Wishing/loving

A new year always makes me want to clean out clutter and start things over on a blank slate. That definitely goes for decorating my house. That feeling when your house is clean and everything is organized and has a place has to be the best feeling in the world. Or is it just me? It makes me feel like my mind has just been decluttered and I can actually breathe easier in a clean room. Since I didn't get many Christmas gifts this year, I am wishing for some things I'd love to get myself. There are a few posters/prints I have my eye on, as well as these cool items below.

No. 1 Les Zigouis affiche print / No. 2 Urban Outfitters round pintuck pillow / No. 3 molecule building set / No. 4 Ikea urban chair / No. 5 Blabla Kaya doll / No. 6 Bando mini hearts /  No. 7 measuring hedgies / No. 8 modern mesh chair / No. 9 string candleholder

I bet that candeholder on the bottom would be pretty easy to diy for someone with some power drill experience. You could probably get some wooden balls at any craft store and you would just need to drill holes for the candles as well as the string and you'd have yourself a neat statement piece on your dining room table.

xoxo,
Tanya

DIY polka dot wrapping paper

I rolled out a couple rolls of kraft wrapping paper one night this December and let the kids go to town stamping dots on it with pencil erasers to make our very own, personalized wrapping paper. I didn't want to do the traditional Christmas colors, so I threw in colors like pink and yellow along with the green and red. It turned out lovely, and I actually had to make more for all the gifts I wanted to wrap in it because the kids lost interest after a while...of course. I also learned how to make my own pom-poms, which was pretty exciting in itself. :) I love that my gifts have a handmade element to them, and I'm thinking next year I'll try stamping with potatoes. Moving on up, you know...

xoxo,
Tanya

Bring it, 2013!

So this year has definitely snuck up on me, and now we are four days in and I'm only now getting around to making some resolutions. I usually make a scrapbook page of my resolutions, and that way they are down on paper and I can look back throughout the year and see whether I'm making progress on my goals. I'll get to that soon and post it on here so THERE IS NO GOING BACK. No hiding from my goals, no letting fear beat me back. This year I'm keeping a positive attitude no matter what comes my way. My word for this year is BELIEVE. I need to cling to God's promises and believe with all my heart that everything I pray will work out, will work out.

We met the new year with a small group of friends at our house this year--a very last-minute thing since I was still getting over Christmas, still trying to get over a cold I've had for weeks now, and still spending lots of time with family while my sister was in town. I told everyone to bring finger food or dessert and we had ourselves a good time chatting and playing Apples to Apples well into the night. I just bought that game and it's definitely a winner. Uncomplicated, fast-paced, and fun. And there's nothing like having people over to get the house in order, and now I have an exceptionally clean house for a fresh new year.

And to get the new year started off right, I give you these delicious planners from Julia Kostreva. I bought myself a different one at Target recently, so I won't be getting one of these this year, but don't they look so cool? I wish they were journals. And that parsley print has been on my wish list for too long. I think it's time to take it off of there and get it in my house asap. :)

Happy 2013

xoxo,
Tanya

My handmade gifts this year

I actually had the time and opportunity to hand make a lot of Christmas gifts this year, which makes me so happy. I am still a very beginning sewer, so I made mistakes and the things I made aren't perfect, but I'm okay with that. I have to tell myself practice is the only way I'll get better, and it's okay if there are imperfections. I'm getting more and more confident behind my sewing machine, and maybe one of these days I'll surprise myself and make a skirt for one of the girls.

1. Some fabric I pulled out of my stash--some new, some vintage.
2. I made two long dogs and a Mabel doll from Junecraft this year.
3. This bib is part of my online sewing class I bought through Rachel Denbow. I had so much fun with the quilting part, but the bias tape really threw me for a loop. It kept bunching under my needle until the fourth and last one I made, which came out perfect. I think I realized without knowing it that you have to pull on the bias tape as you go along to give it some tension. It would have been nice to know that.
4. I made two pink bunnies for my two nieces based on a project in Rachel's class. I got better with the second one, but the tension on my needle changed when I changed to the zigzag stitch for this project, so my sewing lines came out too loose on the first one. I wish I had stopped and fixed it at the start, but it was just too tempting to try to take a project to the end. :) I guess I got a little too excited.

xoxo,
Tanya

Christmas Eve is my favorite

Christmas Eve at my parents' house was such a good time this year. We have a tradition we started long ago in our family to have vareniki for dinner, then have a little 'party' for my brother Vlad since it's his birthday, and then we open our Secret Santa gifts. It's so much easier to buy one gift for five people than something for everyone; easier on my sanity and on my wallet, so I am all for it.

