Easy and cheap neighbor Christmas gifts!

Earlier this year I was searching for easy and cheap Christmas gifts for those people in our lives that are special to us. The people you love, and want to give a small gift to, but if you don't have a lot of money then it can be hard to think of something fun! For me, those people include, neighbors, close friends, our "mail lady," and our children's Sunday School teachers.

I wanted something that wouldn't take much energy, much money, but would be fun and memorable. I googled some different ideas and came up with this...

It doesn't look fancy, but I fell in LOVE with the saying attached to it!

"Christmas is Jolly,

Christmas is Sweet.

I'm too stressed out, 

So make your own treat!"

I've also included this fun book with cute stories and sayings about Christmas! 

I was excited that the dollar store had packs of 4 wooden spoons for $1 and I watched for sales on brownies at our grocery store all fall. I used coupons on some to make the money spending even less. With some "online clearance" shopping I was able to find these Christmas books for $.25 a piece! Yes, $.25!!! So total, I spent about $28 to make 20 of these gifts!

Some of you reading this might be getting one of these gifts, so I'm sorry if I've ruined the surprise, but I couldn't help but share this idea with others!

Christmas traditions!

I absolutely love the Christmas season! There is so much to be thankful for and to celebrate! And I enjoy starting and continuing traditions that our family enjoys! Here are a few traditions that I LOVE!

1. Putting up the Christmas tree! I love the ornaments, the lights, the smell, and the wrapped presents underneath! There is something so romantic about sitting in front of a beautiful tree and snuggling with your hunny!

2. Making Christmas chocolates and goodies. Every year since my husband and I have been dating he has helped me make peanut butter balls for Christmas gifts. This year will be no different, we just need to find a quiet evening together!

3. Christmas Eve we always spend at my Memere and Pepere's house. We have dinner, open presents and then go home to our first present of the year. Everyone gets to open one present Christmas Eve night and it's always new Christmas jammies to wear to bed!

4. Reading the Christmas story from the Bible Christmas Eve night before bed! It's the most important thing to focus on and it makes a great bedtime story that night!

5. Christmas morning (at my house growing up) started in Mom and Dad's bed opening our stockings. It gave us the chance to sit as a family, open our stockings, and Mom and Dad didn't have to get out of bed at 6:30!! Tom and I hope to continue this with our kids!

6. No breakfast until AFTER presents! We always had a big breakfast, but we didn't have to sit and eat until after we opened our gifts! Tom's Dad always made pancakes, so I think he should have to always do that too! ;0)

Since our family is young I hope to make new traditions as the years go on and continue celebrating the old ones we love! Do you have any traditions that your family celebrates? I would love to hear your family stories!!

Here are a few photos from our family Christmas last year... :0) I was pregnant with Jack and the girls have grown soooo much!

Wordless Wednesday

I had the privilege of photographing my 15 day old nephew this past week! Here are a few of my favorites!!

To book a photo session or to see more of my work, visit... 

nicoleleephotographymaine.blogspot.com

The stockings were hung...

Our son Jack will be 8 months old this week and we've suddenly realized that he is NOT a baby any more!!! He is crawling everywhere and is into EVERYTHING! (While I am typing this he is trying to eat the tree!) I love him and watching him grow, but I am very sad that we no longer have babies in the house. Yes, technically he is still a baby, but now that he is moving around he doesn't sit and cuddle like he used to!

We're pretty sure (about 99% convinced) that we don't want to have anymore children, but just tonight Tom said, "Are you sure you don't want to add another stocking to our collection?" It took me a minute to figure out what he meant by that, and then I realized what he was saying! My first response was, "NO!" But it does make you think about the possibilities! I just think we're both realizing that our babies are growing up WAY too fast!

So... the stockings were hung by the chimney window with care, and no there won't be any more to add there! (Does that answer your question Tom!) :0)

Bath Time joy!

Bath time is one of the craziest, most hectic, and chaotic times in our home! It's always filled with splashing water, kids crying because there is soap in their eyes and/or naked babies running around! YET, it is also one of my favorite times of our day! The kids love bathing together and playing in the water. They often times don't want to get out!

I love it that they are all still young enough to bathe together! I hope to keep it that way until I point out the obvious.......

 that they are bathing in Jack's pee!!!

Basement Overhaul!

We've been living in our house now for 15 months and it seems like every time we move things get left in boxes. (I'm sure anyone who has moved can relate!) Things that don't get used very often, things you forget about, or things you don't like, get left in a pile in the basement and never cleaned up! That had happened to our basement and I was tired of the mess. We had things "organized" in piles and in moving boxes, but I couldn't get to anything easily. It was driving me crazy!

Sooooo.... Tom came up with a design for some storage shelves! I am a organization freak, so I was thrilled! I love storing things in large rubbermaid totes, so we made the shelves the correct dimensions for those bins and it's wonderful! Here are a few before and after shots...

Because we had to clear out the wall that the shelves were going on, Tom piled, yes PILED, everything together! This is the mess I had to organize when the shelves were finished...

Here are the shelves done, but empty...

And here is the finished product! All of my labeled storage bins are so easy to get to now!

Tom also added on a work bench so he would have space for his junk, I mean, tools!

 I do a lot of canning, so for right now all of my canning jars, supplies and canned foods are on this shelf, but eventually Tom will build me another similar shelf for all of it!

 We used the girl's old carpet from their bedroom for the floor and turned the previously messy area into an extra play space for the kids!

Thanks Tom! I am so happy with my new shelves! :0) 

Oatmeal Play for Toddlers!

There are two requirements for the following activity.... patience & a vacuum cleaner!!!

I was cleaning out my cupboards today and came across a canister of oatmeal that I had no idea was in there! I looked at the date and, well, lets just say that it was expired! :0) I have no idea how long it was in there, so I was about to throw it out when I stopped. (I hate to just throw things out, so I was determined to come up with something to do with it!) I thought, the girls would have fun with this, but do I want to bother?

Well, I decided to let them make the mess! When they woke up from their naps I had trays of oatmeal on the table for them. I knew it would appeal to Mia, my two-year-old-digger, but I wanted to make it look special for Bailee too, so I sprinkled sparkly beads in to appeal to my three-year-old-princess. It worked! They couldn't wait to get their hands in it!

I had two rules..... "don't put it in your mouth," and "keep it in the tray!" They broke both rules, but had tooooooons of fun!

It started with the oatmeal mixed with sparkly beads and measuring spoons. Then after about 10 minutes I added a bowl to the play. Then about 20 minutes later I let them sprinkle REAL cinnamon into their oatmeal to make it smell good! Bailee was so excited because she was "cooking" foods and couldn't believe that I would let her use my real spices! (What fun to watch them explore and use their imaginations!) Since they were "cooking" so much we chose some pretend kitchen toys and foods to add to the fun.

It is amazing how differently the two girls played with the same materials...

Bailee was very intent on making things and doing pretend play with the oatmeal. She was very focused on using the spoons and bowl to "cook" and "mix up foods." She even planted a garden. The beads were her seeds and the oatmeal was her dirt. At one point she was burying her "treasure" (the shiny beads) and then she would dig to find them!

Mia on the other hand didn't use her utensils very much, but preferred using her hands! She wanted to feel the mess all over her! She moved piles of oatmeal from one end of the tray to the other, filled her bowl and dumped it out many times, and just simply was happy to "dig in the dirt!" She insisted that it was dirt, not oatmeal! :0)

Either way, they were very content and focused on their play. I thought this would last for 20 minutes, but instead I peeled them away from the table crying 2 HOURS later!!!!!! What a great find... expired oatmeal made for a VERY peaceful yet messy afternoon! :0)