Little Bunny Feet

A Letter from the Big Guy

2011-11-30T21:22:00.001-06:00

I love this free printable letterhead from Santa himself. This is the first year that Ava actually understands who Santa is and is very excited about meeting him and of course the goodies he will bring. She is even going to write him a letter as one of her first assignments left buy our elves (more about our elves here). This will be the perfect way for Santa to write back. This year our lovely little elves are bringing activities for our family to do such as write a letter to Santa, drive around and see Christmas lights, make hot chocolate and watch a Christmas movie. The elves are also going to bring the occasional gift as well such as books, ornaments, etc. It should be a nice change for out elves.

Found this via Pinterest. Did I mention that I'm slightly addicted :)

{Image Source: Design Editor via Pinterest}

Cherish

2011-11-21T10:40:00.001-06:00

Our amazing photographer is

Ashley from

::::::LeLe Photography::::::

If there is one thing I've realized in life, it's just how precious life truly is. I know too many people who have lost loved ones too soon. I know of *several* little ones fitting life threatening illnesses and even an unborn baby girl fitting for her life before she's made her entrance into this world. I don't understand it nor will I ever understand it. All I know is that it makes me want to kiss my little ones every chance I get. I want to snuggle with them a little longer. I take the moments to laugh with them and let the laundry wait for a while. The laundry will always be there...

With the holidays approaching, I hope you take the time out to just be with your family and enjoy spending time together. I know that's what I'll be doing.

Gifts for 3-4 Year Olds

2011-11-17T17:15:00.001-06:00

Hoot Owl Hoot

Image Source: Amazon

Small World Living Toys Peel 'N' Play

Image Source: Amazon

Mudpuppy Princess 42 Piece Puzzle

Image Source: Amazon

Cloud b Twilight Constellation Night Light, Lady Bug

Image Source: Amazon

Spot It

Image Source: Amazon

Melissa & Doug Ice Cream Scoop Set

Image Source: Amazon

I do about 90% of my Christmas shopping online these days, and I love it! Most of which comes from Amazon. Free shipping for orders over $25, no tax and 2 day shipping if you are a member of Amazon Mom. I also love being able to read reviews of what other parents think of an item. What could be better?

I'm always on the lookout for games, puzzles and pretend play items for the wee ones. I go to specialty toy stores and bookstores to scout out unique and fun items and then do my research when I get home to find out who has it the cheapest (usually Amazon). We are blessed to have very generous family and friends who spoil our kids rotten so when Santa comes to our house he usually leaves smaller toys that mommy can store away easily :) These are a few items for Miss Ava this year. I think Santa has done a good job so far...

What?

2011-11-16T14:03:00.001-06:00

"What? I'm just sitting here reading a book with my owl hat on.

Doesn't everyone do that?"

This kiddo gives me so many reasons to smile each and every day. His lastest version of smiling consists of him not opening his mouth at all. Just this little smirk, if you will.

Lack of blogging lately is do to the craziness that was kicked off by Halloween. We've had play dates, sleepovers with Cousin Lex, outings with friends, Usborne home shows, etc. etc. I do have a few new yummy recipes to share in the upcoming weeks. If I can ever get around to taking pics of the finished product before we gobble it all up! Hope life is treating you well. Happy Wednesday all!

Printable Card

2011-11-11T14:55:00.001-06:00

Image Source

This printable card is from Ginger & George. So colorful, so simple and so sweet.

Happy Friday :)

Wipe Clean Winner

2011-11-10T15:31:00.001-06:00

Congrats to The Knapps! I've sent you an email as well.

I hope to do an Usborne Book Give-Away about once a month. Check back for more fun give-aways :)

Words

2011-11-09T08:00:00.000-06:00

Image Source

Sometimes it is so easy to just complain about things you don't like or even people you don't care for. Be the change is something that I need to remind myself of all to often.

Cole's Infamous Hair

2011-11-08T11:57:00.000-06:00

There are 2 things people always comment on when they see Cole. One being his big blue eyes. Two, his ummm, very unique hair style. This poor child's hair just won't lay down. We affectionately call it his bird hair, monkey hair, fuzz top, etc. etc. He and our bun, Simon have a very similar hair do. Maybe they've been hanging out together so much they're starting to look alike?? Just a theory :) The only time I've ever seen Cole's hair lay flat is in the tub. He looks like a totally different kid with normal, flat hair. Still adorable but I'm just a tad bit biased...

