surrounded

Lots of life happening around here right now - good things, most of them - just a lot of them! :) We've been slacking a bit lately in daily routine, mostly because no matter how we structure our days it seems like there's still not quite time to get everything done before Christmas. But then Addie has been around this week and I'm feeling SO much more on top of things.

We kicked off the holiday season with Thanksgiving and the Leman Christmas. These pictures do an excellent job of representing what that day was like for each of our kiddos. Ivory - creative, social, and enthusiastic, LOVED participating in the Charlotte's Web skit and decorating a bag for a Christmas meal, among many other things. Titus, on the other hand, shrinks away from crowds and I found him late afternoon on the floor under a chair contentedly eating his snack...

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We had some good mother-son bonding time when I took him out on the trail one frigid morning to be a little model for me. He did great, especially when I mentioned a treat.

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Waibel Thanksgiving included a celebration of November birthdays. I wish I had a much older picture to throw up here, because we've been taking this pic for years. Micah and I missed the gray sweater memo...

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Then the snow came! That was an exciting day. The kids were pretty thrilled about the white stuff, and Mom was pretty thrilled about the prospect of good naps.

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The annual Meiss nativity...
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And then of course, there's just everyday life. Clockwise from top left: Titus "painting", Ivory faithfully caring for "Corindasea" and a variety of other babies, opening a new book every night from Dec. 1 - 25 (Cars & Trucks & Things that Go has been a HUGE hit), playing with ALL the toys at Waibel Christmas, "fishing", and a rare moment of sweet reading together.

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And finally, a few projects that I've been able to tackle with the help of others as I try to get un-buried from the enormous to-do list I have managed to build up. Christmas cookie making was a few weeks back. Then the past few days Addie has been around, which has been such a blessing, and I was able to work on one of of the kids' Christmas presents: a little table and chair set for their kitchen. It's maybe hard to tell in this picture, but I used Minwax PolyShades to darken the little oak chairs and I'm pretty pleased with the results. This was after just one coat. I'll have to post more pics later of the whole set finished.

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This weekend I get to try my hand at serving Princeville church lunch for the first time... and then a week of celebrating Christmas with our families. Can't wait! :)

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