with a side of happy happy happy ;)

Merry, Merry Christmas to you and your sweet families :)



Love,

just this

I could look at this sweet face all. day. long.

(and sometimes I kinda do.)



Y'all have a good day!

 

msm: night in day

So this is what my day looked like.

All gray, and dark, and gloom.
The whole mess filtered through a fog so thick I could taste it.  


You know the kind.  It was one of those days when it was hard to tell whether the sun was coming or going, the edges all blurred & shadowy. 


Somehow it felt just right.

Quiet,

Peaceful, 

and just what my swirling thoughts needed on this very Monday.

p.s.  I'm joining in with Flower Patch Farmgirl for Money Shot Monday :)

beautiful words I didn't write

Donna left a few minutes ago, and I'm oh-so-glad she was here with me this weekend.  Sometimes when the sad is so big you don't want to be by yourself, even if you're me and often revel in Alone.


I thought maybe I'd catch up with you a bit, but my heart is still in Connecticut with those 20 mamas, and I guess it's just too soon for me to go on and on about Pepsi and cookies and the joyous drivel that often fills my days.


I did, however, want to share with you a few lovely reads I've found over the last couple of days. They might fill your heart up just a little bit, as they surely have mine.  
Each and every one of them is full of beautiful, glorious Hope.  (Thank you, Jesus!)
 
 
Lisa-Jo's When Parents Have Nightmares

Jamie lives in Newtown and shares here:  Newtown as I Know It

...and oh my! how Ann Voskamp brings it all home in  The Truth About Sandy Hook- Where is God When Bad Things Happen



Finally, as someone who loves so many of you sweet girls personally, might I gently suggest you join me in stepping away from the neverending onslaught of (miserable) media and embrace some quiet time praying for those 20 mamas today?



I love you and I'm not even kidding,

 

try as I might...

...I can't convince Audrey that Mrs. Bear would be happier facing her public.

Happy Weekending :)

company time

So my sister came to town Tuesday morning for a sisterly visit of marathon shopping and eating.  (always with the eating!)  She went back home last night because her husband says she can't live here, and it made me sad, but I guess I understood.  The boys would've missed their mama after a while I suppose.

Would you even be surprised to know we enjoyed more one-on-one time during this visit than we did the whole entire time we lived together?  The older I get the more I understand the value of intentional, set-apart time...and boy-oh-boy were we intentional :)

We hit the mall for the first time since my move, and it was bigger than I remembered.  It's funny how I look at things differently now that they're "mine."  For the life of me I don't remember Kate's mall being this big, ha!  

I had to work my usual schedule so when I say we were marathon-shopping I mean it!  There might have been some sprinting taking place but I can't really say.  

I am anxious, though, to go back to said mall sometime in January when life is slower and I can meander.  I imagine I could meander for days on end before I got bored with it.
I do love to meander.

However, I think my favorite store wasn't at the mall at all.  My first visit to World Market was SO FUN.  I loved it and might or might not have come home with a fascinating purchase of lavender soap and ginger snaps.  

Try that at The Walmart, is all I'm saying.


We wrapped things up with a two-hour wild goose chase trying to find matching insulated Christmas cups.  Who knew that such a simple thing would turn into such a scavenger hunt, but it turned out okay.  We persevered and came out of the adventure both victorious and successful.  

Now when I freshen up my Pepsi I'll think of my sis, who is quite likely busy slurping on her own soda at the time. 

A shared love of carbonated beverages knits our hearts together and we are unashamed.


Next up in the I-live-in-a-new-place festivities?  Donna heads this way on Saturday for a couple of days, and oh-won't-she-be-surprised to find I still have a few un-emptied boxes hidden in my closet and perhaps some un-hung pictures scattered about.

We're hoping to go to Old Salem and peruse all the Christmas delight that's rumored to abound, and I suppose that'll be nice, but the thing I'm really looking forward to is all the goofy that's likely to take place.  

(and the eating.)

(always with the eating...)


I hope y'all have a nice weekend!

sweet stuff

Happy Tuesday!

msm: bedlam, with a side of mayhem.

So the Littles came to Naynay's house today.  

All of 'em...

...the whole cranky lot of 'em at one time.


Owen was more than a little aggravated that his mama left him, and he kept putting on his fireman boots and his baseball cap, and wandering around the house while dragging Woody by one foot, asking "where'd mama GO?"