Don't forget to leave a comment on this post to win one of the Wipe Clean Usborne books.

Give-Away...Yippee!!

2011-11-07T22:37:00.001-06:00

Image source: Usborne Books and More

It's widely known by my friends and family that I have a small obsession with books. I love our monthly book club. I love taking the littles to the library. I love laying in bed with Ava and Cole and reading them story after story. I am very easily suckered into reading just one more story before bed. My idea of a fun night is taking the kids to a book store, grabbing a coffee and sitting on the floor to read new books.

About a year ago, a friend of mine hosted an at home book party for children's books through a company called Usborne Books and More. I was instantly hooked. I hosted my own party and then went to several that my friends hosted. I love the quality of the books and the great variety of books they have to offer for all ages. We own so many of their books that I decided to sell the books myself. In honor of kicking off my new little book business, I'm hosting a giveaway.

Here's what you need to do. Just leave a comment telling me which of the above books you would love to have for the small people in your life. These are great wipe clean books that you can use over and over to practice letters, numbers, shapes, etc. I have one tucked away for Ava for Christmas :) If you'd like another entry then visit here and create a wishlist of books you would like for your kiddos. Leave me a separate comment letting me know you created a wishlist. I'll have Ava randomly pick a name on Wednesday evening and announce the winner on the blog. It's easy to enter...now spread the word!

Words

2011-11-02T20:05:00.002-05:00

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-31T15:47:00.000-05:00

We hope you and your family have a safe and happy Halloween!

Love,

Dorothy and the Lion

Halloween Prep

2011-10-27T08:00:00.000-05:00

Our pumpkins have carefully been selected...

Costumes are complete and have been tried on multiple times by Miss A just to make sure everything is "alright."

All the ingredients are bought and ready to make our spooky ghost treats for friends...

Image from The Idea Room

and the monster dough and parts are all set to go for our play date that has been canceled due to all the other littles being sick :( Miss A will be making all the monsters on her own. I'm sure she will still have loads of messy fun all by herself!

Image from The Imagination Tree

These holidays are so much more fun when you see all the excitement in your kiddo's eyes. Sooo worth all the work and trips to the store. More Halloween fun to come!

Words for Wednesday

2011-10-26T08:00:00.000-05:00

Etsy Finds

2011-10-25T08:00:00.000-05:00

Image via Fishstikks

Image via Artworks

When we were in Savannah last year I happened upon a shop that carried reproductions of Lori Mitchell's paper mache sculptures. I bought the little Halloween girl above who currently has a home in our bathroom. Miss A loves her and keeps asking for her to come in her room instead. I also picked up one of her Christmas figurines, too. Since then, I have been obsessed with folk art style. I currently am drooling over Emily the Cat above. She's the real deal too not a reproduction. Hence my hesitation to fork out the money for her. She is quit cute though. Don't you think??

Red October

2011-10-24T11:23:00.000-05:00

Our Cardinals are in the World Series and we couldn't be more excited. St. Louis is a huge baseball town. It's so fun to get together with friends and family to cheer on our team. Even the littles are getting in on the excitement. Ava has her rally towel (wash cloth) ready to swing in the air as soon as daddy tells her too. Even Cole is sportin' his Cardinals hat. Here's to a win tonight.

:::::::BIRDS!!!:::::::

Recipe: Toffee Dip

2011-10-10T08:00:00.000-05:00

With fall comes apples and with apples comes toffee dip.

::::::::Yahoo!::::::::

Every year we go apple picking with my parents, and we usually have too many apples to know what to do with. This year I was going through my recipe binder and came across this recipe for toffee dip that you serve with apples. I hadn't made it in years but anything with toffee is delicious in my book. This recipe makes about 2 cups of dip which is quite a bit. I served it to some girlfriends one night and then to our Catan friends (Hi Michelle!!) the next night. It was a hit both nights, so I thought I would pass along the recipe in case you too have too many apples in your house or you just love toffee or both :)

Toffee Dip

Yield approx. 2 cups

3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 (8-ounce) block 1/3-less-fat cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup toffee bits (about 4 ounces)
apples

Mix together first 4 ingredients with a mixer until smooth. Stir in toffee bits. Cover and chill. Serve with sliced apples.

