Christmas Time in Full Force!

Christmas time came fast & we are right in the midst of all the fun activities!

It was so fun to let Owen help me decorate the tree this year. He was very careful with the ornaments and I constantly reminded him of our "special" ones that he needed to be extra careful with. We add ornaments each year from trips we went on that year or special occasions. This year we added a Nutcracker ornament from FAO Schwarz from our NYC trip in May and we also added a Vegas ornament from our anniversary trip there last December. Owen also got a few new ones that he picked...they are all miniature toys. So cute! Here is our tree!

This year, we also introduced Owen to Gus, our 'Elf on the Shelf.' Everyone knows what these are by now, so I will spare the details in what Gus' job is, but Owe

n has enjoyed finding him each morning!

I've enjoyed getting ideas off of Pinterest to bake for all the different functions. I signed up to do the desserts for Owen's Class Christmas Party at St. Luke's. Here are the adorable little reindeer I made! They were SUPER easy (peanut butter cookies, chocolate chips, red M&Ms, chocolate covered pretzels) and the kids LOVED them!

These Santa hat brownies are treats I made for the teachers at West Erwin Playschool. Some of us moms got together and put on a teacher appreciation lunch and I was in charge of dessert. These were a hit! We sampled a couple the night before after dinner...and they were SO yummy..and also SUPER easy to make! (My kind of treat!)

These 'Texas Snowmen' are marshmallows a little melty on a sugar cookie base. Then I just used gel icing for the decorations. I took these to our Staff Christmas Party for my work.

Owen received a letter after having Gus at our house for a couple weeks. It is a letter from Santa saying that Gus has been giving him good reports on Owen's behavior at home & school. Owen was so excited! I love his little smile with his letter in the picture below:

The next week at Playschool, the kids got to walk down to the square & meet Santa! Owen was SO excited & not scared at all! He ran up to Santa, gave him a big hug & said, "I got your letter!!" It was SOOOO sweet & melted my heart!