A Tender Tennesee Christmas

Is the only Christmas for me...at least it was this year!! We absolutely loved spending Christmas down in Nashville with my sister and her family. The twins loved chasing their cousins around and we were sad to return to a quiet(er) house today. What great memories we have though and here are just a few pics from our trip.

My Godson and nephew, Sam

My beautiful sis and Jackson The boys

The stairs provided great entertainment :)

Football!!

We love Mimi!

Lilly

Uncle Bo and Thomas

Christmas morning-waiting to run down and open presents

Opening Emma Kate's stocking

EK's first baby doll!

Forget the presents, where are the cheerios??

Jackson was more interested in the dog :)

Two cuties

Sweet Charlotte
Thomas

Knees and Toes

I just love singing songs with the twins...they usually look at me like I am nuts since they still can't sing along or do the motions. But this week, I got a little response from Jackson (as in, someone is actually listening and paying attention!) and I just had to share. Here is our rendition of "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes." We haven't quite grasped the first part of the song- we can only do knees and toes but it's a start :) And I love how Emma Kate is just peeking around the corner watching her brother- so sweet!

Creative Decorating

As most of you know, I did NOT get the amazing eye for design or decorating that my sister, Sarah got (be sure to check out her awesome blog here for tips and design ideas). In fact, if you like anything about my home's style, you can probably guess that it is because my sister (or mom who also has an amazing eye for all things beautiful) has kindly offered her help in making my home look so...well, homey!! Anyways, I decided to take a stab at a few simple Christmas decorating ideas I found in House Beautiful and Martha Stewart and although it's not much...it's a start!
First, I saw this darling idea in a Martha Stewart magazine a few years back where you fill glass jars with different types of holiday candy and use it as your kitchen decor. Super cute, classic, and simple.

My only problem was that after only being out ONE day (yes, one day...), almost half the jar of mint M&Ms were gone. I wonder who was to blame?? Perhaps Emma Kate and Jackson??!!

Then another idea I got from some magazine was to hang your stockings a little differently. Jono made a good point that he was nervous using our regular hangers (heavy brass hangers and two crazy-busy twins who like to pull on everything = trouble in the making- and possibly a major injury!). So we used this burlap/twine cord and attached it at both ends of the mantle. Then we just used clothespins to hang the actual stockings. And walah!

The burlap twine cord also ties in with a burlap table cloth I have from Ballard Designs (thanks to my sis BTW). And while this isn't perfect and I wish I could find some cuter clips, it will do for this year and is still pretty cute!

What creative decorating ideas do you have? Or any posts about decorating? I am always looking for ideas to steal, err...I mean borrow :)

Let's Bake!

So holiday season = baking season in my home and although this isn't your typical festive Christmas cookies, I had a bunch of extra bananas sitting around that were about to go bad so I thought I would dig up an older recipe for banana bread that I absolutely love but often forget about. It is so yummy that I thought I would share. Happy Baking!!

PS- For all you old Falls Churchers...and specifically Cornerstoners, this is Lolly Taylor's recipe and let me just tell you, it is D-lish!! I think the sour cream makes it :)


Banana Bread

2/3 C butter, softened
1 1/2 C sugar
2 eggs
4 Tbsp sour cream
1 C (3-4) mashed bananas
1 1/2 C flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp vanilla

Cream butter, sugar, and eggs. Add bananas. Mix dry ingredients in separate bowl, then add to creamed mixture, a little at a time. Add sour cream and vanilla. Pour into greased loaf pan and bake at 300 for 1 1/4 hours, or until tester comes out clean.

Makes one loaf. Freezes well.

Mind Your Manners

As the twins have become more and more verbal, we have tried to take them from grunting at us to actually saying "please" and "thank you" when they want something or get something. It started out as much more of just a noise (like thank you was "hmm hmm") but recently, Jackson's thank you has just gotten so darn cute that I had to share.

Hope you're remembering to mind your manners too :)

Have a great weekend everyone!

A walking we will go...

Just wanted to post a quick video of my little walkers (soon to be runners I think!!)


Could they be any cuter...or prouder??

Happy Fall Y'all!

Sorry for the lack of posts recently...we have been busy in the Farrell home and I have gotten behind on everything. I guess that is life though and from what I understand, it doesn't slow down :)

Thought I would post a quick update as we had a fun weekend of apple picking. While I do dearly miss the south (and by miss, I mean I would move back there tomorrow if I could), there is nothing like the fall in Virginia. The leaves turning bright oranges, reds, and golds, the crisp air, and good old fashion apple orchards where you can pick your own. We decided to take the babes out this year and since they both just started walking, it was fun to watch them embrace this new adventure. Here are a few pics of our afternoon out.

A new favorite spot...on daddy's shoulders!

Look what I found??!!

Sweet boy

Love his little jeans and plaid shirt :)

Love that we could pick them right off the tree and eat them!

Hope everyone is having a great start to the Fall!

We Made It!

Happy 1st Birthday to my sweet twins! We made it through the first year and though it has been filled with many ups and downs, I honestly can't imagine my life without these precious babes. Here is a little snapshot of our adventures over the past 12 months:

36 weeks and ready to pop!

One day old...precious

One month- so tiny!!

Two Months

At 3 months, we made our first trip back to our Atlanta home and celebrated Christmas!

My dear friend Krista took these darling pics of 4 month old J and EK

Love those cheeks :)

Eating our first solid foods- 5 months

Celebrating Easter at 6 Months

We got baptized at 7 months

Daddy's Girl

8 months- hanging in Atlanta and getting ready for summer

9 months...oh the days when we sat still!!

10 months and into EVERYTHING!!

10 month cuties
(take two)

11 months- surprised I could get them to sit still

And here we are...12 months and counting!

Happy Birthday Emma Kate and Jackson- can't wait to see what next year brings us!

Covered in prayer

Could there be anything better than being covered in prayer each night? I am so incredibly blessed because each night my children are LITERALLY wrapped up in prayers...many of them that came from y'all. My dear sister made me one of the most creative and most-cherished gifts I have ever received for my baby shower last year.

She made me these beautiful prayer blankets. So what is a prayer blanket?? It is basically a regular blanket (as you can see, Sarah chose a darling pattern for one side, and a super soft fabric for the other). She then contacted close family and friends and asked them for bible verses, prayers, and blessings that they would be praying over my children. From there, she wrote these responses on a plain white sheet. She then had my sweet momma (the seamstress!) sew the three pieces together- with that prayer sheet in the middle. And now, when I cover my children each night, they are actually wrapped up in the blessings and prayers of those who love them-- how cool is that??!!

While I have used these blankets several times over the past year for nursing, rocking my babes, etc., I was excited about the chilly Fall air approaching so I could start to use these meaningful blankets each night.

My sweet boy wrapped in prayers

Precious Emma Kate covered in her blanket...and for you mommas that are concerned, yes I did notice that the bear is in front of her face- she LOVES to rub that stuffed animal against her face and don't worry... I quickly moved it :)