Christmas Album 2013

CHRISTMAS 2013

Our Christmas Holiday weekend

Here are a few scenes from a wonderful weekend and Christmas holiday spent with friends and family!

I hope you all had a great time too! 

Our little family is gearing for new hopes and dreams for 2013! 

Merry Christmas!

Spreading love and good cheer 

to all this glorious holiday season! 

xoxo, Lili 

Holiday Break

I am looking forward to this holiday break. We'll be focusing on spending time with the family ~ joining the little guy's school christmas party, preparing for christmas eve, last-minute shopping, delivering gifts, enjoying some hot chocolate with marshmallows, driving through beautifully christmas lit neighborhoods and ultimately making memorable moments with loved ones this season of giving! 

So before I sign off for a long weekend break, this was how my week started : 

• tying grosgrain ribbons on design darling gifts (no need for a box ~ so pretty!)
• hanging our latest inexpensive T ornament (from michaels!)
• singing carols with kindergarteners last monday at their annual christmas sing-along
• driving through river oaks
• painting my nails nude again (chanel frenzy is a new favorite!)
• dining out with my girlfriends and having fun exchanging gifts
• holding tight the special christmas project aston did at school (adorable)
• and dressing up candycanes with washi tape flags (fancy!)  

Also, don't forget our ongoing 

DRESS SOCIAL SHOP GIVEAWAY

details on how to join here

we will pick a winner on Christmas eve! 

FRIENDS, i sincerely hope you all have a wonderful time with your families! 

i'll see you back here next week! 

A Sad Heart + Christmas pjs linky party

My heart goes out to all the parents, families and loved ones affected at yesterday's senseless tragedy. May the good Lord's comfort and warmth be upon them during this very difficult time. 

Couldn't be more thankful for this little guy we get to hug and kiss everyday. So grateful for this precious innocent life we continue to treasure and nurture. Guide and support. Love and cherish. We pray that we continue to have strength to protect and shield our children from any terror and we can only hope and believe that this will never happen again.  

On a lighter note, as soon as December hit ~ we had Aston wear his Christmas jammies (some old and a couple new ones from Target) and it does add a little holiday cheer at home (and for bedtime)! 

And while you have sweet photos or a blogpost of your babies' in their chirstmas pjs, link them up with my friend, Meredith's christmas pajamas linky party ~ as I am doing today! 

Decking The Halls

Like everyone, we tackled holiday decorating last weekend in between cooking, baking, eating and shopping. It's always fun to get the family together and happily decking the halls with christmas songs playing in the background. Such a heartwarming tradition! 

As every year, we also put out a baby tree (previous baby trees here) for Aston and this year he was such a big help decorating the big tree as well as his own little one. Picking out his favorite ornaments (while breaking a few along the way) and digging through boxes of christmas decor proved to be a fun thing to do for him. With still loads of decorating to complete, here are bits and pieces of our decked out home. 

I still have a few things to put out like our front door wreaths and kitchen island tree. But so far, it's really beginning to look a lot like christmas! 

Happy Thanksgiving

From our family to your's, 
wishing you all a Happy Thanksgiving! 

4th of July Parade

Summer camp's 4th of July parade was last Tuesday. Everyone were dressed in their red, whites and blues and all the kids and babies were just adorable!

They started the parade in the school's hallways then proceeded outside for a quick round and ended in the sanctuary. It was earlier in the day, so the heat was still bearable and they didn't stay that long outside. Overall, it was fun and the kiddos get to strut and showoff their DIY project streamers and marracas and pinwheels! So fun and festive! 

Here's our little guy breaking up the line as he spotted mommy and showered her with hugs and kisses! 

4th of July at home was quiet and simple. We started early with a moviedate with the Amazing Spiderman. Then we grilled BBQ at home for dinner and watched the fireworks on TV! 

Bummed that we all have to go to work the next day :(

And here's my last minute patriotic tablecenterpiece I put together using my stand-by pantry staples. To check out the complete post, visit my other blog here! 

Merry Month of May

It was surely a merry month of May last month. We celebrated Mother's day, Aston's last day in school and 5th birthday and Memorial Day weekend with a quick getaway to San Antonio. The month was packed with joyous celebrations! 

For Memorial day weekend,we stayed at the charming La Cantera resort up in the hills of San Antonio close to Six Flag's Fiesta Texas. The place is about 13 years old but the facilities and grounds are still beautiful with a nature trail, lagoon-style pools and endless activities for kids. 

The San Saba Plaza where they held wedding ceremonies & receptions. It has a Koi pond with layered landscaping of rocks and stones. It's lovely up there overlooking the hills. 

View from our room - we are just steps away from the jacuzzi via our sliding glass doors. So convenient! 

The grandparents at the old-world charming lobby with an exhausted Aston. We just arrived from our long 3-hour drive. 

This is a gorgeous view by the tennis courts. Sprawling golf course and lush trees! 

