wanted to get some christmas pics up for all my devoted readers! seriously, even though most of you are family...or like family, we get so busy this time of year, we don't even get to each others houses to see all the decorations....so, i've got a very small sample of my holiday cheer for you!

my favorite little chair...it was my neighbor's high-chair when she was a little girl...love it!

even cuter with present, dont ya think?!

totally not the best lighting, but i totally have the wrong camera to take good pics...anyway, i DO love how cozy lamplight is. the "W-I-S-H" word was a little thanksgiving day project we did years ago at the poelman's...


my antique store trees with my best friends, george & mary bailey....please tell me you know who they are...you dont? oh. my. stars. go rent the movie, "its a wonderful life". after you put your kids (or dogs) to bed, get in your pj's, grab a blanket, some hot cocoa, and a box of kleenex. the best movie of all times!!!!!!!! have you not noticed the name of my blog?
the bailey's are family...at least it looks like it, cuz i have their picture plastered everywhere. love them, i seriosly considered how i could somehow name my kids after a part of the movie....just think, little george vruggink.

1946....i love everything about this movie...the story...the values...good overcomes evil...the clothes...the homes...especially how they decorated! no pottery barns or crate & barrel! homes reflected the personalities of the people who lived there!

this pencil sketch was a present from my mom last christmas....isn't she good?! i always loved this picture...agian from the movie....she drew it by pushing "pause" on the dvd player and drew it...LOVE IT. it makes me happy every time a look at it. it hangs proud on my wall year round.

i love books. i love christmas books even more! court gave me the idea to read a christmas book every day of december with my kids. so i've collected a pretty nice stack...good ol' scholastic book orders, used book sales and amazon.com have made this a pretty inexpensive tradition...my favorite book? the gift of the maji, by o'henry....my mom read it to us as kids, and now my kids love it as much as me! i also have it on tape (dubbed off an album of my grandparents)...it is lorne green narrating the story...awesome.

if you haven't read it, put it on your list of things to do before christmas :)

the reason for the season...i love my nativity...if i could witness anything in the bible, it would be the birth of Jesus...oh, to hear the angels singing...i get goose bumps thinking about it. another tradition...reading luke 2

love christmas ornaments...

this is an old ornament from my mom...
"every time a bell rings, an angel gets his wings"

(this will make no sense to you if you haven't watched the movie...)

my tree, which we got from behind my grandma & grandpa beld's...complete with icicles....

well...i mentioned a few of our traditions...what are yours?

post some pics of your trees, too! it will be like our own little bloggy-holiday tour!

the bakery...

oh, how i LOvE steenstra's bakery!!! i was in grandville wednesday morning...when i thought how yummy bread ends would be for thanksgiving :) me and dodge stopped, and if ONLY i had my camera....it is a teeny tiny lil bakery, and i bet they had 10 people working the counter, cuz there had to be 25 of us crammed in that little place! yummy smelling baked goods were flying out of there...well, like hot cakes!!! i could NOT pass the banket up...love almond stuff....and had to get those cute little chocolate turkeys for the boys....and i got me and doug chocolate-chip-chocolate muffins with chocolate frosting. OH. MY. STARS.

anyway, short post...packed with calories.

water

i love water. i drink it every day. i waste it more than i care to admit. i like long hot showers. i use too much when i brush my teeth. i do ump-teen loads of laundry a week. i have a handy dandy dish washer that makes my life easier.

i love kids. i have two. they love water, too. since they could drink out of a cup, they have had a water bottle with them WHEREVER they go - really. my boys like dirt. they shower every day. they play with the hose during the summer...and winter.

i love my country. i love michigan. i love the beach.

i've never been to africa. but i've seen what those kids drink. it looks like mucky-swamp water and is contaminated with bugs, parasites and poop. i dont know about you, but that is just sad to me.

so, as you put together your christmas list....put africa on there. they need water. the fresh, clean yummy stuff we take for granted. look at your kids and grandkids...or your pretty lil self. aren't we blessed?! the blessing isn't ours to keep...pass it on. it's only $10...or as much as you want. so simple....please help.

keep things in perspective this christmas season....does uncle fred really care if he gets a jar of cashews? buy some water...its good stuff.

do you compare?

