catch the moment: wk 51

Whoa, I should have posted this last Wednesday or Thursday but got way too busy with holiday fun. My sister and her family arrived for Christmas on the 23rd and my mom on the 24th so posting my photos for the week before was the last thing on my mind! I haven’t spent much time on my phone and even less on the computer over the past 7 days and while I feel a little more disconnected from my friends than usual, it’s been nice to focus on the here and now. It just occurred to me yesterday that I hadn’t sorted, edited, or shared last week and now it’s almost time to post another set – the very last set – of photos for 2015.

351/365: Thursday, December 17th. Theo’s busy making Spider-man drawings with his new art set from Aunts Emily & Lauren. 12-17-2015

352/365: Friday, December 18th. Sorry for the blurry photo, but that’s the best I could do at capturing Theo in all of his excitement about wearing pajamas to school for Polar Express day. Also, he was gearing up for a fun weekend at Nana and Pop Pop’s. 12-18-2015

353/365: Saturday, December 19th. With our kid-free weekend, we got TONS of stuff done. Including buying and assembling new bar stools, buying new TVs and a new entertainment center, finished shopping and wrapping Christmas gifts, and cleaned the house in preparation for our holiday house guests.12-19-2015

354/365: Sunday, December 20th. I didn’t take this picture with the intention to post it here but I suppose it works well. Ryan and I bought this entertainment center when we moved in together right before we got married in 2003. I de-cluttered it on Sunday and posted this photo on a local facebook garage sale site Sunday. I was so tired of looking at it and all the clutter we crammed into every drawer, shelf, and cabinet. Ryan felt a little sentimental when it sold. I do remember us assembling it together, sorting through the instructions and millions of pieces. But still…bye.12-20-2015

355/365: Monday, December 21st. The boys’ first opportunity to sit at the new & improved breakfast bar and watch a cartoon with daddy while they ate cereal. Pretty much Ryan’s dream come true. Most of the vision for the kitchen was mine but this was a non-negotiable for Ryan. Turns out, we all love it. The bar is everyone’s favorite place to congregate now. 12-21-2015

356/365: Tuesday, December 22nd. Theo has been showing me some of the games and websites he uses at school. During summer, I’d take him to the library and he couldn’t use a mouse or operate a computer at all. It was so frustrating for me to try to show him and have him not listen, I’d just shoo him to something else. He’s learned a lot in his 5 months of Kindergarten! Apparently it’s a good thing I’m not a teacher.12-22-2015

357/365: Wednesday, December 23rd. I got off work early and came home to find our new entertainment center in place and our new TV being set up! YAY! Less clutter! Then we went into last minute madness mode, prepping for my sister and her family and my mom to come stay through Christmas weekend. Also, our sad looking Christmas card tree – funny enough, we’ve received many more cards since the 23rd. It’s all the way down to the floor now!12-23-2015

xo,

~C~

catch the moment: wk 50

I love this group of photos. If asked, I’d say it’s been a stressful week but when I look back at these 7 photos, it’s also been a great week. It’s so easy to complain about the little things but I am constantly trying to keep some perspective. The big things are good…the little things are just temporary nuisances. It’s the holiday season and there’s no shortage of holiday cheer.

344/365: Thursday, December 10th. A night I’d been looking forward to for weeks – an adult coloring event with some good friends at a local toy shop. Mine is on the bottom right and a week later, I still haven’t found time to finish my picture. I even tried to choose one that looked simple enough to complete in 2 hours – no luck! At the root of it though, the point was to relax with friends and I’d say it was a super successful evening. 12-10-2015

345/365: Friday, December 11th. We did a little Christmas shop-n-swap with our friends! We watched their kiddos for a few hours Friday night and then they returned the favor for us on Saturday. It was SO fun playing with the sweeties, especially 6 month old Kennedy. Such a happy snuggle bug.12-11-2015

346/365: Saturday, December 12th. Unfortunately, our day of shopping did not yield great results. It just didn’t go as planned. After staying up late the night before and the excitement of another playdate with their friends Saturday morning and afternoon, the boys were exhausted. They were in bed at 730 and I spent the next five hours wrapping gifts. I’m glad to have that much done but still have a way to go. I love wrapping gifts -the worst is cleaning up the mess after the wrapping is done!12-12-2015

347/365: Sunday, December 13th. Dexter is the sweetest thing-he truly loves spending time with me. He suggested we pull weeds on Sunday – because, yes, new weeds are growing with this warm weather. I suggested the grocery. Since Ryan was busy hanging the Christmas lights, I bribed Theo with a Lunchable and both boys came with me to the grocery. We actually had a good time – they’re growing up. This used to be such a stressful thing and now it’s …gasp…enjoyable. 12-13-2015

348/365: Monday, December 14th. It was a very strange weather day – sunny and cloudy, rainy and rainbowy. 12-14-2015

349/365: Tuesday, December 15th. The boys and I had a dinner date downtown with my wonderful friend, Whitney. Whitney is due with baby Griffin in about 6 weeks and I am so thrilled-I can’t wait for her to experience mommy-hood!! 12-15-2015

350/365: Wednesday, December 16th. I was up late making these buckeye brownie cookies for our cookie exchange at work. I forgot the egg, but I don’t think it mattered much – they were still really good! Hashtag thank you pinterest.12-16-2015

That’s it for this week, folks. Just 2 more weeks of 2015 and 2 more weeks of this project. I think I’m going to take a break from this project in 2016. I’ll still be taking photos and try to post them occasionally.

xo,

~C~

catch the moment: wk 49

Week 49? Seriously?
This is crazy. I can’t believe another year is almost done. I’m running behind this holiday season, as usual. My best friend and her WIFE (yay! they just got married) visited over the weekend and we stayed in, drank coffee and wine, ate good food, and in the middle of all that, I got my fall decorations taken down and my Christmas decorations put up. It was a very productive weekend. I was shocked to look at my fitbit at the end of both Saturday and Sunday to see over 20k steps each day. FROM DECORATING. Nuts, man. Nuts.

337/365: Thursday, December 3rd. 12-03-2015

338/365: Friday, December 4th. This is the poorest quality, grainiest picture I took at our little friend Mariana’s 7th birthday party, but that face. Look at the pure joy and excitement as we prepared to sing the birthday song to her. Sweetest little lady.12-04-2015

339/365: Saturday, December 5th. I hate putting lights on the tree. Hate it. Least favorite thing to do during the holidays, hands down. I was excited to eliminate a dozen or more cardboard boxes and re-organize ALL of my decorations – Easter in one box, Valentine’s Day in another, and so on. No more cardboard. No more mixed up holidays. I got that light wreath half off last year after Christmas and I think it looks fantastic.12-05-2015

340/365: Sunday, December 6th. Dexter wore pajamas all day Saturday and most of the day Sunday. My little homebody. He insisted on helping Daddy put the star on the top of the tree. 12-06-2015

341/365: Monday, December 7th. Abominable snowman finger puppet is all the rage this holiday season. They are taking turns sleeping with it every night. My favorite thing about this picture is his perfectly precious little silhouette on the wall.12-07-2015

342/365: Tuesday, December 8th. Tuesday night Library trip selections. 12-08-2015

343/365: Wednesday, December 9th. The mantel and hearth are decorated and looking so cozy. Since it was 60 degrees today, we didn’t have a fire in the fireplace but we will get it going sometime before Christmas.12-09-2015

As much as I hate decorating and putting it all away, I do love the house full of twinkling lights and festive snowmen, Santas, and sparkles. Glittersplosion 2015.

xo,

~C~