Tree Lights

Disclaimer - this post was supposed to go up last night. But as my night of editing wore on, Pete convinced me to go to bed, and leave it to the morning. So, pour a cup of coffee (I did!) and enjoy!

It's been a packed week. And judging by the calendar, it's not slowing down anytime soon. Which is okay, because it's Christmastime.

Last week, the temperatures dipped and we bundled up and headed into town for the Tree Lighting. It was pretty magical. Hundreds of families, a childrens' choir, all gathered in town square - even people pushing overloaded carts with every flashing wand toy on the planet yelling "Get your flashers hea-yah! Souvenir flashers hea-yah!" Santa circled the town square on a fire truck, and then every tree lit up.

December 1st - time to hang the Advent Calendar. Made by my mom, with small personalized felt ornaments to hang. Including individual stockings with our names on them. It's one of my favorite Christmas traditions from my childhood, and I'm so lucky that my mom made a calendar for my family, so I can pass on the tradition to my girls.

And, because it was festive and cold, we needed hot chocolate - and we made it, from scratch.

The weekend was a whirlwind of activity. I drove down and back from New Jersey in 24 hours; I had a baby shower for my best friend, and Pete had a final paper to write, so I took the girls and did the drive solo. I'd love to share some shots, but the main photography event was for my parents' Christmas card, so you'll just have to wait... then it was back home for 2 photo shoots on Sunday. Chloe and Mutzy made chocolate covered pretzels while we were there. Addy is a huge fan.

We got our tree this week. And after accusing Pete of not being in the Christmas Spirit, he decided to show just how much spirit he has... and insisted on the biggest tree we could find. And it almost fits in the house.

It took two days to get it decorated, thanks to being one strand of lights short to finish dressing the mammoth. But that meant we got to spread out the smiles of looking at ornaments made many Christmases ago, the "Baby's First"s spreading from last year to the 1980s. 

And December special... Pete has been grabbing the camera more and more. And I'm learning to just shrug and smile, because we have full albums of me rolling my eyes and trying to dodge the picture. So I promised him I would post one.

Yep. Short hair. And I like it.

Now it's back to finalizing Christmas shopping, and trying not to keep adding things to my wish list!

Jingle, Jingle

Happy December!

We are in full pre-Christmas swing. The "Christmas" playlist in on repeat on iTunes, I'm rotating through all the great Christmas Scentsy scents in my burner, and the ornaments are eagerly awaiting the arrival of the tree. Each weekend in December is packed with activities, and even some of the weekdays (tree lighting tonight!).

Tree lighting at Smolak Farms: (the actual tree lighting was a bit of a bust - just a regular old Christmas tree, so we couldn't even really see it because of the crowd. But the lead-up and playing with friends was well worth it.)

I've also been busy doing some photo shoots for Christmas cards.

And... a little holiday cheer. I made the leg warmers; super-easy and $5.

 I was nervous they looked a little more "ho" than "holiday", but I think she pulls it off.

Hope your week was merry!

Thankful

We hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

We took a day trip to the Vineyard to spend Thanksgiving with my grandparents, along with some extended family and a wonderful friend, Sue. There was a ton of food, wine, and lovely conversation.

We are thankful for family.

We are thankful that Chloe has grown into a beautiful young lady...

...who still knows how to be silly.

We are thankful for the bounty we have - whether it be food, drink, family, or friends. The good things in life, we've got 'em.

We are thankful that we are so loved by so many.

We are thankful for our health, and the health of our family and friends.

We are thankful for our hobbies - photography, running, and horseback riding.

We are thankful for friends; we've hit the jackpot there.

We are thankful for good conversation.

We are thankful for the little moments, and the big ones.

 We are thankful for Baby Signing Time, which has helped Addy communicate as she develops her language skills.

We are thankful for a happy, healthy family. And a one and a half year old who can put my heart in my throat by spinning, pajama-clad, giggling and laughing. And a 11 year old who loves her sister with all her heart, and regularly melts mine.

We hope everyone's Thanksgiving was even half as love-filled as ours, and that you had a chance to stop and reflect on all you are thankful for, and be humbled.

And now, hold on to your seats. It's Christmastime.

This & That

I started writing this post because I took a picture of Addy yesterday that I really wanted to share... and then realized that I had many more things I wanted to talk about. First, the picture:

We were doing a brisk photo shoot in the Fells, and we couldn't find any mittens. But she found her pockets, and man, she is a big fan of those little suckers.

We hosted what we hope will become an annual event - Friendsgiving. I have surrounded myself with an amazing group of women and their families, and we all share a sad commonality - we all live far from our parents. Our kitchen is small, and there is no dining room, so we served dinner buffet-style on the stove and counter tops. My first turkey? A roaring success.

I really had wanted to take more pictures, but I was busy in the kitchen, and was worried about smearing food on the camera. So that's it.

The kids' table. **Credit where credit is due: Pete took this picture. I was doing dishes** (Not sure which one of those statements is more note-worthy. Take your pick.)

It is Christmas/Holiday Photo season, and I've been getting busy. It feels good to be busy. All the pictures in this post were taken with my new camera - the Sony a55v. I love it. 

We are spending Thanksgiving with my grandparents on the Vineyard - I promise a good long post-triptofan-post and lots of pictures. 

Hope you have many things to be thankful for this year. We do.

Wordless Wednesday

Published!

This is just a quick Friday Flash of a post, but I'm ecstatic to announce that a piece I wrote is currently being featured on the Mamalode website. The piece is an adaptation of the Hope, Strength, and Blueberries post I did in July.
Please, take a look, and if you are so inspired, share it with a friend. Thanks.
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In cleaning out my grandmother's apartment, my cousin discovered our great-grandfather's pipes. "Grand-pere," sitting and smoking his pipe is a memory that imprinted itself on many of our memories, and I was asked to take some pictures of the pipes. I'm not used to subjects that don't smile back, but this is what I came up with.

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We have some sick in our house. Addy has been battling a high fever for the past few days, and was diagnosed with coxsackievirus today (also known as foot-hand-mouth disease). She has some vesicles in the back of her throat, but no rash on her hands or feet yet. We're hoping that the fevers will break soon, and that the rash stays away.

Chloe had her first middle school dance tonight. My heart clutched as she hopped out of the car, purse swinging, and ran over to join her friends in line. My baby is growing up.

Thanks for checking out my Mamalode post.