lately: thanksgiving eve + just a tad christmas

It has been another fun, busy week hanging out with this peanut butter and jelly face girl and these sweet, smiley boys:

Since it is Thanksgiving Eve, I decided I should capture my fall mantel before it is not seen again for twelve months:

The vase at the far left in the photo above was made by Lane's brother, Ross, and is filled with sticks from my favorite tree in our yard- an aspen right off our back deck.
We always have family photos up, of course, and I added an extra one of the newest member of our family! The small stack of books (C.S. Lewis and Thoreau) and the old camera are mantel staples as well.
The adorable turkey candle holder was just given to me by Lane's mom. My favorite part are the dangling turkey legs- so awesome.

Behind everything is one of those cinnamon-scented stick brooms from Trader Joe's. It smells amazing. I also decorated with pumpkins and some wheat- how harvesty.

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The little elephant is from Lane's trip to India when he participated in YWAM in college.
My favorite thing about our mantel is that my kids add things that they find very important and needing to be displayed. Case in point: the ceramic triangle that James painted and the random piece of wood with barnacles that he found at the beach. It makes me so happy that he sees our home decor as something to which he can contribute.

We did cheat, however, and started to decorate for Christmas just a tad in the basement. First, Elle's new doll house got some lights:

Then we built Zoo Lights out of Legos and train track. Unlike the Portland Zoo Lights, James decided ours needed a boat and a gas station.

Have a blessed and happy Thanksgiving!

PS: a Thanksgiving kid craft and, in case you don't get enough pumpkin tomorrow, pumpkin muffins and a pumpkin latte

lately: icey outside, cozy inside

Brotherly snuggles:

 I love how sweet James is with Judah. He is always wanting to hold him, giving him kisses, and talking to him in a funny baby voice. A bit different from the last time we brought a baby sibling home to him.

Hiding:

These two. They are always making forts or hiding in big piles of pillows and blankets they have collected from every room of the house. It is so fun to see them become buddies.

Construction James:

As we headed down to the basement the other morning, I told James he had to help pick up all the toys before we started playing. For some reason, he began meticulously organizing his work bench. It looked so nice and well organized that he didn't want anyone to play with it for the remainder of the day.

Story time:

James in long underwear. Eleanor picking her nose. But still so sweet. And might I add that this allowed me to get the dishes done before the kids were in bed. Miracles do happen.

Serving Tiggy:

Play food is one our rotational toys, so when I got it down the kids immediately set up a bakery/fruit stand/restaurant. Tiggy, Pooh, and Bear were just a few of the customers. Also, Elle served me coffee all day long.

Frozen:

We had a minor ice storm at the end of the week. James didn't go to his Thursday morning preschool and Lane worked from home Friday. It was so cold in the morning that I barely opened our back door just to snap this picture, then didn't venture out again until the "big kids" and I went for a walk in the afternoon. We slid all over the sidewalk and threw chunks of ice onto the street. We also visited the ducks who were sure we had brought them lunch. "No bread!" Elle hollered at them, "Jus' ice, duckies!"

I am so thankful for our warm cozy home on cold days. I am even more thankful for the people who live in this home.

a second year, a second go

One year ago today, Katie and I started this blog. 

We were not completely sure what we wanted it to be, but we were okay with that. We liked the idea of it evolving. But then, with my morning sickness and pregnancy exhaustion, combined with her becoming a doula and moving about thirty five times, posts became more and more sporadic.

During our blogging break (also known as "all of summer and part of the fall season"), I have thought a lot about what I want this blog to be. I have decided that I want it to be a family blog.

I am terrible about keeping up with baby books, or scrap booking, or anything like that, but I want my kids to be able to look back and make some sense of the three million digital pictures they have of their childhood. I want to remember vacations. I want to do posts about our home that they can look at and remember where they grew up. I want to honestly document the tough times, and the lessons that the Lord is teaching me through these three little munchkins.

Basically, I want it to be for them.

Katie will hopefully pop in every now and then. But mostly, if you decide to read this blog, you will get the boring details of my amazingly blessed life.

So, there you have it. From Cup to Cup, year two. Go.