merry christmas

McWisecrack was in rare form.



McChuckles asking me how the heck he allowed himself to be suckered into this photoshoot.



That's right. Own it. 

{all photos by the lovely Allison Tyler Jones}






girl turns 11

I worked for hours on this book from Paper Coterie.  Love the quality. 

And, as usual, thanks to cousin Delia for giving me the idea!

{Thank heavens it arrived just in time}.

{from Aunt Steph and Uncle Nathan}

gearing up...

It would be impossible for me to live one more Christmas without these Peppermint Cupcakes that Caroline and her pal Syd whipped up on the fly.  The recipe is as follows:  Make a yellow cake mix, add crushed up candy canes.  Bake as directed.
 
Frosting:  your basic buttercream with a candy cane simple syrup, a titch of red food coloring, and a drop (or two) of peppermint extract.

Merry Christmas, indeed.

The neighbors are already asking when they will receive their traditional gift of pure spun creamed honey that we shipped from Marc's family's Meyer Honey Farm in South Dakota.

It's silky sweet perfection in a tub.
 

Round two.

This year I let the girls help with their teachers' crayon wreaths.

  I'm glad I relinquished absolute control over this project because 1) it saved some serious time having their help, and 2) we had fun doing it together. 

I did the hanging ribbons, though...


Remember last year's wreath odyssey? Good golly.

And, of course, the annual Wright Dynasty Christmas Caroling Extravaganza.

Do these darling grandparents look amused, or ready to employ their tasers? 

you decide.

pretend it's October

and we did especially give thanks for these folks:

{it was my Aunt Nancy H}

a deep sigh of gratitude