it has to be done.

it is december and this is our idea of bundling up. 

and i think that this is not good enough.

so, B and i have decided that it has to be done.

what, you ask?

well, after perusing this lovely blog,
and after reading all about her adventures in the town where i grew up,
B and i have decided that we must take our children there.
in the winter.
with snow.
sometime.
i just hope that sometime will be sooner than later.
like maybe next year, hon?
it would be absolutely incredible. 
i just know it.
watching the skiers on bachelor 
(we've vowed to never ski again),
going ice skating,
going sledding,
drinking hot cocoa by a warm fire,
driving the family by the houses where i grew up
and seeing my grandparents' old ranch. 


B loves the idea of a road trip.
i can just imagine the goodness of a trip like this.
it is going to be great. 
just great. 
one of these days, it will be done.
i hope. 

but until then, we'll just sort of bundle up. 

And Mary said: "My soul glorifies the Lord
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant.
From now on all generations will call me blessed.
Luke 1:46-48

531. that K must skip everywhere she goes

532. a day to get stuff done (thanks, mom & dad!)

533. running errands with only one child

534. getting a start 
(albeit late) on that wrapping

535. a coffee mug for the car that reminds me that i can have abundant joy

yo-yos.

so many of you have asked about 
this cute (if i say so myself) headband. 





it is so easy. 

you can't not do it.

seriously, people. 
i can hardly tie a knot in thread. 

i'm not joking. 
and i have a hard time threading a needle unless the eye is super big.

but i can make these.

and now so can you. 


here's what you'll need:
headband
(i love the five headbands for $5 at h+m kids - 
which i too can wear - but you can use any kind.)
fabric scraps
needle and thread
felt
glue gun



first, trace two sizes of circles on the back side of fabric with a pencil. 
(the big yo-yos i made are about 3 & 3/4" diameter.
yet another reason to get these bottles.)
i used a small bowl from the kitchen for the smaller yo-yos.



cut the circles out.

then take a break to help your "helper" made a sad looking ornament

(see, i told you, my sewing/crafting skills are not anything incredible).

then get back to work.
next, tie a knot (the hardest part for me)
and sew the thread through, really close together. 
(do you like my sewing terms?)



pull the thread as taut as possible and then tie a knot, 
cut the thread and voila!

figure out the ideal placement of the yo-yos on the headband.

(i like to have the yo-yos slightly on a side rather than directly on top)

place the yo-yos on the headband and 

using a glue gun, glue them to both the headband and an oval shape of felt. 

i just use one good dollop of glue per yo-yo. 

then, cut the felt so that it doesn't show through the top of the headband.



and now you're done!
my headbands usually have 5 or 6 yo-yos, 

but you could do any combination. 



and here K and i are with our matching headbands. 
oh, how i love to be matchy-matchy with my daughter.

here's what i was inspired by.

the yo-yo possibilities are endless.

i have these on my mantle with everyone in the family's initial.

this is the only place where i could find lowercase craft letters

this month, i'll be posting the Scripture 
leading up to Christmas that i listed here. 


At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, 
where she entered Zechariah's home and greeted Elizabeth.
When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, 
the baby leaped in her womb,
and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.
In a loud voice she exclaimed: 
"Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! 
But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?
As soon as the sound of your  greeting reached my ears,
the baby in my womb leaped for joy. 
Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!"
Luke 1:39-45


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526. L's new singing abilities
527. a morning off (kind of)
528. a lovely new therapist for L
529. quiet saturday mornings
530. friends who hear sermons on the radio and email because they've thought of me

advent tree.

well, i am so sorry that i am not getting this out 

into the blogging world until today.

i tried, oh how i tried,

to get this done sooner,

but it just didn't happen.

you know how that goes.

the kids have their advent calendars but this one is for me.

i put it high up on the mantle so little fingers can not touch it. 

(hopefully)

so here goes... 

the advent tree

i was inspired by this and this. 

first, i spray painted some branches.

well, actually, i started to spray paint some branches 

but then i ran out of my new favorite color of paint. 

so the two littles and i went to our local craft store and

(of course)

they were out of that color. 

does that ever happen to you?

it happens to me 

all.

of.

the.

time. 

seriously. everywhere i go. 

anyway, i got some acrylic paint

(because i can be flexible)

in the same color and hand painted the remaining branches that way. 

that was definitely not the most ideal way to do this, but oh well!

i then cut little squares out of white cardstock

which were 2" by 2"

then, i punched a hole in one of the corners and

wrote the numbers 1 through 25

at a diagonal angle in each corner.

i wrapped each square into a cone and taped them. 

i then filled each cone with God's Word (see the list below).

i wrote each Scripture on a piece of brown paper bag

(which has each adjoining cone number written on the back),

and folded them to fit. 

the Scripture i used is the Christmas story compiled from both Matthew and Luke,

which a mom at my mom's group gave out a few years ago.

it was driving me crazy that i couldn't remember where i had placed it. 

