we ended the year 2010 with a new baby in the family, our sweet little nephew, jeremy… had a bunch of family visiting…went on a little road trip… had our biggest christmas tree yet…movie marathons… happy children… a shift in present giving- only 1 child in our family received toys this year 😦 wow… christmas came and went. and as i drove the kids to school this morning, i saw the lining of trees on the sidewalk, waiting to be picked up by the trash department. it's always a sad sight to see. this little wreath found a home in one of our frames as we are waiting for a print to go inside it. i may just leave it up for a few more months. 🙂
crafty holiday stuff
busy day for holiday crafting today! up first we have my post at 2peas! i used these martha stewart treat boxes to display, A: edible treats (mmmmm thank you trader joes!) and B: handmade ornaments.
yeah, that top left square didn't stand a chance while i was working on this project, obviously. 🙂
jenni bowlin buttons. i have dreamed of using tons of them all at once and now i finally have. yay! click here to see all the instructions (there's a fancy free PDF you can download and everything!) thank you 2p's for giving me the kick in the pants to create something i love. elsie even joined in. she did her own boxes and made daddy oatmeal raisin cookies for his birthday last week. yes, i'm purchasing lots of these boxes for future use. 🙂 JUST using Martha boxes make me feel ONE step closer to her. 🙂 i love her! HA!
and over at the KI memories blog, i've got these 2 cute boxes wrapped up all cute and simple. i'm inspired to use kraft wrapping paper and decorate with stickers!
and for our international loved ones in the philippines and australia, i managed to make some cards. WORLD RECORD people. 🙂 american crafts/dearlizzy made it so easy 🙂
i guess you can say i'm getting a little excited for christmas 🙂 and 2 weeks of sleeping in 🙂
elsie today
my schedule got kinda mixed up this week, i was going to post something else but had to bump it. so here's my stand in till then. funny story to go with her cute picture :) 
today she had a playdate with a new friend. when new friend said that she lived in a tall apartment building with lots of floors and doors, elsie squealed, like at the PLAZA HOTEL, like Eloise?! 🙂 Wooooow! 🙂 it's not the plaza hotel, or nearly close, but our little girl is one who sees the glass half full quite often. i absolutely cherish that little bit about her! i'm not saying she's like that all the time, she tells it like it is too. when told she needs to wait, she says, i hate waiting.
she's almost 5. and is "so nervous" for kindergarten. when taken to Stats recently for the first time, she said, this is better than disneyland!!! and has asked to go visit more than once. she is the queen of winter wonderland and is quite disappointed we haven't put our lights up yet. 🙂 she is into this little thing where she says, "i love you more than_____" recently it was cupcakes and candy and puppies. i'm flattered 🙂
those yellow trees behind her are now bare… all year we can't wait for the leaves to change and when they finally do their presence is fleeting. kinda reminds me of parenting. 😦
happy december!
we have our tree! 
this is our biggest tree yet and we just love it! i'm so excited it's december. such a happy month! 
elsie did the majority of decorating and has since been pulling off certain ornaments at a time to play with them and then puts them back on the tree. last night chris overheard her playing with our nativity scene with some other ornaments. so cute!
we cooked, we ate, we gave thanks.
she who learned all about indians last week, greeting me thanksgiving morning, with how. she who wears bathing suit with scarf as skirt must be obeyed 🙂
one of our projects together for the week, our paper napkin rings!
table, mismatched glasses and placemats, plates and chairs. that's how we do it 🙂
the teenager
the kids
fall colored toes 
my turkey 🙂 loove the sage showing through the skin. mmmm!
this pic cracks me up, this is when cameron said to me, MOM why didn't make stove top!? 🙂 he didn't like my homemade stuffing, wah. 
we spent the rest of the weekend, eating, relaxing, watching lots of movies and man vs. wild and even braved the cold for one outing in LA. good weekend indeed! can't wait for christmas! 🙂
thankful for thanksgiving
i'm way behind on blogging, instead of trying to catch up i'll just dive into my thanksgiving menu 🙂
turkey: had decided weeks ago that i was going to make Ina's truffle butter recipe but today was sent this and am contemplating it instead. i can't decide! i will probably wait till the morning of to decide!
