multitude monday.

451.  when bella loops her arms around my neck and pulls my face in toward hers.
452.  emmy's sweetness.  i could just eat her right up!
453.  watching nick dance with bella.  the way she laughs when he twirls her.  the way he looks at her with such love.
454.  cool summer breezes.
455.  weekend mornings; all four of us snuggled into bed together.
456.  chats with my nephew jude.  he's wicked awesome.
457.  picnic dinners.
458.  watching bella play at the park.
459.  when nick wins football games.  and more importantly; seeing his students love him.  so proud of him and the impact he is having on young lives.
460.  emmy's kissable cheeks.
461.  pedicures.  enough said.
462.  having bella request me to sing "this is my father's world" before bedtime.  how cute is that?
463.  outdoor festivals.
464.  worship.  what would i do without my jesus?

a pumpkin coach, some reindeer & the white mountains.

i wasn't kidding when i said we had a busy stretch.  we got home from our two week trip to dallas thursday night after midnight and by sunday morning, we were back on the road again.  this time, headed for new hampshire. growing up, our family vacays usually included a trip to new hampshire.  it's a beautiful state, full of mountains and forests and lakes.  we always stayed in this one hotel and i have memories of sitting in the restaurant overlooking chair lifts on the ski slopes, and my dad endlessly throwing our room key in the pool for gretchen and i to dive for it.  in the middle of the white mountains sit two family amusement parks: storyland and santa's village.  if you grew up in new england, you probably know exactly what i'm talking about.  it seems to be a rite of passage for any kid in these parts.  it's like: boston red sox fan?  check.  eat peanut butter and fluff sandwiches?  double check.  been to storyland and santa's village?  check, check, check.

told ya.

i couldn't think of a better vacation to take this summer with my family... perfect nostalgia.  i was nervous about such a trip conjuring up memories and making me sad that my dad wasn't with us.  but instead, i just kept thinking: he is loving the fact that we are doing this.

here is a rundown.

sunday
left bright & early, and made the usual stop at the newport d&d for a cup of joe.  made it to north conway in time for lunch and happened to see a "thomas the train" event at the train station.  you can imagine jude and bella's excitment.  we wove our way through the mountains to our hotel, which included a room with bunk beds that, again, bella and jude were quite pumped about.  we went out to dinner, did some grocery shopping, got settled and hit the hay.

monday
storyland!  after breakfast at the hotel, we made our way to storyland.  i forgot how cute that place is.  it incorporates several children's stories, nursery ryhmes and fairy tales, including a spinning teacup ride (alice in wonderland), a trip to heidi's grandfather's cabin (remember that shirley temple classic?), the old woman in the shoe, and the highlight of our whole vacation... cinderella's castle.  so, so cute.  it took bella a bit to warm up to the rides, but no time at all to cozy up to her fav princess.  almost a week later, and every night before she goes to bed, i lay down beside her and she tells me allllll about seeing cinderella's castle, her glass slippers, riding in her pumpkin coach and seeing prince charming.  one of my favorite moments of being a mama to date :)

my aunt and mom were so sweet, helping so much with the babies so we could all take the bigger kids on rides and not miss a thing.  they were troopers and we were so grateful for their help!  bella missed the 36 inch cut off line by just a hair, so she wasn't able to go on some of the bigger rides, but we still found tons to do!

tuesday
after breakfast, us and the keezers headed for the outlet stores in north conway.  it was a bit stressful with all the kids, but when they started to tire, the guys took bella and jude back to the hotel for lunch and naps. my mom, aunt and rach joined gret and i and the babies for lunch and more shopping.  i think lucy cried the whole time we were in american eagle, and then emmy cried the whole time we were in the gap.  so after those two stops, gret and i were ready to head back with our cranky munchkins.  that evening we got to go on a cornwell/keezer double date and it was so fun... and also, so kid-free, which was amazing.  we found an awesome little pub and had a great time.  perfect night.

wednesday
santa's village!  we packed up, loaded our cars and left our hotel that morning, headed through the white mountains for about an hour drive.  it was *beautiful*.  santa's village is an amusement park that transports its visitors into christmastime, even in july, constantly playing christmas music, decorated in "snow" and lots of red and green and providing countless rides and shows.  bella got to "work" in santa's workshop and made her very own princess hat.  she went to a bakery where she decorated (and ate... obviously) a gingerbread cookie.  aaaand she got to feed santa's reindeer.  we also appreciated them keepin it real with a huge nativity set; bella gave baby jesus kisses, jude gave him a high five and they both "rode" on some sheep.  too cute.  bella kept asking for cinderella, but loved every second of the christmas-y park.  she even got to ride a roller coaster.  she was completely silent the entire time, just staring ahead.  i leaned over and asked her if she liked it and she said "no!  i don't!" but when it was all over, she totally changed her tune.  jude, brian, nick&i got to ride our second log flume ride of the trip (think waaaaaaaay mini splash mountain).  jude said he wanted me to take him, so he sat in front of me and i held onto him for dear life as he screamed the whole way down :)

santa's village was a great way to end our vacay... and maybe, just maybe this year bella won't be so terrified of santa after our visit.  does this pic ring a bell??

