{MooreBabies} A Year in Review

As I have seen several places (Karen at Home, Not Just a Housewife, and Little Lucy Lu, just to name a few), it's fun to do a "year in review" post. I personally think this is a GREAT idea from both ends. As a blogger, I get to re share some of my top posts to possibly newer followers who may not have caught them before, and as a reader, I get to check out bloggers best posts that I may not have caught. Win - win!

My active blog is coming up on it's 1 year anniversary; I say "active" because prior to January 3, 2011 (<>the day I decided to start really blogging) I had 52 posts; 28 in 2009 and 24 in 2010. Since January 3, 2011 I have had 161 (go me!!)

See, the following is the page view graph of my blog since inception; notice the fairly flat line for the first 2 years and then BOOM!

Src: Google Dashboard - Moore Babies

The Top 10 Posts of 2011

1..:: Tutorial ::. Ribbon & Pearl Necklace
This was featured on Dollar Store Crafts and to this day this is my top referrer.

2. Crafty Baby Shower Gifts

3. Apple cheese.... apple cheese

4. Ribbon & Pearl Necklace

5. Chicken & Spinach Stuffed Shells

6. Tututorial (haha... sorry, I couldn't help myself)

7. Cupcake Party ::. Jillie's 1st Birthday

8. DIY pretend Makeup

9. Charlotte's Minnie Birthday: The Ears

10. Awesome Wedding Gift: A Week in the Kitchen

 Aside from my top 10 visited posts, a few of my projects were also featured on several different blogs! A HUGE thanks to those special blogs listed in the right sidebar for featuring my projects.

To view all projects of mine that have been featured somewhere, click the featured label or go here.

And now for more blog stats from 2011...
 Referring Sites
(thank you very much!!)

 Search Keywords

Have a Safe and Happy New Year!!

Merry Christmas from MooreBabies!

I hope everyone is having a wonderful Christmas and Holiday Season!

PS - I'd just like to say how proud of myself I am... on the day we did Thanksgiving pictures, Jillie was NOT cooperating... at all! So to get the picture on the bottom left of the card I photoshopped the following 2 pictures together... go me!!

Moore Babies {as decorated for Christmas}

** there are a lot of pictures; be forewarned **

Remember when I was starting to get my boxes down when I had about 12 bins plus random non-boxed items stacked up in my garage? WELL, I promised I share my Christmas Decorating.... so here goes nothing :)

Welcome to the MooreBabies house all lit up at night!

My lovely front door wreath that mom and I made 2 years ago.

Front entryway
(L) My Christmas card holder and Charlotte's hand print tree
(R) Advent calendar that mom made 20+ years ago... my FAVORITE thing to do when I was little!

Front hall "mantle"

(top L) Mistletoe of course
(bottom L) Kitchen table
(R) Decor above the kitchen table ... so cute!

Where the majority of my decorations live

(L) Various figurines and snowglobs
(TR) Hand painted plate, handpainted angels, hand painted pitcher, hand painted nativity (none painted by me)
(BR) Various Christmas nicknacks

THE VILLAGE (Dickens' Village)!!
I LOVE LOVE LOVE my village. One day I want a special table  set up, but with the horse of a dog and 2 little rugrats running around, behind closed doors is the best place to put it...

... because they sure love looking at it!!

A german smoker, several Annalee dolls, plus stuffed animals the girls can actually play with

(L) Santa, more Christmas nicknacks
(TR) Little People Nativity (when Charlotte first saw this she said "Baby Jesus is SOOO cute")
(BR) Christmas tree mom made me... LOVE IT!

The fireplace mantle

The REAL tree :)

This was the other night while watching a movie; LOVE!

 And LASTLY... lest the girls feel left out. Their very own Sesame Street (turned handmade ornament) tree!

There you have it...
Moore Babies as decorated for Christmas!!
Merry Christmas everyone.

Linking up: Between U $ Me, Bacontime, The Crafty Blog Stalker, Momnivores Dilema

Cookie Tray Gifts {Plus weekly meal plan}

Since I didn't make a whole lot of cookies this year, half of the neighbors got a cookie tray (the ones I'm super close with) and the other half got a jar of my Candied Pecans & Walnuts.

The girls had a BLAST during last evenings walk around the neighborhood; Charlotte kept saying "One more gift" because she loved ringing the doorbell and handing them a card and a gift! It was so cute!

Neighbor Cookie Tray
Hot Cocoa Stirrers (Pinterest)

2 in 1 Bittersweet Brownies (and truffles) - Love these, you bake the brownies and cut them out and then you use the scraps mixed with a few other ingredients to make the truffles

Santa Hat Pretzels (Pinterest)

Candied Walnuts & Pecans for the other half of the neighbors

 Weekly Meal Plan

SUNDAY we had...
Chicken Parm (hubby specialty)

MONDAY we had...
Mish mosh night; mac n cheese, ravioli, leftovers, etc...

TUESDAY we had...
Easy/ Hearty Chicken Noodle Soup

WEDNESDAY
Chili over pasta with cheese and crackers

THURSDAY
Tilapia of some sort

FRIDAY
Pizza Night?

SATURDAY {Christmas Eve}
Dinner at my mother-in-laws before church:
Standing Rib Roast, smashed potatoes... and MORE!

SUNDAY {Christmas}
Hashbrown Breakfast Casserole with Cinnamon Buns for brunch
Dinner will be leftovers of some sort!

Review of Last weeks meals

Salmon with Champagne Sauce

Boursin Bundles

Tacos with Bacon black beans

Baked Mushroom Chicken

Margherita Pizza

Linking up: Vintage Gwen, Sweet Peas and BB, Sew Much Ado, Handyman Crafty Woman, Someday Crafts, Tales of a Trophy Wife,  DIY by Design, Gingersnap Crafts, My girlish Whims, Between U & Me, Gluesticks, Rae Gun Ramblings, Crafty Blog Stalker

4th type of cookie complete... {plus a cookie storage tip}

I am way BEHIND previous years in my Christmas cookie making... and I don't think I'm going to catch up.

I love to make Christmas cookies so I can put together cookie trays for the neighbors, childcare/Sunday School teachers at church, child care at the gym, AND for our annual Christmas Cocktail party!

In past years I have made about 7 different types of cookies...

Previous years cookie tray from Annual Cocktail Party

 ... this year I have only made 4 {tear}! Although I am making my Swedish Spritz Cookie dough tonight so it will be ready to be baked tomorrow (when I have time).

Reece's Cookie Cups, Andy's Buttons, Grandma's Sugars, Brownie Cutouts (not pictured)

Cookie Storage Tip
On a side note - mom passed down a clever way to store our oh-so-fragile Grandma's Sugar Cookies using coffee filters! Put 5 or so cookies in one filter...

... and then make as many stacks as will fit into your container.

Works every time!!

My *Annalee* Christmas

Have you guys heard of or seen Annalee dolls? I think they are just precious and have a few Annalee Christmas decorations to prove it!

It all started with this large Annalee Santa, reindeer, and sleigh that used to live in my front hallway in the month of December while I was growing up.

 How cute is that? What a great way to welcome friends and family into our home during the holidays! Look at the detail on the sleigh (yeah, mom is crafty!) and the presents and it even lights up! 

I have since inherited this lovely bit of Christmas decor and it resides next to my fireplace all December.

Pretty, huh?

 My Annalee collection does not end there, though, scattered around my house you will find a few other little Annalee dolls.

And OF COURSE, we have a few Annalee ornaments!

If you would like to add a little Annalee to your Christmas, check out the large selection at >ToylandElves.com; but hurry... to order in time for Christmas you must get your order in by THIS Sunday, December 16.