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Behind the Card

With the exception of maybe one or two people, there probably isn’t really anyone interested in seeing how we made Maggie’s Christmas card this year. It was a fun project to do, but I’m thankful that we don’t have to do it on a regular basis. I’d had an idea in my head and what we ended up getting was pretty close to what I’d imagined.

I picked up some extra tall wrapping paper and we taped it to the wall. We originally were going to try and do a whole family shot, but with the amount of space that we were workig with along with my camera that isn’t remote friendly, we decided to stick to a Maggie only photo.

Barry wasn’t opposed to being a test subject, however. Isn’t he cute? And now you know where Maggie gets the cheese-ball smile.

While we were setting up the wrapping paper, Maggie was entertaining herself in the other room trying to ride her bike in boots. The girl loves boots, I can not say that enough. We tried to convince her that she’d have better luck riding the bike without shoes, but she wasn’t into that. We brought her into the photo shoot room and she was ALL about being a test subject with Papa, cue the cheese-ball smile.

After changing her outfit and fluffing her locks, Mag-Pie was ready to work her magic.

But she kept wanting to touch the wrapping paper or the lights, which is totally understandable because it isn’t every day that we’ve got our wall covered in Ho, Ho, Ho paper and insist that she stand directly next to plugged in lights.

But I think she did pretty good.  I only wish that I would have thought to take pictures of Barry behind me and beside me. My Man was a clown and Mags ate it up. Again, cue the cheese-ball smile.

We tried to get her to hold the chalk board, but it was slippery and she was too busy laughing at her Papa to concentrate on holding it.

After a few more cheese-ball smiles, Maggie decided that she was done and proceeded to cross her arms in protest and announced that it was nap time.

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Dig, Dig, Dig

I’ve been in a bit of a writing rut since the first of the month. It seemed I was so excited when December arrived and things have just taken off from there, but I just haven’t been able to catch my breathe and capture my thoughts without sounding like I’m full of it or complaining. So I’ve just decided to let it go….

I really like having a blog and writing, but sometimes I find myself second guessing my words because they might give too much away or be over-sharing. But then I read stories written by other women that I admire and see images that inspire me to take more photos in my own life, and I let it go. Because when we started this blog (way back in 2005!) when Barry and I went to Australia for a number of months, I never thought that I’d still be using it as an outlet in 2011 and I certainly never thought that there were so many other women out there like me….telling stories of their own.

I’m gathering myself up and finding my words again, they seem to have escaped…perhaps with the golden glow of our Carmel trip? I’m thriving on the glow of our Christmas lights and all the preparations that come with the season. We wrapped gifts last night and Maggie hauled them from the den to the living room with her handy, dandy Radio Flyer cart. She hasn’t quite figured out that the presents are for opening and she’s content to haul them from here to there now.

Last weekend we escaped to Kirkland and only left our hotel to walk around town and meet up with Greg and Linda for Snowflake Lane.  We watched the boat parade on Lake Washington and listened to the booming Christmas music coming from the floating line.  We ordered hot chocolates and walked the streets, talking of our Christmas tree back home and shared interest in finding good sushi. We did indeed find sushi and Maggie slept through the whole lunch, it was scrumptious and being able to talk with Barry uninterrupted was an added bonus.

In the lobby of our hotel were piles of newspapers for the guests and you better believe that I scooped one of each up. We poured over the paper each day that we were there and traded tit for tat on different articles. I passed him the business section and he passed me the comics….not sure what that says about our relationship.

Saturday night we bundled up and hustled to meet up with Greg and Linda for dinner before heading to Snowflake Lane in Bellevue. Aside from getting lost, we had an enjoyable time. Since we were late and had already eaten plenty of Trader Joe’s dunkers, Barry and I decided to share a plate.  I ordered Camarones  Rancheros knowing that it typically is a delicious shrimp platter with tortillas and other tasty sides. Well. It was that and certainly more because I somehow missed the part of the description that mentioned that the shrimp would be wrapped in bacon.

It was delicious, but I wasn’t expecting to see bacon on my plate! Snowflake Lane did not disappoint and both Barry and I were glad for it because Maggie was a CRAB POT before and after the extravaganza. Thankfully the dancing penguin was fascinating enough to distract her along with the drumming and guy on stilts.

Anticipating the start felt a bit like waiting for a big parade, with people angling for the best spot but nobody really knows where the entertainment will come from. Greg and Linda scored a great spot and we ended up having tons of  characters stop by and high-five Mags or pass her candy. We also were in full view of a couple drummers; however, the BEST drummer was directly across the street from us. He was bustin’ a MOVE!

We were those people with a screaming child walking back to our car. We were also those people that thought we had a tired child, but really she just wanted to play a bit.  So we ran up and down the hall and organized the sugar packets and coasters before conking out.

There you have it. Last weekend….and me working myself out of a writers rut.

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Our River To Skate Away On

The month of December is traditionally very, very busy for our family and even with me being home with Maggie it hasn’t slowed down. Don’t misunderstand me, it is a month full of fun events with friends and family that we care deeply for; however, usually by the time we greet the new year, Barry and I both feel like we haven’t had a chance to really connect or even relax. For years and years we’ve talked of getting away for a weekend and it just has never really happened for whatever reason and we get through the busy time and promise the next year will be different.

This year we made sure that we carved out a time for our family to relax and unwind before the whirlwind really begins. This past weekend we went and stayed in a fancy-pants hotel for a couple nights and soaked up life away from home….even though we were less than 30 minutes away from home sweet home. Sydney got to guard from our hotel window, Maggie got to carry the ice bucket from floor to floor, Barry got to practice jumping on the bed and I got to wear the hotel robe as if it were a princess dress. It was ALL good.

We tend to thrive on being together and this weekend was no exception. Being home is just that….HOME, but being away sometimes has its perks. We’ve been blasting Angus Stone’s version of Joni Mitchell’s “River” in anticipation of this exciting time and I feel like we’re ready to go now that we’ve had a bit of reprieve from the coming events.