Audrey Faith was snuggly and whiny.  I thought she felt warm a time or two and wouldn't be a bit surprised if she decides to announce she's sick before the night is out.  Hopefully I'm wrong, but it was definitely one of those days where I kept thinking I needed to find a thermometer.

(On the plus side, she was seriously yummy in her pigtails.)  (Just sayin.')


Peyton also was not amused when mama left.  And he wasn't shy about it.  I might have used the term grief-stricken when encouraging Kari to COME BACK after a few hours.  He followed me around the whole entire livelong day with an uncharacteristic, decidedly un-smiley demeanor.  He was so pitiful.  He kept crawling to the front door sobbing, standing up, and BANGING ON IT ENTHUSIASTICALLY.  

Alas, to no avail.


Eventually their mamas returned.  I tried not to take their unadulterated glee personally.

I might have been too busy hiding my own ;)



Happy (money-shot) Monday!

(By the way, the sleeping angel above got a whopping 12 minutes in before Audrey woke him up while informing me that, wait for it, Owen was not asleep.)  (sigh.)


p.s.  I'm joining in with Flower Patch Farmgirl for Money Shot Monday :)

sunday six: what's cookin'?

I spent a fair bit of the weekend puttering in the kitchen.  It occurs to me that maybe I should include the recipes, but well, I'm a bit on the lazy side tonight and don't wanna.  Maybe later?  If you want one in the meantime just let me know and I'll get on it post haste.  Post haste.  I haven't heard anyone say that in a zillion years.  Where on earth did that come from?
  

1.  Pretzels.  I dipped 'em.

...a lot of 'em.


2.  "Pecan Tassies."  As is usual for me, they were incredibly ugly and messy and I ate approximately 7 of them before they were even cool.  I KNOW, right?  It couldn't be helped.  They're best when slightly warm, ya know.  

This is one of those recipes that never, ever turns out right for me and are a major pain in the neck to construct, and also no one in my family eats them except me.

And yet I make them every single December.  

They remind me of Mamaw Honaker and Bluefield and the littles playing on her organ and the snow that seemed to come down every year.  For the life of me I can't figure out why hers were always so neat and mine are such a mess, but I have faith that if I keep practicing maybe someday I'll master 'em.  Or not.  
The pretty hardly even seems to matter :)


3.  Sausage pinwheels.  They freeze so beautifully that it only seemed right to get some put together and tucked into the freezer.  Now I can nap on Christmas Eve (HA!).


4.  Amelia's lemon tea.  It had nothing to do with the impending holiday; I simply had a craving. 


5.  Southwestern Stuffed Peppers.  Try as I might, I can't get past one unchanging truth.  

I am not a fan of ground turkey.  

After this one last attempt I've decided to just own my persnickety-ness and accept the fact that I'm a ground beef prefer-er.  I liked this recipe with ground beef but found it downright yuck-o due to the presence of said turkey.  Truth be told, though, this would likely be great without any meat at all.   Come to think of it,  I believe I'll give that a try... 


6.  POPCORN(!) popped in coconut oil, stove-top style.   Since my latest move I'm kickin' it old school as I meander through my days without a microwave.  (Remember way back in July when I was simplifying and scaling back and getting rid of large quantities of STUFF?  Yeah, well...)  I really haven't missed it so much.  Nuking my leftovers is certainly faster but I'm pretty sure my food tastes better these days.  We'll see how long that lasts :)



And that, my friends, is about it for this putter report...other than when I fried up the sausage for our Christmas breakfast pizza.  I do always love getting that done ahead of time and tucking it away in the freezer.  It simplifies the chaos, and let's face it, Naynay needs all the chaos-simplification possible!


What do you do to get a head start on all the Christmas cooking?  Do tell...

 

God. with us!

^{Therefore, the Lord Himself will give you a sign.}  

^{Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call His name Immanuel.   
Isaiah 7:14}

happiness is...

...Audrey always remembering that my favorite color is blue.


...Owen lying still-as-a-statue in my bed, with his blanket tucked under his chin, for a little "Super Readers" (aka Super Why).


...Peyton, big smile covering his face, crawling fast as he can to get scooped up in my hug. 


...every glorious word of Luke 2.  "For unto you is born this day..."


...a little Sixpence None the Richer, Holiday on Pandora.


