to put you in the mood (christmas that is)

have you heard?


i haven't really used my blog for plugging products, but rick starr's new christmas cd, an acoustic christmas, is really fantastic. it's been playing at my house non-stop for the last couple of days and it's really set the tone for me and made me excited that christmas is coming. my teenagers especially love it, the sounds he produces are just beautiful.

we were lucky enough to have a personal performance of this song, and rick's talent blew me away!
to hear a sampling of the rest of the songs on his new christmas cd (and buy one for yourself), go to rickstarrmusic.com.

christmas is coming!

silver lining

i don't really know if i'm quite ready for the slushy white stuff.
especially because we've woken up to it for two mornings in a row.
it stinks to add an extra ten minutes of coats and boots whenever trying to get out the door.
which in this house, is often.
and mucking through slushy parking lots while errand running.
bleh. yuck.

but it sure is pretty.
and like most everything inconvenient, there's a silver lining, like...

fuzzy slippers and sherpa boots
extra blankets on the beds for snuggling at night
a cozy house
kids (especially little ones) in snow pants and all the gear
turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy and pie
never being too hot (which for me, is always)
craft projects at the kitchen table
fire in the fireplace
movies and sherpa blankets on the couch
organizing inside instead of yard work on the outside
creamy soup - well, any kind of soup really
thick, soft scarves (i found the coolest one today!)
beanies that make my dirty hair instantly cute
christmas!
quilting and crocheting
snow angels and sledding
every single little tree branch decorated with flakes
and the hundreds of photos of the tree branches decorated with flakes

oh ya, it all sounds lovely.
but most especially, i'm ready for this...

hot chocolate baby.

in the morning,

or any time at all.

while you were sleeping

leah was pushing

 

 jason was cutting the cord

 

baby was relaxing under the heat lamp, even putting her feet up
NOT crying - not even a peep!

 and getting inked

mom and dad were doting

and i was shooting photos at a rate of three per second
oh, ya, and falling in love with this super sweet, soft, mellow, beautiful soul.

welcome to the family little one.
your birth was definitely worth losing some beauty sleep over

i'm so privileged and honored to have been there

emilia summer

6.5 lbs 20 inches long

"it is not a slight thing, that those so fresh from God, love us." - dickens

every day life

i love the joy of every day life.

these last few weeks have been like that, just really great.

nothing grand or special occasion necessarily,

just regular every day life.

and after moving, and the end of school and busy-ness of everything lately,
i'll take it!
i'm sure the fact that it finally feels like summer has something to do with it.
here's a little looksey at things that made me smile:

grandpa turned fifty nine! 
and so he BBQd burgers and grandma made her famous potato salad.

grandpa knows how to appreciate a funny card.
we sure love this guy.

rich brought home our copy of his game, TS3, so the kids beg him to play it every night when he gets home. even the teenagers who were not necessarily, the targeted demographic, give it two thumbs way up!
good job dad!

we saw TS3 the movie and loved it. even if we were not disney employees, and even if our dad wasn't "part of the magic" of this project (that's what his t-shirt says), we still would have been one of the first families in the door. we have loved these movies since taylor was ONE and currently house the world's biggest fan, his name is ethan.

the end was a little emotional for me and the four year old, but over-all we thought it was great.

ethan and i hung out at the children's museum with cousins while the teenagers were at youth conference. texas cousins were there too - whoohoo! we love this place!

it was FINALLY hot enough to swim.

ethan wore his goggles around the house for about an hour before it was time to go, ready to jump in.

when we walked out to the car, he asked rich, "why is everything blue?"

allie made the best batch of texas sheet cake ever. EVER. this might be my new favorite dessert.

find the recipe at blogger moms cook by clicking HERE.

ethan learned how to cross his eyes with a trick from dad - just follow your finger.

i'm not sure our family has ever laughed so hard.

like i said, simple joy.

i got to hold this sweet new baby for about an hour at the family party.

there's nothing like a snuggly newborn all swaddled and precious.

making friends right next door!

ones who like to play hard!

we are loving our neighborhood.

i had don, the singing handy man back to put in some shelves in the laundry room for me.

i am aware that they are a tad obnoxious, but i'm so desperate for storage space that i don't even care!  it's just the laundry room anyway right? i'm happy to have some shelves ready for a few unpacked boxes.

two different days my awesome SILs april and andrea came to help me organize the kitchen and garage and help me keep my sanity - no photos yet, but soon. i am so lucky that they enjoy organizing so much, they were hugely helpful.

a lovely BBQ with friends, which is becoming one of my favorite summer traditions!

last but not least, yesterday taylor helped me hang some of my little plates.
(sorry about the blurry photo)

why these little plates bring me so much joy, i'll never know, but they do, so i'll take it. 

this week looks promising with fun activities planned, hopefully i didn't just jinx myself.

i love summer.

thou shalt not covet

but i can't help it.  i'm dying for one of these right now.

and one of these, so that a certain little toddler can ride along.

what do you you think?

doesn't this look like fun?

slow progress *edit!*

i finished painting the cupboards last weekend and spent all week reorganizing where i want things to go. i was never very happy with where anything was before so i decided to take my time and give everything a better home. i still don't have the doors or drawer fronts painted, all that work will happen out in the garage so it's safe to move all the cupboard contents back in. i have to say that it's so pleasing to me to see my cupboard full of my pretty fiestware dishes, i may consider never getting the doors done! just kidding, they'll get done, but in the mean time, i'm not minding so much.

**edit - many of you have wondered about the inside of the cupboards. i actually did not paint the inside of the cupboards because they have a laminate surface (for easy clean up) and so painting them would be really difficult and unpractical. and...i promise to post a bigger photo of the whole kitchen later. when it's cleaner. which might really be, never.