Christmas 2013

For the first time in too long I was able to slooooow down this advent season. Cut down on excess and distractions and truly soak it up at a 2-year-old's pace.

What a blessing. 

Christmas tree shopping for our tiny little apartment tree!

Picking on poor Milo. 

Enjoyed the annual viewing of THE Home Alone movies. Art by Bow+Arrow Art ;)

Stayed a little chillier than we expected to in our new Texas dwelling.

And we baked/ decorated fabulous cookies!! I turned right into the big mushy  basket case I am when I made cookies with this beauty. It's such a joy to experience the little things with a 2 year old... And by little things I'm talking about chugging frosting and taking sprinkle shooters of course. ;)

We had friends over for hot chocolate, games, and s'mores.

Went to the Abilene Christmas parade.

Braved treacherous highways to be with fam.

...and forgot to take hardly any pictures once we got there and got snowed in. Oops.

Gigi and Paca's little Chiefs princess. 

Christmas jams.

Made MORE cookies and played with the tiny new puppy Sansa at Aunt Lisa's.

Had our own Christmas morning a few days late.

Which, unfortunately, wasn't captured due to an awful stomach bug. Take my word for it, the cash register ("my puter") was a huge hit!

Finally, Mor Mor, PaPa and Auntie Hayley came to Texas for another round which included a new hat and a baby doll. :)

We actually sent out a Christmas card this year! 

AND

Husband of the year replaced my damaged copy of 98 Degrees Christmas!!

Such a lovely way to celebrate the season and sed out 2013. I'm feeling so so thankful and loved!

Father's Day [free print!]

So Father's Day is coming.
And I think your dad... or maybe your baby's daddy... would love to be reminded exactly why he's so great.
That's why I made this:

There's a 4x6 version.
AND an 8x10 version.

It's  a perfect gift for dad for Father's Day. (But to be honest it could be for anyone you just love to love.)
All you have to do is...

#1 Print one off.
#2 Frame it.
#3 Fill in the blank with a dry erase marker!

Hooray Dad!

(I'm also sharing this sweet print at www.mercyinkblog.com!) 

Christmas 2012

Now's as good a time as any right? ;)

Listen, only 2 weeks later is actually on time for me.

I don't know how all ya'll can find time to have your fabulous Christmas posts up next day.

I'm seriously impressed. 

But that's alright. Here it is in all it's glory: 

(First things first... milk, obviously.)

We did our Christmas on Christmas Eve morning this year since we traveled on Christmas day to be with my familia.

Lily rocked her new Chrimstas jammies... complete with tiny Milos (pugs) in pink sweaters. 

1. Milk is still > presents.
2. No wait ripping paper is fun.
3. Oooh! Sparkly tissue paper!
4. Beautiful baby from Aubrey Plays. Seriously perfect.

We just picked one special gift for Lil this year.
Hunter and I are still trying to figure out exactly how we want to celebrate Christmas & create our own family holiday traditions.
But one thing we're sure of is that we want the focus to be on love+fam+Jesus+joy.
Gifts are super fun & we love giving them/getting them :)
But in my humble opinion one super special gift can be a lot more meaningful than piles of new toys.

(Plus, we're still at the age where the big boxes are way more fun than the toys!)

Daddy scored snuggles with the Sesame Street (aka: Sheshamee Shmee if you speak Lil) color book he snuck into her stocking.

She wasn't as impressed with the big girl panties I contributed... huh.

Take a hint Lily ;)

(A Christmas miracle! She left her pigtails in for dinner at PF Changs!)

Somehow these are the only pictures I managed to get between chowing on lettuce wraps & chasing Lily around the restaurant.

But I love this one of Hunter and his beautiful sis!

Pretty baby loving her new toys from Mor Mor & Pa Pa before boarding a jet plane for Gigi & Grandpa's.)

Lily+Grandpa Brad= BFF

Mama & Travi in their festive holiday attire.

Apparently Trey & I weren't photo-worthy.

And the 2012 picture of the the year....

 Lily Belle giving smoochies to her 100-year-old great-great-grandad Adams.

Judging by his huge grin, it was just what he needed.

He's a man of very few words, but I would guess that the best comfort when mourning the loss of your bride of 77 years would be smoochies from a sweetheart grandbaby.

The sweetest thing is that Lily Belle has a tendency to be very closed-fisted with her affection.

She's not quick to open up to strangers & it usually takes awhile to earn her love & smooches.

I happen to think that she's also intuitive even at this early of an age.

Grandad needed her love & think she just knew it deep down in her sweet tiny little heart.

Merry Christmas indeed.

Chalkboard Mantle!

It's beginning to look a lot like... um, May.
65 degrees and sunshine in December = AMAZING in my opinion.
However, it is a little harder to get in the Christmas spirit.
That is unless you have a crackling fire to hang your stockings by.

(It crackles because it's made of paper. Get it?)
I'm on a roll tonight.
Anyhoo, I originally thought I would make a DIY post out of this...
That turned out exactly like every other DIY post I've attempted:

1. Take a hurried & awful picture of my project supplies 
2. Turn on a movie & started crafting away
3. Stop for a hot chocolate break half-way & remember to take another horrible picture
4. Remember that it's 11 pm & I couldn't take a decent picture in my dark apartment if my life depended on it. 
5. Say F it. After shots will have to do :)  

Honestly. Every single time.

