A Christmas Tradition That I Love

This morning I sent out the invitations for my 4th Annual Gingerbread Party. This is an event that I started in 2009 where the women and children of the family come together to have a fun and festive afternoon of gingerbread decorating and a warm lunch of creamy potato soup and french bread. (I mean, men could come too, if they wanted. But they're all at work.)
The Gingerbread Party is one of my favorite events leading up to Christmas. It's so fun, and so full of cheer.

Some snapshots for the 1st annual event. 2009.

Over the years, we've had several new additions to the family, and many variations of gingerbread. We've seen houses, men, trees, trains.
We usually oooohhhh and ahhhh at each others creations.
And sometimes laugh at them.
But we always have a wonderful time. It fills my heart with joy.
Do you have any Christmas traditions like this one?
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I can also be found on Twitter under the handle @MyNotSoGlamLife    

Don't forget to come back tomorrow for the first link up in the December Kindness Challenge hosted by Danette at All My Love for All My Days and myself!!! Even if you don't have a blog, you can list your kind acts in the comments section for all of us to read! And if you haven't started participating yet, it's never too late!

I think we found our Christmas Card

Yesterday we did a little photo shoot here at home. It was fun, and silly, and all 3 kids cooperated. I've seen similar ideas on other blogs, on Pinterest, and floating around the internet. For instance, I saw one where it looked like the little tot had wrapped his parents up in the lights. And I saw one where it was just two boys. But clearly, I needed to incorporate all 3 of my Littles into the photo. Here is my favorite from the batch so far:
(P.S. NEVER underestimate the power of a little sister, haha!)

Naughty or Nice?

Enjoy, I hope you all have a blessed Sunday!

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Have you "liked" me on Facebook yet? If not, what are you waiting for? Get over there!
Are you following My {Not So} Glamorous Life via Google Friend Connect or BlogLovin'? Don't miss any of the fun! All you have to do is click "follow" on that button over there on the sidebar. Or Follow my blog with Bloglovin. Just click here!! C'mon, you know you wanna!
I can also be found on Twitter under the handle @MyNotSoGlamLife

Christmas Memories & Traditions From My Sponsors

It's time for my monthly sponsor feature! These lovely ladies grace the sidebar of my blog, and if you haven't checked them out yet, you should! I am sharing links to all of their social media, so follow along with them! This month, I wanted to make the feature a little different, and fun! So in the spirit of the Christmas season, I asked each of them to share with us either a favorite Christmas memory or Christmas tradition. Here is what they had to share!

Blog ~ BlogLovin' ~ Twitter ~ Instagram ~ Facebook

Blog ~ Twitter ~ Facebook ~ Pinterest

Website (1) ~ Website (2) ~ Blog ~ Facebook ~ Pinterest

Blog ~ BlogLovin' ~ Twitter ~ Pinterest ~ Instagram

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Have you "liked" me on Facebook yet? If not, what are you waiting for? Get over there!
Are you following My {Not So} Glamorous Life via Google Friend Connect or BlogLovin'? Don't miss any of the fun! All you have to do is click "follow" on that button over there on the sidebar. Or Follow my blog with Bloglovin. Just click here!! C'mon, you know you wanna!
I can also be found on Twitter under the handle @MyNotSoGlamLife  

Semi-Homemade Halloween

Hello friends! I hope that you all had a great Halloween. Did you Trick~or~Treat with your kiddos? Did you stay home and have movie night? Do you have any Halloween Night traditions?
I just wanted to quickly share with you our mostly homemade Halloween costumes for this year. I didn't want to go spend $40+ on store costumes this year, plus, my middle kiddo wanted to be "Agent P" and there was NO  "Agent P" costumes to be found. So we took the homemade route this year.
Big Boy was a Baseball Player Zombie. EasyPeasy. He already has his baseball clothes, and my uncle works at Halloween City, so he took him down there and they picked up the makeup together. I didn't spend a dime on Big Boys costume this year! WhooHooo!

Little Boy went as "Agent P" aka Perry the Platypus from the show Phineas and Ferb. He's obsessed. I had to piece this costume together, but I think it turned out ok. His was the most expensive of the three, running me about $40.00 total. But $20.00 of it was the two hats (fedora, and beanie) that he will get a lot of future use out of.

Little Lady was a Garden Fairy.  With a little help from Target and the 99¢ Only Store, her costume ran me about $8.00 total.

And finally, I'd like to share a quick glimpse of my last minute Halloween mantel. I literally waited until 2 days before Halloween to put this together, so I feel like it turned out pretty good for being an afterthought.

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Have you "liked" me on Facebook yet? If not, what are you waiting for? Get over there!
Are you following My {Not So} Glamorous Life via Google Friend Connect or BlogLovin'? Don't miss any of the fun! All you have to do is click "follow" on that button over there on the sidebar. Or Follow my blog with Bloglovin. Just click here!! C'mon, you know you wanna!
I can also be found on Twitter under the handle @MyNotSoGlamLife  

Four Generations of Pumpkin Carving & LOVELY SPONSORS!

