while I have always loved hiking…it’s become more obsessive lately.  maybe it is due to the fact that my kids are now all able to actually hike without being carried.  maybe it is because we have done a bit more exploring these last few months and I find myself wanting to see the scenic views more than the cities.  or maybe it is because I am finally realizing the flightiness of human health and don’t want to waste the blessing that being able to climb a mountain is.

whatever it may be, I have a desire to sweat profusely, climb higher and breath deeper in this amazing beauty of an earth that God has gifted us.

and today, I was able to enjoy it with one of my favorite people in the whole wide world.  because she is in the same state as me (which is basically the same as the planets ALL aligning and then proceed to play a game of leap frog) and because we have awesome husbands and families to watch over our six collective children, we were able to hike Rattlesnake Ledge.  alone but together.

I recently heard an experienced hiker say, “Don’t be disappointed by false peaks.  Keep going and don’t tire until you find the peak and the view you were expecting, even if it is off the trail and you have to work really hard to get there!”  As exciting as it was to get to the first overlook/peak, I knew it wasn’t where we wanted to be.  We kept going until we found that sweet spot…and oh how sweet it was!!

how cute is she?!  how beautiful is Rattlesnake Ledge?  while it is somewhat of a popular hike in the Seattle area, it was one I have always wanted to complete!  we visited on a Thursday (so probably didn’t experience the larger crowds) and found it very peaceful .  also, there are no rattlesnakes lest you be fearful.

at the end of our hike, my beautiful friend read Psalms 19 aloud to us and anyone surrounding who would listen.  wind and words breezed in swirls around our cliff point…eyes closed, breathing it all in.

the skies proclaim the works of his hands

day after day they pour forth speech;
night after night they reveal knowledge.
they have no speech, they use no words;
    no sound is heard from them.

yet their voice  goes out into all the earth,

their words to the ends of the world.

Christmas cards.  Holiday greetings from people near and far.  Something I look forward to making and sending every year, after a brief period of questioning why I put myself through the financial, mental and physical stress of it all.  Don’t get me wrong…I absolutely love picking out the fun photos to use, making the card (with a template of course!) and then addressing all of them to the people I love.  But I won’t lie.  Every year, I argue with myself about whether or not that time, money and effort could be used better elsewhere.

But then I open my mailbox.  I hold your card.  The one you sent me after you sacrificed time and money and effort to create it, stuff it in an envelope, possibly acquiring paper cuts on your tongue or accidentally walking around with a stamp on your butt for most of the day.  All for me. (and all those other people you love!)

So there I am, holding your card with a big dumb grin on my face.  Sometimes you have even brought me to tears.  You remembered ME?  Little ol me?!  You took time out to include me in your life, no matter that I probably see your every move on social media…STILL.  You took ol’ fashion time for me.

And I don’t have to go to my computer to pull up a photo of you.  Every time I walk by my dining room cabinet, the one I pass 58 million times a day, I get to see your face, your family and maybe even some fun things you did this past year.  I positively adore that I get to hold, in my hands, a little yearly memento of you, my dear friend.

Guess what?!  I don’t throw them away either!  Nooooooooo.  After all that cost and time and terrible tasting glue, I imagine my great grandmother and all of the Pony Express would roll over in their grave if they knew I threw away a real live letter!  Actually, I am a memory pack rat so I keep them all.  Some of you, dear friends of mine, have cards in my home that go back over eleven years!  Weird coincidence?  That is about how long I feel like I have been forced to be an adult!  Huh.

But what to do with all those cards of Christmas past.  I can’t bear to part with them, yet I also can’t just shove them in a box all willy nilly and under appreciated!  My solution is simple.  Dress it up or leave it lie, it is a meaningful way to store cards of those faces you love, to be revisited year after year to come.

