our holiday and my awesome book title

after you see all these iphone pics on this post, you're gonna be like, "holy cow, maggie may, you are a photo wizard.  you went from no pics to like 50. your inconsistency enthralls me." 

you are welcome.

i've been away for far too long and it makes me sad. above is a photo of a beautiful blooming plant my mom grows. it's spelled with a b and i know the name but no idea how to spell it. isn't it lovely. 

if you saw my parents' greenhouses you'd be all in shock and awe at the lovely plants. 

below is a Christmas cactus. she has like 70. 

we had an awesome Christmas dear friends. awesome. the traveling was a kick in the pants, but we are home now and after a few days of cleaning and laundry, we'll be back to normal. 

i'm just gonna jump all over the place just to keep you on your toes. ready?

these are the boys on the mule at my parents' farm. my sister lives there and when we visit, we get really dirty, don't brush our teeth, and eat more s'mores than should be legal. it's awesome.

while visiting my side of the family (we really don't have "sides" but more like a big blend. the hubs and i both have awesome families so we don't discriminate) i got to see all sorts of wonderful friends. below is amanda jo...who happens to be the best accountability partner of all time. i brought her apple cider and in exchange she let my banshee boys run wild at her house for several hours while we showed each other blogs we love and threw matches in the fire. hard core. 

Christmas day we were traveling. we ended up at my parents' house where judah and asher got to see their first snow! exciting! don't you love elijah's hat with all your heart? we do hats---norwegian style.

below is uncle sandor trying to help gabe figure out stilts. he's on his way to joining the circus as we speak. we had an awesome time visiting the hubs' hometown and getting to see all our family and friends. 

a boy and his dog. need i say more?

my dad picks up things around the farm that he thinks i'll like. this is a tobacco tin. and what do you know? i love it. if it's vintage and has bright colors, i'm pretty much in. thanks, dad!

 right before Christmas, my friend allison and i went shopping for a girls' night. she found this table cloth for me along with some bedding that is gorgeous. this tablecloth looks so friendly in my dining room and matches the plates. good find, al, good find.

but wait, there's more. i arrived home today to find that, as never before in history, i have blooms and blossoms on my violets. do not wet yourself. it is true. like bunches of them. and i shrieked with glee.

 -sadly i'm not kidding. 

 and since we've been out of town, we finished up advent tonight. because that's how we roll. and while every other advent lighting night has been really special, this one was a bit rushed because the boys wanted to watch scooby-doo. i tried to tell them they were heathens who should love Jesus more than scooby-doo, but they wouldn't listen...because they're heathens. (i jest)

 this last leg of the trip i was alone with the kids. the hubs came back early to work. he works hard for the money so we treat him right.

so these banshee children i have referred to...um...they drove me nuts. they had been so wild and free for so long that they simply COULD NOT calm down these last few days. so a 5 hour drive home alone with all of them? not great. in fact at one point i called the hubs to inform him that when i write my parenting book, i will be calling it "awful little humans." 

and it'll be all about when little men can't calm down and are loud and rebellious and sing "happy birthday ninja turtle" to their aunt on her birthday, which actually is just plain hilarious.

don't lie, you would totally buy my book. and i would too. just look at that title. 

it's under copyright so you can't steal it. 

here's our wee tree. i have never seen so many ornaments with names on them before. the kids' schools went crazy this year with awesome ornaments. and i shall hang them on my tree and fill it full of pictures of cute little men. they're not really awful after all, just a bunch of wild and crazy guys. 

whew. was that a post or what? man. there's like two weeks of info in there. hope you're not overwhelmed. i just missed yah and wanted to share our holiday with you. 

 happy new year, peeps. catch yah on the flip side.

in full swing

you know when you go so long not blogging that you feel as if you have nothing to say because all sorts of hustle and bustle is going on but none of it is a huge deal? yep. that's me. with blogging block. not able to fully form a whole sentence because i'm scatter-brained and i kinda have to pee but i want to finish this post before doing so. too much information? my bad.

we have started our advent fun this year and can i just tell you i am loving it?
the pastor ended up preaching about advent the day after we started it as a family. gabe's big beautiful eyes looked up at me with excitement when he realized that we do stuff at home that we also do at church. you know the moment... when your kid realizes that church and family are not separate, they are a continuum of one another. beautiful blessing.

i bought my son a power ranger ornament because i am possibly the most loving mom ever. hold your applause. his class is decorating their class Christmas tree and he really wanted an ornament, asked nicely, but did not pester. so i got him one today to surprise him with it. and i know it's not a huge deal, but i get really excited to give my children things. and i don't do if often so it's a special wee treat. and it reminds me of how God gives to us and enjoys doing so. --not health, wealth, and prosperity stuff but just how He loves us and cares for us and enjoys us.

and now, on an un-holy note, i'm gonna go watch castle, because i love that show with my whole heart. and i'm gonna fold some clothes. and then i'm going to pick up 4 banshee children from school and the circus begins again.

but i missed you peeps out there and wanted to drop in and say hello.
how is your advent season going?

i'm starting this next week

hey peeps. i had written a thanksgiving post last week and was about to post it when my kid threw up everywhere and i had to take a brief break from writing. ;) eh, life happens.

last week, my internet wasn't working to watch my daily ration of hulu tv... so i got productive and started thinking about advent. --yep. super holy things happen when hulu doesn't work apparently.

i thought i'd share what we'll be doing for advent this year. in the past we haven't really done anything for it, but i had read several blogs on the topic and have been trying to figure out how to actively let God have His rightful place in this upcoming holiday. and 25 days of advent readings kinda freaks me out because if i get behind, i sometimes give up. and we sometimes travel during the holidays which makes it hard to stay on task. so...i thought maybe we could do something each week leading up to Christmas. that's not overwhelming. that's doable. so... here's what i came up with. it kinda looks like this: read, pray, go. each week we will read a Scripture while we light the candle on our advent wreath, pray for something together as a family, and go do something related to that week's theme for someone around us. advent is a season of anticipation and i am so eager to have our family focus on the meaning of the season and not on one day of getting gifts. so here we go:


Advent: "coming" or "arrival"
week 1: hope
read: isaiah 9:2, 4-6
pray: thank God for the hope that comes from Jesus, and pray for those that do not know Him, that they would receive Him as their hope and their salvation
go: take food to our local food pantry to offer hope to those who are struggling

week 2: peace
read: isaiah 9:6; romans 5:1-2
pray: thank God for the peace He gives us and pray for our family: immediate, extended, and church, that Christ would help us be a family that promotes peace and humility over entitlement and selfishness
go: do a random act of kindness for someone who lives in our home to promote peace

week 3: love
read: luke 1:26-38; john 3:16
pray: thank God that nothing is impossible with Him and that He loves us so much to send His Son even though we do not deserve His love, pray that He would use us in a mighty way to accomplish His purposes, and that we would carry His love to others through sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ
go: put together a care package for a missionary friend and send it to share love with them and encourage them in the work they do for God's purposes

week 4: joy
read: matthew 1:18-25
pray: thank God for how He saves us from our sins, how He sent His Son to be with us, our Immanuel. ask Him to make us more aware of how we need Him daily, and to rely more fully on Him
go: make cards for our local retirement home residents and deliver them to hopefully bring joy to others

Christmas Eve:
read: luke 2:1-20