A Look Back: Christmas Eve 2009

Christmas Eve is always spent at home with our own family. We have a lovely little meal by candlelight of appetizers and finger food and then we host a special family program where everyone prepares a talent to share. Some read a poem, or draw a picture, or sing a song...This year included an orchestra of recorders and pots and pans - simply glorious on the ears. Then we conclude the program with the children acting out the Christmas story while Bryce reads it from the bible.

This year my two sweet girls made advertisement posters and pasted them all around the house (including the bathrooms). I thought they were so cute. The poster reads:

"Come to a concert December 24 in the living room."

Of course, the night wouldn't be complete without opening the first presents - jammies from Grammy and Paca, then setting out a spread tasty enough to entice Santa and his reindeer to leave us just maybe one extra present. The kids set up the girls' bedroom for a big slumber party, climb in their beds, and eagerly anticipate the morning.

A Look Back: Christmas Outfits 2009

My motto this past year has been PEACE.

This quote has stared at me and comforted and reminded me all year long from my bulletin board:

Peace.

It does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble, or hard work.

It means to be in the midst of those things and still be calm in your heart.

Even peaceful styles and colors have infiltrated my home and our wardrobes this year. Far away from my usual "Sunday shoutfits" (remember last year?) this year I was really inspired by the gorgeous Olive Juice Holiday catalog and its calm and serene palates. For the children's christmas outfits, I borrowed from those beautiful icy, wintry, and PEACEFUL looks and here's what I came up with. Pretty and simple, no?

A Look Back: Holiday Goodies

I know I'm not the only one who fell over backwards when I discovered IKEA's amazing Christmas packaging this year. I've got an especially soft spot for anything elf or gnome related so these little wooden guys had me at hello. Here's how I put together a few goodies for some friends. (The pots are simple glass containers I bought from Roberts). I can't wait to see what IKEA comes up with next year. (psst: There is a catch. You have to be willing to buy Christmas goods in October, when they are released in stores - because their holiday goods have been known to sell out in a week or so.) I already miss the busy kitchen creativity that Christmas is known to pull out of us. I have two words: Valentines Day. Is your brain churning yet?

A Look Back: Breakfast at Kalli's

We had 20 or so of her friends over for a bright and early breakfast party on the morning of Saturday, December 12. I lost count of the number of crepes we went through - although I know it was over one hundred. Some of those hungry boys ate ten each!

We are so proud of our girl. She is so bright, fun, responsible, and kind. Or as her sixth grade teacher calls her "a dreamboat girl." Bryce and I couldn't have asked for a better "first" child. She is such a forgiving guinea pig of our jumbled attempts at parenting and a soaring example to her little brother and sisters. Many days she's my right arm. I'll find her stepping in to feed the kids, read with Max, or help Ella with piano - often when I'm making a poor attempt at all three at once! We are excited about the bright future that lies ahead for this one.

Happy 12th Kal! We love you!

Twenty Ten

The Christmas boxes are all put away (new storage boxes for a new attic in new garage for a new year...yipee!)...and it's been almost a month since I've paid any amount of attention to my blog. I don't have to tell any of you how busy December gets...but for me, this year was particularly packed. I hope to do a quick re-cap today in order to get some of my favorite December photos posted, but here's a quick rundown of the months highlights (and lowlights...unfortunately there were plenty of those.)

• Sixteen days of blissful holiday vacation - skiing, caroling, baking, singing, and sledding and so much more when you have over half a month off from school and the daddy doesn't leave the state one time!
• My first year in charge of our neighborhood nativity pageant. Lots of work - lots of payoff. There is nothing sweeter nor more humbly attuned to what the holidays are all about.
• My oldest turned 12! I still can't believe "I'M" that old!
• My computer's hard drive crashed. BOO! I lost everything from the last year. It's at it's third "doctor" appointment hoping for any amount of retrieval. Back up those drives folks! My Mac Time Capsule wasn't backing up my information and I am still totally devastated.
• Visits from both sets of grandparents brightened our holidays and couldn't have tickled the kids anymore.
• I was hit in my suv by a drunk driver. No one was injured - but my car has seen better days. I've been driving a rental for nearly a week while new doors and parts are being ordered. It was so surreal to watch the driver take (and fail) all the sobriety tests and be carted off to jail. We felt like we were in a scary movie. As we watched him get handcuffed Max peeped out from the back seat, "Why do people do wrong things?"
• Preparing the primary (our church's children's organization) for 2010 was nothing short of all-consuming. New teaching manuals, class lists, birthday presents, classroom assignments, and last minute budget spending had me working up right up until we cried "Happy New Year"! The three women I've had helping me since our first day (November 1) are truly worker bees with loving hearts and serving souls.
• The girls have been singing with the Salt Lake Children's choir so we spent a great deal of the month traveling around the city watching them perform. If you want to see pictures, check out Bryce's flickr page. My favorite performance was in the beautiful Cathedral of the Madeleine. It was reviewed by the Deseret News here.
• My favorite camera lens broke (will no longer focus.) So the question is to repair or to upgrade? Is it worth repairing? Any of you had this same problem?