Source: Cooking Light How this is light I don't know...but it's darn good!

Wonder

2011-10-05T14:02:00.000-05:00

Ava's face was so sweet the other night as she watched Toy Story 3 on Ice. She's never been to a movie before so this was her first big show, and she was quite smitten with the whole experience. We didn't tell her where we were going only that it was a "date" for her and mommy and daddy. (Cole got to stay home and play with Mamaw and Papa that night.) When we arrived outside the arena she saw the huge poster of Buzz and Woody on the side of the building so she started to put it together.

She loved all the singing and skating. At the intermission, she asked for cotton candy which she had never had before. We gladly bought her a ridiculously overpriced bag of the sweet stuff and she took a few bites and said she was done. I was expecting to have to pry the stuff out of her hands. We stayed for the entire show and took home a very happy and tired little lady. Out of the entire show her favorite part was when the pig fell down. Not Buzz flying through the air or Barbie or even the cool army guys that parachuted down...no, it was when the pig made a mistake and fell. That's kids for you!

Cole Update

2011-09-30T08:00:00.000-05:00

Well, the Stinker Man is 7 months old and sits up great. No signs of crawling yet and I am TOTALLY fine with that. He'll crawl when he's good and ready.

He never ceases to amaze me with all the faces he can make. Most of his best faces involve drool running down his face and all over his adorable clothes that you never see because he's wearing monster sized bibs to catch all that drool.

He chews on everything like it's his job. Let me tell you, he does his job very well. Just look at that serious chew face with his eyebrows up and all. That stuffed orange didn't stand a chance.

He is the happiest baby I have ever been around. Of course I know that I'm biased because I'm his mom ;o) Rarely is the kid not smiling and I love every second of it!

I adore this age and wish it would last longer. I'm soaking up every moment with my handsome little man.

Addicted to Pinterest

2011-09-29T08:00:00.000-05:00

Image via The Idea Room

First pinned by Cindy Cloyd via Pinterest

So if you haven't checked out Pinterest yet then go...now!!

I'll wait...

It is a completely genius site that is creative inspiration to the extreme. As you are browsing the web and you come across images that are inspiring, beautiful, useful, creative, insightful, etc. you "pin" the image to your board. The image will link you directly to the site that contains that picture so you can come back to it at any time. I have become completely addicted and can't wait to start making a lot of the ideas I have pinned. These are 2 of my Halloween favs using Oreo cookies. I can't wait for Ava and I to make these for her little friends. I have a feeling that sharing Pinterest ideas will become a weekly post for me. As I mentioned, totally addicted!

Free Printables: Alphabet Tracing Sheets

2011-09-28T08:00:00.000-05:00

Miss A started preschool 2 mornings a week this fall and loved it at first. Now she's experiencing a little separation anxiety that I'm hoping is only temporary. She loves all the things they do in school (painting, drawing, singing, dancing, listening to stories, etc.) and her teacher is so sweet and fun. I thought I would try to reinforce some of the concepts she is learning at school at home too. She's learning to write her name and letters so I found these adorable tracing sheets for her to practice with from Lawteedah. I plan on printing them on card stock and laminating them so we can use them over and over again with a dry erase marker. She's got the capital A down so now we have to work on the v and the a. Doing these kinds of things with her makes me miss teaching. However, I'm so blessed that I can stay home with my little ones and teach them!

I'm Totally Penny

2011-09-27T15:54:00.001-05:00

Howdy folks! I know it's been a while and I am scolding myself for that as we speak...errrr, read. I thought I would jump back into things sharing one of my new goals. My wee one, Cole, is now 7 months old. Wow, how times has flown by with this little man! Anywhoo, needless to say there is still baby weight 7 months later. I decided the best way to handle this is to run. It's cheap, no gym needed, you walk out your door and start going and it seems that everyone is doing it so why can't I? I downloaded the Couch to 5K app for my phone and started running. Now let me say I'm only at the end of week 2 but I am going strong and don't hate it...yet. Now, my husband and I don't watch very many of the same shows but we both really like Happy Endings. I love the character Penny and when I saw the episode posted below I almost peed my pants. I do exactly what Penny is doing only I do it in my head. For that, my husband is thankful :) I'm just curious how many other people do this??? Me and Penny can't be the only ones...

