May The Christmas Spirit Be With You!

Each year we grab on to a theme for our Christmas. This theme could pop up in our Christmas card, wrapping paper, decor, Christmas Eve pajamas, and maybe even the gifts from Santa. It started innocent with a few super hero pajamas on Christmas Eve a couple years ago...and then last year our love for Harry Potter influenced the card and gifts. Well, this year...this year we had a lot of fun.

For those not as familiar with the Star Wars universe, we are embracing Darth Vader, Queen Amidala, with Luke and Leia. The Skywalker Christmas card that could of been...possibly. 

Don't worry, for you purists, we added some "normal" pictures to the back!

Each year we also add a little insert to review our past year. Chris typically writes it while I design it. Enjoy!

The Chenry Show

Episode V

Year in Review

It is a period of stability in the Henry galaxy. Two-thousand and fifteen has come and gone with many exciting events taking place for the family of four.

Young Harrison is growing fast. Now at 20 months of age, his mastery of creating chaos in the home is developing swiftly. His rebellious streak has lead to incidents of crayon on the walls, peas thrown at dinner, and pulled cat tails. Fear is growing he may turn to the dark side, but hope remains strong his happy, fun-loving nature will keep him in the light.

Princess Lily seeks to restore the balance caused by her brother’s commotion. The lady has taken her first steps into the world of team sports with forays into tee-ball and soccer. Both were had with mixed success, but we can be sure that trophies are the greatest reward in the galaxy. Little does she know that Kindergarten waits around the corner and the family eagerly awaits decisions on applications to learn of young Lily’s educational fate.

Turmoil has engulfed the Louisiana republic. Hoping to resolve the matter, Chris was dispatched from his job at Louisiana State University and has joined the state’s House of Representatives Fiscal Team to help settle the conflict.  The capital has proven to be an exciting place of employment full of characters that could fill the cantina at Mos Eisley. What spare time he has left is spent obsessing over fantasy football and enjoying time at Costco.

To everyone’s surprise, Rachel had an uneventful year. She continues to juggle weddings and LSU while attempting to maintain some semblance of organization for The Chenry Show. In a stunning move, she did embrace the technology of the FitBit and even ran her first 5k. Deliberations continue over the fate of her hair length. 

Gentle Oliver underwent two surgeries this fall to help curb his chronic ear infections. Outside of repressing memories of wearing his cone of protection, he is currently recovering well. The cats continue to be cats. All in all, the creatures of the Henry house continue to persevere.

We hope your year has been equally full of danger and excitement. Merry Christmas, Happy New Year,

and May the Force be with You!

Love,

Chris, Rachel, Lily, Harrison,

Mr. Kitty, Lola, and Oliver

We are now off to enjoy one of my favorite days of the year...Christmas Eve! On our agenda today includes service at Healing Place Church, last minute grocery shopping, some baking, and our traditional "Favorite Things Dinner"! Oh, I love it! Each of us picks our favorite food item and then we just enjoy a meal of all our favorites! For tonight, I think our menu will consist of Guacamole and Chips, Sushi, Olive Pizza, and Mac and Cheese! Then we'll slip into our Star Wars pajamas and wait for Santa to visit!

In the mean time, we hope you all have a very Merry Christmas!!!

Snowman Munch Gifts

Before "school" let out for Christmas, Chris made these adorable little gifts for Lily and Harrison's teachers. Yes, you read that right...CHRIS made these adorable little gifts. I barely had anything to do with it! 

First, he made the goodness that filled these mason jars! He melted white Almond Bark over a mixture of pretzels, Cheerios, Chex Mix, Graham Cracker Crunch, and M&Ms. You can also add a variety of nuts but since these were being brought into the day care, we stayed clear for nut allergies.

Once the goodness hardened, he broke it up and placed it in the mason jars. Next, he hot glued little black buttons onto the mason jars. *Note: these eventually fell off so we suggest more heavy duty glue!

