Cake and Laptops

 A long time ago, aka October, my parents sailed through Boston on a New England cruise!  I got to further improve my Freedom Trail presentation for a number of my aunts and uncles and Grandma Richardson.

Earlier this month, I got to partner with Cake Boss and throw an in-home party with some friends!  You wouldn't believe the amount of product they sent.  Boxes and boxes of pans, mixes, tubs of frosting, fondant, tools of all kinds, and sprinkles galore.  You can see it all HERE on the blog.  So much cake!

And once in a while, I rope Jason into doing a review for me so that he can have something new and cool.  You can read his review on our new Dell Inspiron 2-in-1.  What a natural :) 

Check out that cute goatee that lasted all of 24 hours, maybe.

Festively

Here are some of my holiday recipes and project ideas!

SPARKLING SORBET FLOATS

QUICK CHRISTMAS GIFT IDEAS FOR YOUR CRICUT

APPLE BLUEBERRY POMEGRANATE PIE

The Holly Jolly

It was a very merry one, for sure!  Christmas is 10x more magical in every way with kids!  Being a parent at Christmas time is simply the best.

The big gift from Santa was a workbench!  (It was a gift from my boss who has a partnership with Step2.  I feel like it was my end-of-year "work bonus"!)

Unpictured are Marc & Diana and Mom, who flew out from Idaho to spend the week with us!  We've all had so much fun visiting, venturing downtown to see the lights and get hot chocolate, making wassel, and playing games each night.  Its been SO nice to have family come to us this year and the boys really love their grandma!

 The gift I'm totally jazzed about is our new bObi!  This is a $700 robot floor sweeper!  Of course, it is a free review item that I will post about next month, but it arrived on Christmas Eve, and it just had to go under the tree!

We didn't get any snow, did you?  The first day we do, we're taking out our Snowman Kit from Travis & Holly!

There is a LOT of building going on around here!  What a great toy for these boys.

"Jake and the Neverland Pirates" was another Christmas theme this year.  These two have quite the pirate imaginations, and now they have an armful of toys to pretend with.  I feel very prepared and armed with entertainment ammo for hours and hours in indoor play.

Merry Christmas from the Boys

We decided to forgo the Christmas cards this year in order to save the postage for baby announcements next month, so here is our seasonal message of peace on earth and good will to men!  Posed in the kitchen after church today with a lot of bribery candy on hand and a bit of photoshopping to take out all the chocolate on their faces and clothes, thanks to their Primary teachers.

Growing, Growing, Growing

Third time around, I know you've all seen the belly.  Its been very well documented.  Every time.  Still, with these weekly product reviews on Viva, I've had to get pictures showing off the new bag, the maternity dress, the shoes, the maternity jeans, etc.  I didn't set out to make a maternity portfolio, but realized I already had one, and the sweetie might want to see these some day.

Quilts and Nail Polish

Here's my tutorial on how to make your own

T-SHIRT QUILT

FLORIDA ORANGE MARINADE

and a NAILPOLISH ORGANIZER RACK! 

It's Beginning to Look like Christmas!

 The boys got an early Christmas present - a handcrafted toy box (as a review item on Viva Veltoro) that they really love.  Its amazing how much cleaner their room remains when they can't overturn the small toy boxes they used to have.

Cute Sister Hancock is living it up in Tempe AZ while she awaits her visa, but I heard news tonight that she might be shipped out to Taiwan this week!  I hope she got her Christmas ornament!

Lincoln got some new clothes courtesy of a partnership with Osh Kosh B'Gosh, and he looked so dapper in his Christmas sweater, it needed to be shared.  Good thing these review opportunities give me the excuse to take regular pictures of my cute kids!

 

We decided that if there ever was a year to get a real tree, this was it!  With no room to store a fake one, and no crawling babies to get in the water bowl, we set out and found the perfect tree.  The boys are LIVING IT UP this Christmas season!  Everything is magical and they cannot contain their excitement!  Christmas rocks, but it is 10x better when you get to MAKE it magical for your own kids.

 

So...

What's new?  Parley is the first to get a cavity, right in the middle of his two front teeth (?) so we're upping our flossing strategies around here.  The boys would paint every day if I'd let them, but they only last about 15 minutes before they start painting each other.  Every time.

Baby Girl is getting spoiled rotten with all the sewing I'm doing for her, starting with her blessing dress I made from my wedding gown!  It was a really rewarding project and I still have yards and yards of dress leftover for a baptism dress, temple envelope, wedding garter, etc. :)

I attended Boston's Biggest Baby Shower (as press!) with a bunch of my friends.  We walked away with bags and bags of baby gear and accessories.  The first relative to announce a pregnancy is getting a package sent their way!

And the kids are my model subjects as I continue to work with some fun brands, like Arla Dofino cheese, JIF To-Go Dippers, Crystal Light, various toy companies, etc.  We have fun.