do you ever have days when you think...why cant i find time to do that? i've always wanted to try to do that...i've been meaning to paint that room for YEARS...i really should somehow document my children's lives w/ some sort of baby book - scrap book thingy...my kids are finally in school, how can it be a have LESS accomplished around the house when they return home?...will i ever get the laundry caught up...

will my husband ever come home from work, and find me waiting for him at the door with a kiss & "how was your day, honey?...by the way, we're having roast, garlic-smashed potatoes, hot rolls, and i whipped up a little dessert, too....oh, and by the way, the boys have finished their homework & chores, and i was just thinking of making crafty little invitations for a last-minute slumber party...it will be sooo fun, i'm so excited!!

ugh.

sometimes i get in a little rut of "why cant i get it together?!"

you know what? the more i look at what others "do", the more i can get dissatisfied with what i "do"...i'm only one girl...and like a very wise person once told me, we all have our special gifts...God has a purpose for me and only me...it's not anyone else's plan...just mine. i am who i am...and i should do the best that i can with what i've got...and if i want something to change...guess what? its up to me to do the changing!!!

sometimes i look at other crafty girls, and think, why cant i do that...i wish i had that knack! but when i do that, i take away from the genuine-ness of those crafty girls....so....i'm gonna do my best not to be so envious and just be inspired :)

here is a link to brown-eyed fox's post about comparing....she is so totally cute & crafty...ya know...she's inspiring ;)


do you compare?

happy halloween

RATS!!!! I DONT KNOW HOW TO MAKE PICTURES BIG...AND ITS DRIVING ME CRAZY!

trick or treat! the peanuts gang is a big part of our holidays, and halloween is NO exception!! my mom was always a peanuts fan...it was part of our growing up, and my boys LOVE LOVE charlie brown and the gang...


i think this is where dawson came up with the idea to be a ghost for halloween...much to my surprise :) i'm kind of a halloween scrooge - which i feel really bad about. how i got that way, i'll never know, cuz my mom is crazy-nuts about gettin all dressed up...must be i got my dad's love for halloween :)

so here is my dodger...in his ghost costume. he informed me he wanted to go as "normal" for halloween this year...he's not big for wearing a costume. but when grandma had an extra white sheet...and big brother was going to be a ghost, well.....

here is his kindergarten class...he's the guy in the front

this is dawson....in case you couldn't tell...hee hee

dawson's buddy cole

victoria & kaylee...it's so fun to see all the costumes!

the craft we did with the 2nd graders....part of my craziness this week was being room mom & getting stuff ready...painting 27 pumpkins was A LOT EASIER with spray paint...thanks dad.

mrs. van denend with dawson...she is the sweetest teacher...she has the patience of job, and is soooo good with the kiddos :)

this is a small sample of what my back yard looked like last week....everything was bright yellow...its as close to sunshine as we're going to get too...it has been such a wet & gloomy fall...but when i saw those colors out back, it made me thankful God would paint such a pretty picture...reminding me he wants to give us beauty to see, too.

an old pic of the boys that i love...dodge is 22 months and dawson is 4 yrs. old

good governor...what i wouldn't do for a scanner...this taking pictures of pictures is for the birds!

this is one of my very favorites...this is me, kirk, and my grandpa & grandma wood....they were also a little crazy about halloween...i loved going to their house to trick or treat. i cant explain it, but their house ooozed autumn coziness...their house was surrounded by big beautiful trees, the interior was every shade of brown with lots of wood and character, it always smelled yummy - cuz something was ALWAYS cooking, and there was always tons of giggles, hugs & kisses.

i always miss them tons this time of year, and i think thats probably why. even when i was in college, me and a girlfriend got dressed up and went to grandma & grandpa's to trick or treat!

i can still smell them, and feel their hugs...getting poked by grandpa's pocket protector full of pens & pencils (he was a tool & die guy)and his beard against my face...they've been gone over 15 years, now. they were only 40 years older than me - 61 yrs old when they passed away - the other day, i heard a song by brad paisely talking about going to heaven, and hugging his grandpa's neck...i started bawling. it's easy to miss them and hard to remember i need to be thankful...i have a lot of good memories of them, and parts of them will always trickle down through each generation. oh how i miss them, but i have JOY, because i know i will see them again someday :)

grandpa wood with by brother-sister kirk...sorry, kirk, i had to put this in! gracie mae looks JUST like you :)....and me, and my mom...i must be about 6 yrs old?

