Right now, I'm enjoying

This book.  Love it.  Want a fun, great way to start off the new year?  Read it.  

On that note, I'm also loving this blog post. eshet chayil!

The fact that our neighboorhood peacock, Percy?, stops by every morning now. Have you met our peacock?  He's been here for about a year.  He is brave, arrogant, and loves to taunt my dogs.  He's also messy.  But look how beautiful he is!  The problem is he knows it.  And because of that he gets away with everything else.  I think he's also lonely.  Wanted: Single Female Peacock who isn't insurce with her guy having prettier feathers than she can ever dream of having.  Percy, no wonder you're single.   

The fact that this will be the last Christmas where I can't show you Milo's face. (By the way, it was a great Christmas.  Full of family, huddled close together.  There was much laughter this Christmas.  And for the first time in Zamora family history, the Hacker is NOT taking back my gift.  This is huge people.  I am a terrible gift giver.  I admit, I had help. But either way, I was finally victorious.  mini whoot-whoot for me.)

Rediculous, but warm fuzzy socks. Because it is unseasonbly cold here.

Electric blankets, for that matter. I know, I'm a whimp.  Self-proclaimed whimp.  

The sound of Leeland filling the halls of our home right now.

The smell of left over Panatone being made into bread pudding for tonight's party. 

My littles.  They make each other laugh now, which can bring on a 10 mintue session, of just laughter.  Can anything really be better?

A new year.  A fresh start.  Oh, too look back at the beginning of the year, to where we are now. God is good.  

I read this post a few days before Christmas and I thought I'd share:

"It's Christmas and we were not made for this world. We weren't made for the lights or the crack bark or the horse ribbon tree. Those things can't complete us, perfect us, transform us into people with lives that never bend at unnatural angles.

Here we are, down on uneven dirt, clawing for a glimpse of glory through a broken pane.

Just like that, we find one. We look past the cracks and the smudges and we see the baby face of freedom. We memorize Him, love Him, pray to want more of Him.

We're captivated only by Him.

His light falls around us, reflects off of us, and we reach out and grab hold of it like a hand.

This is why the days feel dark when the rest of the world says they shouldn't. We're homesick. We know a shoddy replacement when we see one.

Turn to the side and catch His light. Turn to the side and reflect His light onto someone hiding heart-shattered in the shadows.

This is the reason for the season.

The rest is just decoration." from Flowerpatch Farmgirl.  

Amen.  Happy New Year friends.  

i'm in a mood. you have been warned.

I sound like a 100 year old smoker with a frog in her throat.  As to not get too graphic on a Wednesday night, I'll leave it as it's scratchy and I've been trying to clear it for over 24 hours now. 

All that to say, I'm happy to typing to have our chat instead of using my toadish voice.  

all of today's photos are brought to you by my phone via instagram.  normal pictures will return shortly.

Christmas time is hear full force.  

It took us three days to completely decorate our tree, but she's finally dressed in all her beauty.  Please don't mind that I personified our Christmas tree and made her a she. And to complete this rabbit trail I call her Gladys.  She is a beaut.  Most of the Christmas cards have been signed, addressed, and are in their trucks traveling to loved ones.  Or in the post office sitting in a pile next to yours.  

We are making a conscious effort to be present and together this season.  Bedtimes are being ignored in lieu of nighttime walks to view the twinkling neighborhood, along with a little bit of this and a little bit of that. Pickles, and even Milo are too young to fully get this, but one year it'll stick.

I love little babies' eyes growing as wide as Japanese Anime as they soak it in.  Apparently I'm in a mood tonight. Please forgive.  They soak in the twinkling lights, the smells of cinnamon and pine, and the sounds of carols as the notes dance from room to room filling every square inch of the bungalow.

I look at their faces and I pray.  I pray that they will be able to enjoy the wonders of this season without becoming distracted their pupose.  I pray that as we give gift to those we love, to those we want to know more, and even to those we don't know at all, never will, but are in need; I pray that He is glorified.  That we never make much the means to worship instead of the One worthy of of it.  

I'm learning.  I'm not perfect, and my parenting and woshiping isn't either.  But I am mindfully aware that our actions, more so than our words are on display.  

And little anime eyes aren't missing a step.

I think I should pour myself a cup of tea now, but hot chocolate sprinkled with cinnamon sounds so much cozier.

The good kind of busy...Thanksgiving 2012

In my opinion there are two types of busy.  There is the kind of busy where you feel thrown into a whirlwind, and you're not sure when it'll stop, but you're just begging for it to.  And then there is the other kind.  The kind that is good for you, and you know it.  It fills your soul full of memories, and stirs in you a thirst for more.  The kind that makes you sad when it's all over.  That's been our kind of busy this past weekend. 