So instead let me just tell you this is my kind of project: cheap, fast, easy. 
I painted som posterboard with chalk paint, drew my masterpiece & duct taped it to the wall.
What? You thought it would be fancier?
If time, money & attention span were not factors I suppose I would have made the chalkboard from plywood & mounted it to the wall or at least attached a hanging device.
If you prefer quality to quickness, please be my guest to do this project the proper way.
Then write a killer DIY post and I will help you spread the word about your greatness.
As for me & my house: we will jimmy rig our crafts all the live long day.  



ps there's a part two to this fabulous project post!
Grab the cutest little helper you can find for this part :)
Cut a ton of tiny circles from you overflowing basket of felt scraps.
Hot glue those babies to some twine (or bakers twine or ribbon or... shoe string?) or whatever you can find really.
Hand it over your brand new mantle.
Ta-Da!



Now put on your 98 Degrees Christmas CD & get merry! 

Birthday Cookies

My dad had a big birthday last month... I guess I'll be nice & not say just how big ;) 
But I felt it was an occasion worth celebrating. 
So I made his favorite cookies & sent a package! 
These are my favorite cookies to make because everyone loves them. Everyone!
They're a crispy-yet-still-chewy oatmeal cookie packed with craisins & walnuts and topped with white chocolate. 
What's not to love? 
They're also really fun for holidays because they're pretty :) 
And since the holidays seem to be upon us I thought I'd share the recipe. 
Send some to someone you love. 
Or maybe to someone you whose love you're trying to win... 

Sugar Mama Cookie

1/2 c Spectrum organic shortening1/2 c Earth Balance vegan butter

1 c dark brown sugar

2 TB agave nectar (not neccessarily required but it makes them super chewy!)

1 TB flax meal mixed + 3 TB hot water

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp xanthan gum

2 c gluten free flour mix

2 c gluten free oats

1/2 c craisins

1/2 c chopped walnuts

white chocolate

Cream shortening, butter, sugar & agave. 

Add flax+water mixture. 

Mix in dry ingredients. 

Stir in oats, craisins & walnuts. 

Drop by tablespoon or ice cream scoop onto cookie sheet. 

Bake 10-12 minutes at 350 degrees F. 

Cool on a cooling rack. 

Melt white chocolate (or dark chocolate is also delish) and drizzle on top of cookies. 

Enjoy!

Oh so thankful.

"Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever!"

((Psalm 107:1)) 

I'm thankful for...

This girl still looking to her mama for help every once in awhile :)
Sometimes it feels like she's getting more independent by the day which is amazing & so fun to watch!
But when she's a little afraid to go check out the big inflated pumpkin patch snowman without holding mama's hand it's ok to be a little happy right?

 

Warm, fabulous, sunny weather this fall.
I hate to admit it but I sometimes complain about fall in these parts because it can skip right into winter some years.
Well, not this year. Thanksgiving is in 2 days and they're still saying we've got 70 degrees and sunshine to look forward too :)



Exactly where we're at... even though it's not my favorite place.
I've spent a lot of time lately being stressed about where we are in life & just praying for May to get here soon so Hunter can graduate & we can move on with our lives.
Even though I do still long for that change, and hope for a chance to be a stay at home mama again soon, I'm thankful for right now.
We're figuring it out & learning how to trust in Jesus in a way that we probably wouldn't be without a little struggle & sacrifice.



(I'm adding this colored version of this print to the shop today & both will still give 50% to Hurricane Sandy relief.)

(Also linked with Erin at Art Social.) 

Black Friday yo.

Hey, there. I'm going to let ya in on a big ol' secret.
I hate Black Friday.
No wait, it's not a secret at all.
I just hate it. It is so stressful!
I mean people seriously die. About electronics, ya know? So so sad.
Anyway, I like it alright if I can do it from the safety of my home & the warmth of my covers... at a normal human time.
None of this 3 am.
What is wrong with you people?
Ok, all I'm trying to say is this Friday (11/23) and all weekend through Cyber Monday (11/26) I'm giving you a free card for every $10 you spend.

Go ahead, spend $100. I'll send you TEN free cards with you order.

You're welcome.

Also thank you. $100 is a lot of cards, friend.

All you need to do is leave me a note with your order & tell me the card your heart desires!

Holla.

Also I finally have Christmas cards.
I mean, Christmas card. Just one.
It's all I could manage. But at least it's cute right? :)
And it's a bundle deal! 4 cards for $12 which, technically speaking is a 25% discount.

Well, alright.
There's my exciting news for your Monday morning.
I'm thankful for all ya'll & I'm thankful for internet shopping.
Happy Shopping!

Buy Handmade!

A couple months ago I made some amazing handmade jewelry purchases.
They arrived quickly and packaged to perfection.
I busted them both out and started rocking them immediately.
And then I decided I should share them with the rest of you.
So I tried really hard to take some decent pictures... the bad new is, I failed.
I just can't seem to take a semi-decent photo of myself. (Fashion bloggers, I applaud you.)
The good news is I'm sharing anyway because I want you to know about these lovey shops (and the beautiful women behind them!)

(Cutest earrings brought to you by Wifey Singer.)

See what I mean?
Cheesy grin + thumbs up = perfection... right?
You totally want to buy whatever I'm selling... right?!
Doesn't matter. Just check out Hannah's shop or her darling blog.
You'll probably get super excited and give dorky thumbs up too.
Or maybe you're way cooler than me.
In which case, thanks for taking the time from your way cool life to read my blog.

(Sweetest necklace by Lovely Little Whimsy.)

This one's a bit better, but mostly just because Lily's in it and she's quite comfortable with the camera.
Try not to be too distracted by that sweet mug (or the scrap fabric I like to call a headband on particularly rough hairdays).
Focus on the cute little copper necklace.
That, my friends is more than just a really cute necklace.
It's one step closer to a new baby for Carina's family!!
You can read all about their adoption on her blog or you can buy beautiful accessories in her shop.
I choose both, but it's totally your call.

So there you have it.
Two more reasons to buy handmade and two more reasons why I take pictures of baked goods instead myself in great outfits.

(I'm linking with Erika today. Becuase she's great too!)