on the last day of the year.

Have a fabulous night ringing in the New Year! And if you need something to pass the time til the stroke of midnight, you should watch (500) Days of Summer. We watched it last night and loved it. It's got a sweet little indie vibe, and a perfect soundtrack, and Summer is just a girl after my own heart...

image source: the french chair

an evening wherein ava's dream came true.

The night of Ava's first dance recital was looked forward to with much anticipation. I have to admit I was probably just as excited as Ava. I mean c'mon! Look at that adorable outfit! A little dancer in all her 1950 glory. It reminds me of a picture of my mom in her little dance recital outfit when she was the same age, circa late 50's. And although I probably would have been perfectly content if she had been one of those little dancers who just stands adorably-attired on stage eyeing the audience suspiciously, she did in fact DANCE! (Other than a brief onstage scuffle with her bff over their christmas present prop.) No matter. Jimmy and I couldn't have been more proud.

a snow bears birthday.

We are making big plans for a polar bear birthday party over here. Andy and I are working on the invitations tonight and this is our list of ideas for his wintery birthday celebration. I am so glad we have at least one winter birthday!

Party agenda:

as guests arrive, playdoh igloos and snowflakes

read Snow Bear

build igloo (blanket fort)

case of the missing fish (scavenger hunt)

make string of paper snowflakes

musical snowflakes (large snowflakes taped to the floor, play the same way as musical chairs)

gifts + cake + ice cream

balloon wish launch (staple wishes to string)

Cake: white cake with a little fondant bear + striped candystick with north pole sign or polar bear shaped cake (cut out from a 9 x 12 cake)

Decorations:

snowflake garlands + snowball garlands

white + gray + red balloons

Party favors:

white playdoh with polar bear or snowflake cookie cutout, bag of swedish fish + white gumballs

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tomorrow we do laundry.

As of this moment the post-Christmas crash is going down right outside our bedroom door. And since you can't hear it for yourself, I'll treat you to a little sampling:

Andy (concerned): "I am trying to make ava happy."

Cam (whining): "Moooooooom I can't go to bed."

Ava (sobbing): "I don't want to stop crying. I like to cry."

Twenty minutes ago, Jimmy and I decided that instead of trying to keep the kids in their respective bedrooms (which we had been attempting to do for the previous thirty minutes), we would simply lock ourselves in our bedroom and let the chips (or kids) fall where they may. We've always been curious to know how they would go to sleep if left to their own devices. Would they just drop in an exhausted heap in some random spot or would they finally curl up in their own beds? Or maybe they have more stamina than even we give them credit for, and they will stay up the entire night... I am just so curious. (Currently I am hearing little voices in conference interspersed with random toots on the pink barbie flute).

And even though every Christmas Eve I don't want the holiday season to end, perhaps this post-holiday meltdown is why (without fail) by December 27th, I am looking forward to less sugar/more sleep, making new plans, and organizing the household. So without further ado I, the ever-ambitious-list-maker, present to you...

Projects I would love to complete this year:

1. finish family room (design plan made, hire someone to put in fireplace and built-in shelves, order area rug, decide on coffee table or upholstered ottoman)

2. art room shelving designed and built or bought

3. library decorated (design plan made)

4. herb garden/fire pit area landscaped

5. etsy shop regularly updated

6. cam's baby book complete

7. andy's baby book complete

8. cam's book of remembrance complete

9. pool arbor designed and built

10. annoying flowerbeds replaced with lawn

11. garage organized in an efficient, user friendly way

12. jimmy's tools organized in one spot

13. food storage organized (shelves bought, inventory updated, add to supply)

14. storage area completed (dry walled with door, shelves for all the bins)

15. wall of frames filled with pictures of our ancestors

16. pictures developed + organized by year

And now I'm off to check on those little rascals. And measure the family room.

I really do think they would stay up all night.

(Wash Day Print by Caroline Zoob)

from all of us here.

We hope your holidays are filled with cozy, happy days!
Merry Christmas!

to andy from ava.

After brainstorming with Ava for a few minutes about Andy's gift, we decided on making his well-loved sock dog (who has been aptly named "Socks") a little bone and collar. (That the boys still love these sock dogs is more than I could have ever hoped for!) And to be perfectly honest, Ava's handmade sibling gift is pretty much just an excuse for me to do a fun little crafting project.

She did do a very nice job of measuring Sock's neck for the collar though. And she also handed me the "stuffing" for the bone, while we caught up on some Dora. Why the snow hat indoors you ask? I never really got a clear answer on that one.

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a is for ashlyn.

Remember how this year we are trying out the handmade sibling gift idea? We are starting small--just to test the waters with this idea--so each child drew one name to make a gift for. After starting our projects this week, we decided this new tradition is definitely a keeper! They are so young I don't really feel like they need to give each sibling a gift, but we did take them out "shopping" last night to Michaels with their money. It was an agonizing experience. I really don't like Christmas shopping with all my kids and Jimmy. Mostly because every time I look at Jimmy he has this glazed over look and is not supervising the growing stash of ceramic mugs, gawdy ornaments and paintable wooden projects his assigned kids are amassing. And then I get frustrated and start hissing to him to get in the Christmas spirit and to pay attention to what they're putting in the cart and help them and I've got a splitting headache and if I can put a smile on my face, you can too, sort of routine. It is not a pretty sight. Or sound.

But I did enjoy the crab wontons we ate before the shopping began.

I tell you this to undoubtedly embarrass myself and also to reinforce why I love handmade. It is a much more pleasant experience to me to be whispering with each child about their ideas for a handmade gift and then see the pride they have in their little creations, the new skills they learn and their increased appreciation for the things that are made for them.