one can only hope.

we had a blast!  jude and bella got along so well and loved every minute of our activities (okay, except the shopping) and lucy and emmy were full of cuteness, which is really all we can expect at this point.  so beyond grateful for my family... we have weathered a tough year and have managed to draw closer to one another and make some special memories in the midst of it all, knowing just how short this life can be.  dad would be proud.  i just know it.

multitude monday.

318. snow days.
319. our woodstove and mugs of hot chocolate.
320. watching movies in bed with nick.
321. bella's hugs around my neck.
322. chicken tiki masala, naan, a cute indian restaurant downtown and my man looking oh-so-handsome.
323. watching our house become a home.
324. ikea picture frames.
325. quiet time with jesus.
326. pina colada smoothies.
327. homemade caramel sauce from a good friend.
328. celebrating my nephew's second birthday. love him.
329. god's provision for all of our needs.
330. my sweet family. oh, how i love them.

what i'm loving.

a few things i'm loving lately...

- the stage bella is in. she is just soooo adorable. today in the car she said "mama! hand!" so i reached back there to give her my hand... she just wanted to hold it. that's all. kept squeezing her tiny fingers around my hand and wouldn't let go. i drove with the biggest smile on my face as i held her sweet little hand. love my baby.

- the sound of emmy's heartbeat. and the fact that my mom got to hear it with me.

- my favorite devotional ever: jesus calling. coupled with a good cup of coffee.

- the fact that nick&i got in bed last friday night at 11 oclock with mcdonalds we picked up on the way home from our friends house. just little things like that i love. especially when they're with him.

- shopping dates at target with my sister and nephew. when we're separated by an aisle, i hear jude yelling "auntie MEG!" and it makes me smile.

- vera bradley. i've always liked her stuff, but right now i'm in a big vera bradley phase for some reason. i got a big bag in this print for christmas:

and then just ordered this lunch bag the other day since i've been taking my lunch to work in recycled target bags...

- long conversations with girlfriends.

- parfaits made out of greek yogurt, light cool whip, granola and blueberries. i've had one almost every day for the past week.

- bella's bed sheets for her new room. ordered them from target and i love them. we're making over the extra bedroom in our house as her "big girl room" and these sheets give me a starting point to decorate. can't wait to bring it all together.

- my new no-sew pillows i created this weekend using this tutorial. LOVE. big fan of stitch witchery. will post pics soon.

- time with my family. we have all been glued together in so many ways in the past few months and while i wish it was for different reasons, i'm still so thankful for them all.

- my christmas present from nick; the tea&crumpets apron from anthropologie that i've been wanting (i love that he can take hints). how adorable is this?

- the combo on our end table of an antique aqua mason jar i picked up with some hot pink roses. love pink&turquoise.

- the hope of a snow day on thursday. nick&i have our fingers crossed!

- my necklace that mom, gret and i got after dad passed. it's made by lisa leonard and i love her stuff (also have a necklace with bella's name on it; need to get another charm for emmy!) but i wear it as often as i can and for some reason it gives me a tangible reminder of my dad and the amazing blessing he was to us, and many others.

anything specific you are loving lately??

christmastime eleven.

to say i was nervous about christmas this year would be an understatement. in many ways, it terrified me. christmastime was always SO special in my family. and no matter where i was living--ohio or dallas--i always made the trip back to maine to be with my family. in the days leading up to christmas, i had a constant image in my mind: one of my father's face lit up with excitement, talking a mile a minute and laughing as we treked to the car in the airport parking lot. he was always SO EXCITED to pick me up--and eventually pick nick&i up--from the airport a few days before christmas. i mean, so excited. it was so cute. words can't even begin to describe how much i missed that this year, especially now that we live here in maine. he would've loved seeing bella open her gifts. he would've loved hearing me sing on christmas eve. he would've loved seeing it snow on christmas day.

first holidays are never easy... and especially experiencing one a month after we lost dad was hard. thankfully having the babies made for a nice distraction, and all of our christmas traditions kept us busy. i think it helped. we managed to have a good christmas, and made new memories with jude and bella. i racked my brain to think of what last year's christmas was like... not only christmas day, but the whole seasaon. with bella only six months old, and me getting the flu a couple days after christmas, i don't remember much of it which really bothers me since it was dad's last. so i decided i need to keep much better track of the things we do each year.

here goes.

saturday, december 3rd
- breakfast at geaghan's with brian's family, larry&sarah and kate&peter. then, off to the christmas tree farm for them to cut down their trees. we get a fake one, but just wanted to go for the experience. so fun.

