today i loved...

snuggling on the couch with bella in our pj's after she just woke up.

dancing around the kitchen with her... and watching her cute lil moves. she loves to play air drums.

working on our alphabet with her new refridgerator magnets. they usually end up all over the house, but this morning we managed to find all of them and spell out a few words. she loves sesame street, so just from watching a few of her fav alphabet videos, she can "fill in the blanks" on the alphabet song if i sing it to her. i think it's amazing how much our kids pick up. how did she learn that so quickly?

sitting at the table together, coloring. even if i let her use colored permanent markers on accident and now there's a pink streak on our dining room table. ooops. good thing we're refinishing our dining room set this summer.

seeing our growing emmy faith in my belly at the doctors office today. she was all snuggled up and kicked whenever the ultrasound technician pressed the wand on my belly. she's beautiful. and oh-so-healthy. thank you, jesus.

dropping bella off at the house of one of my best friend from high school while i had my dr's appointment. we live about five minutes apart and our daughters love playing together. bella asks for "owivia" almost everyday. i love that.

cooking dinner in the kitchen while bella and nick play. i love them together.

eating as a family and laughing together... i never though you could find something mutually hilarious with a 20 month old. but we laugh. alot.

watching nick get bella ready for bed. he gives her baths at night. it's their daddy-daughter thing. i love watching him read to her as he rocks her and twirls her hair. it's one of the most precious things.

thanking god for all the many blessings he has given us. and taking a moment to enjoy and savor life. just the way it is at this very moment. as i look toward two thousand twelve, it's not always easy to imagine living it without my father. i want to grieve and allow myself to journey through that process... but i don't want it to rob from me the many blessings of each day. there will be hard days for sure. days i can't see the blessings. and that's okay. but i know dad would've wanted me to live life to the fullest while i'm here on this earth. to treasure my precious family, to enjoy each season and to be the best i can be. that is what i'm praying for in this new year. to be more intentional. more active. more disciplined. more present.

so welcome, two thousand twelve. may i have more days like today.

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)

yes, virginia, there is...

in 1897, a young girl living on manhattan's upper west side, asked her father a popular question for children her age: is there really a santa claus? her father encouraged her to write to new york city's prominent paper, the sun, to find her answer. the response was a famous one in which the writer answered "yes, virginia, there is a santa claus." this charming tale is one that lives on, centuries past it's time, finding its way into the heart of american folklore at christmastime.

now, since we're all adults here it's safe to say that this is a sweet little story that tells of childhood belief and the wonder of christmas. but i've been pondering this concept as of late, as i try to put into words the journey that i've been taken on in terms of my faith and my walk with the lord.

(no, i'm not at all comparing god to santa claus. jesus to st. nick. faith in the living, true god to a belief in a fat man in a red suit. that was just a way of getting your attention. read on, my friends... read on).

one of the most powerful things i've heard in my journey with jesus is this: faith and doubt are not mutually exclusive. you can have faith and have doubt. in fact, sometimes it's the doubt that sharpens our faith. if we're too afraid to doubt, then we won't ask ourselves the tough questions. if we don't risk delving further to our relationship with god, then we won't reap the rewards and blessings that come with the richness of struggle. of questioning. of doubt.

yes, i said doubt.

i won't pretend that my whole life i have always been one hundred percent convinced that there is a god who is intimately involved in every detail of my life whom i will meet again in heaven for all of eternity. there have been times in my thirty years of living that i have questioned this (i know, what a shocker). i've sat back, analyzed and wrestled with many things. things happening in my own life, events taking place in the lives of others... friends, family, clients i have counseled. it's a tough thing to deal with disaster, calamity and tragedy and try to figure out what role a loving god plays in all of these things.

especially when those things happen to you.

that is when faith is tested. when the rubber meets the road. when one questions "is there a god? is all of what i've grown up learning and hearing about really true?" or at least i did.

it's easy to believe in god when life is sunshine and butterflies. when things are going swimmingly. it's another thing to believe in his intimate innerworkings in every detail of your life when those details are the ones that bring you enormous amounts of pain. but this... this is when it becomes real. when faith and belief take root. where hope is born. and in my own life, this is where god has revealed himself to me more than ever. and i am more convinced than any other time in my life that god is who he says he is, and that he has the power to do as he has promised.

you see, i've spent much of my life living in fear of the "what ifs". as i've written about before, many of these anxiety-inducing scenarios revolved around one thing: losing someone i loved. the fear crippled me. it robbed me of so much joy. it drove a wedge into my relationship with the lord, and my ability to trust him with the things i held most precious to me. why? because i couldn't imagine a loving god who could possibly allow my greatest fears to come true. and they came true seven years ago when my father was diagnosed with a terminal disease... and they were realized a few minutes before midnight on the eve of thanksgiving this year when i lost him.

