I might have forgotten to blog about Christmas, 2016. We were home with NO plans. Just the way we like it. Nana and Papa came the day after for 10 days, which was lovely. We all braved a trip to the new Great Wolf Lodge in CO Springs. We had a blast in the actual water park, but we left a night early. Let's just leave it at that.
On a side note, I was struck by my lack of enjoyment and peace this holiday season. It's becoming virtually impossible to focus on Jesus and Kingdom building, so we're going rogue next December. We've already book a Florida condo for Christmas week. We're not buying gifts and will focus on blessing people we love throughout the year when we find meaningful gifts that speaks to their world. There will be no wrapping paper and packaging vomit all over the house, no expectations to spoil the already spoiled children. We'll live in bathing suits, watch the sun set, read books, play games, bury each other in the white sand, drink mimosas, and shift our focus to the Christ part. Rather than spend money on those who need nothing, we'll have time and energy to lay our eyes and hearts on our neighbors who are crying out for attention and basic needs. That's what Christmas 2017 will look like for us. Tim took a video of me saying all these desires so we can hold each other accountable.
These little plastic creatures with big eyes have become a jackpot for their creator. I still don't quite get it, but little girls go crazy for Shopkins. Squirt received her first installment.
What you're looking at is a "pokeball" exploding, full of plastic Pokemon characters. I went against everything I believe in regarding adding plastic crap to our house this year, but the joy was worth it.
This little love made me the best Christmas present to date. A homemade camera, a book jacket for my grocery lists, a drawing of a moose (my favorite animal), and a pop up Happy New Year card. LOVE.
We're all about cozy over here. This one especially.
Dude has taken to the study of rocks and minerals, so naturally we bought him a bag of 500 rocks and minerals to study. And a book to go with it.
My handsome man has a goal of obtaining every license known to man. For 20 years I've had an iron fist about motorcycles. Not happening. But one night I must have had too many glasses of Pinot and I purchased him a weekend training class to get his motorcycle license. Whatever. We only live once and he's perhaps the safest, most trained driver this side of heaven. I shocked his pants off.
He was looking like a midget on his old bike, so we traded up for a "gear bike." He's already off to the races.
Thank you 15 year old Sophia from our neighborhood for selling your precious doll at an affordable price. Squirt parents her like she's made of glass.
MY GIFT. After 15 years of begging like a small child for a hanging garage ball, I GOT IT. This small, inexpensive piece of condensed foam tells me exactly where to stop when I pull into our massive garage. And it brings me joy every. single. day. I will admit to jumping up and down when Tim unveiled this gift. Forget diamonds.
Our one photo from Great Wolf Lodge. The water park was fantastic. Dude conquered tons of fears and mastered all the water slides and Squirt hopped on them without reservation. No fears from that little fire ball.
I'm not sure how this happened, but Squirt turned 6. In my Mama mind, this is a milestone. One hand old seems so innocent. Something about that extra finger adds an expectation of maturity and growing up. And that she's doing. She is self-proclaimed more grown up as of January 7th. We rather adore this little munchkin girl. She has become a kindhearted, empathetic, self aware, Jesus loving, little beauty. She finds kids who need friends and puts them first. She helps wherever help is needed. She's raising 32 baby dolls with grace and ease and more patience than her real life mom could ever muster. She's a model student and a delight in the classroom. She's independent, sometimes alarmingly so. She understands emotional truths to the extend that knocks us off our feet. And let's not forget - she's dramatic and a saucy little senorita.
Her birthday was celebrated in Squirt style. On the actual day we had a hair/nails/makeup party, followed by tea with a neighbor girls who shares a birthday week. Darling. A week later, we partied at a local gym with 19 of her closest pals. I sat and watched. Mama's kind of party.
Abigail, our manicurist and hair stylist, was a wee 3 years old when we lived across the street from her family. She's now taller than me kills it in the french braid category.
Edible.
Yes, I agreed to colored hair spray. It was the highlight of the day.
I love all of these people. And their children.
Happy birthday little love. I heart you more every day.
Our crew currently lives in the middle of the Michigan woods in a log cabin. We called Denver home (thus the name of this blog) for 17 years until 2019, when we uprooted our unsuspecting children and dog to this new life in the Midwest. After a loooong hiatus, we're back in this simple internet space trying to document life from our quirky perspective. Thanks for being here.
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