Christmas card time!

No, it's not Thanksgiving yet, but YES, it is time to order your Christmas cards!  Get on it!  You don't want to be cramming it in last minute and you definitely don't want your cards to be delivered after Christmas!  I actually love it when people 'over achieve' in this area because I like to display the cards I get all season long!  I can't do that if your cards come right before it's time to take them down ; )


If you need some help, or new, fun ideas... and who doesn't??  Head over to Shutterfly.com and check out the cuuuuute holiday and christmas cards they have!


There are SO many really great options, this is one of my favorites and I would love to get this card in the mail this season (I would actually love to send it, but I can't think of 10 moments this past year!):

click on card!

A trend I've noticed this year is stationary cards.  They are printed on cardstock!  Good-bye Glossy McGloss Face!  and fingerprints!  Here are some more of my favorites:

click on card!

click on card!

This is the card I think we'll be using this year ; )

click on card!

Or this one:

click on card!

Really, there are so many to choose from, and I don't think you could go wrong : )  Personally, I'm digging all the patterns!

Now you're in love too, right?  The best part is that Shutterfly is giving bloggers 50 free holiday cards, so sign up!  

Thanks to my sister Kim for the heads up!  

Quilts

Stephen's maternal grandmother is a quilter, and she's really good!  Grandma Reiman has made many, many, many quilts and has won many awards and a few of her quilts are actually worth a lot of money.  


There is a place in my heart for quilts as my mom collected quilts and even made a few, sewing often with her sisters.  My aunts made a double wedding ring quilt for Stephen and I when we were married.  And I use that quilt because I want it to be our family quilt, I want it to get warn and thin and soft, we take it to the park, outdoor events and I made a point to incorporate it in our recent family photos (taken by my sister).

Kimberly Althausen Photography

About a year ago I found out that Grandma Reiman had been working on a quilt for her great-grandaughter, Kyla!  She finished it a few weeks ago, it was in a quilt show in Washington and sent to our house right away!  It is the most darling quilt I have ever seen!

I love the wavy, wispy stitching, love.

 Kyla with her favorite rag doll

Each doll is different and so much detail was put in to each one.

 Each face is hand painted!

 This girl has great hair!

 This one has a sweet bo-peep and sheep print with tiny buttons and apron

 look at those eyes!

This is such a special gift and I know we will cherish it forever... and we'll keep it away from the park ; )

Ribs

Kyla:  Mom, what are ribs for?


Me:  Ribs?


Kyla:  Yeah, ribs (pointing to ribs).


Me:  Ribs protect your vital organs like your heart and lungs.


Kyla:  And protect Jesus, cause He's in our hearts.

Awww... isn't she the sweetest??

Photo by Kimberly Althausen Photography

Halloween

Last night for Halloween we went over to our friends' house, the Wall's.  We had a group of 8 kids and 8 adults and went trick-or-treating just before dark for about an hour.

The kids did so well and Colby, who is 18 months old now, did a great job keeping up.  His bucket got heavy very quickly so Stephen tried to help him out but Colby would cry and say, "no no no no!" so Stephen would take the candy out of Colby's bucket and put it in his pockets and he would say, "no no no no!"  It was so funny, poor guy was really trying to protect his candy!  Kyla and Colby's hands were so cold but I don't think they noticed at all, they had such a fun time and got a hang of trick-or-treating very quickly.  Colby was always the last kid at the door, which I think is key to getting more candy!  He had WAY more candy than Kyla and they went to the same number of houses.

After trick-or-treating we went back to the Wall's house for dinner, football and hanging out with friends.

We made 'Mummy' Pizzas for the kids, they turned out really cute!

I didn't get any pictures of Kyla and Colby last night, but I did take these a few days ago of them in their costumes

Kyla with the pumpkin she made with Grandma and Aunt Laura

PlayDoh animals

Pumpkin, bat, alligator, duck and flamingo

what's that there on the pumpkin?  Oh, it's just a toothbrush.

Kyla was really sad I wasn't taking pictures of the play-doh animals with her in them, I just hadn't gotten that far yet!

and then there's Colby the Cowboy and Kyla the Peacock!

look at Hogan trying to catch leaves!  haha!

The end!