Tuesday, December 27, 2011

the beautiful chaos that i call christmas
















This christmas was a bit of a blur... and unfortunately so were most of the pictures that i took of it. But it really was a beautiful sort of chaos. It left me feeling so thankful. Sometimes i just can't believe how lucky i am. How did i end up with so many wonderful people in my life? How was i so lucky to get four perfectly healthy and happy children? I am full of gratitude when i think about all of the people who have done so much for us, and the ones who constantly have us in their thoughts. I am inspired by the selflessness of a certain father in law who came to our house for christmas and worked almost the entire time to fix up our bathroom. I feel thankful for all that they constantly teach me about life and especially about giving this season. 
There is nothing more important than family and i am so lucky to have so many amazing, loving, and thoughtful people in my life. I am so grateful for every single one of them. It really was a merry christmas. Whether you were on the giving, or the receiving, end this season... i hope you realize how lucky you are... that either you had someone thinking about you or you inspired gratitude in someone else. it is a beautiful thing.

Friday, December 16, 2011

the holiday bustle and flurry















did i really say something about posting twice a week? HA! i don't know what i was thinking... please disregard that. my posts throughout december will be quite sporadic. how are your holidays going? i hope they are peaceful and merry. we have had a lot of crafting going on around here.the kids have been very involved this year... which on one hand is just wonderful... and on the other hand is a bit stressful (not gonna lie here, it is). so, i'm going to make a little list to tell you a bit about the photos above.

  • the elizabeth bibesco quote in the window has really been inspiring me lately. "blessed are those who can give without remembering and take without forgetting." beautiful words.
  • the candies pictured above... peppermint bark and chocolate truffles... yum. there is a link to the peppermint bark recipe i used in my sidebar. i highly recommend it. it is amazing. it is very important to use the real white chocolate with cocoa butter though. very very important.
  • until a few weeks ago i did not know that there was real white chocolate. i thought it was all just made from sugar. no idea that there was supposed to be cocoa butter in there. i thought that i hated white chocolate. i was really missing out. if you are also missing out... i am really glad you know the truth now.
  • the little one (10 1/2 months now!!!) is suddenly growing up fast. sitting up, crawling, feeding herself, cutting new teeth like crazy, imitating all sorts of words... fun. i knew she would catch up but i didn't realize it would happen quite so fast.
  • the ornaments are our textured clay ornaments... link in the sidebar. they are a lot of fun and turn out so beautifully. sometime soon i need to post a more thorough tutorial.
  • the little tins contain peppermint lip balm (once again... link in my sidebar). this is a very simple and fun gift to make. one quick batch fills a dozen tins. the ingredients are coconut oil, honey, peppermint essential oil, and bees wax. it feels so wonderful on the lips. yes.... that's right.... i stole one for myself... trust me you would do the same.
  • and finally... after searching and searching for the doll i was hoping to find for eislee and not finding anything remotely close. i (last minute) decided to make one for her. now, i don't know why i do this to myself. i have been thinking about making the doll in that book for over a year now and kept putting it off. then a week and a half before christmas i decide to go for it? i know... enough said. wish me luck! (i am really gonna need it).
  • oh and so you don't get any sort of crazy idea in your head the i am capable of "doing it all." i want you to know that i'm not. my house is a disaster. did you notice how most of my pictures are close-ups? that's because i'm cropping out the mess. just so you know.
so that's what has been going on in this house lately. the last day of school is today and i am really hoping for a calm and peaceful week of christmas... and i am wishing the same for you.

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

around the house : : it's beginning to look a lot like christmas













  •  the frosty mornings are making it look and feel like winter
  • every single bit of christmas that we have is out and layla says it's still not enough i think we will be making many more of those giant snowflakes (tutorial for those coming soon)
  • i will be making yet another stocking for our dear ollie... a white one with a green top (hopefully i can find some more of that fabric i used for the others)
  • my little ones have began making their christmas presents with layla leading the pack
  • does anyone else get choked up reading christmas stories? (please tell me i'm not the only one)
  • loving our new advent box.... those little drawers leave so many possibilities
  • hoping that your holidays are full of peace and happiness!

