It's beginning to look like winter!

The first big storm of the season. It started snowing super early this morning and hasn't stopped yet. Hopefully Christ can get back into the garage. We haven't gotten a snow shovel yet and there's about 5-ish inches and counting. I'm just glad I don't have to drive in it today. 

And here is a fun little piece of decor. I got such a great deal on it! And it adds just the right touch of Christmas :)

Clean, clean, clean

Lincoln is turning out to be  quite the little helper. He litterally throws himself on the floor if we don't let him sweep...drama! I'm wondering if I clean too much. The last couple of days Lincoln pulls out a wet wipe and then proceeds to wipe down everything! The oven door, the floor, the walls, the carpet, and even the chairs. It's so funny. I think we have a miniature Danny Tanner on our hands (we watched a lot of Full House while I was on maternity leave...maybe too much)!!!!

The Piano Maestro

Lincoln spends lots of time on this piano. Usually its a lot of fun to listen...until he turns the volume up to full blast, then its not so fun. Chris fixed that though. Lincoln can only turn it up half way...Sweet! His favorite thing to do is to turn the sound to the organ and pound away! It's always a show :)

 Having so much fun!

Look at that concentration!

On the 1st day of Christmas...

This year we are doing the 25 days of Christmas and I couldn't be more excited! I want the holidays to be so memorable for my family and I'm hoping this will become a wonderful tradition.

With 25 days left....

who wants Christmas pillowcases!?!?!?

Putting on the Christmas pillowcases was one of my favorites growing up...but pretty much anything to do with fun Christmas stuff was my favorite...it was the official start of all the good things to come!

Lincoln put it all together. I wish I could have caught him on camera when he got the pillow. He was squeezing it so tight and rolling all around. What a character!

The Tree

While I put decorations all around the house Chris took care of the tree! I love that it glows!!! It's just so fun!

And my first attempt at Bokeh. Not perfect but I feel like it's pretty good for my first. I'm so excited to experiment a little this year with Christmas photography. It will be quite the learning experience.

Christmas Lights!

It's finally December! Christmas is just around the corner and the festivities are on the way! Every year we dedicate the day after Thanksgiving to Christmas decorating...and this year we had a little helper...mischievous too! We waited to do anything with the lights until it was a little darker because we wanted to see Lincoln's reaction. We put Christmas lights on the house a few weeks ago while it was warm and when we turned them on all we heard from Lincoln was ooo's and awwww's. He loved them. We weren't disappointed with his reaction to more lights. It was a blast! He even figured out how to plug the last strand in and had fun playing in all it's bright glory! Until he found the other end of the plug and we decided him chewing on that probably wasn't a very good idea. I thought that stage would end...nope...everything still goes in the mouth.

 Display space is a little short now. No fireplace mantel, only my two shelves but I have a bar height counter. It is now the perfect home for the Nativity. It really is the perfect place for it. You can see the Nativity from everywhere in our front room and I love it! This is what Christmas is all about. I just hope that I can remember that and be able to teach my kids that too. I love Christmas...everything about it is grand! From the decorating to the candy making to acting out the story on Christmas Eve...it is wonderful!

It's Done!

This was definitely an adventure! It took much longer than I had anticipated mainly because it got crazy cold and the stuff wouldn't dry so quick. But it is done and completely usable! And I LOVE IT!!!! I decided to be brave and add a little color to my normal neutral tendencies and I really like it. The pictures don't really do this table and the chairs justice. The stain on the table is gorgeous! The orange chairs are so much deeper than the pictures can show. I wish I knew how to take the perfect picture. I painted the chairs with a color called crisp autumn leaves, distressed them-especially the corners-and then glazed them. I feel like our house is really starting to become OUR home with just the right touches to make it just perfect! I can't wait to make some center pieces to put on the table...hopefully Lincoln learns to stay off the table top and doesn't destroy them. :)

My Little Helper

 This little guy wants so bad to to big. He always wants to do what dad is doing, he ALWAYS wants to help cook, and he always wants to take over the sweeping. I know the day will come when I ask him to sweep the floor he won't be so willing. But I have proof that he does like sweeping...ha! 

My Big Project

I have a new hobby....wood work! Well, it's not a new hobby but a reawakened hobby. I love it! It's so exciting and so fun. And the smell of freshly cut wood is...awwww....so great!! This is my most recent little project. Actually it's not that little. It's HUGE!!!!! I am making a new kitchen table. We honestly don't have a reason to give up our current 4 person table because it suits our family just perfectly. But, we kinda like having friends over and with only one extra seat it makes for some interesting seating arrangements. 

And I wanted to get a table a little lower to the ground. Our counter height table and chairs are an ongoing challenge for Lincoln to climb. He has almost done it a couple of times and that's a long way back to the floor...scary for mom-adventurous for a little climber. 