- the christmas parade downtown. we only stayed for a little bit since it was so cold, but the kids had fun.

saturday, december 20th
- a day of christmas baking at gret&bri's! made grandma cornwell's sugar cookies and we all decorated them. i also made a batch of pilot's grill cheese spread (an old famous restaurant here) that my mom used to make every year. we kept some for us, and i also put some in mini mason jars and gave with crackers as gifts. bella and jude were huge fans of the cookies.

friday, december 23
- nick&i both had officially started our christmas breaks from school! we woke up to snow falling from the sky, and a beautiful white yard outside.

- we also found this book that someone had secretly dropped off for us... a little golden book "the animals on christmas eve" that my mom read to gret & i every year on christmas eve. so special!

- bella played in the snow with me, while nick used his new snowblower for the first time :)

- that evening, family came over to our house. we ordered pizza and then we took the kids to the mall to see santa. this was a bit disasterous, but we could not stop laughing. these pictures are priceless...

- then we packed into the pilot and drove around town looking at christmas lights. ever since my sister and i were little girls we did that on the 23rd with my grandparents. this year, it was a little different; time to start that tradition with our munchkins :)

saturday, december 24th
- breakfast at geaghan's with uncle byron&dawn, uncle jim&aunt erin, larry&sarah. our fav breakfast spot.

- family gathering at mom's for presents and dessert. uncle brian surprised jude and bella dressed up as santa! clearly, bella was still traumatized.

- christmas eve services at church.

- spent the night at gret&bri's. read to the kids before puttting them to bed, ate dinner together, put together and set out their gifts and stockings under the tree.

sunday, december 25th
- woke up christmas morning and got everything ready for the kids! woke them up and did the stocking/present thing. we got bella her first dollhouse... had debated getting her a play kitchen set but decided not to since i knew she was still too young to understand or appreciate it. my decision was validated when the first thing she said coming out to see her gifts on christmas morning was "hi, stella!" to gret's chihuahua :) yep, the kitchen set will wait for another year.

we (santa) also got her some accessories to go with her dollhouse, and in her stocking she found goldfish, fruit snacks, nail polish, some barrettes, bracelets, and some pink snow boots.

- nick, bella, mom and i drove back to mom's christmas morning for a big breakfast. on the drive to her house, it began to flurry. i made this breakfast casserole for our breakfast, along with mini donuts and fruit. delish.

- i put out a few gifts that nick&i had bought for bella under mom's tree and then ran upstairs to get our camera. when nick&i came downstairs, this is what we found:

what a monkey :) i think the most special gift we got her this year was a fisher price nativity set. it is adorable and plays "away in the manger". bella loves it and constantly wants to play with "jesus". so sweet.

- nick went and picked up my grandparents, and when gret&bri got to the house, we all set down for christmas dinner; ham, pineapple casserole, mashed potatoes and carrots. so yummy. while the kids napped, we ate and started opening up our gifts. it was a nice, quiet afternoon.

- while we were opening up our presents, snow was gently falling outside. i don't remember the last time it actually snowed on christmas day. it looked like a scene from a movie.

- aunt&uncle scott and matthew and rachel came later in the afternoon and we opened more gifts and put the kids to bed. we made fondue for dinner--cheese and chocolate--and had a big sleepover at mom's :)

we kept so many things the same this year, while also creating new memories and traditions. i think it's best that way. for us, anyway. i kept waiting to hear dad's booming laugh, or for him to play the kenny g christmas cd he played every christmas, or see what surprise for mom he had up his sleeve. it was hard. really hard.

but in so many ways, this year christmas was the most special it's been. not because of the traditions or the gifts or the food. but because of the reason why we celebrate it in the first place. it gave new meaning to the hope that was born in that stable in bethlehem so many years ago.

our church did a series on hope throughout this christmas season, and it was so perfect for what my family has been going through. the verse that was the theme of the series was one that describes the message of christmas so perfectly:

"may the god of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the holy spirit."

(romans 15:13)