In November, Ava put together a playlist of songs for her dance party birthday party and one of the songs on the list was OneRepublic’s “Counting Stars.” Its driving beat and upbeat message have made it a family favorite and it was on heavy rotation as Matt and I were making choices about how we wanted to live our life going forward. For me, this song became an anthem of sorts…a reminder of all of the options we are lucky enough to have and of the freedom that comes from truly dreaming big.

Lately I been, I been losing sleep
Dreaming about the things that we could be
But baby, I been, I been prayin’ hard
Said no more counting dollars
We’ll be counting stars
Yeah, we’ll be counting stars

I see this life
Like a swinging vine
Swing my heart across the line
In my face is flashing signs
Seek it out and ye shall find

Old, but I’m not that old
Young, but I’m not that bold
And I don’t think the world is sold
I’m just doing what we’re told

I feel something so right
By doing the wrong thing
And I feel something so wrong
By doing the right thing
I couldn’t lie, couldn’t lie, couldn’t lie
Everything that kills me makes me feel alive.

-OneRepublic, Counting Stars

So often, I’ve lost sleep thinking about all the little moments we were missing at home and with our kids and rather than taking time to count the stars, we’ve been counting up the wrong things. Little moments are, in fact, our big dream.  It’s the whole thing. To live them, notice them, collect them, treasure them. When I search my heart for what I truly want in life, I have found that I only really want to have done good work. To get to do good work for a family I love? That is a big dream, indeed.

To capture this dream in a tangible way, I took the moments we’ve collected this year on Instagram and made a video. These little moments…these snapshots in time…these are our big dream realized. It is truly beautiful.

And, hey, Matt? This video is your Valentine’s Day gift, as are all the moments I know are ours to share in the future. Thank you for making our dream possible by doing the work you do. LYS.

We did do a little celebrating in the form of a parade at the kids’ school, though, and that was definitely a highlight.

We did have a few sparklers hoarded from years past that we had to get rid of before the movers came, so we made sure to light them all.

When in Hendertucky, right?

Turns out sparklers and poppers are the perfect fireworks for little kids, so we had a great time.

While we watched the neighbor’s larger fireworks display, the idea settled in that this would be our last Las Vegas 4th of July and was the last holiday before our move. A big adventure was looming and it was time to start getting ready!

The weekend started with the annual AF Family picnic and egg hunt in the park.  We missed last year’s since we were in San Antonio, so we were excited to get to join in the fun this time.  Photos from the first year are here and the second year are here. The picnic is a potluck adventure, so it’s super easy for everyone to participate.  We’re grateful to the Hoffmans for always getting it organized! After lunch, the kiddos do an egg hunt but, before we turn them loose, they all have to smile pretty for the camera.  This is always hysterical to watch – when you turn around and look at the adults acting like fools trying to get all the kids to stay still, together, and happy.

But, once the paparazzi gets its fill, then it’s off to the races to find those eggs and eat that candy!

After we got home from the picnic and everyone slept off our sugar crash, it was time to color some Easter eggs.  Ava is still quite a color mix-master and Noah even got in on the action a bit this year.  (Excuse the semi-nude babies.  We weren’t interested in dying clothes, so this was easier than micromanaging.)

Since all the prep was done the day before, Easter morning dawned with a visit from the Easter bunny and a mini-egg hunt at home in the backyard.

Waiting patiently for the camera lady to be ready to document their trip downstairs in the morning.  

Found one!

We headed for church a little early on Easter because we wanted to do a little photo shoot with Noah.  We took about 300 frames and I think we got one shot for the wall.  Still have to sort that out.  But, while we were all dressed up with a green background, we grabbed a couple family shots as well.

Obviously everyone was thrilled with that idea.

What we were all thrilled with was the (third!) egg hunt of the weekend.  And, wow, does St. Christopher’s know how to do an egg hunt.  There were easily 200 eggs for the kiddos to find.  Our own two came home with enough plastic eggs to last a lifetime.

The kiddos last year on Easter.

All in all, it was a joyful weekend full of family, friends, and renewed faith.  It was extra special that, this year, Ava understood the real meaning of Easter and celebrated that with as much enthusiasm as she gave the candy.  Surely, she’s setting a fantastic example for Noah, who watches her every move. As the Easter season continues, we celebrate new beginnings and familiar tradition.  Happy Spring!

