tons of beautiful: Holidays

Showing posts with label Holidays. Show all posts

Mother's Day

It's been sooo long since I've blogged.

Every little bit of time I've had lately has been sucked up by our basement and consequently a rummage sale. So. Much. Work.

To say that I'm relieved it's over would be the biggest understatement of the year.

Spending my days in the garage when only a few feet away, the sunshine is gleaming on the driveway. Not my idea of fun.

But it's over.

And we've got a lot less stuff.

And the money is going to a good cause.

It's a win win baby.

Part of me wondered what my emotions would be like this Mother's Day.

Wondering if I'd be sad, not having a little baby to hold, and wondering

if grief would rear it's ugly head again.

But, I'm not.

Last week, what-would-have-been-our-due-date came and went.

I forgot.

And I'm so thankful.

I have two beautiful children that God has given me.

Two amazing little people that fill my time,

and two crazy beautiful souls who shock me sometimes because of their love.

When we went through our miscarriage last fall, I used to write down my

prayers daily. Over and over and over again, I asked God to change

me, to change my family. To impact our lives, to truly make a difference,

so that we could all look back and say "it is well with my soul."

God has answered that prayer.

Truly.

And "it is well with my soul."

My heart is forever changed, in so many ways, because of being a mother.

Thank you Jesus.

The way we celebrate

We had a wonderful new years.

quiet.

My favorite.

Mike took off on new years eve, which was such a treat for me.

We took the kids to a little party at the library.

It was like "library goes wild".

I do have to humor myself.

Some planned out, thought out, delicious meals.

Though not picture worthy, playtime is.

Counting my blesssing, these are my biggest three:

And so looking forward to the year ahead.

It's gonna be good.

Mike's teasing, it will be good.

Her most favorite thing

Last night, we planned on taking the kids to a live nativity that my friend told me about. It was raining, then drizzling, and I told Mike that I didn't even really feel like going.

But I knew Eden was excited, and I love her love of the Christmas story. It's her favorite story ever. And she loves to act it out herself. I think there's rarely a day that goes by where she doesn't.

This was Eden one night last week: can you guess what she was playing?

We did go, and it was amazing. So amazing.
It wasn't just a live nativity, it was like a mini outdoor play. We all sat on hay bales, and the drizzle didn't even dampen the mood.

I'll never forget the look on Eden's face. It was hard for me to capture it, as she was on my lap. She told us in the car that it was "brilliant, just brilliant". I agree. There's something about the Christmas story that is so magical, far beyond what any fairy tale is, yet it's real, it happened.

My pictures are pretty awful, but they're for Eden. She'll remember what it was like, despite the junky pictures.

And my favorite:

Hope you all do something to refocus your Christmas on the true meaning!

My week and Thanksgiving

This week was fabulous. I love that I can type that.

We had some friends over, I accomplished some little projects, hint, hint:

and I focused my attention. One thing that's been so helpful to me, lately, and in all of my life is to keep a journal. This week I wrote down some goals that I wanted to accomplish, and what do you know, my etsy site is almost up and running. I feel proud of myself. I'm sure that it'll probably go something like every other time I've set up my etsy store, as in nothing sells. But that's okay, I had fun doing it.
Eden and I had a lot of plans this week. We made a Christmas chain, and we set up our nativity sets.

And I promised to set up some Christmas lights. This was no small task my friends. It was disastrous.

When I pulled out the wad of lights, and finally untangled them, I lost my footing and smashed the working lights with the crunch of my shoe. It was almost humorous. Then I got out our scary, shaky ladder and tried to hang our one working strand of icicle lights from the gutter above the garage.

Yeah, that didn't go so well either. So, we now have the sorriest display of Christmas lights you've probably ever seen out in our front yard.

But that's okay, the kids seem to think it's pretty cool.

And our Thanksgiving was wonderful. Eden kept breaking out in drama, being Mary, the mother of Jesus, and charming us all. It's really very adorable. And my mom made the. best. turkey. ever. It was so delicious.
But my favorite part about Thanksgiving is always when we go around the table and tell what we're thankful for. Tears well up in my eyes every year, and I love the little bond of intimacy it creates with those at the table. I know I have so much. So much, and I feel grateful all the time. I really do. But this year, I feel especially thankful for Mike. He's everything to me, and I love him more than anything.
Happy Post-Thanksgiving!

Broom ball and church

I don't think I even knew what broom ball was until my sister moved up north. I don't even know if it's one word or two, but it's fun. You run around with your shoes or boots on ice and whack a ball with a stick and try to get it in the goal box.

I like it.

Eden preferred the sledding.

Her and I were talking over lunch yesterday and she began going on about the "woods by Lindsay's".

I grabbed my pen:

"No wolves. No beasts. No bunnies. No giants. No deer. I didn't see anything in the woods. I didn't see any chippies either. No squirrels either."

Little Micah stayed and slept a whole five minutes while we played.

We really enjoyed the Christmas Eve service. I'd have to say it's one of my favorite Christmas traditions that we do.

(Micah is in the front row on my lap.)

Micah got all cuddly and gave me the biggest hug. It melts my heart the way he wraps his chubby little arms around my neck. After he did, I whispered "awww" to him and he slapped me in the face. Ha!

My hubby played worship for my sister's church, not me. I was just playing and practicing my interpretive worship dance. I joke!

My writing really stinks tonight, I'm sick.

So is Mike.

And Eden.

And Micah.

Come to think of it, I think it's a first for our family, all of us being sick.

While my words and motivation are seriously lacking, I did mostly finish Eden's room.

Got the pictures, and hoping to post them tomorrow.

I think getting Eden to help clean her room for the pictures was more laborious than the room transformation.

Tah, tah.

We have to wait another year

Merry Christmas!

This year, my little family drove up to see my sister's big family. It's way, way up there, and as far north as I've ever been in my life. It's beautiful. All of it, my sister's family, their hospitality, their home, the scenery, and their obvious love of Christ.

To say that we had fun would be an understatement, and I truly treasure the memories that we made.

Their isn't much that surpasses good company.

This little tidbit of a picture makes me laugh. I believe Eden has finally met her little rival match. In this picture, peace is abundant, but these little ones sure had some squabbles over the weekend.

Eden started them all, but my little nephew just didn't want to give her the satisfaction of winning every spat and hung in there. He's darling, so is she, but I think they were cuter when they were arguing over whether the dog was a boy or a girl.