Lazy day

Today consisted of....

A long game of Monopoly.

Enjoying the Christmas "stations".

1/2 of the letter writing to Santa.

Not much else.

xo

Take #1

Thanksgiving out takes from the Mac in the loft.

Gratitude

Thanksgiving was a success.  Lots of family, food and love.

Sylvia and I were impressed that we had nearly everything together by 1pm.  Alex was amazing in the prep work, figuring out place settings, table and chair arrangements.  It makes me think of him at about 5.  He loved to organize, loved to plan, to build.  He still loves it, makes me wonder what he'll do when he gets older.  An architect.  Interior designer.  Oh, the possibilities.

We had 3 tables going, plus a kids table and 4 tv trays.

We hosted the Espinozas, Leggetts, Scotts, Canas clans, Smiths....a total of 37 people.  We ate, we talked, laughed.  I love this part.

Papa and Lita were the first to arrive.

Jen brought Tom.  She does an amazing job.

Kids, for the most part, hung out upstairs.  They made movies on the Mac.  I haven't watched them yet.  Should be entertaining.

By 11pm, all were gone.

I am grateful for love.
I am grateful for food.
I am grateful for a home.
I am grateful for my family.
I am grateful for the memories of the day.

Sunday Seven

A weekend reflection of seven:

1. Resting and recovering (which means not as much accomplished as had hoped from my to-do list)
2. Kids are on the mend.
3. I'm thankful for my sister who spent the day with me (to help with my to-do list).
4. Brothers who step in when I need help.
5. Kids who cleaned their rooms when asked.
6. 35th place photography and their volunteer work with Santa.
7. snow

xoxo

I've been struck

By the household sickness.
Not fun.

I managed to make it to work yesterday, but by the end of the day I had the worst chills.  I got home and couldn't warm up to save myself.  By six I was in bed,  wearing fleece, socks and a scarf with multiple covers and a heating pad.  I gave directions to my four lovelies who immediately responded to my requests.  Evening rituals took place.  They packed their own lunches.  Set clothes out for school.  Lights were out by 8pm.  I was up sweating at three, reverse, everything off.  The alarm came quickly at six.

But they did it.  They knew mom wasn't at her best.  Kids got to school.  I slept.  Even Lilia didn't wake up, all red-cheeked until 9:30.

I'm resting, yet washing all the bed linens, washing those germs away.

A candid snapshot from Tia Nancy.

{36 days}

Until Christmas.  I am excited.  I love, love, love the holidays.  I love being with family.  I love building memories.  I love the children’s spirit.
 
36 days.
5 weekends.
 
I’m making my list and checking it twice.
I’m going to get ahead of the game.
I’m commit to having it all done by 12/20.
It’s doable.
Let’s do it.
 

Stories

I “met” Ali Edwards about this time last year and I instantly fell in love.  I love her style, I love her projects, I love her communication and I love that “story” plays such an important part in her everyday life.  Stories of living . . . having breakfast as a family, experiencing new things and also living, really living, even the not so fun parts of life.  It was her (and Meg) that inspired me to buy my Canon.  She so inspires me and I work (and grow) as I  document my life through photos and story.

Through the process, I have adjusted my vision.  I “see” things differently.  I want to create stories filled with family and love.  I want my children to have wonderful memories as they grow.  I want their stories to be captured in what we do every day.

One of Ali’s amazing annual projects is her idea of December Daily.  Ali states, “December Daily is an album project that documents the 25 days leading up to Christmas.  One of the keys to success in this project is getting an album structure set-up in advance of December so that during December you can enjoy the season & enjoy the process of documenting your days without having to be putting the entire thing together at the same time. It is not meant to be stressful. It is meant to be a way to creatively celebrate the season and document you special holiday memories in one album.”

Although I have yet to finalize a cover, I have close to finalized the interior pages.  You will see, they do resemble Ali’s.  What do they say, “imitation is the sincerest form of flattery”.  I do think, as I get more and more comfortable with documenting and creating, my style will involve....but for now, take a peek.

You can find Ali Edward's December Daily here.

I hope you feel inspired too.

Go away....

Germs.

Our home has been filled with ailments for a while.  Bad heels.  Sprained ankle.  The flu.  Viral infection.  And overall sniffling and sneezing.

I want our house to be well.  I want to sleep through the night.  I want my physician's nurse not to know me by name.  I want my kids to go back to school.

I *think* we're on the mend.

JH is still struggling with his heels.  I'm hoping that will just clear itself, with heel inserts and no more soccer.  I hope, pray and pray.

Sofia needs to build strength in her ankle.  I think that will take time.  She hasn't played soccer for over 2 weeks.  She's had the stomach flu for nearly 4 days.  The doctor today said it's the flu that's going around. If she does not show signs of improvement by Wednesday, bring her in.  What's hard is she is so weak.  She hasn't eaten much.  She's lost 5 pounds, which doesn't seem a lot for me, but it is about 6% of her body weight.  You can see it in her.  In her face, in her body.

Lilia, oh my Lilia.  A 4.5 hour visit to ER last night.  That was not a fun Sunday.  But we're on the mend.  She's breathing better, not as deep.  She hates prednisone, but loves the breathing treatments.  But she's bouncing a bit now, so that's a good sign.

Alex (knock on wood) has a clean bill of health.

Do you hear me germs, go away....next week is Thanksgiving!  Get better vibes~~~~~~~

Oh Papa

My dad called me at work and told me he had something from the paper he wanted me to see.

I love that my dad thinks of me when it comes to baking.  When I got home today, he went through each dessert recipe in this Seattle Times article, showing me the recipes:  pumpkin pie, apple pie, cornbread.  Like I need another reason to bake.  Another reason to eat more baked goods.  My dad is diabetic.  I tried to entice him with the vegetable recipes.  Ha!

He has such a sweet tooth.

I love this snapshot memory.

Thanks dad.

Iron and Wine

Have you heard of them before?  Listen here.

It's a constant on my iPod.  Relaxing, mellow music.

I need to relax.  I'm feeling anxious that it's nearly mid-November.  The year is almost up.  The holidays upon us.

So I'm sitting in my bed, listening to Iron and Wine.

Halloween

We baked.

We made candies.

We added more decorations.

We trick or treated.

Now I want to make this.

I love my family.  I love making happy memories.