Its been busy with family, friends, traditions, each other, love.  Our time is precious, and we've been spending it with others.  It's made our hearts full.  

It was my third year hosting Thanksgiving.  I love having my home full during the holidays. 

I want this home to be the nucleus of family and traditions for my kids.  And this year it was. 

We feasted.  This year's turkey was my best one yet.  However, I failed taking a photo of the darn bird.

One of my favorite traditions:  My mom bakes a pie for everyone who comes, and then we share. 

The day after Thanksgiving has always been family day.  We decorated our house, minus the tree.  They're not for sell yet around these parts.  

We visited a new park.  And ended our day with a trip to Grandma and Grandpa's house for chili and corn bread. A childhood memory I hope to pass down to the littles.

It was a busy weekend with us hosting surprise party for a 13 year old, running errands, visiting with friends, and decorating for Christmas.  But it was the rejuvenating busy.  And I am thankful for it.  

Christmas time is upon us. Love it.

Humblebrag: I've been pinned!

(to start this off the Hacker told me I had to have the phrase "humblebrag" in the title.  apparently, its a tech term.  I'm not sure.  but there you go my love.)

So you have to understand where I'm coming from.  I thought only friends and family members read this thing. Maybe a couple of others from when I leave a comment on another's blog.  But I wandered over to the referrer section of my web page, and Pinterest was a referrer!

I have never pinned my own house, so it was weird to see my hallway, living room, patio and the nursery on people's board.  I know this is silly, and in the big scheme of things not such a big deal, but I was excited!  So, I thought I'd share with you my excitement.  

So hello to everyone out there...Thanks for reading and pinning!  Sending love your way.

That's all for now.  I'll post something of more worth later this week.

Happy Tuesday, 

Kristin

rain + baking pumpkin bread

It rained today.  Not hard, but a light sprinkle throughout the day.  As you know, I'm a hot and sunny type of girl.  But today was just lovely.  We hung out with friends in the morning cleaning Sunday School classrooms.

Milo loves when I'm working in the classrooms because that means he gets to play with all the toys and play hard!  I haven't been able to do it for a while, because Mr. Pickles was a "hold me all the time, and if you're not holding me I'm going to scream" baby.  But now he's a "I'll chill over here and observe and even hold my own bottle while you work" kind of baby.  Thank you Pickles for being so accommodating.  

After hard work and hard play, the boys went down for a nap while the rain lullabied on the rooftop.  The time change has thrown Milo a little off his nap schedule, and he woke up early for some one-on-one time with Mommy.  I threw on his rain boots and we headed outside to jump in puddles. Which were kind of non exisitant but we pretended anyways.  He looked at the sky and exclaimed "uh-oh!"  He got down and dirty with the mud.

When our hearts were warm with play, but our hands were getting cold we came back in. We scrapped the mud off our boots, and dried the light mist from our hair.

We weren't done.  It was a day to be cozy with loved ones and bake chocolate chip pumpkin mini muffins.  

So baked, we did.  

I know he's 18 months and probably wont remember this moment.  But I will.  I will remember him wanting to eat all of the chocolate chips instead of dumping them in the mixing bowl.

I will remember the smiles and giggles as he held the whisk like a bat and flung batter across the dining room. Yes, baking with a toddler is more work, time consuming, and a bigger mess is guaranteed.  But oh, how it is worth it. And so is playing in the rain.

Have a great weekend.  TGIF!

Copycat Feature: Thanksgiving Branch

It's been a while since my last copycat project.

I had seen this project a year ago on Kelle Hampton's blog Enjoying the Small Things.  (have you been to her blog? No? You should.  Beautiful pictures, beautiful words.)

Isn't it lovely?  I thought so.  So, I put Michael on a mission: "Find me a branch, so we can do this, please." Well, my man delivered!  He brought home three branches for me to choose from, and after two nights (one for hanging the branch, and the second for me to make the leaves) we had our copycat version:

 Not to bad, right?  I mean, I think I need to add a couple more rows of leaves, and next year I'll defiantly make my leaves smaller.  I mixed felt and scrapbook paper.  We have a sharpie on the table underneath the branch so whenever we're feeling thankful, we can jot it down on one of the leaves. 

I love the colors of fall.  They're rich and warm.  They're comforting and spicy.  And they're popping up all over my house!

I also made a wreath using a cheap foam wreath I found in the dollar section at Target, twine, and some felt flowers:

 The rest of the yellow bungalow has splashes of fall around it from Thanksgiving pasts.  Including the entryway:

 and the mantel.  