Every weekends this summer (and holidays) the Looney Tunes characters are there at breakfast! 

Aston trying hard to ignore the dynamic duo of Daffy Duck and Bugs Bunny! 

Every night you get to roast your very own s'mores by the pool! So much fun! 

At San Saba Plaza

Check the resort's calendars as they also have petting zoo on Saturdays! 

Too hot to go outside? The kids can have fun inside the Kid's Club where they will enjoy coloring, crafting and so much fun activities that are geared for all kiddos! This is the same place you drop off the kids for childcare when the adults want some alone time (fees applies) for dinner or adult-only outing. Otherwise, it's free if they just want to hang out while you're in the area with them. 

For older kids, a video area/room with big screens are also available. Aston tried a hand with a video kinect game. He was so good at it!

More fun at the Kid's Club at Westin!

What are your plans this summer? 

little valentine's

the weekend was a quiet one. it was a cold weekend and after church and brunch, the little guy and i spent some time preparing his school valentine's treats for his buddies. 

he is bigtime into lego star wars lately and it was one of those days that a store bought lego star wars treat was just the perfect valentine's for his little friends. i am glad that he is willing to share that obsession with them and is just ecstatic to hand them out. we received strict intructions from his teachers that they themselves need to write their names and their classmates' names on the cards so he spent a great deal of time perfecting the scribbles. 

of course, i was not about to give up my semi-crafty skills and  helped out on the simple packaging for it.  check out the little guy's handwriting below. i think more practice is in order for him during the summer in preparation for kindergarten! 

for the easy bags to hold the stickers and cards, here are the supplies :

smallest sized ziploc

craft scissors

card stock paper

glue

all i did was cutout the patterned paper (i used a polkadot red & white one - not too girly but still perfect for valentine's) just enough to fit as a favor topper to dress up the package. i trimmed the edges using a pretty craft scissor for an added design touch. finally, i glued them using my trusty tombow glue.

you can kick it up a notch and stamp a valentine-themed design (with the help of the little one) on the favor paper topper if you are using a plain colored cardstock. but since we are using a patterned one here, i left that out and just trimmed the edges with a fancy craft scissor. 

......and here are the valentine's treats all ready to be handed out this tuesday! 

{photo apps used were pixlromatic and phonto via iPhone} 

Christmas Recap 2011

I am so behind sharing our wonderful holiday break and Christmas celebration. Let me go ahead and do a short Christmas recap in photos (I haven't had the chance to even download the rest of our holiday pictures from the big camera). Nevertheless, these shots capture special moments and highlights of the past weeks in December. 

First off - Aston had a Christmas party before his school break. They had a post-lunch party with arts and crafts, holiday cupcakes and green milk. It was fun to see them exchange gifts and handing out presents to their teachers and really get the meaning of sharing the holiday spirit! 

Back at home, the husband decided to have Christmas lights put up professionally and he's been obsessed. Not contented, he opted to have the trees trimmed and decked out with lights too! 

I got myself busy baking some homemade food for the gods for lucky friends and relatives and really hoped they liked my version. I also got treated with some really yummy treats and goodies from friends afar. We received and loved KettleCorn NYC, pecan cookies from David's, Yoku Moku cookies and so much more! Thank you to all my generous friends who shared those with us!

Then we were off to San Diego Legoland before Christmas to meet up with my sister and sister-in-law who were both flying in from Chicago. We had an absolute blast there enjoying the gorgeous weather and the winter wonderland Legoland has to offer!

Aston get to play in real snow, build snowmen, throw snowballs and get to meet Santa in full Lego form!

The giant Christmas tree made of Legos was unbelievable and the fireworks were simply amazing! 

On Christmas eve, our hotel set up a cookie and hot chocolate bar for us to enjoy and we mingled and exchanged holiday greetings with other hotel guests. Before midnight, we head on back to our room and opened gifts! 

This was the first time for us to travel during Christmas and we sure missed sharing them with friends and relatives back home. It was still a memorable one and we'll surely remember in years to come! 

Season's Greetings

from our home to your's....

christmas card by pear tree greetings

photos by ailynne

Post-Thanksgiving Vegas Report

This is way overdue. Too much going on this holiday season that I forgot to share snippets from our post-Thanksgiving Vegas trip. And before we head out to Vegas yet again, let me share a few shots from that fun long weekend with the boys! 

Getting settled in our fancy suite!

Aston was dying to ride the "pirate ships" 

Can you tell he was excited to ride the gondola, aka "pirate ship". 

It was Black Friday after-all. Shopping really wore us out! 

Winter Wonderland light show in the Vegas strip! 

With exciting characters on the streets and ice skating fun!

We are hopping on a plane again for yet another trip soon. This one is not as fun.
Daddy has to work and attend LOTS of meetings! 

He is the Reason of the Season

Source: nathanielandlilly.blogspot.com via LiliPaz on Pinterest

Give Thanks!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Source: etsy.com via Katie on Pinterest