And just like that Christmas is over!

Seriously, as i am sitting here writing this, it makes me so sad to think that all that planning, shopping, anticipating is over just like that! Why can't Christmas be longer? Christmas Eve and Christmas day are crazy days for us as a family. It's 7:14 pm and my girls are sound asleep, all the festivities wore my pretty girls out!

Santa was good to my girls this year and again i was reminded why i should adopt that three present plus santa gift rule for the girls next years to come! The girls got showered with presents from my side of the family, my hubby's side of the family, and our extended family. So many gifts, not to mention what happened to us this Christmas morning. 

Kendall and Daddy are our early happy risers and were awake before Taylor and I. Soon after i got out of bed and a short time after that, Taylor got out of bed. Taylor was in disbelief and so excited to see what santa had brought her. She immediately started playing and playing, we couldn't get her to open ANY other presents. My hubby and I opened up a few for her, but not interested. As i am writing this on the evening of Christmas Day, we still have presents under the tree for Taylor. This just reassures me that the 3 gifts idea is a great idea!

So how was your holiday season? Crazy or Chill? I am not sure if we will ever get a nice chill holiday because we love our families way too much to not have a crazy holiday!

So highlights or lowlights of this past week:

1. Taylor got croup :( sad sad to see my child like this! After a steroid shot at the perfectly right time, we were able to get it under control (thank god). We managed for Kendall not to catch it, not sure how we did that and we survived. I knew something was wrong when my poor girl was breathing really loud during her nap and I noticed a hive. Taylor + sickness = hives (ALWAYS). Called the doctor and got it taken care of. So my poor girl received a cocktail of medicine every night for about 2 days. Her cough was a little bad but not too bad. I swear by Vicks when my babies have coughs, apply Vicks on their chest, back and feet then put their socks on. Seriously the cough goes away, instantly. I also swear by the Little Colds All Natural Cough Syrup which is made out of honey. Works AMAZING and stops a cough!

2. My Kendall Doll turned 6 months today! Yay and Nay! Yay, because she is getting so big, so fun, and becoming so close to her sister. Nay, because she's my little baby and growing so fast. I never understood why people would say that my days and year would fly by. They do. Way too fast. It's not fair. Kendall is almost sitting up and rolling and scooting all over. Her favorite place this holiday season was under the tree!

3. I don't know if you guys have heard of Origami  Owl but OH MY GAWD! This jewelry is one of a kind! You buy a chain, a locket, and charms. You design it yourself! Merry Christmas to me! If you would like more info on this jewelry contact Autumn Morga at autumnmorga.origamiowl.com.

4. My Hubby and I had said no gifts for Christmas since we are planning a trip for spring break. I knew he had something up his sleeve simply because I know him. Sure enough, Christmas morning he surprised me with a Mac Book Pro. I am using it right now as I am writing. I LOVE IT! Can't wait to keep on bloggin' and expand my business!

5. Have I mentioned that i am now a vendor for Groop Dealz?! Ok, well maybe in the last post i gave it away. But I am so excited for this new adventure along with working with Jane.com. I have TWO set dates for Groop Dealz already. Want a smokin' deal on the XL Striped Flower headband?! Head on over to Groopdealz.com on December 29th for the all new low price of $5.99.

6. And...we have officially hit the TERRIBLE TWO's! I know, I know, people say the teenage years are much worse and if the terrible two's are this way, i don't even want to begin to think about Taylor's teenage years. Makes me so scared! Seriously, I have lost count of how many times my sometimes not so sweet has to go sit in her time out spot. It hurts my heart! 

And I leave you off with some of our candid Christmas picture: 

Posing! We did not ask her to pose!

Hay ride on Christmas Eve!

Loving her stocking.

Not interested in any other gifts!

Merry late Christmas!!!!

-Stacey

What's your Christmas Tradition or Traditions?

Both my husband and I come from very close knit families therefore our Christmas Eve and Christmas Day is filled with tons of family and crazy fun gatherings. Now here it goes:

Christmas Eve is such a big day for us, most Hispanic families celebrate this day and Christmas Day is more chill. So we go to my family on Christmas Eve and eat lots of Tamales like my grandma used to make them and enjoy our time together! This is an all day event and usually begins around noon. 