for years i wrestled so much with the concept of a loving god allowing his children to suffer. why doesn't he always heal our loved ones? why doesn't he always stop tragedy from striking? why doesn't he always allow our desires to be met, our dreams to be fulfilled, our life to go along as we planned or hoped? after much analyzing, wrestling and living my own nightmare of loss and grief... i've come to realize this: we live in a broken world. no one can deny that. even if you don't believe in god, you can't look around you without seeing a world full of chaos, evil and pain. it's obvious. this world is not perfect because it is not the end. it is not our home. we were made for something greater. an eternity spent with jesus. our hearts long for something better... and this earth--this life--is not it.

while god doesn't stop this world from being broken... while he hasn't healed it or redeemed it just yet... things happen. crappy things. things that leave us aching, tearful and desperate. but it doesn't stop there. jeremiah 29:11-13 was one of my dad's favorite scripture passages, and mine as well. in it's verses, god tells us "for i know the plans i have for you, declares the lord, plans to prosper you, not to harm you. plans to give you and HOPE and a future. then you will call upon me and come and pray to me and i will listen to you. you will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart."

and you know what? i've experienced this. in the times my heart feels crushed with loneliness and sadness, i feel him there. i feel jesus holding me, whispering his words of peace and comfort, blanketing me with his tender mercy. i have felt bathed in his unfailing grace. i feel hope. in something greater than my circumstances. i can laugh and smile. i can find joy in the midst of my sorrow. and that, my friends, is why i know god is real. why i know more than ever that my jesus loves me, that he cares for me and that he comes to bring LIFE. life abundant.

as i was driving home tonight, the song we had playing during a slideshow at dad's memorial service came on the radio. previously fine, i suddenly melted into a puddle of tears. funny how that happens. tears from missing my dad. from the huge, gaping hole in my life that will never be filled again. from loss, from pain. but also from the beauty of these words (you can listen here):

"there's a peace i've come to know
though my heart and flesh may fail
there's an anchor for my soul
i can say 'it is well'

jesus has overcome
and the grave is overwhelmed
the victory is won
he is risen from the dead

and i will rise when he calls my name
no more sorrow, no more pain
i will rise on eagle's wings
before my god, fall on my knees
and rise, i will rise

there's a day that's drawing near
when this darkness breaks to light
and the shadows disappear
and my faith shall be my eyes

jesus has overcome
and the grave is overwhelmed
the victory is won
he is risen from the dead

and i hear the voice of many angels sing
'worthy is the lamb'
and i hear the cry of every longing heart
'worthy is the lamb'

and i will rise."

this christmas was special, although it was very hard. i continually have to give myself permission to say that it's hard... i know i don't always have to be strong, although it's tempting to try to appear that way. so why was it special? because i was reminded anew of the *hope* of what's to come. the hope that was born in that stable so many years ago.

so this is where my doubt, my wrestling, my questions have lead me. it's not about god not stopping these horrible things from happening to us; it's about his love and grace that is displayed in the midst of the darkest seasons of our lives that convinces me of his existence and of his power. i am not only fully persuaded in the mere existence of god, but in his personal involvement and care in every detail of my life. he knows every tear that i cry. every pang of loneliness. every memory that generates feelings of loss and sadness. he knows it all. and holds me in his everlasting grasp.

"for our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. so we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal."

(2 corinthians 4:17-18)

nineteen months.

it's been a rough day in my nineteen months of being a mama. one of those where i've felt on the verge of tears and hanging by the last strand of patience i can muster. bella is cutting her canine teeth (finally) and one of those little buggers is poking through. i know she's not feeling so hot, but the tantrums and the perpetual "let's-see-if-i-can-get-away-with-this" is wearing on me.

it's good to remind myself of how sweet and loveable my bella really is. you know, when she's not biting her cousin or throwing herself down on the floor when i tell her "no".

my sweet girl is now nineteen months.

nineteen.

where has time gone? she is growing up so fast. just in the last month or so i have been amazed at what a big girl she is growing into. here are a few highlights of my bella as of late:

- at her 18 month appointment, she weighed 22 lbs and measured at 34 inches. which means she's in 95th percentile for height and 10th for weight. i knew she was tiny, but holy cow. dr said not to worry; she's just long and lean. and to try to sneak in butter and other sources of fat wherever we can. i wish my dr gave me those same orders!

