My Big Snow Dog

My dog Izabelle is a Boxer Lab mix. She is such a good dog! I love her!

(This is when we first got her...she was soooo little)

(This is around 5 months old)

(This is closer to now...)

She is obedient, gentle, playful and beautiful. She so much wants to be one of the kids.

Before I got her a couple of years ago, I learned that Boxers grow up to be big 45-55 pound dogs...but will always believe they are small lap dogs. This has proven to be true for my Izzy. She is about 45 pounds, looks relatively threatening to strangers (which of course is what we wanted) but really is the biggest lover you would ever run across. She tries to snuggle on me if I lay on the couch, when I rub her favorite spot on her chin she melts, and rolls over onto my lap, and just really thinks she isn't much of a burden. And when Maky does it...she more-or-less disappears under the big gentle giant. :)

The reason that I thought I would dedicate a page to her...is because today we were out in the snow and she was going CRAZY! It was so funny! She was catching snowballs, chasing Tyler in circles as fast as she could and rolling around...now....she is a short-haired dog, so shouldn't be out in the cold for much time, but she would spend every single waking moment in the snow if I would let her. :) She thinks she is a Husky.

Ah my puppy!

Merry Christmas to all!!!

What a beautiful day. We don't often get White Christmas' around here. We all normally long for it, but to no avail. This year however, we have at least a foot of snow on the ground, and it was snowing ALL DAY. It was so gorgeous!

We got up in the morning...and I had made an egg casserole, and Kevin made his traditional cinnamon rolls, both the night before...we threw those in the oven while the kids ripped through their stockings...

Then we ate...which Kevin and I LOVE...but for the kids...it is the LONGEST BREAKFAST EVER!!!! :) Patience is a virtue, right?

Then on to presents.

(lovin' the shoes...over the jammies)

It has been nice because for the last couple of years, Christmas has been all ours. We do the big extended family dinner on Christmas Eve...but now, on Christmas, we do our thing...go say some Merry Christmas'/thank you's, if we so choose, (this year, there was so much snow we couldn't have) and then we have dinner in the crock pot at home. A big ole' ham! It is really nice. It gives us a chance to ~ just enjoy ~ and the kids a chance to play like crazy!

And that they did.

Santa even remembered the dog...and she played and played.

Christmas is just in the air...
This was a great year. Karman has relaxed about it all...she doesn't get so insane about everything like she used to I mean she still gets that look of wonder in her eyes, but it isn't the same...so it takes some of the fun out...but finally, Tyler is at the age where he truly GETS it....and LOVES it. He believes in EVERY aspect of Santa Claus (which only last a couple of years, really) and he just has that magic in his eyes!! He was so excited! Yet, through all of the excitement, he was so thankful for every single little thing. Makylie, still doesn't really understand...but she did sit on Santas lap...and remembered ALL season what she braved herself up to ask for. This morning, she really played off of Ty's excitement.

It was an amazing day.

Full of love....family.....and of course, new toys.

Merry, Merry Christmas...

from our HOUSE FULL OF BEANS!

Christmas Eve

Gone most of the day, for a wonderful family traditional dinner.

Home just in time to open the kids yearly Christmas Eve gift of new jammies...

Set out cookies for Santa

Read the letter Santa sent to the kids

and read 'Twas the Night Before Christmas.

Exhausted kids, but utterly excited kids. Us, knowing full-well, that we are in for a night of light sleepers with endless questions...trying SOOOOO hard to stay awake to hear the thumps of hooves on our rooftop, and sneak a peak of the big guy in red. Me, sitting here...loving that innocence that, not too many years from now, will be gone.

It is snowing outside...atop our already foot+ of snow. We have finished ALL wrapping, for the first time ever, and are just going to enjoy the evening...waiting for Santa to arrive.

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a Good Night!

Another Year Older...Another year better

Today is my birthday...

So this morning I was suppose to get to sleep in, which was nice...not that I did, but you bet I tried!

We had some errands to run in the early part of the day.