...my friends' names popping up on my caller ID or their voices on my voice mail.


...opening that first Christmas card of the season.


...reading our Christmas books with them nestled under my arm.
 

...exploring a brand-new (to us!) shopping mall.


...pandemonium with a side of mayhem, family style!
 

...A Charlie Brown Christmas with Noodle for the very first time.  
("That Snoopy is sooo silly!") 


...a warm sugar cookie straight from the oven :)

 

Happiness is slowing down and breathing in all the wonderful



What makes you happy?

the ugliest, most beautiful christmas tree ever

Today would be the day I share about a zillion photos that will make any competent photographer cringe just a little bit...but one works with what they have.

And what I have is far too many blurry pictures that make my heart happy.


Behold, our very first Christmas-tree-decorating-together day.

We prefer our tinsel in piles and gobs.

We prefer our candy canes in our mouths, and on our hands, and on our faces, and on Naynay's furniture.

Garland is to be layered strategically.

We did it!

Take THAT, tree!

Now where's my sippy cup?

* * *

* * *

Umm, what tree?

Happy Wednesday :)

p.s.  There was also grilled cheese and tomato soup.  It seemed right.  There were also cookies, with m&m's in them.  It IS Christmas, after all.

Also?  Just so's ya know...in case you drop by and suspect I'm nuts...I make it a policy to never, ever tinker with the tree arrangement shenanigans of tiny children.  
They always know.

Always.

msm: on the road again

So it seems I've been doing a lot of this over the last two weeks.  I've lost count of how many trips to Target I've made and that's not the best worst of it, as there have been many other various & assorted trips to delightful shopping destinations such as The Walmart.

Fortunately, all the schlepping isn't aggravating me very much yet.  The above is my birds-eye view as I drive home & it's so daggone pretty I can't seem to work up a good case of cranky.  This would be just about 45 seconds from my apartment.  Not too shabby, huh!

(Also not too shabby?  I took this picture with my snazzy new phone.  Crazy!!) 


Today was so beautiful and warm and blue-skyish that I was compelled, COMPELLED I say, to get out and about.  So I drove to Applebee's and ordered myself a cheese quesadilla & Dr. Pepper, and sat there all by my lonesome, and enjoyed every minute of it.  I almost changed my mind as I pulled the key out of the ignition and remembered I was sans make-up with unstraightened hair, but I pressed forward, and in the span of the first 15 seconds the couldn't-have-been-more-than-20-years-old hostess called me "Sweetheart," "Love," AND "Honey."  She didn't even seem to notice that I was a bit of a hot mess and for that I tipped the waitress well.  And then I proceeded to the Target.  (sigh.)

I still haven't hung anything else on the wall, and the sink is leaking like a, well, faucet, but my Christmas tree lights are all shimmery and I love the way they reflect in the window.  


All in all I'd say today turned out pretty great and for that I'm full of thanks.


Sooo...enough of me, what in the world have y'all been up to? 

p.s.  I'm joining in with Flower Patch Farmgirl for Money Shot Monday :)

the one in which I bury the lead

I should spend some time catching up with y'alls no doubt about it, but I'm woefully lacking in both energy and motivation.  I am also decidedly runny-nosy with a healthy dose of lethargy.  (Still!)


It does appear the crazy that has been life for the last, oh I don't know - let's be generous and say six months or so - has left me dreaming  literal dreams of moving days.  
Over and again.

Moving days on a loopy-loop, if you will.

And it's not just my worldly belongs that are perpetually being moved in my dreams, but I'm now branching out and sharing the joy by taking my loved ones with.  How, you ask?

Well.  Last night I dreamed I was moving.  Then I dreamed I was helping Kari and Drew move.  And then I dreamed my sister's family was moving.  And I was helping them all with their daggone contact paper.  However, my sister's move was thwarted because my BIL was sick (in the aforementioned dream) so they postponed for a day or two and I was SO VERY EXCITED about the delay that I woke up, true story.  What is also true is that Rex has been sick in real life this very week, so I guess my horror at the sound of his voice when I called the other day crept into my dreams.

All that to say I really really don't wanna relocate any boxes for at least a month or 20.


(Not that it hasn't been worth every single box, of course.)


And in other, oh so slightly-related news, looky at what my Katie's got going on?

Looks like I got here just in time :)