Off to see Santa

Over the past weekend we managed to sneak in a visit to one of our favorite places, Johnson Brothers Greenhouses out in Coburg. We've enjoyed taking the kids out there at least once a month for their Seedlings Kid's Garden Club, which is a super fun + always cute make and take. We love going out there even more ever since we've befriended the owners...who we actually met at church before we knew the connection. Small world and happy coincidence!

This past Saturday happened to be Seedlings, the kid's made adorable pine cone ornaments, but also, Santa was making an appearance! While we waited for him to show the kiddos also wrote letters after finishing their ornaments. This was right up Malakai's alley as he's obsessed with writing letters and making lists.

While waiting in line to see Santa Clause, the kiddos could hardly contain their excitement. Aurelia enjoyed observing Santa from afar while snuggling with Katie, and the boys explored the displays and got a talking to about smiling for the picture ;)



Aurelia is typically very friendly and likes to be held by just about anyone, but she wasn't so sure about Santa. I may be odd, but these photos of her reaction crack me up every time I look at them.

Ben did a great job of snapping these photos quickly. Look how great the boys are smiling! I'm sure it had nothing to do with the promise of hot cocoa afteward...

Santa didn't seem to pleased that I went in for another try, but crying or not I wanted at least one photo of all 3 kiddos to look back on.

We haven't done Santa photos in a couple years, but here is a post that includes a visit to Santa.

What are some of your family traditions in the weeks leading up to Christmas?

Christmas 2014 (so far)

We've survived 3 out of our 4 Christmas gatherings...exhausted but happy to be home together and blessed to have so much of our family close enough to visit with over the holidays.

Last week we were all really sick. It was Kai's only full week of school all month and he missed 3 days due to so much coughing and congestion. We got him on antibiotics for his double ear infection and he is already doing better. As the week progressed the rest of us started to feel under the weather. Instaed of their usual jaunt to Grandma's last Thursday we all stayed home sick. Friday was Malakai's class party and I was able to swing by the school and grab all the crafts for him to do at home. I had also gone to have dental work done that morning and taken Des and Aurelia to the doctor, making myself an appointment for Monday. 4 out of 5 of us were prescribed antibiotics. Ben stayed home sick Monday and really should have stayed home more but had too much work to get done to try to do it all remotely from home. It was a whirlwind of a week and a half leading up to Christmas. We did as much as we could in advance to avoid late nights of wrapping gifts and making food for the upcoming events. 

Ben worked a half day Christmas eve and as soon as he got home we hit the ground running. We were all feeling well enough to celebrate, so we headed to church and then to his parents to gather with all his siblings. We had a great dinner and quite the gift exchange.

{Aurelia's 1st Christmas Eve in a dress I made her}

{these boys could hardly contain their excitement} 

Our tradition is to open one gift on Christmas eve (hint: it's always pajamas), read T'was the Night before Christmas, leave cookies for Santa and head to bed. We were out fairly late, and having anticipating as much we brought the PJ's with us and I set the cookies out for the boys who had passed out on the short drive home. 

We had Christmas morning at home, just the 5 of us. The boys even tolerated waiting for Aurelia to sleep in a bit while they snuggled up with daddy on the couch after a quick breakfast. Once I got my coffee we let the kids dig into their gifts from Santa and then from us. Our rules on gifts is to keep it simple, so we always have a pretty minimalist Christmas, and we like it that way. Each kiddo got a few presents from Santa, and 2 gifts from us. Ben and I also got a few gifts from Santa and 1 thing for each other. 

{my precious gifts}

We had a pretty leisure morning and early afternoon letting the kids play with their gifts, read and color and watch a Christmas special. Then we scrambled to get out of the house for our 2 family gatherings that day. We had dinner with my Aunt + Uncle on my dad's side and dessert at my Aunt + Uncle's and my mom's side of the family. Thankfully we snapped some photos before leaving the house because everything else happened in such a blur that we barely took any pictures once we left the house. 

{Aurelia in her Christmas dress from Mima}

We dragged ourselves home just before 9pm, carried sleeping kiddos into the house and snuggled up to watch A Christmas Story (which Ben had never seen), then promptly passed out from sheer exhaustion. 

