So, It's Christmas.

Tweet I'm not quite sure how it happened, but Christmas is indeed this weekend. I must have been sucked into a time warp this year because SERIOUSLY HOW IS IT CHRISTMAS???

I have to say, I've been delighted lately that people have wound up on my blog searching for my antique Victorian Wal-Mart Christmas village. It's one of my favorite decorations. 

My daughter set the table with our Christmas dishes. She's such a sweetheart. The only time the table has been set in the last 3 years was because of her. 

We made gingerbread people. And I'm such a good mom, I sat on my hands and let the Spawn do what they wanted instead of trying to recreate the beautiful creation on the box. 

And we got a real tree this year! Fortunately the kids wanted to decorate it, because I was exhausted after wrangling that thing into it's stand. Serious, do you know how much real trees weigh? Then it left a massive trail of needles after I dragged it into the house. Totally worth it though.

What? The lights are out on the bottom half? SHUT UP.

And here is the Spawn's Christmas picture. I always order pictures and never send out cards, so here ya go. 

From the Not Blessed Family to yours, I hope you all have a wonderful holiday season. 

{this moment}

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My week in pictures:

Where Do You Belong?

Tweet I gotta tell you about something that's been bothering me, my dear mama friends. At home I am the classic mama martyr- doing everything for everyone else, tirelessly, ignoring or postponing my own needs. You know the drill. The thing that bugs me is that I don't have any place of my own in our house. I don't have it decorated how I would like- I'd have to say our style is Ikea-HandMeDown-Cheap. We don't own the house either so we can't do too much to it, although I have painted a little. Since we co-sleep and I'm constantly nursing a babe at night, I bed hop to which ever room happens to need me (with a nursling in tow). So the master bedroom isn't really mine- we have no office to make a computer corner- the living room has Taco Bell lights in it. My stamp just isn't anywhere. Well, my friends might argue that the kitchen is mine- it's decorated in Hello Kitty stuff. But I didn't buy any of that stuff (even though I do love it)- and let's face it, the kitchen is a torture chamber of endless chores not somewhere you can relax and enjoy yourself. 

But upon reflection, there is one place I really love. And here it is. 

It's my hammock. A good friend gave it to me when she was leaving town a few years ago, and she has no idea how much joy this simple thing has given me. I nurse my little guy in it. I read in it. I snuggle my big kids in it, and tell them that I will squash them if they dump us out. I watch the kids screaming "LOOK AT ME MOM!" on the trampoline in it. I chat with friends, play with my iPhone, and listen to the breeze in it. It's big, orange, and comfy. And this is the view:

And finally, the people in the hammock:

So, where do you belong?

I took these pictures with the Hipstamatic app for the iPhone, which has to be one of the coolest apps ever. It isn't free, but it's awesome.