Having no idea where to begin, I turned to the internets.  Via Pinterest (pin 1, 2, & 3), I determined that I could make this happen.  But, then, thanks again to the internet, I found that it’s absolutely impossible to buy products in stores anymore.  I did manage to find a source for wool bat (bizzaro sheets of carded wool that I’d never heard of before) locally, but had to order a kit for the other stuff from a Waldorf doll supply store online.  That was ok, though, because I traced the sewn doll body I received and now I have a pattern!

Anyway, the hardest part about making these dolls is the head.  So, after dinner on the day my stuff arrived, I got started.  I followed a couple of great tutorials online, so the internet and I became friends again in spite of the way it had demolished craft supply stores.

Once you’re done rolling and stuffing and stitching, the head looks something like this.

Since I had purchased pre-sewn bodies, all of the sewing I did on these dolls was by hand.  So, after some more stuffing and stitching, I ended up with a nakey, bald Waldorf baby looking like this:

Of course, that’s when the Facebook comments about voodoo dolls started rolling in.  Not one to be deterred, I moved on to the next most intimidating part of this project, the hair! I found a couple of great tutorials online and used two different ones – one for the boy’s hair and one for the girl’s.  Without a doubt, the tutorial for the boy’s hair was better and it’s the one I’ll use if I ever make another doll (even if it did take me four hours to complete).  Noah’s doll’s hair is about fifteen kinds of awesome whereas Ava’s often suffers from a “balding baby” look.  Noah’s doll turned out better overall, but I spent longer on it and was more careful since I did it first.  I also ended up having to make the dolls’ clothes because I couldn’t find any simple clothing for dolls this size to buy.  So, the dolls and kids all got new pajama pants to wear, which was a fun exercise anyway (Noah got three new pairs!).  I still need some practice and they’re not perfect, but these were fun to make.

10 days after I started working on them, it was time for these little friends to be gifted to their new owners!

Big sister got in the way and it’s blurry, but that’s the sweetest baby boy hug ever for his new buddy.

And, here they are all dressed to match!

Neither doll has a name really (Ava calls hers “Ava” and Noah calls his “Baby”) but both get lots of love.  Noah’s baby comes in the van every day to school and Ava sleeps with hers every night.

I’m so glad I got to make them something to love and pick up some new skills in the process.  These dolls are proof that you don’t have to be perfect to be well-loved!

Just like last year, Noah was up first and we got to hang out with him for a while before Ava joined us.

After everyone wiped the sleep from their eyes and combed their hair (sidenote: always hated this when I was a kid, the getting all dolled up before heading in to tear into gifts, but now as a mom who needs just a bit of time to be presentable for all the pictures, I totally get it!), we headed downstairs to see if Santa had been to visit!  Clearly, he had.

We opened stockings first and then moved on to the gifts from Santa.

Ava asked Santa for a “Bambi toy” and a panda bear. Noah was less specific, but lucked out anyway with a favorite book and some cars.

Santa also brought the kiddos a toy to share – a tunnel!  So much fun!

We took a break for breakfast at this point – breakfast casserole, cinnamon rolls, and mimosas are officially a tradition now.   After we filled our tummies (and Mommy & Daddy scored some coffee), it was back to the presents!

Gifts were unintentionally sort of themed this year.  Ava received lots of great books (perfect for a pre-reader) and Noah is now the proud owner of lots of “things that go.”

Ava’s new “typer,” a vintage Craigslist find that she LOVES.
 Every quiet time she spends quite a while typing her manifesto in her room.

One funny story from the day, that I want to be sure gets recorded, is that John P. Casey basically saved Christmas.  While each of the kiddos received lovely gifts, we usually stay away from character toys, etc.  Since Ava received so many books (mainly from us) most of her early present opening was of the “not a toy” category.  She and Noah were both delighted to open up Woody and Jessie dolls from John.  Commercialization for the win!

Of course, the packaging of the gifts was also one of the hits of the day!

Both kids got just a little something handmade/homemade for the holiday.  Even though it’s a time consuming thing for Matt & I, it’s really important to us that they know that we invested some time and effort (not just money) into making this a special holiday for them.  Noah’s gift was pretty simple – a soft bucket for all the new matchbox cars he received.  It’s sitting in front of him in this picture (where you can also see his new car mat – that thing has gotten a workout so far!).

