Performances

Some people talk about how busy and crazy this time of year is and how it's work to remain sane in the midst of it. I don't know if we are kind of lame or if we just try to keep things pretty simple in general, because I love this time of year! I love excuses to get dressed, excuses to celebrate, reasons to feel like a moment is extra special and these days are full of these kinds of goodness.

Last week was Sydney's little pre-school winter program and it was such fun to see her up there with her buddies, all shy and sweet singing classic carols and a few her teacher wrote (e.x. "I like snow, but I don't shovel the driveway..." and "Here comes Suzy Snowflake dressed in her snow white gown...) Nick's parents came for the event and Sydney was silly with pride. We left the cookie party early to go to for hot chocolate and eggnog lattes (why can't we have these all winter?) and it finished off the fun little afternoon perfectly.

Sunday was Elias' debut in the church Christmas program and you would have thought he had a leading role instead of being a barnyard animal extra (well, a giraffe) from the look of pride on his little face. Sydney about mothered him to death on stage, but he put up with it since he was so happy to be a part of the big kid show.



I love our church's Christmas program because we rehearse for not long the day before and they begin the service by inviting anyone who wants to join in, to go downstairs for a costume. No one thinks she's Shirley Temple, there are no solos or memorized parts and I always leave smiling because so much of what makes our church great comes out in the simplicity and beauty of the kids singing Christmas carols and reminding us of the story of Christmas. I think it will be a sad day when the kids don't dress as angels or animals and get up there and simply glow with pride simply because they are on stage with their friends singing "Jesus is a light for us..." But I'm sure those years will have other joys that will make the season just as special. For now, I'm really enjoying the season as experienced alongside little eyes full of wonder and glee.

Carmel Battle 2011

Sometimes when there are important things to worry about, I instead throw my thoughts into something else, something silly, but usually rewarding. Case in point: the carmel battle of 2011. Remember that picture I posted a few weeks back? That little jar of carmel made me really, really happy. It tasted like the carmel from Apple Hill, near my hometown. My mom has sent me a carmello (marshmellow in the middle in a big, heavenly blob of perfect carmel) most years since I moved away from home and that little treat wrapped in wax paper is one of my favorite treats of the year.

Well, I was so excited about my successful carmel outing that I tried to make some to give to friends and family. I followed the same recipe and the same steps (I thought) but each batch came out a little bit crunchy. Or too salty. One day I consumed about half my original jar trying to figure out where I'd gone wrong-- tasting "wrong" carmel, tasting "right carmel" repeat about 10 times, heavy on the right carmel. ugh. It became a little bit of a sickness and one day I was actually sad in the afternoon because I couldn't win the carmel battle. I took a week off to recover from my crazy.

Today, I decided I was allowed to try one last time and I promised myself that if it didn't turn out I was retiring from carmel forever. Neither of my kids were napping, even though they woke up in the neighborhood of 5:30 a.m., so I thought resuming the carmel project would be better than freaking out over naps. Well, folks it worked. We have a nice little jar of creamy and just-right salty carmel in the fridge. I feel a bit ill from licking the spoon and the pan and checking the sauce too many times. But at least I won the battle. And, my kids still haven't napped, but no one has yelled or talked grumpy, not once, and that my friends is a miracle.

phew.

December 10 on 10

What fun the 10th was this month - the first day of the knitting club my friend and I have been trying to start for a year now (I took a picture on the walk, but forgot to take one of our busy hands and big mugs o' lattes) and then the annual family shopping trip that includes an early dinner at PF Chang's.

bring it

I don't know if it's because I feel like fall kind of passed me by in the blur of the move and packing and then unpacking, but I am SUPER ready for the Christmas season this year. Last year, Sydney woke up every day asking me if it was Christmas Eve and every day I replied, "It's the Christmas season!" I, for one, think the whole season is such fun! I woke up crazy early this morning and sat sipping my coffee by the light of the Christmas tree while reading A Christmas Carol in a sleeping house. These little moments are what make the season bliss for me--beauty and light and silence.

In this spirit, we already have our tree up and somewhat decorated. It was very exciting to travel just a few blocks to our favorite Christmas Tree lot and be there and back in the time it would usually take us to drive there. Sadly, all of the pictures are blurry (I think my trusty little camera is on her last leg). You'll just have to trust me that there was cuteness among the trees as the kids hid and chased and generally squealed in delight.

Today, I did a trial run of the lovely salted carmel sauce that I was hoping to make as teacher gifts and neighbor gifts instead of the usual fudge or cookie plate. (If you go to make it, also visit this blog. She adds more details to the recipe for us caramel rookies.) Well, it turned out so good that I want to sit and eat the whole jar by the spoonful with Christmas music playing in the background. If you are related to me or live anywhere near me, you had better tell me if your heart doesn't go pitter pat over buttery carmel.

I hope you are enjoying the beginnings of the festive season as much as we are! I also hope that fewer ornaments have fallen victim to toddler/pre-schooler hands in your house. We've had several funerals for special ornaments loved to death.

