In an act of closure and appreciation, my brother put together a video documenting their journey that is so sweet and beautiful that I just had to share it. Even if these are not people you know, I don’t know how anyone couldn’t be moved. I’m so proud of all of them.

Enjoy.

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One year I bought him a set of really nice wireless headphones. We lived in an apartment and Sophia’s bedroom was right off the living room. So when she went to bed, he couldn’t listen to his beloved collection of old punk vinyl. I knew he was missing that, thus the headphones. I thought I had hit a total home run. As a total afterthought, I tucked a pair of expensive insoles in the bag because he stands at his job all day.

As he opened the bag, it went something like, “Oh…(blank face)…HEY! INSOLES!”

So when I saw this post over at Fresh Vintage, I decided he would be the perfect person to grill on the topic of gift history.

What is the best gift that you ever gave someone?

(Takes a really long time to answer) I don’t know. I can’t even remember any gifts I’ve given. Wait…I remember I made my grandpa a squirrel feeder once when I was a kid. I was really proud to give it to him.

What is your favorite gift that you ever received from someone?

Baby Will? (He asks. This is a question.) My watch? The Bears mug I got from Sophia? Those were good. For the best gift I ever got, it would probably be the year I got those insoles. (Well good. I’m glad I went to the trouble to procure an autographed football from Mike Ditka and a video of Lance Briggs where he says my husband is awesome.)

What would be the best gift EVER?

A dinner.

Dave partaking in the joys of a newly gifted nose hair trimmer.

I give up. He’s either the most impossible man to shop for in the whole world or the cheapest. Maybe I should just stock up on Old Spice and Dr. Scholl’s.

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This is an automaton music box my Aunt Patty gave me several years ago for Christmas. As the music plays, all the characters dance around and play their musical instruments.

When I was a young girl my wonderful stepmother always had one of these out. The angels spin and ring the bells when the candles are lit. Will LOVES watching it.

The elf is keeping a stern watch over a very grumpy 2 year old.

The nativity set I picked up in Mexico to remember my grandmother by.

The mistletoe is just an excuse for more cheek smoochin’.

My very dear friend Holly gave us these side chairs for me to refinish. They belonged to her aunt. I’m honored to have them in my home. Her friendship will always have a presence at our table, which is a wonderful thing.

I got these snowmen for my husband’s siblings to remember their mom by. She loved snowmen. This makes me think of her and smile. She was a real sweetheart.

Hot coffee at home on a winter weekend in pajamas always feels luxurious.

Dave bought chicory to mix into our coffee for me because he loves me and knows it reminds me of home. He got hooked on it during our trips to my family’s home in Galveston and then to New Orleans.

An early Christmas present from Sherry, one of my vintage camper girlfriends. This has been one of the most fulfilling activities I’ve participated in all year. I’ve discovered a treasure trove of amazing women. Smart, self-sufficient, funny, compassionate, and incredibly creative.

At least the winter provides pretty light.

Will enjoying a Grandma Judy tradition.

Hope your week before Christmas is happy, peaceful, warm, and sweet!

Love,
Alana

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I recently picked up a vintage Elf to start the “Elf on the Shelf” tradition with my kids. I’ve seen a few posts from around the web with tons of cute ideas for how to place him around the house. I think Dave and I will have as much fun cooking up ideas for where to place him as the kids will when they discover his nightly activities each morning.

This is the cute little guy I picked up at my favorite antique mall for $6. Love that he’s teal and green. He fits right in! The felt mistletoe is from West Elm.

My question to you all: Do you do the Elf on the Shelf in your own family? What are some of your favorite ideas for ways to place him? What’s the funniest or most creative idea you’ve heard for the Elf? And just to make it extra fun, I’ll draw a Elf on the Shelf idea at random from the comments section below. You might win a set of vintage Christmas stocking ornaments from my online store, Bluebird Goods. I’ll make the selection on December 1st.

UPDATE: I used Random.org to generate a number between 1 and 12, and it drew #1! So Natalie Seim, you’ve won a set of 3 vintage-style stocking ornaments from BluebirdGoods.com! Please email me at alana@alanawaters.com so I can get your mailing address. Thank you!

He wasn't sure what to make of it all at first.

But he caught on with the guidance of his Halloween pro big sister.

Sophia designed both of our Jack-O-Lanterns. I love the pirate one.

When Dave got home he took the kids out for a second round, then a longer run with just Sophia so I could stay here and greet the trick-or-treaters. I made chicken pot pies for dinner, something I remember having as a kid quite a bit. They seemed like a good way to wrap up a chilly evening. Everyone snuggled up in the living room, costumes tucked away, watching some good Halloween TV and eating some warm fall comfort food.

Hope everyone had a great and safe Halloween.

xo, Alana
 

I’ve always been very close to my brothers. They mean the world to me. My brother Chris is the Godfather of Sophia and he and his wife are Will’s Godparents. I remember looking over at his and his wonderful wife hold our son during his Christening with tears in their eyes. I knew they were thinking about how they hoped someday they would be holding their own child. Now they have two.

