Thrifty Holiday Tip

Okay, I know that I am like, a couple of months late on this but these days I sort of have to roll with the free time I've been given to blog.  These few moments TODAY is the time I have to write this post. =)  Hopefully you can pin it, file it, or print and cram it away somewhere for next holiday season.  Cause you are gonna want to hang on to this one...

I really, really love to have fresh greenery in my home.  Of course, it costs an arm and a leg to have a house continually full of fresh flowers.  The best is when my husband provides them for me.  At Christmas, it is so nice to have live Christmas greenery everywhere.  I love the color and and the smell and the way it just fills the house with something festive looking....

...but have you ever gone to purchase some real live garland - as much as you need to decorate everything in your house - and real wreaths for your door?  It is no wonder most of America settles for the artificial kind they purchase once every 10 years or so, because the real stuff is expensive.  Like, bust your Christmas budget expensive.  So, the past couple of years I have discovered a fantastic way to get real greenery for FREE.  Yep, free!

Here's how:  The past two years I have shown up at my local Lowe's store on the Sunday after Black Friday weekend.  Many people go out that weekend and buy their real tree from the Christmas tree lot.  As you know, when you pick out your tree, they trim it up for you and get it all ready to send home.  Know what they typically do with all those trimmings?  Toss them in the garbage!  Yep, they fill entire grocery carts full and wheel them out to the dumpster.  So, all you have to do is show up and ask if you can have them.  They will most likely give them to you and save themselves the trouble of wheeling them out to the dumpster.  This year, I even got some from my local large grocery store with a garden center that sells trees.  Same story - they were happy for me to have them instead of having to go to the trouble of throwing them away.

So, here are the reasons you should try this strategy:
1.  It is free.  And everyone loves something beautiful that is free.
2.  It is responsible.  Lately, my husband and I have been working on being more responsible consumers and using our money wisely (come to think of it, this is probably why I don't receive fresh flowers as much!!).  So, rescuing something from the garbage is way more responsible than paying for something that will get old, fade, and has to be put in storage after the holidays.
3.  It gives you a chance to be creative!  I purchased grapevine wreaths (large and small) and grapevine floral wire at my local craft store for less than $15.  Then, I got to create my own wreaths and garland using my own hands...for less than the cost of ONE small live wreath at the store. There is something very rewarding about that.

Now, this post would be insanely long if I made it a "how to" post.  Basically, you are probably only still reading this post if you have an interest in this sort of crafty-crafty stuff anyway.  You will need greenery, floral shears, grapevine wreaths, grapevine floral wire, and any embellishments you may want to add to your decor.  I buy the embellishments at my craft store and reuse them every year - those tiny red berry accents don't take up much space in storage. =)

Here are a few pics of what you can create with your salvaged greenery...

Family Photos

Hard to believe how big these little guys are getting!

Alex is 5 and so big now....and he looks just like Daddy.

Ben is 2 and still the easiest kid to ever grace our family.

 Henry is 3 and is my most expressive child - oh my, the number of his facial expressions!

 This year Mommy is actually in the family photo - a true Christmas miracle!

 Big Brothers.

 All Three.

 Just before the wrestling match began!

Merry Christmas to all!  From our family to yours.

My Boys

So thankful that I get to be Mommy to these little boys...  

It's my favorite and best assignment in life.

Basil

 I have never really been that successful at keeping green things alive.  Talk to me about little people, yes.  Green things, no.  But perhaps this is changing.  I planted a whole box of basil from seed (with my husband's help...because he's the gardener around here!) earlier this year and it has done beautifully!  I am so excited because it is now starting to self-seed.  A giant step towards being a successful herb gardener. =)  I am thankful for this little box of basil because it is the final piece of my homemade pizza each Thursday night.  Each time my boys walk by the box they take a big sniff and declare, "mmm...smells like pizza!!"

Ah...the small joys of a beginner gardener and wannabe chef. =)

Big, Bigger, and Biggest

Seriously, when did my little boys get so big?!

Love these little men!

Spring

 One of the things I love about Houston is that we have a year round growing season.   Some things die in the winter, but they come back very early due to the lack of freezing temperatures.  That means we get an early, beautiful Spring.  Here are a few of the Spring snapshots from our yard...

 We picked and ate our first strawberry yesterday...the first taste of Spring!

The lime and lemon trees are blooming. 

The first leaves on the crepe myrtle.

 More citrus blossoms.

 Baby lemons!

 Baby limes!

Happy Spring!

Two

Baby Ben is two.
Here he is with his birthday pancakes.
We spent the day in Houston playing at parks, having a picnic with Daddy, and eating treats.  Yay for Spring Break + Birthdays!  We ended the day at Jason's Deli with pizza and ice cream for Ben.  A happy day for a two year old!
We love you, Baby Brother!