Lastly, and this is where I finally came in to help, I tied a little red ribbon around the neck of the jar to look like a little scarf!

These little gifts were a huge hit and so super easy! 

A Very Merry Henry Christmas

Well, I'm a little sad that Christmas is over...but it is SO over. We finished taking down all the Christmas decor today and (hopefully!) watched Christmas Mickey for the last time this year. To recap, we had a truly special Christmas! We were able to celebrate with family...and it was awesome! It was a whirlwind and I didn't get as many photos as I should have...but enjoy anyway!

First, Christmas Eve...we had our "favorite things" dinner which consists of each of our favorite foods. This year, we enjoyed sushi (me), pizza & olives (Lily), green beans (Chris), and avocados for Harrison (which he hated and eventually switched to apples)! While the pizza was cooking, Lily wrote her letter to Santa...I realize this probably should have been done sooner...but it was still adorable!

She wrote balloons, doll, and her name..so sweet!

Man, this girl loves olives!

After dinner, we put on our Christmas jammies...Harry Potter themed, of course!

So, I had purchased Chris' set earlier than the rest of us. I had hoped to find some that matched his...but no dice. His words: "nothing says the noble house of Syltherin like a ladies' large tshirt" :)

The best selfie we could get! lol!

We then settled in with hot chocolate for a Christmas movie...which was, of course, Christmas Mickey. ;)

Then off to bed...but not before Lily's letter and treats were left out for Santa!

Da Boi patiently waited for everyone to turn their backs!

Dumb pre-lit Christmas tree!

Christmas morning was purely magical. Lily had consistently asked Santa to bring her pink and purple balloons...and that is exactly what he did. But he didn't stop there...she was adorable as she discovered her treats...and then helped Harrison discover his. He didn't get into the Christmas spirit really...but he was still amazing!

After presents, we enjoyed our traditional Christmas lunch...spinach lasagna (because it's red, green, and white...clearly!). It was delicious as always!

We just relaxed the day away and got ready for our awesome visitors that came the following day...the Henrys! Lily was SO excited about her first ever sleep over with her cousins...it was adorable! They played hard and Lily loved every minute of it!

Unfortunately, I didn't get any other photos of them but trust they were all adorable! The next day we were off to Leesville for more fun and love! We so enjoyed hanging out with family...so much so that I only took three pictures. Pitiful.

Outside of Harrison cutting a couple teeth, we had such a blast and loved every minute of the Christmas Season! I'll make sure to take more pictures next year! ;)

Have a Magical Christmas!

This Christmas Eve is just going perfectly! We have our shopping finished, our presents wrapped, our kiddos are napping, and we are gearing up for my favorite traditions! Every Christmas Eve, we put on our matching jammies, eat our "Favorite Things" dinner, bake Santa some cookies, and enjoy a Christmas movie while we sip hot chocolate. Don't worry....I'll document and blog that fun! But for now, I leave you with our very first "themed" Christmas Card...we may or may not be completely obsessed with Harry Potter...

Why yes, those are Weasley jumpers and we are reading the novels! 

But don't forget our year in review insert...

We hope you enjoy these as much as we enjoyed designing them!

May you and yours have a fabulous Christmas!!! Can't wait to blog all the fun that the Henrys have over the next few days!

Much Love from the Henry Burrow! ;)

2014 UMPEA Holiday Program

So we get an email from Lily's class parent representative asking for a very random list of items for the Holiday Program. This list included a nutria costume, a Mr. Bingle costume, a robe/slippers...in addition to an assortment of other items. My interest was peaked! Since I'm not sure a nutria costume exists and I have no clue who Mr. Bingle is...we volunteered the robe/slippers and Lily was set to play a "little ol lady" in their "Night Before Christmas in the land of Who Dat!" 

To our surprise, she was also doing the welcome! Yay!

Just in case you don't speak whispered gibberish, they said, "Welcome to our Christmas Program! Sit back, relax, and pass a good time!"

