{Christmas Moments}

So, so, so, much good life happening in this little spot. Lots of lazy sleepy mornings, cocoa sipping, family visits, cozy days watching it snow (!!!) and lots of wondering how such little people can stand to be out in such bitter, windy cold. The kids really, really loved their farm mat. It's almost finished...I just ran out of secret time and secret spaces...but it has already been put to very good use. I'll get pictures soon, I can't recommend this project enough! Today we are having one last lazy day before that post-holiday-cleaning frenzy kicks in... The only goals for today involve knitting with my Christmas yarn, getting a shower, and making burgers and fries for dinner. Of course there will be lots of nose wiping, toe warming, book reading, and chocolate sneaking too. The most wonderful time of the year indeed. 

{Thank you all for your sweet comments! Joe made it home safe and sound and we have been loving every minute of our time with him. We have him for about two and a half more weeks!! I'm not thinking about after that yet.}

Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year!!

Linking up with SouleMama

{trick or treat}

There is a chance that these are some of the worst costume photos you will see in blog land this year...the costumes however, are pretty fantastic (if I do say so myself!). Jenny requested a peacock...after a quick browse on pinterest I was sold on the idea of a tutu, it's just the basic "no sew" variety on elastic. We took several little feather bunches that were on sale (thankfully) at JoAnn's and I took them off of their wires and stitched them onto some sheer gold ribbon to be her tail. Bobby's spider legs are just halloween tights filled with plastic shopping bags, then strung together with thread (and by the end of the night at least one safety pin!)... Nomi (who is frequently called Domino by his sister) was, what else? A domino. And the cutest, plumpest domonio I've ever seen. My parent's house is in a great neighborhood for trick or treating, so we all meet up there and the cousins (and younger aunts and uncles!) all go together. It's also actually my sister's birthday so there are always at least a few birthday related things to do too. All in all it made for a fun (if chilly!) night, of fun for everyone. We don't make a huge deal about halloween, just good (not too scary please!) fun for all and a few days of much treasured candy treats. 

I'm going to be trying NaBloPoMo (National Blog Post Month) and post every day (ok, probably not Sundays) this month...we have travel plans later in the month so we'll have to take each day at a time, but I have missed this place and sharing with everyone over the past few weeks so it's good to be back, and I hope you'll join me!

~Mackenzie

Six

Happy Birthday to my sweet "baby" girl! I can't believe it's been six years...looking forward to the next six!! (Off to get ready for a make your own pizza party, chats with Daddy, and lots of six-year-old snuggles! More on the outfit and crown in the next few days!)

Easter Pictures...and nothing much to say

Keep an eye on Jenny posing in the background ;) 

St. Valentine's Day

This year, I found myself in need of a valentine for the first time in many years...despite Joe being gone for work I was determined to make the most of this oh so delightfully pink day. So I called up a sister and made some plans...because really I will take any excuse for a girls night! Olivia picked up "Crazy Stupid Love" and "The Help" from Redbox and brought her laptop with her (we have no sound on our current computer and no other way of watching movies)...and we got busy with a proper girls night in....

Gluten free pizza, thanks to the Bob's Red Mill mix, it was very good and I will certainly be using it again, most of their gluten free mixes have corn in them, which makes them not really an option for us, but this one is really really good. Yummy sauce, orange peppers, chicken breast and cheese finished off this amazingly yummy pizza. The movies were both really fun, I was so excited to finally see "The Help"! I read the book last month, and while I do prefer the book, the movie was really excellently done. 

 {Beautiful Sister}

 Next morning we had a festive breakfast of gluten free banana bread and freshly squeezed orange juice. The freshly squeezed juice is really something that just slipped in...Bobby LOVES oranges in all forms, and asked me so sweetly for a "Juicing thing to make orange juice", how could I say no? However he learned that despite being the biggest almost-four year old I've ever seen, his hands were not quite up to the task. So now I make us orange juice and oh my is it delicious! Three oranges meet their end every morning, we each sip our 4oz with delight, and I wonder how on earth I wound up squeezing oranges every morning. ;) I'm pretty sure it has something to do with this face...

I mean, you'd make that face orange juice too...

 {Roses for Miss Olivia}

Our breakfast table, due to all of the painting and room moving around we actually haven't had proper meals at our table in quite a while, so it was nice to get back to normal with a meal all together. Olivia was nice enough to offer some atmosphere with her 80's power ballads pandora station...my children were very impressed that I know all of the words...

This little fellow on his first St. Valentine's day...he really should have been asleep, but I think he could tell something exciting was going on because he kept fighting those long blinks...his favorite teething toy right now is this lemon, and it leaves him smelling delightfully fresh. I leave you with extra pictures of His Plumpness...hope you all had a great day yesterday!

 <3