Happiness. Lately. December 2014 (Vol 7)

Happiness.  Lately.  December.  My monthly collection of "Happiness" - appreciating God's goodness in the little things and seeing his grandeur in the simplicity of my life and "Lately" - what I've been into and up to...

Happiness is...

... this Dove chocolate wrapper that's had a place on our refrigerator for over 7 years and in two different homes :)

... my husband surprising me with candles in the fireplace when it was too warm for an actual fire!

... James' first bathtub bath

... our winter flowers and the excitement they generate each year :)  We had four big amaryllis flowers (they're gone now, as you can see) and at least one other on the way, and the paperwhites started to bloom right after Christmas.  Remember how small they were during Advent!?!  They're about a foot and half tall right now!  (here's a post on why I love growing winter flowers...)

 ... one of the best Christmases ever.  Lots of family in from out of town.  Many wonderful moments, lots of love, tons of laughs.

 my siblings, cousin, spouses and kids :)

... Christmas Snack Table (and Aaron having a blood sugar of 127 after a day of Christmas snack table!!  Yay, me!)

Dominic demonstrating how it's done :)

... our annual cookie tree!

... not being slayed by the stomach bug, like we were last Christmas.

... knee socks!!  I got two pairs this year.  That's two more than I've had since Catholic grade school :)  It's coziness x 2.

And don't forget... one gal's knee socks are another's thigh highs :)

... this picture of utter squeezable cuteness (is that inappropriate for a blog??  oh well.)

... and, yay!!  Russ wears his first crocheted-by-me creation and doesn't look too shabby :) 

Lately...

I've discovered the thickest, coziest, warmest, kids' tights on the planet...  these from Land's End.  Every time Ruth puts them on I wish I was the one slipping into them :)

Right around the time I finished my Advent reading, I got my two new books in the mail - 

The Little Oratory: A Beginner's Guide to Praying in the Home, by David Clayton and Leila Lawler.  

and A Book of Saints for Catholic Moms: 52 Companions for Your Heart, Mind, Body, and Soul (Ave Maria Press), by Lisa Hendey

                                                    

I haven't cracked either of them open yet, but I'm really looking forward to spending time with both of them!  

I took advantage of some majorly major yarn sales before Christmas and now have some lovely chunky wool blends I want to find projects for.  Any ideas??  I was thinking maybe something like this or something with buttons like this neck warmer/cowl (the one on the right) that I made as a Christmas gift last year.

We've really been enjoying some of games the kids received as Christmas gifts.  We've been playing Camelot Jr., Gravity Maze (which is currently listed at $10 cheaper than when I bought it!!!!), Rummikub, and Electronic Snap Circuits, Jr. (not really a game...)   I had hoped to buy Qwirkle, but it was like $98 just before Christmas.  Now it's back down to something reasonable and I'm keeping my eye on it for later on in the long, long winter.  Anyway, games were our gift to the kids this year.  I love love love when kids move past the Candy Land stage.

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**  What did you do and love last month?  Feel like joining me in reflecting on and sharing some of the moments that made you happy and the things you've been up to?  Link up your December list of Happiness. Lately.  I'd love to have you join me! **  Don't have a blog?  Let's chat in the comments!

(ps - thanks for being patient and being OK with me publishing this in January.  Typically, I try to post these on the last day of each month, but I was too busy celebrating with family throughout the end of December to pull this together :)  (a happy excuse, right?!)