Behold:

I start by finding a small 6×8 album to keep them in.  This can be tricky as they average about $20 for ONE album.  But if you are okay with that (because you are obviously a millionare and wipe yer butt with hundred dollah bills) than fine.  But if you are one of the common folk and $20 sounds like whole bag full of goodies at the Dollar Tree, then check Ebay or the latest Michaels coupons.   Some of my favorite albums are the Simple Stories album (which you can decorate if you want, due to it’s cardboard cover), this Project Life Album (multiple colors available) or my VERY favorite from Studio Calico.

Most of the albums come with page protectors and I use one for the guide as to where I should hole punch.  Again, if you are fancy and have one of them high tech paper punchers with the repositionable deely-bobbers on them, use that.  But I go old school and choose a wrist strengthening exercise over that them there fancy machines.

Depending on the layout of the card, I punch my holes accordingly.  I also like to take note of where the holes will be punched so little adorable Ava May doesn’t lose her eyeball during my creative process.  I love that every year, the cards are a bit helter skelter in my album, adding depth to the pages of the album!

Some dear friends send letters along with their cards.  [I like to call them overachievers.  Lovingly.]  And what a joy it is, to compare their letters over the years and see how much (or sometimes little) has changed.  I usually fold the letters in half with the text facing out, punch both ends and put it in as if it is it’s own double sided page.  Easy reading folks!

Some of the cards are harder to figure out.  This lovely card was a trifold and if I hole punched it and just stuck it in there, I would have no way of seeing some of the lovely images inside unless I open the binder and pull it out.   Which…duh…that is the whole point of this album.  Easy access to Christmas past!  So I added tabs from some Studio Calico labels I had on hand and some glue dots…

Cut out the tabs you wish to use.  My sheet of labels is from Studio Calico and each month they release a new set of color options for your printing pleasure.  If you are photoshop saavy, you can change the colors on your own (with a little bit of work) to have the colors line up with your scheme.

I folded the tab and applied Mini Glue Dots to one of the back sides of the label and lined it up with my page protector to make sure the hole placement would be accurate.  I only applied the tabs to the top page of the Trifold card so I would be able to pull it out accordion style when complete.  After I was sure it was lined up properly (so my OCD flags would surrender) I added the final dots and secured the label/tab in place.  

The final touch is adding our current year’s Christmas card to the very top.  It is fun to see how WE have grown throughout the years as well as remind ourselves of where we were when everyone else was where they were!   I use Jamie Schultz Designs for my personal and my client card templates EVERY year since 2010.  She is a crazy talented designer of templates for photographers to use and every year, she holds my heart for Christmas/Holiday Cards!  (She also offers a variety of business card, album and specialty templates so be sure to check her out!)

And then, you are done.  It took me one episode of Downton Abbey and a half an episode of New Girl (so about an hour) to make this from start to finish.

And I love it.  Every year, we pull out our Christmas decorations and these books, as the special treat that they are.  Every year, the kids sit and flip through these albums over and over again.  We relive beautiful trees, new homes, fresh babies, finalized adoptions, lost loved ones and friends we have made and love from around the world.

Thank you for sending me your Christmas Card, friend.  It let’s me know we are close, that you are thinking of me and that we are only a stamp away!  I love our friendship and the yearly reminder I can hold on to!

It’s time for us to move again!  While we have absolutely LOVED our time here in Germany, the job needs us elsewhere.  And so….we are off…

TO KOREA!  South.  In case you lost your marbles or haven’t seen the news.  Ever.

That is right! Come the end of this summer, we will be off to learning how to live, work, and school in Seoul South Korea!  As we shlep our children all over the earth, we wanted to make sure to reveal the big news to them in a fun, hopefully memorable way.  I was a bit scared of how they would take it as they all really wanted to be back in the states and close to family but, I think they were just a little excited.

I gave each of the children a photo hint of where we would be living next.  Littlest got Psy from the song Gangnam Style.  Caelan knew instantly where we were going off just that one clue.

Ethan got the map because of his obsession with maps.  Now big Sis and big Bro knew!

