Dice, "feliz navidad"

ender is nestled in for the night. bless him. zander is preparing our cave for the cadence of the candles, their flickering flames dancing in the breath of our prayers over them, and the grand lighting of the Christmas tree!

" For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ". II Corinth 4:6

look at this trove, treasures untold

ariel was such a hoarder. when i was a little human, i went antique-ing with mama and came home with boxes: cigar boxes, cricket boxes, shoe polish boxes, anything that would keep my treasures, mainly rocks and coins, safe and secret. i was out of control. the madness wouldn't stop. I told myself I wouldn't buy a single ornament this year! But the sun was shining on this particular silver orb at an outdoor antique market. An ornament box I can keep cloves

in or this beautiful red and green gem of mine. Always looking to put my rock collection to good use again!

*etsy

here is also another idea i'd like to do with them. i think this is weirdly perfect for me. my rocks always made me feel that something was Great out there in the Beyond. To muse over each one and remember the word that would describe my rock to me as a child... Yes, i think for now, this would do my collection artistic justice.

First Present of the Year

Zander's Aunt Kim has been teaching me how to sew. I recently just developed my fine motor skills if that tells you anything about my clutzy fingers. Ender is way ahead of me. Interesting Fact: at 11 months I taught him how to use a fork and he taught himself how to carefully eat cheerios with it. Yes, a cheerio puff balanced precariously on one prong as it made its stressful journey to his gummy, pink jaws. He'd then snort through his nose with satisfaction. Nerd.

I hoard anything anthropologie gives away to their customers to carry away their pricey products in; bags, ribbons, these buttons. It was time to put them to appropriate use. So here's to Aunt Kim!

Fair warning to my family: This is not the last homemade present I will be giving out this year. Some of you should be legitmately worried.

And LASTLY! The banana bread recipe is stellar! <--- try it here. I use 4 bananas, only 3/4 c sugar and don't feel like you have to bake it to the full hour. I've had many a palate melt.

along comes isla

she's been there, she's done that. a funny pair these two. just a shy year older than him, she is the magic to his milestones. we now have a goofy looking 14 month old toddling around the house.

ender caught the croup from something, somewhere over Thanksgiving. For three weeks his white blood cells have been on the march and enduring some heavy losses. But when Ender woke up on Sunday morning with a twinkle in his eye, I knew his soldiers had returned victoriously.

he makes my heart feel like a bright red balloon, always wanting to rise out of its ribcage.