2 stick butter
1 tsp sugar*
1 tsp cinnamon
Directions
Preheat oven to 350. degrees
Lightly spray Pam in bottom of 9x13" pan. Lay out one pack of crescent rolls in the bottom of the pan pressing the seams together. Mix together the first three ingredients (cream cheese, sugar and vanilla extract) until smooth. Spread on top of cresent rolls. Top with second can of crescent rolls, pressing seams together. Drizzle mixture of melted butter, sugar and cinnamon on top. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.
*We found the original recipe way too sweet so cut our portions as noted above for a more savory version of the dish. Play with these amounts to suit your family's taste!
Christmas Breakfast Casserole
Ingredients
4 c frozen shredded hash browns
1/2 c chopped onion
8 oz bacon, cooked and crumbled
1 c (4 oz) shredded cheddar cheese
1 can (12 fl oz) Carnation Evaporated Milk
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 1/2 tsp seasoned salt (we use Tony Cachere's)
4 oz sausage patties, cooked and crumbled*
*This wasn't in the original recipe but adds some oh-so-good flavor!
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Grease 8" square baking dish. Layer 1/2 potatoes, 1/2onion, 1/2 bacon, 1/2 sausage and 1/2 cheese. Repeat in a second layer. In a small bowl combine evaporated milk, egg and seasoned salt. Pour over mixture in pan and cover with foil. Bake 55-60 minutes. Uncover and bake 5 additional minutes. Let stand 10-15 min before serving.
Happy weekend everyone! I am trying to get caught up on posting a ton of fun pictures we took on our trips to Arizona, Colorado, over Halloween and Thanksgiving! I can't believe we are already in December! Anyway, we had an amazing visit to the desert to see my sister's adorable family. Teagan and Isla loved hanging out with their cousins Peyton, Kiersten and Zachary!
Daydreaming under a desert sky!
Baby Isla was all smiles!
Zachary feeding the giraffes at the zoo! It was amazing how close we got to the animals!
This cracks me up! Little Tea getting introduced to scarecrows this fall. She seems to be thinking, "What's the scoop on your arms fella?"
The Daddys! We love them!
Our pretty girls! Equal parts fierce soccer players and graceful ballerinas! They are gearing up for their annual roles in The Nutcracker right now.
Peyton...my goodness. I remember holding this girl as a newborn. Here she is just weeks after her 13th birthday! Her heart is just as beautiful!
I love my sis! We could talk for hours and Brian is always tickled at how we finish each other's thoughts and move on to new topics with rapid fire speed! What? We just have LOTS to cover in a short time on these visits. I always leave her house refreshed and inspired with design ideas, healthy recipes, homeschooling in our home and crazy cute birthday party ideas for the kids!
Fun Is: The slide in my cousin's backyard!
Another shot of Peyton's cute scrunchies she made for Tea in three colors. I.love.them!
Hi handsome boy! Happy December birthday to you!
Teagan hung out in her Halloween costume this mid-October day. She was excited about being a purple fairy this year thanks to Auntie Angie who bought her this costume! Just this week she donned the same attire for naptime.
Zachary has joined his family's love of soccer! He made something like five goals one Saturday morning while we were there!
This photo made me smile. Teagan loves squirrels (see the shirt?) and is pretending to be a squirrel here eating an acorn!
Teagan says goodbye from the airport! We had SO much fun on this visit and miss our family already. We're on our way to Colorado next so stay tuned for more fun pics! 
Deco mesh strikes again! This time I used lots of lime green and bright reds. Lovin' it though it doesn't match our maroon PB stockings. Hmmm. I used a Picnick feature that's making it look a bit wild here. It's not that bright. You get the idea though.
My french doors got a spruce up too!
And so did the chandelier in the dining room thanks to my friend Shanna who taught me how to make these sparkly tissue pom poms.
These paper circles have been my obsession for weeks now. I think I made 40 of them. Yes. Forty. And I have the glue gun burns to prove it. They are beautiful, aren't they? 
We made our first gingerbread house when Kade was visiting because he is an expert on these sorts of things at age four. He directed us well and mission accomplished! This was lots of fun!
I am touched by this simple picture because Tea and Kade were putting on shoes to help Brian put the Christmas lights up the day after Thanksgiving. I can't believe how big they've gotten and so fast!
Oh here is trouble. I mean, poor Isla. Can you just seeeeeeee the amount of messing these two will do with her? She's none too happy with it.
My sweet baby! Sporting her new tooth for Christmas. I took this one afternoon last week.
After our North Pole Breakfast we caught a much needed snooze. That night our neighborhood had a Christmas party for the kids with dinner at the golf club house, crafts to make, Santa came to visit and they got to ride on his "sleigh" through the hood on a horse drawn wagon which was a huge hit! The night wrapped up with the dj playing some fun music. The sight of Santa and a bazillion kids on the dance floor around him is something I'll never forget. We had a great time AND I got pics of the big guy with Kade, Teagan and Isla - and nary a tear was involved. Score!
In the words of your older sister, "My goodness grace-bibs (a.k.a. "gracious")!! I am shaking my head at how fast days have turned into weeks little Tuppence. You are growing up ten times faster than I am prepared for and I just want you to always be this little! I missed posting your milestones at six months so I'll try to catch up here.
Teagan has become an attentive big sister these days. And I mean that in a positive way. Generally. The look on your face here kinda says it all..."Uh, guys???"
And here.....
I love you little Isla! I always tell Teagan you two are my "angels-sent-from-heaven-above!!!" (ala Raising Arizona). 
