holidays
St. Valentine’s Remains Are In Dublin
Hold onto your pink teddy bear and open up your box of mystery chocolates because I have an interesting Valentine’s Day story for you! The actual saint that kicked off this entire multi-billion dollar holiday is St. Valentine and his remains are indeed located in Dublin. I read about this link between Valentine’s Day and Ireland on a site called Irish Customs and Culture. You’ll have to read the full account yourself because it is quite detailed. And we all know digging into the minutiae, as important as it may be, is not my love language. That’s why there are experts. Now, as I understand the story… The remains were…
Living in Ireland: Festival of Trees
I hope you had a wonderful Christmas! Before we say goodbye to 2017, I thought I’d share one last holiday-themed post. One of the things I’ve enjoyed or found the most interesting about living in Ireland is seeing how the locals celebrate the various holidays. Ireland doesn’t have the Christmas markets that other European countries are famous for, but it does have plenty of other events for locals (and visitors!) to enjoy. This year a friend invited us to see the Festival of Trees at Christ Church in Bray. Bray is a cute seaside town south of Dublin. It’s one of the farthest points south that you can live from…
Merry Christmas
From our family to yours, we wish you a merry Christmas! Many thanks to my friend Meg for lugging her camera 7 miles and up a mountain to get this family photo – one of the few we took this year – and to my children for cooperating so well. We hope your Christmas is filled with love, good food and many happy moments. Share this:
Christmas Around Our Home 2017
While my kids would have loved for us to truly douse the house in Christmas everything, I prefer a lighter touch when it comes to Christmas decorating. In fact, I’ve already donated 5 bags of stuff this month because all the extra decor out for Christmas is making me twitchy. My closets are looking nice and tidy though! The mantel in the living room we never use is decorated with some greenery, ceramic trees and one of my favorite projects of all time – a DIY wood dove. I can see the mantel from the doorway though, so it’s not a complete waste. I made a wreath from yard clippings for…
Christmas Tree 2017
I was gung-ho to decorate for Christmas this year. Then I opened the Christmas boxes stuffed with holiday decor. I looked at all the glitz and glitter and did not feel that burst of fa-la-la-magic. Instead, I felt like a tall, curly-haired grinch. Minus the green complexion. However, the kids were excited to douse the house in Christmas everything! Even though I FELT like a grinch, I didn’t want to BE a grinch. So we blasted Christmas music and got to work spreading holiday cheer around the house. I set the Christmas tree up in the living room in front of the big window. Then I just looked at it…
Turn Building Blocks Into Christmas Ornaments
Some people do crossword puzzles to keep their brain sharp. I constantly thinking of ways to repurpose items in our home. Totally the same, right? Hmm. The latest idea was to turn my kids’ natural wood building blocks into Christmas ornaments. Why?? Let me explain… One of my favorite things about the holiday season is the artwork my kids bring home from school. I’ve saved some of it and every year when I open the holiday boxes and see something they made with their cute little toddler (now big kid) hands, I melt into a pile of mom goo. This is one of my favorite pieces of foot-made handmade artwork. If…
Board Games Even I Enjoy
I’m not sure what you guys lie in bed at night watching. Game of Thrones? Friends reruns? Stranger Things? The 10 O’Clock News? This Is Us? Do you want to know what I fall asleep listening to Handy Husband watches? YouTube videos of people playing board games. Try not to be jealous of my life. This is akin to my kids watching YouTube videos of people playing Minecraft instead of just playing Minecraft themselves. I’m giving you this window into my very glamorous life to illustrate an important point. When Handy Husband takes on a hobby, you can be guaranteed that he will take that hobby on 110%. There’s no…
5 Easy, (mostly) Recyclable Halloween Decorating Ideas
My interest in holiday decorating comes and goes. I’m not sure why. Different seasons of life, perhaps? My interest or lack thereof in storing A TON of holiday decor is more steady. I like to keep some Christmas and autumn decor, but I don’t have space or the desire to store items for all the other holidays. If I can make it and recycle the decor when I’m finished, I consider that a holiday decorating win. Here are 5 easy Halloween decorating projects that are low-on-cost, high-on-impact and (mostly) recyclable. I should note that after I wrote this post, I was doing a little fact checking. Yes, I do aim…
Braided Denim Pumpkin
I have these illusions that I’m an unique, one-of-a-kind, broke-the-mold sort of person. But I’m really just like most people. In fact, I’m just like the MILLIONS of other crafty people in the world who have fallen down the rabbit hole known as The Dollar Store and emerged with a styrofoam pumpkin. Okay, okay. I have six Dollar Store pumpkins. Six. But that’s all, I swear. And you can’t just buy a Dollar Store pumpkin and be done with it. Nooo. No way. That’s against the code. Something crafty must be done with those Dollar Store pumpkins or you develop an eye twitch and bad luck for 7 years. Or so…
Happy 4th of July
Do you know how I feel today? I feel blessed. This week I have the privilege of being back on U.S. soil to celebrate the 4th of July in my hometown with the people I love. It’s been awhile since I’ve been “home” for the 4th of July and I’m excited to share this day with my friends and family, but especially my kids. I picked out festive shirts for the kids to wear to the parade we will attend on the 4th. I used my stern mom voice to ask my son, “will you REALLY wear this shirt to the parade? Because I’m not buying it if you won’t…