(all dressed up and ready for church)

- she's been very into christmas lately... everything is "santa cause". i do have to say, however, much to her mama and daddy's delight, as we were watching a claymation christmas classic the other night she continually said "jesus" the entire time, complete with the sign language and everything. adorable. i guess she does get that there's something more to christmas than santa. and now to preserve that for the years to come.

- she's obsessed... i mean obsessed with applesauce. one night, while we were staying at my mom's, bella woke up in the middle of the night. an extremely RARE occassion (has only happened once when we were staying in a hotel), nick&i brought her into our bed. she rambled on and on, ready to play at 2 am apparently, and requested two things: "applesaaaawww" and "santa". naturally.

- she's been into repeating things... time to crack down on what we say. yikes. i've been known to say "oh my gosh" a whole lot. it's okay for a 30 year old to say it, but a not-even-two-year-old? ehhh. i'm not a fan. the other day my phone was ringing from under a mountain of blankets. as i frantically searched for it, bella comes running up to the couch and exclaims "oh meee gosh! where's your phone?!" clear as day. i lost it and began laughing uncontrollably. so much for a teachable moment. even though i don't want her saying "oh my gosh" i couldn't help it. hilarious. will have to crack down on that later.

("riding" in one of the arcade race cars at a local play place on a play date with some of her friends)

- she likes to play this game where she takes her play keys and purse and says goodbye to all of us and pretends like she's leaving the house. "see ya, mama. bye daddy." the other day, our nephew jude was over to play. she was playing this game, kissed me, kissed jude, and then stopped to kiss the coffee table on the way out :) now that it's cold outside, she wants me to put on her jacket and hat for this game, too. so the other day after i had zipped up her coat, she went around the corner and came back wearing one of my ballet flats. "coooooool, mama. see ya." (she says everything is "coooool" but i just went with the fact that i think she was complimenting my fashion taste).

- she is a tv addict. we only let her watch one video a day. sometimes we allow two... but we have to constantly redirect her because she is always asking for "tv" or a "movie" or demanding to "waaaaatchiiieeeee". (oh yeah, quite a few words in her repertoire have an -ie sound at the end of it... "watchie" (watch) and "chipie" (chips) are two of my personal favs.

- while i was cooking dinner the other night, i spied her in the dining room in this pose that she does frequently... both hands and feet flat on the floor, head on the ground, bottom sticking up in the air. i kept watching to see what she would do and before i knew it, she had flipped herself over in a full somersault right there on the hardwood floor. as i died laughing, she got up and just looked at me like "mama.... please. what's so funny?" what a nut.

(loving on her baby doll... which is hopefully a sign of things to come when emmy gets here!)

- whenever bella watches nick get ice for his drinks, he'll start humming the music and then say "ice, ice baby" (you know, that super cool song back in the 90s?) so now, when bella sees or hears ice she loudly exclaims "icy baby!" people don't get it. but nick and i think it's hilarious.

- opening christmas gifts should be interesting this year... bella's babysitter, tanya, got her a sweet christmas gift that i let her open tonight. inside was a cute little outfit. she was so enthrawled by it, that she immediately took off her existing outfit and demanded nick to put the new clothes on her. after she was fully dressed, she stood infront of us, as proud as a peacock and said "coooool duuuude." oh, wow.

- the other night she was babbling away about papa (nick's dad) and then started talking about bampie (my dad). i asked her where bampie was and she looked up at me without hesitation and said "jesus". i love that sweet, sweet faith.

- she's gotten super sweet and affectionate which just melts my mama heart. if i kiss her or hug her, she'll say "i wuv ooo" (i love you). *adorable*.

(eating her first christmas cookie of the season... well, mostly the frosting)

- she loves breakfast for dinner. we feed her this probably twice a week so that nick&i can wait and have dinner after she goes to bed. it's a nice stay-at-home-date for us :) last week she ate THREE eggo waffles for dinner. it was nuts. and she loooves "iggsybakey". you don't know what that is? let me translate for you: eggs and bacon :)

- she loves to pray at night before bed, and often asks to do it several times (complete with hands folded). i am well aware that this is most likely a bedtime-stalling trick and we will only pray once, but i can't help but think it's adorable that she wants to do it several times.

i could go on and on with sweet little stories about our peanut, but before i get too annoying, i'll stop. she is just such a blessing and we are having so much fun with her. she's a handful, but i love that she has such a strong, independent personality.

