Winter Projects

The family and I were given a very special gift this winter break! My very talented neighbor, Sandy, took the time to draw the kiddos, based off of photos I sent her, and the finished pieces are breathtaking! 

I love them more than words can say! What a special gift Sandy has given us!! I was able to find beautiful white frames to put them in. But where to hang them for everyone to enjoy? 

You know me. One simple thing spurs a snowball effect of changes. A set of new photos means I needed to redecorate the whole living room, haha! Come winter time we always get the itch to do some sort of inside project, so revamping the living room seemed the perfect project to do. 

We put leftover guest house blue pine wood up on the TV wall and kid's backpack wall, relocated signs, picture frames, and my huge photo collage wall, moved shoe racks and benches, and added more coat hooks. 

The living room redecorating job isn't done quite yet. We're looking to do one more wall in the blue pine wood, finish up some trim work, put up a few more hand-painted signs in empty spaces (better get working on those!), and create some new shelving. A new TV stand is also on the list. Sam would like to build it to match the rest of our custom made decor in the living room and I think that's the best idea ever. 

We love our projects. 

With love,
Mama Hauck

Sam's Birthday Fun

Happy 36th Birthday, Papa! We love you! 

Not only is today New Years Eve, but it's also Sam's 36th birthday! 

We've been celebrating since last night when we went out with some friends for Paint Nite! If you want to find a paint nite event in your area, go HERE. We really had a lot of fun! The painting that night was a black light cityscape. The event holder walks you step-by-step through the process of painting your canvas and it's awesome to see the variations throughout the room. Sam and I love how ours turned out! The only thing about a black light painting is that it looks pretty crummy in regular lighting, hahaha. I guess we'll be needing to purchase a black light to hang to display our work. :)  

Today we went to the Townhouse for breakfast. The rest of our afternoon and evening was spent out with some friends at the racetracks they own sledding, eating, playing, driving around in the snow, relaxing by the bonfire, and shooting off fireworks! The kids had a great time playing with their friends, we hardly saw them as they were too busy playing hide and seek and having a fun time in the snow. It was a fun way to end Sammy's birthday and we're happy to have shared the time with our friends. 

Happy Birthday, Papa! 

With love,
Mama Hauck

Christmas Day

I love our home at Christmas time. There isn't any place I'd rather be Christmas morning than home!

This year, we told the kids that the last one out of bed got to open the first gift. That totally didn't change our usual line up of wakers, lol. Of course, Anthony was the first one up. Molly followed shortly behind him. Tim was a good 30 minutes later. They all got to check out their gifts from Santa while patiently waiting for breakfast to be ready! They were all pleased with their Santa gifts. :) 

Look Tim, Santa ate his cookies, drank his milk, and left a note!  All the kiddos took turns reading the note Santa left them. 

Breakfast was delicious, we had our traditional blueberry muffins, little cheesy smokies, and broccoli and bacon quiche. Yum yum. 

After eating breakfast, it was present time! As we discussed, the last to wake up opened the first gift! Timothy was very excited to have that honor. 

Timothy received the newest hess truck, books, p.j.s, the new Paw Patrol dog, a shopping cart, more pretend felt food and condiment set, a few sets of legos, a toy train, a new Betta fish, Paw Patrol movies, and gift cards.

Anthony received books, p.j.s, a few sets of legos, targets for his BBgun, Pokemon cards, a dinosaur building set, a PS3 with his very much wanted Minecraft game, a circuits set,and gift cards. 

Molly received books, p.j.'s, legos, a mermaid tail blanket, a lava lamp, a tea set, a camping set for her American Girl Doll, her much wanted snack cart set for her American Girl Doll, a new Betta fish and tank, a "school" set to play school, and gift cards. 

I want to thank everyone who sent gifts to our family! All the children made sure to tell us over and over again that it was the "best Christmas ever!" 

After our wonderful morning of opening presents, we took a breather to pick up and hang out a bit, then we wrapped up our gift exchange by doing our stockings! 

Time to play! The rest of our day was spent playing with all our new toys, watching Christmas movies, snacking, and then ending the perfect day with a big 'ol bowl of our traditional Christmas dinner; clam chowder! 

We hope everyone had just as wonderful a Christmas as we did! Thank you for all the sent Christmas cards and Christmas gifts. We truly appreciate all the thoughts and love sent our way. 

With love,
Mama Hauck