We were all together this year as Julia and Yuriy joined us for Christmas, and now that Natalia has two kids, our group is getting bigger and bigger. :) Adele is the star of the show these days, with her chubby thighs and gorgeous, gorgeous eyes. No wonder no one can resister her!

We stuffed our faces with five types of vareniki--potato, cabbage, sweet cheese, blueberry, and cherry, with lots of bacon and sauteed onions for the savory ones. Oh, it was delicious! I have never tried anyone's vareniki that are better than my mom's, ever, and I'm not just saying that cause I'm her daughter. They're soft and fluffy and overstuffed with filling, and hopefully someday I will master them as well. For now I just look forward to the times she spends all day slaving away in the kitchen for us.

Again, Ben loved his Zoku pop maker and Mila was disappointed with her alphabet cookie cutters (she picture above). She loves to bake, so I thought that would be a fun and useful gift for her, but she didn't buy it. ;) I just failed all around with their gifts this year... Natalia, on the other hand, actually made a tent for my kids and one for her kids. I can't believe she took that kind of project on with two littles at home and no carpentry skills. I would never be able to build something out of wood. I'll take a picture of it soon to show you--such a good gift.

xoxo,
Tanya

Christmas at our house

We opened our gifts on Christmas morning once everyone was up, though B and I didn't get any gifts this year, so it was really the kids doing the opening. Actually, later that day I was pleasantly surprised with lots of cold hard cash to go shopping with the next morning, so I was a happy girl. The kids each got 4-5 small gifts, nothing huge, because they're at an age when they don't really need 'things,' plus I don't want to fill the house with clutter they're not going to use or appreciate. I thought about the best things to get them and spent a lot of time finding the best gifts for them this year, so I was pretty disappointed when both Mila and Olivia opened their gifts with so little gratitude this year. Olivia hated her new lion hat, saying she wouldn't wear it, she thought her Blabla pillow (that she requested months ago) was weird because it didn't have eyes, and she started crying that she had only four gifts to open. Mila asked why her Blabla cat looked so weird, and I couldn't find the specific Zinkies she requested in any store so she got a substitute and pouted while opening it. It was a downer for sure--and I don't know if it's just kids being kids or if we really messed up with them somewhere. :) Thank goodness Ben was completely happy with all his things. B had a talk with the kids about being grateful for all the things God blessed them with, all the things I do for them, and all the things they have, and that it was enough, and then we all solemnly got up to get ready for church. Definitely not the most cheerful Christmas morning ever, but I will play that video for them when they grow up and we can all laugh about it then.

Stockings are one of my favorite things to do for them, and they get so excited about all their trinkets. This year I think I did pretty gooood.

Olivia loves her little panda, and when asked what she got for Christmas, that's the thing she mentions. Love.

Mila will love these pictures when she's older. Check out her look of disappointment when she opened the gift I thought she would love the most...

xoxo,
Tanya

I did throw that banquet a few weeks back...

I haven't shared any pictures of that banquet I helped plan a few weeks back, so here are a few shots of the decor. I snapped these right after we finished setting everything up and before I rushed home to make myself presentable for the party. I didn't get any shots of the food, the people, or even the caramel apples we made to sell that night as a fundraiser because by the time I sat down at my table that day, you couldn't pry me off my seat. I was toast, and the night went by in the blink of an eye. I did thoroughly enjoy myself that night, however. We had a very lively table with lots of jokes and laughter--it was a perfect night away as a couple. The kids even slept over at grandma's, which meant no rushing back home for us.

