30 November 2011

december is here.

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Picnik collage park

autumn ends
with a cool wind
walking away

empty streets
once dressed
in colorful trees
branches danced
over our home

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Picnik collage park2

silence fills day
a snowflake gently
touches our cheek

december is here
with her open arms
gray skies
white kisses

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she takes our hands
walks away
into a distance
an opaque haze

magical dreams
joy
within reach

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autumn ends
into december's stillness

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linking up with morgan from mama loves papa for small style.

sparkle. shine. share.

Jess

The tree is up and December is here tomorrow. The holiday season is upon us and I'm ready. I'm ready to stop, slow down and enjoy this season with the kids and my family. I don't see much of Jon this month because it's the restaurant's busy season but I capture happiness in the time we do share.

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Speaking of sharing....the kids and I have been busy reaching out to those in need. For Thanksgiving we baked three large casseroles of green beans that were served to local families. For Christmas Joshua is filling a stocking for a child of a similar age who is in foster care. Jonas is picking out items for a boy his age that will go to the Domestic Violence Program. I choose a little boy who is from the same program. We also spend the next week going through toys and cloths that we can pass along to those in need. It's very important to me as a parent and role model to teach my children to share and give a helping hand when needed. I only hope they take this gift and pass it along.

Joy

May your days be filled with joy.
Take this joy.
Pass it along.
Give a hand.
Reach to those in need.

linking up with Chelsey today for Wordless (ish) Wednesday

28 November 2011

o christmas tree.

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Growing up it was a tradition to load the family in the station wagon and drive down south to a tree farm to cut our own. These days we have simplified the tree process and head over to our friend's house to pick one (or two) out for our house. Very close friends of ours own a tree farm so we have made a tradition out of this yearly ritual of packing up the car and driving to their house. The boys play with their girls while the adults chat and pick out trees. This year little Jessica ran around in the backyard and loved hanging out with the dogs.
Poor Jonas was still sick and took a nap during this festive event.

Picnik collage tree

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Picnik collage

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I'm so excited to decorate the tree and the house this week. I can't believe December is right around the corner. There is something magical about this time of the year and now that I have children it's like experiencing the magic for the first time. A child's joy can touch the heart in so many ways.
I hope to be touched every day this season by the joy of my children.

Thanks Chris and Leslie for having us over. Good time as always and thanks Leslie for snapping some photos!

25 November 2011

tradition with a twist.

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Every year our Thanksgiving is filled with tradition. Typically, I wake up early and run the 5K Turkey Trot and when I get home Jon golfs with the guys. My day is spent hagning out with the kids and baking and when Jon comes home we head over to his dad's house.
This year we celebrated with tradition but we also had a twist.

I woke up in the morning to one sick little boy. Poor Jonas had a high temperature and headache which stuck with him all day. Jon was still feeling under the weather from his surgery and decided to take it easy. No race. No golf. Instead we hung out around the house and were lazy. I did get a run in though and it was much needed with all the food that I would be eating.

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I baked my vegan pumpkin pie, a fabulous sweet potato casserole that I made with coconut milk and Jon made his famous mashed potatoes. We may have even enjoyed a bloody mary during all this baking. Around 3:30 we packed up and headed to his dad's house for our first dinner. At 6:30 we headed to my parents for our second dinner.

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All the packing up and moving gets to be hard but I suppose it's part of the tradition. It's nice to be able to spend the holiday with all of our parents, even if it gets a little crazy. We had one sick boy and my poor dad had a broken arm and injured back but we made it work. Here's to tradition and the holidays. I hope you enjoyed yours! Today is for lounging around the house, working out, eating yummy leftovers with my parents, decorating for Christmas, and spending time with my brother and his family.

please excuse the not so great photos.

23 November 2011

grateful for family.

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Picnik collage josh

Yesterday Joshua and I had a wonderful day at his school for the Thanksgiving Feast. They had the cutest performance from all the grades followed by a feast with handpicked items from the children. Let's just say the menu was interesting! And what did my little Joshua choose to bring? Why, Pirate Booty of course. I've never had it because it has dairy but the boys love it.