My husbands side of the family also has a big Christmas Eve gathering before the annual Christmas hayride (my favorite). Unfortunately, because we are with my family only for Christmas Eve and are with my hubby's family on Christmas Day we always usually miss Christmas Eve dinner at in laws. So in the evening around 6 ish we load up and drive across town for the hayride. The "hayride" is a flat bed trailer attached to a truck. I would say "we" but I think I have only helped a few times, they decorate the trailer with Christmas lights and straw bales and on Christmas Eve we drive around town on the trailer singing Christmas carols and looking at Christmas lights. It's such a wonderful thing to know that my girls will always grow up with this tradition! This lasts about a couple hours then we head back to my parents house!

We hang out at my parents house until midnight, because ever since I was young and again coming back to the Hispanic culture, we open our gifts at midnight. My girls only get a gift from us, if they stay up!

(Somewhere in between the hayride and parents house, I would like to start going to a Christmas Eve mass. Hoping we could make it this year!)

After that, we come home and wait until Christmas morning to open our gifts. Santa also delivers his Christmas present to the girls which come unwrapped. 

Loved Taylor's reaction last year, CANNOT wait for this years reaction since she has really been in the Christmas spirit! 

Christmas morning the girls will open all the gifts we have for them and might head on over to my in laws to take them their gifts. 

Christmas Day we will also go to my husbands Aunt and uncle's house for Christmas dinner, the kids will open more gifts and the grown ups will have a Christmas basket exchange! 

Oh what fun it is to have so much family and love during the holidays! 

Now on to finish my girls headbands, last minute wrapping and some orders! 

Don't forget :

These are on sale now for only $3.99 on Jane.com! Don't miss out! 

PS. Are you looking for the perfect holiday drink? On Thursday I hosted Bunco at my casa and had an alcohol exchange. I was lucky number 12 which means that I could practically steal any one's alcohol unless it had already been stolen 3 times. To make this story short I ended with a bottle of 

(Sorry for the blurry picture) RumChata! If you like the drink Horchata, you will absolutely love this! I have mixed this with Fireball and it's amazing. Even more amazing is this with Malibu Rum. Prepare to be addicted if you try it! You can find this bottle anywhere! We had to buy some more for the holidays and found it at Walmart! 

 

 

Also, a new better deal is coming up on Groopdealz.com on the 29th! These will only be $5.99! So mark your calendars NOW! Don't forget to head on over to Groopdealz.com for thes awesome headbands!

- Stacey

CHRISTmas!

"What if Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store. What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more.” - Dr. Seuss

 

Coincidentally one of my Facebook friends posted this ( Hi! Stacey) when I was already thinking about the true meaning of Christmas. As I was watching the Today show in my comfy PJ's with this beautiful view:

 

The question was: How many gifts do you buy your kids for Christmas? Then it really hit me, is Christmas really about showing my children with gifts? While i love being able to provide my girls with everything they need plus more, I also have discussed with my hubby that i don't want my girls to feel that they must and deserve something they truly don't need. It's a hard fine line between these two. I am the first one to say that I am guilty of buying them too much of everything and I know that I must change my ways because thankfully right now, they don't know. Right now my girls have at least 10 gifts each under the tree plus their Santa present and now that I started thinking about it, it is a bit excessive. But they got a lot of clothes, shoes, art supplies and a few toys. God knows Taylor has tons of toys and always ends up playing with the exact same ones. Anyway, on the Today show they said that people were starting to adopt a 3 present rule for their kids. Baby Jesus only received 3 presents from the 3 Wise Men, which goes back to the meaning of buying kids only 3 presents. I actually like this idea and might have to adopt it for our Christmases to come. 3 gifts plus their Santa present. This seems much more reasonable and I feel as they get older they will really think about what they want when they make their Christmas list.

 

I love to shop so this might be a challenge for me next year, but its not like these girls don't get anything throughout the year. They get tons, to say the least.

