Stolen moments...

So these days, my wiggly, busy girl only has a few minutes to spare for dear old mum...I have resolved myself to taking what I can get. When she and her daddy ran out to the grocery store this evening...she waved goodbye to me the entire walk out the door, gleefully calling out "bye-bye, cya, Ok!" I was relishing just a few minutes of "alone-ness" so I cranked up my Christmas tunes and began my gingerbread...as soon as those two got home Isabella walked up to my little apron hanger and began tugging on the vintage cherry apron my mom made for me a couple of years back...it swallowed her whole but she was ready to bake! I pulled a chair up to the counter for her and I didn't even have to show her what to do with the cookie cutter, she just went right to work. Of course, she was done in less than five minutes...but that gave me just enough time to boss my dear hubby into grabbing the camera and sneaking a few pictures. It's just not Christmas until you have gingerbread cookies complete with little toddler sized finger holes...oh but she does love to poke her fingers into the dough...Mmm...those will be for me! :)

as promised

Here are a couple of sneaky peekies at what I've been working on...I still have much to do....like glittering my freshly bleached bottle brush trees...and putting the finishing touches on my sugar coated Christmas houses...

I feel so happy flitting about putting finishing touches here and there...Tyler will be home tomorrow evening and we will celebrate his birthday, decorate our tree, and then take our family Christmas pictures. This will be our fourth Christmas together! every year I cannot help but think about our first Christmas and smile...newlyweds, broke as a joke, hardly a stick of furniture...but by golly, we had ourselves a big fat pine and we decked her out! That particular year, Tyler spent all his money on a pair of cowboy boots for me...bless his little ol' pea pickin' heart...I wore those boots until one of the soles fell off!

This year is especially exciting since Isabella is a little bit more aware of what is going on...I think she has sensed the excitement in the air...I ask her if she wants something for Christmas, it doesn't matter what it is, I could point at a GI Joe and she would nod that little red head and say "yee-uh" I wonder who has more fun with Christmas...the parents or the children? my guess is definitely the parents!

Well, I'm off to glitter some trees and decorate my mantle...tbs is playing Sleepless in Seattle!

one tree down, one more to go

Run ladies....Run. Wal-Mart has 6.5 ft. white Christmas trees on sale for $40! I snagged the last one at my local Wal-Mart tonight! Uhm...Hubsy does'nt know this yet...so...if you're reading this dear Hubsy...(Insert my best sheepish grin here)

So this is my pink, candy-themed Christmas tree in my kitchen/dining square (that's what we call them in the military housing community...they're too small to deserve the phrase "dining room") I will continue to peruse the dollar stores and other such venues fo cheap, pink clutter to fill my white tree...Oh, but I do love a cluttered tree :)

My main tree still waits patiently in the living room, his naked little boughs will have to wait to be decked until Tyler gets home next week. We bought her at the Military Christmas tree stand on Sunday and boy-oh-boy does she smell good! we had plans to get her all decorated up that evening since Tyler left for a week the following morning...but unfortunately I got ahold of some bad crab and whoo-whee!...guys, there aint nothin like food poisoning from bad crab. I was out of order for a while, but I'm back and kicking and ready to deck my Hawaiian halls with a vengeance!

My house is still in an uproarous state, we're talking tissue paper and rubbermaid boxes galore...I hate that I'm getting things out so late this year...I usually like to have it all done right after Thanksgiving for ultimate Christmas enjoyment...but hey, what can ya do? that bad crab is a killer. More pictures coming soon...better ones too...my point and clicker is starting to wear out...I think it's time for a grown-up camera...hmm...Ho Ho Ho?

Tag, I'm it!

My momma tagged me, so now I must list 6 things about myself and then tag 6 other people...hmm...

1. I adore baking, decorating and making my humble little home...but you already knew that :)

2. I am extremely committed to the ones I love, probably to a fault.

3. Playing with my daughter and watching her kissing her daddy and giggling and goofing off makes me the happiest person in the world.

4. I firmly believe that everything happens for a reason-everything.

5. I get a high when I find a treasure at a junk store. Especially if the treasure is pink.

6. I continuously fail miserably to be the christian I want to be, but I try anyways. I let others think and say what they may, but it really doesn't matter what others think does it? as long as we always strive to do the right thing.

home again, home again, jiggity jig

After my visit with the families It's wonderful to be home! I'm bustling about trying to put up my Christmas decorations and I cannot wait to show you some pictures. But first of all, you MUST check out the fur wreath tutorial over at The Nesting Place
It is absolutely to die for and I'm working on one of my own right now. I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! I will be back soon with a post with pictures, I promise!

November

After quickly throwing on sweaters, Isabella and I walked down to the mailbox with Lovie tonight. It was right at dusk, so everything was that deep shade of navy blue. As we were walking the sounds and smells of November surrounded us and wrapped their chilly arms around us like a hug. Just smelling the cold wet leaves and feeling the nip in the air against my cheeks took me straight back to when I was a kid. (was that really just a few short years ago?!)

Playing outside until it was too dark to see anymore, I would make my way back to the house with my pants soaked around the bottom with evening dew and a set of chapped cheeks and lips. The house would be warm and full of dinner smells, the dog would be wondering around, hoping for spills, and my sisters would be bustling about gossipping, helping, bickering...There would nearly always be a general to-do about how filthy I was and how I smelled like cow pasture...but then Daddy would walk in from work and there would be no time to fool with it. The fire would crackle and pop away in the background as we ate and discussed Christmas ideas or school activities...Later in the evening before bed, mom would rub lanolin on my chapped face, I still remember the sticky texture on my face and the thick oily smell...the next day my freshly healed face would be ready for another long, chilly evening of play.

As I held Isabella's warm, squirmy little body while we walked, I wondered what childhood memories she would be longing for eighteen, twenty years down the road. Would she see home the way I see it? as her safe haven, the fondest time of her life? I hope so...I strive for as much. Maybe in twenty years, she'll be holding a little squirmy body of her own, and I'll be walking behind her, snapping pictures, relishing a moment, holding on to a memory for dear life.

My life lately

An overflowing suitcase, A toddler who curls her own hair and wears Victoria's Secret perfume, and A big black dog nose in the middle of everything I do.

I promise to take better care of my little blog...It's been a crazy month.