How is it ALMOST Christmas?!?!

December arrived way too fast! November seemed like a little blurb. Although, I was not ready for it, I do love this month and all that it brings. We have been able to enjoy little moments with the kids that make all of the stress and headache of other aspects so worth it. I love my family and my memory making times with them. 

Memories like:

Setting up old Lionel. 

Our train around the tree

Picking out and decorating our tree. Meli really enjoyed picking where ornaments would go. She did a little better at not having them all on one branch.

One of my favorite things

I love our time of pulling out each ornament and talking about their stories.

Colin loves his growing responsibilites

Last year, we saw Santa at the local fire station. Meli thought that he lived there for a while. Since July whenever we would pass the station, she would ask "when is snow and Santa visit?". She was so excited to see him. She made it a little easier this year, instead of a request for a "purple present" she asked for "Anna and Elsa".

Santa!!

The weather has finally started to turn cold here. It still is not too bad though. We did have snow the other day! Post pictures soon. Our walk to see Santa was a little cold. I love Meli all bundled up. I just wish she did not mind. It is so hard to keep her shoes, socks and coat on. Such a stinker.

Silly faces

Colin thankfully likes being bundled up. My cute little boy!

Cuteness

Snow days! When they appear. Last year, I don't believe we had any.  Meli is serious in the picture because Will threw a snowball and hit her fingers. She was not happy. Both Will and I think that Mae Mae is a perfect snowboarder name. Don't you agree?! Just look at her...she so could be a little snowboarder.

snow day!

Baking cookies with the kids is a lot of fun. I am not the best baker (I hate following recipes), but we tried a Swedish Fingerprint cookie.

Baking cookies

Meli found an elf hat at the dollar store, which happened to match mama's new jingle bell socks she won at Bunco Ladies' Night. So, she stole my socks. She is a cute little elf.


Fun Christmas clothes

A Simple Thanksgiving

This Thanksgiving was very low-key for us, which was a welcomed change. It was nice to just take it easy. I still spent most of the day cooking, but I love to cook (especially with my mom)...so that was fun in itself. There is so much to be thankful for this year. I am blessed with such a wonderful,supportive husband, two sweet kids, and am surrounded by wonderful friends and family.

I love when the kids help me in the kitchen. Meli was so cute trying on my apron. Life is such a beautiful thing!

I was able to make my own table runner this year for Thanksgiving (and Halloween). It was made even prettier by such a beautiful bouquet of flowers. Perfect for the holiday. 

I think I started a new tradition by making fresh strawberry muffins for breakfast. They turned out so delicious! Here is the recipe. 

I know it is a little late, but I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving, spent with family and friends! Sending blessings and love for the rest of this holiday season!

Family visitors

Walking around town

This weekend our family was blessed with a quick visit from the kids' Aunt Teddy and Uncle Roger. They split their time in France and the East Coast, so we do not get to see them too often. We really enjoyed catching up and being able to show them a small portion of Oregon. 

Excited for the new issue

Teddy writes for France Today magazine. The picture above is the October/November issue. I was able to read her article finally this morning, such a creative and wonderful piece. She also writes on her french shopping blog (www.peopleplacesandbling.com) and for Eurocheapo.com. I love reading her unique perspective. 

 A sweet little gift left by our houseguests.

I have an 8 year old!

"Children have the unforgivable habit of growing up" - Bjarne Reuter

My kids are growing up way too fast. Every parent says this and means it. Cliche', yes...but very true.  It is the inevitable truth about parenthood...and life. I cannot believe my baby boy is a year older! Where did the time go?! What were we doing to make one year go by so fast. Hell, two years, five years, eight years!...in two short years I will be adding ten years to that. Oh my!

