It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas...

We've enjoyed some eggnog this week, and we've mostly decorated the tree. There are stockings hung on the mantel (which reminds me, that we will be needing another one next year! : ) This year, we put the tree in the playroom, and it seems so perfect. David says we should leave it up all year...

 Dmitri with "the first Christmas gift," which he found under the tree after we had decorated it.

 Stockings

We built a train track around the tree...

Damon adores the lights.

I picked out the littles' yearly ornaments - something to represent what they enjoy, or a milestone from the year.

Dmitri's:

He loves Curious George. 

And Damon's:

His favorite thing is four-wheeler rides.

And I'm becoming a little frantic with my homemade gift list...some designated craft time is much needed. As soon as David gets a few more of his graduate school applications submitted this weekend, I need a break!

Are you ready and excited for the holidays?!

Thankful x 3.

We are back from our Thanksgiving tour of family, and this year we had a little surprise that we brought with us...

Soon-to-be family of 5!

 Baby # 3!

16 weeks - Thanksgiving

I am so excited to have three children to be thankful for this Mother's Day!

Baby # 3 - EDD May 12th, 2013.

And it's making the holidays just a little bit more magical, exciting, and celebratory.

This pregnancy has been a little intense - plenty of nausea, vomiting, dizziness, heartburn, back aches, exhaustion, breathlessness, and tension headaches. But I am thankful firstly, for a healthy baby, and also that I'm feeling a little bit better as I am getting well into the second trimester. I hope things continue to look up from here.

And I am glad that we are finally sharing the news. We heard the heartbeat for the first time at 14 weeks, and wanted to tell our family in person, so we've been keeping it in for a long time. We got a positive pregnancy test on August 31st. (Although, since I started showing around 8 weeks, I don't think we fooled too many people).

Hope that you had a very happy Thanksgiving! Tonight, we are trimming the tree we chopped this weekend.

Holiday Bucket List

Thanksgiving week is here, and I am ready for the holiday season to begin! The bigger my littles become, the more fun I think the holidays are, and I am very excited about doing many fun holiday things. I made a little holiday bucket list, so that I would not forget something in the holiday bustle. (Last year, I forgot that I had already bought Christmas cards the year before on sale...what a happy surprise this year to find them.) And so, here it is...

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Dmitri's holiday cards that he has been working so hard on creating!

Fun with roving!

Caroline’s Holiday Bucket List

-Make homemade hot cocoa (and it was so easy and delicious, we have made it twice this week!)

-Brown paper packages tied up with string (I think I might try reusing paper grocery bags).

-Make a felt ball garland

-Watch a Christmas movie with the family

-Make a snowman pizza (Damon will love picking the olives off. His favorite!)

-Apple. Cider.

-Hang a star in the window

-Make a Christmas card book for the kids to look through aswe receive cards

-Mail Christmas cards to friends and family

-Hang a holiday wreath

-See Christmas lights!

-Make Gingerbread Houses (I think I'm going to try Rice Crispy Treat houses with my favorite peanut butter & brown rice syrup recipe)

-Sugar cookies. A Christmas tradition. (I use this recipe).

-Paint snowflake art

-Create snow globes with Dmitri (there are a million tutorials on Pinterest)

-Put the very first present under the tree the day we get our Christmas tree  (The book: Mr. Willoughby’s Christmas Tree. That way, we can read it all holiday season long. And it's such a cute book.)

-Hang stockings by the fireplace

-New Christmas pajamas and a special Christmas book: our Christmas Eve tradition

-Cinnamon rolls for breakfast on Christmas morning!

What are you excited about this holiday season? Any favorite Christmas movies you would recommend? Favorite traditions?

Right Now::

Right now, I am::

:: looking at cameras online. Nikon D5100 or D7000? New or refurb?
:: listening to the Edward Sharpe Pandora Station.
:: helping Dmitri with his lacing cards.
:: still hot from my morning walk. Do I really need to change into short sleeves in November?
:: realizing Thanksgiving is NEXT WEEK.
:: starting the frenzy of completing holiday projects. Felt and yarn everywhere...
:: holding a whiny toddler. I suspect an ear infection.
:: smiling at my children playing with a bag of pecans that we gathered this week.
:: looking forward to a doughnut run with the husband in a few minutes.
:: proud that I made a meal plan this week. I'd gotten out of the habit, and it was tragic. Glad we are back in the rhythm- less stress, less eating out, more good food.
:: thinking about holiday photos. Oh, and that I need a camera for them.
:: Happy Monday!

Not my week, at all.

Somedays aren't yours at all,
They come and go as if they're someone else's days,
They go and leave you behind someone else's face,
And it's harsher than yours,
And colder than yours.
-Regina Spektor

Last week was not my week. My darling camera and my phone were stolen at the park. One of our chickens died. And, there was projectile vomit all over my house at one point.

I had a much longer post written discussing these events, and their poor timing. Where I complained and sulked, and talked about how I was having a hard time. But instead, I am going to leave it at this.

That I am searching for peace where I am. Drinking lots of tea, curled up by my heater. And trying very, very hard to be thankful for the many treasures that I have.

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween! I've never really been a big celebrator of Halloween, but the littles are so excited about dressing up - it really does make Halloween so much fun! Are you (or your little ones) dressing up this year?!

Weekend & Pantone Paint Winner

We traveled to Memphis this past weekend for my cousin's wedding. It was a beautiful event, and we had a wonderful time visiting family. It was David's first trip to Memphis, and the longest road trip we've taken with the littles. We are sleep-deprived, but we made it back uneventfully. The trip there was rough - we made it in at 3:30 AM, thinking that it would be easier to travel while the children slept. Instead, we had to try to entertain very exhausted children who would not go to sleep. And I must admit, we resorted to the DVD player on the trip back. It was so, so, so nice. It makes me less afraid of taking longer trips in the future.

David & I at the rehearsal dinner

I find that since having children, photos of just the two of us are so rare. And photos of just me are non-existent. I want to change that.

Today, I'll be unpacking and catching up on my post-travel to-do list that grew while I was gone.

And I'll be back later in the week with some homemade Christmas magic. (This cold & wind are making me that much more excited about the holidays!)

The winner of the paint give-away via Random Number generation is Amy from All in the Family. Send me a note Amy and your paint will be on it's way!