We're Alive

2011-09-04T09:12:00.000-05:00

Cole: 6 months

Rapunzel (AKA: Ava) 3 years

Well, contrary to popular belief we are still alive and kicking over here. I have lots to blog about since we've had a super busy summer. Having 2 littles definitely keeps you hoppin'! I'm hoping to get back into my regular blogging routine in the next week or so.

Jan...Thanks for your concern! I've missed reading your comments :o)

She's So Obviously My Kid...

2011-05-18T15:11:00.000-05:00

because she does goofball things like this and then laughs hysterically at herself.

Sorry for the lull in posts. Things are good here. Little stinker man is now sleeping through the nights. (This is where you hear a choir of angels singing Hallelujah.) However, Ava has decided she can't sleep through the night by herself anymore. (Booooo!!) One of these days I will get a full nights sleep! The weather has been great here so we've busted out the water table and have been playing outside a lot with plenty of chalk, bubbles and soccer. I keep thinking I'll tire the kid out and she'll sleep but no. There haven't been many crafty things going on here lately but I'm hoping to hop back on that wagon again soon. Happy Wednesday all!

Ava and God

2011-05-10T21:59:00.000-05:00

I was getting Ava and Cole dressed this morning in an attempt to get to the store before the rain hit our area.

Me: Oh, no! It's raining.
Ava: That's okay, Mommy. God's just watering the flowers. (Ava then looks out the window and I can tell her gears are turning.)
Ava: You know God can't hear me.
Me: Sure he can, Ava. Why would you say that?
Ava: He's way up in heaven.
Me: He can hear you even way up in heaven. You just pray and he hears you.
Ava: (Looking up and yelling) God, please stop watering the flowers because Mommy wants to go to the store and not get wet.

I love that kid so much!

Cousins

2011-05-03T23:13:00.000-05:00

We were at Forest Park this past weekend with my niece, Lexi. It was a beautiful day and I had the camera with me so I started snapping a few photos of the girls together. Once Lexi picked up on what I was doing she decided to start directing and posing all the shots. She came up with all these ideas on her own and I just took the pictures. The expressions on their faces just crack me up. They were trying to be so serious in some of the pictures. Some of these are really quite good. Who knows, maybe there a future for Lexi in photography.

Show 'em Some Love

2011-04-28T11:10:00.000-05:00

Source eighteen25

Source The Twinery

May 2-6 is teacher appreciation week. Being a former teacher, I can tell you how much the appreciation is appreciated :o) Here are a couple of cute and easy ideas to show your appreciation for the people who teach your kiddos. Thanks to all those who work so hard to make sure our kids have the best education they possibly can.

Recipe: Cake Balls

2011-04-26T14:36:00.002-05:00

I made these little beauties for Easter this past Sunday and boy were they yummy! I am always looking for new recipes to try out and this one seemed easy and something that Ava could help me with. These are quite impressive to look at too so you can use them for all your fancy-smancy parties. They look so good we had to convince my uncle to try one because he thought they were fake and we were just seeing if he would eat it. Come on we're family, would we do that to him?! Well...

Cake Balls

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Makes approx. 50 quarter sized balls

1 box yellow or white cake mix (cook as directed on box for 13 X 9 cake)
1 can vanilla frosting (16 oz.)
2 packages candy melts (I found mine at Michael's Craft Stores)
sprinkles or other decorations for the topsparchment or wax paper

Make cake according to directions and let cool completely.
Crumble cake into a large bowl and start adding your frosting. I added about 3/4 of a can of frosting and it seemed to hold together well.
Roll into quarter sized balls and place on parchment paper. Chill for several hours in the refrigerator. You can also put them in the freezer if you're short on time.
Melt candy melts according to package directions. I only melted one bag at a time because I was using 2 different colors and the candy cools too quickly. You can reheat it if need be.
Dip cake balls into the candy and let excess drip off. Place on parchment paper to dry.
Before the outer candy dries, add your sprinkles.
Let the cake balls dry completely before storing them in the refrigerator until you're ready to serve them.

