Had a good Valentine’s Day! The kids each received one of those Bilbio toys. Activity toys – all about activity toys for my active two.

These things are pretty great. They can sit and spin around in them which I have a movie of them doing that somewhere. They can turn them over and stand on them. They have been hats. Not surprisingly, Quinn is using it as a place to put things. Tyler nn is spinning bear and lobster in his. We brought them with us for sliding down hills in the snow. Pretty fantastic thingamabobber!!

Speaking of love, this dog loves Chris. Sadly Daddy is very busy and so Chase doesn’t get all the Daddy time he would like. But when he does, oh this dog is in completely heaven. I love this picture….

Our dear friend, “Aunt Katherine”, has the sweetest baby girl, Avery. And little Avery was the inspiration for much crafting around here these last few weeks. On my Mom’s surgery day, I got the kids started making some felt blocks. Tyler was especially excited to be making a toy for someone!

Over the weeks we found windows for them to add a square. While Grandma was here, she added to the exitement by suggesting we make some designs on the felt! Quinn wanted a sun and a butterfly which I cut out and Grandma embroidered. Tyler wanted a moon and cut out his own moon and then wanted an apple and a worm which I sewed in for him.

They kids stuffed the blocks and I sewed up the remaining sides. I think they camme out great! I am really proud of their stitching…not easy for little hands. Tyler did a great job with the blanket stitch and Quinn rocked her wrap stitch! The kids were very proud and were especially excited to present their creations to Baby Avery!

I hope this is the beginning of our crafting for others journey – it was a lot of fun and I would love to find more projects we can do together!

But the crafting didn’t stop there! Tyler brought home a pumpkin he made at school a while back and decided he wanted to gift that to Avery as well. And then a week ago the kids were drawing and painting up a storm for Avery. Quinn was into the watercolors and Tyler was drawing many pictures for her.

A Bee, Beehive, a Frog and the blue is the “water ocean” for the frog.	Ladybug and designs
She cut around the edges – I think it looks cool!	Watercolor and glitter glue
Tyler’s pumpkin made at school	We think she like out creations!

My favorite parts of this house are the windows. Big, lovely windows that let in tons of natural light. I love to sit in the living room in the morning when the kids play there. The whole area is bathed in sunlight. And today as the light is playing peek-a-boo with us, we soak up every moment it peeks through.

It has been nice to do nothing this morning but knit and be and enjoy my kids.

After our hike we relaxed in our cabin. The cabin had lots of windows in the back room that let lots of lovely natural light in. We then went back out in the afternoon to check out the Frio River and naturally the kids could not resist the water. They spent a lot of time playing around here.

As the sun began to set, we headed back to the cabin for a yummy dinner. Then we closed the night around our Yule log and made smores. Honestly, I wanted to include more ritual than I did, but time slipped away on me. No matter, we will be back next year and I can add a bit more to our celebrations.

The next day we had hoped to hike at Lost Maples before heading home. Sadly the park was closed that day. We took it as a sign from the universe that we needed to get home. It was just as well.

All in all a fantastic solstice! Come with us next year, won’t you?

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!

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.