his first story.

the other day during nap time, i let coen stay up with me while i worked on a quick project for the dining room. as i started writing on the large piece of paper, coen asked if he could as well, with the same sort of marker i was using.

i almost said no, because of the extra fuss and mess. but thankfully, i said yes.
i'm learning how to say yes more, and lean into the mess and fuss.
because, goodness, how they bloom through it.

and so, he started "writing" a story. he asked once how to spell norah's name, and he wrote it himself, along with his own.

when he finished, he told me his story.

Once upon a time, there was a boy named Coen. 

And he had a sister named Norah. 

One day, Norah and Coen went on an adventure, 

looking for dragons dead and alive. 

The End.

watching his imagination develop and grow has been such a gift. 

i can't wait to hear more.

love.

this christmas.

we maybe barely pulled christmas off, in the midst of life being full and busy, but we did it.

and the kids had a blast.

i didn't get many photos this year, but are a few (sometimes blurry) moments from our christmas:







we hope you all had a very merry christmas, too!

this last year has been one full of its own difficulty, lots of transition, and so much grace.
as we reflect on the goodness of God that we have seen and felt this year, we are so excited to welcome in the new year, and we are sending our love and warmest wishes to each of you!

love.

life, lately.

note: i'm just going to jump in here like i haven't been missing from this blog for months and months with pretty much no explanation. okay? thanks.

life has been busy, in so many good ways, but still--it's so busy.

the kids are huge and wonderful and so smart. for those of you who don't know, we started kindergarten at home this fall. AND IT IS GOING SO WELL. i was pretty much a nervous mess of a wreck leading into it, afraid i would fail in every way. but so far, the little man is loving it and flying through. he is starting to love to learn, and he even read his first little book this week.

guys, i'm a homeschooling mom. how did that even happen?

we have been adjusting slowing to more routine and schedule. and by we, i mean us girls. c loves and thrives on schedule and predictability. and i am certain that just being his mom will continue to shape me into someone better, hopefully with more structure.

too much time has passed to just photo dump essentially a year's worth of photos into one post, so let's just start fresh, with a few highlights of our fall. we are anxiously awaiting the holidays, and i think it will be the best one yet now that the kids are getting in on the excitement with me.

i foresee lots of christmas music, movies and even more twinkling lights joining us in our days pretty soon. and sadly, even more excuse to watch frozen. but, that's just part of being a mother in the twenty-fifteen, i guess.

till next time (soon).

love.

the two year old & the fairy party.

on her birthday, i wrote these few words:

t w o. two years ago, we were welcoming her into the world. relieved and overwhelmed by the blessing of our sweet baby that was such a gift after loss. in these two years, she has stretched my heart wide open and made such an impact on our family. her brother adores her, her daddy is smitten with her crazy, and her mama is so proud and thankful. every day with this beauty and her crazy eyes is such a gift. we are humbled to be entrusted with such a precious little heart. here's to many more birthdays with this sweet girl of ours. // also? I'd say she had a good day.

there is so much more i could say about this girl. she has brought joy to our lives in countless ways, and we are constantly amazed at her little person.

of course, we had sushi for her birthday because it's her favorite.
over the weekend, we had a fairy party to celebrate.

because it wouldn't have been complete without a few fairy wings and a little bit of sparkle.

love (& pixie dust).

snow days (& days).

"Snow was falling,

so much like stars

filling the dark trees

that one could easily imagine

its reason for being was nothing more

than prettiness."
- mary oliver

we usually get one good decent snow down here a year. being from the north, they are some of my favorite days--especially considering everything shuts down thanks to our pal, ice.

the past few weeks have given us TWO good snows, and we have been enjoying them, for sure.

in summary, favorite snow pastimes include:
c: throwing snowballs.
n: eating snow.

sounds about right.

love.

oh, hey 2015.

happy new year! (give or take a week.)

i've missed this blog. but my absence has ended up being a good thing, i think, and i feel refreshed and excited for this new year.

life has been flying by, and small people are growing up. we're getting more settled into our new(ish) home and the space has been even more beneficial than i had imagined it would be. we survived the busy holidays and so far have stayed pretty healthy--a fact that i am not taking for granted, as health still seems like more of a novelty around here than a given.

this new season has brought strange and different challenges, in areas that i didn't expect. but we are learning and growing and settling into this new rhythm of life we've found ourselves in. some of us more gracefully than others, and i admit that probably doesn't include me.

but despite the (new, normal) hardships of life, we have been able to experience grace in large amounts, and in many ways. and really, because of that, life has been sweet.

isn't it always, though? 

love.

photo credit: misi photo.

the next (rental) chapter.

this weekend we moved. it happened fast, and not without its share of stress. but we made it, and are settling into a townhouse that is significantly bigger than our last home.

the home we spent four years in.
the home we brought our daughter home to.
the only home our children remember.
the home that saw us through the toughest and sweetest, thinnest and fullest, most sorrowful and joyous times of our lives.

it wasn't perfect, and i'd be lying if i said it was my dream house. there were definitely seasons that found me feeling discontent so many things--the lack of yard or space or carpet in the dining room (who does that, anyway?). but through it all, i learned so much about contentment in being where we are for the seasons we are called to dwell there. and it was just what we needed, in those years of little means and a lot of faith. and looking back, i'm thankful for it and even feel a little sad to leave it. just a little, but sad nonetheless.

because we changed and grew and saw God work immensely in our lives within those four walls, for those four years. so as we see that chapter of dwelling come to a close, we are looking to the next one with excitement, and expectancy.

we are here. starting a new journey in a blank canvas of glorious sunlight and hardwoods. ready for us to fill it to the top with new memories of living and loving and dwelling.

so far, it's going so well. the kids absolutely love it and play and sleep better here than the old house already, and i pretty much burst with excitement every few minutes when i just stop to look around.

we are thankful.
it's good to be home.
(more pictures coming soon.)

love.

scenes from the (independence day) weekend.

this weekend was made of new memories. the weather was glorious and we were spoiled with having nick home for three whole days. i feel like, in a lot of ways, it was a glimpse of the start of a whole new season for us. a season of (relatively) good health and sweet littles and love and life and joy. we explored downtown, ate good food, laughed with good friends, stayed up late, and thoroughly enjoyed each other. god is so kind.

for now, here are just a few (very high-quality if i might add) photos from our first family fireworks.

the kids had a blast. we love this city.

till next time (and that will be soon, i promise).

love.

around here, lately.

we celebrated our sweet boy who turned four with a chick-fil-a lunch date and a few small celebrations with friends and family. it was pretty low-key this year since life has been so buys, but it was filled with cars and planes and one very happy boy.

this boy of ours. he is so tall and filled to the brim with life. he can barely express all the emotion that  spill out of him at times and is so compassionate and sincere it makes us so proud. we are so thankful for him.

we've also been able to steal away for a few pool days and the kids love it. we all do.

also? this girl's got style all her own. ♥

love.