image by elizabeth messina!
cranberries: this one by the pioneer woman. elsie already made this this morning all by herself. mmmm! 
image by pioneer woman!
stuffing: again, can't decide between these two: both by real simple. one. two. 
image by real simple.
i'm also doing roasted carrots & leeks and a couple of little dishes of mac and cheese and corn for els as i'm sure she won't touch anything else. other lovely family members will bring all the starches and salad and pies. if i'm feeling adventerous, we might make these: 
we did make these this afternoon. yum! and are going to make these tomorrow.
we are excited!
and for a moment
i gasped. i was looking for a photo and came across this from our trip to australia in 2009. since then, she's decided to grow her hair out. everyone who knows her comments that it makes her look older. while i want to support her decision to grow it out, i loved her little bob hair cut and miss it lots! 😦 
since these pics too, she's given up hair clips and jeans. she's also given up her sippy cups which means she won't drink plain milk anymore because 'it tastes funny' and only drinks chocolate milk. all 4 of my kids did that. now cam's the only one who drinks plain milk. she also gave up bananas. and something else i can't remember. little lola has definitely been an influence 🙂
that's it. random post i wasn't planning on posting until i saw those pics and they took my breath away.
teen spirit
this wasn't actually for halloween, but her school's spirit day. lovely school colors, orange and black. 
her and her friends even had a real henna person come and do their arms! so cute! 
i love how she partipates in stuff like this. i was one of the few at school who couldn't care less. we are so different, in a good way 🙂 love her!
and a new layout for 2peas, her 2 years ago. unreal! i love pretty products that make it so easy to whip a layout together. 🙂 thanks sassafras! 
the patterned paper behind the photo is lovely leftover packaging from studio calico, the parachute rub is theirs. so really, you get 2 things in one 😉 and hooray. new KI is in stock 🙂
really trying to be better at blogging, really, i am! 🙂
around my house on a wednesday afternoon
i really love wednesdays. i thought i should take a picture of a recent project els and i started and then just started taking pics around the house. i have declared wednesday a project day with els as she gets real antsy since she doesn't have school. this is what we're making: american girl pom pom scarves. she got the box last week but i told her we wouldn't start till wednesday, our new found fun day 🙂 i love how she decorated the box with stickers. each day holding it and loving it till wednesday came along 🙂
new favorite little bowl from target on clearance 🙂
sweet gift from my good friend. now officially declaring caramel apple our scent this fall 🙂
another gift from above friend, succulent bowl. I am in love!
going through old pics and came across this. since it's almost halloween i stuck it on the fridge. kira's first halloween. so long ago! 😦
this came in the mail today. i love how when i lift the mailbox lid, it's right there smiling at me. 🙂 i love my cookbooks so…. i love_____ sooooo… (as elsie says) 🙂
little light reading 🙂 ha! i love this book so much. it has been an amazing read. i have the other one that isn't specifically for teens and that is equally as good. note, iced latte nearby and bookmark aka lovenote chris left me.
our front porch. pumpkins from last weekend's trip to the patch, our first time at a real patch! 🙂 els decorated one of them with these martha stewart bat transfers.
random, but i am so proud of this little pot, coming back to life after being eaten by snails 🙂
melt my heart!!! els loves nesting dolls. els loves these acorns she picked up from the orchard last weekend. i looooove her little display she made all on her own! (tinkerbell fairy house that she made after watching the new tinkerbell movie behind display) 🙂
and i'm back on my meal planning routine. wednesdays are crock pot wednesdays. it's a busy evening for us with kira having pep and then us going to church right after for a few hours. i love crock pot wednesdays. 🙂
and screenshot of my computer at 4:38 pm. cam writing a short story and listening to coldplay. i especially loved it when he got to this one. so good.
i love wednesdays. 🙂
we facetime, do you?
when he's gone, it's our little way to connect when we don't all want to sit at the desk in front of the computer. because you know, we practically live on our front porch 🙂
he uses his iphone4. we use one of the newer ipods. technology at it's finest. 🙂 thank you, apple! 🙂
watersix 