Today we purposefully planned absolutely nothing. We've been eating at odd hours and watching a little tv between playing with new toys and reading new books together. 

Tomorrow is our last Christmas gathering, with my parents + siblings, and we'll have a small celebration for my birthday as well. The best part is that both Ben + Malakai are on vacation for another 10 days and I'm enjoying ever minute of it. 

I hope you've had a very happy Christmas and here's to a healthy and blessed new year in 2015!

Trimming the tree...more Christmastime photos

When we got our Christmas tree we brought it in later that afternoon and decorated it that night. I love watching my kids put ornaments on the tree and marvel over the twinkly lights. I know they won't want to help with this tradition forever, so I try to take it in while it's still fun for everyone. 

Ben snapped a few of these pictures from outside our front window. I love seeing him use his creative talents.

Here are a few more shots of Aurelia in our baby santa outfit. Later I moved her nearer the tree and she stared at the lights and watched her brothers hang ornaments.

Growing up we had to take turns with the honor of putting the topper on the tree after all the other decorations are on. We started doing that with the boys this year...

Surprisingly enough, with a new baby and three kids total our house looks more festive than it ever has this time of year. We've got a fun mix of handmade, gifted, store bought and kid-made decorations  throughout the house. My only regret is not buying a matching stocking and holder when I got the boys theirs years ago. Target no longer carries the silver letters we put on each boy's stocking, nor the type of stocking we got them. They are currently out of stock of the holders that we hang them from, so I'm waiting for them to either restock or hopefully still carry them (or something similar) next year. It's not the end of the world but I just think it would be cute to have them match or at least coordinate. 

More on our Christmastime festivities to come...

my little santas

Each of our kids has worn this santa costume for their first Christmas time, usually while we decorate the tree. This was first my brother Cody's so it's 20-something year's old at this point. I can't wait to pass it back to my siblings some day for more pictures like these...

Malakai was 5 months at his first Christmas in 2009. Desmond was just over 2 months in 2011 and Aurelia will be 3.5 months for hers this year. 

Love my little santa babies...

Picking out our Christmas tree

Last weekend was our annual trip to the tree farm. A few years ago we were looking for a place to get a tree that would shake it out (because we'd had two unfortunate issues with infested trees). Not only do we get a great tree with all the crawlies shaken out, but usually there is a horse-drawn ride. Sadly they weren't able to acquire horses this year, so it was a tractor ride, but we still had a good time. 

{the girls: my sister Amanda, Aurelia + I, and my mom Tami}

The weather was perfect, not only dry but actually warm! After these photos I tossed my coat in the car. 

{because, why not?}

{My girl's first tractor/trailor ride}

The tractor ride was decidedly more smelly and bumpy than the horses so we got off at the first stop. Just before stopping my mom spotted this bright green beauty and we snagged it without having to look at any others, which is ideal when young children are in tow.

{our sad attempt at taking a photo with our chosen tree}

{I love this little illustration of our tree coming down}

After walking back to the main entrance we settled in by the fire for hot cocoa and candy canes while Ben took care of the tree shaking and bailing business. 

 {sticky, sticky, sticky}

And we headed back home in record time...

More from "BnG Handmade"

I decided to create a little "shop name" even though I'm not opening up an Etsy shop or anything that official. I wanted to have something in place in case I went there in the future, but mostly to give shoppers a way to contact me if they wanted to order something special or contact me after the Bazaars had passed. So I went with something simple and tagged my items with "BnG handmade" referencing my blog name so that everything is streamline with contact info and page information.

My handmade inventory is almost all up in Salem until Thanksgiving, but my aunt Deedee and mom,  Tami, had a bunch of goodies at the annual Country Holiday Bazaars out in Veneta this past weekend. My mom's handmade dolls are also up for individual sale, just contact me and we can work out the details. 

This weekend my crochet items and hand painted signs will be added to their inventory at Thurston High School choir's annual holiday bazaar. Come by between 10am-6pm on Black Friday or 10am-5pm on Saturday the 29th. If you can't make it but want information or to special order something, again, just shoot me an email and I can answer any questions you might have!