I just have to share a common weirdness that my husband and I share:  As I'm typing this, Michael is working like a madman in the kitchen.  He gets on these kicks of cleaning and organizing.  We both do, but I guess tonight is his turn.  Early tonight, I informed him that I was taking a shower to "wash off my Monday", and he offered to do the dishes because he's nice like that.  When I came back out, he showed me how he organized our tupperware drawer, and is throwing away lids that don't match to anything else.  I applauded his hard work, but it was clear he wasn't even close to being done.  So I let him and his techi podcast be, while I finish this post.  I think right now he is gutting and completely reorganizing our pantry.  It's weird, but I get it.  We both have that quirk.  That, "I don't know why but I have to completely finish this non urgent project right now!" quirk.  Michael can tell when I'm in it, too.  He usually smiles, and lets me be.  We're imperfectly perfect for each other.  

The warm wind known to us locals as Santa Anas have been picking up lately.  Milo's intrigued.

(look at that hair!  I refuse to cut it, you can't make me!)

I wish I could show you his "ooohhh" face.  It's purty darn cute.  He's becoming a little parrot.  And true to form, Michael and I are have become the cheesy parents that tell their kids "Say...bye bye!,"  "Say....stars!,"  "Say, Mommy/Daddy/baby!"  It's ridiculous.  And there's no end in sight.

A Shower and Some Solace

As much as I want to live in the moment, there is always a part of me longing for the weekends.  Sure, we have a blast Monday through Friday, but weekends seem like a fresh start.  We can ignore the shortcomings of the week and bloom something new and beautiful during these two days as a family.  

This weekend was a combo:  part busy and crazy, and part slow, healing, and rejuvenating.  

I helped host a baby shower for our dear friend Jenny on Saturday.  

The baby will be her second, but first girl.  It was fun to get back in touch with my girly side.  I miss it and it's something different from the normal testosterone that usually roams the halls of the yellow bungalow.  

It was such a special time.  Filled with only family and the closest of friends,  I loved how intimate and lovely a smaller shower allowed.  We prayed.  How we prayed for momma and baby, and daddy and big brother too.  We cried full of thanks-giving for this blessed family.  I loved seeing both Grandmas lay their hands on their daughter and praise our Father for all that He has given.  It was special.  

And Mommy Jenny glowed. 

                           

Sunday was the opposite of Saturday.  We lingered a little longer at home and enjoyed the solace of our little family. 

Milo and Toby have a love/hate relationship.  Toby loves to smell Milo, Milo hates Toby being in his face.  Milo loves to pull on Toby's ears/tail/jowls/back, Toby hates Milo's "love pets."  We continually are teaching Milo how to be gentle, and he continues to show us that learning takes time and we need to learn patience.  

Happy Monday.  

Not many Tricks, mostly Treats

Let the Wild Rumpus Begin!

I never went trick or treating as a child, quoting Taylor Swift, "like ever!"  My family did "Fall Festivals" at my elementary school.  They were in the gymnasium and with games, a cake walk, a "spooky walk" with grape eyeballs and spaghetti brains.  It was fun.  But I knew.  I knew what trick or treating was, and I knew I was missing out.  It wasn't all my parents fault, the condos in Santa Monica didn't really make it trick or treating accessible.  But I promised myself that I would trick or treat with my kids. In this one small area, I would live vicariously through my kids. 

Pickles was Mickey Mouse that Michael carried all night.  And Milo was our little Wild Thing Max for Halloween.

We headed out early for Milo's (and mine, really) first trick or treating experience.  Grandparents came along and stayed on the sidewalk as we slowly walked up to neighbors doors, probably interrupting dinner.  Milo loves knocking on doors, and was just as tickled with one tiny piece of candy as a full size. 

It was a shiny night full of sparkles.  Yes, we brought glow sticks with us.  But more than that, it was bright because we are growing to love our neighbors and they are beginning to love us.  At each house, we stopped and visited for a while.  They scooped up our Wild Thing in their arms as they cooed over our boys and wanted to know the latest in our lives.    

Every year we've lived in the Yellow Bungalow, we've set up a table on our porch.  We hand out glow sticks and candy to the kiddies and hot apple cider for the grown ups.  After we were done trick or treating, we fed the boys and put Pickles to bed.  We let Milo stay up later to help us pass out the goodies.  

We soaked it up.  We relished in the glow of the lights, the distant laughter of running kids, the parents coming up to our porch to warm their hands with hot cinnamon cider.  There were screams caused by the junior high kid down the block scarring the littles.  He does it every year.  And the kids love it. It was a great night.