Thanksgiving

What a wonderful Thanksgiving we had. Last year I thought we'd perfected the holiday with sledding and walks in the snow and tons of food...but this year rivaled it in goodness. Maybe because I didn't have to cook? (bless you, MaryLou, queen of hostesses) Because my sis and her boys were here? Because we got to go shopping for one glorious hour in Macy's sans bebes? (and an hour is about all I can take of serious shopping days)

Whatever the secret ingredient, it was marvelous and I came away from the celebration feeling very thankful indeed. Most of all for the wonderful family I have been blessed with, from birth and from marriage. I think that may be the biggest blessing there is.

curtains for my sister (sort of)

My sister is on her way to my house right now! It's just a 3 1/2 hour drive, so I'm all giddy and doing things I shouldn't be doing, like sewing new kitchen curtains.

But, my sis is driving here under different life conditions than the last time she made the voyage and this afternoon, after attempting to make flavored creamer for her, planning a fun dinner and breakfast for her and the boys, getting the beds and hide-a-bed ready I still had creative energy to burn on her behalf. She is where all my thoughts and prayers have been turning in spare moments, so I decided to sew these curtains for her to enjoy while she's here.

Because the Eiffel tower is kind of our symbol. When she was about to graduate from college, we saved our money, packed up our walking shoes and power bars and went to France for a week. We walked all the way from our hostel to the Eiffel Tower because we were too cheap to pay for a bus and we like to walk. It was an epic walk, but it made our viewing of the tower all the more glorious for the miles we had put in to see it up close.

On this trip we had another epic walk that I like to think sums up our love for each other. We were in Nice and there was a Matisse museum a long (again) uphill walk from where we were staying and on the way it started to dump rain on us. As in, when we got there our underwear were wet. Well, it wasn't the most fun walk and once we got there we were trying to dab some of the water off of ourselves in the bathroom before traipsing through the museum. Somehow one of us said something like, "Well, I hope you really enjoy this!" (without snark) and we realized that each of us had been trudging up that hill in the rain for the other one. I thought she REALLY wanted to see the museum and she thought I REALLY wanted to see it. So, we had both suffered a severe drenching in silence, out of love. We laughed and both enjoyed the museum, leaving puddles everywhere we went.

Lately, I've been praying and crying on my sweet sister's behalf and my big sister heart so badly wants to fix what's gone awry. But, sadly, I'm inadequate to the task. I can't fix anything, but I can love her fiercely and do silly things with that love, like sew these cheery curtains for her to enjoy while she's here. And, to have them as a happy reminder to pray for her without ceasing, whenever I see these little curtains.

I love you so, HeatherB!

Home Tour!

Several of you have asked for pictures of the house. Part of me doesn't want to post them since we are in between the "before" and "after" of what we want to do here, but I'll post just a little bit so you can see where we are.

Come spring, we hope to paint the house taupe or grey or something with creamy trim.

Living Room before:

After Nick built a half wall to create an ingle nook, covered the popcorn ceiling with paneling, moved the fireplace, made a new hearth and painted the room taupe and cream instead of peach and green and white. He did 90% of this in one day. He's amazing!:


The window over the couch was one of the first things that drew me to the house. It was the first living room that we'd peeked in that had a window full of trees. Just what I like!


Now, this room, our dining at my sewing table/art/laundry room is the most undesirable spot in the house, but at least it's cream now and not blue and yellow!

See how I'm cheating here and only showing you the pretty light and creamy paint?

Before bathroom:

After bathroom with a fresh coat of paint and a new shower curtain and rug thanks to my Mom & Target!

Kitchen:

All that's really new here is a different rug and our happy colored dishes on the shelves. I hope to paint over the peach sponge paint so soon!

We will have to forego the before pictures for the last two rooms since my computer is not cooperating with uploading.

Our room: What you can't see is that our room has the only spot for the tv right now, so we have a nice big flatscreen on Nick's dresser. kinda silly. kinda fun. You can tell the kids were kicked off the bed for this photo as the comforter is all frumpy. drat.

And, finally the kids' room and the bunkbeds that are so much fun that we still are not sleeping properly. Elias has a name flag that was flying in his section of the bed, but he ripped it off. three times. And, I spent quite a bit of time on my hands and knees finding the thumbtacks, so we're going to take a break from that cuteness for now.

It's cozy here, but we are really enjoying our new home!

First Snow

Hello Friends! It's been a while! We are still here, pluckin' along in our new little house. The addition did not get complete before our move, so "little" is quite appropriate. I think we are currenly living in 700 or 800 square feet. You know what's strange? It feels just fine. I have not missed the Treefort one time, even when our little cottage was cluttered with boxes and it took the kids 2+ hours to go to sleep at night due to their excitement over their new bunkbeds. Last night it only took them 45 minutes to calm down for sleep, which is a big improvement!Today has been one of the days that captures why we moved. Nick woke up in the middle of the night and walked to his office to get some work done. He had walked back by 9:30 or so and we all snuggled into our snow gear and went out for a walk and some sledding at a park a few blocks away. The streets were silent and beautiful, but every once in a while we would see another family a block or so away out for a similar excursion. We sledded in teams down some wonderfully long hills covered in perfect powder and we ran into some friends who were also sledding. This sounds like such a small thing, but it's one of those small things we didn't have in our old neighborhood. On the way home I thought of 3 other families within easy walking distance of the park that we could have called to meet us and it just felt so neighborly and wonderful.It's still dumping snow, Nick went a few blocks to check in on a roof and the kids are creating and creating at their art table. Life is good.