Thanks to all of you who visited the Bazaars and supported us by making even a small purchase! 

Christmas Bazaars + Craft Fairs

Today + tomorrow Ben's aunt Lori, my mom + I will have a table of handmade items at a Holiday Bazaar in Salem.

 

If you're in the area, I'd encourage you to stop by and check it out! Say hi to Lori for me, she'll be heading up the table both days. Here are some of the things I'll have there-

Sticking with it...

Hi friends, I'm back! I've thought a lot about it and I really don't want to let go of blogging just because of what happened a couple weeks ago. So, I'm here and I'll be posting a little more depending on how often I get a little time to tap something out and throw a few photos in. Speaking of, due to aforementioned incident I will be ramping up security on my page. Annoyingly it means bigger bolder watermarks on all my photos, but I will still post photos. For now my Instagram will remain private, but feel free to request me. This will help me keep track of who has access to what I post there. I will be posting fewer photos on the Facebook page due to it's public nature, but I will still be sharing there so be sure to "like" it to get updates. 

As you can likely imagine, or possibly relate to, life with 3 kids is very busy! We went through a lot of changes all at once over the last couple months with Malakai starting Kindergarten and then Aurelia joining us just 3 days later. Ben had a week off of work and then I felt sort of thrown in to a new and very busy routine. Getting Kai to school daily proves to be exhausting and Desmond decided to stop napping completely a week later. How fun for everyone! 

{there are THREE watermarks on this photo, some are harder to find than others, just one way I'm increasing security here to protect my family from another incident of stolen identity}

Desmond turned 3 earlier this month, so our kiddos are 5, 3 and 8 weeks old as of today. Time is FLYING by us and I feel like all I can do is keep our heads above water. I know things will calm (somewhat) and even out a bit soon, but we are heading into the holidays so it can't last long!

This year I'm participating in a few Christmas Bazaars to make a little extra money and gauge interest in some of my handmade items. I will not be opening a shop anytime soon but I have done a little branding in case I decide to go that route in the future. For now, it's all informal so that I can be protective of my time. I hope to sell pre made items at the bazaars and possibly drum up some custom orders as well. I'll post dates and locations of the Bazaars that I'll have items at on our Facebook page, so keep an eye out there and then come look for my work under "BnG handmade". 

That's it for now. I will be back to share some updates on what we've been up to as a family and how the kiddos have grown. Keep an eye out for more giveaways coming as well. Thanks for taking time to check in with our little corner of the internet. 

Holiday Recap 2013

As always, Christmas zoomed by in a blur. We ventured out to get our tree the day after Thanksgiving again this year.

We had a great time this year re-visiting the "reason for the season" with Malakai and teaching it to Desmond. We did an advent calendar that I made from a few inspirations floating across the internet. I may be able to get one more good use out of it next year before it falls apart. They loved to "poke the number" and listen to part of the Christmas story while eating a small treat (sometimes a chocolate chip, sometimes a peppermint mini marshmallow) each night after dinner.

We read multiple books about Jesus' birth connecting it to why we give gifts at Christmas. We even played along with the craze that is Elf on The Shelf along the way. The boys named our elf "Friddle" and he didn't get into any trouble at our house. He also wasn't here to watch for behavior, just for fun. At our house Santa believes in grace, so naughty or nice everyone gets gifts to celebrate Jesus' birth. The boys LOVED waking up to find out where Friddle would be each morning, for us it  turned out to basically be a festive game of hide and seek. Friddle did write them a letter at the end of his time here this season to make sure they understood he wouldn't be back until next year.

Malakai got really into writing lists and letters over the last month. He made a list for Santa that included a snowboard after the big snow we had early in the month. We had a few talks about what would happen if he didn't get exactly what was on his list.

On the 22nd we made like crazy people and took the boys to the mall to visit Santa. We aren't big on visiting Santa. 2 years ago Kai just stood next to Santa while he held Des who was just 2 months old. We didn't even bother last year. Des was at the age Kai was when he was afraid of Santa (2 years in a row) so we just didn't worry about it.  Malakai asked to visit him this year, he was so sweet and very excited that we decided to surprise him after church. Thankfully it was the best time to go as it was just before the lunch rush. We did wait about half an hour but they were both really well behaved through it and rocked when we got to Santa. They both sat on his lap, smiled and kindly told Santa what they'd like for Christmas. I almost cried out of pure shock at how well it went.