Stay tuned for a few pictures. I'm back and more than happy to be posting. (If I hadn't been posting my favorite photos throughout the year, I would have nothing from the amr crash of 2009. I'm so grateful my blog was up and running and updated fairly regularly so I at least a few documented photos from the year.) Hope your 2010 is off to a great start.

Green....

...with envy. There is just a little part of me that wants to live Bryce's life: Palm trees last week...famous Rockefeller trees this week. Bah humbug!

The Happiest Place on Earth...Again

I honestly can't believe I'm doing another Disneyland post. But yes, we did it...AGAIN! Grammy and Paca came and we met our sweet Arizona cousins for a few days of pure Disney bliss. There is nothing on earth like Disneyland in December. If you want an idea of how the kids felt, take a look at Max in the picture with Mickey. We're laughing at that still! (He had just conquered California Screamin' and was so proud!) What a way to kick off December. Thanks Mickey!

Thanksgiving recap

We didn't go over any rivers...or through any woods for that matter. But we did drive through plenty of cactus fields to Grammy and Paca's. It's always a treat to be in a place where you can spend half of Thanksgiving day swimming - and the other half eating. Now were back to temperatures in the teens - brrrr! but loving our December days singing in choir concerts, preparing for our annual neighborhood Nativity program, lunching and exchanging gifts with friends, cozying up by the fireplace, and addressing Christmas cards. I love the holidays!

Thanksgiving by amr

Tangled and True is one of my favorite (and first) blogs to follow - so how excited was I when she decided to feature her readers' Thanksgiving ideas? Check out my guest post on her blog today. Thanks Brittany - and a happy holiday to everyone!

Patterned Paper Place Mats

*Image via Paper Source

If you have a big crowd coming for dinner and don't have enough matching table settings, here's a quick trick that can really pull your look together: scrapbook paper. For less than $1 each you can place a square 12x12 piece of paper under your place setting in any color or pattern you can dream up. It's just paper, but you will be amazed how much spark it adds to your table.

Gifting Time Savers

I'm all for time savers this holiday season so I've been perusing Etsy for some personalized tags for our gifting goodies. These simple black and cream with jute are topping my list. You can find them here.

It's been sparse around here lately...

...and here is the main reason why. I've been starring in a major role since late September. It's called "Stage Mom." And last night the big production went down. My girl Kalli was Portia in Shakepeare's "The Merchant of Venice." Of course I'm going to say she was wonderful, magnificent, and beautiful. Because I'm her proud mom - and she was.

Story Deli

School house tables, vintage mirrors, cardboard stools, and chalkboard menus. Not to mention the yummiest organic pizzas with the craziest toppings. It's been about 7 weeks since we've eaten there (right off Brick Lane in London) and I'm craving to get back. Who's coming with me?

Halloween 2009

Our Halloween celebration consisted of one elementary school Halloween parade, three classroom Halloween parties, two soccer games, two piano concerto recitals, one neighborhood chili party, and of course two entirely separate rounds of trick or treating. It was a blast but also utterly exhausting. Mix that busy cocktail up with nursing kids back to health (who really shouldn't have been trick or treating in the first place) and the results are this: 1. Halloween decoration coming down 8 days too late 2. Pictures posted 8 days too late 3. One sick mommy who didn't get out of bed for two days

Is it Thanksgiving yet?

Oh Gourdy!

I know! I know! Halloween is over...but I just had to share. It's no secret I LOVE my Jeni Gochnour Gourds. In fact, at a recent party I hosted - a few guests wanted a house tour. Funny enough, it eventually turned into a gourd tour. I was kind of dying that I had so many to show. Now to the fun part - Jeni saw the picture I posted of my living room and posted it on her blog! You can check it out here. If you haven't been to one of her shows, be sure to put her Christmas show on your calendar. It's one of my favorite holiday art shows of the year.

It's Looking Awfully Spooky Around Here...

I Can't Wait...

...to show the girls the perfect accessory I stumbled upon (at another one of my favorite haunts :) for them to wear to jazz class tonight. They've been learning the dance to Thriller during October and tonight's class will be the Thriller finale. How fun will it be to show up with this on? Thank you Tar-Jay!