InstaDecember

Whew - can you believe that we're already a week into 2014!?!  How'd that happen?!

December was a crazy month - 2 holidays, 8 days out of town, lots of custom orders for the shop, and a snow day (which always throws Seattle into a tizzy - even though the snow melted after about 3 hours!).  Oh, and Santa gave us an amazing present!

Here's how the month went down at the Graceful Rose house:

We have cut down our tree this year, in the rain, like true Washingtonians.  Yep, it was wet.  Our tree was so soggy that the saw turned the wood to goo.  Oh well...we had fun!

My husband was lucky enough to go to the Seahawks-Saints game, so our girls asked me to take this picture before the game to send to him.  They were in crazy Beast Mode!

As someone who grew up not celebrating Christmas, I must admit...I do love Christmas trees!

My little loves on the last night of Hanukkah. 

Cookies for Santa...someone had to test them out!

 

 It's our tradition to go to see Santa at Macy's and then send our letters there.  The girls love it every year! 

I saw this AWESOME wine glass at a local grocery store.  It would be perfect for watching Cougar Town!

My big girl and I.  And our crazy hats :)

Emma, our Elf, decided to watch me sew.  Sorry for those of you who love your elves...ours kind of creeps me out ;-)  

Wintertime favorite: French Onion Soup.  Soooooo good.

Oh, this girl.  She kills me!

We had a few fun excursions to the Seattle Gingerbread House show and also a few local tree farms.  

 Christmas jammies on Christmas Eve.  Wish I could just keep them like this forever!

Pre-present opening destruction.  Yes, it was still dark outside.

Santa was good to us :o) Stay tuned for some Disneyland related crafts before our trip next month!

My husband's grandparents had a farm near Portland, OR, and when they passed away, the family sold the land to the local parks department.  The park just opened and it was so fun to visit it!  The barn in the background is there because of the old barn on the property.  I imagine my late grandparents in law would have loved sitting on the bench near the play ground and watching the neighborhood kids play :)

 We got to visit with friends from an old playgroup who are living in Germany.  Even after no seeing each other for 3 and a half years, these two were back to being BFFs :)

We saw the Spruce Goose and um...it's BIG.  So big that this was all I could fit in the frame:

A boy is never too old to dream about flying one of these :)

Coffee date night.  We got to use our free babysitting to the fullest while visiting family!

Best. Christmas Tree.  EVER!

There was a whole lot of partying going on and this kid finally had to crash.

Have you ever played Blokus?  It's a great family game!

Yelling O for our Ducks while they played Texas in the Alamo Bowl :)

I have no excuse for the sparrow picture except that it was New Year's Eve and...there was wine involved.

Last hugs with old friends before we all departed for home on New Year's Day.

And there you have it!  December in an Insta!  Remember, you can follow me on instagram - I'm thegracefulroseshop :)

Instafriday - September edition

Whew - September was a busy month!  Back to school, back to soccer, back to Girl Scouts, back to PTA...and back to work for me!  I'm linking up with Life Rearranged for Instafriday today to share some of my favorite pictures from last month.

 

You just can't start September without a Pumpkin Spice Latte.  Am I right?

 



Theses cuties started school and it was the first year I didn't get teary-eyed watching them get on the school bus.  Well...at least not too teary...

 

So long, summer shoes!

 



 

My youngest LOVE her Ducks :D

 

I posted this picture of my Sunday routine - planning the upcoming week - and it sparked a few posts on staying organized.

 



These woodpeckers live in my neighbor's tree and DRIVE ME CRAZY!

 



This girl is halfway to wanting her two front teeth for Christmas.

Fall means soccer in our house - 4 practices and 2 games a week for 10 weeks...yeah, I'm tired just thinking about it.

 

We had a really great summer, and this was the last hot day of the year - it was over 90, so we had smoothies for dinner!

 

I've been testing a lot of patterns lately, and this girl has become quite the model.  I might be biased, but I think she is just so pretty :)

 



I had fun making a pencil pouch and business card case for myself for my the Schoolhouse Craft Fall Conference.  Which, by the way, was AWESOME.

 



I picked up this fun pin there, as well as some other great swag.

 



 

Bookkeeping 101- I have finally decided which software to use...uh, I just need to install it and get going!  The ol' receipts in envelopes thing just isn't cutting it anymore!

 

First of all, if you haven't watched the show, you are totally missing out!  Second, this was a great nail color in my Birch Box, which is totally worth the $10/month!

 



 

One Pan Pasta...make it tonight!

 

My mama turned 65...she's looks pretty good, right?

 



 

Best. Soup. EVER.

 

One night it was so cold...I just had to turn the heat and fireplace back on!

 



I got to escape to Eastern Washington for a wine tasting weekend...HEAVEN!

 



I totally need to do this with all of my wine corks!

 



 

 A girl in a vineyard...it's my happy place :D

And a sparkling wine tasting the morning after...yes, please.

 



At one of the kids' soccer practices, this beautiful double rainbow appeared over the park...SO pretty!

 

If you'd like to follow along with all of the other bloggers for Instafriday, be sure to click over to Life Rearranged with the button below.  You can follow me on Instagram too - I'm thegracefulroseshop there.  Happy Friday!