… a lot like Christmas.

My hope in posting pictures of our little holiday activities, is that you would just sit back and enjoy a little glimpses into our life.  We have our fun moments but we also have our stressful moments too.  And for every little thing I managed to make happen, there were 10 other things that get left undone, crossed off the list, pushed to the last minute, … and that’s just life right?  The trick it to make sure that the truly important things happened and not feel guilty about all the things that fell through the cracks

Enjoy these moments, too soon they are gone…

Disclaimer:  I shamelessly stole this idea from my friend Jenny.  

All these photos come from my vast and every growing file of unused photos.  Be forewarned that this is a very fractured post (no.  I refuse to use the R word in this post. you have no idea what I’m referring to?  okay it starts with R, ends with “andom”. otherwise known as the most overused word in the blogging world). 

Like I was saying, my friend Jenny did a post using all of her un-posted photos over the last few months and I thought it sounded amusing.

Hello 1988.  Does the word “crimper” ring any bells?

Sunday afternoon nap~ preciousness

Sunday afternoon nap~ not-so-precious (not precious at all really)

Not very nice of mom to put the underwear in the top draw.  Sheesh… give a guy a break.

Aren’t family photos fun!!!! 
(when you’re reading that sentence in your head be sure to go heavy on the sarcastic tone)

Little toes

Open train car in the pouring down rain

The boys having a spin on the go cart.  The picture is a little blurry but if you look closely you can see the look of concern on Gideon’s face, and the death grip he has on the bar.

Have a great weekend!  ~April

PS~ please feel free to steal this idea from Jenny as well.

Now you’re talking!

Recipe for Chocolate Peppermint Pinwheels here.  And if you love holiday baking you need to check out all of Dana’s delicious baking posts on MADE.  The Chocolate Tangerine Bars with Clementine buttercream frosting look amazing!

Yes I’m at it again.  I buy fabric (which is the fun part) with every intention of making something useful out of it, and instead it sits on a shelf in my sewing room.  I’m trying to remedy that bad habit.

So here’s the break down on the skirt~

The pattern:  Free skirt tutorial found here (don’t you love free?)

Skill level : beginner

The fabric: Moda’s Rooftop Garden purchased on Etsy

Time it took to make the skirt: 5 hours

Time it took to make the skirt minus the 734 interruptions: 1 hour

Little girl wearing the skirt: I made her too (okay I had a little help)

Total cost for making the skirt: $9.25 

Notes I’m making for future reference:  Don’t use the 1.5 inch elastic.  Stick with the 1 inch elastic, the 1.5 elastic is too bulky.  Make the waist smaller.  Don’t double the width of the skirt, double the width and then take off about 4 or 5 inches.  The length is perfect.

What Eliza looks like in my head

 
Reality

Inspiration provided by one well-loved patchwork quilt (bought for $2.00 at a yard sale) and a handful of vintage lace.  A fun little project with endless possibilities…

I am sitting here drinking the perfect cup of coffee

As I leisurely scroll through my news feed.  I glance up and see this little face…

She always scrunches her nose when she eats toast.  It’s just one of a million little things I love about her.

Toast crumbs, cinnamon and sugar, are scattered across the surface of the table.  Andrew Petersons’ voice drifts up from the computer.  He is singing “…what is seen will pass away, what is not is going home.”  I think of home.  I think of the dear 94-year-old soul who went home yesterday.  She is happy, I know she is.

I look down at the end of the table and see this handsome face.

Uh-oh, he’s spotted me

The remnants of last night’s late night treat are still sitting in the sink.

This day has “good day” written all over it.

May your day be filled with all the sweet little things that make life worth the long journey.

Tonight is the annual Ladies Christmas dinner at church.  My contribution this year was decorating the tables and making party favors for the ladies to take home.

This is a little peek at what I came up with.  I decided to do a rustic but elegant “White Christmas” theme.  I wanted it to look clean and fresh with a woodland feel.  I used greenery, burlap, lace, twine, and berries.

This is the arrangement I made for the entry table.  On a whim I stuck some small white roses in with the pine and boxwood and I have to say I love the way this one turned out.

I love the contrast of the delicate white roses against the pine.

Yesterday I did a little mock table set up in my kitchen.  I had assembled all of the elements but I wasn’t entirely sure how they would look all put together.  I like to have a little time to tweak and adjust my setup.

This is the centerpiece that will go on each table.  I used white-washed terracotta pots to make rustic looking cake plates.  I chose a variety of greenery (pine, boxwood, bay,) and made a wreath around the plate. Then I nestled 6 white taper candles into each wreath, I think the soft ring of light will look so pretty on the tables. 

Each table has a burlap table cloth centered in the middle of the table.  I bought yards and yards of cheap cream lace to sew around the edges.

I wanted a little pop of red in the wreaths so I mixed in some miniature apples and pepper berries.

These are the little favor bags I made up and filled with chocolates.  I found this idea on Pinterest!  Isn’t is simple and sweet?  I hand stamped the tags, then used my sewing machine to add a green zig-zag stitch to the bottom of the tag.

I also did some larger arrangements for the serving tables.

The gift bags were simple but assembling 35 of them took a little time.  I got really good at making tiny knots and bows

This past weekend we spent our entire Saturday making the house look festive.  Christmas music, decorating the tree, snacking on popcorn and apples… pretty much the perfect way to spend a cold winter night.

And this year marks a first for our little family… Christmas lights on the house!  As we would drive around town the kids would excitedly point out any house with Christmas lights, so we made the trip to the hardware store and came home with 6 boxes of colored lights and light hooks.

I wandered out to take pictures of Justin stringing the lights and found all of my guys on the roof! 

The last two weeks have been not stop busyness.  Lots of activities and opportunities to serve.  It’s all been fun and rewarding, but I’ve decided to be much more stingy with my time in the up coming weeks.  I’m going to slow down and just enjoy the Christmas season with my little ones.  That’s my plan and I’m stickin’ to it!!  What are your plans for the holidays?