A Manly Stocking Stuffer

Adam and I have agreed not to buy each other big gifts this year but to stick to filling stockings for one another. 

So other than the usual gum, jerky, and his favorite pens I wanted to come up with something new. 

Eventually I landed on beard oil. 

I found a few different recipes and just kind of ended up throwing together my own. 

Here's what I used....

Fresh From the Forest Beard Oil

5 drops cedarwood oil

5 drops lavender

3 drops rosemary

1  1 oz. dropper bottle

Enough fractionated coconut oil to fill bottle 3/4 of the way

Lavender Oil: soothes skin irritations and is antifungal

Cedarwood Oil: encourages hair growth and soothes emotions

Rosemary Oil: also encourages hair growth and is antifungal

Directions:

Fill up the dropper bottle 3/4 of the way with fractionated coconut oil. 

Then slowly add your drops of essential oils. 

Screw on the cap and gently shake. 

Give it to your bearded man! (and cross your fingers that he'll actually use it)

After I made his little tonic, I mixed up my own for my hair to help tame flyaways and add scent. 

I swapped out the rosemary though for wild orange.

Mmmmmmmmmmmm. 

It came out smelling WONDERFUL. 

Seriously. 

So woodsy and light. 

Christmas Time Wanna Do's

About here is where I would post a list of fun things for our family to do to enjoy the season.
However, this time around the block, I'm gonna back off the list of to do's and make a list of things we're NOT gonna do for the month.

(Whoa! Curveball!)
:)

We're not going to stress.
We don't have a tree yet...... so what?
We'll get around to it.

We're not going to send out Christmas cards.
Though I love sending a note to family and special friends (and getting them!), I still haven't sent out thank you cards for a baby shower our church threw for us.
First things first.

We're not going to go overboard on presents.
Each of our kids is getting a stocking with special treats/needed items (like socks and a water bottle) plus one special, larger gift.
Extended family is getting something we think they might like, but we are NOT freaking out over finding the *perfect* thing for EVERYONE.

We are going to be GRATEFUL and JOYFUL.....

GRATEFUL and JOYFUL.....that Christ came to where we are to make a way to Himself!
GRATEFUL and JOYFUL.....that our home is full of Christ!
GRATEFUL and JOYFUL.....that our home is full of love!
GRATEFUL and JOYFUL.....that we have beautiful relationships with our family and friends!
GRATEFUL and JOYFUL.....that our cups are overflowing!

Evicting the Tree

Since it's a big deal getting a real Christmas tree every year, it's also a big deal getting rid of that real tree every year.

Needles everywhere.

I got a boost of energy to get it done last Saturday (plus it was naptime) so I jumped on it.

...while watching The Office on the Netflix.....

heave ho

Needles.

Needles everywhere.

Forever.

Ahhhh.

But that's nice. 

Making The Most of It

I posted a wanna-do list back at the very beginning of the Christmas season.

You can see that post here.

Now here we are at the tail end of it all.
We made the very most of it I'd say and I can't believe it's all over for another year.
Here's how we did....

The only things that never really happened were me making wassail and Adam and I having a wrapping party together. 

But my mom made a huge vat of her awesomely delicious wassail and all the presents got wrapped one way or another. 

Here's a pic of the last gift I wrapped which was for my sister....

I just used up all the remnants off all my wrapping paper on this very last gift. 

I was left with literally no wrapping paper in the house at all.  

I talked about the sugar cookies we made here.

Only Adam made it to our church concert. I talked about that here.

We did indeed deck the halls.

We went and picked out our Christmas tree.

My sister and her boyfriend came with us so she got a shot of our little family unit all bundled up yet together. 

Christmas music was on 24/7 it seemed like, we partied like there was no tomorrow, Adam and I dated, and I think we watched every Christmas movie available on Netflix. 

There are a lot of really lame Christmas movies out there btw. 

Sweetums really liked watching the muppets version of the Christmas Carol though. 

Now the presents all have homes in the house, the tree as been cleared away, our guts might be permanently bloated, and we need to catch up on some much needed sleep. 

Here in the next couple of days, I'll share some wanna-do's for these next few winter months. 

Until then.....

Merry and Bright

Let's take a look at these past wonderful days....

