Forest, Trees.

I've been in a pretty contemplative mood for the last couple of weeks. Despite being surrounded by the whirlwind of family and festivity that is Christmas, I've been spending a lot of time in my head. Scheming, evaluating, reevaluating, singing quiet songs.

This puts some people off, to be sure, as quietude can easily be mistaken for disinterest or even anger. There is a lengthy laundry list of reasons for my inward focus but none of them are negative, per se. I actually haven't felt this content for a long time.

How does this make for an interesting blog? Patience friends, bear with me.

Most religions and cultures (those outside Christianity and Capitalism, that is) place a high premium on an individuals' ability to relax, to quiet the mind and maintain focus on the big picture. At our worst, we get so caught up in little everyday struggles that our frustration boils over and burns everyone around, particularly those closest to us. At our best, though, we choose to keep the more pleasant details in the forefront of our minds and hearts. We remember that everything is connected, that we get what we give and that love is all that matters.

At times it's hard to see the forest for the trees. But beautiful moments happen constantly in this life, and we'd all be better off to focus on what we have rather than what we don't. For me, it's taken a couple weeks of mental vacation to regain that focus; you might use yoga, date night, fireside chats, long-distance phone calls or a hot bath with a good book.

It's always there if we're willing to look.

While we're on the subject of quiet songs and beautiful moments, here's one of each in the lives of two lovely people in the prime of a marriage that ultimately unraveled, but not before they created two lovely children and some lovely music. (Yep, we're still infatuated with Ms. Simon)

Preparing for Hibernation

We've been busying ourselves since Winter began with preparations for our yearly trip to the big city for Bazaar Bizarre. Whew! Let's all breathe a collective sigh of relief now that that's over. Don't get me wrong, it was great fun for all of us: me, Amy and the baby girl rolling and kicking inside her belly.

We showed up, like last year, with a bunch of crooked manzanita branches to make our display (we're not the kind to make it easy on ourselves), which wound up looking very home-y. Amy's eight-month pregnant nesting knows no bounds.

And we came home, like last year, with some well-deserved and lovely handmade gifts for ourselves and our kids.

Now it's smooth sailing until Christmas, and knitting for gifts seems downright leisurely. All that's left for this year is to spend some quality family time and throw an awesome New Year's party (more on that later).

Oh dear, did I say that was all?

Let's not forget about the Winter Sale in our Etsy shop!! In the spirit of giving, we're giving you all deep discounts on lots of new, one-of-a-kind items.

Like this

and this

and this

There are also some old favorites at new prices, too. The sale is on in-stock items only, so look around for sizes and stock up!!

Every Picture Tells a Story, Don't It?

We've been invited to play a little game of photo tag with our good friend Tegan (known to the web world as soulyluna) a close comrade in motherhood, friendship and handmade goodness.

She asked us to share the 10th photo from the first photo folder on our computer and share the story behind the picture. We'd never pass up a game of tag, so here are our submissions.

Jaime

I took this photo of Jon and Mazlyn on an April morning in 2005. We were in Georgia visiting our friends Nate & Nicole. Mazzy was 11 months old and not yet walking, and she learned to say "Hi, y'all" and "Bye, y'all" on this trip.

Neither of them knew I was there at this moment. Jon had gotten up with Mazzy and I got to sleep in (*aaah*), but I couldn't resist the sound of their playing and snuck out with my camera to capture the sweetness. I was standing on the other side of a window.

Later this same night, a crazy southern storm rolled in and -- inspired by the combination of thunder and lightning and whiskey -- Jon and Nate wrapped themselves in plastic garbage bags and did the "Georgia Slip n' Slide" on Nate's flooded lawn. Those photos will have to be a part of another project.

Amy

My photo was taken about four years ago when Scarlett was only 3. It was Springtime and we were beginning our day in the usual way...naked in the garden. Actually, I think I may have been wearing clothes.
She was thoroughly enjoying the morning sun warming her sweet skin. She had just made a batch of dirt cupcakes for her Papa and was carefully picking tiny white flowers to place on top as frosting.

Thanks, Tegan, for inviting us down memory lane. If any of you fellow bloggers would like to play (tag? Yes!) we'd love to see what you've got. Leave a comment with a link to your blog so we can check it out.