Moving

  Stephan has spent every spare moment of the last couple of months fixing up the little house next door to my parents...the one that Levi and I lived in before Stephan and I got married.  It needed a fence, new floors in two rooms, fresh paint in three, and trim in all of the rooms. Now it needs a good scrub down, and it will be ready! 

  The plan is to move there, so Stephan can finish fixing up our current house (without kiddos underfoot). Once that is squared away, we'll start working on building our own house...with our own hands. And, by "our hands" I, of course, mean Stephan's hands. Levi is certain that he will play a very big role in this whole house building thing as well. The kid has big plans for wielding a hammer and saw.

  Not too surprisingly, moving has me super stressed and occasionally panicked. I'm trying to keep in mind that this is all good and exciting....even though it doesn't feel like it right this minute. 

Deep breaths.

One box at a time.

I can do this.

Our Epiphany Party

We had a little party today to celebrate Epiphany (which was yesterday). I use the term 'party' pretty loosely and frequently in our house. It never fails to elicit clapping and shouts of joy, so why not have lots of (very tiny) parties?

There was cake, of course, and it was topped with a paper crown in honor of the three wise men who are often referred to as the three kings.

Nanno and BawBaw came because who can resist a party?

Especially when cute, silly grandchildren are involved!

There was even a gift at this little party...a winter scene to replace Henry C. Mouse, who had to get on with his travels but has promised to return next Advent. I stitched the scene and the trees, and the figurines came from here.

"After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route."
~Matthew 2:9-12

The Handmades

I do love seeing such big grins on my kiddos' faces over things that I've made.

A doll for Sophia...

My mother saved the day by making the doll's dress. My mini-dress making attempt was quite the flop.

A beaver costume for Levi...

And a little bunny for Lillian...

Thankfully my kiddos aren't at the keeping score stage yet because I snuck in a last minute kitten purse for Sophia. They all got the same number of presents, but she did manage the most mama-mades.

And then there were the stockings...

I finally got around to making one for Levi, and Lillian got hers in record time!

 One of the best Christmas presents for me was this conversation:
Levi: Mama, why did you buy me a beaver costume?
Me: I didn't. I made it for you.
Levi: You made it?!!
Me: Yep.
Levi: Was it because you knew how much I like to pretend to be animals?
Me: Yep.
Levi: Thank you, Mama. I love you so much.
(Followed by the biggest grin ever and a bear hug)

 I hope y'all had a lovely New Year! Ours was "the best" according to Levi. Yet another thing to make this mama smile.