2016 Christmas Card

My dad has this thing about Christmas card pictures. He wants the picture close up and cropped so he can see the actual kid, how they've grown. His pet-peeve is pictures that are too zoomed out. "I want to see your family! Not the whole lake!" he'll say. So I tried to crop this picture that we took on Thanksgiving, with Dad in mind. But when Rory saw it he said, "but it's so fun to see how tall the kids have grown." So we have a zoomed out picture. Sorry Dad.

We went with Tiny Prints again this year because they are awesome and generous and simply want me to help them spread the word about their gorgeous cards. I'm happy to do so. Christmas cards have been flooding our mailbox this month and I love it so much. There is no other time of the year when we get such fun mail! And I still believe that a card sent in January or February is perfectly welcome. In fact, they probably get a bit more attention. Rory and I sent out valentine-christmas cards one year. And I'm still glad we did.

So if you're looking to join in the fun mail train, you can click over to this link at Tiny Prints to see what deals, specials and beautiful cards they are offering this year. Super awesome: EVERYTHING is up to 40% off thru December 15th (the end of the day!)

And this year I ordered a self-inking return address stamp!I love it so, so much! I'd show it, except that it's our home address. Ha! But you can see all those options right here.

This is my third collaboration with Tiny Prints and I really do love their products. Remember my Christmas Light Thank You's? It's still in my top 5 of most hilarious awkward moments.

the third week of Advent

The first week of December our whole family had the flu. We each got it a different night, which I suppose was the best way for five of us to get the flu, but it made for a really long week of laying low and laundry. And I got it last, which meant all the apple sauce, bananas and saltines had been consumed the days prior. But I made up for it in cinnamon toast and sprite.

The second week of December we took our very first family road trip to Kentucky! Three weeks ago Rory handed me a piece of paper with a map and day-by-day itinerary and told me we were going to take the kids on a trip. I was thrilled as road trips are basically my love language. We visited my Aunt Connie and Uncle Paul and cousins Jessica and Isaac and it was so awesome. I will blog about the whole trip at length...the whole thing was so good. And the kids did incredible and super fun memories were made.

And now we're onto the third week of Advent and we're back home but recovering from week one and two and it hardly feels like Christmastime to me. Has this happened to you? Some Decembers I jump in with both feet and others it takes me a while to find my Christmas spirit. Today Rory put the star up in the barn along with a candle in each upstairs window. It's really lovely and feels like a step in the right direction.

Other than that, I have been prepping the kids for Santa Lucia Day on Tuesday morning. They are excited, except that I just heard Elsie threaten Ivar, "If you keep being mean to me, I will not bring you cookies in bed because I'm Lucia!"

So we've got a ways to go to find our Christmas Spirit! But we'll get a tree this week and play in the foot of new snow we got overnight. And tomorrow I hope to make cookies and try to explain the generous and giving heart of Lucia which should keep us moving towards the true meaning of holy time of preparing for Jesus' birth.

this pregnancy so far...

Basically each day around 4:00 I get a wave of nausea that hangs around until bedtime. I feel crummy, but need to eat, and only odd things sound good to me. This is quite peculiar to Rory who will hear me talk about how sick I feel, and moments later find me in the kitchen heating salami, and wrapping a pickle with cream cheese in the middle. He'll say things like, "I thought you weren't feeling well." Even on the forth time around, pregnancy is still mystifying.

Other than that, I can't complain. I truly can't. I know the spectrum of sick from my pregnancy with Elsie, and this is nothing to complain about. I'm carrying a little life in me. I'm fine. Just don't say anything about my warm salami roll ups.

for the love of a good blog

Last week, while sick in bed, I checked A Beautiful Mess where Elsie announced that she and her husband are adopting. She shared that a few years ago she and her husband followed a blogger named Ashley as she wrote about the adoption of her own little girl from China and it really stirred their hearts. So I clicked over to read a little of Ashley's story and basically read a year or two of her life all surrounding the time she was waiting for, receiving and finally bringing her daughter home. My heart swelled while I read each post and I felt so grateful for her writing.

It's amazing how blogs can do that, isn't it? I sat in bed sick with sick kids laying all around me and got to peek in on another person's wondrous life, a life she is living fully and passionately, and it left me wanting to live fuller too. Ashley is an artsy-crafty girl, but wrote about how she tries to tackle small projects, even ones that take ten minutes, just to fulfill that need to create. She seemed very practical and intentional.

Anyway, I had Rory read a few posts and I told him what a gift blogs are for me. There are some blogs that make you feel less than, instagram accounts that make you feel left out or lacking. But then there are some that are completely the opposite. The ones that show you someone who is fully alive and leave you wanting to live your life that fully too.

So if you're looking for some good browsing, clicking and binge reading, I highly recommend Ashley's adoption story. It's so tender and beautiful. I felt grateful the whole time I read it for parents who hear the call to adopt and become Mom and Dad to these little babes.

This link will go to all of her posts written about her adoption process. If I were you, I'd start with "If we could sit down and have a cup of coffee" and then proceed clicking through to their trip to China to bring home their daughter. And once you've read those, you'll want to back up and read all of the pre-story too. Enjoy!

hattie's earrings

Apparently these pumpkin spice cheerios are bit stickier than the usual, but Hattie wears them very nicely. The kids were in stitches the whole meal when Hattie wore her special hoop earring.

Hattie is a kick these days. She is so busy. And into everything. Our house has a very minimalist look to it because if she can reach it, it will be reached. I have a friend who has a two year old and when you ask him what his name is (Bo) he replies with a straight face, "No, no, Bo bo."  Hattie will likely feel the same way, except her name would be a very exasperated, "Ah! Hattie! No!" I lovingly call her the terrorizer because she is always freaking someone out. I'll hear her dad, "Ah! Hattie! No! Not the papers in my laptop bag!" I'll hear her siblings, "Hattie! No! Mom! Our puzzle! Get Hattie!" Or when I find her in the bathroom, "Ah! Hattie! No! Not in the toilet! Kids! We have to keep this door closed!"

She keeps us on our toes, proudly and quickly crawls up the stairs and then claps for herself. She monkeys around on all the furniture and stands on her own, but doesn't seem to feel the necessity to take a step. She's a fast crawler, a great eater and gives great snuggles, hugs and kisses. So she's a snuggly terrorizer.