The Brothers Family

We had a great 4th of July. On the 3rd, Dustin's company had a huge bash with BBQ, music, bounce houses, and fireworks. We stayed for 5 hrs while Julian ran from one end of the property to the other about a billion times. The fireworks were a treat since almost all of the local municipal fireworks displays were cancelled this year (boo). The fire truck showed up and let the kids check it out which delighted Julian right to his very core. We had such a good time. His bosses sure know how to throw a party. Then on the 4th we went to the parade by our house and then out to some friends' house for a BBQ last night. So many fun festivities. We're keeping it quiet around the house today to recover! Hope you had a great holiday! 

Happiness is a mailbox full of valentines for Julian (and one for Dustin and me!). It was so fun to open the mailbox today and see so many valentines from our family members. Thanks so much to you all for sending something fun. It really beats opening the mailbox to tax forms. ;) Feeling the love! XO, Meg

Dustin is a huge fan of Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, so since Julian is looking a little extra Samwise Gamgee this year, I decided to make him a hobbit costume. I made his cloak out of felt and used velcro for the closure. I glued the leaves on for effect, but they aren't actually functional. The vest is borrowed from a cousin, and the pants were in his closet - I just shortened them so they would be hobbit-length. His costume ended up costing about $5 to make and took all of 20 minutes to actually sew and assemble. I am so happy with the way that it turned out! Happy Halloween! XO, Meg

I found this blog post the other day and I can't stop thinking about the letter that the mom wrote to her daughter in response to the question "are you Santa?" It says, maybe better, what I was trying to say in my last post about how we will enjoy Santa in our family and how we will discus the "realness" of Santa when the time comes. I love her way of being honest without ruining the fun, magic, or leaving her daughter with disappointment. Instead her daughter is left with a new way to see Santa, to own Santa, and I LOVE it. What a good mama. Sharing the letter she wrote to her daughter here. You can read her whole blog post about it here . Dear Lucy, Thank you for your letter. You asked a very good question: “Are you Santa?” I know you’ve wanted the answer to this question for a long time, and I’ve had to give it careful thought to know just what to say. The answer is no. I am not Santa. There is no one Santa. I am the person who fills your stocki...

Ok, I realize that it's only September and that this is a post about Santa Clause. But the topic of Santa is on my mind a lot so I thought I would share our take on him. I know there are a lot of differing thoughts on the proper way to deal with Santa and kids. I understand that not everyone believes what we do and there are many ways that other families chose to do it. But we've chosen to enjoy his presence in our house because honestly I don't want Julian to grow up without the excitement of wondering, hoping, wishing, and joyfully awaiting his arrival. I have wonderful memories of sitting on his lap, picking one toy to hope and wish for, and the thrill of waking up in the morning to cookie crumbs left and a gift just for me. I want Julian to enjoy that feeling for as long as possible! If Julian comes to me and asks if there is a Santa, my answer will be yes. Because the way I see it, there is! He is just as real as any other character: from a book, a story, a fable, a ...

Happy Valentine's Day!

We are pretty low key Valentine's Day participants. Not because we like to be all bah-humbug about it like many choose to be, but because we like to - and choose to - keep it simple. I choose to not make it a rant about commercialism or pressures on the men around the world blah blah blah... But I do like a good day to enjoy and celebrate love. I made Dustin a batch of our famous family heart shaped cookies that we grew up with, bought him a card, and a bag of M&Ms. We enjoyed a simple meal at home, and a (mostly) relaxing night. I love love and I like to acknowledge how lucky we are to have and love each other. What better way to do that than with the pink and red colors flying and a touch of handmade goodness. Hope you had an enjoyable Valentine's Day. XO, Meg Famous Traditional Sugar Cookies (recipe thanks to my mom, grandma, and every other woman in my family who traditionally makes these cookies) 3/4 cup shortening (or butter or margarine, softened) 1 cup sugar 2 eggs...

We are moved in and settled enough that we pulled out our box of Christmas decorations a couple nights ago. It is amazing how much more like home it feels now that the stockings are hung. We don't have a tree because, well, we moved in only a week ago today, but I'm ok with not having one this year. Seems like an awful lot of work considering Christmas is next week. We have our stockings out, the nativity up, and various decorations around the house that help it to still feel like we've fully decorated. And we used our lights from our tree to decorate our front porch. So we're in and ready for the holiday. It was my goal to be settled enough that we could really enjoy Christmas. Mission accomplished. XO Meg