Christmas Trimmings

Our delightful dwelling doesn’t have room for a proper tree this season.
With a curious 14 month old and a diminutive apartment a proper tree has no place.
Don’t worry, I’ll find some small tree…
I’m thinking something on the table.
SO I am determined to decorate our balcony
with festive cheer and merriment.
And that is exactly how we spent our Saturday afternoon,
securing supplies for cheer and merriment.
I had no idea what we were in store for!





Live holiday music outside.












































Listening to live holiday band inside.













And they even had Santa!

Thanksgiving Notes

I am thankful for so many things.
God has blessed me with a
loving husband,
a sweet child,
and a warm home.
I am also thankful for the little things.
For example, not having to wake up
at 4am to make bread for my family.
And running water.
I can’t imagine having to fetch water from a well.


I found this note on the side of my parent’s fridge.
This is how my dad made note of the turkey cooking time.
I’m sorry the picture is blurry but can you make out the
squiggly equal sign at the bottom?
Well that doesn’t mean finished at 12:41.
It means finished at approximately 12:41.















Some swinging took place.

Confidential to Rachel

Happy Birthday!
Oh how I miss you sweet friend!

Less Than 24 Hours

A day or two ago
my mom told me a story of
a woman she shared
baseball bleacher seats with
years ago when John-David
played catcher.
Sitting in the bleachers
watching their kids play baseball,
my mom was impressed with what
this woman had trained her younger
child to do.
From time to time the younger child
would require a diaper change,
which would happen right there on the bleacher seats.
And then do you know what happened?
The mom handed the dirty diaper to
the younger child who then obediently
carried it to the rubbish bin and tossed it in.

Isn’t that just the coolest?!

It took me less than 24 hours to train Luke
to carry his diaper to the trash.
It is so awesome.
Now I’m wondering what else I can train him to do…

Dirty Levi

Have you seen them?
I’m talking about the
dirtynasty
new Levi ads on television.
They are
atrocious
awful
and
disgusting.
Oh, and did I say inappropriate?

Catalogue It

Has anyone else noticed
an increase of catalogues
in their mailbox
as the holiday season approaches?
This afternoon I found the following in my mailbox:
JJill
Isabella Bird (neverheardofit)
Williams-Sonoma
Athleta
The Land of Nod
Pottery Barn Kids

Kitchen Sink, Part 2

Tonight I showed Luke the
kitchen sink video.
He l o v e d watching it.

Barefoot Love

I love the Barefoot Contessa.
She is fabulous in so many ways.
In fact, dinner at our house tonight
Is the Barefoot Contessa’s
Friday Night Chicken.
If you don’t wow your friends/family/theoneyoulove
with it yet, you need to get on it.

I confess I only have the
Barefoot Contessa at Home cookbook.









But on our rare trip to Sam’s Club on Saturday
I picked up the
Barefoot Contessa Cookbook.









Did you know that while I was on
holiday in Aruba
Ina released a new Barefoot cookbook?
Yes she did!
It’s called Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics.
Do I hope Santa brings me my very own copy
or do I just go ahead and order it from Amazon?

Winter Needs

Our winter children’s inventory
so far…
1 blue coat
3 hats
2 sets of mittens
Don’t you love this hat?

32 Year Old Outfit

I always keep a spare set
of clothing in the car for Little Luke.
You never know when a
costume change will be required.
One was required on Saturday
when Luke was with his father
making a quick drop off at his parent’s home.
Instead of Faris running to the car to retrieve the spare outfit,
Luke found himself in an
a b s o l u t e l y
charming 32 year old outfit
that once belonged to his dad.
Faris was thrilled.

Kitchen Sink

A sweet little snip
at our kitchen sink.
Especially charming when
he plays a quick peek-a-boo!

Human Resources Manual?

I’d like to review the mommy human resources manual’s policy
regarding sick days.
Because the policy stinks.
I’ve been sick
and
life doesn’t stop for a sick mom.
A special thank you to my mother-in-law
for last Wednesday’s 4 (or maybe even more!) hours
of sleep during the day and the yummy soup.
A lot happened while I was sick.
Luke clearly said Mama, Baba, and Bye while waving.
(Baba is Arabic for Dad)

Luke might have gotten away with
Some tomfoolery that his sick mama was
to tired to lovingly correct.















I needed a boost during the sick days.

Confidential to my Onetruelove

Happy Anniversary!
(Four years!)

If somebody asked me four years ago why I loved you, I would have happily provided a long list of your superior qualities, tender heart, and sweet spirit. My answer today is different. I love you just because I do. All the other stuff is just the Nutella of my life.

Election Day

On our way to vote at the fire house
across the street.
















Voted!

























We are standing in line at our town hall to vote for our local leaders.
After 25 years, our mayor is retiring so it is big stuff around here.
We had to go home because the line was l o n g and it was almost morning nap time.
We will go back post morning nap.

Vote

Camille's Important Voting Information
1. GO VOTE!!
2. Send me a picture of you standing in line or some other sort of vote related picture and I’ll post them tomorrow.
3. Tomorrow Starbucks will give you a free cup of coffee if you tell them you voted. Just a regular cup of coffee, no fancy drinks.

Our Aruban Holiday

Aruba is a delightful island.
The ocean was warm and a beautiful clear blue.
Dreamy.
And I never knew sand could be soft.
There is almost a constant island breeze,
which seems to arrive when you need it most.

Faris rightly said that traveling
with Luke is like traveling with a rock star.
We were his roadies.
A lady in the pool actually asked to
have her picture made with him.
We kindly obliged.
(although mommy was thinking we should charge a fee!)
Luke handled the planes like they were no big thing,
making friends with the other poor people
packed in the cabin with no regard to personal or humane space.
The airplane was indeed not my own personal torture chamber as I had feared it would be.
I would say our first family vacation was a success.
Having now become accustomed to having a child in my life,
I was surprised at how surprised I was at how having a child changes vacation.
Naps and bedtime still had to be dutifully minded.
Meals needed to stay on schedule…you try explaining to a one year old how to wait for food.
And while I could spend all day pool side or with my toes in the sand, they are danger zones for small children and by the end of the week Luke was actually tired of being in the water.
To the point of grabbing the side of the pool and trying to climb out with all his might.

We are back on the Bay
and Fall seems to have fully arrived.
So vacation is o.v.e.r..
Unpacking is painful.

Do you spy the two Iguanas outside our room?

After three dinners outside and
being bitten to left and right by mosquitoes
we doused ourselves in Off for our dinner out.
Oops.
Our reservations were at the wrong restaurant
so our dinner was inside
and our perfume was Off.