Our House in the Middle of Our Street

Source: google.com via Chelsea on Pinterest Just popping in to say I'm taking the next week or two off to enjoy family, the holiday season, and other loved ones. I plan to be in my pajamas more than usual, read, and plan the upcoming semester (I actually enjoy that...). Have a good week. I have tons of movie + book reviews, gift reveals, and plenty of lists and loves to share come the New Year. Celebrate! See you soon...

O Holy Night! The stars are brightly shining, It is the night of the dear Saviour's birth. Long lay the world in sin and error pining. Till He appeared and the Soul felt its worth. A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices, For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn. Fall on your knees! Oh, hear the angel voices! O night divine, the night when Christ was born; O night, O Holy Night , O night divine! O night, O Holy Night , O night divine! + Merry Christmas!

My try at bokeh. Meh, you can't win them all.

Alright I know, I officially stink at keeping up with this DPP thing. Taking a picture and posting it every day is really hard when I'm used to popping out 5 posts in two hours and scheduling them for Monday-Friday. * This is a few pictures of a fun (and freezing) morning we had with the kids at Holmes Lake. Notice that 1/2 in thick sheet Anikka is trying to kick? That's a block of ice, which the sport of breaking should be in the Olympics (hey, broom ball? Come on). You'll have to look really hard at the photo to find the large sheet they are holding up (before stomping to glass-resembling smithereens). We spent about 30 minutes just picking up frozen pieces out of the water to let the kids karate chop and they loved it! This last photo is very interesting...under normal Spring, Summer, and Fall circumstances, you can't see anything through the mucky water of Holmes Lake but during the Winter, when the lake is frozen, you can see to the bottom clear as crystal. This

Brisk, but sunny.

Even if there is no snow on the ground, my kids are loving making their own snow flakes!

These beautiful stockings were hand-made for our family from my mother in law. She did everything from crocheting every single one of those snowflakes (seriously, with thread, people!), cutting and sewing up the boot, and felting those sweet little winter scenes atop each one. Didn't she do a fabulous job? I love having them hanging up above our entry, even if we don't have a proper mantle. I think they look like they could have been bought in a fancy department store. Can't wait to fill them up (next year, ahem) with goodies! If you know her in person drop her a line on how nice they are on facebook-I'm sure she'd love to hear it!

Festival of Cuteness.

Rehearsal.

Sometimes sick days can be fun...especially if Burl Ives is singing you to sleep.

Cookies at Mrs. Carla's house; always a treat.

It is so hard to get any decent light in our house, especially during these dark days, but here is an advent treat fresh off the calendar (to the left): Enjoy a hot cocoa with cookie.

New Library books are always a welcome treat in this house.

Veggie pot pie. A staple for cold weather.

Annual tradition: Bake + Make days with Oma, and Grammy. Oma's treats are for the family, Grammy's are for the neighbors.

Our living room, otherwise known as 'the book sale'.*

Annual Christmas baking day!

Anyone else have one of these?

What is the DPP? Find out here .

What is DPP? Find out here .