Easter Part 2

We had an Easter dinner and Easter egg hunt at my sister-in-law's house.  I took a couple of random photos of her house because I think she is so creative and I enjoy her style-- it is so happy.  She made the frames and the cute thing in the second photo herself.

All of my kids love to play at their house.  My in-laws are kind, fun, and patient; we always enjoy ourselves.

The cousins! 

Sorry I was absent yesterday, we made a last-minute trip to see my mom for the day, just because we could!  We had a great time.  Always so refreshing to go home and see my parents.  I have some fun photos for next week.

Have a wonderful weekend, friends! 

Happy Love Day

Happy Valentines Day everyone!  I used to feel grumpy on this day, but my kids just make it so fun.  That whole magic of childhood thing, or something like that.  Enjoy a few photos from my four year-olds Valentine class ballet and a special Valentine holder made by my girls that I thought was just so stinkin' cute (they did it with no help from me).  And my husband is taking me out for pizza tonight.  Little did he know that when he married me, he married pizza.  What a good sport.





Note that Mr. Snowman is holding a Valentine.  I found a similar one on my nightstand this morning, as did everyone else in the family.  One little girl in this family is so cute that way-- she loves the holidays and loves to write sweet notes.  She teaches me a thing or two all the time. :)

I hope you have a wonderful day!  Love from all of us.

Thanksgiving Part Deux

We enjoyed a second turkey day this year with my family because our cute Yankees came to visit.  (These are only a couple months late!)  Enjoy.

Harpy New Ear

We enjoyed a slow New Years Day together after a (sort of) late night drinking a little apple-juice bubbly, because we're fancy like that.  :)

Notice Emerson, who zonked out in his high chair.  SO cute!   And a whole buncha' holiday junk food.

Playing games with the grandparents.

Holiday hair, too.

The dad does projects, because he is awesome like that.

My hands grew to mommy size overnight and I'm not sure how I feel about it!

Sledding!  Coooooolllllddddd.   And an icy hill made for a crazy run!  But it was so fun!  A fave new activity.

Probably my favorite photo of the day!  Love these guys~ it's so fun to watch them, they really get into sledding.

Reminded me of when my husband and I were just friends; we went sledding very late at night on a steep icy hill all alone in the moonlight.  It was so packed down and fast that we kept hurting ourselves.  Only, we laughed and laughed in a sort of can't-control-ourselves-sick sort of way.  We nicknamed the various hills.  One was "The Scraper," and another was "T-bone," because it really did a number on your tailbone, if you know what I mean.  One of my favorite early memories with my husband.

How was your New Years?  Do you like to be lazy, or get things done?  Any traditions?  Do you stay up until midnight?  I'm boring-- my sleep is so precious and sparse, I'd rather be sleeping!

Goals tomorrow!   Tortoise and the hare, I tell you.

Bethlehem Dinner

This is the second year we've had a special dinner on Christmas Eve.  Another idea I got from a family I knew in Dallas.  We attempted to dress like and eat as the people of Israel would have 2000 years ago.  (I know we're waaaaay off)

Of course Christmas Eve is a crazy time for parents, right?  And of course we (should I say "I") procrastinated making our gifts from the heart until Christmas Eve day, so the house was a wreck, we had company coming, and I had yet to make the dinner.  So our outfits definitely left something to be desired (ha, just check out our "sashes"-- old tights, we have plenty of those).  And I didn't comb any one's hair, either.  But it was the thought that counted.

Again the kids and I made this bread together.  It's not as hard as it looks and they loved helping me braid it.  And man alive, that stuff is good.  (I linked to a recipe from Smitten Kitchen, but I used a recipe from America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook)  In a way, it was nice to have a mini-cultural lesson aside from the Christmas thing altogether.

I was really nervous about asking guests to sit on the floor and eat with their hands.  But they were very good sports.  And my kids just loved sitting on the floor and eating with their hands for once!  And I shut off the lights and lit a few candles, and they loved that too. Christmas gets so crazy with all the things that start to seem like must-haves.  Including the fancy tree and presents.  Yet sitting on the floor, eating basic food with our hands, remembering the humble circumstances surrounding what I want my kids to see as the real reasons for our celebrating Christmas (this is just my family!  Christmas can mean different things to different people, or maybe your family celebrates Hanukkah or Kwanzaa).  It brought the simplicity home.  And that special Christmas feeling sunk into all hearts.  And it brought so much into perspective-- just how much we have to be thankful for.  (we joked that at least we weren't sitting on a dirt floor outside!)

When we were finished we watched these beautiful Luke 2 videos. 

Things got really quiet and a little more somber, for lack of a better word.  I knew they were thinking.  The Spirit of Christmas was really strong and quiet.

We exchanged our little handmade gifts.

 And we topped it off by having pie and milk in the kitchen.

O Holy Night.

This dinner was my idea, my husband is supporting me by making sure people feel authentic.  If a brown or pink towel make you feel authentic.

It's a good thing I'm taken, or I'm sure they'd be knockin' down the door about now after seeing me in this photo.

 My father-in-law graciously accepted the task of making this dish.  Probably much more "authentic" than I would have.  He is a great cook-- it was yummy.

 Huh!  Didn't notice Bob Cratchit carrying his little Tiny Tim in the bottom of this photo until now.  Perfect for Christmas Eve dinner.

 Paper plates extra authentic, too.

 And a little boy who is much more interested in cup stacking than dinner.  Maybe the tights around his waist have affected his appetite.