I just had a mild freak out over the fact that 1. it’s going to be 2014 (remember when we thought y2k was going to destroy the world?) and 2. Finley is going to be 1 on Sunday. Why is time such a fleeting thing? I’ve been having some major thoughts over goals and such for this coming year. Most of which focus on being in the moment more and living with intention. I have a very long draft saved of ramblings that I hope to post in the next day or two. Do you like making goals or resolutions for yourself?
I’ve been trying to come up with an idea for Finley’s bday party. I know she is young but I really want it to be about what she likes. So far I’ve come up with some kind of stuffed animal party. That or some kind of party about boobs, but I don’t think that would be very appropriate for a 1st bday party or any party for that matter. She also really loves puppies and being outside. Ok. Back to stuffed animals. How do you make a party about stuffed animals? Have we talked about how much she loves stuffed animals before? She is kind of obsessed. She sleeps with 2-3 stuffed animals tucked in her arms every night. I think I will make party hats for all of them.
So this will be more like 10 pictures, 6 things. Christmas deserves more pictures, right? I just couldn’t pick 6. Here are some pictures of our Christmas morning…
1. Don’t you wish that Christmas was spread out over a few days? It’s just so fun and it goes by so dang quickly. I want to live guilt free in all my Christmas jammies and dessert heaven glory for at least a week. Don’t you agree? Plus, I just want to hang around with my family longer. It was so fun having my one sister around for a couple days. Carrie we missed you!
2. I got a Garmin forerunner for Christmas! Yippie. Although, I am a little nervous to be constantly reminded about how slow I am running. I am excited to use it and hopefully train a little bit more effectively. The Honolulu marathon was ROUGH. Ouch. It was tough. Hoping the next one won’t be so difficult. Let’s just say I am blaming it on the 2am wake up call the morning of the race, jet lag and the fact that we had been training in 20 degree weather (Hawaii is of course the polar opposite) as the reason why we ran it over an hour slower than any other race I have run.
3. Kev’s parents and my parents live about 25 mins from each other. And although the pictures above are from our Christmas morning at my parents house, we had a wonderful time at his parents house as well. We are very lucky to have such loving and supportive parents. It’s a bonus that they live so close to each other. It let’s us pop back and forth all holiday long.
4. Kev got T25 for Christmas. Anyone done it? We are pretty in love (I mean LOATHE) with Insanity. Hands down BEST.WORKOUT.EVER. But we were getting bored with doing the same videos over and over. We were pretty excited when we saw the infomerical on tv a few weeks back. I was hooked on it being 25 mins. Sometimes I just don’t have time for an hour long insanity. I watched (yep, watched) Kev do the first one tonight. I am holding strong to my week long pjs and cookie fest. Monday morning is going to hit hard though. Back in the game.
5. Finley got this cute little walker/push toy for Christmas. Ooooh she loves that thing. I have never seen a baby be so excited over a toy. Well, I mean over something for longer than 5 minutes. She pushes that thing around with such pride on her face. She giggles, smiles and laughs the whole time. She has been taking a few steps here and there on her own and I am super excited for her but I kind want to push her down too. hah. Just kidding. I just want her to stay a baby though. Don’t grow up sweet little Fin.
6. Do you do the whole Santa thing with your kids? We’ve never made a big deal of it with Rowan. We always wanted her to know and focus on the real season we celebrate Christmas but it’s inevitable that your kid will learn about Santa. We decided this year we would just roll with it. We made it a point to tell her Santa only brings 1 gift though. I want her to be thankful and polite to everyone who gives gifts rather than think they are all from Santa. We left out a carrot and some cookies and in the morning left her a little note from Santa. It was pretty darn cute.
p.s. below are some iphone pictures from Christmas Eve. I had to post them because I just thought the girls looked so dang cute in their matching glittery dresses for church. I made Rowan her felt flower crown but ran out of time to make Finley one. It was probably for the best though. Finley would have never kept that on. It was the first time I really ever dressed them in the same outfit and oooh I might be addicted now. Some how during the service I ended up in the pew with Rowan and 2 of her little friends all by myself while they were all holding lit candles. Talk about the most stressful 4 mins of my life. I was sure something or someone was going to catch on fire. Even though it was stressful, I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE candle light Christmas Eve services. So magical.
Merry Christmas! I hope you all had a wonderful day. I can’t believe it’s over already. Everyone is in bed right now and I am spending a few minutes to myself before I crash for the night as well. What a day we’ve had! Christmas is about 100x more exciting with kids around. I realized yesterday night that today was Finley’s first Christmas. Crazy! She’s been part of our family for so long I totally didn’t remember she hadn’t celebrated a Christmas yet. Whoops. #momfail. I always think of a babies first Christmas with teeny tiny babies, not babies that are about to turn one. ONE! Finley is turning one in less than 2 weeks. Blows my mind.
