i'm taking it easy today.  i've got 2 kiddos with colds and now despite my best "i'm not gonna get this efforts" i've got the cold too. we're going to rest up and keep getting ready for the holidays.  my family is due to arrive in town tomorrow and we're very excited to have them here for christmas.  it's been a long time since i've been able to celebrate christmas with them and we're very excited!

i've got 2 big family dinners to  plan as well as a christmas day brunch, baking and holiday snack making and we're still decorating...lol.  i've got xmas pressies to finish making/blocking and shopping for!  and in the meantime we've been making sure to stop and take time to be thankful to live in such a beautiful place to see views like the one above.  we stopped and watched this cloud/sun formation for at least 15 minutes on the weekend and i swear it soothed my soul.  it was like a warm, soft energy that was more calming to me than anything i could think of.  i made the hubs jump out of the car and take 100 pics of this gorgeous cloud over our giant ocean with the soft creamy glow softly whisping down from the sky to light up and bronze the dark, cool waters below.  it was magical and soooo what we both needed to see.

i hope you are all able to find a sense of calm amidst the craziness of the holiday season right now.  take a minute to envision a "happy place" of your own and try to remember to take a breath and enjoy some of it.  i know it's tough cause i'm just as much of a stresscase at this time of year too but honestly, i just keeping putting this pic up on my screen and trying to remember to just soak it all in and breathe.  just breathe.

what are you all busy crafting?  are you getting the week before xmas crazies? remember you can come and chat in our facebook group, here in the comments below and also in our ravelry group for "christmas knitting 911 - your holiday crafting support group".  we're all in this together :)  coffee's on....wanna chat?