a little more of december around here

i feel like i have so much more to share before Christmas day

so hold on to your seats as this post may be a bit all over the place!

first of all i must tell you something funny.

i have received a few emails / comments from readers wanting to know why dantheman

isn't in the christmas card.

well....

niether am i!

i'm not sure whether i should be sad that someone would think i'd send a card with everyone in the family

except my honey

or flattered because someone thinks maybe one of the girls was me!

either way...too funny.

to be honest, my face ( and dan's) has only been on the big card

maybe twice.

so please don't think i'm a meany & left off my sweet man!

if you're looking for a last minute quick gift idea

try whipping up some of darby's cinnamon honey butter

seriously delish!

found my little tiny jars at kroger

& cute tags from my sweet friend melissa

years ago when the girls were young

we painted this platter for dan's parents as a gift.

each year when she would pull it out i regretted not making one for myself.

this summer as we packed up their home

we came accross many christmas items,

 many of which i'm certain she forgot she even had.

this one nearly broke my heart

as now

it is mine after all.

this will be dan's first christmas without both his parents.

i know it will be a bittersweet holiday for my tender hearted man.

smk & her sweetiepie under the mistletoe
(snagged from her facebook account)

& one with  her bestie too

i love nativity scenes

maybe i should keep mine out all year.

world's softest tshirt ever

has become a frequent player in my wardrobe

my three favorites literary series

 in order

are

harry potter

chronicles of narnia

& lineage of grace

this book is filled with 5 novellas of  women in jesus lineage.

i will need to do an entire post on this book

amazing

i highly recommend it!

speaking of narnia

(another topic deserving of it's own entry)

i'm also re-reading voyage of the dawn treader

we thought the movie was fantastic!!!

the spiritual connections between aslan and our heavenly father

are beautiful & powerful

we take our christmas drinking cup inventory seriously around here.

we especially love the starbucks collection

that is growing rapidly

remember when i told you i've bought nothing new this year.

well i caved.

these cute little cups from target

made the cut afterall

picked up a couple of these at tjmaxx

some festive tervis tumblers from a fun friend

these are my most absolute fave santa mugs.

a dollar store score from years ago

there may or may not be over a dozen up in my cabinets.

a little best friend gift giving time

( i know i feature smk frequently...but since she's heading to college...one day soon...i am capturing all the fun memories possible)

a little father daughter time

after daddy arrived home late one evening.

thought it was so sweet she didn't want him to be all alone.

madison grace all glammed up for her christmas party

which included a horse &buggy ride through old town norcross.

charming little town for sure!

she is my resident shoe lover

( & yes her eyes really are that blue)

a favorite centerpiece that reads

'twas the birthday of a king'

super fun ornaments from a super fun friend

it will be a sad day in january when i pack these pretties away

was thrilled to be featured on the Holiday with Matthew Mead blog

wow.

seriously you are a rock star reader indeed if you hung in there for that!

xo

my christmas wish

this morning i was sitting here

feeling completely blessed

feeling overwhelmed with the goodness that the Lord has shown me

over the years

but especially this year.

i am blessed way more than i deserve!

the image above

was my little family only weeks after gregg had passed away.

my minivan had 3 carseats

my diaper bag had diapers & pullups

i was breastfeeding

i owned my own company

i was also alone.

i was overwhelmed with thoughts of how on earth i'd raise

not only myself

but these 3 baby girls.

but friends

if there is only one thing i could share with you

it wouldn't be a fashion tip or my favorite fragrance.

a great recipe or tips on how to plan a vacation in seaside

it wouldn't be my favorite pair of boots or how much i love jcrew and anthro.

it would be this.

the same loving heavenly father was with me then

in my home

as a single mom

as a 30 year old widow

with my baby girls

as is with me today

in a full home

as a married woman

& mom to 4 beautiful girls.

He was named Jesus

(matthew chapters 1 &2)

which means god who saves.

our deliverer.

Emmanuel

God is here

with us.

this christmas

one of my girlfriends will face her first as a widow.

this christmas

one of my girlfriends will face her first missing her beautiful teenage daughter.

the list goes on

i am acutely aware that this is not a happy time for many.

i know not everyone is wrapping gifts for large families

or has seemingly endless bank accounts

warm homes

& expensive gadgets.

but my prayer for you

no matter where you are in life

whether in fullness & exceedingly more than you ever dreamed

or sleeping alone in a bed that was made for two

is that you know

that you know

that you know

He

is

near

merry christmas my friends

ps...the above card was going to be the card however i couldn't fit all our names!

so i present you with plan B

brown paper packages tied up with string

same song second verse of decorating with teenage critics.

the conversation went something like this:

hey mom

would you rather us decorate the tree with all the fun ornaments
& you can wrap the presents all matchy matchy

or

we can decorate the tree with your  plain gold and silvery ornaments

but wrap the presents all fun & funky

good grief

hopefully we compromised

i splurged & purchased some super funky glitter wrap

which let me warn you here

is NOT for the faint of heart wrapper.

after i ponied up the cash for one roll

the sales lady at paper source tells me i need double stick tape.

no problem, i've got double stick tape.

to which she replies

but do you have this super duper strong double stick tape?

at $5 a roll no less

good grief again

the final presentation is quite spectacular

& will certainly score you some cool points from loved ones

who don't mind a little glittery goodness

glittered letters actually stocking tags from walmart

 ornament from pam garrison

gold ribbon martha stewart



anthropologie's fantastic gift boxes

glittered polka dot ribbon from michael's

ornament hotglued onto package, think it's from target

i printed off nametags & little sayings and then added glitter around the edges

i reuse these each year

little joyeux noel gift tag from etsy, can't remember the shop. sorry

 glittered leaves & such from target

 joyeux noel postcards from cavalini

gold ribbon bows from target

several years ago i made ornaments from vintage family photos.

i printed the black/white images & adhered them to one sided sticky felt

then added glitter around the remaining edges

hung them from red & white gingham ribbon

covered the entire tree with them

& had it in my dining room

loved the look .

just haven't repeated that.

now i use some as gift tags.

the little boy is my dad :)

i also have a large collection of vintage cards & valentines.

many of which i  printed into tagsize, added glitter and used on packages.

i try to use images that look simliar to my girls when they were little.

this one is for emi



for years i procrastinated & held off to wrap

everything

all at once

on christmas eve

gasp!

the last few years i've tried to wrap as i shop.

that affords me time to be a little creative

sometimes the wrapping is just a fun as the actual gift.

especially for someone who's love language is gifts.

& just for the record

the "fun" ornaments are always on the tree

despite what those girlies may lead you to believe

:)

janet hill studio

i'd like to share one of my most favorite artists with you.

i ran across Janet's etsy shop last year & instantly fell in love with her work.

her oil paintings are done using spectacular colors, many of which have a little touch of red.

i love red.

her Christmas paintings are fantastic!

would love to own all the Christmas images

& have a little vignette featuring them each year.

Christmas belles reminds me of my older three girls all glammed up for a party!

a few more favorites~

(shhhh....

i bought one of her paintings

 as a gift for one of my girls.

i'll share that gorgeous image after the holidays)