well, lo and behold, when i opened up 

my Christmas decorations storage bin, there it was!

hooray. 

i'm more organized that i thought. 

well, not really, but at least i found it.

day 1. -- Matthew 1:18

day 2. -- Luke 1:28-33

day 3. -- Luke 1:34-35

day 4. -- 1:36-37

day 5. -- Luke 1:38

day 6. -- Luke 1:39-45

day 7. -- Luke 1:46-48

day 8. -- Luke 1:49-52

day 9. -- Luke 1:53-56

day 10. -- Matthew 1:19-21

day 11. -- Matthew 1:22-23

day 12. -- Matthew 1:24-25

day 13. -- Luke 2:1-4

day 14. -- Luke 2:5-6

day 15. -- Luke 2:7

day 16. -- Luke 2:8-12

day 17. -- Luke 2:13-14

day 18. -- Luke 2:15-16

day 19. -- Luke 2:17-19

day 20. -- Luke 2:20

day 21. -- Matthew 2:1-2

day 22. -- Matthew 2:3-6

day 23. -- Matthew 2:7-8

day 24. -- Matthew 2:9-10

day 25. -- Matthew 2:11

just don't look too closely 

or you will see that only 

days one through three have Scripture in them.

i'll get there. 

slowly but surely. 

here is the advent tree in yellow advent for Auntie B. 


addendum:
maybe some of you who made the tree did it this way already,
but i was feeling a tad overwhelmed by
needing to write the entire Scripture passage on
each piece of paper. 
while lamenting over this to Auntie B, 
she simply suggested that i write the verse address only.
problem solved!

"How will this be" Mary asked the angel,
"since I am a virgin?"
The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come on you,
and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.
So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.
Luke 1:34-35





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521. frosted sugar cookies

522. messy, messy kitchens

523. sprinkles on the floor

524. the bigs dancing

525. country Christmas music

this season last season.

it's {embrace} the camera day!

as i get 

more and more

excited about the beginning of this advent season, the

more and more

my mind goes.

goes to last Christmas season. 

last year, we were on track to have a wonderful couple of weeks

preparing our minds and our hearts

for Christ's birth into the world. 

and then,

we were thrown into one of the most horrible

experiences we have ever experienced. 

in no time, B and i found ourselves 

handing the bigs off to my parents 
(yet again),
sleeping at the hospital 
(yet again)

and not knowing when we would be back 
(yet again). 

everything about this season takes me back.

our advent wreath

(which we didn't get to finish lighting last year),

putting up Christmas decorations
(which we didn't get to enjoy),

baking sugar cookies
(which we didn't get to eat),
driving around looking at Christmas lights
(which we didn't get to do),

sending out Christmas cards 

(which i did while at L's bedside in the PICU),

our Christmas eve service at church

(which we missed),

and putting the kids to bed on Christmas eve
(which we didn't get to do).


as i can't help but think about last year,
the fear begins to slowly seep in
until it has gripped me and has total control over me.
then, the joy is completely lost. 


"Do not be afraid... your prayer has been heard."
Luke 1:13


but everything about the anticipation of this season 
also takes me back to the comfort and faithfulness of God.

although we didn't experience

a typical Christmas morning at home,

we felt God's comfort and experienced His faithfulness

the entire time L was in the hospital.

and even more so when he was released.

which did happen.

much earlier than doctors expected.

that's right, bright and early on Christmas morning, 

B, L and i got to come home.

and boy was that joyful.


i am savoring every moment i can this Christmas season. 

"I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten..."

Joel 2:25

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516. being with all of my babies
517. lighting the advent wreath
518. putting up Christmas decorations
519. baking sugar cookies
520. God's faithfulness

pressing letters.

Auntie B and i visited my sister at 
a letterpress class she is taking this semester.
yes, she is an architect by day and a creative mastermind by night.



and how freaking cute is my sister?
so freaking cute.
as my mother-in-law says,
"she could make a garbage bag look good."
she could.



i was amazed at the trays and trays and trays filled with different fonts.
it was glorious.
here are some gigantic wooden letters.



you just couldn't help but be inspired to create something.
anything.



my sis does about nineteen things at once
to make one lovely letterpress card. 



and who knew you would add color to the entire machine?
it's called frosting the cake.
i know.
so perfect. 



and how cute is this red stool?
so cute.
i'll take six, thank you very much.



my sis taught us the little dance that you must do 
with your feet in order to pull the lever smoothly. 



you really must be a good problem solver in order to do letterpress.
there is a lot of adjusting and tweaking and fixing.
to make things just perfectly right.

"thanks" for letting us come, Aunt WW!

and check out her adorable graphic design etsy shop.


This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: 
His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph,
but before they came together,
she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. 
Matthew 1:18


and please vote again for this little blog!

(just click on the icon above and vote on the right side of the page)

511. being inspired

512. chick-fil-a

513. letterpress

514. staying out past my bedtime
(that's morning guy's problem)

515. hanging with my girls