Christmas is magic. We had such a sweet little understated Christmas. Strawberry shortcake & orange juice punch for breakfast. Cars, choo choo trains, accordians, pettiskirts, and ponies for the kiddos to open. Lots of candy & snacks. And an afternoon, dressed in red & green, trying to keep the little ones quiet for an hour of church, almost successfully. I’ve included the last photo just in case there’s too much sweetness and cuteness here and you miss the real lifeness. Garth still had his pee bag to carry around on Christmas and there’s a ripped-up couch (more on that later), broken a/c unit, and moldy high chair just hanging out in our front yard, waiting for the bulk trash day. This’ll be our life for the next year or so while we try to renovate this tiny home, raise two sweet kids, and keep our jobs. Thank goodness for these sweet & happy times.

Hope yours was just as sweet friends.
much love,

elle

Oh it has been a marvelous holiday, my friends. Garth had 4 days off in a row and I tried my hardest not to wander into my studio (the living room) and work. Mostly we stayed in our pajamas ( we each got two sets this year!), watched movies, and drank hot chocolate. And egg nog. And ate cookies. In fact, we’re still eating cookies.

We took our annual Christmas Eve bike ride through North Hill Pensacola to look at the lights (even though it was a chilly 40 something degrees) and upon arriving home we changed into our jammies (after Jack peed on his playroom floor and then cried about it). After the kids were asleep Garth and I started on the adult assembly required that we had been looking forward to all week. It is some sort of rite of passage for parents, right? And, it only took until 3 am or something.

Santa brought Jack a Radio Flyer trike (that he’ll have to grow into since his feet can’t reach the peddles yet) and Ginger a tuff stuff toy sewing machine (every four month old needs a pink toy sewing machine). Garth made me a pair of flip flops out of some special order foam, webbing from an old backpack, and tread from his old motorcycle tires. They rule. I got him a vintage Gillette double edged razor (every few weeks for the past three years we’ll be riding in the car and he’ll tell me that he’s always wanted to shave with one of those old razors that uses a real razor blade.)

And now, it’s Wednesday and Garth has one more (short) day of work before another four day weekend. And then there’s one short week until several strange men will come into our home, pack up all of our stuff, and place it on a ship to be reunited with us in approximately 40 days. holy smokes.

Hope your holidays were just as sweet.

ps. a million thanks to the family that had this message in lights on Christmas Eve. I surely miss my Bob so very very much and your lights made me smile.

xoxoxox

elle

If I don’t talk (type) to all ya’ll before then, have a super extra double Merry Christmas!

elle

It was awesome. Jack now has a playroom full of toys that sing and wiggle and light up, thanks to his wonderful grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins (and Santa!). Hope you all had the best Christmas yet!

Also hoping that you’re enjoying this last sliver of 2009.

see you next year,
elle

Merry Christmas everyone, from a 3-year-old-me

And, from my not-quite-3-year-old little family.

In Pensacola, Garth and I rode our bikes around our neighborhood on Christmas Eve looking at all of the Christmas lights and broadcasting Christmas music. I was wearing shorts. Garth made a fort in the living room and we cuddled inside and watched movies till we fell asleep. Christmas morning was spent opening presents and eating strawberry shortcake. Later in the day we went out to the movies (we saw two at two different theaters), and then we packed me up to travel to Spokane.

In Spokane I was greeted by 30 something inches of snow, and two very large, very insulated brothers. We made our way through the quiet blue streets and slept in the next morning. When we had all assembled in matching pajamas (except Stevo and his wife who were still in Utah!) the festivites began and it was a flury of unwrapping and squeels and hugs. All 5 of my neices and nephews were present, and that’s enough to celebrate on it’s own.

More festivities followed with New Years and Abraham’s birthday party, but I won’t overwhelm you today. Hope you’re cozy and happy in your little igloos or teepees.

xoxox
elle

Garth and I moved to Pensacola last fall. Our possessions took another 3 months to arrive. We lived in a hotel for a month or so, and moved into this house right before Thanksgiving. We had a few bowls, two plates, and plastic utensils. Our landlord lent us a bed until ours arrived, and I had my sewing machine and various other crafting materials. I wasn’t able to find a job right away, and as the story goes, money was tight. So, this is what I did with what I had. It’s so simple and wonderful to me, and I think that I did the whole thing with about $10 or so. I look at our living room now, overflowing with the Christmas things that have been hiding in boxes, and while I like it, it lacks the passion, simplicity, and sentiment of what was there last year.

I learned how to make pom poms and used lots of scrap yearn that I had. Some I strung into garland for the mantel, and some I just left on the mantel with some thrifted plastic deer. I purchased vintage ornaments from a thrift store and hung them on fallen branches from our backyard, using acorns that I’d gathered from the neighborhood, as a foundation. I made a tree out of really thick floral wire and hung our photo strip pictures on them. In the kitchen I hung ornaments and pom poms above the window. We had a tree also, and I hand-stiched a little tree skirt for it, along with some stockings, but I don’t seem to have photos of those. =)

When the house is done this year I’ll be sure to post the 2008 decor edition. =)
Hope all your halls are decked exactly as you’d like!

xo
elle

Ok- so I have a weakness for anything holiday. I like apple cider and Christmas music and cinnamin smelling pine cones. It’s no wonder then that I have had a love affair for several years with the Gap holiday sweater. They are to me the perfect expression of the beauty and warmth and coziness and excitement and overpsending of the season. I even own two of them. My sister Julia gifted me the most perfect Gap stripey sweater of all time a few Christmases ago, and my parents blessed me with a Gap gift card that I used for the second sweater- one of those thick wool ones with the built in neck warmers. mmmmm…..

So it’s no wonder that when I see a fair isle or stripey Gap sweater of holiday fame dumped at a thrift store I MUST rescue it- even if it has been mistakingly felted by it’s previous owner. I have accumulated quite a nice collection of sweaters that will never fit me, with the intention of doing something creative with them someday. Well folks, today is someday. Actually, it was yesterday.

I took this stack of lovely sweaters and turned them into lush holiday stockings! yay! They are available in my etsy shop…with more coming in the next day or two. I have to admit, I have two sweaters that I just couldn’t bear to cut up: one is an exact replica of the afformentioned perfect Gap stripey, (but not given to me by my sister and thus, less magical) that will serve as a backup. The second is a beautiful red-&-teal-striped-three-quarter-sleeved-delicious-wonder that is an Extra Large….always too big- but I’m hoping that I can put it to good use this winter being pregnant and all. I’ll have to test it out on the belly before making the final call.

Much love I give to all ya’ll!

xo elle!

p.s. who wouldn’t love these sweaters? See how magical they are?!