Our Christmas cards

I love paper. I love crafting with paper. Not scrapbooking (maybe if I had more time), but just creating things with paper. At Christmastime, I get so much joy out of creating my own Christmas Cards. Now, it is almost always a bad idea. Making 100 Christmas cards in the midst of the crazy season usually leads to stress, lack of time and sleep and many "why am I doing this" comments. However, when I am in the moment crafting and when I look at the finished product, I love that I handcraft them.

I tried to simplify this year: no eyelets, stamps, brads or sewing. Just paper, tape, glue and a few embellishments. And, of course, a super cute picture of my little man taken by the lovely Jenetta Penner .

They all were a little bit different, so I took a picture of a few different options:

When I ran out of paper, I came up with another quick design, using my Cricut. 

We added in our CD, stuck in the envelope, and off it went.

The cute address labels were a free download from Chewing the Cud . They are actually gift tags, so you can use them for wrapping your presents!

I also participated in a  Holiday Card Swap, for which I made 5 fun cards. Here is what I came up with:

I had so much fun making these and also receiving a few cards from random people around the word. That being said, I am glad that I am done making cards. Now on to gift wrap!

I would love to hear which design you like the best!

Christmas with the Toneys 08

So, Christmas is almost here, but we finally finished our 08 project.
1. Go Tell it
(on the Mountain)
2. We've Heard
(a musical interlude on the chord-organ that draws much inspiration from "Untitled 3" from Sigur Ros' () album)
3. Rock of Ages (Maoz Tzur)
(a Hanukkah song that has some great lyrics)
4. Bright Bright Bright
(this year's original song: it combines sadness, melancholy, cynicism, longing, and hope)

You can listen to the right ->

You can check out a little more info about it at www.davidtoneymusic.com


-david

Life will never be the same

Today, it finally clicked and Isaiah has officially become a toddler!

He has been working on his walking skills for a month or so now, taking a few steps from the coffee table to the couch. Today, in a matter of minutes, it all came together, and off he went. Literally, in between 4:00 and 7:30, he went from taking 5 or 6 steps back and forth from David to me to walking on his own from room to room. It was so crazy to see! He gets so excited. We got some great video last night that we will post soon.

I tried to get a good picture of him standing in front of the Christmas tree, but it was not very successful a) because he kept wanting to walk to me b) because it was night and my flash was stinking c) it was past his bedtime and he was a little out of it and just wanted to play with the camera. Here is what I've got for you:

I am more sad than I expected to be. Don't get me wrong, I am very excited and I love seeing him waddle around. Yet, at the same time, I feel like this is one of the first big steps in his independence and I feel like it was just yesterday that he was swaddled and lying in my arms. I hear from many moms that this is how most milestones in kids development are- exciting and fun, but at the same time a little bittersweet because your baby is growing up.

I have a feeling he will be running tomorrow. Watch out world!

And, yes, I know he needs a haircut :)  He was called a girl 3 times this week by strangers. It was nice.

And, since I am posting, I thought I would throw in a few more from the weekend:
Drumming with his daddy after church:

Dad cuddle time:

Two of my closest friends from Orange County came down to celebrate my birthday yesterday and it was such a sweet time. Lunch, drinks, watching a movie while Julianne highlighted my hair- I was definitely spoiled for a few hours. Love you girls!

I love my hubby

He knows me well.

Christmas Music!

I posted this on my work blog , but I thought I would put it up on here as well.

In our house, Christmas music can be heard playing the day after Thanksgiving. We eagerly await the first play. Music is a huge part of my life and Christmas music, whether it is old classics or new originals, really brings the season to life for me.

The past few years, our most played Christmas album is by Sufjan Stevens , one of our favorite artists. It is actually a collection of 5 short albums- he records one each year and released these as a set. I could listen to them over and over. Quirky, creative and entertaining. I highly suggest checking it out. Click here to listen to it on iTunes. If you can, I would suggesting buying the actual collection, rather than buying it digitally, because it comes with a great booklet, a funny poster and stickers.