 

I am not a really religious person, but as my girls are getting older, i want to show them the true meaning of Christmas and have really started considering going to church. Which one? That is yet to be determined, but at this point in my life, i feel like they need to be introduced to it.

 

So what do you think about the 3 present rule? I love it!

 

 

 

 

My winter break from school has been amazing! Love being with these little characters. Taylor has been a true character. Day 1 of break, into glasses, and beanies and going commando.

After her nap she told me she was hot and wanted her clothes off, fine with me, but then she took off her diaper and didn't want to wear anything but a beanie. So funny, can't wait to show her the picture I took of her, commando with a beanie on, when she's older, like getting married older!

 

It was a beautiful day out and she wanted to go outside, finally convinced her to put a jacket on and diaper on. This right here is the PERFECT winter outfit for Arizona: Beanies and No Pants. We were totally rockin' this outfit in our hood!

 

Day 2 of break we actually left the house, went to lunch with Mimi and Daddy and did some shopping at Joann's. Joann's has all of their Christmas stuff 70 % off. I love sales. This is how Taylor insisted on walking around the store. A car seat and her baby.

 

Whatever makes this girl happy. She doesn't like carts anymore so she has to be entertained one way or another. Look at that hot mess of hair. Swear she had a cute 'do when we left the house.

 

For dinner my hubby made some of my favorite nachos with left over chicken! I didn't take any pictures, but next time he makes them, I promise to take appealing pictures and the recipe!

 

Don't forget to stop by Jane.com on Sunday for an awesome deal on Fabric Bow Metallic headbands!

 

<3 Stacey 

Santa came to the Tew's Casa!

Saturday was such an eventful day for all my littles. Saturday morning, we woke up and got ready to go have breakfast with Santa. Such a great idea and we are already planning on going next year. Breakfast was buffet style and they had Christmas carols in the background while we ate. Love seeing the littles so happy. Taylor saw Santa from afar and waved and said hi to him, but every time I asked her to go say Hi to him in person and take a picture, she would inform me that she was still eating. The funniest thing, not because i am her mom, but she is one smart cookie. She knew that I wouldn't stop her from eating. And so that was her excuse the whole time! Here are some pictures of our awesome adventure.

The girls ready to go eat breakfast. Both Kendall and Taylor are wearing Tew Little Loves headbands and Taylor is wearing a fabric Tew-Tew, soon to be listed on Tewlittleloves.etsy.com. Kendall is wearing the Handmade Fabric Bow in Metallic Gold Chevron. These will be featured on Jane.com on 12/21.

 

 

Taylor thought Santa was so funny looking.

 

 

Happy Happy girls!

 

 

Such a Daddy's girl!

 

 

Saturday evening was our kids Christmas and Cookie decorating party was a success. The kids had a blast decorating cookies, getting a gift from Santa and enjoyed eating all the sweets that all the Mamma's had brought. All in all, such a great day. The mess was so worth it and THIS will be our yearly tradition. My hopes are to make it a little bigger each year!

 

For dinner we had chicken nuggets, macaroni and cheese, tator tots, and fruit cups for the littles. For the adults the hubby grilled chicken, my favorite kind of chicken. We had tons of sides and needless to say, no one went hungry at this party.

 

That Black Chair with a red cushion was ready for Santa. We asked all the parents to bring a gift for their little so Santa could deliver a gift.

 

This picture was taken way before anyone showed up. We had tons of sweets and the kids loved that got unlimited sweets, such a special occasion.

The kids cookie decorating table. Lots of sweets and frosting's. One of the littles was more into the frosting than the cookies, typical for a 2 year old.

 

 

 

After Taylor's nap she woke up to the littles table decorated, she was being so good but just couldn't resist to sit in awe of everything.

 

So much fun!

 

 

 

Taylor was scared of Santa and couldn't use the excuse that she was still eating, so I had to be in the picture too.

We had such an amazing Santa show up! So many thanks to my father in law for playing the MOST amazing Santa! We found his new gig!

 

 

 

 

Here's a sneak peek on what will be on sale on Jane.com on 12/21. Loving all of these Metallic fabrics. These will be on sale for only $3.99 (reg. $9), you don't want to miss this deal!