I will say, however, it is so much more work to pull something like this off than someone who doesn't do this kind of thing might realize. I came to church with my car jam-packed with boxes full of decorations that I had been meticulously collecting for weeks before, not to mention simply getting rsvp's from everyone and figuring out the menu. It took forever just to iron out the fabric for the photo backdrop and set the tree up and decorate it. I couldn't have done it without you, Alla and Natasha, so thank you for all your help. I had gotten a small group of girls to commit to making caramel apples with me the night before, then two of them dropped out because of colds, so it was Alla and my lonesome making caramel apples for the first time ever as our kids played in the living room. Good thing everything came back down much faster that night than it went up!

Everything was gold and silver, with lots of white and glass to complement it, and plenty of candlelight. I painted gold dots on canning jars and used those as centerpieces with candles inside, then layered various baking cups and tied that around the jar, finishing it off with sequins in the middle.

I was 18 weeks by this point, and being 20 weeks now, I can definitely see the difference two weeks makes. And I know I will only grow faster and faster as the next 20 weeks go by! Get ready to be huge, Tanya!

xoxo,
Tanya

We froze to see some lights

Well, we had a good Christmas, and now it's all behind us and the New Year is coming right up. Time is marching on like always, and soon enough it will be 2013 and we will be patiently waiting for warmer weather. We celebrated Christmas with my family on Christmas Eve (our tradition), which works so well for us. That way we have time for church and opening gifts with the other side of the family on Christmas day, and we get to celebrate my brother's birthday at the same time as our Christmas celebration. Poor guy was born on Christmas eve. We opened gifts at home on Christmas morning before church and then rushed off to our very first service in our brand-new church. It was a blessed day.

 

I have been hanging around at home, taking it easy and recharging after the rush that inevitably happens every year right before the big day. The kids are home from school for a week and two days, it's gotten insanely cold outside, and a lot of us have been battling a mild cold, so we've been cooped up inside spending time together.

We got out of the house on Friday (miracle of miracles) for a fun day out. We had a late lunch at Natalia's house with my other sister Julia and her husband Yuriy, who are in town from WA. We had salmon chowder, cucumber garlic sandwiches, salad, and pumpkin pie, and it was all delish (thanks, Natalia!). It was nice to be hosted by someone else; I always love when that happens. It feels sooo good to eat a meal you didn't have to cook! Anyone with me on that? Or am the only one here? :) Then we headed to Winter Garden Aglow to check out the botanical garden all decked out in lights.

It was such a cold day, and I knew the kids would have a hard time staying out there long enough to see everything we wanted to see, so the barrel fires they had set up every so often were a real lifesaver. We'd unthaw a bit in front of one and then head back out in the cold to explore some more.

Afterwards everyone came back to our house to soak in the hot tub (except me; I just ran around with water bottles and towels and such), which was a little insane since it was 21*F outside--big difference between the water and the air. Everyone came out steaming and red, like boiled crab, we got the kids in bed, and got to sit around and chat with Julia and Yuriy before they left for McCall the next day. They better take me next time they decide to come to town and get a cabin somewhere, that's all I gotta say about that.

xoxo,
Tanya

And the baby is a...

sweet little GIRL!

I kind of couldn't believe it, because I really thought this one was a boy. It's the first time I've been wrong, so my winning streak is sadly over, and we are about to become a very feminine family (if we weren't already).

B and I just looked at each other and smiled when we were told. I love being able to go in and find out together, and share that experience with each other. I have no idea how women in Ukraine even gave birth alone and stayed in the hospital for weeks and weeks without their husband by their side. The husbands couldn't even come inside to visit! I don't know how I would handle that, so good thing B is more than welcome anywhere he wants to show up!

Our little muffin has the biggest lips and was all over the place during the ultrasound! Her little arms were up by her head most of the time, like she was shaking her fists at us. I loved every minute of getting to preview this little being in action months before she will come out to meet the world, and it ended too soon.

Her little foot. Babies really are miracles that only a loving Creator could orchestrate. How complex and how wonderful the human body is at each stage of development!