The second Christmas that gets a lot of play around here is The O.C. Mix: Have a Very Merry Christmukkah. It is super random because I did not even watch the show, but just happened upon it a few years ago. I love the unique songs. I skip "Christmas is Going to the Dogs", but other than that, it is a really cool album. I especially love "Rock of Ages" and "Christmas".

One of my new finds this year is The Hotel Cafe presents Winter Songs. I love it! One of my favorite singers, Sara Bareilles , who just got nominated for 2 Grammys! and who I also happened to go to college with, sings the opening song with Ingrid Michaelson and it is all good news from there. The Hotel Cafe is a small venue up in LA that we used to go to during our time at UCLA. The album has some more well known ladies, such as Fiona Apple, Colbie Caillat and KT Tunstall, mixed in with some great newer artists. Some beautiful stuff. Even better: some proceeds from the album will be donated to the Susan G. Komen Foundation.

Along side those are classics such as A Charlie Brown Christmas, which my husband and I danced to last night once we had decorated our tree :)  

Here is a list of some of my other Christmas favorites (in no particular order):

1. Coldplay: "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas"

2. Ben Harper: "Silent Night"

3. Death Cab for Cutie: "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)"

4. Norah Jones: "Peace"

5. Sarah McLachlan: "The River" (Rachel Yamagata's version is also beautiful)

6. Harry Connick Jr.: "I Come with Love"

7. Ella Fitzgerald: "What are you Doing New Years Eve"

8. Mariah Carey: "All I Want for Christmas is You" (gotta love it, right?)

9. Sarah McLachlan: "The First Noel/Mary Mary"

10. The Darkness: "Christmastime (Don't let the Bells End)"

11. Kristin Chenoweth: "The Christmas Waltz"

12. Mick Jagger & Joss Stone "Lonely This Christmas"

13. Louis Armstrong: "Christmas in New Orleans"

14. Sarah McLachlan: "Song for a Winters Night"

15. Billie Holiday: "I've Got my Love to Keep me Warm"

16. Band Aid 20: "Do They Know its Christmastime at All?" (Bono, Chris Martin, Dido, Joss Stone, The Darkness, Keane and others)

17. Remy Zero: "Someday at Christmas time"

18. Tyler Hilton: "Merry Little Christmas"

19. Otis Redding: "Merry Christmas Baby"

20. Paul McCartney: "Wonderful Christmastime"

21. Kingston Trio: "Last Month of the Year"

22. David Toney (my hubby) & I: "Feed Trough" (You can listen to it here . #11. #11-#14 were from our Christmas single album last year. We record one every year to send out with our Christmas cards!)

What are your favorite Christmas songs/albums/artists? I'd love to hear!

We love San Diego

This weekend, we officially felt like San Diegans. We went to the big holiday event at Balboa Park with our good friends Jon and Jenetta . David's mom and Grandma came down to visit and got to spend some time with us there as well. It was so fun! I cannot believe that 300 thousand people go to this over two days. Crazy!

The organ pavilion was beautiful! We watched a cheesy choir performance while eating our crepes and french onion soup from the French tent.

I was so excited that Isaiah could wear his new cute little pea coat!

tired & overstimulated Isaiah:

Finishing off the night with gingerbread men and hot chocolate- one of my favorite parts of the night!

It definitely helped get us in the Christmas mood. I am sure we will make it a yearly tradition!

Speaking of Christmas, I recently started a series on my Joyful Weddings and Events blog highlighting some fun Christmas ideas and finds. Be sure to check it out!

Happy Christmas season!

Walking and Talking

Okay, so more like walking and signing.

He has started to walk- a little bit at a time. The most we have had at once is 6 steps. It is fun to see his confidence grow daily! He took his first few steps at Aunt Heather's house because he really wanted some of my niece Taylor's cupcake. Just like his mom. Dangle some good dessert in front of me and I will do anything I can to get it! :)

Also, he has mastered some sign language. "More" and "all done" are his favorites. He is getting the hang of "milk" and "hungry". He loves showing off his newly found communication.

No pictures or videos of these things, but we will definitely post them once we have them.

More to come soon, I promise!