Just Before Christmas

  For us Christmas is coming in just a couple of days. Zac is working Christmas Day so we're going to have our "Eve" on Sunday and our "Day" on Monday. :) Stockings are hung and beginning to bulge, waiting for our littles to be surprised with chocolates and music boxes and little books.

  Trinity is still doing a little bit of school here and there this week...but mostly just crafting. :)

  Are tree is fuller then ever since the kids added the candy canes. I don't care too much about adding candy canes but they seem to think that a tree MUST have them. So it does. :)

  The living room is so festive and glowing at night - a lovely place to dance with the littles and read stories and drink tea.

  And our Colorado Christmas Snow came early....supposedly it's coming back. :)

  Zac got to display his manly skills and shovel out the driveway before he left for work. I just love that man in a beanie hat and a sweater.

  I  made the chocolate pretzels today and tomorrow we are starting on gingerbread houses made out of graham crackers. We aren't actually EATING our gingerbread houses so I think the easiest and cheapest way is going to be best for this year.

  And look who I found at Goodwill. There he was, standing on the top shelf...staring down at me all jolly and rosy and so stinkin' cute...and half off. I whisked him away to the front counter, just laughing away and making the kids laugh. When we got home I took him out for a photo shoot and let him know that he will be part of our Christmas' forever.

 With eyes so twinkly and hair so snowy white I'm not sure how anyone could have given him away.
I hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday time.

In Celebration of Snow

  Yesterday we woke up to a dusting of snow. It made the sky so clear and bright...I love the way the reflects off the snow and streams in our windows and makes our home so bright. I was busily making omelets when I heard Finn crying...the distressed "what's happening?!" type cry. I heard Zac laughing and found him holding Finn, the back door open and these little teeny footprints outside. Bug had figured out how to open the backdoor and went out only geared in a diaper and long sleeve shirt - he wanted to know what all that cold stuff was. I'm sure it felt rather offensive on his little bare feet.

  In celebration of the snow we cut out snowflakes and hung them. This week I'm taking a more relaxed approach to homeschooling - and it's working marvelously so far.

  What could be more relaxed then a cup of spiced tea and a gingerbread cookie and a game of "sight words" go fish? Trinity's reading is coming along splendidly but those blasted sight words that you can't sound out are giving her a run for her money. It's fun having fun while learning.

  The game was taken very seriously - she won if you're wondering.

 And then...since snuggling up on my bed and reading isn't an option for me on cold days (or any day for that matter) - I clean. I clean and clean and clean and move furniture and sort things and ... just clean. We changed the squirrel's room around and wouldn't you know it?! Right after I had put her bed under this window a real life squirrel peaked in from a neighboring tree. We were delighted.

Princess Party

My friend Emily has the greatest love for a good party....I mean GREAT love - entertaining is her hobby. She has passed this trait down to her daughter Izzy which is so funny and so good....it's a gift that not everyone has the "knack" for. Anyways, Izz decides that she wants to have an early Valentine's party complete with games, strawberry shortcake....lots of girls (no boys!) and Mommys.This creates lots of work for Emily - but good for the rest of us! So, yesterday I got to go on my first mother/daughter outing with Trin to a girl's only, pink everything and fairy filled party.

Everyone received an invitation to the party in the mail and Trin carried hers around all week - she was SO excited. Since I had been sick all week I totally forgot about the part on the invite that said "wear your party clothes " and hadn't even given it a thought....thank goodness my Gap order got to our house the day before the party with Trin's first little black dress. :) Isn't she a cutie? I love the little headband made by her Aunt Kate - I let Trin decided which one she wanted to wear (Aunt Kate sent several) and I think she chose really well. She didn't wear the sweater AT the party but had to on the way there since it was nippy out. And....unfortunately I had no sparkly little shoes or anything...it's okay though - she's just dressed like her mama. :) I'm not what you would call a *prissy* dresser.

Here's Trin and Izz....notice the crown? Yep....an original made by *yours truly.* :)

The girls got do decorate heart cookies, play girly games...have strawberry shortcakes parfaits in real glass goblets which they downed with pink lemonade. Em also gave everyone a little party bag with Tinkerbell dominoes and heart covered socks...I'm telling you...she's good - I look forward to Izzy's sweet sixteen immensely.

