The Year Without a Christmas Tree

C wanted this costume for years - Nana and Grandpa made her day! C's Christmas hedgehog A new sweater for C's Phoebe for Christmas Hello, hello! I feel like I have been pretty absent here these last weeks of Advent. I hope you are enjoying this Christmas season so far. I honestly can't believe it is already the fourth day! This year my children are truly reminding me of the meaning of Christmas. Remember my mention of Kevin being away for a few weeks? Well, that time away was extended and he didn't end up getting back home to us until last Thursday. Talk about a mad scramble to get everything ready before Sunday!

Every year we try to wait as long as possible to get our Christmas tree. This year the wait was a bit longer because we wanted to pick it out with Daddy. There are only two places to get them locally so we essentially play a game of "tree chicken" trying not to wait too long to get one or else they may all be gone. Well, this year we lost. Not only were they sold out locally but in Boise as well. I was fretting just a bit, wanting this Christmas to be perfect since it will be our last one here. Ridiculously allowing myself to be consumed with self-pity I mumbled something under my breath about having no tree. Little L somehow heard me, looked deeply into my eyes and said, "Mama, we don't need a tree for it to be Christmas." The pure innocence, wisdom and love in his words just made me melt. He was right. The next day K took her personal mini tree from her room and placed it in our front room where we would normally keep our tree. We decided that would be just the perfect thing. Little L topped it with his "Happy Birthday Jesus" star he made in RE class, reminding us what Christmas is all about.

p.s. - Our cat, on the other hand, is not too happy about our lack of a Christmas tree this year. She loves spending all her time sleeping under the tree. The little one just isn't cutting it for her, but as you can see in the photo she is trying her best to make do!

The Year Without a Christmas Tree

Keep Calm Craft On {crafting on}

The act of creating, in one form or another, preserves my sanity amongst the chaos of life. This explains why I always have more than one project going at a time as well as why my housework tends to fall behind. I enjoy seeing what others are working on and keeping calm with, too. What are you creating? What is keeping you going? Snap a picture or two, post it on your blog, on Instagram #craftingon and/or Flickr and then share it with the rest of us by leaving your link below.


I am at the very end of finishing up a little Christmas hat for Baby F. I suppose it is rather ironic that the baby of mine that likes hats the least (he despises them, really) is the one I keep knitting them for. Eh, he'll grow to love them - at least I hope so!

What are you working on? Happy creating!

An InLinkz Link-up

Keep Calm Craft On {crafting on}

Keep Calm Craft On {crafting on}

The act of creating, in one form or another, preserves my sanity amongst the chaos of life. This explains why I always have more than one project going at a time as well as why my housework tends to fall behind. I enjoy seeing what others are working on and keeping calm with, too. What are you creating? What is keeping you going? Snap a picture or two, post it on your blog, on Instagram #craftingon and/or Flickr and then share it with the rest of us by leaving your link below.

Christmas is only a few days away. Quick, start all the projects! Finishing them might be another story.
 All of my grand ideas of Christmas crafting have gone out the window but I am still hoping I can pull a couple of things off. Pictured above are some of those projects: a wee envelope knit for Baby F with my new favorite yarn (whose cute little hands also made it into the photo), a fox pillowcase for the mini pillow all my babies used to elevate their head when sick, and Alicia's Love and Joy cross stitch pattern. I was certain I would finish my cross stitch before Christmas arrived but I haven't found the time to start it yet. Who knows, maybe it will be finished by Epiphany!

What are you working on? Happy creating!

An InLinkz Link-up

Keep Calm Craft On {crafting on}

A Little Patience

I try my hardest to keep the weeks of Advent slow and simple, building up a little bit each week as we come closer to Christmas. I have hope this is developing patience in all of my children (myself, too!) and reminding them what we are celebrating. But good grief, this Advent has been feeling slower than usual and a bit drawn out. I think this is mostly due to the fact that Kevin has been on a short deployment for the past few weeks. It just doesn't feel like Advent, nor that Christmas is nearly here, without him home. But I am grateful for the constant reminder of patience and preparation during this season. I have lessons to learn, I know it...

Thankfully by the time most of you read these words he should be back with us!

