joyner.grant.howe family christmas

Lots of posts coming at you over the next few days from Christmas 2010 festivities we have been having... so keep checking! It is a busy time of year and I have not been very consistent at blogging this month..but, the next week should make up for it! I am also very excited because I got my new Cannon Rebel camera for Christmas and am loving taking lots of pics! Hopefully the quality of pics on the blog will continue to improve as I learn about my camera.

Our first Christmas celebration was Joyner Family Christmas last Friday night. We also had our little Howe family Christmas that night as well. It was such a fun night. Kinley opened lots of presents...we took some family photos....and we watched old home videos of everyone. It was a great night.

Kinley loved every present she got...she was so spoiled and overwhelmed...but, definitely the fan favorite was the princess tiana doll...she sings...everyone was singing "Almost There" all night long.

We could not get Kinley to sit still or smile for any of our family pics...but, as soon as the Grants wanted one we couldn't pull her away. Hilarious.

sweet babies

It has been pretty non-stop for us around the house lately. This weekend Ben was gone on his annual Lazbuddie pheasant hunting trip. He loved it...and I loved spending some quality mommy-daughter time and lots of fun with friends. Friday night Mendy spent the night after a fun girls dinner with Cheryl and all the Read girls. It was a fun night out! Saturday morning we went to Leighton Booth's 1 year old birthday party. I WISH I had some pics from it...it was fantastic. Donuts with Santa, a bounce house, endless delicious food and Christmas crafts and everyone...of all ages in Christmas pjs! It was so, so fun! Saturday night was our annual CHHS high school girls get together. It gets harder every year to get girls together...but, we enjoyed so much getting to catch up! No pics from this either...so weird! But, we did have Kristen and all her kiddos spend Saturday night with us! So, so much fun for Kinley to have her friends over when she went to bed and when she woke up! All the kids slept great all night long.




Monday we got to keep Eden while Jen ran some last minute Christmas errands with Baby Jack. He is so stinkin cute. Kinley and Eden played great together and copied everything each other did. You know how I feel about copying and matching my friends...Kinley loves it too!

Well, thats what we have been up to lately. I asked for a new camera for Christmas...so, hopefully I will have much better pics soon!

Christmas decor and Family inspiration

This year, as we do every year, the day after Thanksgiving we put up all our Christmas decor in the house. I love this time of year and all the music, smells, parties, and decorations. We are a little Christmas decor overboard and even have 2 Christmas trees! Kinley is in LOVE with the manger scene and wants to make the animals climb on top of the stable and put baby Jesus in his manger non-stop. Here is what Christmas looks like at our house!


The pinecones on the candleholders was Ben's idea and I think it is so cute!

I especially want to highlight two of my favorite items to get decorate with!

First, probably our most famous decoration, is my vintage-framed-light-up-jewelry Christmas tree that my 86 year old Grandma, Momma Gay, made for me. It is fantastic! She had one of these growing up in her house and we all loved it and have fought over it for years. As a result, she decided all of her grandchildren needed one also! So, for special occasions, like weddings or graduations, she has made everyone a tree.

So much thought and effort goes into these trees. She puts a green glass bottle in the oven and brings it out at just the right temperature to smash it with a hammer into tons of pieces for the tree. She drills holes in the wood for the lights to come through. She finds the perfect vintage frames for them all. Even the jewelry is thought out and personalized on each tree. This is something that I will always treasure and am so thankful for.

Momma Gay does not even know how cool she is because these are all the rage in the blog world and on etsy right now...like these here, here and here are almost as cool...but, they don't light up.

Well, I guess Momma Gay's creative and inventive genes were passed on to my mom..because my other favorite Christmas decoration is Kinley's stocking that my mom made her last year. It is fabulous. Seriously, its beautiful...total perfection. She picked out the perfect pattern and worked dilligently, hand-stitching it for weeks to make it for Kinley and she loves it. We take it down and look at it daily.




I just am so thankful for the inspiration I have from my mom and Momma Gay for making homemade items and spending thoughtful time on gifts for family and friends. I hope that one day Kinley will be inspired too!

crocheting and sewing - deja vu

It seems like I have had some deja vu over here lately. I have been crocheting and sewing during pretty much all my down time, loving every minute of it, but nothing you haven't seen before.

I made a nap mat like kinley's for a sweet boy in Kinley's class named Connor. His mom Jessica asked me if I would make one for him. She picked out all the materials and brought them to me. It turned out so cute! I loved making something for a boy! The footballs were adorable and she opted for 2" foam instead of 1" foam. It is a little bit bigger when rolled up...but, I know Connor will sleep great on it!

I have also been making lots more circle scarfs for Kristen because she has more orders than she can handle. Yay! It is a blast to be able to help her out with such a fun product. I am sure we will see many more this season! To place your order, visit the Lullaby Lubbock Etsy shop!

I hope to crochet and sew some more this weekend. Happy crafting to you all!