All in all, it was a super special time for me to watch my girl interact and watch her "blossom." I don't have very much one on one time with her and especially after this outing I've realized that since she and I are going to be part of a testosterone filled house (4 boys to 2 girls) it's going to be VITALLY important for me to spend quality girl time with her. Zac and I were talking and we think it needs to start being a priority to carve out time for me to take Trin out alone about once a week...go to Panera and get a coffee and let her munch on a muffin...or little mother/daughter play dates....just girl time. Like Trinity says "Mommy and Trini FOREVER!"

In other news...I have ONLY had my headache yesterday and today for a hour - both times in the morning around 8 so that is a huge improvement. I totally stopped taking all the drugs because even though the doctor said it was fine, I didn't feel at peace about it. I really think that they were/are hormone related because after a little bit of research I read that around 26 weeks pregnant some women get horrible headaches from a hormone fluctuation and they are brought on even more by stress. Well....bingo. I'm 27 weeks and just fought the flu for 3 weeks...not necessarily a piece of cake...definitely a little stress involved there. Thanks so much for all of your well wishes and sweet words. It means a lot to me that you stop by my little *place* here and take interest in my life.

Finishing Up Christmas.....

Today was my *down time*....as much down time as I could get alone with the three littles. :) Funny how I LOVE the holidays but once I'm in the middle of them I'm ready for life to resume as normal. Today I took down all things Christmas except the tree....just because i knew the kids would still enjoy the twinkling lights in the evening...best to give it a day or two longer.

On the 23 zac was working and the kids and I were anxiously awaiting Christmas Eve. Grammy and Granddaddy were expected on the 24th plus Zac would be home early in the morning...the food and fun would begin! We had one last eggnog toast with each other and finally made actual gingerbread MEN. This year has taught me that Christmas cookie decorating = happy children. Definitely something fun to do with them that is creative and different from the norm.

Trinity aimed to put as many candies and sprinkles on each cookie as humanly possible....

Brady was much more precise. On one of his little men he put 5 mini chocolate chips on each hand and each foot....I asked what he was doing when I saw all the chocolate clustered together and he let me know that they needed toes. :)

We watched How the Grinch Stole Christmas (the cartoon one) and then the kids had coloring time. Brayden never actually colors...he just makes long books about whatever is in his head. Today the book was all about the Grinch...complete with random illustrations.

My little writing elf.

Christmas Eve did come and so did the grandparents and daddy. We had a relaxing day and lots of food. The menu for the evening was a layered bean dip, a large turkey sub sand which, deviled eggs, fruit platter (cherries, clementines, and grapes) gingerbread cookies and gingersnaps, lemonade and carrots with fiesta ranch dip. Luscious. We exchanged gifts and I came away with a lovely hand knitted sweater....I don't have a picture of my own but will get one sometime soon to show off my mother in law's handiwork.....so lovely.

That evening Zac snuck Trin's dollhouse in and placed the kids gifts under the tree...even put ribbon around them all by himself. Zac gets so excited about giving gifts and having things set up perfectly....it makes my heart glad.

We had a somewhat trying night complete with 4 wake up calls from Mr. Tristan and his never ending teething mouth! On top of that Trinity's little body woke up at 5:30 am instead of her usual 6:45 am - we had to keep her in her room all that time because we didn't want her finding the little houses without Brady being there.

But alas, present time came and both kids were absolutely delighted with what they found. Trin adores her daddy's handiwork and Brady loved his Melissa and Doug firehouse (after some explaining ,on our part, why there wasn't an actual fire alarm in the station and working electricity.)

Brady sporting his new T shirt from little sis.....Brady gave her a doll named Jenna (Jenna and Trin are best friends forever more.)

And then Mr. Sleepyhead finally woke up from a long night. This picture is blurry but I think it adds to his "what the heck is going on" demeanor. He loved his little wooden shape sorter and puzzle from Aunt Rachel.

I was off to prepare brunch in my robe I found under the tree from my Love. Love it love it love it. Me and American Eagle anything. Zac has learned over the last two years that American Eagle = happy wife in our home. We all have our little *things* don't we....

