Welcome December
Isn't it hard to believe that the most magical of all months is upon us? I hope that you enjoyed your Thanksgiving time. We had two amazingly delicious and large meals and I really thought hard and took a moment to appreciate the time and effort our family lovingly puts into preparing their signature dishes and dressing the table and making the day special. For the Graham contribution Sam (being the amazing cook he is) made meatballs by hand for both sides of the family. I love that he used GP's recipe from It's All Good (seriously a great cookbook). We also tag teamed GF Pumpkin Bread Pudding (a variation from Annette Joseph's recipe in another favorite, Picture Perfect Parties) and the yummiest Maple Spiced Carrots that smelled up the whole kitchen with its goodness.
The long weekend wasn't what I was exactly hoping for if I can put that out there. I ended up in bed for two days (I've been sick more than I've been well since school started and it's making me really frustrated) and little Phoebe has been cutting four incisors for a week now. She has been inconsolable at times (luckily not when I was sick - thank God for each blessing seriously). Our friends let us borrow their amber necklace which I've always sort of looked at as folklore, hippie yadada (even though I am totally a hippie at heart). Anyways, ever since we put it on her she's been pleasant and went to sleep with no problems! I wrapped the necklace around her ankle under footie pjs. There might just be something to it.
All of those things aside, my heart has been heavy. Sometimes I take on pain of the people I love so much it puts me in a dark place. We have friends going through a heart breaking time right now. For their privacy I won't go into detail, I'm just hoping against hope for a miracle. Another sad thing is that our dog of eight years, Guinness, is sick. His eye started getting red and hazy a couple of weeks ago and now he can't keep food down and won't eat. We're taking him to the vet for the third time this week. Sam and I both feel tremendous guilt for not showing him enough attention this year while we've been so busy with the renovations and babies. We're just kind of feeling life a lot right now.
It's tradition for our family to go to a tree farm the day after Thanksgiving (we even did it with a three day old Phoebe last year!). This year it wasn't in the cards and we were feeling really down so last night at 5:30pm we bundled the girls up and headed to Home Depot. It wasn't what photo ops are made of, but Matilda was mesmerized by the blow up snow globe and getting to see the Christmas lights that it was all worth it. It is the first time we've had a Frasier Fir in years and it smells so good. We put on Bing, drank So Delicious Nog (yum!!) and struggled through many a burned out light strings before we were able to decorate about half the tree. Ha! We will chip away and enjoy the decorating this week and keep our hearts focused on hope and joy.
This year I want tons of simple greenery (I did score lots of scraps from the tree lot) and I love each one of these projects that I've pinned to my Christmas Board. From top to bottom: I want to make my own wreath this year and this one by the talented Amy Merrick spotted on Forest Bound is so gorgeous | I could not love this simple string and tape holding tiny bits of evergreen found on Herriott Grace. | A wreath on the bar is so lovely. Inspiration from Design*Sponge. | I have loved this image for a couple of years now. Who else but Martha? This is a tutorial for those lovely Evergreen Window Boxes. | Lastly I just adore this charming wreath and snowflakes on the front door at this Winter Gathering. Christmas is coming!
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