HABIT-FORMING JOURNALS

Have any of you heard of this guy -- the one who started illustrating the hilarious things that kept popping out of his little girl's mouth? Well, one thing we really regret is not jotting down more of the funny, shocking, heartwearming things our own kids said and did when they were small. You feel sure you will remember them all but, surprise, you don't! Now that Little Goober is starting to talk, Papa John wants to make sure our kids don't make the same mistake we did. He went on line to see if he could find some kind of journal for them to keep a record of those special moments in and, par for the course, ended up ordering three! Two of them actually made it to their house.

One, however, never made it any further than the little side-table in my cozy dining porch nest, where I watch the sun come up each morning.

You see, one thing I have never been able to do is form any sort of art habit. I'll get totally immersed in one project for a while, but then I might go days, weeks, sometimes even months, without picking up pencil or brush. What I really want is a daily habit. It doesn't have to be a whole project per day, maybe just a little sketch or something. I was thinking about signing up for a class called 365, but when I read the blurb on the back of this book, I knew I was holding the perfect solution there in my hands.

In fact, it reminded me a lot of those super-fun exercises we did in my illustration class, with Becky Dawson of One Lane Road, at art camp this fall -- the ones that had us laughing so hard we almost wet our pants!

So far, so good!

P.S. Speaking of Becky Dawson, did I ever tell you that I finally received my Lucky Star coffee mug she designed? You saw it in the last post, about my "Seasonality Cafe" brain fart. Picture me this morning, sitting in my cozy nest, sipping tea from that mug, watching the sun come up, and sketching in my new little journal. Does it get any better?
 

IF YOU HAD A SHOP...

I was doing a final flip-through of last summer's issue of Artful Blogging (sister publication to my favorite Stampington magazine, Art Journaling) when I came to an article by this lady, which I had dog-eared first time around.

In it, she was describing the process she went through when first envisioning her blog-to-be. She happens to design "modern crochet patterns for old-fashioned crafters", and said she found it helpful to play "Shop Girl", and to pretend she was opening her own little boutique rather than starting a blog. So she asked herself why she wanted this little shop, what types of products would she offer, who her customers might be, and how she would draw them in. Then she envisioned how her shop would actually look.

Know what? It got me to thinkin'. A lot. I finally came to the conclusion that my dream blog-shop wasn't really a shop at all. It was more of a café -- one where I'd meet up with my internet muses on a regular basis, in order to inspire and be inspired, to nourish our creativity, to share our explorations, and to support one another's endeavors -- much like the one where I meet up with my local muses every week, for all the same reasons.

And, the more I thought about my little café and its customers, the more I came to realize that, perhaps, it is time to give these premises a mini-makeover, maybe even tweak the name a bit.  Still thinkin'.

So, what about you? Who among you has never, ever dreamed about having a little shop of your own? What would it look like? What kind of merchandise would it carry? Who would shop there? Go ahead, dream a little!

HUNKERING DOWN

With temps down in the 20s all week, we decided to make it a "Hygge" kind of week. As I'm sure you've read by now -- it coming in second for "word of the year", beat out only by Brexit -- Hygge is the Scandinavian word for well-being, and also for the practice of creating a mood of coziness and conviviality, in order to survive their long, dark, frigid winters.

A Hearty Pot of Boeuf Bourguignon

So far we've had a couple of days that we declared to be "Jammie" days, where we lit a fire and stayed in our PJs all day long. We've cooked some delicious, stick-to-your-ribs food, started watching some fun new series on Netflix and Acorn, and we've read lots of good books.

I even gave myself permission to leave my little tree up a bit longer than usual, as it really added to the warm, cozy atmosphere.

I especially enjoyed it first thing in the morning, sitting in an otherwise dark room, sipping my first cup of hot tea.

Pretty much the only "work" I did, other than cooking, was to finish up a few art projects. Now, I just need to get my art table cleared off so I can start the year with a clean slate, so to speak, before jumping into my next project.

Just about the only thing that was worth leaving the house for was this little dude.

