rolls of fat

I love the lush folds and dimples of fat on these baby legs!

Chubbiness always looks good on a baby!

little letters

Quite often, little letters are folded and stuffed into envelopes and left for me on the counter-top.  They usually say something like, "I love you, Mommy" or have little pictures of our family drawn on them.  

Tonight the little letter was different.  After spending the past few days inside with no agenda or schedule, my kids have had the chance to reacquaint themselves.  They have helped each other, played with new toys, fought and bickered.  From the looks of this letter, our time together was quite meaningful and special.  

The letter reads "Thank you for the baby Mommy."

At first I thought my girl was talking about a baby doll she got for Christmas but I was delightfully surprised when she said "no, I mean our new baby."  My heart lept up into my throat as those sweet words from her mouth shed joyful light upon our family. 

My cup runneth over indeed.

someplace new

Discovering a new place was fitting for our New Year's Day.  Finding someplace new is full of wonder, apprehension, hard work and rewards....very fitting for a new year.  We drove out into the hills and hiked into the woods using a little map.  To our delight, we found the most beautiful place.

That hike, away from the electronics that sometimes clutter our days, was so refreshing.  The treasure in our day wasn't that special tv show, phone call, email or new toy, but instead, it was a hand full of leaves of all different shapes and sizes.  Nature's bountiful treasures delighted our senses today.
How refreshing!

it's time

via

all the best to you this new year

passion fruit punch for the NEW YEAR

This punch recipe is super easy and fun for the kids to make.  They always love a special drink for themselves while the adults are toasting with champagne or other spirits!

Passion Fruit Punch:

1 bag frozen fruit {papaya, mango and strawberry mix}

1 can frozen juice {Welch's Passion Fruit}

1 bottle sparkling water

Mix all the ingredients and enjoy!

This is the basic punch recipe and you could add a few extra ingredients to attract adults 

{wink, wink}.

Either way, Happy New Year!

this year...

This year,

she was delighted to make a little place under the tree to sleep each night

she was happy being held

he calmly laid in the middle of it all

she reached higher than she ever could

they were up early

she was excited to read the gift tags by herself

her feet were her favorite toy

she looked forward to giving gifts

they carefully wrote notes to Santa while sampling the cookies meant for him

she slept through most of the morning commotion 

she sang on stage at the preschool sing-a-long

they decorated according to their likes and not mine

only the unbreakable box of ornaments made it out of the attic and onto the tree.

Hope your holidays were memorable too!

under our tree

Anytime she is on the floor, you can expect to find her under our tree.  She gruts and squeals as she makes her way (rolling) to the bottom of the tree.  Once there, she bats at the evergreen branches and kicks to watch the lights and ornaments sway.  Something tells me that our tree will be up long into January...