Ava’s homemade gift was a little more complicated – a dollhouse made from to cabinet drawers purchased at the Habitat Restore.  It’s perfect for her growing Playmobil collection.

Artwork and windows that she can rearrange to her heart’s content!

The kids were wiped out and ready for lunch by the time we opened all their gifts, so Matt and I set ours aside for later and got them fed and down for naps.  We spent naptime opening our own gifts (Matt scored a new cooking thermometer and I got an iPhone 4s!) and finishing putting together new toys in advance of an afternoon of playtime.

When the kids woke up, we spent time just playing with the new toys and taking some new wheels out for a spin around the block.

Thanks, Mahgie & Poppie, for the new wagon and scooter!  They are a huge hit!

Matt roasted us a turkey for dinner (perfectly done with the new thermometer) and we brought the day to a very lovely end with a delicious family dinner.

In the end, Christmas 2011 was just was we always wanted – lovely, fun, and relaxing.  We spent the next week just playing and enjoying time at home before returning to work/school and it turns out that was the very best gift of them all!

Lighting the Christmas Eve carousel.

Sweet kiddo snuggles.

Making sure we get lots of pictures of the ornaments.

It’s tradition! Caspers Kids and Hoffman Kids (2010, 2009).

Reading “Twas the Night Before Christmas” and then they all went to sleep!  Ready for a happy Christmas tomorrow morning!

So glad we’ve had such a fun Christmas Eve tradition here in Vegas.  Thanks for a great night, Hoffman family, and a great four years!

:: We rode a train.

:: We went to a kids’ party.

:: We went to a work party.  Yummy food, but no picture!

:: We did some artwork.

That’s her new “camera” face.  Oy.

:: We got busy “elving” for Christmas gifts.

Not finished yet, but those two Habitat Restore drawers are really going to be something special for Whoozers.

There has to be a little something homemade for everyone!  What’s better for a toddler than a soft bucket?

:: We baked lots and lots of cookies!

:: And we got to see a winter wonderland (desert style!).

With all this busyness, I think we just might be ready for the big day.  Looking forward to yummy dinner tonight and a magical morning.  Happy (almost) Christmas!

The Friday of Winter Festival is also a school-wide pajama day, so the kids went to school in jammies and parents are invited to wear jammies for the festival.

These two were so cute, it just made my heart ache that day!

At our school, each of the classrooms is open with a fun activity or project for the kids to do and there are decorations and snacks throughout the hallways.  But the main event is that each of the classes in the school practices a song or poem for weeks in advance and then does a little performance for the families at Winter Festival.

I’m so grateful for this school because they’re so fun!  I can’t imagine opening a whole classroom, filling it with sparkle paper and glitter and then inviting kids in to go nuts.  Can you imagine the mess?  But, no kidding, on Monday morning, you’d have never even known it happened.  Talk about extra effort for the good of the kiddos.

Making glitter snow angels.

Noah wasn’t so sure glitter snow angels were awesome.

The babies and toddlers videotape their performances and we get to watch the movie on the big night since there’s no way they’ll perform for a big group on demand.  But, the bigger kids all do a little show and it’s super cute.

Ava’s class performed the poem “Falling Snow” and then sang “Jingle Bells.”  We got an advance preview of her performance at home before we left for the party.

Ava was pretending to be shy when it was her group’s turn to perform and we’re not really sure why.  We know she knew her stuff and she’s quite the ham, so that will probably always be a mystery.  Regardless, we sure had a fun time and all those cute performances sure made up for the sugar crash the next day!

So, I don’t have any “in process” shots of the early decorating stages, just the ornament finale.  That’s the good part anyway, right?

Noah trying to sneak into the black hole that is the closet under the stairs.

Matt making sure the lights are just right.

Matt always does the star.  It’s tradition.

Digging around for just the right ornament.  Is there anything cuter than two kiddos in matching footie jammies?

Just the right ornament in just the right spot.  Ava’s noticing that her name is on this one!

Oh, the temptations of Christmas ornaments.  Noah had no interest in the tree until we hung all this shiny stuff on it.

Noah helping Daddy reach the higher branches. And Daddy helping Noah not to break all the ornaments.

All that decorating is exhausting!

Somehow I didn’t get a shot of the finished tree, but it sure is pretty.  We all spent an evening laying underneath it to stare at the lights and sparkles and found that it was indeed magical.  Isn’t it amazing what light and sparkle and love can do for a plain old tree?