Now we know where his phone habit came from. Apparently Papa John even let him send his first text, and take his first selfie!

Most exciting event of the week occurred yesterday morning, when I finally headed into town. I stopped at the bottom of the driveway to set the trash out for pick-up, and spotted something white out of the corner of my eye. My first frost flower!

Then I saw another.

And another! They were everywhere, under every clump of trees, and all along the fence rows.

 

Now that was definitely worth leaving the house for!

POOR LITTLE PITOOTIE

Know what my very favorite part of Christmas is? I think it's probably late night Christmas Eve, after everyone but Mr. and Mrs. Claus has finally gone to bed, so that the stocking-filling-ritual can finally commence. Mr. Claus just loves that part so, so much.

The Calm Before The Storm

Austin's and Areej's Stockings

Calvin's Stocking & Gift Pile

The next morning, Lex was up not long after me, and came upstairs to start preparing a fabulous Christmas feast for us all. I later asked my hubby if he was sad about not being in charge of breakfast for the first time. Without a moment's hesitation, he replied "Heck No! Best Christmas EVER!"

It seems everyone was dressed for the occasion, except me. 

Guess I'd better go shop the after-Christmas sales, see what I can find for next year, huh?

Little Calvin started out quite jovial, but as the morning progressed, he got more and more mellow...

Loves his new shoes, and his little Daniel Tiger Christmas tree ornament!

Can you believe his mama actually asked Santa to bring him Play-doh and finger paints? What a nice mom!

until finally he burst into tears and became inconsolable. Turns out he was running a fever! We're so thankful he made it through all the best parts before it got too bad, but pretty sad that they had to cut their visit short, and that we didn't get to take him to see the Wimberley Trail of Lights.

Ah well, something to look forward to next year, right?

P.S. We've come a long way, baby. Just for fun, check out this post about one of our very first Christmases here in Wimberley.

MAKING SEASONS BRIGHT

There's nothing like adding a little kid to the mix -- just old enough to be wowed by everything -- to make the season bright again.

No Hallmark movies for this gang! Instead it's the Dr. Who Christmas Special.

Always A Kid At Heart

Everything's A Phone To Him (His parents swear he didn't learn it from them!)

One of the biggest/best surprises this year was that, instead of me assigning each one a dish to bring, my kids got together and divided  the preparation of everything but one thing, including two fabulous brunches, so all I had to prepare was the beef tenderloin! Well, and provide a few beloved specialties from our local bakeries. 

Austin and Areej whip up all the sides for our Christmas Eve feast, plus some German Glühwein to sip on during after-dinner game-time. Papa John eyes the pastry station.

Is there anything better than kids who love to cook?

Beef Tenderloin and Horseradish Sauce, Brie and Bacon Tart, Roasted Brussels Sprouts, and a Torchy's Tacos-Inspired Salad

Then it was time to put Little Goober to bed, play a rousing round of the game Telestrations, followed by our traditional Bad-B-Christmas Movie. This year it was El Camino Christmas. Believe me, we've seen worse. I actually made it all the way through this one!

to be continued...

A DOUBLE-GOOD DAY

Yesterday started with a text message from my daughter, asking if I wanted a visit from my grandson. Well, duh! We are always happy to see him, but especially on that day since, 1) I was planning to introduce him to his very first taste of Christmas cookies...

so he'd have some idea what these pretend-cookies are, when they show up in his stocking (for play with the little wooden kitchen that he's getting for Christmas)...

He likes it!

and 2) Papa John had picked up a little something down in the square that had Calvin's name all over it. Actually, three somethings (there's a black and white checked one too!)

What can I say? The boy loves hats, and Papa John loves to shop!

Hard to believe a day could get any better, but then this showed up in the mail...

This issue won't be hitting the magazine stands until New Years, but I got an early edition because (SQUEE!!!) of this...

Could a day get any better?

Now all I have to do is pray that my actual Sudan/Barcelona travel journal, the basis for this article, makes it back home safe and sound!