Christmas crafts

In an effort to make more Christmas decorations the plan was to make some sophisticated pillow covers for my living room. The pillows were already acquired so I only needed to design a cover and make it out of fabric I own. I had thoughts of snowflakes, stars, and Christmas trees but when my mom suggested my kids paint wreaths with their hands and toes I couldn't resist. I wish I had made Avery's hand wreath a little smaller but I did hers first. With Elliot we used hs fingers instead of toes for the red berries.

With the help of my sister, Julie, Elliot and Avery made these simple felt tree ornaments. They can't wait to put them on the tree when we get one.

It's these simple projects that make our holidays and homes more festive. In a year when I bring out the pillow covers I can just hear Elliot and Avery say "I remember when I made that! My hands are much bigger now."

thanksgiving recap

"How was my birthday/Thanksgiving?" you ask. Well, it it was amazing. How was yours?

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays and I had a good time.

I got to eat a lot of yummy food!

I got to spend time with family, including my grandma that I don't see very often.

I watched Andrew play with the bow and arrow he made out of bamboo.

That's his new phase right now but I'll have to share photos because it's actually pretty cool.

Instead of the usual football after feasting my dad set up a volleyball net and we played in the rain.

My family also sang to me but we saved the candle and cake ceremony for today.

My mom made this delicious heart shaped cake from scratch.

I know I just shared a belly picture two weeks ago, but who's keeping track?

This is me at 26 weeks looking smaller than I did in the last picture. I think the uterus is growing up, not out, right now. I also wanted to share the cute felt bow I made for Avery, and my hairdo that actually turned out the way I wanted it to. I love it when that happens!

Happy Holidays!

a time to celebrate

Somehow another year has come and gone.

It's exciting to have my birthday on Thanksgiving this year.

It's also special to be pregnant on my birthday.

This is the third time that has happened.

Today I plan on eating and relaxing.

Should be easy.

traditions and ducks

Today is going to be a beautiful day!

My house smells like yeast because I'm baking rolls for Thanksgiving.

That has to be one of my favorite smells.

My sisters/sister-in-laws are coming this afternoon to bake pies which will only make my house smell better.

I really want to enjoy this Thanksgiving with my family because I won't see them at Christmas.

Don't get me wrong - I'm thrilled to have Christmas with my in-laws. In fact, this is my fourth Christmas in England. I'm just grateful that I can always have Thanksgiving at home. Obviously, they don't celebrate that holiday in England.

Yesterday I took my kids to feed the ducks.

It's only a 5+ minute walk from my house. We should go more often.

They didn't want to leave. I love making them happy and making new memories.

So I want to start a Thanksgiving morning breakfast tradition. Our Thanksgiving meal isn't until 1:00ish, which is a long time to wait after breakfast(especially for kids and pregnant women) so I want to make something yummy. I was thinking cinnamon rolls or crepes with fruit or some sort of egg dish. Do you have any Thanksgiving morning breakfast traditions? Any ideas or suggestions?

Elliot draws

Check it out! Elliot's second picture he drew of himself. His first one was for pre-school a couple weeks ago.

I'm pretty sure he drew himself better than I would!

On another note, I made these spinach and cheddar strata for lunch the last two days and love it.

I was just looking at recipes online and came across this recipe and started drooling so I put my iPad down and made it on the spot. Have you ever done that before? My ramekins are smaller than the ones in the post so I took out half a cup of milk and it worked out. You should make some!

a growing belly

I thought it was time to document another belly picture. Sometimes it's hard to keep track of these things when it's not your first. I'm at the point in pregnancy where each week I seem to gain another inch around my waist and have to put more "normal" clothing away for some time after baby comes. This dress is next. Have I ever mentioned how hilarious my boy can be? After Andrew took these belly pictures of me Elliot voluntarily posed like this:

Andrew and I are still laughing about it!

a hairy obsession

Hair has always been a hobby of mine. I love cutting and styling other people's hair. I've gone through quite a few styles myself over the past few years. I really should have gone to beauty school because I don't really know what I'm doing. Some of the time the hair styles and cuts I do look good, and some times not so much. Most of my hair experimenting was in high school. I was fortunate to have three younger sisters to practice on, although not always willingly.

I was looking through some old pictures and came across these of Ruth a couple years ago.

This is how I did her hair after watching this music video.

I'm not sure how much Ruth like it but it was just for fun! Since then I've done her hair really cute for dances. I also did Nora's for her wedding reception. I don't do my sisters' hair as often as I used to and I miss it! Avery's hair is so thin and slick -nothing stays. Mostly I just cut Andrew and Elliot's hair. As far as my hair I'm kind of in a frump. I never know what to do with it! It's so thick and bushy all the time and growing out my bangs is taking FOREVER! Do you ever feel like this? If you want me to style your hair give me a call. I can't promise it'll turn out but it will be a lot of fun!

Judging by this mess, can you tell what craft the kids and I did today?

If you guessed turkeys you are right!

Andrew is camping and I wanted to do something fun with the kids to help the time fly by.

It was a big mess but I love how our turkeys turned out.

Far from accurate but you get the idea.

We used materials that were already lying around the house such as feathers, card stock paper, Martha Stewart glitter, markers, elmers glue, and scissors.

Elliot really took his time coloring. Avery finished both of hers before he started gluing his first one.

Her face is hilarious here! It's like she's critiquing her own artwork

thinking she can do better next time.

I didn't want to miss out on all the fun so I styled my turkey with chevron stripes.

And here are the finished products.

I think we might make this a tradition and start making them every year

to get us in a Thanksgiving mood.

On a side note, Happy Bonfire Day!

Maybe we'll roast some marshmallows in our fire pit tonight to celebrate.

unique artists

I love how unique each individual is. Even babies!

Elliot and Avery express their individuality every day.

I gave them a piece of paper and three colors of paint: blue, yellow, and red

(with lotion mixed in for easy cleaning).

It's interesting to see what they came up with.

I have no artistic skills so seeing these pictures humbles me.

Elliot tried to make the color purple and Avery's picture has so many layers of colors.

I hope my kids always feel that who they are is special and they never need to be like someone else.

goodbye Halloween, hello Thanksgiving

Before Halloween is too far behind us I had to share our costumes.

I wish I had a better photo of all of us but you get the idea.

Although we didn't coordinate costumes somehow they all ended up matching.

Now I can move on! I am really excited for Thanksgiving.

I actually decorated a little bit this year.

Here is my front porch. Avery loves watering the flowers.

Apparently she takes her job seriously.

I always have those glass jars on my piano but I love the harvest look.

Speaking of harvest, I finished my sign we worked on the other day.

Do you like it?

Happy November!

jcrew mail

Don't you just love getting packages in the mail?!

With our England trip in mind I've been doing a lot of online window shopping for winter clothes.

I came across this swimsuit and since it was on sale I decided to snatch it as an early birthday present.

Now I look forward to swimming next summer in my post-natal body!