A Little Patience

On Saint Lucia Day {and a bit of sewing}

My Saint Lucia stitch marker arrived just in time!

This year's Saint Lucia day (AKA Little L's namesake day and the feast of my patron saint) was one of the best we had ever experienced. I think because of that I didn't find as much time to photograph it all. We started the day with my children waking me up with Lussekatter and singing. They even snuck Baby F out of bed and had him dressed in his star boy outfit. Admittedly I think they woke a bit too early, especially after going to bed so late the night before from their AHG Christmas party. They were at each others throats for a good chunk of the morning but thankfully that all went away by the time we left the house for Mass. We met up with three other Catholic homeschooling families that we all absolutely adore and celebrated Mass. Afterwards everyone came back to our place for some Lussekatter, and a potluck style lunch. Our home was full with the laughter of children and my heart was just ready to burst.

After our friends had to leave we walked over to a couple of our neighbors to deliver Lussekatter. We ended up spending a good chunk of the afternoon/evening with one of those wonderful neighbors as our children played and we had a chance to chat. Such a good time was had. I honestly didn't want our day to end but boy was I exhausted by the time we got back home!

Baby F's namesake day was actually the day before but I feel a bit bad because we didn't really get to celebrate it. I spent a good chunk of that day baking the Lussekatter. I think next year I will make it on the 11th instead so that way both of my boys get their special days.

On a completely different note - I had been meaning to share some photos of a finished project but the sun just didn't want to shine so I gave up waiting on it. Baby F needed some soft cushions to boost him up and make his highchair a bit more comfortable. The random throw pillow we were using just wasn't cutting it. The last set of cushions I made for this highchair were from when K was a baby so it was definitely time for something new.

I wanted to use fabric that was neutral enough for a boy or a girl (just in case for the future 😉 ) and something that I already had on hand. I ended up going with this cute chicken fabric leftover from the girls' Easter dresses of 2012. This time around I made the cushion covers envelope style so that I could easily take them off and throw them in the washer. I think Baby F approves of them. What do you think?

On Saint Lucia Day {and a bit of sewing}

Keep Calm Craft On {crafting on}

The act of creating, in one form or another, preserves my sanity amongst the chaos of life. This explains why I always have more than one project going at a time as well as why my housework tends to fall behind. I enjoy seeing what others are working on and keeping calm with, too. What are you creating? What is keeping you going? Snap a picture or two, post i on your blog, on Instagram #craftingon and/or Flickr and then share it with the rest of us by leaving your link below.

Happy Saint Lucia day!!! It is 11:30 at night on the eve of Saint Lucia day as I type this. I just finished the 60 or so lussekatters we made for our Catholic homeschooling group and local friends. Now I am ready to fall fast asleep. I really can't say much about the knitting project because it is a gift for someone who may or may not still read the blog and I don't want to spoil it. I'll post finished pics, though.

What are you working on? Happy creating!

p.s. - This week I have a scrap of wool felt as my stitch marker. Ha! I guess I am trying to find funny stitch markers for my projects as of late.

An InLinkz Link-up

Keep Calm Craft On {crafting on}

First Snow

Baby F in his wool balaclava. I snapped this quick to share with a friend but then I decided I had to share it here, too. I adore his chubby cheeks and big eyes in it. Photos from a St. Nicholas party (hosted by our homeschooling group at church) on the eve of his feast day. My children and I had a blast helping out. We had our first snowfall of the year. Not a lot of snow but just enough for my children to spend all day in it. C (AKA mini me) spent most of her time following different animal tracks. She told me she tracked a rabbit, a cat, a magpie and a coyote. I wish I could have gone out with her but I was inside keeping the cutest little baby, miserable with a cold, nice and warm. But just so you don't think he missed out on all the fun - the children brought him in a cup of snow, just like they did for Little L when he was a baby. Baby F was perplexed by the cold white stuff that melted in his hands but once he took a little nibble, he was full of giggles of delight. I tried to capture this year's Christmas card photo while the snow was fresh and sparkly. This pretty much sums up how it went: And lastly, our Advent wreath is an actual wreath now instead of just a brass ring.

Now off for more Saint Lucia prep! Peace be with you!

First Snow