They all wanted beards. It started with Paul and all his Santa play. He has started filling up his pillowcase with toys and transferring them into the stockings we hung up. Then of course, after I cut and sewed, The other two appeared asking where their beards were. So I gave in. Tomorrow we will add cotton balls. Unless of course the interest has faded and  they are playing a new game.

All the little details make for some lovely sights and smells.Today our advent calendar gave us the incentive to go out and buy a tree (yes, I wrote them, but I still play along in surprise). Last week, we put up lights in the kid’s room, but then added them around the front window.
We moved furniture and Paul set up our nativity.
He had to take a break from playing Santa, where he made Henry be Mrs. Claus.
Olivine took charge of the tree topper. Our gold glitter star is pretty awesome.
I put on our James Taylor Christmas cd and just sat.
I can look at Christmas lights all night.

The kitchen transformed into a pizza parlorwith aprons and oven mitts, drawers became piping hot ovensplaydough was grated into cheeseand they entertained themselves for over an hour. Not one fight.
Looks like despite what folks say about having three and one being on the odds or the seemingly endless disputes, sometimes miracles do happen. I snuck back into bed, read a little, and occasionally peeked in to see that how nicely they were playing.

Friday morning Olivine dressed up in her fancy skirt while I called in a substitute. We drove down to my cousin’s boat.
 This whole week had been stormy and I nervously expected choppy water. I feared Olivine or I getting seasick. Would we? What would we do?
 Of course, we didn’t. The water was calm. I had to strain my eyes to see the horizon. The clouds blended into the water, a perfect symbol of infinity. When we stopped and said good bye to my grandma, the emotions bubbled over. The sadness to not have my daughter know her, the longing to have said more, the ache of time passing, the weight of being an adult, and the strong urge to see the gates of heaven. The lyrics from a song I love filled my ears “When I get to heaven, I’ll be greeted warmly, surrounded by the angels, as Jesus takes my hand.” This is my comfort. As her ashes dissolve into the water, I am certain that the moment of closure is a gift.

We are finally getting some rain. Busting out umbrellas and boots and jackets we find ourselves outdoors.
Yes we love to curl up under blankets and drink hot cocoa. But we also like to jump in puddles and taste the rain.Sunday afternoon we took a slow stroll in and around our neighborhood. We stopped to look at worms, inspect snails, smell flowers, but mostly we just let the drizzle make us smile.We are keeping warm and dry, but we sure are happy about how wet it is outside.

is how I feel when I see her talking and making crafts and organizing them. She loves to talk and that’s how I am. Is she going to be mini-me? What will I learn from this tiny girl? Already time has gone by quickly and she is forever growing.Also sounds like “ow.” My baby girl’s cheek is all swollen.
She ran into the wall in the kitchen, it is slowly turning into a black eye. We gave her ice and there were a few tears, but then she was back to running around. And so again, we say “wow.” She is relentless and tough and I love her.

We are kicking off this season with a handmade advent calendar. Hoping to bring a little anticipation and family purpose to the Christmas season.
This was easy with a quick trip to Michael’s, a lovely stranger handing me a coupon, and then drafting up some festive crafts and outings tucked into the pockets. I realized if it is a hit, then I can reuse this again next year.