Over here

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we are getting rid of a nasty cold/cough. My little boy has never been so sick; I would love to make him feel all better!


The first night he awoke with a bad cough, we bundled him up and took him outside to breath the cold, moist air. He was half-awake, half-asleep, but smiled and pointed to his swing. It was so sweet to see his red-nosed face go back and forth in the dark, moon lit night. But, oh, the worry I felt was hard to take. Hopefully the yuckiest part is over, and now we can play and just wipe noses all day!

On a cold day

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My little boy played with new toys near the woodstove and listened to music with his mama.

We later ventured outdoors, though and blinked steadily in the icy, glowing day.  23 degrees should come with snow, don’t you think?

Returning inside, I was lucky to have a snuggly reading buddy to warm up with.

I am so grateful for this cold, winter’s day.  It was beautiful.

 

A whole new year

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Maybe you also feel like 2011 seemed short, or perhaps those 12 months were enough for you.  Funny how time passes, I guess.  Besides, January 1st, 2012 is here (and almost finished)!

January-December 2011

The end of December was full of sweetness, warmth, excitement, and togetherness.  Just the perfect holiday.  Owen’s grins, head shakes, pointing, and babbling made this Christmas even more fun.  We saw all of our family (thanks Skype), some of our friends (but missed several others), and spent lots of the vacation week at home.

I want to share a year-long project on the blog.  I first came across One Little Word 2 years ago.  The idea, and certainly the list of words, has intrigued me ever since.  On the 30th, I though and thought of how I could determine a direction, a retreat, a feeling, a…word.  And, all of that thinking worked!

Intention.

Yes, I will set forth with belief, understanding, patience, honesty, and an open mind.  2012 will be full of goodness, for sure.  I’ll be posting about my experience with the class, and my one little word.

Happy New Year!

 

Inside::Christmas

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Little bits of holiday cheer around our house::

ornaments on bookshelves

stockings hung from a pegboard with care

season’s greetings to keep us company in the kitchen

green explosion above the coat rack (working on red bits though)

The felt wreath can be found here; the twig tree can is here.

Hope you are busy with merry-making, as well!

 

Cleaning and crafting

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Whew, I’ve had some cleaning to do.  Over the past couple of weeks I’ve worked on a long cleaning list for most of the house.  Sure, it’s probably time to do it again, but those tasks are crossed off for now!

Now, we celebrate the magical arrival of the winter and holiday season.

For us, this means sharing and creating traditions together.  We have begun to transform our house, ready to meet the months ahead.  Our woodstove has been blasting us with warmth thanks to a steady fire.  The cookbooks, aprons, pantry staples, and dishes have all been given extra attention, and frequent use!

A beautiful West Virginia Balsam joined us in the basement (along with other holiday decorations that I hope to share in another post).  Lights twinkle both indoors and out– starting around 5:00pm.  The stereo plays Christmas tunes for us to sing along.  I have made 6 variations of a “to-do” list, hoping to remember all the makings of a holiday.

This past Tuesday, Owen and I babysat and played with our friends Eddy and Rae.  Their house sparkles with Christmas, and our spirits were festive.  We did a few little crafts, and it was so fun to see the  3 of them take part in all we did.

Later in the week, I set up a fingerpainting project for Owen.  He was truly excited when he sat down to check things out!  We had a really good time, and there will be some special surprises for a few loved ones as a result.

 

Owen is 1!

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Over the weekend, our family and friends joined us in honor of Owen’s first birthday celebration.  We decided to rent The Old Stone School and create a party to fit our happy, nature-loving, sweet boy.

Inside the old auditorium, my inlaws laid out yummy chili and fixins’, and Kevin put his mushroom cake on display.  I brought a banner, several vases/containers filled with woodsy goodies (taken from our yard), lots of pictures, fall picture books, and yea, some logs.  The reading area needed plenty of seating!

Little friends could pin the leaves on the trees, but that was not as fun as running across the stage backandforthbackandforth.

Kevin made the best use of the stage though-behind the curtain was a photobooth!  A few forest creature masks and chalkboard speech bubbles were provided as props.  Once in the booth, the camera clicked 3 times.  We have lots of great shots!  I want to have a photobooth for all future events!

We asked everyone to “leaf” a fingerprint on this canvas tree; it’s such a colorful display of love for our boy.

As a mama, I treasure the day my baby was born.  I will always think of his Birth Day as exactly that–when I birthed him into this world and he was welcomed into the arms of his family.  Cake and balloons do make the celebration that much sweeter though!

The Buzz

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Owen celebrated his first Halloween tonight.  He happily wore his warm & fluffy bumblebee jacket for the festivities!

But before we ventured out to trick or treat (and give almost one year olds dum dum lollipops), we carved pumpkins. Owen was not into the squishy innards, but did think he should put all the seeds back inside the pumpkin.

Eventually this goofy face was ready to join us at the table.  Where, goofy faces belong, obviously.

Oh, and what’s a first Halloween without snow?  Owen couldn’t tell you, because he was too busy catching snowflakes and looking adorable in his hat.

From a snowbunny to a bumblebee, it was a Happy Halloween!

Not exactly lions, tigers, and bears…

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but our fall has been filled with fun animal visitors!  This sweet little fawn wandered over to our yard twice last week!  She seems to share Owen’s love for Kix cereal.

Our friends Tim and Dawn own a farm, and recently rented the property to horse breeders.  When we stopped by last weekend, I jumped at the offer to ride!  It’s probably been over 15 years since I last sat on a horse (hi Cyndy).

Grandma and Grandpa were happy to host us for a mini-vacation, and planned a fun outing for everyone.

Loved seeing my favorite animal up close!