Dec. 24th (Christmas Eve): We celebrated with my family at my parents house. I had my sister, Kristen, for our gift exchange and Adam had my big brother, Scott. We ate good Christmas food and my mom bought us all too much. It's her fault I like getting presents so much. She spoils us. All of us.

Dec. 25th (Christmas..... you knew that): Our tiny tribe enjoyed our tiny Christmas. Sweetums got a bubble machine and a remote control car (which she is afraid of). Peanut got one of those big horrendous jumpy play gym things that babies love so much and are therefore worth the horrendous-ness. I made sausages and cinnamon rolls. Then we loaded up and headed to Adam's parents house for the rest of the day. Anson and Rachel and all the kids had gotten into town the day before. We COULD NOT wait to see them and for them to meet our girls. We had a nice long, casual, lazy day with some light eats and some gift exchanging.

Dec. 26th: Our tribe stayed home and the babies recuperated from the excitement and all the sleep they lost the previous couple o' days.

Dec. 27th & 28th: We spent more time with Adam's family while they are here. Anson and Bryar are both in the military and are both leaving on major deployments  in this next year so we are all soaking up as much time as possible with each other while we can.

Dec. 29th (today): I declared a home day for myself and the girls. They had their normal Monday visit with their parents. I had my normal grocery shopping and house-reclaiming to do. The place was especially wrecked from our constant ins and outs and never making time to really clear up after ourselves.

As of this moment, both babies are sleeping and I am just happy to relive this year's Christmas.
It was a good one.

All our family on both sides were together.
Adam and I had our little sweeties.
I was fully aware and grateful for what this time celebrates.

The Lord's goodness and favor shine so brightly.
I am unworthy but so thankful.

3 Days!

Are you kidding me!?
Only 3 days till Christmas day!

I haven't been this excited for Christmas since I was a kid.
Having kids makes all the difference I guess.

Adam and I finished up our shopping on Friday while his parents watched the hooligans.

I've been wrapping most of the afternoon while a movie plays, the girlies nap, and a list of what still needs to be done queues up in my brain.

Most of that list is just the normal stuff that must still get done whether it's Christmas or not.
We still need food.
The chores still need to get done.
People still need 3 meals + snacks a day.
Our car still needs gas.
Diapers still need changed.
Trash needs taken out.
Clutter still accumulates. 

But on top of all that is all the special-ness of the season.
I can't wait to see all of our family, to have the gifts we picked and wrapped so carefully ripped open and enjoyed, to eat lots and lots of festive food we don't get to eat everyday.....

It's the very best time of the year.

The love Jesus poured on us all by coming to this messed up world goes on and on when we choose to love like He did.
Thank the Lord He sent His one and only son, not to condemn the world, but to give us everlasting life when we believe.  (John 3:16-17)

Baking

Thursday afternoon, once naps were out of the way, we got down to some cookie making.

I used this recipe.....

link

.... and to be honest, I think it really is the best sugar cookie recipe, at least of any I've tried.

My helper was game so we just kind of jumped into it. 

She rolled and cut cookies and pulled up the extra dough. 

But mostly she just played with the flour on the counter top and on her hands. 

I know. Nothing to do with cookies but she's just so cute. 

These are the actual baked cookies.

They really are perfect. 

They kept their shape, they didn't turn super brown, and they're really tasty.

Also I don't have any cookie cutters. 

(I know right? How do I not have any cookie cutters)

I just used a top from a jar with a hole punched in so it would release the dough. 

I need to run to the store to get stuff for icing so decorating will have to wait for another afternoon.
I guess we can cross making Christmas cookies off our Christmas Wanna-Do List.... well, almost. :)

Well That Didn't Go As Planned

OK.
I knew it would be a stretch.
But I had a plan.

That should make a difference. Right?
Well it did up until the moment it didn't.

Let me get you up to speed.
Every year (EVERY year) my extended family has their Christmas together on a Sunday.
And it's always the same Sunday that our church has it's Christmas program.
ALWAYS.

Not that I don't love seeing my family and getting some fun, special time with them all.
It's just that as it's pretty much a work day for our family, it's always been a stretch even when it was just Adam and myself: two grown, non-nap needing adults.
But this year we had 2 babies under 2.
:)

You know where this is going.

Well we got through church.
That's a normal week marker.

