Christmas Cookies with the Elves:)

Christmas gives one so many excuses to make delicious treats!! I am never one to pass up on a chance to make a treat-and neither are these two little elves of mine;) Here are a few shots of us making some cookies.

this is the kind of mood they were in the whole time:)

workin the KitcheAid

being insane

my elves:)

frosting with focus

it is hard to frost without your eyes open-just ask him

making clear which one he wanted to eat!

**Isabelle does own clothing besides her Tinkerbelle pjs and her pink ballet dress-however she rarely wants to wear it. The compromise is she can wear those at home but when we go out she wears real clothing....so please excuse her same outfit in every single post. :)**

evenings

I love when the evenings come. I don't even mind that it gets dark early around here because then it just feels like evenings are luxuriously longer. I love sitting and cuddling, crocheting, sitting by the fire, watching some shows with Nate on Hulu, sipping tea or peppermint hot chocolate. Evenings. I am thankful to God for evenings.

Gingerbread Men and Decorating the Tree

 It is a yearly tradition for me to make gingerbread men with Isabelle. I can remember so clearly her sitting in her bouncy chair when she was just a few months old while we started our now 4 year tradition...we blasted Christmas music and went to town. I love traditions! Here are a few shots of this year's gingerbread men (which Isabelle was not as crazy about as Judah-who knew?)

The day after Thanksgiving we decorated the Christmas tree-it was such a fun morning. Everyone in their jammies, Christmas music blasting, and the kids having free reign to decorate.....really...really what is not to love about this time of year??!!

Win some lose some

I really enjoy making food-and making it from scratch as much as I am able.  Some meals are hits, some are misses. The other night we decided to make ravioli. We love pasta in this house (insanely love) and figured how hard could it be? Well it was hard. We failed. (thick-much too thick pasta) We tried again...and kinda failed again (who knew I HATED Italian parsley so much, and when you hate the filling it is hard to enjoy the rest)....it was slightly better than the first time, but not enough that we were proud of ourselves. Oh well. I still love making food-and sometimes I don't fail. :) Like the time I made PF Chang's Spicy Chicken.....

the masters at work

yes-Judah is always my goofball:)

PF Chang's Spicy Chicken and Rice...so good.

 What have you been making lately??

Sonny Acres

I love traditions....this is one of ours. We go (our little family) to Sonny Acres. I usually buy a white pumpkin-I have a strange obsession with white pumpkins....I LOVE THEM!! But alas, I could not find a single one in the size I wanted. While we are at Sonny Acres we ride the rides, we go to the open petting zoo (best part BY FAR) and we ride the ponies. Here are a few shots of this years trip.

lows to highs

Yesterday was a low day. Judah cried I think the entire day through. He refused to walk-which come to find out was because he has an injured leg-but at the time just seemed like he was sabotaging my pregnant body by making me carry him everywhere. He also swallowed a nickel. Isabelle whined over every little injustice. I tried to run into Aldi to get a few things for baking during Nate's lunch break-and ended up dropping my box of blueberries (the main thing I had come for) all over the parking lot. It was a low day. Sweet Nate took me out to dinner (sans kiddos) and it started to make everything right again. I prayed a lot....talked to God a lot about how I felt like I was failing and the more I tried to be patience, understanding and kind I was frustrated, annoyed and rude. I told Him I needed all the help He promises to give us when we are falling apart on our own-it was a humbling/hard day. But His mercies are new every morning!! Today has been a gift from the start of it. The weather is crisp and windy ( I adore chilly days and really dislike warm ones...sorry just being truthful), the kids are sweet and listening, my heart is filled with His presence, we have baked muffins and pumpkin chai loaves so the house smells cozy and good. It is a high day. I love having a God who is there on the lows and the highs. Oh, here are a few shots of those crazy little kids I was telling you about-the best is that Isabelle showed up in these glasses with this expression on without anyone telling her it was spot on!! Then of course Judah needed a turn. I LOVE when my children truly make me laugh and today they certainly did!!! Enjoy your weekend.

a spot of tea

I am finally sitting. I have been running around all over the place since 6:25 this morning. Running around and doing things I love-but even when you love something....when you are 6 months pregnant you are ready to sit down when the time comes. I am enjoying a little cup of tea. Yesterday Nate and I bought a new contraption that steeps loose tea in the perfect way. I love this thing already and suggest it to any tea drinker out there. The cool part is that the tea dispenses from the bottom of the pot when you press it on the cup....cool huh? It is perfect outside and I am sipping my pot of tea. (with children playing wildly behind me..you guessed it DOGS...but I am still happy cause I am sitting and relaxing) Hope you find a moment in your day to have a "spot of tea" time...and just thank God for it all...it helps, I promise.

to make you laugh

    trust me...I laughed when Judah came up with this getup on....seriously how awesome is it??

dogs

 My children have been OBSESSED with dogs as of late. I mean insanely obsessed!! We have so many stuffed dogs around our house it sometimes is hilarious. Isabelle will tuck them in at night and they are the first things she grabs in the morning-like even before she really is conscious. But, on a lovely note...the kids have been playing so well together. I love love love it. I just sit back and watch them entertain one another and play for hours at a time. There is fighting to be sure-but man or man is there love!

this was their Pirate Ship-so I was told

love

5 months

toenails

I have been on Nate for about 2 weeks to cut his big toe's toenail. It is not insanely long (do not be too grossed out) but long enough that it bothers me. Daily. He has since cut it-but before he had done so Isabelle was drawing a picture of daddy. I asked her what the long lines were coming from his feet, she replied, "his toenails". I died laughing and quickly found Nate to recount the story. He was equally amused.....and ended up cutting his nails recently after:) Below is the said picture by the beautiful and talented miss Belle.

Vacation....at last!

We finally went on vacation this past week and it was heavenly!! We stayed up at my uncle's house right on Glen Lake in Glen Arbor, Michigan. His little cottage backs right up to the water and he graciously let us use his many boats, fishing equipment and jet skis. It was my dream vacation-water, boats, fishing, family, and amazing food. My mom and dad (and sister ruth for two days only:( ) came too-which only added to the greatness!! Here are just a few shots from the trip. The only slight downer was that being 5 months pregnant I could not participate in some of the activities (ie: water skiing and tubing) but I certainly survived;)

Isabelle did not enjoy tubing

can you guess if he did??

my little love boy

my daring little Belle going out in the water

busy throwing every single rock he found into the lake

buds

jumping on the water trampoline with the little ones

fishing...and pregnant:)

riding the "nay-nay"

one of our many coloring sessions

sweetness

big girl

exploring

my man and babes

me and the littles

she loved going fishing!!

snuggles on the boat ride back home

I love vacation....but I love my home even more and am glad to be back:)