Hello friends! I hope that this day finds you well. Can you believe that tomorrow is Halloween already?
I'd like to start this post by mentioning that my prayers are with all of the people who are on the East Coast right now, and being affected by Hurricane Sandy. This is such a scary thing...
Now, moving on from that note, I'm excited to be hosting today my 5th Annual Pumpkin Carving Party. This is a fabulous little gathering that I host at my home ever year, where FOUR GENERATIONS of pumpkin carvers join together for a hot bowl of chili, some treats and desserts, and some pumpkin fun! One of my favorite days of the year, for sure! Last year the party was pretty much a dud, because my sister and her kids were sick, and my mom was undergoing cancer treatments. I'm hoping to make up for it this year!

Here's a photo of our 2009 party that shows four generations. Can you tell why I love this party so much?

Ok, now that I gave my party some honorable mention, I want to share with you today my lovely sponsors for the month of October.

I'm very happy to have Leslie from Violet Imperfection on my sidebar this month. Have you seen her blog yet? Oh, my! She has got some seriously cute crafts and projects on there. AND she co-hosts a great weekly link up called Raising Imperfection, check it out and link up!

So, what are you waiting for?! If you're not following Violet Imperfection yet, you are missing out! Go!

Find her on Pinterest ~~Find her on Twitter ~~Find her on Facebook

My next lovely sponsor is Laura from Storybook Reality. Laura has a sweet blog that chronicles her life as a wife and mother of two. Being a mom isn't always straight from the pages of a fairy tale, but she's making her own Storybook Reality out of it! If you're hungry for food, funny or family, then go pay Laura a visit!

Find her on Pinterest ~~ Find her on Twitter ~~ Find her on Facebook

Now I'm off to get the kids off to school, spend a few hours working in a preschool classroom, and then home to carve some pumpkins! Have a lovely day my friends!

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Have you "liked" me on Facebook yet? If not, what are you waiting for? Get over there!
Are you following My {Not So} Glamorous Life via Google Friend Connect or BlogLovin'? Don't miss any of the fun! All you have to do is click "follow" on that button over there on the sidebar. Or Follow my blog with Bloglovin. Just click here!! C'mon, you know you wanna!
I can also be found on Twitter under the handle @MyNotSoGlamLife  

Happy Independence Day!!

Have fun celebrating today, but don't forget WHY you're celebrating!
(And don't forget to put your doggies in the house before the fireworks start! 4th of July is a scary day for them, and many end up lost)

The Cheer was Here...

Well, it happened much, much later than normal, but finally, I found my Christmas cheer. Just two weeks shy of Christmas, it tiptoed softly into my heart and filled me with the welcoming warmth of the holiday. I enjoyed every last minute that I could.
I wrapped gifts, hosted a gingerbread decorating party, baked cookies, watched Christmas movies, went looking at Christmas lights, bundled up and sipped warm drinks. All in all, it was a pretty good holiday, considering some adverse situations in the family.
Now, here we are... starting a new year. The year in which my new baby will be born. And hopefully, a better year for so many people who need to see life look up a little bit.
A few pictures from our holiday:

I don't feel Elf-ish

I don't feel like an elf this year. Every year, I am SO INTO Christmas. I love the shopping, the wrapping, the decorating, the cooking, the baking, the eating, the giving. I love it so much, that some friends of mine have deemed me one of Santa's Elves, LOL! I never get sick of Christmas. And this year, while I'm still doing all of my Elfly duties... my heart just isn't quite into it. For the first time in my entire adult life (okay, my WHOLE life), I cannot manage to find my Christmas cheer.

*HELLO CHRISTMAS CHEER.... WHERE ARE YOU?!?!?!?!?*
~if found, please return said Christmas cheer to Jenn... she misses it dearly~

I don't know... I keep thinking the magic of the holiday season HAS to find it's way into my heart. The closest it's come thus far, was at Disneyland with all of the holiday decorations and music. It was very close to penetrating the humbug in me. But then, just like that, it vanished into the thin, cold air.

I know all parts of my family (immediate and extended) have been hit pretty hard with the 'financial crisis' this year and last. My household took a HUGE paycut... so we're all feeling the stress of that. And I know that must have some bearing on things. But we're getting through it. A few less presents under the tree this year, but honestly, the kids are still going to be thrilled with all the stuff they're getting. The Hubs and I aren't shopping for each other this year, our new floors and tickets to an Angels playoff game were our gifts to ourselves. So there's that much less to wrap (and look at). But I can't imagine that's the problem here... The rain (which keeps my husband from working, which means no paycheck), family members in critical condition (my husbands grandmother on one side, and grandfather on the other), and my pregnancy hormones (despite the fact that I am overjoyed about this new life) must all be at play here. Chalk it up to stress and emotions.

OK, so suck it up. The inside of the house is decorated beautifully, and it looks so cozy inside with my new floors. Next, I need to get the outside decorated. Then watch a few holiday movies (Charlie Brown Christmas tonight!!) and do some baking. Maybe I'll find my holiday spirit in a batch of cookies or Rice Crispy treats? Sounds good to me.

The elf in me is bound to come out soon...