We were running late on time this year for our christmas cards, but we tried our best to get a good picture. We had one pretty grey morning to take some pictures. They came out kinda grainy and we didn’t have many final choices when it came down to it. All in all though I am pretty happy with how they came out. Our friends over at Pinhole Press were kind enough to print them for us. I chose a traditional card style instead of the postcard style most people send out. I added some little doodles to the pictures in photoshop before I uploaded the pictures to Pinhole Press. I am always super impressed with the quality from Pinhole. Love them! (They are having a great sale right now off all their calendars!- Perfect for the New Year)
We want to wish you all a very healthy and happy holiday season!
I am blogging over on the Lulu*s blog today! I am sharing a holiday outfit inspired by our decorations around the house. Here are a few sneak peaks of the outfit and our Christmas decorations. Boy, oh boy! I love decorating the house for holidays. Head on over to Lulu*s to see more pictures and read all about where I got my inspiration!!
Hey everyone. Things have been a little slow around here lately. If you follow me on instagram you know we’ve been on vacation in Hawaii. I decided I would just let the blog be and enjoy family time all together and not worry about it. We had such a fun time. I can’t believe we’ve already come and gone. 2 weeks went way, way too fast. Hawaii will always be a special place for us. Although we lived there for only a short amount of time. It was such a pivotal time in our lives. We spent our first year and a half of marriage there. We grew and learned so much about each other. It was one of the hardest, yet most amazing years ever. It was so awesome to bring the kids there and have them experience it with us. Being in Hawaii was so wonderful but what was the absolute best was being all together for such a large amount of time. We see each other everyday at home of course, but to have uninterrupted family time, away from regular life tasks (umm hello laundry!) was just so needed. Kev works so hard and I love that he was able to relax and spend quality time with the girls. I am so blessed to call them my family. We were able to do so many fun things this trip. One day we were up around one of our favorite parts of the island trying to do a hike when a crazy storm rolled in. The winds were so strong. We were able to snap a few of these pictures before it started down pouring. They came out so cute. They were only with my phone but I just love them so much.
Have you ever written a family mission statement? When I look at the picture below I feel like it captures everything that I would want ours to be. Kev and I talk about writing one from time to time but something about these pictures just speaks to me. I want our family to 1. Love The Lord 2. To love each other 3. To love others 4. To be kind, caring and compassionate 5. Seek adventure and fun wherever and whatever situation you are in and 6. To be thankful for all you have been blessed with. Of course I could go on and on. There are lots of things I want our family to be about but in short it really can be that simple for us. Sure we had meltdowns, and jet lag, and stressful moments along the way but when we look back in years to come we won’t remember those. This vacation felt like so much more than just vacation. Doing life along side these 3 (and fingers crossed for maybe more one day) will always be one of my greatest joys.
If you follow me on instagram you probably saw all my pictures of the craft class I taught last weekend. My sweet friend Amy opened up one of the coolest shops I have ever seen about a year ago. It’s full of antique vendors, vintage clothes and handmade goods. I seriously could spend hours in there wondering around. Anyway, they have this really cool space to have classes. I taught a felt flower holiday wreath class. It was packed with around 30 ladies. I also had a little pop up shop that day to showcase some of my necklaces. I won’t lie. It was a pretty awesome day!! It was a whole lot of what I love rolled up into one day! Art, teaching, friends, shopping- what’s not to love!
The shop is in a super cool old building and since we were all there together, we decided last minute to try to take a family photo. We are at an age at the moment that if Rowan isn’t in the mood for pictures there is no way you are getting a picture. There was a lot of squirming and wiggling around so they aren’t the best family photos, but it’s a photo of all of us nonetheless. Something that doesn’t happen all that often. I’ll take whatever we can get. Thanks Adam!
It’s getting to the point where coats are a necessary part of any outfit. Brrrr! That’s why I feel like it’s ok to have lots of coats (right?). For those American folks- Did you have a nice Thanksgiving? We had a wonderful time with Kev’s family. We also got to bring Rowan to her very first movie! We went to see Frozen. It was awesome. Anyone else see it? Wasn’t it so good? Rowan was so cute. Of course I teared up when we walked into the theatre and she held her hand over her mouth and said “whoa!”. I don’t think she had any idea what a movie theatre was. Her sweet little commentary during the movie was the best part. It was cracking me up.
What was with that weird Mickey short in the beginning? We weren’t fans. Rowan thought it was scary. Anyway, I love me some buffalo plaid!
UPDATE: carrying sale over 1 more day! Use coupon code HOLIDAY
It’s Cyber Monday! That’s means there is a great sale happening over at my etsy shop. All necklaces are 20% off. Use code HOLIDAY. There is limited quantity and the deal is only for today. My shop will close down till after the holidays on Wednesday. We leave for Hawaii on Friday, so I want all orders finished and shipped by Thursday. Don’t wait! Get a necklace today! The perfect gift for family or friends.
Welcome to my personal lifestyle blog. It features topics such as motherhood, family life, fashion, cooking, and all sorts of adventures. I hope you enjoy what you find!