And so here is what I was originally going to be writing on this post. Are you still here? I am thinking it must be universal that all five-year olds love to cut and glue, because we've been three for three at this household. So of course after discussing all the possible ideas Andy could make for Ashlyn, he decided he wanted to cover this wood A we had sitting in the art room closet. I put out a small assortment of fabric and paper and let him choose the one he thought she would like best. He chose this little flowered paper and took his cutting and modge podge-ing work very seriously. He was "getting kind of tired of painting" after the third layer of modge podge, so I did the last coat, but other than that he pretty much did it all on his own. The hardest part for him will be keeping it a surprise. He's notorious for giving lots and lots of "hints" for his presents--as in "Ashlyn, I'm going to give you a hint. Do you think your present is a letter A?"

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three pillows.

Is it too late to add these to my Christmas list? Because I really really really like 'em. All from the shop of nora jane.

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dear anthropologie.

could i love you any more?
no, I could not.

:: from their childrens line ::

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our home at christmastime: part one.

I love how cozy and festive our home feels during the holidays. Fa la la la la. So I thought this year I would take pictures to share here, and also to record what I put up, so I don't have to rethink it each year--since I think that probably takes me more time than the actually decorating.

I don't like to store a lot of things during the year, so I try not to buy a lot of Christmas themed decorations. Especially when you can decorate simply and inexpensively by using a spool of red satin ribbon to tie around existing things in your home like candles and topiaries!

I have garlands and wreaths and ornaments that I reuse each year. But the garlands always look new from year to year because I incorporate different ornaments and sprays into them each year. This time we wrapped the one on our mantel with big clear globe lights and hung our green glitter apples from it. And for a little something different I decided to hang our stockings along the stairs this time. (You can be sure we will be hanging them by the chimney with care on Christmas Eve though.) I also stuck some of my big red flower ornaments in these garlands to give them a little burst of merry, merry color.

When we trim the tree I keep lots of the boughs and use them either on the mantel or on our TV armoire. I do have to move quick though. If they get left on the floor for any time they are quickly snatched up and galloped throughout the house as needle-shedding antlers or wings (not by me.) These vintage papered wood blocks I got at the piper & chloe showcase this year. love.

An antique bowl from Jimmy's grandma filled with some of our extra glass ornaments. They are much safer here than on the tree (shatter. shatter. and more shatter.)

garlands and more garlands.

I am really loving doing my paper projects lately. What am I talking about? I ALWAYS love doing paper projects! But I've had especially fun doing the bird+polka dot garlands on the tree (post below) and this rejoice garland. I think I might make a nice little stack of birthday cards next.

It is snowing and cozy here today. And tonight we are off to see the Christmas Village and I can't wait, especially since it has warmed up to a balmy 26 degrees today. I wonder how long we will last with Jack Frost nipping at our nose! (It is all outdoors.) Have a cozy weekend!

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oh christmas tree 2009.

It took us two tries to get our Christmas tree this year--since the tree lot had already closed the first time we ventured out. The next night we made sure we went nice and early--right when the sun went down--so that the hour it takes to bundle everyone up would not be for naught. Which incidentally, when is someone going to invent a one-piece-play-in-the-snow-suit? I'm envisioning a sort of fireman-suit set up here. The kids step into the boots and pull up the pantsuit/coat that has built in mittens and an attached fuzzy hood you can tie nice and snug under the chin. Zip up. Done. That would be perfect. And rest assured, I would pay quite a lot of money for it...Especially if it came with some sort of potty-supressing pill you could give the child on their way out. What is it about playing in the snow that triggers those little bladders? Or what if it had a built in dryer?! Yeah. That would be awesome. Then you wouldn't have that giant heap of soggy mittens, scarves, random socks, and boot innards thawing out on your wood floor.

So to recap: one piecer, built-in dryer, potty supresser pills. I'm pretty sure that would be a smashing success.

• • • my cute little elves • • •

a holiday chandelier.

Always the fan of simple, inexpensive ways to add a little whimsy to my holiday decor, this little project was right up my alley. So if you too are in possession of a chandelier with the candlestick-type lights and are the type of scrapbooker that collects cute scrapbook paper with good intentions of getting "caught up", this ones for you.

All you do is wrap each candlestick with a cute piece of paper. I removed my light bulb and slipped the paper over the candlestick and then replaced the light bulb. It only takes like ten minutes. And maybe a couple replacement light bulbs... Oh why am I so clumsy?

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the north wind.

The north wind doth blow
and we shall have snow

And what will poor robin do then? Poor thing.
He'll sit in the barn. And keep himself warm.
And hide his head under his wing. Poor thing.

It is frigid here. Frigid I tell you. I even had little snow drifts around the inside of my mudroom door this morning, from all of the ferocious freezing wind! It made me think of that little nursery rhyme (above) that my grandma taught me when I was a little, little girl. I still have it memorized and every time the freezing wind starts, it reminds me of all those cozy afternoons snuggled with my lovely grandma. So for a little bright spot on a cold winter day, here are two darling birds reminding us of warmer days.

sources:

1. anthropologie (it is actually a puzzle!)
2. middleburg

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oh little town of bethlehem.

:: Here we have Ashlyn as Mary, Cam as a shepherd, Ava as a little shepherd girl, and Andy also as a shepherd, with a brief stint as an innkeeper ::

Even though we love how magical Santa Claus makes Christmas, we also like to help our kids recognize the real meaning behind this wonderful season. So I loved that our ward party this year was a little time traveling back to the days of a sleepy little town called Bethlehem. Lots of people came dressed up in the time period (two thousand years ago people mainly were attired in pillow cases and bathrobes right?) Ashlyn did a wonderful job playing Mary and once the little play was over, Ava made a beeline for the stage and spent the next twenty minutes rearranging the blankets on baby Jesus. What? You didn't know Mary had a nanny named Ava? Well apparently she did.