When we get to her class presentation, I could hardly contain my excitement! Her teacher worked SO hard and it was adorable! The video was around 10 minutes long so we cut it down to her part:

I mean...of course she gets on stage and picks her nose! 

This was the finale with all the kiddos on stage...you'll see a Santa with a Popeye's fried chicken leg, a sleigh pulled by brown pelicans, a little boy with visions of beignets, an adorable "mutt", a po-boy, Mr. Bingle, a pot of gumbo, and a hurricane...along with the old lady! ;)

Once the program was over, she ran straight to Daddy and was just SO proud of herself! 

Love that girl!!!

Fun & Easy Christmas Card Display

Our Christmas decor is getting a bit of a facelift this year...with a bunch of DIY projects that I can't wait to share! Starting with this fun and easy way to display Christmas Cards.

Your family and friends work too hard on their Christmas Cards each year to just be tossed aside! Show off their beautiful work with a fun garland on a doorway or, in our case, a china buffet! I spray painted a bunch of clothes pins and as the cards come in, we clip them on!

For the sign, I just grabbed a blank piece of wood from my local craft store and painted away! I mean..."Merry Mail"...adorable, right!?! Thanks Pinterest! ;)

Can't wait to see what this looks like full! Stay tuned for an update a little closer to Christmas!

Craft Time with Lily!

This is a little old but still cute so I wanted to share! For those of you who are familiar with my mother, you know her obsession with all things Pink Flamingo and all things Lily. So, we wanted to get her a little something for Christmas that combined both. What better combo than a serving platter with hand prints on it...enjoy!

Once everything was painted on our oven-safe ceramic platter with acrylic paint, we baked at 300 degrees for 30 minutes. Once it was cooled, it was ready for use and even dishwasher safe!

It was so easy and fun...not to mention, it was a hit! GranZee loved her little gift!

Our Little Christmas

We had a fabulous Christmas! Lily is at such a fun age and I think she really had fun helping in the kitchen, listening to Christmas stories (after Cat in the Hat, of course), and even watching Christmas movies! I can't even begin to imagine how much fun next year will be with two little ones! Here are a few photos we snapped over the past two days...enjoy!

Christmas Eve

Lily insisted that we started the evening with a little dress up! Ta da!

Her first kitchen project was making Santa's cookies. She was such a big help!

For our super special Christmas Eve dinner, we decided the theme to be "A Few of Our Favorite Things". This will definitely be a Henry family tradition! Each of us picked an item that we love then made in "mini" version and enjoyed together! Lily, of course, chose cheese pizza!

I chose sushi. No, we didn't get crazy and actually make sushi. I broke the rules a bit...but I'm pregnant and I do what I want! :) Chris made delicious zucchini fries with marinara sauce. We will absolutely share the recipe soon!

After dinner, we put on our Christmas jammies. Our theme for this year...The Henry Justice League! Our Green Lantern (Oliver), Aqua Man (Mr. Kitty), and Flash (Lola) were too cool for Christmas jammies and photos!

Super girl!

Batman!

Wonder Woman!

We then piled on the couch with hot chocolate/chocolate milk and cookies to watch a Christmas movie before bed. Lily's choice...Mickey's Christmas Special....and it was enjoyed by all!

Right before little Miss passed out, we placed a few treats out for Santa...including a picture that Lily drew earlier! She said it was a bicycle!

Christmas Day

Tearing into her stocking with a little help from the Boi! 

She LOVED that her and Daddy now have matching shirts! 

Super Daddy with his Super Girl!

I'm really glad Santa brought Lily several sticker books. 

And then....we forgot to take any more pictures. :( 

But we did get a pic of our delicious Christmas lunch...Spinach lasagna! 

(Because it's red, white, and green...get it!)

Although these pics are just a snapshot into our little holiday, we had so much more fun! We head to Leesville tomorrow to continue the celebration! I'm sure we'll have a lot more to share on Monday!

We hope that you and your families had a spectacular Christmas celebration!