New Years Party Lovelies

Made these Martha wonders at my sisters baby shower and they were a cinch. 

Technically a wedding dress, I think paired with a cashmere cardigan, it would be the perfect party ensemble. By Elizabeth Dye. I'm thinking of going this hair color too...

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This is my kind of baking.

Something to wear with jeans and black cashmere. Stunning.

Time to take down the red and green and bask in celebrating winter....

small bites...

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And snow. +

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Winner!

The winner of the Crayola Giveaway is Danielle. Congrats! Email me and I will get you your prize :)

Don't forget to enter the Generations Project giveaway and to set your TiVo! 

Our Christmas -

One reason we were excited to move to Boise was to be only a 6 hour drive from my parents home. Unfortunately, this 6 hours turned into an 11 hour ordeal. Two hours of which was being stuck in the middle of the Blue Mountains behind a terrible wreck. The kids did great, but I have to say, I'm rethinking the whole minivan thing. It would have made for a much more comfortable ride.

See photos of our Christmas morning on my family blog.

Other than that, Christmas was wonderful. We didn't get out much due to sick babies, but that was okay. We had everything we needed at home. 

There is something so magical about coming to your childhood home for Christmas.

And taking your turn playing Santa.

Showing your children the decorations you grew up with.

And watching their memories being made.

Magical is the best word to describe it. 

From My Family to Yours.

Wishing you a wonderful season filled with family, friends and rejoicing in the gift of our Savior.

Christmas Lovelies

Next year I think I will do all my wrapping like Martha.

And my cooking like Ina. 

Just green. What a perfect holiday theme. And you can keep it up all Winter and into early Spring.

Though a pop of yellow really makes the holidays sparkle. But I'm biased. 

Why didn't I think of this. Powdered doughnuts are so snowy delightful.

But I would be the coolest mom on the block if I had this on display. 

What am I talking about? I am the coolest mom on the block! (At least I think so. I've never met any of the other ones.)

Liquid chocolate. This should be way more popular than coffee. +

Maybe by next Christmas I can get a place that doesn't have a dang TV over the mantel so I can decorate it properly. 

Lydia is playing a mouse in the Nutcracker Ballet. If I had my stuff together, I would totally throw her this Nutcracker Suite Ballet Party. Darling!

Sweet Paul is my creative idol.

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And lastly, CONGRATS to my baby sister who just gave birth to a healthy baby boy, Samuel Lee. What a wonderful Christmas gift for our family. Molly, you will be a wonderful mother. And Sam, I will never wrap your birthday gift in Christmas paper. I promise.

Preparing for the big day

The countdown is on! Less than a week til Christmas! We are busy busy busy. I spoke at a Christmas dinner a couple days ago, and now that that's over, I feel totally relaxed and ready get these holidays on.

Lydia and I have spent a few afternoons baking and packaging up goodies. There's nothing like the smell of baking cookies to get you in the spirit.

My favorite recipes that found their way into the treat box:

Mace Bundt Cake.  (DO NOT over cook! It dries it right out)
Sugar Cookies.  This is one thing I make really well. Again, better to slightly undercook.
Fudge.  My first time making it, but this recipe is golden.
Lace Cookies.  Pretty and yummy.

I could eat these all day.

Christmas goodies are nice, but the sweetest things at my house are my cutie pies. 

Note to self. Take Sunday photos before Church. Lydia's hair was originally in a french twist. Though I kind of like it this way.

Collin has a propensity of rearranging the ornaments. Note to self. Take photo of Christmas tree before toddler wrecking ball gets to it.

Merry Merry Christmas Week!

My Best Friend is a TV star! (and a giveaway with 5 winners too)

If you are lucky enough to get BYUtv then you have probably seen The Generation Project. The Generations Project is a television series that takes ordinary people on an extraordinary journey to learn about their ancestors—and in the process find unexpected answers to questions about themselves. They travel to the places their ancestors called home, meeting with relatives and experts to uncover family mysteries and to experience, hands-on, the lifestyle, culture, and history that made up their ancestors’ lives. The participants learn that one of the best ways to know who they are is to learn who they came from. 


