The blondes.

 So there are these two little dudes that completely stolen my heart. I have mentioned my love for them here, here & here... oh & here & here.  Im sure there are others.. but you get the point - I adore my blondes.  They have become such a huge part of my life here in Raleigh.  Both ways the door swings, in that we all have invested so much time and emotion into getting to know each other.  I know their hearts and what a joy I find in that.  These hearts that are honest, vulnerable, loving, caring yet carefree.  These hearts that also know my own.  We pray together, play ninja and football together, sing together, eat together, eat unheard of amounts of ice cream together.  I really can't explain the fullness of my heart when I am with these boys.  

Okay, my throat has a knot in it.. let's move on.

For Christmas, I wanted to order a canvas of the boys for their mama. (PS I don't know how big/small the blogosphere is.. know if you know these fine people, don't tell Kelly her Christmas gift from the boys!)  So today, my roomie, Liza - who also keeps Will once a week, and I had a mini-photoshoot with John & Will.  Here is a sneak peek of the goodness we captured today.

Merry Christmas, Kelly.

The ones Im thankful for.

 I think the Holidays can be stressful.. but in the end - I am humbled and thankful for the stressful schedule.  I am thankful for family.  I am thankful to have both sets of my grandparents.  I am thankful for travel.  I am thankful love.  I did not get to spend much time with Sam this holiday as his family was headed to the beach to celebrate the big turkey.  But I am thankful for his understanding for me to be home.  I am thankful for him, completely - for his love, his heart for Jesus, for his blonde hair & baby blues.  I am thankful for family - for who they are, how they challenge me, and for loving me so well.

 

The day after Thanksgiving is usually one of my favorite days of the year.  During the Holidays I get to see a lot of family, which is great - I adore that time.  But the day after Thanksgiving is a day where us five get to spend pretty much the entire day together.  This day I adore also because it is always chock full of laughter, fun and pure joy.

As scheduled, we went to Reed Island Farm to get our Christmas tree.

 Ashley walked around with this dead gnat on her lip unknowingly for like 30 minutes.  I was dying.  

She has such a good sense of humor and can laugh at herself.. so I know she didn't care if I posted this.

 

 My parent's this year got each other a television for Christmas.  I know this because I was a part of the Thursday night hustle and bustle of "killer deals" (words of my mother).   We stood in line.  We got that Golden Ticket.  We went thru the drive-thru pick up.  & we did it on zero-gas.

Today, when we got back from getting our Christmas tree, we rearranged our living room furniture to set up for our new TV.  & then started to mount the TV -- which was definitely  bigger than a one-man job. 

 

We are excited but more than that, we are thankful.  Not exactly for the television.. but more for the day spent together.  What a joy we found in each other - in jokes, frustrations, happies, meals, fields of evergreens, or sweetly sitting next to each other in front of our new tube.  

I am thankful for those four souls.  & I can't help but think of some lyrics from the Avett Brothers:

...there was nothing worth sharing like the love that let us share our name

I am thankful to share my name with these four souls.

I am thankful.

The one who isn't slow.

 My family has this game that we play in the car.  We call it the "Artist Game".  When we ride in the car, the radio is guaranteed to be on and the first person to get the artist singing the song gets the point.  I think we started out with the titles of the songs but it wasn't a big enough challenge for the music junkies we are.  There is no reward other than the self gratification of knowing more artists than the rest of your family for a day.  Not to brag, but me and my dad own that game.  Mom, Ashley and Ryan really don't stand a chance when Dad and I are in the car.  Again... not to brag. :)  However, when a certain season comes around, Dad and I are quickly dethroned by Mom.  She owns the Artist Game - Christmas edition.  Which I believe is a true testament to her love for music.  Because a lot of times, you hear a song that is familiar and you just remember who sings it... where as with Christmas music, ALL musicians sing the same song, so you have to have a talent for figuring out who is singing that version O Holy Night or that version of The Little Drummer Boy

My mom loves the holidays.  Every single aspect of it.  And I have happily inherited her passion for home, cozy things, and all things red and green.  But this year, I have seriously caught a disease.. and it all started with this sucker. 

 

My roommate brought some pine cones from home to decorate for the Thanksgiving season.  I started playing around with them but wasn't satisfied with a bowl of pine cones. So I found some green burlap and really liked the touch.  Then I found a red candle.  Loved the colors together.  Found some twine.  Loved the rustic touch.  I happily slid this little beaut to the center of the table and before I knew it Michael Buble's "It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas" was playing on my Pandora station.  That was October 29th.  Halloween was still on deck.  But I still cannot seem to change stations. 

 

I told mom about my holiday felony and that following weekend she bought me a Christmas candle.  (P.S. Chestnut and Clove from Bath & Body Works smells exactly like Christmas.  Smells so dang good)  She gave me the go ahead to start celebrating Christmas.. I just have to start out slow.  

Last night, I went to Target and somehow Christmas lights ended up in my bag.

  

And when I got home, somehow my Christmas mantle piece came out of the closet.

 And then somehow Christmas colored peanut M&M's filled a glass jar.

 And then somehow stocking holders found their way out of the closet.

 

And now.. I am about to go paint my nails a "Berry Naughty" color that somehow came home with me from Target.

 _______________________________

Whoops.  Slow is obviously out of the question.

The one with Davy Crockett.

Here at Joby's, we only had one trick-or-treater.  But one was just enough for me.  My sweet blonde came as Davy Crockett and was in character the whole time he was in our house.  He naturally kneeled down and threw up that gun when a camera came into the room.  The kid rocked it.

 

Once Davy Crockett went on to invade other homes, my roomies and I ordered two large pizzas and spent our Halloween night piggin' out and watching Hocus Pocus.  Some say that's lame.  We say relaxing.  It was also just a great time to spend with one another.  Our schedules are CRAZY off this semester.  It is a rare occassion for all four of us to be the in the house, it's even more rare for all four of us to be in the house with no distractions (school, young life talks, projects, etc.) in front of us.  So we made a point to spend this spooky night in the comfort of each other in our home.

Hope everyone had an incredible Halloween!