thank you, 2009, what a great year!

here's to more beauty, love, laughter, creativity & joy in 2010 :)
cheers!
♥

a taste of holiday madness ❤

Christmas vacations are always amazing ... here's a little smattering of ours.

from our home to yours, warm loving joyful holiday wishes ♥

it's beginning to feel a lot like christmas

last week, i went to Bub AND Pea's classes to help with gingerbread houses. it was so much fun! those little stinkers are all so creative and i was amazed at their unique ideas and how no two houses looked the same. all those kiddos totally filled my heart with joy and their raw honest happiness in the moment.

we are heading east ... hopefully into white snow-covered terrain to celebrate the holidays with family. lots of screaming kids and happy adults and amazing food and fun games. i'm excited :)

LoveMuffins...

my darling friend Penelope made her own batch of muffins this morning

and totally inspired me to make some similar ones: sour cream muffins with cranberries & chocolate chips. sprinkled generously with sugar and topped with melting butter.

tell me you can't taste that melting in your mouth! mmm. and according to her, love has no calories ♥

chocolate on chocolate

what more could you ask for?

baking makes me happy.

***

lately, i have been observing things around me. i know everything surrounding me is reflecting something to me, it just depends on where my attention goes. my girl friend told me that if you linger on something for 17 seconds or more, it definitely has meaning. it's just up to you to interpret that. i'm finding it so much fun to observe my surroundings, me.

i am taking stock of my feelings, the way they slowly bubble up or *bam* are just there, burning flaming, gripping the whole of me.

i am so blessed to have such amazing friends. they teach me so much. as do my daughters. i love the way i have surrounded myself recently with these beings of light, who do not hesitate to radiate their truth and hearts with such grace. we are all finding our way, but it is so much easier to do it together. knowing i have this fills me with gratitude.

***

i pull my legs up under me in a butterfly, and slide my white notebook onto my lap. next to me, in his torn levis and jean-colored waffle shirt, he reaches for me with one hand and eats a cookie with the other. always touching, it's something that we do naturally, even if it's only our feet. Bub and Pea spread out next to us, and laugh infeciously at the Grinch's little dog with the branch in his head. Bub makes popcorn and the pup tries to eat it. Pea wiggles incessantly and for me, time slows down a little. i stop and let it fill me. this moment, a snapshot of my life, perfect in its imperfection.

what more could you ask for?
♥

a few of my favorite things...

find things that inspire you
see things to appreciate
feel the joy of this moment
know the fullness of your heart
♥

journal pages...true breathings of my heart.

i feel like my voice is stuck inside my throat lately. i have so much i want to let out, but there it stays. so i draw and i read and i bake. i play with the littles. i take pictures. i look back on old journal pages and read other blogs for inspiration. sometimes, as i read, tears just flow. i feel the resonance. it is that - right there - the conjoining of souls that happens when we share true bits of ourselves that touches me so deeply. our stories overlap and weave together and that? is love.

...a love like that.