lately and slowing down the Christmas season

Sigh. My poor blog. I have been so absent from this space lately, both physically, as is evidenced by lack of posts, and mentally - I just haven't had the mental space to even think about blogging or my blog in general. It's hard to put into words what been keeping me so busy. I guess it can be summed up in one word...life. Life is just busy busy right now and so full and theres still so many things I want to do that I can't fit in. Blogging just hasn't been a priority for me right now, and to be honest, I've been okay with that. But don't worry little blog, I still love you.

You know what else I love? Instagram. It's such a good way to share little snippets of our life and have them there as a record for later when I've nearly forgotten about what we were up to at a certain point in our lives. It's faster than blogging and admittedly a lot less work. And you can print out little books with all your pictures and captions, thereby using Instagram as a journal of sorts. I use chatbooks and have loved it so far. I even made a few custom books for family members as Christmas gifts this year. So I guess my point is that even when this space is looking pretty bleak I usually take time once or twice a day to post on my IG account, so be sure to follow along with me @lifealaskanstyle.

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Yesterday was Christmas Sunday, and it was so full and yet so laid back and relaxed and warm and cozy. We all dressed up and went to church, then headed downtown for brunch afterwards at the Valley Hotel (our favorite breakfast place by far in Palmer). Then we walked just down the street to Vagabond Blues for vanilla chai (me), green tea (Steve), hot cocoa (Riggs) and cookies/treats all around.

When we got home the kids went right down for their naps and Steve and I watched a movie together. I wrapped presents while we watched and am now pretty much done with presents, other than edible presents, which I'll be baking tomorrow. As soon as the kids woke up we got them dressed again and piled into the truck to head back to church for the Christmas program and yummy treats afterwards.

Yesterday was special because it really truly felt like Christmas, maybe for the first time this year. I've always loved Christmas so much, but it's been hard for me to adjust to being the main source of all the magic. I'm the one (well, technically me and Steve, but let's be real...mostly me haha) doing the decorating, and planning the fun Christmas outings, picking out the presents and then wrapping them with care, and teaching Riggs about what Christmas is all about. I don't get to be the one on the other end of that anymore, and it's definitely much more stressful and less fun than I imagined. It's a lot of work, even with the simplest of Christmas traditions and I'm still getting used to my changing role, nearly three years into parenting.

Yesterday was one of those days that made me realize what really makes Christmas so magical, it's about sacrifice and love for our family and friends. Jesus' life on earth was the perfect example of that, the example that we strive to imitate in our own lives. It's only by God's grace that we can even attempt to love those around us in the way we should, putting others before ourselves.

Baking cookies with our kids, despite the mess we know we'll be cleaning up after. Staying up late getting ready to host our friends for Christmas parties. Wrapping presents during nap time, and then rewrapping them after the baby rips the paper off five minutes after they wake up from their nap. Putting in extra time at Church to prepare for a special Christmas service. Baking hundreds of cookies for friends and neighbors. Spending half the day in the kitchen on Christmas day making that amazing Christmas feast for family and friends. The list goes on and on and on. Throughout it all, trying to remember the reason we're spending so much time making this season special.

Yesterday was winter solstice, and I thought a lot about it for some reason. This winter hasn't been ideal, and it's hard for me to get fully into the Christmas spirit when there's no snow. But I realized that snow or no snow, winter is a reminder of the amazing rhythm of God's creation. I love this quote..."the countryside sleeps in winter and within it lies all the potential of spring, summer and autumn." Instead of rushing around trying to decorate our houses perfectly, trying to get just the right gifts for everyone on our lists, trying to make every last party, trying to host the perfect party, we should be taking time this season, time to reflect and prepare for the year ahead of us.

"This is the solstice, the still point of the sun
it's cusp and midnight, the year's threshold
and unlocking, where the past
lets go of and becomes the future;
the place of caught breath..."
Margaret Atwood

I hope all of you have a magical Christmas week and take time to acknowledge and enjoy all the beautiful things God had graced you with in this life. Take an extra moment at each Christmas gathering to look around at friends and family and relish the time you have with them. Watch your children's faces as they experience all the magic of Christmas and let their joy and wonder seep deeply into your heart. Enjoy a plate of cookies cross-legged in front of your brightly lit tree.

my approach to meal planning

Since Riggs was born, planning has become much more important.  I'm a planner by nature, I love to make plans.  I tend to think most people probably love to make plans.  However, I think it's pretty widely known that it's actually following through with plans that is the hard part.  I'm excited to announce that I have been getting better and better at making plans I can actually follow through with...yay me!

One thing I've been trying to incorporate into our lives is rhythm.  I've been learning so much about how important it is to us all, and especially to children.  Following Riggs' lead, I've been trying to carve out a rhythm that works best for us, a structure for him to build his life around, a structure for me to use to make sure things get done around here in a timely manner and with little-to-no stress.

On her blog, Celebrate the Rhythm of Life, Lisa describes the concept very well:  "Focus on a simple, natural, slower paced, soulful life with children by implementing daily, weekly, and monthly rhythms through the year full of nurturing, artistic, domestic and social activities that deeply nourish family life for children and adults alike.  Protect the wonder of childhood and revisit your own sense of awe.  Bring gratitude and reverence into daily life in an authentic manner." A more in depth description is available here.

I've been working on planning the best ways to implement this in our lives, and one of these plans I've begun to implement is using Mondays to purge the house of unneeded things (carefully combing through each room for things we don't use or need, cleaning out the refrigerator, etc.), finalize a meal plan for the week, and go shopping for any extra ingredients we might need.

Monday's work best for this because it is trash day on Tuesdays.  So anythings that needs to go from the fridge and all the horrible packaging that you get when buying things in bulk at Costco can go out right away rather than piling up around the house.  Also, beginning the week so organized helps me keep a positive outlook each day.

We are really trying to save every penny possible right now to buy a house later this year, so my goal right now is to use up what I have in my pantry and only buy fresh things each week for about a month.  Ideally, I see myself doing one Costco trip a month to stock up on what we will need for that month, and then doing weekly trips to the local market in winter and farmers market in summer for fruits, veggies, milk and eggs.  That is what I'm working up to.

I've only recently started meal planning (it's been a life-saver since having Riggs as it takes the guess work out of what to make Steve for dinner day after day), and so we have a lot of random foods left over from before that need to be used up prior to buying any other ingredients (other than fresh items, as I mentioned before).  Monday and this morning I worked on coming up with a few weekly meal plans based on what we already have, and feel pretty good about what I've come up with.

My daily rhythm in regards to meals is working out pretty well.  I usually start getting in the dinner mindset around 1 or 2, as Steve is home and hungry by 5pm.  If I wake up feeling especially tired, or know I have a lot to do that day, I get together a crockpot meal in the morning when I have the most energy (afternoons can be a hard time, as it's when I begin to feel pretty tired and lazy).  Also, Riggs cluster feeds from about 4:30 or 5 until his bedtime around 8, so I need to work around that as well.  Sometimes he goes in the wrap and can eat "on-the-go" but sometimes that doesn't work out.

Have you been doing any meal planning lately and if so, how has it been going?  Any good recipes to share?  I will be sharing what I made for dinner tonight later today when I get some final pictures, so maybe check back in for that if Mex Mac & Cheese sounds good to you...