The Grandparents came over for brunch and helped us enjoy our Honeybaked ham (compliments of the fire department) and all the fixin's. I made sweet potato casserole, scrambled eggs, fruit, and scones. So much fun this year all fitting around our kitchen table....we got to add the leaf for the first time. :)

The most special thing about the day (apart from family time) was waking up to Georgia's first white Christmas in over 20 years. We got around 6 inches....enough to look out at glistening white heaps and mounds and icicle covered trees......enough for zac to get out his snowboard and for the kids to build a snowman (I stayed inside with a cup of starbucks holiday blend coffee....)

Trinity went out for awhile but got tired and had some more Q.T. time with her dollhouse and new baby doll. I love how the little house looks in her room and how that day out her window was a winter wonderland....

I was eventually convinced to go outside to take some family pictures....Tristan was trying to nap and not doing a very good job at it. Since we don't actually own a coat for him I decided against letting him play outside.

So, here's to another Christmas. It was special having Grammy and Granddaddy here.....having a distraction and someone to share a day with - doesn't happen much for us. The snow was also such a nice treat from God. As we were putting away some of the decor this year my mind did what it does best...wanders to the future. I couldn't stop thinking about how fast time flies and next year we will have four littles around us...maybe a new house if God chooses, maybe answers for Brady....maybe school starting for Trin - SO MANY THINGS. I'm excited about this year coming up....excited for maybe the *completion* of our family (if there are no *oops* afterwards :0 ), excited about the things that we will be learning and the ways we will be growing. Zac and I will be celebrating 7 years together in a little over a week...how did THAT happen?!

I hope all of you had a Merry Christmas....

Gingerbread Day

The kids have been asking and asking to make gingerbread men for about a week now....the problem? I have no gingerbread cookie cutter...and today I had no car. So....that little project will have to be for next week...today we did make gingerbread stars, trees, and stockings though. I've gotten brave and actually set up little "decorating stations" here recently for the kids and let them go to town with sprinkles and icing.

Brady with his goodies....the tongue? Boys will be boys. Zac was reading to me the other day from his new "How To Be a Better Husband book' (smiles) about not correcting boys for their maleness...just for sin. I've really taken this to heart lately....a lot of things that Brady is interested in I'm realizing is just because he is a little dude, and as long as he is directed in the right way..it's harmless. Sword fights are harmless...as long as he's fighting for good. Guns are fine....as long as his bullets are going towards a target and not a human....tongues sticking out in pictures is fine...as long as he isn't sticking his tongue out at me with a bad attitude.

Trinity and her little treasures....

And I saved a few for myself to decorate not realizing how much I enjoy icing cookies....and eating them.

Winter is the king of showmen,

...Turning tree stumps into snow men

And houses into birthday cakes

And spreading sugar over the lakes.

Smooth and clean and frost white

The world looks good enough to bite.

That's the season to be young,

Catching snowflakes on your tongue.

Snow is snowy when it's snowing

I'm sorry it's slushy when it's going.

Ogden Nash

Christmas Tree Struggle = A Change of Heart

This season's Christmas tree search wasn't as romantically festive as year's past. Generally we would bundle up in coats and scarves, drive to the local Christmas tree farm....get out with smiles on our faces and thoughts of hot cocoa by the fire later...twinkling lights and shiny new ornaments. For 3 years in a row we have scouted out the *perfect* little tree...and then our particular farm allows you to chop it down..they then shake it and tie it to the top of your car....and you go home with thoughts on all things magical.
This year we drove up to the Kroger parking lot...Zac let me hop out to go in and grab some yogurt and canned goods in peace...then he and the kids went to choose one of the trees in the front of the store. I got back and zac was already tying it to the top of the van. I just said "well, at least the tree of choice will be a total surprise to me this year." It really was hectic...Brady was having a mini meltdown and Tristan was ready for lunch - so we just basically took care of business.

TWO DAYS LATER....we began decorating it...in the middle of the day...NO CANDLES LIT...NO CHRISTMAS MUSIC PLAYING....just *began.* It really did feel like one of those times that we needed to just get through....to give the kids their memory but with no expectations or preconceived notions about how the whole ordeal should go down. End Result : A beautiful tree, happy kids, and just as many cute pictures as years past. Kroger or the Christmas tree farm...they really didn't care as long as there was a box of candy canes to spread out over the tree's bare branches.
Internal Result : a sense of accomplisment and new thoughts about how to handle next year's festivities in a more orderly festive fashion. A tinge of sadness as not having my normal tradition...

