Sunday, December 26, 2010

Happy Holidays From The Collins Family



Big Thanks to  Nichole at nicoleiveyphotography for taking our pictures this year !

Ryker (4) Campbell (2.8) and Lucy B (6)


Our Holiday Card 2010

Provence Holiday 2011 Christmas 5x7 folded card
View the entire collection of cards.


To see our full card:
http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0EaNHLZu3asXzA

Christmas 2

Here is a look at Christmas take two!
We headed over to Nana and Pika's house just down the road the on the 18th. Nana has a traditional Christmas feast (She is a great cook) and opening presents under the tree. One thing Nana does a really great job of is her stockings. After my first Christmas at her house I decided I'm bringing back the stockings in my own family traditions. I mean I'v always had a stocking at my moms and Mr. T and our clan have them but mostly they are decorations. Nana really picks out super fun little things to go in everyones stocking and it's great fun to dig out all the little things inside. Nana hand made almost all the stocking for everyone but the past year or two we have been multiplying faster than she can make stockings so she is getting a little help from Santa's corporate elves! But each stocking she makes truly represents the owner. Very special tradition!


Mr. T's side of the family is very small. He really only has his dad and cousin Joe left. So it is really special for us to get to see them and for Campbell to get to know them. They drive down from Ft. Worth area to have Christmas with us. Nana's sons and significant others are also there. 








Of course Miss C is spoiled rotten with gifts! This year Nana and Pika got Miss C the Dora Window Surprises doll house... HUGE hit! 
Fisher-Price Dora Window Surprises Dollhouse

Here we have music by three generations of Collins
Miss C
Pika 
Mr. T



Yep, I see it too, The apple did not fall far from the fashion tree!
 Like father like son I guess. 

The Whole Collins Christmas Clan 2010







Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Cheep Trick and I don't mean the band

You know what I love about bloggers? It's that we borrow and share not steal! I was warping gifts tonight when I ran out of gift tags. I remember a blog I read this week on Little Miss Momma and she borrowed it from SAHM and she borrowed from jones design company

Jones Design Company shared her secret to gift wrapping - these adorable gift tags (that I have already printed and used in my wrapping).





IMG_7965

There are four pdf downloads: black tags, festive tags, green tags & taupe tags. Print them all or select your favorite {click here image to download}.

festive tags
black tags

taupe tagsgreen tags



you will need a pdf reader on your computer in order to open these. You can download one free from Adoberight here}
Luxe white and cream have a slight texture and are super thick. You’ll want to make sure your printer will print on very heavy paper. If not, the pure white is a smooth paper that is a little lighter weight – but still a nice cover stock.




If you don’t have a printer at home, I’m sure a copy center, office store or your next door neighbor would be happy to print them for you.
m e r r y   c h r i s t m a s
and happy wrapping

Thanks blogger friends for sharing !


Monday, December 20, 2010

Thanksmas

Here is our adventure to Kerville, Texas to visit Mr. T's grandmother. Lizzy is 92 years old! She still lives on her own and cooks us a full meal ready when we walk in the door no matter what time it is!

Miss C 2 yrs & Grandma Sandy

Lizzy 92 & Miss C 2
Amazing that Lizzy can still hold her Great granddaughter! 

Mr. T and Miss C rocking their Yo Gabba Gabba shirts! 

I think it's so special that Miss C gets to have a relationship with her great grand parents!



How Many Christmases do you have?

When you and your husband are both the product of divorced parents your "Christmas" easily turns from 2 to 4 or in our case 5. Five sets of people expect us to show up smiling at their door at some point between Thanksgiving and New Years. Thats not counting a "Christmas" at our own house with the gifts the 3 of us have for each other. That would make 6!!! So for all you newlyweds out there think about this before you have kids. Make a plan BEFORE the baby arrives on where you will spend the holidays. Will you drag you child to 6 Christmases?? Mark my words it will cause a marital fight! Plan it ahead and stand your ground!
A part of me is jealous of my BFF Chuckles, after being divorced for 18 years his mom and dad have rekindled their romance while being parents of the groom at Chuck and Amanda's wedding. I always was a big fan of the movie Parent Trap.  The Parent Trap (1961) and The Parent Trap II (1986): 2-Movie Collection (2-Disc Set) Lucky! one less "Christmas"

So here is how the plan looks:
Thanksmas- Mr. T's Mother and Grandmother "Thanksmas"in Kerville. We have limited this to one trip
                    between the two holidays. It's over 6 hours in the car in one day and so not fun with a toddler!

Christmas 1- Mr.T's dad's house, Nana & Pika, with Mr.T's cousins and his step siblings.
Christmas 2- The 3 of us and Ryker and Lucy. Breakfast and presents on Christmas eve morning
Christmas 3- My step dad's family Christmas eve in Palestine
Christmas 4- SANTA! My whole family on the ranch Christmas morning
Christmas 5- My Dad and his family. And my New baby sister. Yes, I typed that right I have a new baby
                     sister. Well she is 2 now but hey she is new to me!  I have to give her a blog name! hummmm
                    for now I'll call her Baby K. Will attempt this visit in the week between Christmas and New
                   Years.

FYI Miss C if your ever reading this don't think I will not spend every Christmas with you where ever you are or who you marry, I'll follow you to the moon if I have to!

Monday, December 13, 2010

All that Glitters is Snow

This post is long over due! During A Christmas Affair we attended the All that glitters is snow party at the Palmer Events center. This was Miss C's first time to see "snow" Mommy had some flash backs to a trip to Cancun. To seal the deal I was talking to the "snow" machine operator and he told me the night before they were at a fraternity party. So Miss C's first "snow" was also her first foam party! 
 





 

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Friday, December 3, 2010

Breakfast with Mrs Claus


 Breakfast with Mrs Claus is a great way to kick off the holiday season! I hope this is a tradition we have started that continues for many years. To make it extra special Ganny came to spend the weekend with us and go to the A Christmas Affair parties with Miss C and I.
We started the party with a pancake breakfast and decorating plates for Santa's cookies! There was a chocolate milk bar and cookies galore.



 
The master piece in the making! 

After eating tons of goodies we sat by the christmas trees and Mrs Claus read The Night Before Christmas. Miss C loves stories and this was no exception. Mrs Clause's story was followed by some live entertainment by some of the North Pole Elves ( my junior league provisional classmates! ) Now this was were Miss C really came alive! What is more fun than rocking out in your Dora PJ's? 

Candy land trees
Shaking it to the Christmas carols


taking Mommy for a spin on the dance floor

Life's Sweet