So I planned it all out...items list, cut list, miscellaneous things...my brain was fried. It would be a whole heck of a lot easier if wood was actually cut to the dimensions they are listed at...a 2x4 really isn't that-it is slightly smaller and involves fractions. Good thing I took math :)

I got the table pretty much put together in about 3 hours and then we searched for chairs. Yuck! That was definitely the hardest part so far. I knew I wanted solid chairs that would last with the table but the only thing we could find were the flimsy, cheap, fake wood kind of chairs. And then we found the perfect ones. They are from a restaurant that closed near by and we got a steal....chairs- $30, wood for table- $68 (give or take a few cents), finishing stuff...on it's way! Not too bad for a super solid table and chairs! Where can you get a n awesome table set for around $100? I can't wait to finish it and see how it turns out. 

Power tools....I love 'em. 

Attitude

Recently we have been experiencing some new attitude at our house. Lincoln has learned about the word "no" and he does not like it! Here is a little example. I have set up a little table near the window for a play area. He has his toys here and also loves to color here. He has also learned to climb up and look out the window. It's fun to watch him stare at everything until he decides to turn our window seal into his new color book....not ok. I just happened to be taking pictures of something when I saw him do this and was able to catch his reaction. The first picture is right after I asked him what he was doing. And the second picture...honestly, by the reaction you would think I yelled like a crazy woman at him. But all I said (and I tried to be a nice and loving as I could) was "Lincoln we don't color on the window seal, we only color on paper". And we got that reaction...oh what are we in for?

Annual Rootbeer Making

Every year since we have been married we have always made root beer for Halloween night. It's a fun little tradition and Lincoln had a blast watching it work. He even got to help a bit.

Pumpkin Designing 2013

We almost waited too long to get our pumpkins carved this year. But we got them done in just the right time. As always, we spend a few hours deciding on the designs and the how to's. Next year just might be the best for techniques...just sayin. We tried a few things this year and know what will make it even better. 

It was so fun to have Lincoln join in the festivities too. He really didn't love digging out the guts...who does...but loved drawing on the pumpkin. He took that part very serious! His concentration was so cute!

I decided to drill my pumpkin...lots of trial and error on this one this year. But it still turned out ok. Not 100% pleased but not a complete failure.

You can barely see my pumpkin but it's a bat. Chris did the Zelda sign (not sure what it is called) and lots of the neighborhood boys thought it was pretty sweet.

And our good friend Mike Wazowski came for a visit this Halloween!

Proud mommy moment

You always wonder if you are doing all the right things all the time for your child. A lot of time you don't feel you succeed but there are those precious moments that grip at your heart and tell you that you are doing it right. This morning I had one of those moments. Chris and I knelt down to say prayers before breakfast and asked Lincoln to fold his arms. He came right over and knelt in front of the chair, like we do, folded his arms, bowed his head and started talking. It really was so precious and I knew if these are the kind of things he is learning we as parents must be doing something right.

Just a little post

Life! What a crazy adventure it all really is. This year has been full of ups and downs and everything in between.
Chris and I have made some changes in our life that have been really beneficial to the happiness of our family and in our marriage. Those changes have taken some faith and trust but it really does all work out in the end. The only thing that really matters is that we are happy...through the good and the not as good. I have really come to understand love in a marriage a little more deeply and I am truly grateful for the experiences that have led me to this understanding. I always heard people say they love their spouse more than they did the day they got married and I get it now. It is a crazy deep kind of love that really does grow stronger with time and through difficulties. I really do love Chris more now than ever. I am so so glad that he is by my side always.
I'm still trying to get the hang of this mom thing. I wish it came more naturally than I feel like it does sometimes. This week has been a little draining. Lincoln has been whining non stop all week. There are times when he doesn't...only when he has your complete and undivided attention. That is hard to do all day. If I even scoot away for one second to grab a different toy or a book he freaks out and starts crying. It's hard! I'm honestly scared of the "terrible two's". If it's worse than this I might be checking myself into the nutty house! Okay...so I am being a little dramatic but really...there is only so much crying (fake crying), whining, and tantrums that I can take in a day. I feel bad for Chris because I want to shut myself in a room when he gets home and let him deal with it all but he has long days at work and wants a little quite time too....it's rough.
But there are good times too. I like to really document those times so I can remember those times the best. But I also want to make some notes of harder times so I know I am human and recognize that life isn't and never will be perfect bliss. And so I can learn from the past. But life is good. We truly are blessed!

The Park

One of the things I love most about where we live now is this park right across the street. There is tons of green grass to run around on and lots of swings and slides! This must be kid heaven! We took advantage of a nice day yesterday and went out and played. It was so fun to watch Lincoln explored. He found little crab apples everywhere and hauled at least two with him where ever he went. 

Then we hit the slide. We have taken him down the slide before but he always looses his balance and either falls face first on the way down or ends up rolling over about half way. Lincoln discovered a new way to slide. And this way he can go down all by himself and loves it!!!

Then we hit the swings. He laughs so hard...usually. I was trying to catch that contagious little smile but right as I tried a little boy got into the swing next to him and there went Lincoln's smile. It was serious business to swing and Lincoln proved it! Sillly boy :)