And we even made it through the party with very few standoffs and only a few fussy moments.
Sweetums got some pretty sweet toys (Thanks Jen!) and I went home with my white elephant present: a pair of floral "silk" pajamas my Grandma didn't want.

We had enough time between the party and the program to run home, let the girls take naps, eat, get dressed up, and back to church for a late night.
A half hour into what I *hoped* would an hourish nap, everyone woke up.

And it just nosed dived from there.
Screaming, crying, and wailing ensued.
The girls were even worse.

Since Adam had to go to the church early because that's just how it is, it would be up to me to get 3 wailing women fed, pretty, and transported.
Nope.

I'm sad to be missing out on the program, but it just wasn't possible for us tonight.
A day full of voices, no napping, sugar, high energy, toddlers, babies, and wearing fancier clothes than pj's does not an ideal situation make.

So here I sit, with two tired babies conked out, trying to have my own silent night.

Pre- plan going down the crapper picture

Freaky Fast

And I don't mean Jimmy Johns.
I'm talking about Christmas.

How weird is it that Christmas is only TWO WEEKS from today?
Just a second ago I was eating turkey stuffing and wondering how I could contain my excitement for Christmas for a whole 'nother month.

We've got quite a bit of our shopping done but still have a good chunk waiting to be knocked out.
Adam and I have planned a date day to get that finished and fit in some one on one time together at the same time.
Win win.

I've got all those usual little projects that need a little something from that store and another something from that other store.
With 2 babies in tow, it's seems nearly impossible to make those pit stops happen with out loosing my mind.
I have to plan ahead and use my solo time wisely whenever it comes along.

Also as the days tick off, there seems to be more and more events being added to the dwindling days.
This is nothing new.
It happens to your family too.
I'm definitely looking forward to the days here and there where I've claimed as "Home Days"...... days when we stay at home ALL day and stay in our pj's ALL day and will probably end up watching Christmas movies ALL day. :)
Hopefully Adam will be able to join us on a day or two like that when he's not at work.

A Whale of a Post

Hi blog!
You ready for a major download?

Life seems to flow on with a haze around it.
But some things lately.....
...................................................................................................................................................................
- for Thanksgiving (nearly 2 weeks ago already!) we drove to Adam's Aunt's house near Indianapolis. Since we were first married we decided that we would alternate which side we visited on Thanksgiving every year.
We do Christmas with all (or as many as possible).
It's worked out pretty well for us and limits the crazy.
..................................................................................................................................................................
- I always love having leftover turkey for sandwiches and whatnot and usually just try to bum some off our host that year :) This year though I just bought our own and roasted it at home. It was so easy! I just rubbed it with some salt, stuck it in one of those roasting bags, layed it in a disposable roasting pan, and cooked it for about 4 hours. It was perfect. And we had "leftover" turkey for a week.

Left over turkey recipies-

this turkey chili sounds really good 

...................................................................................................................................................................
- Our church is in the middle of its advent series.
All three pastors are rotating giving each message.
Adam gave the message the Sunday of Thanksgiving week and is giving it again this week.
I love hearing him preach/ teach. Whether it's to a group of high school students or a whole congregation, his heart is all in and he simply seeks to let God speak through him.
Love that man. :)
No doubt though it takes him a decent chunk of time and energy in the week(s) before to prepare and seek God's will.
Its hard work and I appreciate all that not only he but the other leaders put into their task.

...................................................................................................................................................................
- As far as babyland goes, things are good.
Both girls had to get vaccines last Friday.
Sweetums does fine with them and never seems to suffer much discomfort afterwards.
This was the first time I had been with Peanut as she had hers though and it's been a different story.
Both her sleeping and eating habits have been off, especially eating. Poor baby.

- Also in babyland, Peanut has been staying in our room in a pack 'n play since we got her 2 months ago.
Well things have been mounting and all of a sudden, I decided it was time to move her on to her sister's room and out of ours.
Her eviction was cold turkey.
Last night was the first night with the new arrangement and I was prepared for the worst: waking each other up, non stop crying, a super early morning......
But it went surprisingly well.
Peanut slept til 3 am. I heard her through the monitor and went to feed her.
Sweetums did wake up and did cry but Peanut went right back to sleep when she finished her bottle. Sweetums eventually calmed herself down and fell back to sleep.
Even though I had a hard time settling back down I didn't hear anything else from them until 7 am. That is a solid win in my book. Hopefully we can maintain that amount of peace. :)
Ha, we'll see.
...................................................................................................................................................................
- Last Thursday I went over to a friend's house and we watch the live production of Peter Pan on NBC.....

