a love note

dear 2010, 

i will forever remember you as the year of a healing heart and a mended mind. you were a year of progress for the sake of sink of swim. move it or lose it! you kept us moving on down the road when we thought it might be easier to just lie down by the curb for a little while. i hate thinking of how much of you i wasted dragging my feet and taking little glances back at the years before you..although you didn't seem to mind.

you brought me love. oh my did you bring me love. love with a side of maturity, health, and stability.

you reminded me over and over who i'm supposed to be and you were my second chance kind of year. the most beautiful plan b.

to max you were first kisses, lost teeth, #6, new adventures hood rat'n and beat boxing and kindergartening and canoeing and shoe tying and reading real words.

you were parties for no good reason at all. kisses and smooching for days. new friends and new places to lay our head. you were life changing jobs and a brand new kind of faith.

you were not too shabby. 

not one bit.

i wish i had a river

we spent the afternoon ice skating outside by the river yesterday with matt's brother and sister in law (who were in town from chicago) and his mama. it was cold cold cold but worth every sniffle. this gal loves winter and was in all her glory bundling up (wearing her new christmas hat from her fellas!) and taking in the cold air.

max and matt are fearless skaters! 

i'm as bumbley as can be on the ice and was praying that i wouldn't fall and injure my rear again. i spent most of the time clinging to the wall...dreaming of taking off towards the center of the rink and doing a fancy spin or axle or whatever the kids are doing these days.

 and even though it's a sad song, skating makes me hum joni's "river" every time.

i wish i had a river 

i could skate away on

i wish i had a river so long

i would teach my feet to fly

fa la la la la

the gifts are unwrapped, the house is a happy cluttered mess, and we're still basking in the glow of our full holiday weekend with family and friends.

max, being filled with momentary cheer, made a temporary truce with santa after he brought him a pillow pet. although he still questions his practices...wondering why santa has to sneak around and be all shady. i'm trying to enjoy every last bit of this. i have a feeling this was our last "i believe in/am terrified of santa" christmas.

the morning was a hectic but lovely one. 

matt and i woke up to a bit of new snow on the ground and, like all christmas mornings past, max had to be woken up. i don't know of any child that has his parent's begging him to wake up and open presents. my little guy is a rare breed.

this was our first christmas all together and it was a fine one. max and matt smothered me with some pretty wonderful presents...a new record player, a diana mini, and my favorite...a orange and a peppermint. my grandma used to tell us of her christmas' growing up and getting presents of oranges and peppermint sticks. the sweetest and simplest of gifts. it's become a tradition with matt and me.

and now that it's all said in done...i've got my carter family record on, warm water heating on the stove, and a million and a half things scattered all about with no proper place to put any of them. i feel loved and full and happy. ready to tackle this new year.

happy happy happy

happy christmas to all of you!

i hope it is warm and peaceful, merry and bright, and full of laughing and good things.

i'm counting down the hours until i can scoop my max back up and start the celebrating. this day hasn't quite seemed as good without him.

hangin round the mistle toe

waitin for you dear.

stockings by the fire

 our stockings are finally up and we're all bustling around the house trying to finish up last minute christmasy things. i decided to make our stockings this year...with a little linen and paint. my grandma stratton has always used the sweetest old handmade stockings at her house. they're all thin and falling apart with each name attached with masking tape that has lost its stick. i love them.

i want to start that tradition here. the only thing they're missing is the tape.

i hope everyone is having a lovely christmas week. 

matt brought me home peonies on monday. i couldn't believe he could manage such a thing this time of year. the house has the most amazing clash of smells...summer petals and christmas tree. i want to bottle it up. and him as well.

3 more days, friends!

mallrats

max and i spent his first day of christmas break loitering at the mall...eating ridiculous portions of pizza, visiting the puppies, doing a little people watching (snickering at the people getting the free massages), and lurking santa. 

max has a general distrust for the poor guy (remember last year?)

so instead of sitting on his lap like we intended to do when we got there, max decide he wanted to just "see" him. observe him from afar. size him up. 

this is as close as he got. and although it's a little less traditional than other "kids with santa" pictures, i still want to stuff this one in a christmas card. is it me or are his fists clinched a little....?

once we got that over with, we realized stalking has a way of making you hungry...so we sat up in the food court where max repeatedly hid under the table when pretty girls walked by and continued his watch on santa...this time from the balcony.

my guy is a hoot to be around in public these days. 

he's all befuddled and turned about and plotting against iconic jolly men.

christmas count down: 4 days! ack.

winter white

our friends beth and andy got married saturday.

the two of them are tops among couples i admire and respect. it was a beautiful day...a laid back winter morning wedding in a historic home decorated and bundled up for christmas. matt preformed the ceremony and beth and andy sealed the deal with their own secret handshake.

afterwards we had brunch and visited with old friends and sipped on champagne...all before noon. 

my kind of day...

i hope everyone had a wonderful weekend!

i'm nursing a sore rear end this morning. the details aren't pretty...suffices to say i fell down the stairs last night while wearing a plastic fireman's hat. my pride needs some nursing as well.

happy monday, friends!

be nice or leave

max's space in the new house is coming right along. 

there's still a lot i want to accomplish for him up there, but for now it's just right. the first thing max did when we brought him up to see his new room was dive on the bed and put his bare toes on the cold ceiling (something matt and i both remember doing when we were little ones). 

it's a good room. 

a happy place. a growing up kind of place.

max's dad is a fantastic artist and made these little wooden mustached animals for max last christmas.their faces are fashioned after our elementary and high school gym teacher. haha. 

jesse is working on a children's book about a boy named max and his gym teacher-mustached animal friends.

matt decided to finish off the attic space for max to use as a fort to hide away in. it has its original wood floor with the large gaps...perfect for stashing away love notes and treasures. 

with all the construction going on downstairs, max has started making sculptures out the extra bits of drywall. below is his striped "knight arm" sculpture...and he's nailed all the rest in this fort.

he's definitely making this place his own...

fancy christmas

i was watching a special on tv the other night about the origins of christmas. it was so interesting and spoke of how groups of people have been gathering together...eating and drinking fine things... and celebrating this time of year for thousands of years.

i couldn't get that out of my mind as my little group of wonderful friends sat around the table together in a empty indian restaurant...all dressed up...celebrating the year and each other. fancy christmas is silly gifts and party crackers filled with odds and ends. but it's also a true observance of the small things and friendship and life lived.

i feel very blessed to have such capital friends surrounding me.

(not to mention all of you as well.)

i guess fancy christmas brings out the sentimentalist in me..i can be a real sap sometimes.

 

after dinner we went dancing at a place my brother in law nate likened to "being on a cruise ship". lots of older folks waltzing to funk and disco. its an amazing place, where no one is keeping up appearances. it's a genuine place. a place to safely make a fool of yourself.

i need a little fancy christmas more often...