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Joshua's amazing Thanksgiving book was the centerpiece for our table. This little book is so beautiful and made my heart melt while I read through the pages.
These are the memories that I look forward to bringing out when he is older.
Reminiscing on old times. Laughing. Talking.
Sharing moments as family.

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I am grateful for the time we share now.
I am grateful for the memories we are building.
I am grateful for family.
They carry me and guide me in the right direction.
They make me smile when thoughts walk my mind.
They make me laugh with each day.

I hope everyone is enjoying their Thanksgiving week.
Is there anything in particular that you are grateful for?
Share below. I would love to hear your thoughts.

Today I am off to Jonas' Thanksgiving Feast then home to bake my pies for tomorrow. I'm looking forward to a relaxing evening tonight. Jon is still home recovering. Which, it's kinda weird having him around for the week. I'm not used to hanging out after the kids go to bed. I've really enjoyed our time together this week. This weekend we have my brother, his wife and their boys staying with us AND we put up the tree!!

21 November 2011

shakes here and shakes there.

I'm feeling a bit more like myself after a refreshing weekend. I caught up on lots of housework, enjoyed time with Jon and played and played with the kids. I probably should have mentioned that the other reason I've been a little off these days is because I'm trying to cut back on the coffee. This is a challenge for me but one I really want to work on.

To seek the extra energy that I need to get me through my day I've turned to shakes. When I was pregnant with Jess I made a banana shake every single day. I looked forward to those afternoons when I could sit and enjoy my drink as if it were a steaming hot latte. These days I've been making a banana cocoa cashew shake which I adapted from here.

Below are both recipes.
I don't use measurements so you'll have to taste and adjust.

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Banana Cocoa Cashew Shake:
1 banana
handful of raw cashews
1 to 2 tsp cocoa powder
1.5 cups coconut milk (or any other milk on hand)
1 tsp vanilla (optional)
1 tbsp wheat germ or flax seed
handful of ice

blend ingredients until smooth

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shake

Banana Spice Shake:
1 banana
handful of raw almonds (or other nuts)
1.5 cups almond milk
1 tsp honey (or agave syrup)
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp fresh ginger
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 tbsp wheat germ or flax seed
handful of ice

blend ingredients until smooth

shakes

Other activities from the weekend include:

Painting the garage white. Always a fun time.

Jess must have got a hold of the phone at some point because she dialed 911. I would like to note their rapid response time on calling back. We should all be very impressed with this service. My apologies for my one year old and her fine motor skills. Seriously, where were the parents?

I almost finished painting the bathroom.

My pumpkin spice cinnamon rolls were a success.

I managed to fall asleep by midnight on Friday night. A true success.

In addition to my normal role (mother, wife, master laundress, painter) I will also be playing the part of a nurse this week. Jon goes in for a minor surgery tomorrow and will be home most of the week. Nothing serious. Let's just say the Jacob's won't be having any more kids. Three is our magical number.

I hope you enjoyed your weekend friends. If you try my shake recipes let me know. I would love to hear how they turned out.

enjoy

18 November 2011

recently in life.

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It's been a crazy busy week and I'm ready to welcome the weekend. I apologize for my lack of posts and I know my recent posts have not reflected me and my personality. Once again I am overloaded in life and need to breathe. Slow down.
Enjoy the little things.
I'm spending the weekend relaxing and catching up. The kids are actually with my parent's for the night so I can work on the house. We're still hoping to list the house in two weeks....but naturally we're behind schedule.
So much to do. So little time.
Working tonight will help. A hot bath and a late dinner with Jon.
Tomorrow and Sunday are dedicated to the kids.
I'll be back on Monday.
Refreshed and ready to write.
Ready to share.
In the meantime, enjoy your weekend friends.

16 November 2011

wordless (ish) wednesday.

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well friends, i'm overwhelmed.
it's a busy busy week on my end. so i've decided to post this amazing photo from our last trip to telluride. i wish i was there now. relaxing. taking it easy. enjoying nature and the little moments.

Linking up with The Paper Mama, Project Alicia, and then she snapped, live and love out loud, jenni from the blog
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