You can do so many variations for these delicious cake balls. Try red velvet cake and cream cheese frosting. Or how about german chocolate cake with coconut pecan frosting. Ohhh, what about strawberry cake with vanilla frosting for pink centers. You can also use chocolate bark to dip the cake balls in as well. Let your imagination run wild!

Recipe from Bakerella

Easter

2011-04-25T13:26:00.000-05:00

We had a great Easter here! It's so fun to have these holidays with wee ones around. Ava really enjoyed the egg hunt Sunday morning and all the goodies the Easter Bunny brought her and Cole. Cole napped through the entire thing. What was he thinking! We went to church Saturday night so Sunday morning we were able to take our time and have lots of family time with just us. The afternoon was filled with more egg hunts, ping pong, lots of food (cake ball recipe to come) and Ava getting to play with her second cousins. There was a lot of running and squealing coming from the 5 girls. Needless to say, we all crashed last night...around 8.

Happy Easter

2011-04-22T14:22:00.000-05:00

Egg dying was a huge success. She was content just putting each egg in one color and then picking it up every so often to see how dark the dye was making the shell. I thought for sure she would be dunking each egg in multiple colors and we would have a big mess on our hands. We had one casualty as she dropped the egg from the lovely wire holder into the cup from about 6 inches too high but other than that she was a pro. Next year we are upping the difficulty level and making them more colorful. I'm seeing glitter and permanent marker with colorful dyes somehow. Who knows...I've got a year to figure it out!

Hope your Easter is filled with happiness and family. Our hearts are extra full this year as we celebrate with our new little guy. So much to be grateful for and we are!

Colorful Packaging

2011-04-20T14:40:00.000-05:00

Image Source

What a simple, easy and colorful way to wrap a package. The Twinery sells beautiful baker's twine in so many colors. Their blog offers a ton of creative ways to use twine. I love it and want every color!!

Where did the time go??

2011-04-19T21:39:00.000-05:00

Egg-spiration

2011-04-18T08:00:00.001-05:00

Image Source

I bought the goodies to dye eggs with Ava later this week. We didn't dye any eggs last year. I tell myself it's because she wouldn't have remembered it but really it was just me being a bit of a slacker and not getting around to it. I vowed that this year we would definitely dye lots of eggs. Will they be as beautiful and elaborate as the eggs above? Heck no! But those eggs are gorgeous and maybe something for us to try a few years down the line when Ava's eye dying skills are more advanced ;o)

Go check out Alisa Burke's blog for directions on how to make your own watercolor eggs.

The Many Faces of Stinker Man

2011-04-12T10:25:00.000-05:00

The content face

The "oh you're so funny, Mommy" face

The "I'm trying to laugh" face

The cooing face

My personal favorite

Sorry for all the baby posts but this is my life right now :o)

Stinker Man is my favorite nickname for the little guy now but it seems to change daily. I'm guessing I don't need to explain how he got it!

Etsy Find: Monthly Onesie Stickers

2011-04-11T08:00:00.000-05:00

While browsing for little boy goodies on Etsy, I came across these stickers. I am taking monthly pics of Cole wearing a white onesie and these would be perfect to add. Lil' Baby Bumblebee has a huge assortment of stickers to choose from and I think it's a great idea for documenting your little one's growth. What a great shower gift idea, too. Pair the stickers with some white onesies in various sizes and ta-da! A very unique gift!

Morning Routine

2011-04-08T10:38:00.000-05:00

Source

There are a few things that have become almost a necessity each morning. I think that a ginormous cup of coffee goes without saying for a new momma who's up nursing throughout the night. If you like coffee that is!