It's always fun unpacking ornaments and remembering when each was made or bought....from who they were from or for...love that part so much. Every year we try to get each kid an ornament of their very own and I write their name and date on it somewhere...this way when they move away from home and are ready to have a tree of their very own....they'll have a small box of "beginnings" from their past.

Every time I see a picture of Brady lately my heart starts to throb and hurt just a little bit...also swell with pride and joy and love. I can't believe how very tall and old he is looking - he'll be five this month folks....I WILL BE THE MOTHER OF A FIVE YEAR OLD. So strange.

Trin was promised the privilege of putting the star on the top of the tree this year....one of the things we used to console her for her 2 day *decorating wait.* She was elated. :)

Brady saw how much fun Trin had flying through the air in daddy's arms so he quickly asked me if he could have the honor next year. :) Funny what simple things make kids happy.

Daddy and the star topper...in all her goofy squirrelishness.

The tree could definitely use more lights but we bought the LED ones this year and thought one box would do it...you live and learn. I must admit that the *hanging of the green* this year came with a lot of pressure instead of it's normal simple sweetness...mostly pressure that I put on myself. I think I just viewed the whole thing as a chore for some reason...instead of a joy.

However....every night that I sit in our living room and look around at the hung stockings(Zac already has mine bulging...he's so thoughtful) and the collection of ornaments on the tree and all of the candy canes the kids are DYING to sample...I'm filled with happiness and contentment. I wish I could have been at the place in my heart on the day we picked out our tree...kind of like most things these days. I guess the most important thing learned though is that 'i got there.' I think that's what I'm learning MOST right now day to day...just finally getting to that place in my heart - the end result is what is important...sometimes it just takes time. :)

Just a Bit of Christmas...

Stockings are hung....minus one. I realized this morning that last year I never purchased/made Koala Bear a stocking for his goodies...mostly because our little bitty babes aren't as included in Christmas festivities as the older littles. This year that just won't do....so, hi ho, hi ho...it's off to the fabric store I go. I did hang up these three, and then I'll have zac and mine on another wall. I don't want to hang them over the fireplace just because I tend to start *stuffing* the stockings much sooner then the 24th of December and I'm afraid chocolate goodness will melt. :)
If you look on the mantel you'll see my new Christmas treasure for the year. I'm not sure if it's a tree topper or just a "tree" but it was handmade in India and I loved the blue color with the red.

And speaking of Koala...he is getting cuter and cuter with each passing day. He is becoming so very verbal, constantly copying his big sister and trying to make believe right along with her. The days are becoming increasingly chilly and in the mornings and evenings - down right COLD! It's beginning to feel like Christmas....

A few days ago we went for a family outing to Costco because we saw they had LED lights for a good price. I'm so tired of hanging the same icicle lights...five years now....that we decided to go with a bit more color. While Zac was busy hanging up the lights in the chilly weather, Squirrel and Koala kept themselves occupied with running about the yard and getting into all sorts of mischief. :)

Here's Trin *leading* back a lost sheep who had wandered into the neighbors yard. Such a good big sister....such a passive little brother.

The men folk busy at making our porch *festive.*

It got a bit too cold for the littles so they came inside and cuddled up with books while daddy continued on in his perfectionist hanging of the lights. When Zac does a job...he does it right. :)

Tristan chewed a little...those back teeth coming in sure have been bothering the little fella. Aren't they just so cozy?

And after the hard work and a supper of spaghetti...we celebrated with some delicious chocolate cookies that I found at Kroger...ready made organic cookie dough for 2 bucks....SCORE!

Today has been raining and raining (I think 3 inches the news said) so we have been rather sequestered. I tried playing some Christmas music but the atmosphere seemed a little more dreary than *magical.* Tomorrow I hope to get out and think of some fun Christmas crafts for the kids...and I STILL haven't been able to get any ground ginger! Tomorrow, tomorrow.

For those of you interested...I DID get up early this morning and have quiet time alone in the living room...just me, my Bible and journal, a good strong cup of coffee and a flickering fire. *note to self* - ALWAYS have the coffee set up and set the timer for 5 minutes before the alarm goes off. Such a nice way to wake up...to the smell of freshly brewed coffee. The time was so good for my spirit and such a nice way to start the day. I hope to repeat the experience tomorrow...I know my soul needs it and I was able to really think on *things above.* thanks for those of you who sent me encouraging words after my post last night...you are all so truly dear.