{a year of growth}

2013...you were a year of growth for me. 

That was the word I chose for you, and boy did you ever come through.

I grew into myself more than I could have imagined this time last year. 

I found new friendships, one in particular, that encourage me to be fully myself. What a blessing that has been.

And oh yeah...I taught my first workshop!

I went to my first blogging conference and spent my first weekend away from the boys. 

The friendships I made there continue to fill my heart with love and support. What a great group of ladies. 

I rediscovered my love for drawing. 

I almost have no words for this...it has brought me alive. 

And I have a feeling this doodling journey of mine has just begun. Boy am I grateful. 

I grew as a Mom...learning how to parent 5 year olds {OK...I'm still learning that lesson} and kindergartners. 

Whew! is all I have to say about that one.

Some days these boys darn right overwhelm me, but in the end this journey of motherhood is incomparable in the best of ways. 

And let's not forget this guy and I celebrated 10 years of marriage...

Watching him as a father, seeing his daily devotion to our family amid the messiness of daily life...it is all so beautiful. 

So thank you, 2013. You helped me grow by leaps and bounds. 

XO,



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{christmas in photos}

It is hard to believe the Christmas is over already...so much preparation and poof...gone. We had a really wonderful day and are lucky enough to live close to my parents and my hubby's mom so we got to see all of them in the same day. Here are just a few photos of our family celebration...

We let the boys open up their gifts to each other on Christmas Eve and that was pretty much the most adorable thing ever...

Spy binoculars for Landon...

And a big old Hulk for Ben...

Brothers gotta hug!

Then they put on their new Christmas jammies, put out the milk and cookies for Santa, and were ready for bed...after a few {or ten} photos...

Once the boys were snug in their beds {they actually shared the lower bunk...can you say precious?!} we wrapped their gifts and watched A Christmas Story...

I love seeing a tree surrounded by lovely packages...

And then on to Christmas morning! 

These boys crack me up...

The Hulk Hands were actually their gift to their dad but they will get plenty of use by every male member of the household, and probably me a few times too!

This was on my wish list...but I wasn't expecting my hubby to get it for me...

You could say I was just a TAD excited. :)

Men building things...

Grandparents are the best, aren't they?

Love my Momma!

After the morning with my parents, we headed over to my mother-in-law's house for the rest of our celebration. 

I am so thankful that I get to call these ladies mom and sister...

Having fun with my new toy...

The boys got A LOT of lego/block toys. And Dan put together everything you see here except for the fire station {that's my handiwork}...

Checkers! It is so fun to be able to play games like this with them now...

And last night the boys and I had probably our final viewing of The Polar Express for the season...goodness I just love that movie...

Whew! So that was our Christmas in more than a few photos. I actually took it easy this year. 

I only used my phone for photos and tried to take most of the moments in without the lens in front of my face. I don't even care if the photos aren't the best quality. The moments were, and that's what matters. 

I've also decided that 5 years old is the PERFECT Christmas age. It was overflowing with magic. :)

How was your Christmas? Tell me all about it in the comments!

XO,

{holiday funk}

I has it.

And I don't mean funk as in "Play that funky music..."

I mean funk as in blues, blahs, etc.

So today I'm spreading some holiday cheer to try to pull me out of these blahs. I'm sending special friends Starbucks gift cards through Facebook...which BTW is SO easy that it is scary. 

Making a friend smile + giving them coffee = happy Mandy

And now I'm thinking about what else I can do today for others that will banish the blahs.

Ideas friends?

XO,

{let's talk about bangs}

Last weekend I had a much needed date with some hair color and scissors...

And on a whim I had my stylist cut bangs!

If you follow me on Instagram, this is old news, but I have been neglecting this blog quite a bit lately, and figured this whole bang situation deserved a bit more attention.

Or maybe I'm just reaching for blog content.

Either way, here we are.

Since then I've rotated between loving them...

And relegating them to the side of my head with a bobby pin...

Today we are friends again...

But I can't promise they will last until bedtime. Or even 5:00 for that matter. Something about having hair on my forehead that can just drive me insane in a matter of minutes. And thanks to my Instagram friends, I learned I'm not the only one. 

Whew...turns out bangs are just one of those love/hate relationship things.

I do have to admit I like having the option of wearing them down or pinning them back. Time will tell if they become a permanent fixture.

Do you have bangs? What's your verdict?

XO,

{Christmas Entryway}

Our entryway finally got a touch of Christmas cheer today...

It is one of my favorite spaces to decorate. Here are a few photos!

The vintage Santa and reindeer was my Dad's as a child...it is one of my favorite pieces. And my Mom gave me the metal tree for my birthday. It is so fun to change out the little picture frames for the seasons/holidays. And of course you know I love some good chalk art!

So that's it! What do you think? Do you decorate your entryway for the holidays?

XO,

{hello friday}

The boys are enjoying a snow day today and I'm at work, but this is my view...

And I have coffee so I'm not complaining too much. :)

Our week has been full of Christmas shows and hot chocolate with lots of cool whip. Pretty much every photo on my Instagram feed this past week had Christmas lights in it. And that makes me smile. I'm so thankful for this time of year. It is so magical with the boys.

Here are a few peeks from our past week...

Pumpkin pie for breakfast because...why not?!

Puzzle making with Nana...

Making Christmas cookies!

The tree in progress...

Sunday mornings = coffee with whip + Iron Man...

We are doing advent chains this year and the boys are having a lot of fun with it...this was something we did every year when I was growing up as well...

They were such great helpers decorating the tree...

Nothing quite as magical as a Christmas tree, is there?

I decked out the mantel with a little DIY project...

Hot chocolate + whipped cream + Charlie Brown Christmas =

Love this boy...

Landon got to enjoy a solo bath while Benny was passed out on the sofa...

A new doodle...

The boys had "Polar Express" night at school last night and they were so excited to weir their pj's...

It was mass chaos and about 95 degrees in there, but the boys had fun making reindeer ornaments, decorating cookies and wearing their jingle bell necklaces. Isn't the Polar Express such a magical story?

And after all of that, thank God for hot chocolate...

Amen.

What has your week looked like?

XO,