Caelan was so excited she went all big-foot-footage in my photo!  Corbin got the flag and she got some written out Hangul (the language) saying “we are moving to Korea”.  At least I think that is what it said.  If you can read it and I totally messed it up, please tell me.  If it’s a swear word…[giggle] I swear I didn’t mean to!

You can watch the video here.  Side note: Do I always have that voice?!  Where on earth does my daughter get her bossy nature?!  Corbin…just Corbin when he shares his guess.  And watch out for Mr Ballard…he’s got those moves legit!

This was the song we blasted and danced to after the big reveal!  Man…Korea knows how to have a concert eh?!

There are so many unknowns still but I did want to at least share our news and some fun stuff about our soon-to-be home for the next few years.

Want to get a feel for the amazing city we will be living in?  Check this video out!  Currently on my to-do:  learn how to walk that fast.

I created a Pinterest Board of all the things I want to find in Korea.  It’s like I kinda set up a scavenger hunt…for myself.  You can check it out here.

So friends and family?  Start planning your trips out to see us!  I know that South Korea is not probably even in your top 100 countries to visit but…well……..I really have no solution.  We are SO stoked to explore that side of the earth and IF you want to, we would love to have you!

We will be visiting Washington from May to July so I hope to see some of you then, before we head off on our next joyride!

Now please excuse me while I go listen to Korean language discs and sell off half of our household so we can fit in a tiny little Korean high rise apartment!  Let’s be adventurers!!!

I love presenting the subjects my kids are learning in a variety of forms.  Hands on learning (gonna get all hippy-dippy-touchey-feeley on ya!) using all the senses just seems to resonate with people.  While one of my kids may remember the textures and shapes of something we are learning about, another might remember the lettering and words, while yet another recalls the most by the writing she did for the assignment.  Plus, it is just down right fun to have a wide variety of options to teach simple or complex subjects with.

We were gifted these amazing Periodic Table of Elements blocks (made by Uncle Goose) and they are SO perfect for using during this study!  We follow Classical Conversations and are on Cycle 3 right now, with the next six weeks devoted to studying the Periodic Table and a bit of the elements.  Of course I couldn’t wait to use these blocks!

For today, we were learning to memorize information about the Atomic Number of an element.  It was a hard sentence for my kids so we made it a game.  They each got blocks and had to yell out the atomic number while the other two found it on the Periodic Table of Elements.  We repeated the Science Grammar (from Classical Conversations Week 13) over and over and over as we played to secretly try and make it stick.  I think it worked pretty well!

Next, they picked out an element with an atomic number lower than 15 in their collection.  We printed out a blank atom template and made our own atom based of the atomic number on the block the child had chosen.  My little comedian ended up with Boron and laughed himself off the chair saying “Boron ya Moron!”.  He can’t help it.  He just can’t.

They were given almonds for the protons and raisins for the electrons and had to figure out how many went in the nucleus and how many went on the electron shell.  After they got it right, we ate our creations and boom: science and snack time in one!  [please note: I do not endorse eating all science creations.  I will not be held liable if you chose to eat a science project that clearly was not edible.]

This amazing placemat is a great reference tool for our studies as well!  At first, the dork in me just bought it because science.  But a year later, a few elements stuck to the front (smuckers is an element right?) and this thing is a gem in our collection!  My Minecraft-minded son loves it for the matching appeal, my daughter loves the colors and my six year old who is obsessed with studying numbers and letters really REALLY closely loves to stare at it, count, label and point at it for hours!

Do you have any great ideas on how to study the Elements/Chemistry with your kids?  I would love to hear it!  Leave a comment and share the wealth!

meet abby.  when I think about what a happy person looks like, she is one of the first people to come to my mind.  she…is just a giant ball of sunshiney joy no matter what is going on.  and I adore that about her.

we joked about having her fly over from the states (like Seattle area the states) and doing her senior photos in Europe but I figured that was all that it was.  a joke.

nope.  on a visit out to see her sister (who lives a few hours from me) we actually made arrangements to do her senior photo shoot!  talk about making me feel special!  what a blast to spend the day with her family, seeing the sights AND photographing such a lovely soul!  Stuttgart looks good on them, dontcha think?

