7 Holiday Quick Takes Saturday

04 January 2014

The littles and I are still at my parents house. We decided to stay on after Christmas since Jacob's work schedule is crazy right now. We figured I could use a little more support and he could use a little more sleep. We head back to Houston in a few days and then a week later we move. And then maybe life will settle into some kind of new normal.

I'm itching for our next phase. A quaint little house. Putting in a garden. Getting our beehives going again. Having a real washing machine. Graduating out of a one butt kitchen. Figuring out my survival techniques for SAHMdom.

Despite the craziness of life at a macro level, these days at my folks' place are pretty simple. Holding a 2 monther all day. Naptime wars with a willful toddler. Sipping Blackbox Malbec and playing Cribbage with my grandmother in the evenings while Jake has his Dora date. Hearing my dad read to my son in the same voice that he used to read to me and my siblings. Drinking lots of nespresso. My parents and my kids are usually asleep by nine which leaves me in the glow of my macbook sending nagging texts to my husband about why he hasn't called yet.

All that to say that even though the blogosphere is alit with new year bravado, 2014 hasn't really hit me yet. After we move, I'll get all kinds of resolution-y up in here, but until then I'll keep talking holidays. Here are some moments from ours that I don't want to forget.

- 1 -
My older brother asked Jake to carry some wrapped gifts from one room to another. And in the 30 step journey my son lost them. Then I got to listen to my brother coax the whereabouts of the presents out his two year old godson. Utter delight.



- 2 -
We went on a tour of some wineries in between Fredericksburg and Austin. We peaked at winery three. Sat down for winery four.





Rallied for winery five.





- 3 -
 My husband made my dad an awesome wine bottle rack since vino was the song of the season.


(It had the added bonus of finally displacing a self portrait I did in high school.)

- 4 -
Jacob has come to really love playing Cribbage with my grandmother. He scoffed at the game for years because it was a "math game" and he's not really into addition, but he loves spending time with Nan so much he eventually learned how to play her game. Now whenever we're staying with my parents and I'm holding two crying children and my husband is nowhere to be found, chances are real good that he snuck away with Nan to play Cribbage. It's almost as annoying as it is heart melting.





Anyhow, for Christmas, he made my grandmother a cribbage board out of a beautiful piece of mahogany. Now it lives on her coffee table.


- 5 -
Also on the DIY train was my new sister-in-law who made my brother some wall art for his new counseling practice. It was awesome. She milled the wood herself  in the wilds of their Seattle backyard


and completed the project while hiding with her wood burning tool in the bathroom at my parents'.


Having in-laws in the clan has really upped the gift giving game.

- 6 -
Due to a little miscommunication among my family members about something I asked for for Christmas, I ended up with not one...not two



not three



but FIVE Anchor Hocking jars.

I love them, so I'm not complaining. Especially since I'm now the family record holder for accidentally repeated gift. The old record was only three.

- 7 -
On New Year's Eve, Jacob drove out of Houston at 8:45 after his last job and raced the year-end so he could be with me at midnight. Mr. GrandGesture even got pulled over and still managed an 11:57 arrival. We then stayed out for a couple more hours with my childhood friend and her husband. It felt like we were in college or something being out so late...except for the whole newborn snuggled in the Moby Wrap thing.

And I have finally finished these takes, and they only took me 48 hours. I like to start the New Year right.

See Jen for more!!

13 comments :

  1. I love reading about Jacob and his grand gestures.

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  2. What are you going to do with all the jars? And the New Year's thing was so sweet - put a big smile on my face!

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  3. Love these pictures! Happy Christmas and Merry New Year and all that jazz! :)


    ~ Country Girl's Daybook
    Recently posted: a mini movie review + Walter Mitty's clementine cake. --> http://bit.ly/19ICsYA

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  4. I could totally use five of those jars.

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  5. That cribbage board is beautiful! Did he make custom pegs too?!

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  6. You all are so crafty! That wine rack is pretty amazing.
    You look like you're feeling no pain at that third winery (fourth maybe?) I'm soooo jealous. I've been wanting to go wine tasting since Jordan was born. We even have a gift certificate to go...just a matter of breaking free from the youths.

    Happy new year, Kate.

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  7. So impressed by all the hand-made gifts!
    Happy 2014 to you and your family!
    Good luck with the move.

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  8. Those gifts are amazing. Your family sounds/looks so fun. I loved reading this. Thanks for the comment on my blog, which led me over here :)

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  9. Aww, I really love all these! The wineries..the cribbage...the jars. My heart melted slightly when I read your husband made your grandma a cribbage board...thats really the sweetest thing. I love cribbage too!

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