Nova's First Christmas

It came and went. Nova's first Christmas is under her belt. She had a room full of gifts from friends and family and BOY did she love ...of all things....the paper..haha.We had to celebrate on Christmas Eve because my husband had to work on Christmas.  Here are a few pictures I took of her helping with the decorations and opening presents.

 Helping with the lights!

Her and dad taking a break!

                                                             Her cousin helping her open.

                                               Her daddy helping her open

 Nova and I opening another on Christmas morning.

I wrote this on the dry erase board in our kithen:)

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!! Now it's time to celebrate  New Year's!! We will be watching the fireworks on the Las Vegas Strip from a family members lot that overlooks the entire strip!I can't wait! I hope all of you have a safe and Happy New Year!!

~Jeriel

What I have been up to..

I have been super busy starting this project that I wanted to do for my nieces. I had NO clue what to get them so I decided to make them something. I went to Michaels and picked up a few things..

  I decided to make them canvas's with their names on it to match their rooms. This was the first coat of paint on them

 This was the second coat

 And Ta Da... the finished product!! I thought they turned out pretty good... I hope they like them

On another note, I am headed to a Wine and Baking Party tonight! I am super excited...especially since I have never been to one before. I'll try to post pics soon! Have a great rest of of the weekend!!

 ~Jeriel

Tick Tock...

Today I have a lot going on and am trying to get everything accomplished. I have yet to find a good picture of Cody, Nova, and myself for the Christmas cards I want to do. So Iam going to be working on that today. I am also trying to get all the recipes together of the Christmas cookies I want to make this year and find time to do it. I wanted to head downtown today to get ornaments that I get every year with our family name and the year. I wanted to get one for Nova that says "Baby's 1st Christmas," but don't kow if I will make it down there. And lastly, I would like to clean the house and get the laundry done but am just not finding the motivation.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend!!

~Jeriel

Ta Da.....

Well we did it. We got our tree and it is finished! I might get a couple more little things here and there but this is what the main idea is. I tried something new and a little different this year. I added ribbon all down it and put in some sparkly, squiggly things in it as well.

Here it is:                                                             Before

                                                                             After

This is my little one with her first Christmas tree experience!

On another note, if anyone wants the Kahlua recipe, here it is:) Enjoy

3c. sugar
3c. water
10 tsp. instant coffee (crystals)
2T. vanilla
1 fifth vodka (apprx. 4 c.)

Simmer sugar, water, and coffee for 1 hour. Add vanilla, cool partly, then add vodka. Cool. May drink immediately!! I store it in a Kahlua bottle:)

P.S. I don't like it as sweet, so I only use 2 cups of sugar:)
Thanks again for stopping by and all the wonderful comments!

~Jeriel

O...The weather outside is frightful....

Today it is frightful...yet nice here in Vegas. It is chilly and windy outside. Makes me want to sit by the fire with a good book and a Kahlua and Milk:) My husband is busy building us a new bed and I have been doing housework and redecorating our room and living room. I still can't find curtains that I like, but hopefully soon. I made a fresh batch of Kahlua that had been in my family for years and you don't have to let it sit, you can drink it instantly! Here I have it simmering on the stove...

There is nothing better than homemade Kahlua:)

Tomorrow we will be setting up all our Christmas stuff (including our tree) and I will be posting pics. Stay warm and thanks for stopping by!

~Jeriel

Real or Fake???

I am always so curious to find out what type of tree people have these days: Real or Fake?

 I prefer a real tree because of the aroma it leaves in the house. I know many people cannot have real due to allergies. I would love to hear what everyone else prefers and why:) We are planning on getting our tree next weekend along with putting up all our decorations. I am going to try and get a little creative with our tree this year and will post pics when we get it up :)  Thanks for stopping by,

~Jeriel

Crafts and other stuff

                                    This was the pumpkin after I baked it, peeled, and cut it up

                                  This was after I mashed it and put it in freezer bags to freeze:)

Well, I have been busy getting ready for the holidays and one thing I do every year is make fresh Pumpkin Pie. I learned this from my mom who always made it this way. I always buy 2 pumpkins at Halloween. One to carve, of course, and one to cook. I bake the pumkin then I have to cut it up and mash it. Since I usually end up with a lot of pumpkin, I freeze it until I am ready to make my pies. This year I ended up with 3 1/2 batches. On another note, I previously told you about me redecorating my house. These are just some of the picture frames I made and hung. I thought they turned out pretty cute! By the way...I am still learning about blogging and how everythign is laid out, so I'm sorry that my pictures are before my post...haven't figured out how to change that..haha

 Thanks for stopping by!!

 Jeriel

Inspiration

 I thought this would be the perfect topic for today! It seems as though many things are inspiring me these days. I was inspired to start a blog:) (Thanks Jen!!)   Then I saw these two pictures and absolutely fell in love! I decided to do my whole house in the patterns that are in the background of these photos. Not to mention I am redoing my bedroom as well! Next, I visited a couple blogs that had beautiful decorations for Christmas and Fall and I decided I would try some new decorating techniques. And finally, I have become obsessed with trying to find coupons and good deals. Before, I would only shop at one store for everything. I now shop at 4+ stores depending on where my coupons are from. If you have any suggestions on good ways to find coupons, please feel free to comment:) Thanks for visitng!!

~Jeriel

The Story of Us

   My Hubby and I :)

                                                         Our beautiful daughter, Nova

                                                            Happiest Day of our life!!

                                                              One of our other babies, Ares

Another, Achilles

Welcome and thank you for visting my first blog  EVER:) I wanted to tell you a little bit about my family. My husband and I have been together almost 13 years but married 1:) We just had a beautiful daughter who is 5 months old named Nova. I now stay home with her and have a some time (not a lot) on my hands and I thought blogging would be fun! We have to other babies, Ares and Achilles which are pictured above:) Thanks again for stopping by and hope to see you back on here soon:)




Love,
    Jeriel