December Harvest

1 - Oh the joy!  On the way to the mailbox with my favorite little friend to deposit Christmas Cards.  It made me happy to have someone else share deeply in my excitement.  And I didn't feel bad at all that it was a five year old - because they're the best at sharing excitement.  

2 -My children will be the first to tell you that I'm not big on screen-time.  But the way that screen lit up Miles's face in that dim room?  Beautiful!
3 - Candy canes are not only delicious, they really are beautiful if you stop and look at them.  And they taste even more beautiful when you dunk them in steaming, homemade hot cocoa.
4 - Sparkle!
5 - Christmas Eve.  I'm not ashamed to admit that I walked around on my knees upstairs late on Christmas Eve to get a feel for what my kids might feel and see the next morning.  This was my favorite view and made me want to run into the room they were sleeping in and yell "Santa came!  Santa came!  Getupgetupgetup!" even though it was only midnight.
6 - My beautiful boy.
7 - I stood in the same spot for 12 minutes while crowds of people swarmed around me so I could get a picture of the train going through the tunnel.
8 - It's true that I'm having a hard time finding beautiful things here in Vegas... but the energy of downtown is pretty fun.
9 - Bellagio gardens.  That tree is real, folks.  I don't even know how they got it in or out of there, but I'm glad I wasn't on the vacuuming committee.

10 - Hiking in the red rocks.  Isn't the light coming through that crevice gorgeous?!  And the way it lights up the rocks and the sand...?  Beautiful.

11 - Layers.

12 - Ever since I was a kid I've loved blown glass.  The foyer in the Bellagio has its entire ceiling covered in it - impressive and stunning.
13 - Kids getting along under the Christmas tree - happy beauty.
14 - I'm just realizing that this picture doesn't actually belong in December... because technically it was taken very first thing in January.  The start of a new year feels beautiful to me.
15 - Hot chocolate bar.  One of the most beautiful things of all.  Milk, thick and creamy, pumpkin spice, and peppermint white hot chocolate kept us warm and happy on New Years Eve.
16 - Happy New Year!
17 - Okay, back to real December.  Cactus lights... there is something beautiful and unique to the desert!
18 - Carson got a new guitar for Christmas this year.  Hearing him play and sing... there aren't even words. B.E.A.U.T.I.F.U.L.
19 - My love.
20 - Gorgeous colors.

21 - It's a good thing he is so darn beautiful... because he's also testing boundaries and exploring his curiosity with a determination that none of my other children have had.  At the end of my days, I'll collapse on the couch and think, "What in the world happened to me to make me so exhausted today?"  And then I remember, "Timothy.  Timothy happened to me."

22 - Sweet compassion.  If I'm thirsty, TK thinks, then the dog might be thirsty, too.
23 - My favorite new ornament this year.  A (glass, of course) beautiful alligator to remind us of the Everglades.
24 - This, perhaps, should have been in the first collage... decorating for Christmas.  Somehow the lights dangling down from over the fireplace hit me and made me smile.
25 - More Bellagio gardens. Those ornaments were as big as me (though, hopefully they were a little rounder than I am).
26 - Only Timothy could make getting into Daddy's shaving cream beautiful.  At least he had the perspective to strip down to his diaper before the fun.  Too bad he forgot to shut the shower door so the bathmats wouldn't get creamed.  And how he did all of it in the three minutes I left him alone?  Magic.
27 - Pretty ornaments.
28 - New garland for my mantle this year.
29 - TK helping grandma set the table for our Christmas Eve dinner.  It's beautiful watching grandparents love my kids.
30 - More cactus lights.

31 - Beautiful chunks of my heart right there in front of you.