I'll leave you with a shot of me today at 19 weeks. 21 more to go!

xoxo,
Tanya

Random Friday thoughts

This week has been a busy one, with many up and downs along the way, but I am ending the week feeling optimistic and keeping the faith. I started today off really early in the morning before anyone was up. I was supposed to be baking cookies for teachers last night after I got the kids in bed, but the book I'm currently reading was calling my name so loudly that I couldn't ignore it (it may be because my body was exhausted and I just wanted to lay on the couch). I read until I fell asleep, so I got up early this morning and got to work baking those cookies for the kids' teachers. I was resolved not to spend money buying them anything, and I'm glad I made that decision. It was so therapeutic standing there in the stillness of morning working with my hands--rolling out dough, slicing it, rolling out rounds, filling them with meringue, over and over. I had iTunes on and some of the songs got me thinking about my life lately. I started crying a couple of times as I worked. It felt really weird to be baking and crying, but I think I worked through a lot of things in my mind today, and I'm grateful for that. I am trusting the Lord completely on an issue, and I am asking him to do a mighty work in my life, and believing I will receive it because I asked. This passage is giving me all kinds of hope right now:

"The race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong...but time and chance happen to them all" (aka the race is to the one who endures). -Ecclesiastes 9:11

I just have to endure, and keep fighting through every setback and everything the devil throws my way. Who knows why we go through things. I often wish we didn't have to, and that things could be easier, less messy, less painful, less stressful. I let myself think that I'm getting more than my fair share of trials, that other people have it easier, and I feel like it's not fair. Sometimes only much later can you see how that trial was actually a good thing--whether it made you stronger or helped you lean on God more at a time when you were dangerously far from him, or whatever.

Some thoughts from this week:

• The kids are officially on Christmas break now. They get a week and two days off this year. Whose bright idea was that?
• I had my first doctor appointment last week and my ultrasound this week. The baby is growing right on schedule to the very day. I am also using a midwife this time around--I've never done that before, which also means I'm going to give birth at a different hospital (my first three were all born at the same one). I don't know if it really is that different, because it just feels like I'm seeing a doctor like I always have, but I like her.
• I started this tradition with my kids where I went out and bought a boy or girl thing the day I found out the sex of the baby, and I'm sad I didn't get to do that this time around. I bought a couple blankets online the next day, so I guess that counts.
• Olivia was telling jokes in the car this morning on the way to preschool, and this one cracked me up: "Why did the tree get cut down and made into a ferris wheel? So it could be a wooden ferris wheel and give people splinters."
• I've been waiting patiently for Mini Boden's seasonal sale because they have so many cute things but, sadly, they are normally out of my price range. Their sales are the only times I shop there, and this time--let's just say I got overexcited. And hey, the kids need new clothes. Their closets are getting sadder and sadder, and I'm tired of trying to be creative with it.
• A lot of my close friends/family know that B and I are trying to get out of debt. We've had a lot of financial stress in our lives in the last four years, and it was bad for our marriage, our family, everything. We felt like we were in bondage to people we didn't even care about personally, but they were the decision-makers in our lives because we owed them money. It took the joy right out of our days, and added a heck of a lot of stress to them instead. We went through Dave Ramsey's program and have been paying debts off ever since. It's been four long years, and we still have a long road ahead, but I'm so excited that we are five debts lighter at the end of 2012 than at the beginning. That feels good! And even though it sometimes doesn't feel like it, all those shoes and hot clothes I didn't buy was worth it.
•  I am itching to start painting the kids' rooms but I'm also scared to smell paint, and want the baby to get a bit bigger before I do. It's also expensive to go from dark to light walls because you need so many layers, so I need to plan for it for sure.
• I'm not done Christmas shopping yet, though mostly what's left is just a couple gift cards. Got to finish wrapping things tomorrow.
• Mila and Olivia got their first professional haircuts this week, which was a highlight for them. I also gave two haircuts to family members (I'm the uncompensated family stylist), and I need to do a third before Christmas.

• I cut my hair last week after who knows how long since my last one. Over a year for sure. It lays so nicely now--love.
• We drove around with the kids one night this week looking at Christmas lights, and found a street near us where eight houses (four on one side, four on the other) are decked out in lights set to music. It is a sight to behold!
• I'm seeing the Nutcracker ballet tomorrow, and I'm so excited.

xoxo,
Tanya