Then in the afternoon we met up with our friends and their kids and went bowling. We planned to bowl for a few hours as we all (kids included) really love it! BUT...it was snowing, and was snowing a lot. It was like 18 degrees outside and we already had ice covered roads, and then snow was building outside. So the bowling alley announced that they were going to close quite early. So, we ended up only being able to bowl for just under two hours...but it was a BLAST!!! I got my first TURKEY ever, so that was a nice birthday present, because I beat the hubby!!!! (and everyone else) :)

Then we went to dinner. We were planning on Claim Jumper, but due to the rapid accumulation of snow, we decided on Applebees since it is only about 3 minutes from both ours and our friend's houses. Kevin was pretty worried that we weren't going to make it home if we didn't make that choice. It was a nice dinner...everyone had a good time!

Then we went home, and got the kids ready for and into bed, and I cleaned up the kitchen. Then Kevin and I decided to go play in the snow...so we went sledding right outside our house! It was so much fun...Tiring, but fun! Not as easy to run up the hill now as it was when I was a kid ;) We live just on top of a relatively small hill, but it makes a great sledding hill when it's icy! We made some snow angels, and threw some snowballs, and challenged each other down the hill. I didn't feel 32 right then! :)

It was a great day...Amazing family, wonderful friends...who could ask for more!

And, of course, IT IS STILL SNOWING

From Chaos to PURE Beauty!

So ,we woke up this morning to eight + inches of fresh snow! (on top of the few inches we already had) It is so beautiful. It was snowing the majority of the day too!

I truly love the snow. I grew up in Spokane, and we always had very white winters, and I have to say that it brings back so many memories for me...of simpler days...so when we are lucky enough to get some here I really enjoy it!

I absolutely love how the sky looks during and after a snowfall. I love the look of the snow, and the smell in the air. I love the sound when you walk in it. I still want to go play in it, build snowmen and go sledding! Oh and the twinkle in the kids eyes and excitement in their voice, when they say "MOMMY, IT SNOWED OUTSIDE!"

Most of all, I adore how it makes the city slow down. There are half as many cars on the roads, and everyone drives slowly and is more friendly. Patience is at an all time high and most people just seem so much more calm, some even happier.

I have had an extememly busy month, and haven't had much time to relax, but this morning we woke up...school was cancelled...Kevin couldn't go to work...we couldn't go anywhere...and we all just had to SLOW DOWN!

It was so wonderful!

Decorating our Tree

This is probably my FAVORITE day in the Season....
Well, I really love them all....but I do love when we decorate the tree!



I am an ornament person! I still have ornaments from when I was just a kid, and my kids get new ornaments every year as well. All of my ornaments have stories...so many from when I was just a child, to all of the ornaments that my kids have made over the years, to the ornaments that I buy to signify something important.




To stare at my tree...twinkling white lights, absolutely FILLED with years and years worth of ornaments...of memories! It engulfs the sentiment of the season to me. It gives grace, and charm, beauty, and for me, a center, to such a chaotic time of year.

I am so glad that now my kids share the same love...so much so, that this year, all three of them gathered around and "helped". I have alwasy had helping hands, ever since Karman was about 4 or so...but this year, with three kids "helping" I couldn't even get my hands in the mix... :) Needless to say, many of the ornaments are gathered in one area, as Makylie chose one side of the tree as "hers", and since she is so tiny, they happen to be around the bottom of the tree. Tyler also can't get too high, and put many ornaments on one single branch...Luckily, Karman knows what she is doing after all of these years.



The big thing for me this year...is I didn't touch it after it was done. I have ALWAYS fixed it after the kids go to bed, but this year, I decided to just relax, and let it be!


What a gorgeous tree! And, a few cute kids!

When I look at the tree I see Christmas (other things reflect the holiday also, but certainly the tree) It is a solid reminder of a connection between home and family, nature and love...

And when that family fills that tree with all of the deep woven memories, the unconditional, magical, innocent love, that infact, IS Christmas....I am awe inspired.

What an amazing Life!