 My son turned 8 a few weeks ago.  I have spent a lot of time these past few weeks watching Colin. Studying his personality. Focusing on what has changed over the years and what has remained. Overall, we have been so lucky to have our first child be so easy. Colin never had an ounce of the "terrible" anythings. His only real temper tantrum was when he was 5 and after he saw his little sister do one. I remember telling him. "uh, no! You have made it this far without doing that, you are not starting now" and that was that. Not that he does not have his "things". He is exceptionally good at finding loop holes and arguing. Like where he catches me all the time with a good argument. It is very painful to be schooled by a kid. I learned I had to be on guard with him. He is such a negotiator, which is both equally impressive and irritating.  Threats and stuff will not always work with Colin. Sometimes. He is one that needs it explained why he should do or not do something. The logic.  So his most difficult years have been lately. Not that he is difficult. He just talks a lot. Like. A. Lot. My mom says as a kid, I still have him beat, but I do not know. He questions everything, which can be very tiring for the parent. But...he is such a happy kid. A kind kid. I mean everyone is his friend. He has a very strong conviction for justice and being fair. I love his positive outlook and his loving nature. I hope. I pray that he does not lose that as many can when they get older and see the world for more of what it actually is. It can be difficult to keep that innocence of youth. That blind trust that all is OK and everyone is nice. When I think on Colin, I often find myself hearing that song from my youth about "I hope you dance". I truly hope that Colin does not "lose his sense of wonder" and that he continues to dance. His spirit is just so sweet and genuine. It motivates me to be a better person. I want him to be able to look at me and see that people can be kind to everyone and to live to try and send love out. Not negative. 

It is a work in progress, but one that I hope I can succeed in for my little baby boy. The one who is growing up way too fast for this mama.

I drew him some surprise Batman drawings. This is what he woke up to on his birthday.

"It's not only children who grow. Parents do too. As much as we watch to see what our children do with their lives, they are watching us to see what we do with ours. I can't tell my children to reach for the sun. All I can do is reach for it myself. " - Joyce Maynard

~ Love, Hugs &; Kisses ~ The B Family

Meli's Unique Fashion

A Superhero in a skirt

My sweet Meli truly has a style that is all her own. I love seeing what outfits she will put together each day. Even if she puts red and pink together (argh!). I cannot resist taking pictures of her cute (sometime crazy) outfits. 

P-Pa's birthday

She loves costumes

ready for rain

Even uses accessories from dad and mom

This skirt was a favorite for awhile. I thought it looked like a square dancing thing

Even simple is adorable

birthdays!

She loves rain boots!

         

 

                                         

 ~ Love, Hugs & Kisses ~
                                                               The B Family

My Birthday Week

I have decided that I am not a fan of duplicate numbers. I could not figure out why I was not excited about turning thirty-three. I was dreading actually dreading it somewhat. Thirty-two did not bother me and the idea of thirty-four seemed fine. I thought at first it was odd numbers, but I liked thirty-one. I probably would be OK staying thirty-one for a few years. I may remember that for next year. I will just start at thirty-one again. Why not?!?  Finally, it dawned on me that I was not a fan of twenty-two either. Or eleven. I do not like the same number repeated. Odd yes, but I have a year of being irritated by 33. Oh well, I am healthy, happy (knock on wood) and so I will not complain about my age. Plus, how often do you actually have to say how old you are? Most of the time I think of myself as still being twenty-six anyways. Or even twenty-one. The kids kind of remind me (rather quickly) that one is definitely not true.

I was able to have a nice spread-out week of celebrating. I started off celebrating by having a lunch and movie date with my mom. We saw the newest James Bond movie (I loved it). On a different day in the week, I had lunch with my little brother (Olive Garden of course - his fave). I also had a date night with Will (more on that), a lunch date with my dad (and shopping!), a trip to the Oregon Zoo, drinks with friends on my birthday (then a day of recovery), a family hike, and a family dinner with my aunt and uncles. Oh my! Such a busy, crazy week. I had such a wonderful time! I am so blessed with my family and friends.

The only downside is that I suffered from two more hangovers then I have had in a very long time. That rarely happens to me (for one, I do not usually drink large quantities), these two (in one week - horrible) were due to lack of hydration and weird combinations. I did not drink much throughout the days on both occasions. I also switched around more than I like to. One of the nights I had beer, then margarita (which I realized I am not a fan), and then to a cider with ice cream float thing. So good but horrible all together.