My brave and smart brother and sister-in-law are incredibly well-educated, hard-working, driven people. You’ll be hard pressed to find people with bigger hearts. A few years ago, they started the adoption process that eventually led them to two little boys in a remote Russian orphanage. Can you imagine the fears and concerns? You hope they are dealt with fairly, that the children are as healthy as possible, that no one will break their hearts or lead them astray. So many things you hope will go right for these wonderful people and beautiful children. Anything could go wrong. Russia is so foreign to us in so many ways outside the literal, so it feels very scary to attempt to navigate such a twisty legal road inside a system you aren’t familiar with.

Our days as their family have been filled with worry and longing to be able to reach out and make it easier for them somehow. But you can’t do anything. It’s not your battle to fight, so you cheer them on as best you can. Reading that your sister-in-law has somehow managed to dislocate her shoulder in a tiny remote Russian apartment in a building with a broken elevator…that’s stuff that you just keep faith that they will be protected and things will unfold as they should.

And they did.

The process to get these boys here, for them to be a part of this family, was fueled by 100 percent love. The kind of hard-driving love that keeps you from ever thinking of giving up…a parent’s kind of love.

I’m very excited to finally be able to publicly introduce my gorgeous nephews, Evan and Alex.

They’re finally here, in their new home, part of their new family. It’s been a long road for my brother and sister-in-law, but they’re home with their sons, being mom and dad.

Welcome to the family, darling nephews. We’re going to have a lot of fun together. Love, Aunt Alana.
 

So Will and I got ready to go while Dave was in the shower. Will was feeling his Hemingway look today.

I brought home a haul of silver plate odds and ends. It was all in a box that I snagged for $25 as an end-of-day deal.

Stay tuned…The spoons are headed for a violent demise.

Everything polished up so pretty! I’m happy about the day’s haul.

OH NO! Who will save the wee spoons? (Muahaha)
Dave asked if this can be his job. He’s very good at whacking things.

These will be smacked down and stamped with the names of common herbs.

This little guy models as “Parsley”. How do you do, Mr. Parsley? Lookin’ good!

Here are the broad strokes:

We went to Texas to visit family.

Sophia turned 10 and got her ears pierced.

Will turned 2.

We got the Yellowstone camper and have been fixing it up.

I got hit in my Subaru by a red-light runner.

And then have been on a mega-crafty-craftiness bender.

Our village is looking into the backyard chickens issue and I’m a bit iffy on which side things will fall. I was feeling really positive until I went to the farmer’s market in town yesterday. There’s a big split between the baby boomers. Some say this is a “common sense” issue and that we live too close to the forest preserve to keep chickens, so it should be illegal. To that I say that common sense issues should be left to the individual. Aren’t we supposed to be making those decisions for ourselves? Some folks proclaimed, “I can’t believe the village wouldn’t let us have them. Why wouldn’t they?” Why would something that has, as far as can be discovered, always been legal here be outlawed now? There are so many misconceptions about keeping hens and I worry that there’s not enough time to make sure everyone feels educated about the facts before the board meets to review and make their decision.

Hens don’t crow. Roosters do.
You don’t need a rooster to have eggs.
A small flock of chickens produces 88% less waste than an average backyard dog.
Backyard chickens are not a sign of economically distressed areas. In fact, communities with pro-backyard chicken ordinances are viewed to be progressive and as having higher property values.
Chickens do not attract mice. Fact: Chickens are omnivores and do not tolerate mice. They’ll actually chase them and eat them.
Chickens are great composters. Give your kitchen scraps a second round by feeding them to your birds. They’ll return the favor with rich compost.
Homegrown eggs are without hormones or chemicals, are higher in nutrients, lower in cholesterol, and taste 10 times better than store-bought eggs.
Backyard chickens provide lessons for children about responsibility and where food comes from.
Chickens provide natural insect control. As they hunt and peck around the yard, chickens gobble up grubs, earwigs and other bugs, treating our garden pests as tasty, nutritious treats.

Our local paper came out to take pictures of our hens and ask me some questions. That article will be in this week’s edition. So now I’m worried about how that story will be spun. Am I the “crazy chicken lady” of the town? Or a progressive individual looking to keep basic civil liberties intact? Who knows how they will choose to play it out. We live here. We own our home. We have kids who will be growing up around these people. If they take the wrong stance about my opinion, it could be really negative for our family.

But then again, is this really that big an issue? I can’t imagine that anyone who isn’t excited about the option of keeping hens is much more than ambivalent about the issue. Would someone be so anti-backyard chickens that they would actively campaign against us keeping them? You never know.

Well, wish us luck friends. I hope the next check in on this topic is a positive one.
 

Anyway, Fi is getting ready for a 50′s-themed music program at her school. She even has a speaking part where she gets to announce a boy who’s playing Elvis. Last night I cut her hair into bangs and tonight I need to finish making a poodle skirt for her to wear in the show. Just the addition of the bangs changed her look so much. I think it’s so cute! You can tell she’s feeling that “new hairstyle” thing. A little extra peppy, a little extra happy. I think the bangs are here to stay.

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