The second part of my morning routine has become a bowl of these steel cut oats. It seems to me that people either really like oatmeal or they never touch the stuff. In our house, we're oatmeal people. We've always used the quick cooking oats or regular oats. I'd heard about steel cut oats before from Alton Brown (love him!) and when I saw them on the shelf in my grocery store, I snatched them up. They are so yummy and quite different from the oats we're all used too. These take about 20 minutes to cook on the stove but the nutty flavor and texture is so worth the 20 minutes. When the oats are done we stir in a little brown sugar for a bit of sweetness. The next part is up to you. Start adding whatever sounds good. One of my favs is fresh strawberries. Ava likes raisins in hers or even Craisins if we have them. You could add apples, honey, maple syrup, cinnamon, vanilla or anything else that sounds good to you. Try them. Trust me you will like them. Here are a few recipes from around the web to jazz up your oats even more.

Alton Brown's basic recipe

Overnight Oatmeal (also Alton Brown's Recipe)

Annie's Eats Recipe

Easter Goodies

2011-04-07T11:44:00.000-05:00

Source

The ladies over at We Love to Illustrate have done it again. Super cute printable freebies just in time for Easter. There are more over on their site to browse but these were some of my favs. I especially love the middle printable. This one will be right up Ava's alley. You get to search for eggs and then color. These are also great to let little one practice using scissors. They can completely butcher the paper but you can always print another. Happy printing :o)

Long Weekend

2011-04-06T14:30:00.000-05:00

We had quite the eventful weekend. Little Cole spent the weekend in the hospital due to RSV. RSV is really just a bad cold for little ones. He was having difficulty breathing, bad coughing fits and couldn't keep his milk down. After being on oxygen for a little while and getting lots of love he is doing much better. Very scary though for a wee little 6 week old!

Recipe: Spicy Bean Filling

2011-03-28T08:00:00.001-05:00

I'm a big fan of Mexican food so this recipe was right up my alley. Easy, fast and as an added bonus it's cheap because there is no meat in it. Did I mention that it is really tasty, too? I have made this twice now only to receive raves from my family. The first time I served it as make your own burritos with lettuce, cheese, tomato, avocado, sour cream, etc. The most recent time I made it I used it as a quesadilla filling with just the bean filling, cheese and black olives. It's what I had on hand, and it was so good. The left overs are really yummy too.

Spicy Bean Filling

Serves: about 6

2 tsp. vegetable oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp. chili powder

1 tsp. ground cumin

1/4 tsp. salt

pinch of cayenne pepper

1/3 cup water

1 (15 oz.) can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 (15 oz.) can pinto beans, drained and rinsed

1/3 cup salsa

Extras:

tortillas

lettuce

tomato

shredded cheese

sour cream

whatever else you think will taste good :o)

Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add garlic to pan; cook 1 minute, stirring frequently. Stir in chile powder, cumin, salt and cayenne pepper; cook 30 seconds, stirring constantly. Stir in 1/3 cup water and beans; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in salsa.

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Source: Slightly adapted from Cooking Light and Annie's Eats

Our Day

2011-03-24T14:07:00.000-05:00

We're all still hanging on to this sickness, ugh! So instead of being out and about, we are trapped indoors. Today I played with our new camera a bit. There have been a lack of cute bunny pictures lately on the ol' blog so Simon was my model for a few of these. However, he is way too fast to be a good model. I took a gazillion pictures of the bun but in most of them he is just a grey blur. Here's our house bound day so far...

Extreme close up of the bun himself.

Don't you just love his outrageous hair style!

Ava and I practiced our silly faces.

She practiced with fruit snacks in her mouth.

I practiced without the fruit snacks.

Cole worked on his "Up, up and away" Superman pose.

Ava got out all the toys she could find...

the house still looks like this.

Simon spent the morning stealing all of Ava's toys that

he could carry. His favorites are these wooden cookies.

Finally, naps.

Thank God for nap time! Both kiddos are asleep at the

same time, and I might actually get a shower in. Hallelujah!!

Printable Freebie & Book Club

2011-03-23T15:35:00.000-05:00

Images from Lemony Squeezy's blog

I'm always a sucker for a freebie and these are so adorable! Lemon Squeezy has these little goodies on her blog. I always manage to misplace my bookmarks so the idea of having free ones that I can reprint as many times as I need to is great.

