Fresh Pine & Twine

 

Ahhhh... Christmas Eve morning. Waking up we went to one of our favorite coffee shops where some girls were playing the baby grand piano and singing Christmas songs. We sat on the sofa by the fireplace and Christmas tree, secretly pleased the café wasn't busy. I would be remiss if I didn't mention the foam top on the coffee intended to look like something Christmasy turned obscene. David refused to even sip my Sugar & Spice Latte and we laughed. 

A stop at a pretty Christmas shop with fresh florals, we grabbed some fresh pine. Fresh pine & twine made the packages pretty and they smell good, too. It was team work with all the presents we had to accomplish and the Christmas tree is completely surrounded by presents and gift bags and family arriving in hours. 

The lights on the tree are shining bright and me, I'm enjoying a cup of coffee and a quiet home before the production begins. My grandbabies will be arriving soon and seeing all the presents. Their childlike thrill and presents begging to be unwrapped... Imagine, the angels in heaven bursting in excitement as Jesus is about to be born that very first Christmas day.  

Merry Christmas

Charcuterie Boards & Hosting Christmas Gatherings

 

In the midst of the hustle-n-bustle of Christmas season, our home seems to be the place family and friends gravitate to. Day after day after day, we are hosting Christmas gatherings with different sets of family and friends.

Charcuterie boards, appetizers, and competition side-by-side cookoffs between David and I have being at home a warm and comfortable place in our hearts. 

We like being at home. We would rather be comfy at home, cuddled on the couch, binge watching shows, creating new recipes and cooking together, versus being out and about in busy stores and restaurants, especially when we are both good cooks in the kitchen. 

Our favorite drink this season is Southern Comfort Eggnog over ice with Peppermint Bark Rum Chata. 

More Christmas gatherings this week then we welcome the new year. I have to say 2021 has been a blessed and welcoming year. We embraced our sweet little Claire in the world and she is now 8 months old. I saw this sweet outfit for her and knew she needed it for Christmas. She is an absolute angel! 

David and I chose life together and we both gained a whole new family and new friends. Our congregation transitioned into a new and permanent home church. I had another record breaking year in my position as an events director. David joined the Bomb team this year, in addition to his current role, and he's loving the stimulation of learning something entirely new to his already extraordinary career. 

In the midst of an ongoing pandemic and a chaotic world, we are so blessed, and I for one, do not take that for granted even for a moment. 

A Christmas Stocking for Claire

 

I cannot remember if I was on step #4 three hours in or step #3 four hours in, but there were 94 steps to Christmas stocking completion.

Aunt Carol made mine & Jason's Christmas stocking when we were little and I was always so proud to have a beautiful Christmas stocking when everyone else had store bought. I made one for Mariah and I made Brooke's sitting next to her incubator when she was in NICU and I was told she wasn't going to live. Maybe it was then I learned to pray while stitching hours on end. 

When Sofia was born, I knew, I knew, I knew, she had to have a handmade stocking. Thus, began tradition.

When my girls were little, the stockings took about 20 hours each. Nowadays, they are so much more detailed, they take an average of 50 hours each. That is early mornings and evenings for weeks!

While I'm stitching, it gives me time to pray for each grandbaby purposefully and specifically and when I hand it to them, it is my hope these stockings warm a place in their heart each year and long after I am gone. 

Pretty and feminine, just like Claire, yet equal to her brother and sisters...

Their names hand-stitched on them, Rowan's on the backside of the dangling pinecone, keepsakes wrapped up and stored, and brought out each Christmas.

Their momma plays a role in the selection. A catalog of stockings arrive each Christmas. I give the book to Mariah when she's pregnant and when each baby is born and we know if they are boy or girl, Mariah picks out a couple stockings she likes best, then I pick out the one I like best out of her selection. It's a surprise for Mariah, too. 

Merry Christmas, my sweet little Claire-bear! Know you are loved and I am always praying for you. 

xo

A Castle at Christmas

 

A Saturday night off, which doesn't happen often, I choose for us to go to a castle lit up in Christmas lights for date night. Actually, every night feels like date night, but dinner out and a drive to the country, and I mean in the middle of nowhere, nestled on a hill was a castle lit up. 

We had drove an hour and as we were deeper in the country on rough roads, we see a hill lit up. Who would have imagined this pretty castle in the middle of nowhere. Who would have dreamed of building this and hauling building material out here? But it was simple and pretty.

We walk into the hotel hobby and asked where we should go. This is it. Simple and understated, but it was perfect. No grandiose lights and large crowds, just a castle, hotel, and walking path lit up in pretty lights. 

Then, we saw Santa and tables with a sign. For $10 we custom-made hot cocoa, decorated cookies, made an ornament, and saw Santa. 

It was magical in a quaint kind of way. There was something special about it not being too much, too crowded, too overly sensational. Simple was perfect. 

Driving home through the country roads the stars lit up the sky. We don't get many clear nights and sometimes out of sight is out of mind, but there they were twinkling bright. 

Relaxed, unrushed, our Christmas date was perfect. The best part is... the best never ends. Going home together, turning on the soft lights of the Christmas tree, slipping in comfy clothes, snuggling on the couch under a soft blanket, a warm drink was probably mint tea, and we turned on our new favorite series Jack Ryan.

I am in love with our life together and Christmas tree nights are the best.