christmas in the north woods~

our family likes to celebrate holidays at the lodge.

there is a lot of room to spread out, everyone has their

own bedroom, we can make big messes and big bonfires, have 3 dogs running

amok and hardly even notice.

so this was our Christmas~

our two boys got to head north on wednesday and the rest
of us went on fri. night. before the boys left i told them that i would
love it if they'd go out and cut us a tree, because- what's Christmas without a tree?
I didn't know if they'd do it though so when i walked in and saw one,
cut from our own woods standing in the living room i was one happy momma. : )

when i got closer and saw that they'd decorated it~ north woods, redneck style,
i busted out laughing!

they'd used empty shell casings, fishing tackle, feathers, duck calls
& a mouse trap (more on that later) and to top it all off...
an empty windsor bottle tree topper.

they said they used what they could find and it was redneck at it's finest.

(haha~ love those boys).

i'd bought a little norfork pine tree at CVS earlier that day in case that was

our only tree so i just put it in the kitchen window and threw out a few

other decorations.

i love hand carved figures like this one.

Christmas eve egg bake

seaglass candy, yumm

daddy-daughter cribbage game on Christmas eve. (no one ever beats this dad- he's good!)

we stay up late playing cards and dice games when we're all at the cabin, so
there are always people taking naps midday. *how many people do you see napping?

a big bonfire out in the woods was another Christmas eve happening.

cole is almost always our fire starter. the bigger the better. he had one going in the fire pit by the cabin when we got there fri. night and we all spent some time out there. it was

pretty cold but there was little wind and the stars were breathtaking.

a rare moment of  photo cooperation from my three kids~ all sporting some

buffalo plaid this Christmas. (man i'm nuts about these 3).    : )))

duke had some buffalo plaid too!

the table, set for Christmas dinner, cabin style. nothing fancy and a table cloth

that's a little too small.

mismatched ware? we don't care. it's a hunting cabin.

we opened gifts early so that we could enjoy our dinner and then play games before we

were all too tired.

( ah-hmm some of us are getting old).

our birthday boy admiring one of his gifts.

awwww~

have y'all played this game on your phone?

best seat in the house.

now on to the seafood dinner. we may rough it at the cabin, but we don't

rough it when it comes to Christmas dinner.

lars takes his job seriously and because he was cooking the crab legs on the

grill out in the cold, dark night, he suited up with a headlamp.

he looks a bit like a mad scientist- but man he did a good job.

lobster, crab and shrimp, garlic cheddar bisquits and a garden salad.

red lobster's got nothing on the Larson's.

i'm going to end by showing you one of the best parts of my

Christmas. eric had my name and he wanted some ideas. I suggested a birdfeeder but he
texted saying he wanted more ideas. i really couldn't think of anything other than that i'd been

pining for one of the deer made out of birch logs that i've seen at garden centers.

when we got to the lodge fri. night, he instructed me to stay out of his room till

after present opening, so I pretty much guessed what he'd been up to!

(at least i hoped i had it figured out).

: )

well, look at this cute guy! i guess he spent the better part of a day cutting the right

pieces of wood and then figuring out how to make it. there are no nails in it- it's

all drilled in piece to piece and i LOVE it!!!

Christmas is exciting and exhausting and i'm only ever sad that it's over for about

5 minutes and then it's January- a new year full of unknowns and possibilities.

i have a newborn baby session tomorrow to kick it all off and lists of things

i need and want to get done this winter. i found out about an art school that's right up

the road and i'm thinking maybe i will take a jewelry making class.

i need a haircut and new jeans, and all i really want to do is sit and read books.

i have a goal to declutter and yet i keep bringing in more...

i want to learn to play ukulele and find a new sewing project.

i'm dreaming of my gardens and want to start ordering seeds.

i may have ADHD and i don't even care. there are just not enough hours in

a day for everything i want to do. life is short friends- way too short.

blessing for the best new year,

 xo, beth

*oh and that old saying, "not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse" did not

apply to our Christmas up north. the flippin' mice have set up residence inside the lodge

and we've got a battle on our hands. when i discovered birdseed in my bed you don't

even want to know what i yelled!