2012 sounds like a nice even year. i think we’ll give it a shot. lots of love from the wruckers.
pssst this one is my fave from our session with claudia
giving good arting
well now i can finally share these projects our girl did for the grandparentals. they’ve been gifted and well received.
this was a nice project for darla. i have to admit i got a little micromanage maniac about the letters in the corner so i drained some of the fun out of it with being crazy but she had a good time with the rest of the canvas.
super simple.
put some stick on letters on a canvas. paint over them. pull them off. fun, personalized art. voila! art school here we come.
dolihaze
next up: tucker christmas
1. breakfast with grandpa at the abe martin lodge 2. displaying her latest talent which she calls “tick-tocking her eyes” 3. the beginning of a 24 hr winter wonderland 4. venturing out into the snow with grandpa 5. i want this hearth in my daily life 6. darla’s thinking ” and so this is christmas…and what have i done?….” 7. michael 8. Big Woods Brewing Company Cattail. mmmm yummy.
holidaze
the last of our christmastime festivities are wrapping up today and tomorrow it’s back to columbus to pack up and settle into our new abode. i’ll share our past week with you now, while i watch the fellowship of the ring. ahhhh holiday traditions.
first up: the wright stuff
1 & 2: family viewing of new muppets movie. popcorn overturned after 8 seconds in the theater. 3: lunch 4: salt dough ornaments with aunt colleen and cousin clarebear 5: upon discovering her stocking she exclaimed “what in the world is in here!” 6: opening presents and goodies with grandma 7, 8 & 9: so much enjoyment from a pair of wings and a lollipop 10: said lollipop 11: she said she was knitting a “thneed” with her new tent poles.
these last three pictures i’ve saved for a section of their own. the best part of christmas this year was seeing the littlest cousinfriends together. they have a relationship all their own now and they L-O-V-E each other like whoa. I want to go on record as saying that with this move mike and i weren’t sure, at first, if we were going to stay in columbus. we love this city but it’s not our forever spot. we considered moving on while we still have a flexible life but decided the reason for staying a bit longer is for these sassafrassies right here. there’s no guarantee that fortuna will bestow brothers or sisters or more cousins upon either girl. we owe them the opportunity to develop a strong bond. i say that if we give it one more year these girls will have a established a relationship that time and distance won’t be able to asunder.
hiatus
hi friends,
how was your christmas? merry? jolly? bright? white?
i hope any combination of all of the above.
all was well here. busy busy hectic and busy. but ohhhh so much fun. christmas continues for the tucker half of my family. we’re currently “christmasing” at the abe martin lodge in brown county indiana. the setting is pretty ideal at the moment.
i’m typing next to a crackling fire. the view outside the windows is of snow covered trees and cabins. the lodge is decked out in holiday decor and rustic, natural adornments. kids are running around, families are playing board games in the game lobby. the kitchen is churning out wonderful homestyle food. my child is asleep and i’m enjoying some peace on the internet with my father here by the fire.
maybe that last sentence didn’t fit in with the rest of the painted picture but did you hear me? MY CHILD IS ASLEEP. she’s been very rambunctious due to the lax environment the holidays have created and she’s taking her first nap in what seems like weeks. so i’m catching up on some things on the interwebs by this here fire while i shove my face full of stocking stuffed jelly beans.
semi-quiet solitude: it’s the best christmas gift yet…
ps. i have lots of pics and memories to share from our holiday celebrations but i’ll update on those soon. i’m trying my best to stay present with family time and disengaged from technology. present moments excluded.
lots of holiday busyness
but still wanted to take time out to say:
some things worth sharing
for viewing:
what do you like to dip your chips in? egg nog??
conference with dad
celebrating winter solstice
this is how she covers her ears while making shakes with dad
these are her latest “art projects.” somewhere along the line she’s gotten it into her head that markers + tape = art project. maybe it qualifies as found object art.
for reading:
columbus historical society to invade COSI
dadisthenewmom 12 reviews of christmas: start here
and just a couple more wonderful things that i love:
looooook at the woooonderful co-sleeping bed booook via peaceful parenting. designed by photographer Yusuke Suzuki for her own co-sleeping family.
and if any of you are printing out your gift tags, especially if you’re gifting to me, here ya go:
how darla felt
when i told her she had four more days to wait until christmas
when i told her grandma and grandpa wright were coming to stay with us today
when i asked her to pose again for the umpteenth photo in the santa hat
hope everyone is about to be off for christmas break. enjoy time away from your desk!
reusable christmas
every year i make a big deal about saving the wrapping paper and reusing it. and then christmas comes again and i loathe, LOATHE, dragging out that bin of crumply old paper. we seldom seem to use any of what i’ve saved.
so this year, and future years, i’m finding ways around it. we’re reusing materials and re-purposing. we’re not going to wrap any of the presents for the nuclear family. it’s all just going to be sitting out on display on christmas morning just like the good old days. here’s some of what we’ve come up with for this year:
our main sources have been old nautical charts courtesy of salty sailor mike, discarded darla masterpieces and brown paper prettified by my snowflake obsession. they’re everywhere!!!
i was trying to steal this idea from lovely things but i decided to use my snowflakes instead of doilies because we have about 500 coffee filters still to be used. if it doesn’t snow here christmas morning maybe i’ll just throw them all on the front yard.
i like reusable boxes and bags for christmas but i tried to maximize it up by decorating sturdy boxes in non-specific wrapping. that way they can be used for multiple holidays. does your family sit around on christmas morning and talk about what was put in what same box 20 years ago? mine does. smile.
getting d involved with coloring her own wrapping paper is one of the ideas we need to amp up next year. she wants to be in the center “helping” with everything and this satisfied her slightly. we are tearing off long strips of paper every third day anyway so might as well put it to another use before pitching. yeah, i just admitted to throwing away my child’s art. ya can’t keep it all.
we were all set on boxes, stuffers and tissue paper due to the amount of shopping i did online. for an extra pop of color i tore out pages from old magazines and added them to the stuffing. it feels good to know that we’re only wrapping half as many gifts this year and practically all of our materials are reused or recycled.
next year i’m campaigning for all family members to have an individual basket with their name on it and everyone will just come in and place the unwrapped gifts in respective baskets. think about it….
i will give you all the gift of time. time not spent wrapping gifts.
hey, has anyone seen my Madewell holiday catalog?
oooohhhhh there it is.
yeah, i made that snowflake craft my B-I- you-know-what… it’s not nearly as nice as michelle’s snowflake crafty work but i’m happy with my jump street.
momjeanz 