luke & pamela's 2011 mix

we put our 2011 mixtape together awhile ago, but we've been busy traveling and moving and packing and unpacking so we've yet to share it with anyone.  at last:

the mix this year has a bit of new, a bit of old, a bit of even older.  a good amount of covers.  some great songs and some songs so bad that we had to love them (i'm talking to you, #6, heard for the first time in a thrift store basement in prescott, az).  i got super into old country this year and i am a little sad to see we didn't have dolly represent that here.  thanks to npr for introducing us to #1 and #13.  #7 and #9 got stuck in our heads many, many times.  and #8 and #12 were everywhere.  #17 is a sweet version of one of my favorite songs, and one i am teaching the babies to sing.  for dancing we loved #2 and #4.  #10, #14, and #15 speak to my all time favorite music genre which is: mellow.  #16 is one of mateo's favorites.  of course #5 is for the best thing that happened to us in 2011.

as always, let us know if you'd like a copy.  and if you have any recommendations we should check out.  :)

see our previous mixes here: 2010, 2009, 2008.

christmas 3

we got home late from our texas road trip and had our 3rd Christmas pretty immediately after unpacking the car.  we were moving the very next day so everything was a little rushed but we had a good time savoring the last of the gifts and the last of the tree and lights and the last night in the house we called home for awhile.

(we told mateo to close his eyes as luke brought out his gift - a little wooden thrifted rocking chair)

christmas 2

 we drove 15 hours to texas for christmas to spend it with my parents, grandparents, and sister.  we had a super time, and mateo keeps asking to go back to "grandma's house".

i think luke and i were so relaxed that we didn't get our camera out very often, so these are some of the only photos i have. 

 mateo requested a train outfit which i bought for him with one of those $15 free coupons to kohls that come in the mail.  i wanted to get something for ruby too (first christmas!  little girl clothes!) but i couldn't bring myself to buy a $30 outfit that she would only wear once.  and then i remembered seeing something awhile ago in my baby box, so i checked it out and found in pretty perfect condition, my first christmas outfit.  a million times better that a random something from target.

we all loved spending time with my family.  and eating.  and catching up.  and lazing around (ask luke how many naps he took).  and shopping at rei.  and watching holiday movies and pioneer woman.  and luke and i even got to go out a few times without the kids.  mateo had a special bond with my mom, and ruby took turns taking naps on everyone.  the only (very, very) unfortunate part of this Christmas holiday is that we arrived sick and managed to get everyone else sick - on Christmas! - something i will forever feel so bad about!

we even had a special holiday sing-a-long on Christmas Eve thanks to luke's requests and my mom's piano skills and her and my grandparent's singing skills.  thanks to my parents for having us and being so super generous.

ps. here is the only photo of me in all of the christmas photos, wearing new Christmas boots. :)

christmas 1

 we had our first christmas party this year at our house with luke's brother's familia who lives in town.  it was going to be a big fiesta but we were sick the week prior meaning we had no time to plan and were super behind on everything, so instead we ordered the best pizza in town and kept it casual.  it was perfect.

we continued the matching cousin pajama tradition that we started when mateo was born.  mateo opened the first gift - a train - which made his night/week/possibly year.

 

 luke and i made a puzzle for brian and ashlei to put together that would tell them their gift, and ashlei and i gave the guys a shared present of a beer brewing kit.  it was a perfect little eve of christmastime christmas party.  and the last celebration we had in our house before moving.

our christmas card photo

 above is the photo we sent out this year.  below are some outtakes.  we went to GREAT LENGTHS this year to get a certain Christmas photo, and we didn't get what we intended but i won't go into detail since we are going to try again next year.  :)

we also had a super fun little family photo shoot with our family in town...

merry christmas from ruby

 

mateo saw this photo i took of him 2 years ago and asked to "be this again".  so we did it again with him (too fast for photos) and with ruby.

also: a little grateful shout-out to those michigan mom to mom sales, from which we are still enjoying our finds, like ruby's brand new red peacoat for $5. :)

so happy christmas

just an outtake from our christmas card photo shoot

and an oddly exposed but pretty shot of our drive home after it yesterday

we are in the middle of some crazy times (as many of you are as well i am guessing) wrapping and making and baking and chasing and shoveling and road trip planning and soon enough, moving(!) so i am not sure when we will  come back to this space.

until then, happy christmas! 

have a happy weekend, and a few things

 i have a habit of ordering the macy's special over and over again at our favorite coffee shop.  they are super yummy, but most of all i love collecting photos of the different pretty things drawn on them.

yesterday it started snowing and we have over 6 inches already.  people are saying to expect 12 inches more through the weekend, and mateo keeps asking me to put on his "windy" (winter) boots.

after hearing so much about them, i finally started reading the hunger games.  it is easy reading, but suspenseful, and i zipped through the first 2 out of 3 books in a few days.  now i'm just waiting on the library holds list for the third.  luke is now in the middle of book 1 and we've been reading together every night - one of my favorite things.  have you read them?

speaking of luke, he has a website!

speaking of luke and speaking of websites, he also started a blog!  he kept asking me for help and it was fun working on it together.

i had my heart set on signing up for a ceramics class after 6 years of living in towns where doing that wasn't possible, but nau told me their classes are for "college aged" students (and already full), and the community college here would consider me out of state, making the single class cost about $1000.  there were some tears shed, but i have decided there must be something else for me next semester.

mateo earned his first little bit of cash this week after being observed for a speech development study at nau. 

our little ruby has 2 tiny tops of teeth almost poking through her bottom gums.  she is as happy as ever though, so hopefully she is not feeling the pain.

today we looked at a house for rent downtown.  it has so many things going for it - price and character and a fenced yard and a big kitchen and tons of windows!  but it is a 2 bedroom, so we would be downsizing quite a bit.  i think it sounds like a nice challenge though - we have way too much stuff.  we are hoping to make a decision today, so we would love your prayers for us to make the right one!

flagstaff has a lot for us this weekend: we are meeting luke in an hour on north campus to see something light up with the mayor and some luminarias i think as well and then following a parade downtown to see more things light up and then we are going to attempt the art walk for a little while.  and tomorrow, mateo's favorite children's singer is playing at our favorite bookstore and there is a mama/baby clothing swap in sedona.  i'm sure there will be some snow play, too.  have a happy weekend, friends!

at 7 months ruby

 :: moves slowly and sweetly ::

:: except when she is flapping, then she moves fast and crazy ::

:: babbles "da da da" and "na na na" most often ::

:: crawls with her belly off the ground (she skipped the army-crawl entirely) ::

:: can sit up whenever, wherever ::

:: and pulls herself to standing ::

:: loves to clap her hands when she sees you clapping ::

:: loves bonding with her papi ::

:: loves watching me cook ::

 :: bobs up and down when you hold her, one of my very favorite baby things ::

:: is taking a stand against solid foods ::

:: has started a new nightly tradition of waking up and wanting to play for 2+ hours in the middle of the night (!) ::

:: has no teeth ::

:: tries to keep up with her silly brother ::

:: is so much fun to play with ::

:: is such a joy to hold ::

:: is growing way too fast ::