Wednesday, November 30, 2011

when i'm stuck in a rut






sometimes i feel so frustrated with life and how it will never slow down... no matter how tired i am... no matter how far behind i am... sigh. i know that realistically it doesn't even matter. i'm never really caught up anyway. but goodness. i think my problem right now is i've lost my motivation, you know, that feeling that there is a really good reason to do the same boring tasks over and over again every day with a smile on your face. yes... that motivation. i typically loose it from time to time... then i get really behind on everything... then all of a sudden my motivation comes back... HA! i think it's after dealing with being behind for a while and hating it, then suddenly i realize again why it is so important to do those same boring tasks each day... for my sanity... but of course taking a break from those tasks is also for my sanity... don't you think? matt always says that i lost my sanity a long time ago so i really shouldn't worry about it too much... hmmm... thanks matt.

do you want to know how i get out of a rut?

i have found a little pattern that seriously helps me. first i find some music that moves me... energizes me... really makes me feel something... feel alive i guess. i play that music a lot. then i read through old quotes... until i find a couple that really speak to me. i write those on my windows so that i can look at them all day every day. and finally... even though there are a million other tasks requiring my attention... i blow them all off and do something that i want to do just because i've been wanting to do it.

this combination of things works for me every single time. and i think today is the day. it's time to come out of this rut. thank you for letting me use you as a journal today. i hope it wasn't too boring. i promise next time i will share something christmas!

Friday, November 25, 2011

an unexpected thanksgiving






our typical thanksgiving is getting up early, getting everyone ready, driving over to the valley, and then house jumping until late into the evening from family party to family party. now... i actually do enjoy this... i love getting to see everybody. but i have always wondered what a quiet thanksgiving at home would be like. this year we had planned on our usual thanksgiving circus. that was until our littlest one came down with the flu the day before... and then the three well children decided to go ahead and travel over to the valley with their grandparents... and before we new it... we had a very quiet thanksgiving at home. all we did was take care of the little one and prepare our feast. simple. then the power went out again (wind storms, sheesh!) and i continued to prepare the food with high hopes that the power would come back on just in time (it's possible right?) and matt created an oven on top of our wood stove (have i mentioned how brilliant my husband is? so handy that man). now i was right and the power did come back on just in time... but we still cooked the sweet potatoes in matt's oven... just because... and they were cooked to perfection. it really was amazing. he made it out of old flashing from our house. now, in case anyone is worried about little ollie.... she is already back to her old self... so don't worry. and if your curious about this blog... i am planning to start posting at least once a week (hopefully twice) now that i have started figuring out matt's computer. hope everyone had a wonderful holiday!

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

This crazy life

Well... My computer is out of service again and this time it's for good. I'm lucky though because lisa is letting me borrow her iPad. it's been so fun getting to experience this new adventure but goodness i am having quite the time trying to use it to update my blog! I have many adorable pictures that Rebecca took during her visit that I can not seem to post no matter how hard I try. And then there is that little problem of having to type on a computer screen.... Wow! I will probably just have to learn to use matts computer to post on here. At least now you know why I've been absent. Hope to post again soon with lots of great photos!

Friday, November 4, 2011

the end of october
















 the very last evening of october. halloween. we had a wonderful time. my sisters and soon to be brother in law made the trip over here to spend the evening with us. we all met up in nye beach and arrived to late for the scheduled "early" trick or treat and arrived to early for the traditional after dark trick or treating ...and so... we wandered the streets in a sort of limbo. until we stopped to draw with chalk on the walls of cafe mundo and the amazing sound of sweet reggae and warm lentil soup brought us inside. i must say that cafe mundo is my absolute favorite place to go in this entire coastal area. if you visit newport you really must check it out. it's located in nye beach "the heart of newport" directly across from nana's irish pub (another favorite of mine). anyway, after mundo we hit the streets and were sooo surprised at how things have changed since we were kids (i'm sure we are not the first or last to think this). when did everyone start going to only one neighborhood? on the oregon coast? i couldn't believe it... there was no one in nye beach! we walked a few blocks.... found three houses... and their bags were full of candy. the houses we went to hadn't seen a single trick or treater and gave mine all of their candy (ugh!). i was thinking more along the lines of visit ten houses and come away with ten pieces of candy.... definitely not three houses and twenty candies! we had a wonderful time though... i will be going to mundo for halloween again.. that was great. the kids looked so adorable in their costumes too! i'm sure you can probably tell what they were from the pictures but just in case you can't.... maiko was a skeleton.... layla was little red riding hood.... eislee was a ladybug.... and ollie was a pink bunny. people often thought i was carrying a stuffed animal around and not a baby :) so there it is... our halloween adventure. i suppose i have you all caught up to november now, huh?

many thanks to my amazing sister brittany for sharing all of the halloween photos above. didn't she do an outstanding job? i just love them! thanks a million britt!