first evers of 2009

from left to right

1. recycled t-shirt dress 2. bald me 3. self~made apron 4. home~made Christmas tree 5. tea~ party 6. helicopter ride 7. trip to Europe with my sweet girl 8. handmade advent chain 9. my very own surfboard 10. beautiful homegrown garden 11. made from scratch wedding cake 12. baby-blanket recycled elephant 13. candy cane drive 14. child-free trip with mum 15. homemade wreath....whew!

Looking forward to a joyful 2010 and the firsts that are yet to come.

I present to you...

the shortest vacation in family history

This is the view driving up to June Lake around 1pm December 27

The beautiful sight from our room overlooking the lake the morning of Dec 28 after a full night of sleep deprivation due to the sudden onset of fever, coughing and discomfort by our four year old.

A look at Mr. Handsome starting the descent from our 14 hour stay in the glimmering white mountains. After a brutal night of helping to nurse our youngest and the decision that we needed to say goodbye to our snowy dreams he repacked the car and we headed for home.

A glimpse of the snow we longed to play in.

We'll be back.

And next time, we may need to leave the kids at home.

Frosty fun

We're off for some cold adventures over the next few days. It's becoming our holiday season tradition. Can't wait to romp and play in the snow with my family and am looking forward to greeting the new year when we return.

Sending happiness to you as you finish out 2009.

A Merry little Christmas

It's been a while since my last post, I know. I filled my time with holiday preparations and the all~consuming task of pondering what kind of gifts I might make...making them right up to the last day. Although this is not the way I like to spend the weeks before Christmas, I find myself doing the same thing each and every year. The resulting gifts though were worth the effort. In the end, our day was beautiful~spent with family and an appreciation for life and all creation.

Sending you wishes of joy, peace and love this Christmas and all year long!

See you again in 2010!

Wintery magic

Since there will be no snow ball fights, no white flocked pines and no sledding anywhere in sight this Christmas ~ we brought some sparkly snowflakes indoors to remind us of our favorite winter powder...supersized.

These were the easiest things to make and so much fun! Bri and I cut the snowflakes out of white copy paper (a little flimsy is the only drawback) then used spray glue to attach the glitter and hung with ric-rac. My favorite part is the dancing snowflake shadows they make on the wall...beautiful!

There is one girl in our house though who won't be fooled by our home snipped snow...

Sorry girl, we'd love to get you out to your favorite playground sometime soon.

What was I thinking...

...always waiting well into December to decorate for Christmas? I've got the bug this year and am loving all the fun we are having making our own merry decor. First up is the advent chain that I read about on stitch/craft. It took a few days to get it completed, but we are excited to check a link every day to find out what fun awaits. Every link has a numbered button sewn on for each day until Christmas with an activity taped to the inside. So far.... drinking hot cider and taking a family photo. I think tomorrow we get to pick out a new Christmas movie. Yippee!

This could also be done with any kind of sturdy paper and the kids will surely love it (except when you get to the Christmas caroling day, which will probably make your teenager cringe ~ but hey, what fun is being a parent if you can't embarrass your kids once in a while?).

Next stop, snow flakes...