Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas Friends!  

May your hearts be full with the love, joy, and peace of Christ Jesus! 

On a side note: a big thank you to Beth and Britta from Snail Mail Designs for designing our Christmas card this year!  We are so happy with how it turned out :).

lately

Here are tidbits of our life as of late:

1. Sweet potato fries: a delicious side!  I was even able to prepare these while Earnest napped.  Most days I still wait for the husband to come home before I start dinner.

2. A Date: We went out for dinner last week and had a splendid time.  I also only called the babysitter once (would have been three times if it weren't for the urging of my wise husband to just relax and enjoy the evening).

3. Advent Calendar Tradition: December days have been flying by. We've been recalling Christ's goodness and grace by reading Scripture or singing Hymns each day.  Do you have any Christmas traditions?

4. Curly Girl: Gemma found my sponge curlers from when I was a little girl!  She had to try them out of course...and this was the result!

5. Hello Handsome: Little Mister loves laying on his back and "talking".

6. Christmas Baking: I love the smell of Christmas cookies baking in the oven, don't you?

7. Mini Peanut Butter Cup Cookies: recipe soon to come :)

8. An Early Celebration: My little sister and her fiance will be in Wyoming for Christmas so we celebrated early with the family. 

9. A New Home: We helped Justine and Zach move some things into their soon-to-be first home.  They will only be 4 blocks from us!

Wishing you all a wonderful pre-Christmas week!

Inspired by Advent Calendars

I love advent calendars!  Growing up I had the Avon Mouse Calendar (now called the vintage Avon Mouse Calendar :).  Josh had this one too!  I looked forward to moving the little mouse closer to Christmas each day.  Years have passed since then.  I think it is time to have an advent calendar in our home.  I have been inspired by all of the beautiful advent calendars; I have decided to attempt to make my own.  I have less than 10 days to finish!  First, I have to decide what kind to create...

 Pretty Paper

Beautiful Buttons

Fun Felt

There are so many lovely advent calendars!  I'm leaning towards a sewn look this year.  I haven't had the time to sew lately but Thanksgiving at mom and dad's will allow for some sweet sister sewing time :).  I'll keep you updated on my progress.  I'm off to buy fabric!

looking forward to a special gift...

Mom and dad have offered to get me a Kitchenaid Stand Mixer for Christmas!  My mom has had her Kitchenaid mixer for decades.  I hear they are very durable and make baking a breeze.  While Christmas is still many weeks away I have some deciding to do...which color do I choose?  There are so many delightful colors from Empire Red, Yellow, Aqua Sky, Pear....so many options!  There is also classic white but I am leaning toward the color pistachio.  It is lovely and has a vintage feel to it.  Now I will be dreaming of the first recipe to mix up; any suggestions :) ?