wee bit Wednesdays participation

{one} did you buy a christmas tree this year?
yes I just did that yesterday!

{two} what is your favorite holiday tradition?
I don't know that we really have settled into any tradition other than eating mom's really yummy cookies/candies

{three} do you open your gifts on christmas eve or christmas day?
christmas day. (maybe one on christmas eve)

{four} at what age did you stop believing in santa claus?
i don’t think i ever believed in santa which really ruined things for my cousins.

{five} do you fill stockings?
yes, mostly candy and dollar store items

{six} handmade presents or store bought presents?
store bought, I can be crafty but not enough for presents

{seven} do you have a favorite christmas meal?
just home cooking with the extended family (it usually resembles thanksgiving)

{eight} is your christmas tree real or artificial?
REAL fake trees can never smell like bringing a real one indoors

{nine} what is your favorite christmas song?
silent night

{ten} did you send out christmas cards this year?
not yet because I can't seem to get the picture I want to put on it

Long overdue!

Trimming my tree... FINALLY

Ok I have neglected my blog for awhile and truth be told come tax season I am sure it will get worse!  Its been not only my blog... It took until yesterday to get a Christmas tree up... wow... usually I am all over that the day after Thanksgiving but this year I dreaded having it up that long, I so don't want to contend with 2 one year olds and breakable ornaments for too long.

It snowed here Sunday and on thro Monday so school has been out all week so far! Hubby dearest took vacation days to go hunting Monday & Tuesday so its been like a 4 day weekend... So very nice... so very unusual... and so very much interrupted my household cleaning.

The twins didn't care much for the cold and only went out for 2 minutes or so... partly cause staying on their feet was hard to do and snow isn't much fun when you face plant in it. The other 2 only seemed interested in eating it!  So hubby decided to just make some snow cream, not exactly the cleanest type of ice cream but if they were just gonna eat it anyway I guess its better with some flavor.

I have a wonderful cookie recipe I want to make that sounds so good today:
Chewy Chocolate cookies
4 eggs, 3/4 cup shortning, 2 cups sugar, 2 tsp vanilla, 1 tsp salt, 3/4 cup cocoa, 2 cups flour, 1 tsp baking powder.  mix together roll into balls and thro powdered sugar then bake @ 350 for 10-12 minutes!



Then I have my sweet shot and b&w wednesday all rolled into one with this picture of my sisters prego belly:

It's cold enough outside so where is the snow?

We have been plagued by colds so I have been lacking on my pictures and blogging but with me and 3 babies sick its so hard to find motivation to do more than wipe noses. However I did get up and take some pictures today to post once again with black and white wednesdays.... (it is wednesday right? LOL) It was quiet in the house because two out of three were napping and one was into Max and Ruby... ahhh those are the special times at my house!!!

I love the hair sticking up!!!

not completely black and white but I couldn't help it I like the soft look this has.

This peacefulness didn't last long but it was nice (and cute) while it was here!

Because of the not feeling good this week I failed to explain anything I did in yesterdays link up. I cropped and rotated that photo until I liked the angle. I then color adjusted it for the skin tones. I used a soft overlay of a background picture I had of bubbles and used the bright eyes smart brush tool.  I sharpened up just my baby in the picture so the background was still soft and he was a little less blurry.  I think that is all I did but I was sooo very happy with the way it turned out and thank you to all who commented!!!