I thought it was ok. 

The whole styling of it was just too glossy and perfect.

They needed some dirt rubbed in.  

And I know that in original productions of the play like a hundred years ago a girl would usually play Pan but it was just kind of weird for today's world with the prominence of homosexuality. :/

Also (sorry!) none of the lost boys were actual boys!

There were only 2 children in the whole thing!

What's with that?

...................................................................................................................................................................

But my friend made this awesome yummy popcorn and shared the recipe with me:

“Dorito” or Taco Popcorn (I know right? yum)

★★★★★

Mixes & Spices, Snacks
Makes Makes 6-8 cups ∙ Source Wholenewmom.com

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup unpopped popcorn kernels (organic preferred)
• 2 -3 Tbsp coconut oil for popping (I love Tropical Traditions oil)
• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder or granules
• 1 teaspoon onion powder or granules
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/8 – 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)
• 2 teaspoons salt (I recommend Real Salt)

Directions

1.  Prepare popcorn using oil with preferred method.  My Basic Popcorn post has simple instructions and information about my favorite stovetop popcorn popper.  Air popped popcorn won’t work without additional oil since the seasoning needs moisture from the oil in order to adhere to the popcorn.
2.  Combine all spices, and salt in a small bowl.
3.  Blend seasonings in a spice or coffee grinder, or blend in blender to make a fine powder.
4.  Sprinkle seasoning over popcorn and toss to coat

   
Yup. Super yummy, super easy, super not-at-all-terrible-for-you
...................................................................................................................................................................
Otherwise Christmas is in full swing around here.
The tree is up, lots of presents are bought (but not all), cards are in the mail, and the calendar is filling up.
I've got several little projects weighing on my mind that I plan to jump on this week.
One are some photo ornaments for the girls as keepsakes,

link

wrapping gifts for our family Christmas party this weekend, and making a gift for my sister-in-law.

Good stuff.
I like it :)

Let It Snow

Life looks like this outside right now...

source

It was so cozy yesterday afternoon as it was falling. 

We had a friend over for lunch and then we all just snuggled with babies while watching a movie. 

I love it. 

Yup, even when I have to be out in it. 

I just love it. 

So I know, I know it's not even Thanksgiving yet. 

But I wanted to go ahead and share our Wanna-do's for the upcoming Christmas season. 

All this snow we got last night has just really put me in the Christmas mood.

Looking at this list of fun things to come + snow is just too much.

There may or may not be Christmas music playing on my Pandora station at the moment.... :) 

And I might be doing some online Christmas shopping too.

Falalalala. 

Can I confess....

... I LOVE love love Christmas.
I think I might love it too much.

And because I love it so much, I expect a whole lota out of it.
Though we had a lovely Christmas day, I was actually relieved when it finally came to a close and a new regular ol' day started.

:)

Is that silly?
Maybe.
But I think you know what I mean.

I expect the same magic now that I experienced every Christmas I had as a child.
But, it's just different now.

So I will continue loving and hoping and waiting for Christmas, but maybe next year I'll try harder to check my expectations at the door and just let the love (or whatever) flow as it will.

Merry Merry Christmas

I'm coming in here at the tail end of our Christmas day.
It was nothing if not relaxed and low key this year.

I hope yours was just as merry and bright and relaxing.

Merry Christmas!
Love, Adam and Kensie

Youth Group Christmas Party 2013

We had our Christmas party for our students last night.

It was so much fun!

Miss Jenny made some great party food 

and others brought some yummy desserts,.....

...... their were cute girls in ugly sweaters,....

.... and a great big scavenger hunt!

They had to take pictures or videos for some of their scavenger finds.

One of the tasks was to get a picture of everyone in the group in a pyramid.

(and spelling CAT with their bodies)

(some more cuties :)

It was so much fun as it always is with all these guys.
Adam collected all of the photos and videos everyone took, and he's going to turn them all into a montage.
There were some hilarious videos & pictures of groups singing silent night, licking poles, climbing trees, and playing leap frog.
So fun.