My date night with Will was so nice. We went to the Bier Stein in Eugene for pre-dinner drinks. We both did the flight (create your own) which was awesome! I loved the place and really want to go back. Then we headed over to Tacovore for dinner. I had an eggplant torta...seriously so yummy! For dessert, we headed over to Vanilla Jill's, where I had a hard black cherry cider with ice cream. OMG!! It is delicious!! I may have ended up sick later on, but man it was so worth it. Technically, I would not call this one a hangover. Oh, so I have only had a margarita on one occasion before. The drink itself was OK, but I do not like salt. Like, I do not even cook with salt. So the salted rim was horrible.

I am so grateful for my friends and family. I really felt so much love this week. I am truly blessed to be surrounded by amazing people. 

Next up, Colin's Bday week...



~ Love, Hugs &; Kisses ~ The B Family

Recent Hiking Pictures

During our hike

I was picture happy during our staycation with John and Susannah last week. Mostly of Meli, since Colin was still at school during the week. 

My little hummingbird and I 

Hiking buddies

Autumn at the waterfall

I need to find the picture of her when she was two

A Need for Speed

Flash for his last soccer game - I think I did fairly well

This year, both kids chose to dress up as speedy characters: Rainbow Dash (My Little Pony) and Flash. Well, I guess Colin only painted his face as the Flash for his last soccer game. For trick-or-treating and his classroom party he was actually Robin (Batman's trusty sidekick). Robin is probably fast too. He is still sticking with the superhero theme that he has done since birth practically. Only two exceptions; his first Halloween, I dressed him up as Tigger (adorable) and once when he was three he chose to be a knight. I tried to convince him to be a mad scientist, but he told me next year. It would be a perfect choice since he wants to be like eight different types of scientists.  I was glad that Meli stepped away from the princess scene this time. I am sure we will be back on it next time around. She probably only took the break because she is constantly wearing one of her princess costumes. She did ask for an Elsa dress. "Mama and Grammie can make me an Elsa dress for Christmas". Next sewing project, I guess. Actually the next one is a reading tent for both kids (Ponies and Batman) with a comfy cushion to lay on.

Will did a pumpkin for Mae

This has been a super busy week. We had some friends visiting from Virginia. It was so nice seeing them again. They were some of the first people we met while living there. I missed being around them. The kids loved having them around for Halloween. Will's band had three gigs in a row! John got to play guitar for all three gigs. It was great seeing the two play together again. They were in a band together when we lived back east. One of the gigs was at the WOW Music Hall in Eugene, which is awesome!!! They opened for a band that was recently on Queen Latifah's talk show! OMG...seriously.

Robin - we sprayed his hair black which he thought was aweseome

Colin's school party was fun. Mae and I both went to help out. The 2nd grade teachers were "rock, paper and  scissors". Very cute. Another grade was characters from Wizard of Oz. I love that they did themes. Our town had the downtown trick-or-treating on Friday. It thankfully did not rain while we were down there. I love our small town! It is so sweet all that they do for the kids. Colin and Mae had a blast!

Rainbow Dash

Saturday evening we headed to a friends house to get some trick-or-treating done. Honestly, I was a little over it since we did it the day before...but the kids love it...so of course I had fun! It was raining though. By the end it was a drizzle, which is not cool when you straightened your hair that day. I did come home with curly hair. Magic.

My dad and Michele came out to support the band

The kids loved going around the neighborhood with their friends. By the time we got home, they were ready for Charlie Brown and Jack Skeleton with Grammie, and I was ready for a night out with friends listening to Will's band. I am so proud of myself, I wore a wig!!! I cannot stand hair once it is off a head. Weird, I know. Fake or real, just cannot do it. In my 30's, I am trying to not let things hold me back. So, I cut my hair (short). I had been talking about it for years.  I also wore a wig. I got one with pigtails and very bright. I took the pigtails out and could not do it. Not sure why that made a difference, but id definitely did. Small steps.

I may have to try neon hair!

Will's band did an awesome job! It was such a fun night with friends and strangers! I hope everyone had a fantastic and safe Halloween!

My drummer hubby