Well I am SOOOOOOO excited that my best friend Carrie and her husband Xander (as seen in my recent Seattle post) are the stars of the season two premiere! 


"Xander and Carrie Denke from Seattle, Wash., asked The Generations Project to help them learn how the rare genetic disease HLH that nearly took the lives of their twins, has affected their ancestors. They also set out to discover whether they could be related to the anonymous bone marrow donor who saved their twins’ lives.

The Denkes were selected to be on The Generations Project and in July they went searching for the disease in their family histories. While genealogists and geneticists compared the Denkes’ heritage and DNA with the donor’s, the Denkes’ search for child mortalities in their family trees took them from their home in Seattle to New York City, Germany, and 19th-century Denmark.

Carrie Denke said of her experience, “The Generation's Project has given us a greater understanding of what it's like to embrace whatever the past has to offer us, good or bad. Our journey was so much more than we ever thought we would experience.”

Carrie hasn't let me in on what they discovered about their bone marrow donor and I'm dying to know. Want to find out too? The Generations Project premieres its second season on Jan. 3, 2011, at 7pm (MST) on BYUtv. The episode can also be viewed online at byutv.org/thegenerationsproject.

Carrie was so sweet and emailed me the other day letting me know she had five copies of The Generation Project season one DVD for my readers! Want to win? Just watch the little one minute trailer and let me know what you think in a comment.

Thank you Carrie! I can't wait to see you on the small screen!!!

Crayola Winter Fun Giveaway

I thought I was done with giveaways until the New Year, but I'm throwing this one in here to make sure you know about some of awesome Crayola products available for Christmas morning. I don't like an excess of toys, but Crayola toys are all about creativity and exploring. Something to keep kids with cabin fever busy. Crayola via MyBlogSpark sent me some fantastic toys to try out and one lucky winner is going to receive all of them as well!

Glow Explosion Spin Magic is a revolutionary activity toy that lets kids create multi-colored glow-in-the-dark art with markers that light up like glow sticks on paper. The spinning base lets kids create magical mobiles and whirling lanterns for a never-before-seen “glow show” that will wow the entire family when the lights go out. Colorful, glowing shapes like planets or hot air balloons appear as if they are spinning in mid-air. The base unit doubles as a lantern with five different scenes that create cool shadow-effects as they rotate around the radiant, glowing designs created on Glow Explosion paper. $19.99, 6+

The Crayola Color Wonder Sound Studio makes coloring a magical mess-free adventure for little eyes and ears! Kids can add fun, action-packed sound effects like dinosaur roars, motor cycle engines, giggles and even the voices of Buzz Lightyear, Woody and the Disney Princesses to their coloring pages. Sounds play back when they color their pictures. Just choose a sound and add it anywhere on the coloring page to create one-of-a-kind coloring stories with surprising sound effects. Kids can also play back all the sounds they experienced while they were coloring. Sixty sounds can be matched to any image on any page for hours of colorful fun! $29.99, 3+

Crayola Model Magic Presto Dots received “Toy of the Year” honors from Good Housekeeping, Parenting and Parents magazines. The “magic” behind Presto Dots comes from Model Magic’s – a truly different modeling material that doesn’t crumble. It’s not clay, it’s not dough – it’s Crayola Model Magic. Kids can create 3-D, bumpy characters with the easy-to-use “Pop-Dot” tool that grabs just the right amount of Model Magic for building an original creature. A quick press and pop covers characters with presto dots. Pop away with different colored dots, or pop dots on top of dots to create original 3-D creatures that air-dry in 24 hours. $19.99, 5+

So why are Crayola crayons, a holiday classic and a perennial stocking stuffer on the list? This year, specially-marked Crayola crayon boxes (48, 64, 96, 120-ct. as well as the 150-ct. Crayon Tower) include a free code that provides 6-month unlimited access to the Story Studio custom coloring book maker. What a great value! Available at Crayola.com, Story Studio allows kids to transform themselves into a cartoon character from a digital photo or web cam image, customize their character with hats, sunglasses, costumes and other fun accessories and then select a theme to create a custom story book they can print and color. Story Studio was named “High Tech Toy of the Year” by the Oppenheim Toy Portfolio. $5-$15, 3+

Visit Story Studio to try it for free for visiting Natalie's Sentiments.  Use code PRY4DBJJ.