And I am so thankful.  

Hope your night was just as sparkly.  

Apple Pickin' - a family tradition

One of my favorite childhood memories is "apple valley."  When I was a kid, my cousins and I would go with our parents to this magical place.  We would pick apples, press them into cider, sample apple butter, and cap the day off in a cozy restaurant with a slice of homemade apple pie with American cheese on top.  I loved it because it was something we did every year, together, as a giant family. 

When my cousin Sarah and I got a little older, maybe junior high, my parents tried to recreate the memory.  So we woke up early, and headed out to "apple valley."  The thing is: the real Apple Valley isn't where we would go as kids.  It's actually two hours in the wrong direction, in the middle of nowhere.  It turns out just our family called it "apple valley" because, well, they sold apples. Not only that, but once we were out in the middle of nowhere, our car kept breaking down every 10 miles.  We spent the entire day looking for our "apple valley." It became so ridiculous, that every time the car would break down, we just would laugh.  I think we all had cabin fever.  We finally got home around 10pm that night, never seeing an apple, but instead creating a new memory.  One that we still laugh about today.  It was special.  Imperfect in every way, but ours.  

So, being a product of my parents, I too wanted to recreate the original "apple valley" known to the rest of the world as Oak Glen with my family.

 We made new family traditions with help from the old.  

We picked apples from the ground and from the branches, where the proper way is to twist, not pull. 

There were so many tiny gems in each farm that we visited.  A field of marigolds, and reds and oranges.

Riley's Apple Farm had little sections set up, perfect for an impromptu photo shoot.  

 Willowbrook farm was a favorite.  It was small, but had personality to boot.

Milo's favorite game wasn't apple pickin' but throwin'.  So we gave him already bruised apples that we knew were going to be pressed into cider, and hid the good ones in the stroller.

We found a four legged friend, he followed us around for a while. 

"Both heirlooms and good traditions strengthen our sense of history and belonging.  As Christians, our history is God's story of drawing us into his family. (2 Corinthians 6:18)

"I turn from the generation who came before me and look toward the children who come after me.  I want the story they live to resonate with the history written by that great Author of the universe. " Noel Piper in Treasuring God in Our Traditions  

I'll leave you with our Family photo - crop shot style.  

What are your favorite fall traditions?

Happy Autumn, 

Kristin

Fun Kid Spaces & Milo's Mood Bard

I was going to write about our weekend and life today, pictures included.  However my iPhoto isn't working very well.  

So instead, I'll share what I've been working on for Milo's room.  I occasionally look at Laybabylay.com for really cool mood boards.  

This is one of my favorites:

It's nerdy chic.  

I also want to show you some of my favorite kids rooms.

Lainey's Room by Kelle Hampton from Enjoying the Small Things:

Aren't you in love?  So much personality and spice!

Up next, is this shared boy's and girl's room.  So fun and colorful.

Pioneer Woman's girls room by the dynamic duo by Robert and Cortney Novogratz.

And for girly tweens, I love this room.  Very cool:

I just notice that all the rooms I shared are girl rooms.  I don't know what that says about me, since I have two boys in the house, but that's a topic for a different post, I guess.

Moving on, 'cause that almost took a weird path, I created  my own mood board for Milo's room.  I wanted something that would require little change in years to come.  As much as I love decorating, I know me.  And I have difficulty finishing a decorating project.  So I wanted something that can easily evolve as Milo gets older. 

And without further ado, here is our Little Man's board: 

1.  I found these really cool prints at Typographic Verses by Jonathon Ogden that I think would work great in his room.  Check out all of his prints here.

2.  I love what people have done with this ikea mirror.  My favorite DIY and inspiration is this one.

3. I love the idea of the ruler growth chart.  This one inspired me to make my own.  This was one of the easiest DIY projects, and I'm almost done with it. 

4.  Simple Navy Sheets.

5. This shelving unit gives so much storage, it's crazy. 

6. CB2 brought back this rug, and I'm toatlly crushing on it.  Although this one is cool too, by Robert and Cortney Novogratz. 

7. Fun table lamp.

8. I'm still all about chalkboard still.  We painted another wall in his room.  If you can't commit to a whole wall, I love this, too.

9. These letters are rediculous!  But so is the price.  So I'm making something like this instead.

10. Sitting chair for Daddy and Milo nightime reading.

11. Cute vintage camera toy. 

12. I'd rather have a swinging chair like this, but the price makes me consider the ikea version.

 I'm almost ready to show it off.  So get ready.  

Hopefully my photo program will be up an running tomorrow.  Wish me luck!

Hope you had a good Monday, 

Kristin