Three

My sweet Henry Hubs is 3 years old today.  

Oh how I love my little middle man!

Christmas Pics

Christmas pictures of my little brood of boys...they were surprisingly cooperative this year.  And when I got home and downloaded the pictures I flipped out at how BIG they look.  Handsome little men, if I say so myself! 

We wish you a Merry Christmas from our brood to yours.  We pray the season brings great joy as you celebrate the birth of a Savior!

Ben was the only one who cooperated with a prop. =)

 Alex.  He looks like such a big boy.  I can hardly get over it.

 Angel face Ben.

Sweet Henry Hubs.

 This is a classic Henry face.  It was my favorite photo of him from the shoot but Jason insisted we couldn't use it for the Christmas card.  I think he secretly doesn't want people to know that pediatricians bribe their kids with lollipops in order to ensure full cooperation. =)  Secret's out now!

My favorite group shot.  Benjamin ADORES these older brothers.  It is truly so sweet.

 This picture speaks for itself, right?

 We bribe Ben, too.

 They banded together to run AWAY from Mommy.  I got the best of them, though.  This is another one of my favorites.

Man, my kid is such a little man!

Dining Room - Before & After

We are making some real progress on our house.  When we moved in last year, we decided to use the dining room as an additional playroom because, well, we had plenty of toys and no dining room table.

This Fall, we have found a new home for the toys in the family room and created a lovely place to sit and eat this holiday season.  We are grateful that this room now has a purpose to house great conversation and good food.  Yay for the beginnings of a "grown up" house!

Y'all can come over for dinner now. =)

Wales Photos

Finally, here are more pictures from my trip to Wales with my BFFs.  There are tons of them, so I won't feel bad if you close the post before you read it all.  Mostly they are for my memory of a great trip with great friends.

The Fall leaves in London.  I loved being a part of a TRUE fall this year, even if I had to go to the UK to do it.

We (Amy, Callie, & I) met in London, where Rebecca lives with her family.  We enjoyed a day there in Rebecca's neighborhood and left for a road trip the next day.  We found a great seaside town called Tenby in Wales and planted there for a few days.  We loved the drive (4 hours) across the countryside and talking til we were blue in the face.  Isn't that what a time with girlfriends is for?!

This plaque was hanging on our building in Tenby.  You gotta love richness of the history that you find when you are across the ocean.

This was the view from our flat, the Tenby marina.  This photo is at high tide.

This one is at low tide.  Amazing to see the tide come and go each day.

This dozer was working down the street from our flat.  I took this picture entirely for my little boys...this would have been the highlight of their trip had they gone with me.

Our quaint little street in Tenby.

Another view of the marina.  Our flat was right on the water, about the middle right of this photo.  There is a skinny light blue rectangle - that's our building.

We set out from Tenby one day to explore a bit of the Wales coast and visit the town of St. David's.  St. David is the patron saint of Wales and his mother is St. Non.  Historically, this area of St. David's was a site of pilgrimage for early Christians. 

This is me and the girls at St. David's.  Nice photo taken by a random stranger.

This looked like a lovely place to sit and think inside the cathedral.

The altar.

The view of the cathedral from the ground.  It was a beautiful day with clear blue skies.

Rebecca & Amy.

Another view.  This was a stunningly beautiful church.  I love the details they included in those days...every detail has a reason for being there. 

I've never seen a more intricate ceiling.

...with a matching equally detailed crucifix in the center.

Another stunning view looking up in the cathedral.  Great inspiration for people to turn their heads up, don't you think?

English Ivy in the cathedral garden.

Our tour guide, Ray.  Ray was a historian and volunteered to us a detailed tour of the cathedral.  He kept asking us if he was boring us.  We assured him that he had chosen four girls with a love for Church history.  Impossible to bore us with details!

Amy & Callie.  Seriously, don't I have the most stylish and beautiful friends?

This was meant to be one of those cool trendy jumping photos we see everywhere these days.  Not bad for using a timer and and old brick wall to prop the camera on.

The cathedral garden gate.

A view of the entire cathedral and grounds.

 This is St. Non's chapel, dating back to about 500 AD.  It sat on a hillside along the rocky Wales coastline where early Christians would make their entrance to Wales.  Breathtaking...  

This is the coastline just below the chapel.

A statue of St. Non.

More ancient ruins of the chapel.

Another view of the hillside chapel.

This is the Wales Coast Path.  Just this year, Wales completed a coastal path that extends for hundreds of miles.  It is used for sightseeing, running, and walking.  Since it is so vast, there is plenty of room to take in the natural beauty of Wales.

Can you imagine making this the site of your morning run...?!  Awesome!

And, last, a great reminder of the rich Christian history in that area.