It’s Friday.  It’s also feeling like winter here.  And by here, I mean inside my own house.  The kids and I keep wondering, “Will our next home be warm?”  And who knows?  It might.

 

 

FUNNY

 

It’s about that time.  My kids are about at that age.  That age where what they say is inordinately hilarious.  Where I laugh without reserve frequently at our conversations.

But also at that age.  That age where I can no longer share every hysterically funny comment they make.  They’re getting older.  Their access to the internet is still incredibly limited so they’re not necessarily ever reading my blog.  But the tween (and teen) humor that has me cracking up is best left for family-only sort of stories.

 

 

That’s a crying shame too, because, I tell you what, it’s some good material coming out of their collective mouths.

I still write it down, of course.  That’s what I do.  But I use a regular pen on regular paper so that the kids and I can laugh about it together later, when they’re picking out my nursing home options and stuff.

Which means maybe you guys should tell ME some funny stuff this week.

 

FASHIONABLE

 

I love this season of attire.  The boots.  The dresses.  The sweaters.  The sweater dresses.

My framily member Sarah says I need to embrace Merino wool.  She lives in Alaska now so she understands cold on a deeper level than the rest of us.

(Have any of you guys worn Merino wool?  Is it worth the big price tag?  How can I keep moths from feasting upon it during the seasons that are not frigid?)

Here are some lovely Merino wool options that I find myself wishing I could consider.

 

 

 

 

FLAVORFUL

 

This week we remade this classic chicken casserole.

And by remade I mean, I used organic crackers and homemade cream of chicken soup.  So, you know, still not health food happening here.  But comfort food without the preservatives at least.

It was a big hit with the thirteen and under crowd.

 

FAITHFUL

 

I really appreciate the thoughtful manner in which our church approaches various topics and series.  One of our pastors is teaching about joy this month and it’s an overused word that loses a lot of its meaning this time of year.  We’re only one sermon in but I already have read over my notes just to be reminded of the truths already presented to my heart last week.

Mostly, I needed the reminder that joy is not self-manufactured.  We already have the joy of Christ if we love and follow him. His joy is already in us.  (I love the truth that it’s not one more thing on my to-do list that I need to rally up, muster together, pull up my boot straps and make it happen myself.)

It exists.  Already.  In me.

 

FEELS

 

I love traditions.  Christmas is a season chocked full of traditions.  Some are painful, of course, but still so beautiful.  Last year at this time it was a lot trickier to navigate the emotional pitfalls of all of those traditions but this year has been mostly a lovely basking in our family’s favorite bits and parts of celebrating this season.  We’ve baked the needle tips and stapled together the Christmas chain.  Monster Cookies have been baked (and consumed), ornaments made, popcorn and cranberries strung together for the birds, hemlock branches and holly berries sitting in glass jars on the mantle.

 

 

It’s been a gift to sit near our over-decorated Christmas tree and drink hot cocoa and talk abut what we should make for one another.

Maybe because we’re assuming this is our last Christmas holiday in this particular old high-ceilinged, wooden mantled, beloved old farmhouse that’s making it feel a little extra special this year.  I don’t know.  But I like these people.  And these walls.  And our ceramic nativity and our battered ornaments.

 

 

I saw a hand crafted sign on my Instagram feed recently that said “These Are My Favorite People”.  I want to buy that sign and hang it in my house.  Because they are.

 

 

 

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