Ben has been on vacation since the 23rd so we've thoroughly enjoyed having him home. It also really opened up our ability to get together with multiple parts of the family over the week. We exchanged gifts with my parents and siblings on the morning of the 24th, went to the Christmas Eve service at our church that afternoon and then had dinner and exchanged gifts with Ben's parents, siblings and their significant others. It was a long day, but a really good one.

{gifts at G'Pa + Mima's}

{gifts at Grandpa + Grandma's}

When we got home we let the boys open their traditional gift of Christmas jammies, snuggled up in them and they listened to daddy read The Night Before Christmas.

{my new favorite picture of the boys, so precious and magical}

They were pretty excited and Des took a bit to get to sleep, but once they were out we finished some wrapping and got the house ready for the next morning.

The boys woke up to find a half eaten cookie and a note from Santa. Kai was thrilled, but didn't understand why Santa didn't eat ALL the cookies. Sweet boy.

My sister-in-law Kristi made cinnamon rolls for everyone the night before so we heated those up and had a special breakfast before getting to gifts. We opened stocking gifts from Santa and exchanged gifts from each other. Ben and I haven't done gifts for each other beyond stockings the last few years and it works really well for us. Each kiddo gets a "big" present which I got great deals on so we kept spending very low this year. Kai got a remote control helicopter, which he is learning to use with daddy. We got Des a Little People Nativity set that he loves to arrange and play pretend with.

This year we had nearly the whole day to ourselves, it was very relaxing. We even snuck in a little Christmas nap, which was at the top of my wish list! Late that afternoon we headed to my aunt and uncle's for dinner and gift exchanges.

When we got home Desmond was struggling to go to sleep (that has been his thing for the past few months, we are very tired all the time) so while I waited for Ben to soothe him I lay down and fell asleep...at 8pm! So we called it an early night.

The next day was pretty low key until we had some more family over for dinner and our final gift exchange. It was nice to fill out home with people, it had been far too long. It's always a nice incentive to keep things clean and tidy as well!

{gifts with great-uncle Richard and great-aunt Jennifer, playing trains in their new chairs with Aunt Nans}

In the days since our Christmas celebrations we celebrated my birthday and the New Year. I'm so blessed by the generosity of our family. My husband put together a small gathering of our immediate families and everyone pitched in with food, all we had to do was show up!

New Year's Eve we spent a few hours with my siblings over dinner, but put the kids to bed at their regular time. They struggle with sleeping all night anyway so we didn't think keeping them up til midnight would be worth it. I didn't even make it. We were watching something on Netflix, Ben paused and got up for a few minutes and I had passed out before he came back. We called it a night at 11:30, which is even earlier than last year when we gave up at 11:50. I do think we should get a sitter and go out next year to do something different…we'll see if I still feel that way at the end of the year.

{reading with Aunt Nans and making glittery NYE crowns}

{showing off our lovely crowns, Kai wore his ALL night and wanted to sleep in it}

Ben's vacation and the holidays have gone by in a blur. Despite all the hustle and bustle we did have multiple chances to spend time just the 4 of us playing and relaxing, for that I am so very grateful.

I'm not much for resolutions but I'm looking forward to setting goals for myself and our family and at the top of the list is to seek God first and teach our boys to do the same.

Happy New Year!

Our Christmas Card

Crowned with Beauty Winner + Special Offer

What a great giveaway to kick off my entry back into shop features, and the holiday season! Thanks to everyone who participated, especially those who have already made purchases from Aimee at Crowned with Beauty.

The winner of the lid + straw set for use with mason jar is…

Jenny!

The winner was chosen via Rafflecopter. Jenny has been emailed and has 48 hours to reply and claim the prize. Unclaimed prizes will be rewarded to an alternate, which will not be announced via blog post.

BUT WAIT, there's more!

