Tuesday, December 30, 2014

Merry Christmas Jammies!

My mom had her traditional Christmas jammies for the grandkids a little early this year: December 23. All the kids from age 1 to 16 enjoyed their cute onesie pajamas and matchin socks! The kids in the picture almost get lost in the colorful patterns!

 Levi and Calder were our big superheroes!
 Little boys sported different colored camouflage while the little girls donned colorful hearts!

The funniest part was the next morning when Larry woke up... with a very concerned pouty face, he said, "but... the stockings are all empty still..." Every year of his life up till now, he's gotten his new PJs on Christmas Eve... so he just knew that it should be Christmas... sorry buddy, one day early :)

We enjoyed our traditional caroling around Lansing Court and rowdy retelling of the Christmas story with all the grandkids and cousins!

Wishing you warm fuzzy happiness!

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Thursday, December 25, 2014

Christmas stockings

Yes, I know I'm behind in posting something about Christmas, but hear me out... 


I've now made a grand total of three Christmas stockings! My first victims were the members of the Evans family, who graciously accepted and even used my hand-knitted handicraft for Alex's first Christmas! The candle design for Brooke's stocking came from Grandma Frances's collection; the candy cane design for Jon's came from an internet search, and the gingerbread boy design for Alex's originated from a cross stitching pattern that I sort of adapted to knitting. Each stocking has its own unique toe shape since I experimented with a different toe finishing pattern on each one... but all of them held onto Christmas goodies just fine :)
Thanks, Grandma Severson, for spending the hours with me at the family reunion last summer to get me started, and thanks Brooke for making me feel like I did I good job :) 

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Saturday, December 13, 2014

Adventure begins!

I'm just sitting and relaxing here in Tampa, FL and pondering on this amazing fact: this morning, I woke up and kissed my kids good bye in California; and tonight, I'm going to sleep some THREE THOUSAND miles away from where I woke up this morning!  I know it's commonplace to travel fast these days, but just think about how far that is for a moment! Just blew my mind...

Anyway, it was a day of firsts for Jon and me. First time to Florida, first time using Uber and Air B&B (both of which were very positive experiences, I might add) and first time just walking into a completely unknown city just for the sake of wandering and discovering what we could discover. Saw lots of fun and interesting things around downtown Tampa. We enjoyed the riverfront walk, Mediterranean food, and found the hockey stadium which was tonight hosting an orchestral concert.  Seemed like the whole city was dressed in formalwear! Beautiful Christmas lights and holiday music added to the festive ambiance.

Tomorrow, we're off to the port of Tampa! Let the epic tenth anniversary cruise begin!

Wednesday, December 10, 2014

Little updates on my little people

Now that I have to "schoolkids," there is a distinct divide in the house between to older two and younger two. This week, I only got pictures of my home girls who have to hang out with me all day long... So, here's Xochitl with a few updates:
We got new shelves!  Mom is really excited to have a place to put fancy things for display above and hide cluttery (but necessary) things below!

We went to visit great grandma Severson in the hospital after her surgery. We took turns going up to see her with all the kids, so on the "off" time, we explored different areas in the hospital, including this beautiful garden!  Xochitl would like everyone to know that she did NOT pick this flower--she found it on the ground. Mom can vouch for that, too :)
Xochitl passed off another level of swim lessons... wow... we had two lucky weeks where she was the only student in her class and so got one-on-one attention with her teacher for the entire half hour!  That helped move her along significantly! Well done, little mermaid!


With the coming of age to 18 months, Jade has begun to have to suffer consequences for disobedience. She is very tender, however, and even when we called her OUT of her trouble corner, she would not come... like, for a LONG time!  Then we realized she was sniffling to herself and finally she couldn't hold it in any longer and let out a very heart-wrenching sob :( Daddy took a lot of pity on the cute little thing... or felt a pang of guilt for putting her in time out... Anyway, this is a classic Jade moment here...

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