from chaos to order . . . slowly.

now that we are finished with renovations, i have my share of "get organized" goals. this Christmas season made me painfully aware that my gift wrap supply situation was in dire need of an intervention. i've kept ribbons and bags and tissue paper from holidays and birthdays and baby showers hoping that i could use them again. and while that's not all bad, i wasn't being smart about it. i kept buying more because i wasn't sure what i had on hand.


getting it all whipped into shape was relatively painless. my first inclination when i have an organizing project is to run to the container store or target to get bins and labels and such. but one of my goals is to be more resourceful, and ben reminded me that we literally have a room full of cardboard boxes in the basement. so i grabbed two, cut off the top flaps, and got to work.

i got rid of a lot of bags, boxes, and tissue paper that were not in a reusable state. then i categorized into Christmas and non-Christmas and put the bags in order of size. i put "like with like" and it all fit together nicely. now when i need to wrap a present i can run to the basement, grab the appropriate box, and bring all i need upstairs in one fell swoop. oh, and wrapping paper rolls are in a tall rubbermaid container. now hopefully i won't be spending money to buy more tissue paper or bags when i already have plenty on hand.





on the subject of order: in bsf this year we are studying Genesis, and it is so clear from the first chapter that God is a God of order. he made order from chaos! and we are made in His image, so no wonder it feels so good to bring order to our lives. when the study guide asked me where i could ask for God's help to incorporate order in my life, it was pretty clear: our home! so that is one area i'm focusing on this year.

jane: five months

these pictures were taken Christmas eve. ben was around so he caught her eye. her personality is really starting to come out!

a happy Christmas it was

there were babies dressed as mrs. claus (thanks for loaning the outfit, christa!). there were twinkling lights and rocking chairs and colorful stockings and peppermint treats. there were footie pajamas and circus tents and wrapping-paper tubes played as horns.

there were whirring toy helicopters and awestruck admirers and poinsettia casualties.







it was a very sweet day. i hope yours was, too. we celebrated Christmas with ben's family a few weekends ago. like a fool i didn't bring my camera then, so i tried to take a lot of snaps with my family yesterday. i was up very early with jane, and while she went back to sleep i sat in front of the bright Christmas tree and read about Jesus. i am so grateful for a Redeeming Christ who walked on earth in human flesh, reconciled us to God through his death, and makes all things new.


    And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
    And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.”    
Revelation 21:3-5

not all of us wear pants around here

we sure do love to play. one of us likes to flip babies upside down. one of us likes to put everything in her mouth. and one of us likes to take it all in and listen to her heart sigh in happiness.





bet you can't guess who is who.

handmade holiday: hot cocoa jars

i wish i could make everyone's Christmas present, but time (and ideas) are often lacking. i did find some time to make a few handmade gifts this year, though. the first are these hot cocoa jars. they were fun and easy! i started with some mason jars i had bought this fall at the local hardware store, knowing they would come in handy for something.



i used alton brown's recipe, which includes a secret ingredient: cayenne pepper.



mix mix mix.



even making a double batch, i didn't end up with enough to fill the jars, so i added some chocolate chips and marshmallows. (thank you, pinterest, for the help!)



i decorated the jars with doilies, Christmas labels, and string. i tried to add a candy cane but it didn't look right.







my sister and i hosted a table again for our church's annual women's Christmas brunch, and we put one of these at each place setting as a favor. the rest will go to friends.

like i said, fun and easy!

sources and inspiration from here, here, and here. (see above for hot cocoa mix recipe.)