Any purchases made from Crowned with Beauty between now and December 1st, 2013 is eligible to receive a free hand made ornament. All you have to do is mention Breaking New Ground and the ornament will be added to your order! Be sure to check back in to Aimee's shop to see all the lovely things she's added just in time for the holiday season!

Check back in here for more updates from us as well as additional features and giveaway in the coming weeks. If you peruse the internet via a reader, consider following Breaking New Ground's feed by clicking HERE or this handy dandy button to follow with feedly

Let's Play Catch Up {December 2012}

Hi. I'm Shandell. I blog here sometimes. Remember me?

Oy. It's been a long time since I've sat down and updated {again} and there is a lot to talk about...hence the not having time to blog about it.

Well- last time I posted we were smack dab in the middle of a very hectic schedule. Ben had 3+ weeks of intense practice every night for the drama at church. It didn't take long for us to figure out that when you start doing more to further the kingdom of God, that the enemy attacks. He tried hard and we were down for a bit, but we got back up. Des suddenly wouldn't go to sleep for me, but once Ben got home and held him he would be out in less than 10 minutes. We had sickness throughout the house, and I broke my toe one night just when Ben was about to leave. Amidst all that I was left to prepare for Christmas on my own. I found joy in knowing that God had good planned through it all and in the end, at least 12 people decided to walk with Jesus because of the message conveyed through the drama.

Early in the month we actually made time to go get our tree at a farm, see the fire truck light parade go by a few blocks away, and prepare for and attend a cookie exchange.

{tree farm!}

{firetruck light parade}

{a sampling of my holiday projects}

In just one month Malakai got a new bed, his first desk, and a lit Christmas tree in his room. A lot of "firsts" for this guy. He was just a "little" excited.

On December 18th we had a pretty decent snow. It was a bit wet, but it stuck and looked beautiful for about 8 hours. Kai made his first snowball, which he promptly threw at me. Then subsequent others that he threw at his brother. We also made our 1st snowman together (last year I ended up making it all on my own). Desmond loved stomping around in the snow and found himself a puddle to play in. boys. 

We had a staff Christmas lunch at the church, a small group dinner that we hosted, welcomed a few new babies, and then we started Christmas celebrations early on the 22nd with Ben's side of the family.

{Pottorf Family Christmas}

Christmas Eve Malakai helped make cookies for Santa for the first time. We wrote him a letter as well. That night we usually attend the candlelight service at church but Desmond had a nasty cold so we had a quite evening. Christmas day we went 3 different places, Des was coughing so hard that day he puked 4 times (twice on me), the next day it was still so bad Ben stayed home (we were up all night). Then we had a couple days to prepare for the next round of Christmas celebrations.

{Christmas Eve Traditions: new jammies, cookies for Santa, story with daddy}

{Christmas morning stockings, Christmas evening with family}

The 29th was my birthday and on our way to a family outing Ben planned, Kai got car sick...once again, it was on me. The night of the 30th we had immediate families over for dinner to celebrate my birthday, that night Ben got sick...thankfully NOT on me. He was up all night getting sick and I was up with the boys half the night because their routine with daddy was thrown off. Even still, I enjoyed my birthday and we got through it.

{for my birthday- a pegboard for my kitchen, a necklace Kai made, boots I can't wear, and snuggles with my boys- yes Kai is asleep.}

Yesterday, New Year's Eve, we had our final Christmas gathering. Ben stayed home sick, and I took the boys for a bit. They faded fast so we left early and we were all in bed before midnight.

Today we all took it easy as Ben is still recovering from his stomach flu, and we are praying that nobody else in the house gets it next.

Needless to say, I fell behind in just about everything. House work (especially after the broken toe), Christmas prep, my part-time job at the church. I guess you could say my "resolution" for 2013 is to catch up! Now that most of our big events are out of the way I feel like I can breath and start to pick up the pieces (literally!).

I honestly feel so incredibly blessed. When I had hurt my foot I had family come over a few nights and help me with the boys while Ben was at play practice. Between Christmas and my birthday, we were showered with gifts. Not just material things, but gifts of presence and love as well.

2012 surely made itself known in our family's history books and I'm looking forward to the blessings and lessons that 2013 will hold for us.