Stay Connected: “Like” Crayola on Facebook and follow them on Twitter to keep up with the latest news from Crayola and special holiday deals!

GIVEAWAY!

Crayola and My Blog Spark is Giving 1 Winner A Crayola Gift Pack (Glow Explosion Spin Magic, Mess Free Color Wonder Sound Studio, Model Magic Presto Dots and a 64 Box of Crayola Crayons with an access code to try the Story Studio) Value over $75!

To Enter:

• Let me know in a comment which gift you are most excited about and who you will be giving the Gift Pack to.

For additional entries:

• Are a public follower  and/or Like natalie's sentiments on Facebook
• Have my button on your blog 
• Tweet or Facebook about this giveaway leaving the link in your comment. (Use the handy links at the bottom of this post if you like.)
• Blog about this giveaway for 3 extra entires. 

I'll announce the winner on December 27th. Good luck!

U.S. Addresses only.

Holiday Bed

Only seems fitting to dress up our new bed for the holidays. Especially since, other than a tiny side table, it's the only thing in the master bedroom. 

I save all my Christmas cards. I think I like cards more than gifts. This Santa card is my favorite of all time. It's from some old co-worker I hardly knew, but it's awesome. You can't tell, but it's all sparkly. 

I think this bed is magic. I'm secretly hoping for the flu so Shane will have to stay home to take care of the kids while I stay in bed all day.

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Winner!

The winner of the Scentsy Giveaway is Dawn. Congrats! Email me ASAP so I can get you your prize by Christmas.

Dear Santa....

I've already received my big Christmas gift, but that doesn't mean I'm not still sending a letter to Santa about a few other things. A girl can dream right? 

I would love a corner tv stand so I can reclaim my fireplace mantle.

On that mantle, I would place this entire set of Clothbound classics from Anthropologie. Maybe the children's set too.

This little number from Tiffanys matches the ring Shane got me last Christmas. Yum. 

I want this Le Creuset dutch oven so badly. I never pass a William - Sonoma without walking in and staring for a while. Visions of beef bourguignon start to cloud my view and I have to walk away. But it will be mine. (And yes in red. You would think yellow, but sometimes I like to switch it up.)

I have a nice diaper bag, but it's uni-sex and a bit drab. I am loving this Amanda Hobo bag from Babymel.  Straps to your stroller, has places for sippy cups, wipes clean, but doesn't look like a diaper bag.

My mom gave me a pair of UGG flipflops a few months ago and I love them. Now I've turned my eyes towards these UGG slippers. 

Speaking of cozy, this cashmere top is scrumptious. 

I'm not sure what I like most about this neck warmer. That it's in my signature colors, or that it's from Paris. What's that Santa? You want to send Shane and I to Paris to pick up this gift? All expenses paid? Well okay. I have been a very good girl this year.

And I'll need a really great lens if I'm going to be photographing in France.

And lastly, I've always wanted a full set of Christmas bedding for the month of December. This Potterybarn pillow would be the perfect little something to finish off the look.

Ah, that was fun.

Honestly though, if I just get happy kids and snow, I'll be pleased as punch.

 What are you dreaming of this Christmas? 

LET IT SNOW

I love the snow. I love walking in it, playing in it and kissing in it. There has been an obscenely large amount of snow for Boise this season. That would be due to my "snow power". Tennessee also is aware of my strange power over the winter weather. That's why they kicked me out. Bunch of wussies. 

Now the snow has suddenly vanished. I'm putting all my superhero power towards bringing a Christmas blizzard this way. Less power than a couple years ago though. My powers worked a little too well then.

Let me know if there's a city you want me to focus my powers on and I will see what I can do.

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Winner!

The winner of the Poloppo giveaway is Kelly and Gunner.

Congrats! Email me and I will get you your prize.

Don't forget to enter the Scentsy Giveaway!

By the way - if you are one of the winners of the EA SPORTS video games giveaway, I should be receiving the games soon and will send them to you ASAP. If you want them sent to someone else in time for Christmas, let me know. I'll even gift wrap it for you.