We have our 12 Days of Christmas Ring here which takes up right into Epiphany. One of Quinn’s gift was to be a knitted hat for her doll to match the doll sweater I made her at Christmas. Great idea….except I have to find some time to actually knit it. So down to the last minute, I got it done in about 1.5 hours..at 2am. Lost sleep..boo, but finished project – yay! It all balances out…eventually..or with caffeine. :-p

I think it came out pretty good!! Her doll looks cute. Now as to why dolly is running around in her nightgown in this cold weather is beyond me. You will have to ask my daughter that question. She will probably say that Mommy needs to sew dolly more clothes! :-p

Winter solstice out in nature is heaven. Running from the holiday insanity for a few days to get grounded, to connect with my little family, and to breathe in the goodness around us.

We had done this 3 years ago and I commited that this year we would make it an annual tradition. I love Texas in the winter! Its’ beauty comes through its simplicity, its nakedness. No snow or leaves to hide behind – just bare branches stretching to the sky. The sun finds its way through and creates amazing dappled light, shadows, sunsets and sunrises. While it may be a time of sleep for much of nature, its majesty is ever present.

The first day there we went on a 4 hour hike with the kids. The weather was incredible and we all had an amazing time! I have to share some of the pics from the hike!

We started a great new tradition for the beginning of Adventlast year and I really do look forward to it. After dinner, we decorate the Christmas tree. We sing our two Advent songs and light our Advent wreath. Then we sing our Starpath song and start Mother Mary on her journey around the Starpath. After that we enjoy a special dessert – tonight’s was apple crisp with some maple whipped cream. It is simple and sweet and a lovely way to usher in the holiday season.

To kick off the advent season, we head out to nature to collect greenery and other natural goodness for our advent wreath. After we come home, the kids and I work to create our little wreath. As the weeks go on, we will remove what is dried out and add new fresh bits from around our house or other nature walks. I always love this hike – the entire little family goes. You can feel the excitement brewing for this special time of year to begin.

The hike was great! Wonderful grey weather. We saw lots of insects – butterfly, moths, and these bugs on a cactus that the kids insisted I take a picture of. We ended up in this cool spot where the kids played before we left. Sadly, they found bits of glass and decided to pick up as much as they could find. It is sad to see how people treat these beautiful places.

All in all, a great hike with lots of goodies for our wreath!

This Thankgiving was a good, low-key one. We spent time with our families, went on some adventures, and put a good bit of energy into some projects at home. I wanted to share some pictures, especially our gratitude chain. I almost forgot about this tradition, so it didn’t have many days to grow very long. But it still contains many chains of thanks..and always makes me smile when I see it up.

These birthday posts are hard for me. Usually I “save” them for when I have the time and energy to sum up the year and say some really profound things about the year. And then the pressure of composing such an important post weighs on me and I never do it. I enjoy blogging about every day life so much more – I think it speaks volumes compared to a summary of the year. And being a Mom my brains can only stretch about two days in any direction anyway. So I will keep this post simple.

People who know me might think that I get really into doing it up for birthdays, and actually, I don’t. I am incredible lazy when it comes to them. I like the small traditions we have at our house, but when it comes to the party part, we just have it at the park by our house with tacos, coffee and cake. The kids play at the playground and the adults chill and talk. My kind of party – I don’t have to do anything! :-p

Traditions
The night before we hang up the birthday flags, hang streamers from the dinging room light and then create a scene on the dining table with a bunch of their toys. The love to wake up and marvel at the scene. This year we incorporate Tyler’s gift from us into it. He looked very pleased.

Party
This year Tyler wanted a Saturn cake. I turned that challenge over to my very talented neighbor who does all kinds of cake creations. She did an excellent job! Especially with the awesome rings! Tyler wore his birthday crown which he was into this year! It had 5 stars on it and a moon that he wanted me to add last year. At the end of the part he was hanging with some friends showing them one of his favorite presents from Grandma Susie.

Kids with Cameras
Some days I get annoyed with the many pictures the kids have taken with my camera. Some days I take a moment to look at what they captured and have a pretty good laugh. Here I think Quinn was trying to take a close-up of one of Tyler’s new car. And we have a picture of Tyler’s new camera sitting on a doll’s high chair. I somehow wonder if his sister was trying to commandeer it..hmmmmm

I am really tired, my head hurts and it is 11:23pm. That early bedtime goal is just a pipe dream. *sigh* I think I took some pretty good pictures today that can tell the story better than I right now! There are quite a few – enjoy! And Happy Birthday to my silly, crazy, sweet boy.

Tyler made the McDonald Observatory
Notice the cars in the bag..that’s my girl
Homemade Cheese Snails – Yum!