this is me at 2 years old...with a 75 lb. pumpkin from jay & von poortenga...had to include this shot, cuz of the charlie brown carved pumpkin...i think my mom has carved one every year!

happy halloween everyone....more trick or treat pics later?

rush, rush...

ok, don't know if this is gonna work...when i get a chance, (which is hardly EVER) i love to read angie's blog....no, i dont know her personally...but she is sooooooo inspiring! one of those people that if i met her, i would probably hug her & we would be instant friends....well, thats what i think, anyway.

these past few weeks have been a complete and utter BLUR. i have been near tears more than i care to mention...feeling so busy, feeling like i'm jipping my family in the process.

now, mind you, i know sooooo many people who are waay busier than me. people who have 3 kids playing sports, and oh yeah, they coach at least one of them....teaching sunday school, on 2 or 3 committess at church, head the PTA at school...or better yet, home school....and i look at them and they seem like it is no big deal.

this is why i haven't posted an a while...i have felt like i'm drowning...i am a girl who likes routine...i DO NOT FUNCTION WELL UNDER STRESS, i dont like to be rushed...i need quiet once in awhile....i am a home-body...i need to learn how to say "no", even if it's church related...God wants me to raise my boys...be a wife to my husband....

so, anyway, when i came across this post, i felt like she wrote it for me...i need to slow down...take a deep breath and be present. life is too short not to be.

the following is angies post...hopefully, you will click & read.

I have a new post up on (in)courage....maybe you can relate?
Click here to read...

applesauce...and other stuff

october means two things in our family....hunting and applesauce! this year, we didn't know if we would all make it...it is always a crap-shoot with kids being healthy this time of year... we were soooo thankful that we were able to ALL get together! we had a very full day planned - thanks to court...she is our planner, and was this years applesauce coordinator!

here are april and dawson dumping cooked apples into the beloved saucer...we have two contraptions that mash apples going...i cant remember how many bushels of apples we did, or what kind? mom, if you're reading this, let me know!

also, we DO NOT CAN...waaaay too time consuming...we dump about 4 cups applesauce into a zip loc freezer bag and its ready for the freezer :) two things that are oh-so-special about our applesauce...we have a martha stewart recipe that we dont really follow, but feel the need to frantically look for every year...just to make us feel better, i guess. we use ingredients like...cinnamon, ginger, cardomon, vanilla and nutmeg....and a TON of sugar...YUMMM!!

the second thing is the label we give our applesauce...it started one year as a joke, but it has stuck. we give each bag a different name, depending on what is going on in our family, what is happening in hollywood, or whatever.

it was also grants first birthday...dodge & jessi were reading him some of his birthday books!


instead of birthday cake...court brought post family farm donuts and cider...awesome! it wouldn't be fall without 'em!



pumpkin carving....complete with really difficult patterns...luckily grandma and the dads had LOADS of patience & ambition...not one of my favorite things to do, but it was so fun to see how excited the kids were with their finished jack-o-lanterns!






i'm not sure what jessi is looking at...maybe the pretty colors of the trees, or leaves flying...but i love the look on her face :)

kirk letting gracie take a stab at it

nice choice, dodge...have fun daddy!

dawson loves this kind of stuff...i totally see kirk when i look at him

we also did 4-wheeling and dirt biking...dawson was big stuff riding grandpa's quad by himself

zak, i think you're a little big....

gracie wanted nothing to do with anything that had a motor (unlike her big sister!)...court would spend 20 minutes getting her ready to play outside...she would then go 15 feet out of the house...stand there for 5 minutes, and come back inside...she's her own person...

miss. independent

the girls also got a lesson in shooting zak's hand gun...if i get a pic, i will put it in here...it was a lot of fun

we also drew names for christmas, ate grandpa woods famous white chili...which i think uncle moe smelled from forest grove, cuz he came over PRECISELY when we were eating lunch...hee hee! and we finally pooped out at the end of the day...

it was a ton of fun...a beautiful fall day spent with family...yes, its exhausting...but its a good kind of tired...and i'm sure it will be a day that we'll always remember :)