let the christmas-ing begin!

The kids are out of school,
it's rainy and cold here,
the She & Him holiday station is playing on Pandora,
and I've been wearing comfy pants and baking all the live long day.

It's dark enough during the day with the rain that
I can leave the lights on on the Christmas trees
{yeah...we have two...i'm one of those people this year}
during the day and it's perfect.



This was yesterday around my house.
The kids weren't home from school yet and it was clean.
It stayed that way for a glorious 2.76 hours.
My house is my favorite this time of year.  It feels the happiest to me.

And can we all just agree that Christmas cards are the best?
Taking them down in January always makes me a little sad.







Today I made some of my very favorite cookies.
These are some of my mom's specialties: Spiced Molasses Ginger Cookies.
Ditch the fruitcake and put these on your baking list for the weekend.

They make your house smell better than any candle.







And...they're a pretty cookie.
Which totally matters.
Give a plate to your mail carrier or UPS man tomorrow.

Spiced Molasses Ginger Cookies

2 cups flour
2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. ground cloves
1 tsp. salt
1/2 cup shortening
1/2 stick butter, room temp.
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup dark molasses
ice water 
sugar

Preheat oven to 350.
Lightly grease cookie sheets or use a Silpat.
Stir together the first six ingredients in a medium bowl.
In a mixing bowl beat the shortening, butter, and brown sugar
until fluffy.
Add egg and molasses to the butter mixture
and beat until blended.
Mix in dry ingredients.
Refrigerate dough 1 hour.
Roll dough into small balls and dip quickly in ice water.
Roll in sugar to coat.
Arrange on cookie sheet and bake until cookies
are pale golden and cracked on top but still soft to touch,
around 10 minutes.
Let stand 1 minute then transfer to cooling rack.


Mmmmm.  Chewy, Christmas goodness.

this is hard.

I feel like I have nothing to write here
that is even remotely meaningful or appropriate,
given what happened last week.

Friday's tragedy in Newtown has left me raw.
The sadness is there, just under the surface, all day.
I've seen pictures of all those little faces smiling their beautiful gap-toothed smiles,
and I've pictured my own kids.

It was hard to watch the three of them walk into school today.
Really hard.

I've thought about those sweet children's families numerous times every day since Friday.
I dried Avery's hair tonight after her bath and came close to sobbing
for all of those mommies who will never
have the privilege of doing that again.
And for the brave women who gave their lives protecting those babies:
the sacrifice is overwhelming.

It's too hard.

I'm praying for peace for the families
and the other children
and the community of Newtown
and for us all.
Peace we've been promised, if we ask for it.
Peace that transcends all understanding.
Because right now,
that's the only kind of peace that's going to cut it.

I'll draw from that peace when I take the kids to school
the rest of the week,
and watch them walk into their classrooms.
And I'll pray that the only thing they have to worry about
is whether their sandwich has gone soggy by lunchtime.

I'll remember His promises.

{borrowed from julie.}

I can't wait for that day when our broken hearts will have been healed.

another sick day.

Well the germs are still hanging around.
Avery and Colin are both down for the count.
As my friend Lori would say,
they have a bad case of vomitosis.
Which is not my favorite thing to deal with as a mom.
But we've got a bucket that stays by their side
and all will be well.



Don't let that smile fool you.
Girlfriend was feeling crummy all day long.

I made chicken soup this afternoon,
because you need chicken soup when you're sick.
And also...it's easy.
And the boys call it delicious and go back for seconds.
That n.e.v.e.r. happens.  Seriously.



That's homemade chicken bone broth in those mason jars, y'all.
Made back in October in the crock pot from a Costco rotisserie chicken and then frozen.
Easiest thing ever.



And I know usually chicken soup has celery,
but I can't hang with celery.
Celery has no place in my life.

But dessert does.
Riley made these almond sugar cookies a couple of nights ago.
{it's jessica's fault that i even know about these.}
I think he slipped some crack into them.
They are SO good.



One a day.
That's all I allow myself.

And here's the chicken soup recipe,
in case a round of vomitosis hits your house:

Chicken Noodle Soup

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cooked and chopped
1 cup chopped carrots
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 T butter
8oz. egg noodles
10 (or more) cups chicken broth
1 tsp dried marjoram
1/2 tsp ground pepper
1/2 tsp bay leaves or 1 bay leaf
1 Tbsp. dried parsley

Saute the garlic and onion in butter in a large stock pot.
Add chicken, broth, and spices, and simmer for at least 30 minutes.
Add noodles, and simmer for 10 minutes more.

Done.
Soups on!
Enjoy.

ten on...ten and twelve.

Last night I decided that I was going to
go in and get a manicure today.
My cuticles are driving me crazy.

I also decided that I was going to get caught up
on all of my gift wrapping
and fill all of my outstanding etsy orders.

Then Avery was up coughing all night.

