rain

I truly love rain. I feel like it brings both a physical and mental cleansing with it. Not to mention that it leaves me feeling refreshed. I sometimes wonder if I was born/raised/choose to live in the wrong place, given that I love rain so much. I love the way it sounds when I am cuddled up under blankets in my house. I love how it sounds hitting the car. I love windshield wipers. I love watching rain make ripples at it hits puddles.

I was talking to another mom the other day and she was talking about her kids going stir crazy when it was raining. I was going to suggest throwing them out in the rain to run around until they are soaked through, but then I remembered that not everyone loves the rain as much as I do. Oh, and warm baths and footed pjs are the best after a good romp in the rain too. Of course, that is for the kids. I myself enjoy a hot cup of coffee while they are warming up in the bath.

Oh, and I'm happy to report that I found this red rain coat to replace the yellow one Connor finally outgrew after three years. Lots of great rain play memories in that coat, but now we have a new one to make memories in. Crisis averted. 

you can also find me on:

bloglovin // instagram // pinterest 

50/52

Connor: "Looking" up at the rain.  I showed him the storm drain on our street and he had so much fun using his foot to push a bunch of water at a time down the drain as then you could hear it hit the bottom. It's the little things in life! 

Isla: I feel like we are at that sweet spot with Christmas. She loves the ornaments, hanging then, admiring the, yet she now does a good job handling them, so I don't have to worry about broken ornaments every where...unless the kids are fighting over one, then I need to worry. 

"A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2014."

you can also find me on:

bloglovin // instagram // pinterest 

Christmas Sappiness

I finally got around to decorating for Christmas and it makes me oh-so-verry-happy. I kid you not, the glow of the tree in the evening is like the best thing ever! And the icing on the cake is that my mom gave me a bunch of my grandma's (dad's mom) ornaments, so I exclusively used those this year. It makes me feel so special and nostalgic to have things on my tree that were my grandma's. I think of the houses they hung in and the fact that my kids are oohing and ahhing over the same exact ornaments that my dad did. Pretty dang cool. One ornament even has a home address written in my grandma's handwriting with the year - 1943.

I was just telling someone the other day that I feel like my Christmas decor style seems to be changing. Our Christmas decor staples were actually purchased the year we got married...that's 12 Christmases we've had some of this stuff!!! I added some stuff along the way, but honestly a lot of it is too high maintenance for my taste these days. I used to put fake snow out everywhere! The kids started making a mess of it and I stopped putting it out. These days we tend to have a more relaxed Christmas style - think less overpriced Christmas dishes and more little people nativity set. I even washi taped all the kids Christmas preschool art on a wall in the dining room and am totally digging it. It livens the place up and is fun for me to look at.

I guess the older I get the more practical I get and the more sentimental I get. Fully matching decor that looks like it belongs in a magazine just isn't at the top of my priority list anymore. Making special memories with my family definitely is though and that we are doing.

You can also find me on:

bloglovin // instagram // pinterest 

Playing Together

Never once have I felt motivated to talk to anyone about the love my children have for each other. You see, 9.9 times out of 10 they are fighting. It started from the moment Isla could crawl and work her way over to Connor's toys. And it has only gotten worse with time. Connor loves to push Isla's buttons and it makes him so happy when he gets a rise out of her. And, Isla has learned these ways and started doing the same to Connor. Like I said, no loving siblings, best brother/best sister stuff around here.

But, there is something happening. I have caught them PLAYING TOGETHER a few times lately!!!! You guys, this is like breaking news over here because unless you count physical fighting, my kids don't play together. So every time I actually catch them playing and not fighting, my heart literally explodes...then I back quietly away from the scene and hope it will last longer than 3 minutes. Just being real folks. But seriously, they are playing together. There is light at the end of a very loooong tunnel...because lets be honest, if they are anything like my brothers and I, this fighting will last for years longer.

Oh, and don't mind the disaster that is Connor's room. I would like to say it isn't normally like this, but seriously, it always looks like a lego bomb went off in there...even 5 minutes after it was cleaned. But he has fun in there, so that is all that really matters.

You can also find me on:

bloglovin // instagram // pinterest 

What Month is it?

^^This picture has nothing to do with this post...well I guess unless you want to count that this pink polkadot princess dress has been in my life 24/7 ever since Isla got it...so the dress has been steady while I seem to be all over the place.  

Everyone seems to be filling my instagram/blog/facebook feed with pictures of advent and I seem to be over at my house, sitting on the couch thinking, "Yea, I made it through another day with all of us fed and alive!!!" Seriously, I don't know what it is this year. Christmas has always been my favorite. But it seems to have snuck up on me. And for some reason, I am just having a hard time getting into the swing of things. We did get our tree up this weekend and that has helped. Plus, the weather is slightly cooler, and that helps too. I kind of think that is the problem. The weather has been too warm. I know, it sucks being stuck with warm weather in December (sense the sarcasm). But it's messing with my head, I tell you. I am going to power through. I will. I will. And before you know it, I too will be fully in the Christmas spirit...and then Christmas will be over and I will be having a little pity party because I feel like it is the middle of December. Oh Jessica, get a grip.

You can also find me on:

bloglovin // instagram // pinterest 

Angel Breakfast

This past Saturday we went to the Angel Breakfast at the church where the kids go to preschool. Connor had heard about it at school and was talking about it so much, I decided to bite the bullet and drag myself out of bed early on a Saturday morning to make my little man happy. And he totally enjoyed it. So did Isla. And so did I.

Like the name suggests, we were served breakfast by angels. There was also a live nativity, along with a petting zoo, a family craft, then a story time. The highlight of the morning was definitely the animals. Connor said his favorite thing was "petting the little pig". And Isla was perfectly content petting every furry little rabbit in sight.

^^ I asked Isla to color the cow for our nativity craft and she instantly drew a face on it. I totally loved it! It doesn't take much to please me ;) 

^^ Us with the finished product. And I swear the kids had fun and weren't being tortured...well, they did act like they were being tortured when I made them take a picture with me, but they were having fun both before and after the picture. 

^^ Connor and teacher Cindy 

At the end of the morning, they had all the kids get on stage and a lady told the Christmas story to them. Of course, my kids, sitting next to each other, started fighting. It wasn't long before Isla joined us in the audience. And it wasn't much longer after that that Connor started getting really fidgety and crawling around. It was about then that one of Connor's teachers invited him to sit by her in the front row and he jumped at the chance. You would think with all that went down, the story lasted hours, but I really think it was only around five minutes. My kids just can't sit still!!!

It was a great morning and I am glad we went. It makes me happy to do things that make my kids so happy. That sounds so cheesy, but it is so incredibly true. I'm a mom, what can I say?!

You can also find me on:

bloglovin // instagram // pinterest 

49/52

Connor: I sort of hope I see this face come Christmas morning when Connor is opening his presents. But, presents aside, this kid is so full of life and can be so incredibly animated at times.

Isla: This girl is obsessed with princess dresses and never wants to be out of one. It isn't often that I force her to take one off, as I don't care if she wears them in public, but when I have to, it is DRAMA! It was not a pretty sight when I refused to allow her to wear her princess dress for our family photos.

"A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2014."

You can also find me on:

bloglovin // instagram // pinterest