I first met Abby at youth group at our church when we lived in the seattle area.  the middle school and high school kids met in a darkened gym that was full of sweaty young uns all ready to rock out to some Jesus jams after some semi-awkward socializing before hand.  but Abby stood out, even on the first day.  she bounced between groups of friends, hugging and smiling and making everyone feel welcome.  she was infectious.  in a good way.  me, being the new mom of 3 that was wanting to help out with the youth, felt like I was three layers of deodorant short of working with all these teenagers, who would most likely find me to be the biggest nerd.  I pushed my nagging urge to talk about Saved By the Bell out of my head and just took Abby’s lead.  And over time…

I was privileged to get to know her better than just a hug on Sunday mornings!  between occasional baby-sitting of my kids to having her be their leaders during Sunday school or at camp, we got to know Abby much better!  and she is nothing short of amazing!

seriously, isn’t she just the cutest thing ever?!

she is a writer, a photographer, an actress and gets voted up for all types of princess things by her peers!  her love for Jesus is just as contagious as her smile and I swear the room grows 10 shades brighter when she steps in it!

she even looks like a Disney princess!!!

thank you abby!  thank you for making the trip out to see lil ol me and for putting up with my ridiculous requests all day!  thank you for being patient with me as I took for-ev-uhr to finish your photos.  and thank you for being such a lovely, glowing, sunshiney ball of joy.  I am so thankful to have you and your family in our lives and can’t wait for our next adventure!

we have been waiting for snow.  after our first year here giving us 5 months of consistent snowfall followed by a year of not even ONE snow day, we were ecstatic to wake up to a fresh blanket.  two days into our winter wonderland, we are rosy nosed and frigid toes of sledding and reindeer games…and still loving it.

there is a great sledding hill near our home.  the kids sled alongside friends from our town, the adults drink hot wine out of mugs and laugh at the antics and we all trudge home tired and happy.  and if a race comes up between me and the mister, it is proven that I will win.  just sayin.

seriously people?  are they just the cutest or is it just me?  those cheeks?  the snow they are wearing?  those smiles that were given to me as a gift if they could just go home now?!  I want to never stop remembering them in this snow in this place.

and after the long walk home, when the boys were stripping down to their lightning mcqueen underwear and racing to the fire, this little beauty wanted to listen to the falling snow in the swing out front.  alone.  snowflakes tangled in her tresses alongside her seemingly painted porcelain cheeks had me drooling for just one more photo.

in true, Normal Rockwell form, the kids warmed their wet toes and cold fingers by the fire while fresh milk cocoa simmered on the stovetop.

extra “smarsh shmellows” pweas.  slowly their bodies warmed up while the cocoa level went down.  ten minutes later they were back outside but the quiet by the fire in between was glorious.

I am wanting these lazy, playful snow days to stay fresh in our memories for all of time.  I wouldn’t hate it if the snow stuck around a bit longer either!

When we met, nine years ago, she was certain she and her husband didn’t want to have kids.    I remember telling her things like “Well, I am glad you know exactly what you want!” and “It’s totally fine!  Not everyone wants to have kids and that is ok!” and it was.  But the years passed by…

She ended up having roughly thirty kids at one point.  She’s an amazing first grade teacher and loves her students as if they are her very own offspring.  I truly admire that in her.  She loved those kids like no teacher I have ever met.  But I could tell she was maybe changing her mind.

Then I remembered that one conversation where she shared that yeah…maybe…maybe they did want to have kids.  Maybe.  I watched her through transatlantic moves, deployments, loss of loved ones, and the ups and downs of a life devoted to the military.   I was reminded of how amazing she is.  And how I could just see her being a spectacular mother.  While you can’t say things like this to someone who isn’t sure if they want kids or not, I really could envision her love and devotion and affection towards a child of her own someday.  As much as I love motherhood, I so desperately wanted her to feel that incredible feeling too!

