Christmasing - part 3

Tuesday of last week, my brother Forest flew in from California and was able to stay until yesterday. We had a lot of fun just hanging out, Liam especially, although River was also charmed by him. And River is usually wary of anyone who isn't me, Gabriel, or Grammie. But he sure loved his Uncle FoFo.

And Uncle FoFo loves Hugo's in Fayetteville. Okay, we all do. 
Forest slept on the couch in the livingroom, which was loads of temptation for Liam from the moment that he woke until Forest rolled himself out of bed several hours later. How he was able to sleep through all of the commotion, I have no idea. But he definitely did not sleep through the bacon Gabriel cooked on a cast iron skillet atop the woodstove one morning. Forest said it was the best wake-up ever. 

 
 Liam had his fair share of candy corn.  

We made Christmas cookies and Liam helped with the frosting. Can you tell?
 
Holiday snuggling.

 Brotherly loving.

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Christmasing - part 4

  We arrived in St Louis Friday evening, just in time to sneak into Trader Joe's for some essentials before they closed for the holiday. After getting the necessary tea, coffee, soy milk, and dark chocolate-covered almonds with fleur de sel and turbinado sugar, we checked in at the Omni Majestic downtown. 

The snow was falling. The streets were empty. We walked around the corner to a pizzeria and had a not-so-traditional Christmas Eve dinner. It was wonderful. 

 
Molly arranged for me and Gabriel to have a room with our boys that adjoined with my mom and Forest's room(Linda opted not to join us for the trip. She also opted to leave rehab. Both decisions make me sad). We were on the 5th floor and Molly and Rebecca were on the 6th floor, which made for a lot of elevator rides.

Staying downtown for the holiday was in itself a surreal experience. The streets were empty. No cars. No people. Perfect for exploring.

Liam was thrilled with all of the snow, and always wanted to build more smowmen.  
Winter wonderland.  

We all loved the snow, but Grammie just does not like to be cold. 
She and River both preferred being snug and warm inside.  
 
And then we'd bundle back up for more trips outside...

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Christmasing - part 1

Since we planned to spend our Christmas weekend in a hotel room in St Louis, Gabriel and I celebrated Christmas with gifts for our little family the Saturday before.  

I wrapped Liam's gifts in these holiday bags I made following this idea. I love that the ribbons are sewn into the bag, and that we'll get to see these bags year after year. Well, at least for as long as my boys aren't mortified by Sesame Street Christmas gift wrap... At least they were a big hit this year: Liam saw them and said Oooo. what's that?

 

He was even more excited with what was inside.  

 

Cars!

And a parking garage/city tower.

I found this at a thrift store back in June for $8. I scooped it up and tucked it away in the closet, knowing it would be perfect for Liam this Christmas.  

All we had to get were a few cars and a play rug to complete the gift, which is why my mom and I went all the way to Ikea in Dallas at the beginning of the month. We bought this play rug (and a number of other things...), but when Gabriel and I went to set up Liam's Christmas gift the night before, we unrolled the rug only to discover that I actually bought this mouse rug instead. What!?! I don't know if I should laugh, cry, or be really really mad at myself. And, to add insult to injury, the mouse rug cost twice as much and we don't even like it.

I bought Gabriel a set of smell-good products: cologne, aftershave, and bar soap. We're both really particular when it comes to scented things and find most products to be overwhelmingly artificial smelling, but we both like this brand.  

 
 And for me? A tripod for my camera. And what else do you do with a new tripod but take lots and lots of ghost pictures... 

What about this little guy's gift? We went together with my mom and Molly to get him a big gift, which he got in St Louis. He didn't seem to mind one little bit.

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christmasing - part 2

Two huge boxes came in the mail from Grandma and Grandpa in California and Uncle Caleb in Arizona.

 Liam gave River a lesson in package opening.

 
 River love love loved all of the wrapping paper.
 Never too many books.

 And Liam says there can never be too many packages with his name on them. Good thing Grandma and Grandpa are so generous... 

 

 

 Grandma made River this amazing quilt.

 And this beautiful one for me and Gabriel.

 It's all fun until the presents run out, and then you have a post-gifting meltdown.
 

Thank you, Grandma, Grandpa and Uncle Caleb, for all of the wonderful gifts. 

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we're back

We got home late last night from a Christmas away from home with my family in St Louis. We all had a wonderful time, but we're tired, our house is a mess, and it's as cold inside as it is outside... 

Our heater conked out on us and when we got home at 11:00 last night, the indoor temperature was 40 degrees, We piled the blankets on top of our bed and all four of us huddled together beneath them for a cozy night's sleep. It was 38 inside when we woke up. We have heater repair men here now, trying to sort out some wiring problems with our thermostat... In the meantime, our little woddstove is working over time to try and warm us up.

I have lots of pictures to share from the last week's holiday festivities, and plenty to do around the house, too. I'll try to get back here soon.

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I'm doing the happy dance...

Warning: Superfluous use of exclamation points below!!!

I just won a $100 gift certificate to Bordino's in Fayetteville from KUAF's holiday giveaway!!!

And my birthday is just around the corner! Can we say perfect timing?

Hurray for NPR! Hurray for Italian food! Hurray for my lucky day!

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just throwing it out there

So, I've been busy: you know, Christmas stuff, crafting stuff, kid stuff, driving down to Ikea in Dallas (fun!!!)on Saturday kind of stuff. And I'm exhausted. ALL. THE. TIME. I didn't know I could be this tired for so many days in a row.

So, I'm behind on posting.

Sorry.

Here is a random assortment of pictures I want to post, but don't have the mental energy to form into anything cohesive. Enjoy.

Gabriel buzzed River's hair. The helmet was making his wispy curls get matted and gross so I finally relented. He likes his new 'do. 
He also likes kisses. He really likes them. He likes to grab my hair on either side of my face, and plant a big wet slobbery one right on my lips. He really gets into it. There's no question about this guy's love language... 
And he loves wearing his helmet. I take it off for one hour every evening so we can bathe him and clean the helmet (it starts smelling funky after only one day), but he gets really excited when he sees I am ready to put it back on him.
Liam has been spending a lot of time "scooping cow poop like Jim."
 

We bought Liam a new car seat because River outgrew his infant seat already. We chose this one. He likes it.

 
And River likes his new-to-him seat, too. 
Last Saturday, Gabriel took Liam to Lowe's Build and Grow Workshop. They built a train car.  
Safety goggles: check. 
Gabriel's really brave putting his thumbs in harm's way like that... 
 Choochoo! 

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a rare moment's peace

For the first time in I-don't-know-how-long, I was able to sit and enjoy my morning cup of tea. Usually, by the time I finish the last few drinks, it is cold and I am gulping it while chasing after Liam or bending to pick up River. But not today. And after I set down the camera, I picked up one of the back-issues of Time Magazine I never seem to find the time for.

Bliss.

 
 And this is what bliss looks like for me:
 

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{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Inspired by Amanda.

at least he's napping now

Liam has been a lot to keep up with this week. Naps have been a struggle, but he finally gave in this afternoon. I wonder how long he'll sleep like this: 

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