(with mama and daddy at the christmas parade downtown)

so that's what i tell myself on the hard days like these. her spunk and spirit is a gift. and one day that strong will and independence that she possesses will be used to accomplish great things. god has given her the personality she has for a special purpose, and i pray that he will mold it and channel it into something so beautiful and reflective of his glory.

love, love, love that sweet little girl napping in the other room. even on the days she drives me crazy.

our house at christmastime.

i thought i'd share a few of the christmas decorations that are here and there around our house. as i've written before, this is our first holiday season in a house, so we've had fun decorating this year. i'm a sucker for pretty much all things christmas (okay, except for ugly christmas sweaters or tacky themed christmas decor). but really, i love decorating for the holidays.

here are a few touches of christmas found around the cornwell casa...

- the tree.
we inherited a larger, pre-lit tree this year from my aunt and uncle who were downsizing (thanks, guys!) what a timesaver it was to not have to untangle all of our lights and wrap them around the tree. needless to say, i'm a huge fan. growing up, we had two trees: one that held all of our elementary school and girl scout craft-time ornaments, and one that was my mom's out-of-a-magazine themed tree. although i'd love to have two trees eventually, i try to combine the both of best worlds in ours... the bulbs (red, green, silver, white and light blue) and bead garland give some consistency while the rest of the ornaments are a collection of ours from our dating and married life. nick gets me a new ornament every year for christmas; i love it. bella's got a few on there too, and next year emmy will start her collection :)

- the stockings.
since we have no fireplace mantel, i just took down one of our pictures on the wall and used the nails to hang nick&i's stockings. they were a potterybarn after-christmas-clearance find and i love them. i like hanging them in this corner with the woodstove :)

- anthropologie knock off snow globes.
you can read about how i made those here.

- garlands, of course.
i bought two sets of lit garland a couple of years ago and nick&i rigged them up on our dining room hutch this christmas season. i also found this cute little felt circle christmas garland at target for two-fifty. what a bargain.

- red berries&a vase.
this white vase is one of my *favorite* wedding gifts we got from crate&barrel. i have always had it on our dining room table from the first day we got married. this season i've filled it with some red berry branches i found at target (where else?), sitting on the mod-podged tray i made for bella's first birthday party. this was the perfect centerpiece for the fall and will stay on my table through the winter as well. love 2-in-1 centerpieces!

- christmas wreaths.
for the windows and front door. you can read about how i made those here.

- nuts&cranberries.
every year i've made this simple centerpiece using fresh cranberries, mixed nuts in the shell, candles and these vases i found at walmart. i fill the bottom with the nuts, and then top with the cranberries. usually i set a tealight in the top, but this year i just used some votives i already had on hand. i have them sitting on the windowsill over my sink for a festive touch to the kitchen!

- christmas card garland.
with a strand of twine and some mini clothespins, i created a fun way to display our christmas cards this year. here are a few of them hanging above our kitchen window.

- christmas candy.
vintage crystal dishes (one belonging to nick's grandma, and one belonging to mine) holding my favorite m&m flavors: peanut butter and pretzel... i'm happy to report i think my husband has eaten more of these than i have, pregnancy and all ;)

- nativity scene.
and last but definitely not least, my favorite: the willow tree nativity scene my dad gave me one year for christmas a few years back. mom always picked out all of our christmas gifts, but dad always loved buying one for each gretchen and i that was just from him. and they were always soooo special. i haven't been able to display it since it was kept at my parents house for the years i lived away, but this was the first year i could put it out. very fitting, i think. i love that i have this way to remember him and to display something that he gave me that is so precious.

so there's a little holiday tour of our home :) next year, i hope to add my christmas village that i've been collecting for a while now. i didn't have the time or energy to set it up this year... nor the surface space available that's not within the reach of a busy sticky-fingered-toddler i know.

and while said toddler is still napping, i need to go switch over my laundry. here's to hoping i get through the three more loads waiting for me at the bottom of the stairs... (sigh). merry christmas, everyone :)

to grandmother's house we go.

as i've said before, nick&bella&i just moved this fall into my grandparents old house. it's a three bedroom home with a beautiful front porch, a big yard and most importantly: lots and lots of memories. those just add to it's coziness and charm.

i love it.

i love knowing that i have a childhood worth of memories in the house where nick&i are raising our girls. i love that when i walk into the foyer of our home, i am brought back to cold thanksgivings where grampy greeted us at the door and grammy worked busily in the kitchen, the entire home warm from the smell of roasted turkey. i love that we eat at the same dining room table that held many-a-sunday dinner, all of us crowded around, passing bowls and platters as we talked and ate. i love that bella & emmy will get to run around in the backyard like gretchen and i did when we were little. or go on walks through the weaving neighborhoods and streets like the ones grammy took us on. or sit on the front porch on lazy summer nights, drinking raspberry ginger ale and playing cards.

