Summertime and the Living is Easy!!

So, it's been quite a long time since my last post and rather than bore you with all the mundane details in our little life since then, I thought I'd share with you a few of the big happenings ::

:: We sold our first home and bought our forever home, until of course, we move into that little cabin in the mountains (someday)!! ::

Bye, bye to our first home! We put a lot of work into this little house, including painting the outside and adding that cute screen door... (Also, our house sold in just 3 days! Crazy!)

 Our new house!! (We were the first ones to see it when it came on the market and the first to put it on offer in on it. Fate!)

Our little family on the big day! (Yes, Sienna is in her pj's. It was pajama day at our school. I changed out of mine before coming home!)

:: I completed my first year back in the classroom, teaching 2nd grade, which is still my favorite grade!! I'm very grateful for finding this position at an awesome school in the same town, where we bought our house. ::

My classroom, all packed up and ready for a summer cleaning! I had a camping theme (again) this year.  

I have the best view of a farm field and farmhouse out the window. 

 Can't wait to set it up again for another school year...

:: Sienna danced A LOT this school year. She joined Star Energy (a non-competitive performing team) and had 2-3 dance classes per week, plus a lot of fun performances! ::

:: She also was in the school choir at our little school this school year! ::

:: Forest finished pre-k and is ready to start kindergarten at Mama's school. ::

:: And now, we are summering!! ::

Sienna had a Paris themed birthday party with her two best friends.

She had eclairs for the dessert!

Mama bought a new car!!

 Perfect for our road trip to the redwoods this summer!!

Sienna danced in the 4th of July parade!! 

Forest turned 5! 

He had his requested dinner spaghetti with Mama's sauce and my homemade chocolate cake. 

Tomorrow we are off on our summer adventure, a road trip to the Redwoods!! I'm sure I will have many road trip stories to tell ...

A New Year, New Experiences

Our little family is ready for a new year and new experiences! On New Year's Day, we went on a little road trip to find snow. We headed east to Darrington and built a snowman at a park there called "Old School Park." We used peanuts to make our snowman's face from the snacks we packed to bring along. 

We also took down our Christmas tree and decided to share it with the birds! The idea came from the book, The After-Christmas Tree. Sienna had checked it out from her school library to read over Winter break. We had a new experience that day! We ended up getting locked out of our house and had to call a locksmith to get us back in. Luckily, Mama had brought her phone outside to take photos of the tree.

The birds have been loving our offering to them! The pinecones are almost all empty now.

This weekend, we headed over to the Skagit Eagle Festival in Concrete. We explored the Bald Eagle Interpretive Center and found an old log cabin from 1891. The mama of the cabin planted a rose bush, which is still there today!

We also learned that a ferry was used to cross the Skagit River to Rockport before the bridge was built in 1961. The ferry was quite icy!

Wishing you a year full of new experiences and possibilities, too!

Hodge Podge

This Christmas, I've been thinking a lot about gifts and giving. My most favorites were once again handmade, thrifted, or from antique stores. Some were given to me and others, I chose for myself. I love that they are a hodge podge of uniqueness and all fit sweetly into our little home. 

chicken salt 'n pepper shakers

from my mom

a sweet angel bell

from my mom 

circa 1980 ... my birth year

a little pottery

from my mom 

more pottery

from me

ornaments for the tree

from my mom and stepmom 

handmade birdhouse ornament

from my mom 

two new to me Susan Branch books

from me 

a Patsy Cline cd

from David 

cuisinart ice cream maker

from David 

handmade ornament

from my stepmom 

handkerchiefs and little quilted bag

from my stepmom 

sienna in a snow globe

from Sienna 

handmade art work

from Sienna 

more artwork!

from Sienna

To me, this is the way Christmas is meant to be ... from the heart and like finding small treasures and trinkets for the ones we love.

Happy, Happy Holidays!

Hello, dear friends and family ...

I realize it's been awhile since my last post! I missed the entire month of November and now, December is coming to an end, too! 

Here is our November and December photo journal, in a nutshell.

In November, there were wild winds and power outages. We lost our electricity for a night and gathered around candles. We listened to the news on our solar powered, hand-crank radio. Sienna and Forest loved it! Our back fence even blew over with the gusts...

   

In November, we celebrated Thanksgiving together in our little house with Nana. We gathered around a simple, nature-inspired table for our dinner. 

In November, Forest and Sienna visited the dentist for their 6 month teeth cleanings. We are thankful for no cavities again!

In December, our family elf, Eddie Spice returned from the North Pole. He arrived bearing gifts. He also left a glitter trail across the table! 

In December, we drove down the farm road in Silvana to our favorite place to buy a Christmas tree, Muskrat Flats tree farm. They have a spot to take a family photo with their target practice deers.

In December, we took a road trip to the Cascade Mall to see Santa Claus' helper. Sienna and Forest know he's not THE real one. 

In December, Sienna was brave and decided it was the day to get her ears pierced! Last Christmas she tried, but she wasn't quite ready yet.  

In December, Sienna sang three songs with her class in the Christmas Performance at her school. She surprised us and didn't tell us she was one of four kids chosen to play a drum for "The Little Drummer Boy." We were so proud of her! She is near the bottom middle by her music teacher.

In December, we snuggled together in our cozy little house watching our many, many Christmas movies. 

In December, we had a slumber party to make cookies and caramel corn at Nana's house. 

In December, we woke up to snow falling on Christmas Eve morning. It didn't stick or last long, but we sure were excited!

 

In December, we set two tables in our little home for our traditional Christmas Eve dinner of homemade pizza. One for the little people and one for the grownups.

In December, Sienna and Forest woke up early on Christmas morning to see what Santa had brought for them! Santa must have received the list Sienna had written for her and Forest. He brought her a desk, desk accessories, art supplies, and an origami kit. 

Forest was surprised, too! Santa brought him a road rug, legos, play doh, and a flashlight. 

And now ...

In January, Mama and Daddy will start a sugar detox and bring our treadmill inside to start running again!

We hope you're having very Happy Holidays!  

P.S. The style of this blog post was inspired by one of Mama's favorite authors, Cynthia Rylant and her book, In November.