So instead of the above
she stayed home from school
and we spent the day together watching Home Alone on the couch
and playing babies.
{she has triplets named riley, colin, and avery.}

I thought I'd post a December ten on ten.
Then I realized I had only taken eight pictures,
so I'm going to have to improvise a little.

1 on 10: a post-CrossFit celebratory "So Happy I Survived" latte.



2 on 10: is there ever NOT a line at Joann's?



3 on 10: on to the next line at Trader Joe's.



4 on 10: after school crafting.



5 on 10: long, December shadows.



6 on 10: every Monday for the past almost four years.



7 on 10: waiting for Trader Joe's orange chicken for dinner.  A crowd favorite.



8 on 10: I bought everyone their own gingerbread house this year.
No fighting at all.  Best thing I've ever done.



9 on 10: this was my sick girl this morning.  Technically not taken on the tenth.
I'm breaking all kinds of rules here.



10 on 10: While Colin's in his drum lesson Avery plays with my phone and I crochet.
It's a good system.



That's ten.
With only a minimal amount of rule-breaking.

a photo dump.

Life is full.
Exhausting,
fun,
busy,
lovely,
and a sometimes overwhelming.

I'm craving some alone time with Gary.
And with girlfriends.
I think my new year's resolution will be to have both.
Soon.



Until then...

1. piano lessons.
2. a dog with a really rough life.
3. a light heart.
4. pie crust date with martha.
5. pinecone painting.
6. goodwill score.
7. wish i could freeze time.
8.  sunrise sky party.
9. a happy bather.
10. black friday in napa.  much better than the mall.
11. folding laundry playlist: zooey deschanel and michael buble.
12. my morning coffee partner.
13. sitting on the couch laughing, not fighting. christmas miracle.
14. working off some pumpkin pie.
15. laundry.  again.

Follow along on instagram.
It's fun.  I promise.
I'm @foreverfoldinglaundry.

a happy front door.

I got sad in the stupidest place yesterday.
I was in the grocery store.
Not my usual grocery store, but the one by our old, old house.
It's the store that I used to go to when Riley and Colin were babies.

I have memories of running to the store bathroom with Riley
when he was potty training.
And carrying Colin in that super-uncomfortable Baby Bjorn
while doing the bounce-walk thing so he doesn't start crying
in the produce section.

Then yesterday I was walking through the baking aisle all by myself trying to find yeast
and I had a memory of being in that same aisle looking for a cake mix
to use for Riley's first birthday cake.

And I just thought...it's going so fast.
The kids being little is going by SO fast.
I used to shop in that store with my baby boys
nine years ago.
In that same amount of time Avery will be a freshman, Colin will be a senior
and Riley will be in college.
And I got sad.  Sigh.
{also...hormones are lame.}

Okay, enough Debbie Downer.

I've been working on something happy.
If you are looking for a super quick wreath project...



this is not it.

Yarn pompoms are super easy to make,
but they take time.
Lots of time.
But they're the perfect thing to work on while you're sitting on your couch
watching Homeland.
{seriously...WHY are you not watching homeland yet??!}



I think it looks happy.



Christmas lights on houses during the day are not the prettiest thing, are they?

And for the rest of Tuesday...
I have leftover roast and potatoes to feed everyone for dinner tonight
and then I'm going to make fudge.
I've been listening to the Indie Holidays station on Pandora
and my Christmas cards are all ready to drop off at the post office.
Today is good.

some late november christmas-ing.

It's Friday.
Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition.
{oh, that song.  it reminds me of when gary and i were newly married
and footloose and fancy free living in texas.
those were the days.}

We have a few plans for the weekend,
but nothing major.
That makes me happy.



I've been pretty absent from this little ole blog.
I've been busy Christmas-a-fying over here.
I know it's not even December yet,
but I've been in the Christmas-y mood.
I like our house when it's decorated for Christmas.
It feels so cozy and homey.
{homy?  homie?  whatever.}

I made some mason jar snow scenes.
I may possibly be addicted.



I'm hosting a little get together for 30 or so gals this week
and I'm working on the menu.
So...what do I *have* to make?
Besides fudge and brie, of course.
These Mexican quiche are always a hit I'm thinking a batch pumpkin spice lattes
that my girlfriend in Portugal swears are delish.
Oh, and these.
These are life-changing.
Cookie dough truffles: seriously awesome.

Also awesome: little yard Christmas trees.



Gary thought they were party hats.
{men.}

Our elf on the shelf is back.
And if you want to feel very lame and uncreative with your elf-positioning ideas,
take a look around pinterest.
My poor kids.
Our elf is lame and doesn't zip line across the living room or leave foot prints in the kitchen or anything.
And sometimes he forgets to move.



Now he has an alarm to remind him.
{i think he's related to our tooth fairy.}

The first thing she does every morning is find the elf,
and check on the tree.
Gotta make sure the ornaments are all still in the right places.



And, finally, the peppermint Joe Joe's are back.



Help me.