anyone who knows me well knows this: i am a sentimental soul. i love anything and everything nostalgic. so that's why all of these things mean so much to me, and i am so grateful for them. i've been baking bread in my grandmother's loaf pans, have a section of our cupboards that houses several of her old china teacups, and in our living room sits a wingback chair that my grandparents gave to my parents as a wedding gift. i have loved having family dinners at our house, seeing how the faces around the dining room table have changed a bit, but still full of love and joy. we had my mom&dad over just days before my father was admitted into the hospital. he talked a mile-a-minute and would not stop raving about my broccoli cheese soup and homemade biscuits. oh how i've relived those sweet moments over and over in my mind, so thankful for that time spent with my dad.

around christmastime, i am especially this way. a sentimental sap, some might say. i dug out my grandfather's old window candles from a big box in the garage and put them in all of our windows. i found some old, antique christmas tree bulbs that have been in our family for generations. one day, when our girls are grown and not pestering the tree, i can't wait to use some of them to decorate. this morning, i made popovers and the smell of them cooking filled the house, bringing me back to christmas eve mornings when we'd wake up to my grandmother making these for a special breakfast. i can still hear the old christmas music playing from my grandparents record player that my sister and i played every year as little girls. i can hear the clatter of china from christmas feasts, the laughter from family being together and i can still feel the childlike joy welling up inside of me that did over so many, many years.

i love things like that.

these are the things i will hold precious this christmastime--and always--as i acknowledge the gaping hole that the loss of my dad has left in my life. these are the things that will make me strive to always make our house a home... to create new sights, sounds, smells and memories for my family and for my sweet girls... to savor each and every moment and as mary did in the christmas story recorded in luke 2 "treasure up all of these things and ponder them" in my heart.

these are the things that i will forever remember in the walls of my grandparents house. may our family only add to the cherished memories here... at christmastime and always.

christmas wreaths.

this year it's been fun having a house to decorate... we've spent the past four christmases in our married life in apartments, so i had some ideas of how i wanted to adorn our house for the christmas season. we've been a bit behind on our decorating, just getting our tree up last weekend, but we've been able to do a few of the things i've had in this little-ole-head-of-mine.

we have four windows across the front of our house, and i knew i'd love to put a wreath on each, with a bigger one on the front door. my mom, sister and i happened to hit a.c. moore whilst they were having a good sale on much of their christmas decor. *perfect*. i bought four smaller evergreen wreaths, one larger one and some berry garland for around twenty bucks. score.

so, i've made a couple of wreaths before (here and here), but none that have required floral wire so i wasn't quite sure how that would go. surprisingly, it was very easy. the evergreen was thankfully forgiving and the perfect canvas for my red berries and some pinecones i found in my grandfather's holiday stash in the garage.

this was a really simple project; just verrrry time consuming because i was making five wreaths. it probably didn't help that i had my pregnant behind seated on our hardwood floors and was scrunched over working on these things for a little over an hour. ouch. here's my quick how-to.

christmas evergreen wreaths

materials:
* artificial evergreen wreaths
* wire cutters
* floral wire
* berry garland (i used two since i was making several wreaths)
* pinecones (i used four on each of the smaller wreaths and six or eight on the larger wreath)
* wreath hanger for front door
* suction cup hooks for windows

- fluff evergreen wreath to desired fullness. if using berry garland, pull branches of berries off of the garland (mine popped right off) and being laying them out, assembling them around your wreath. there is a natural curve of the berries, and you'll want them all to curve together in the same direction around your wreath. leave an empty space for your pinecones.

- once you are pleased with your design, begin snipping your floral wire and using it to fasten the berries to your wreath. work your way around the wreath until all of your berries are secured.

- form a cluster of pinecones with your floral wire and attach.

- hang from wreath hanger on your front door, or from the suction cup hooks on your windows.

see? easy peasy. the hardest part is actually getting the time and energy to do them... with a busy toddler and a pregnant belly, those two things are much in demand these days! we still haven't gotten our christmas lights up on our front porch like we intended, and i plan on getting the spotlight out in the front yard today... that way these wreaths will be visible in the dark. but they still look pretty with the white candles we have in all of our windows at nighttime :) and the best part? they're artificial, so we'll be able to re-use them in the coming years. yesssss. one less thing on my christmas-to-do-list for next year.

i like it.

happy decorating!