And one week later...

Here I am again on my day off.
Jeez.

We knew the weekend was going to be a busy one but I feel like this is the first time I've had since LAST Thursday to catch my breath.

After the whirlwind that has been this past week, I am ready to do just that.
But you know how it is, especially during the most wonderful time of the year...
Some downtime to catch your breath seems like something to fantasize about.

But the weird thing is, is that I don't feel like we've really done a whole lot of Christmas-y things.
I remember a week last year when we went to 4 parties.
4! In 1 week!
Thankfully, nothing like that has happened this year so far.
Life has just been chock full of boring life stuff.

Lately I've become kind of frustrated trying to think up something to post about.
Anytime I do any projects, I've been in a hurried-tired-I'd-rather-take-a-nap kind of mood.
Not because of Christmas, just because of life.
It's just busy with the normal, has to be done stuff like work, chores, relationships, and church.
It keeps going and so must I.
So there are no beautifully lighted pictures or well said stories.

I know I'm not the only one who thinks and feels that.
I don't feel alone in that.

God has not been silent though.
He's been reminding me through my moodiness and feeling like I can't keep up that I need to check my burdens.
I need to make sure I'm not carrying any but His.
Because it's His burdens that are light.

Matthew 11: 28-30



28“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

While I naturally heap on every burden that makes me feel like I'm "giving 110%", He just wants me to come to Him and find rest.
He wants my cares to be His light and easy ones.

So here's to a Merry Christmas.
It's only one week away and I intend to make it a true holiday.
I want my heart to be light and carefree.
I want to take joy in the good news that my Savior was born the same way I was, lived in the same heavy-burdened world I do, and conquered it all because He first loved me.

Joy to the world and joy to my heart.

Christmas Things 2013

Home is all ready for Christmas. 

I love pulling out decorations and dusting off forgotten trimmings. 

We got another live tree this year.

I almost bought a fake one but I'm glad I didn't. 

We don't have the storage space anyways. 

We got our tree from a friend's farm so I was able to scoop up some extra branches and bits to make live wreaths again this year. 

That is a Christmas favorite of mine. 

I love having a big one on the front door and sprinkling some smaller ones around the house. 

You can see one there in our bedroom window in one of the pictures. 

I also set out a nativity set my sister-in-law made for me and make the chalkboard a little more festive. 

Another Christmas favorite- sending and getting Christmas cards. 

It's just nice to make a moment or be given a moment to think of the people we love and who love us. 

2013 Christmas Decor Inspiration

Even though I am trying ( I really am!) to enjoy Thanksgiving before rushing ahead to Christmas plans, it's turning out to be really hard to do.
I've spent the better part of this morning scheming for Christmas.

Just like for fall (click here) I plan to keep things subtle and natural (and cheap).
But I never really do the same thing every year.
Last year I made a whole bunch of tiny christmas tree terrariums (click here)

This year, I'm thinking stars, lights, and the words "joy to the world"
Is that a theme?
Probably not.
A very loose one at best.
But I'll just make sure those elements pop up here and there.

How about a 2013 inspiration board?
I do like a good inspiration board :)

Like I said, I'm loving stars and lights, but the cornerstone of the season Jesus Christ Himself.
Though I have so much fun making home special for the season, it really is/should be for our Saviour who lowered Himself to our level so that He and I, He and you, could be together.
I love celebrating everything with my earthly sweetheart, but my heavenly Sweetheart is what it's all for. 

Conner Christmas

We all had Christmas at Chris and Monique's house last night.

It was just as crazy as usual and so much fun!

 Some highlights:

Monique got all the "big boys" (Adam, Anson, and Bryar) hulk fists.

They look pretty fierce on Cy though.

Yes, I said fierce.

Not only did I get this giant fork from Monique (!), I also got 

a large 31 utility tote and fleece pullover from Rachel and some gifts cards. 

Wow!

(isn't that fork awesome? I love it :)

This is the painting I did for Bryar. 

I was his secret santa and this is all he wanted:

A starry night inspired Darth Vader painting.

Bahaha never done something like this before :)

He loved it.

Got some cuddle time with my favorite Heath.

And there was more snow during the night, too.

Perfect.