It's the Best Time of the Year!

What a wonderful (and chaotic) Rau family Christmas. I only got pictures from Christmas day with my family because there was just so much going on. It truly is more fun to celebrate Christmas with little ones. I was so excited for all the gifts I had to give and couldn't wait to watch the kids on Christmas morning. There are a ton of pictures in this post, but the kids were too cute not to capture again and again.

The Young Kids in their Christmas PJs from Mama

Looks like somebody isn't a fan of the pictures

All the cousins

The youngest catching some z's

Dane, Delaney, and Claire waiting patiently for gifts

Dane and Reese

Dane was a little too preoccupied to pose for a good picture

The Christmas tree with the gifts on Christmas morning

Claire and Delaney in their matching PJs

Reese is the youngest so he gets the first Christmas gift of the year

present opening was mostly a group project

For the big gifts: present delivering was a group project

Sweet Joe opening a gift

He's such a sweet drooly man...hopefully those teeth come in soon

Claire opening her Bitty Baby

Tommy and Dane

Me and Tommy on Christmas morning

I had a great time making an alphabet book for the younger kids. I collected pictures of them and compiled them from A-Z so they could learn words while looking at their cousins.

Dane looking at his alphabet book

Claire looking at her alphabet book

Tammy shows Joe his alphabet book

I had so much fun making that gift this year. I couldn't wait to give it!

Reese takes another nap

Tom and I each had a sleepy baby

Delaney got MANY horse things this year.

This is a HUGE horse book I bought for her.

All the little boys got Santa suit pjs this year.

Trey was in Heaven. It is 48 hours later and I am not sure he has taken them off yet.

It was a 50 degree Christmas Day. Dane LOVES the outdoors and insisted he get the chance to get outside and play. He ran and ran around his Memaws yard until it was dinner time.

Look at that sweet face

I loved watching all the kids chase "Santa" around the backyard

What a fun and festive Christmas. I loved seeing the joy on the kids' faces all day. Tom's nephew, Connor, was just as cute but I forgot my camera when I went to their house :(

As Per Usual

The other day Tom and I started discussing our honeymoon and finally came to a compromise in what to do. Just as usual I couldn't help but start looking at options. I immediately found the Westin in Costa Rica. It's a beautiful hotel with excursion opportunities so I can see the rainforest and volcano like I wanted to. As a few things came together we decide to go ahead and book. So, as per usual, we are way ahead of schedule and our honeymoon is booked :)

Is it fall 2012 yet? I couldn't be more excited.

Check it out: westinplayaconchal.com

For the Crafties and Foodies

I have really been enjoying all the fun projects I have been finding on Pinterest lately. I have done multiple projects and made many delicious treats and meals. Below are a couple of my favorites from most recently.

My team has a DIY gift exchange every Christmas. This year I had tons of ideas to choose from as a used Pinterest for my resource. I searched and searched and pinned and pinned. Eventually I decided on a jewelry hanger since my Secret Santa's mom makes jewelry. I bought all the parts from Hobby Lobby. I started with an unfinished wood frame. I spray painted it with gray Krylon spray paint. I then added knobs to the bottom to hang necklaces or bracelets on. (My brother in law did this as it involved sawing and drilling). Then, I painted an E in the middle of a piece of burlap using black acrylic paint. I printed the letter on paper first and taped it behind the burlap to ensure the letter would be perfect. Finally, I attached the burlap using a staple gun and tripped the excess fabric. Here is the final project:

Sorry...couldn't get the photo to turn :)

Burlap to hang earrings and knobs for necklaces and bracelets

And for the foodies:

Last week I made a delicious homemade veggie burger. I got the recipe from a friend. I had never ventured into something like this before and was eager to give it a try. I even took pictures as I went :)

The ingredients

First: cook 1/2 cup brown rice

Heat tbsp. extra virgin olive oil with 1 small yellow onion diced, 2 cloves garlic minced, 1/4 tsp cumin, 1/2 tsp salt together for 7 minutes

Add a can of black beans and rice and cook, stirring for 2 minutes

Add 1 tbsp fresh cilantro and mash with other ingredients to get cohesion

Let the mixture cool until easy to handle.

Form into four patties and allow a few hours in the fridge to set.

Heat vegetable oil in a large skillet.

Sprinkle flour on both sides of the burgers

And grill into browned.

Top with your favorite ingredients and ENJOY!

I used colby jack cheese, avocado and tomato on a sesame bun. YUMMY!

These are some of my favorites from the last couple of weeks. So so pretty and yummy and easy too!

A Happy Little Guy Turns One

I'm a little behind on this blog entry. Last year Tammy and her husband came in town for Thanksgiving with our family. This would be the last time we would get to see Tammy before her baby was born as he was due just before Christmas. I was shopping Black Friday afternoon when I got a call from my dad saying that Tammy's water had broken while she was finishing her shopping at West County Center. Saturday morning Joe Knoll became the sixth Rau grandchild. It's hard to believe it's been a year. He is a happy and adorable little guy.

We had a great time celebrating his birthday last Saturday. I regret not getting more pictures of him and all of his adorable decorations, but I did snap a few.

Joe before the party

Joe was SO excited to eat his cake

He wasn't a bit apprehensive...he dug right in!

We had to stop him at least twice from dumping it on the floor

Once he dove in with two hands it got really messy!

These cousins love each other. hugging and watching Joe eat his cake

After it was all said and done he was wiped out. Such a sweet little guy.