Then, one day…it happened.  I watched one of my dearest friends grow through a handful of years to find that yes, she and her husband did want to check out this whole ‘let’s have a baby’ thang.  Guys?!  Have you ever seen such a thing?  Have you ever seen the joy in people as they look forward to the potential of adding a smallish someone to their core unit?  It’s awesome friends.  It really is.  And how lucky are we, when we get to be alongside those people we love, as we witness them grow and change in not only their minds but…that gloriously burgeoning bump?

For the first time in our long and wonderful friendship, Jen and I live in the same boundary lines.  There are no oceans or full-sized continents between us.  We are far enough to get a few chapters into an audio book but close enough to call without going broke.  And she lets me be there, to share some giggles and watch her grow.  We might not have had the best weather (literally raining sideways with gale force winds on their way) for our shoot but what a joy to spend an evening with my dear Jen as she patiently waited for baby Kate to arrive.

Her knight in shining armor was deployed for the entire pregnancy. [insert sad face emoji]  She has since given birth to baby Kate (I know…sorry for the late post) and it was the greatest joy to see Geoff made it home in time for his beautiful daughter’s arrival.  So while he didn’t get to be in any of our maternity photos (I know Geoff…you will probably never sleep well again knowing you missed a photo session!!!) it is just so awesome that he arrived home for Kate…

And to see your lovely bride in her full, glowing expectancy!

Doesn’t she just take your breath away?!

Thank you Jen (and Geoff!).  Thank you for your friendship from day one to the way you include me in your life to this day.  Thank you for your amazing thoughtfulness AT ALL TIMES and for speaking my love language.  I am not sure that I will every truly be able to express to you what a joy it was watching you grow into this place you are now.  I loved you when you didn’t have/want kids but guuuuuuuuurl….I love being able to share mommyhood with you now!   You amaze me in a million ways and I feel so blessed to be considered your friend.  You rock carrying an over NINE POUND baby like nobody’s business (seriously…look at her!) and I am honored that you allowed me to photograph such a special time in your life.  Love you sweet friend!  Thank you!

this kid decided he wants to read today.  so he picked up a book…and he read.

sitting next to him, hearing him put the letter sounds together and beam with joy over his success?  it was enough to make me tear up.

even though we have incredibly tough days of not understanding one another, it’s these moments, these sticky-glue-like moments that keep it all together and remind me “This Amy.  This is what it’s all about!”

i stinkin love being a parent.  being his parent.  

the temperature went south real quick here.  the leaves changed clothes and the rains blanketed every minute of the day.  it’s grey and windy and you just really don’t want to be anywhere but under a blanket, cozied up with the ones you love.

this girl.  she warms my heart.  her friendship is real and daily and I can hardly wait to meet that precious little lady growing in her tummy.

so while it is cold and dreary, I am warming myself in these photos of this lovely.  sweaters and leaves, blankets and coffee mugs, linked arms and fly away umbrellas….it’s all warming me.  and I can’t wait to share the love of it all with you.

for now…

Homeschooling is a blast.  But it gets even MORE fun when you add in friends and food.  Today…we feasted with some of our favorites!

The kids are learning about bones and the skeleton so we decided to make a fun project to go along with it.  Bonus…we got to eat our work!

The kids worked really hard on creating a skeleton with a new medium; veggies.  They were only allowed to enjoy the flavor after they could recall the components.  This could be used with any program but went along so well with our Classical Conversations work!  If you are working through cycle 3 week 2, I would HIGHLY suggest this fun activity to go along with the memory work!

The finished product!  The girls decided to make a girl with red lips and big hair while the boys made a veggie boy.  I just now noticed how they gave him all the [ahem] proper parts.  Boys…

They were so proud of their work and they actually wanted to eat their creations!  You are what you eat?

I am so thankful my dear friend pointed this cool Pinterest find out to me!  Thanks Char!!!