 

<3 Stacey

Getting ready for SANTA!

The hubby and I have decided to begin a wonderful tradition for our girls and all of the littles. We will be having a Christmas party for the kids, complete with cookie decorating, kids menu, and a visit from Santa. I am beyond excited about this! Even though this is truly all last minute, I am expecting great results.

I cannot wait for this Saturday and post pictures of all the decor and the happy and sad faces of all the littles when Santa shows up!

Outfits are planned and headbands are in the making! I am still deciding on a few appetizers for the grown ups but other than that I am all done. My craft room is FILLED with things to decorate the littles table.

This is my last week of school before Christmas break and I am feeling a tad bit overwhelmed but in a GOOD way! Saturday morning we will be taking the girls to have breakfast with Santa and Saturday night we are having the Christmas party at our house.  I also have some orders that need to go out next week from my Jane.com deal, a new deal starting on Jane.com on Thursday of next week on these AMAZING handmade headband bows for only $3.99 each (reg. $9)! You don't want to miss this deal!

Also on Thursday, I am hosting Bunco at the house, complete with an Ugly Sweater theme and alcohol exchange.

 

I am also teaming up with Andrea Hauck from Andrea Hauck Photography to come up with some awesome headbands and outfits for upcoming mini photo shoots for a Valentine's and Mardi Gras shoot. (If you are local to Yuma, you don't want to miss these!) So during my break, I will be busy planning and creating away!

 

I seriously CANNOT wait to spend some time with my beautiful girls. Even though I love my teaching job, nothing compares to spending time with these girls!

(L: Kendall, R: Taylor)

Taking a picture of them together is almost near IMPOSSIBLE!

 

So here's to a busy non-relaxing, crazy busy, changing diaper, toddler tantrum, party filled, family filled, bow making, headband creating and blog writing 3 weeks off!

(...and maybe I'll get some sleep in between.)

 

PS. Yesterday's "Dinner with a Flair" was amazeballs! It was thanks to the crock pot and it was Chicken Taco Soup via Is it Really my Life? A MUST try for busy days! You can also find the recipe here! I didn't even take a picture because it was too delicious to wait to eat plus I am drinking green smoothies for breakfast and lunch so I was MORE than ready for some solids!

 

<3 Stacey

Cooking with some flair!

My sister's wedding was in November (such a beautiful dreamy wedding) and I had my baby Kendall in June, so that meant I only had three months to get back into my pre-baby shape. I started meal prepping, working out from home and drinking green smoothies for breakfast. I am happy to say that I was back at my pre-baby weight way before her wedding. But with that also came some amazing bland food for my hubby and I. Our regular meal was and has been grilled or baked chicken with little spices, a green salad and some type of other green, such as green beans (yummy!). I literally can live off of that meal but I know my hardworking hubby would appreciate a change. So yesterday I decided to make a Loaded Baked Potato and Chicken Casserole. It was so good, but since I am a chicken for spices, I probably could have added some more S&P!

I found this amazing recipe here via Delicious as it Looks. Or you can also find it here.

I am a messy cook! Don't judge me, please! Plus I had a little 2 year old helper!

 

Here is the outcome. So yummy!

 

And because this recipe takes a whole hour and a half to cook, I was able to run to Michael's for an amazing sale! I am in love with Taylor's ornament she got this year, leopard, pink, glitter and a purse. All of our favorites!

 

 Here she is hanging her ornament on her and sissy's tree. This only lasted like two minutes before she decided she wanted to hang it on Mommy's tree.

 

So excited that it is hung on Mommy's tree.

 

Tomorrow's menu is Spicy Chicken Soup! Can't wait to try it!

 

 

 

<3

 

Hi!!!

Hi all! This blog is all about life, craftiness, and my family. I am a mother to two beautiful little girls and wife to an amazing husband! I am a 4th grade teacher and have a small side business making girly accecories for all the littles. You can find some of my work here and here. I am all about keeping my littles fashionable!

I will be posting recipes, crafts and things about life in general. Enjoy and thank you for following my crazy beautiful life!

<3 Stacey