New Years Eve Party Plans

I'm hosting NYE tonight night & I don't have a thing ready other than the hot chocolate station.

Luckily I have the best party guests ever coming over (Besties H&J + families) so no matter what I pull out of the air, it will result  in a fabulous evening! Hey the bar is stocked and beginning to take shape, which is what really matters. Plus we have a pizza & Chinese takeout menus….let the celebrating begin!

Whether you head out or choose to celebrate at home this evening, I hope 2014 brings you the best year yet!

Target After Christmas Finds

Just popping in to share a few deals I found at the Target clearance aisles this week.

Preserved boxwood topiaries. I managed to final a pair of these Smith & Hawkins topiaries clearanced for $8.89 a piece!

They are happily at home on the dining room buffet. Even though they are tree shaped, I don't find them to be overly Christmas and plan to keep them out year round.



Side Note: The large Blue willow platter was an amazing find by YiaYia. She noticed it while dropping off donations to a local women's shelter resale shop. It was on sale for $5.00!!! One Kings Lane has an almost identical platter on sale for $195.00! Talk about an antique score!

I also found two husk Christmas trees clearanced for $6.88 a piece. The tallest one measures 2 feet. For now they are sitting in the living room but I think I'll add them to the office bar next Christmas.

 Finally this serena & lilly-eque basket was marked down to $17.00. It sits nicely in the kitchen housing some of the littles newest toys.

So while you scout out those post-christmas sales at Target don't just limit your browsing to holiday aisles! And come back & let us know what goodies you found!

Greek School Christmas Pageant 2013

We're not quite ready to wrap up the Christmas posts for this year. The Saturday before Christmas, Peanut & Belle preformed in the Greek School Christmas pageant. They sang, danced & recited their lines perfectly in Greek; well perfect in my very biased & not terrible fluent opinion;)

Peanut was an inn keeper and declared, "No there is no room".

And Belle was a snowflake who spun onto stage sweetly announcing, "I am so joyful I want to dance".

They both sang numerous Christmas carols with their classmates before receiving special treats from Fr. Peter.

Before we left for the afternoon, we attempted one last group shot.

Christmas Day 2013

Christmas morning was ushered in by the exuberant faces of our 3 favorite littles. By now Belle & Peanut know the drill & sit patiently on the steps for the annual stair photo. Afterwards, it was a full sprint downstairs to see exactly what Santa left under the tree.

Sweet little Peanut ran directly to the Advent house rather than the Christmas Tree…. he is a creature of habit!

While Belle, the seasoned veteran, was the first to discover that her Christmas list was fulfilled:
A fijit friend
Rhinestone & Bow Uggs
1 Surprise (Humphrey the Hamster)

Peanut was just as pleased to find his gifts under the tree:
WipeOut 3
Remote Controlled Wave runner
Imaginext BatCave & Batmobile

And sweet Baby Bear went to town tinkering away on his new workbench & feeding his new Neigh-Neigh. A Mickey Mouse car set & play mat rounded out his Santa gifts.

The littles proceeded to unwrap stockings & Hubby read them each their annual Christmas letter from Mommy & Daddy.

They exchanged gifts they had selected for each other. Peanut learned first hand the power of a small jewelry box…dangling gold & purple butterfly earrings made him the best brother ever! Not to be outdone, Bear followed up with a small box of his own too.

The little receive 3 gifts from Hubby & I: something to read, wear & do. The big gifts are always the "to-do" gifts. This year Belle received a ballet barre.

And the boys a Jake & The Neverland Pirates set along with tickets to see the Jake Live show in March.

While I set the table for Christmas brunch & Hubby prepared the ham & egg casserole, the kiddies tore into their Christmas stash.

Around noon YiaYia, Bopi, Theo N & Theo T arrived to celebrate with yet another memorable meal.

After brunch we lounged and played the afternoon way. Bear took 3 naps, while the rest of us soaked up the leisure that only Christmas day brings (seriously, what other day do I allow my littles to stay in their jammies until 3 pm!)

After the Baby awoke, the littles finally got dressed and we headed to Theo J & Thea DD's house for a fabulous Christmas dinner.

Cousins and besties for life!

The dessert table was beautifully set and the gigantic chocolate Santa was every kid's Christmas dream!

Bear had fun opening his Christmas gifts from Theo J & Thea DD, his godparents.



After a long snow filled drive home, the kiddies all got a second wind & stayed up late playing with their Christmas gifts: Wipe Out for Peanut & Legos for Belle.

I enjoyed a hot glass of cocoa & attempted to clean up the toy bomb that was our home.

The following day the house is still a mess, but these little angels are happy as can be.

I hope your Christmas day was filled with the love of those you 

hold near and dear for there is no greater gift.

-XO-

Amelia