get your bowl on.

I'm not the best bowler. My goal is usually to break 100. Tonight we went and I won't even share my score, because, yeah, I didn't even come close to 100. I told Andrew I blamed it on my equilibrium being off because I have a bad head cold. I also said I've had a baby between now and the last time I bowled, so that could also be the problem. Both of those sounded like legit answers, right?

None the less, we had a good ol' time.

Do you see those two teeth?! They made their first appearance last week!

Audrey with my sister, who looks crazy like me here.

Lincoln and his Gramps. 

Cheering on my home girl!

Afterwards we came to our house for taco making. My favorite moment? Reading The Gingerbread Girl in front of the fireplace with all the little ones listening. 

dates all around. {polar express}

We just got back from my dad's house, where all three kiddos were hanging out while Andrew and I had a double date. I walk in the door there and Audrey exclaims "but we haven't even got to spend the night yet?!" We were just picking up Lincoln to take him home with us, but the girls were staying the night, and Audrey most definitely didn't want to head back home yet. Nor did Naomi, as she was chowing down on some pizza. So Lincoln is going to have some great mama and daddy time until tomorrow afternoon.

With three little ones so close in age, we are intentional with spending separate time with each one. We go on mini-dates---last Saturday I took Audrey with me in the morning to a craft show, then just Naomi with me in the afternoon for Christmas shopping, and Lincoln helped me finished up errands in the evening. I love, love that one-on-one time.

Last weekend, we also had a fun date planned with just the girls. We dropped Lincoln off at Grandmas, (We are so blessed to have family in town!) and headed about an hour and half away to a Polar Express train ride. This trip had been planned since October, so the girls were very much looking forward to it. The girls wore pajamas, of course. There were tents set up with activities while we waited to load--train tables and coloring. If there is coloring or anything that has to do with art, my girls are on it.

We could tell the girls were loving the extra mama and daddy time. Each took turns sitting on our laps on the train. They served hot chocolate and cookies--complete with dancing elves along the aisle. Because you know, we were on our way to the North Pole. They came and punched our tickets just like they do in The Polar Express. The book was read over the speakers with the ticket boy showing the book up and down the aisle. My mama pride may have come out a little when I whipped out the book and had it ourselves to follow along. Ha. I think it is safe to say the girls favorite part was seeing Santa on the train and when he gave each of them a silver bell, just like in the book. My favorite part was when Audrey rang her bell and said she believed in Jesus.

iphone pics:

family vacay. {disney bound.}

[Totally back-tracking on here, by oh, almost two months. But it's my blog, I do what a want. Ha!]

There were quite a few months this past year that were a blur to me, one of which was October. [Which is probably why I'm craving a much slower pace now.] Because, frankly, it was filled with a lot of fun. Crazy, blessed, fun.

We were given the opportunity to stay {for free} in an absolutely beautiful resort in Orlando, Florida, which included three bedrooms, a full kitchen and living room and balcony. And two jetted tubs! When an offer like that is on the table, who can refuse?!  So, back in June we had a family vacation planned to visit Disney World at the end of October. Audrey watched Disney World YouTube videos for four months straight. Not even kidding.

Now here is where I insert the word adventure instead of vacation. You guys, going on a trip with a 4, 2, and 6 month old is so.much.work. Well worth it, but whoa. About three days before we were leaving, we got smart and recruited my younger sister to go with us for another set of helping hands. There were many times during the trip that we thought how would have we done this without bringing help?

We were that mini-van full to the brim (hello, we had to take a double stroller) AND with a car-top carrier on. Which actually came in handy, you could spot our van from a mile away in any parking lot. To get us through the 20+ hour drive (that included stops), I wrapped inexpensive gifts for the girls to open every few hours---crayons, coloring books, magnetic dolls, books, markers, etc. This way, every time they started to feel ready to explode, I could give them something new to have fun with. On the way there we decided to try driving through the night, which worked ok until about 3am when Naomi was over being in her carseat. On the way home we broke the trip in half and stayed in a hotel, which worked well until Naomi was ready to be home at 3am. Notice a trend? Yeah, Naomi was a tough traveler. She wanted the endurance of her sister, but wasn't quite there. Still needed naps and lots of sleep, but didn't get it. Lincoln, however wins the best traveler award. He practically slept in the Ergo carrier the entire time. Nursed and just hung out. It was wonderful. Audrey did pretty well too.

In the week we were there, we hit up Downtown Disney one day, Sea World one day, Disney World Magic Kingdom one day, and even drove an extra few hours to visit the ocean. We had two "down days" at the resort, enjoying the pools.

My favorite moments include watching Naomi in absolute awe of Mickey Mouse when we met him. When Audrey saw the Disney castle it was truly magical. And when Lincoln rode his first ride--a little train, sitting next to me.

Here is where i overload you with a TON of pictures. Mainly from my iPhone, because it was easy and quick access when you have a baby strapped to you.

Hanging out at the resort:

Downtown Disney:

Best part of Downtown Disney was definitely the Lego sculptures! 

Sea World:

Audrey loved getting her face painted, she picked the "mermaid" one. 

Naomi, however, enjoyed watching but didn't want the man touching her. Ha!

Train ride with my buster!

I call this one "super-dad." He took all the kids for a short nap-car ride while my sister 

and I got to ride a few roller coasters!

Disney World:

That's my sister holding Naomi, but it looks like me!

 Spinning on the tea cups!

Watching the parade!

Riding the ferry over to the Magic Kingdom

The ocean:

We definitely made some wonderful memories. I went home and made a vacation book up from my Instagram photos using Blurb. It's fun because the girls love looking through the book almost daily and no I did not get paid to share about Blurb, I just really like my book I bought. 

It truly was the perfect way to spend my last week in my 20's. 

Now we've decided the next vacation we go on will be just for the parents. Ha!

learning to say no. {finding contentment}

[Oh hey, you probably thought I was done with blogging. I kind of thought I was too. But look, I'm back {again}. I was reminded tonight that this space is for capturing my family's life moments. It's my life journal.]

The weekend after Thanksgiving we did our traditional tree hunt. To the same tree farm I've been going to since I was a wee one. Audrey wasn't feeling the best, but we still ventured out for a quick trip. We picked out a Frasier Fir (my absolute favorite) and headed to the little cabin for hot chocolate and popcorn. This year was extra special because it was Lincoln's first trip.

As much as I love these traditions we're creating with our little family, this holiday season I've made it a point to be okay with not doing everything. And it feels so good. In past years, I've put this pressure on myself that for our Advent activities something needs to happen every day. So far this year, many of our days are just spent reading a verse from scripture. We are focusing on the warmth of our home and the contentment in just being together. I'm learning to say no to fun and free our schedule up so we can make spur of the moment magic Christmas tents at home and drink hot chocolate in front of the fire when we wish. [We have a fireplace! Eek! First Christmas in our new home-but that's a whole other post!]

Don't get me wrong, we have already done some fun things for Advent--like a Polar Express train ride that I'll be sharing. But my favorite moments have been the quiet ones at home. 

Audrey working hard on gingerbread boy and girl cookies. She was quite nervous that they would try to escape the oven, but fortunately, not one got away! They turned out quite nicely...