I know I haven't posted lately about our book club books but we have read a couple good ones. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot was a great non-fiction read that was extremely interesting. Without her consent, Henrietta's doctor took some cancerous cells from her body. Those cells have been sold and used for research throughout the world. Her cells helped with the polio vaccine and many other medical areas. I'm not a science-y person but it was so interesting and a little scary to read about the medical practices and ethics not that long ago.

We also read The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton. This was last months book but I am still reading it. Shhhh, don't tell my group! Having a newborn has really cut down on my reading time. Go figure! I would much rather sleep than read. Anyway, I really liked this one as well. It's about a young girl who was left on a dock in Australia. Years later this now woman decides to look for her roots after she is told that her parents are not her biological parents. The story is told from 3 different perspectives and generations. I would highly recommend this one, too.

Oh Face

2011-03-17T13:44:00.000-05:00

Yesterday Cole was one month old. Where in the world did the time go!? He's a great eater and sleeper and is in general a happy go lucky little guy. He's very eager to try to lift his head to look around. He's started to coo at me when I talk to him which just melts my heart. He loves to make this tight little "O" with his lips and has started to smile when I make the "O" face back at him. Such a blessing he has been to our family.

Ava loves him to death. She showers him with kisses (in a good way) and is always trying to share her toys with him. Me, on the other hand, she is not too thrilled with. She's having a bit of a time adjusting to mommy giving attention to Cole instead of her. I'm just patiently waiting for her to get back to her sweet self. Hopefully it's sooner rather than later!

Sick Days

2011-03-10T10:37:00.000-06:00

All 4 of us have been sick the last week or so. There have been a lot of tea parties and napping going on lately. Not to mention all day pajama parties and PB & J for dinner. Today I actually was coherent, alert and showered before 8. Hallelujah!! It made me start to feel human again.

Little Cole man has been a trooper. He's had a stuffy nose and the cutest little cough. We've been using the nose sucker thingy on him all the time. Luckily, he doesn't seem to be bothered too much by it. He has been such a good baby especially considering that he's been sick 1 of his 3 short weeks here. We're even getting tons of smiles while he's awake and asleep. I know it's probably just gas but hey, I'll take it!

Sweet, Sweet Honey

2011-03-04T09:26:00.000-06:00

image credit

This morning Ava and I finished up the last of our Savannah Bee Company honey. We've been on a kick of sharing a toasted bagel with a little butter and this yummy honey drizzled over it. While we were in Savannah with some friends this past September we came across this little honey store. We sampled several different types of honey and even munched on some honeycomb. I came home with the tupelo and black sage honey. Now I'm wishing I had bought more. Somehow Missouri honey just doesn't taste as good. Steve says it's just because I know it's not as expensive...he might be right :o)

So Sleepy

2011-03-02T11:18:00.000-06:00

This is kinda how I feel all day these days. I know he'll be sleeping through the night before I know it so I'm trying to find the joy in the late night, early morning feedings. That face makes all the yawning and puffy eyes so worth it though.

On a side note, Ava adores her brother. See that bunny in the picture to the right. That is one of her beloved animals that she sleeps with. She is always putting her bunny or bear next to Cole to help him sleep. She's such a sweetie!

Diaper Bag Heaven

2011-03-01T14:17:00.000-06:00

For Christmas, Steve got this bag for me to use as my purse/diaper bag and I LOVE it! With Ava I had a diaper bag that I registered for and I never really thought it functioned well for me. This time around I scouted out Etsy until I found what I thought would work great for me. I have been super pleased with it so far. I love that is has a long and short strap so I can wear it either way. There are plenty of compartments for anything and everything baby and non-baby. Love it! Go check out her other bags at Kinies.

Our New Little Man

2011-02-22T21:41:00.000-06:00

Popping in to share a few pictures of our new little man, Cole Steven. He was born Wednesday, Feb. 16th at 5:15pm weighing 8lbs. 15 ozs.

Things are going to be a little slow on the blog for a while until I get into some kind of routine with the new wee one and Ava. Now to try to catch up on some sleep...

Parents Shouldn't Text

2011-02-10T18:16:00.000-06:00

My darling husband sent me a link to www.parentsshouldnttext.com. Being less than 2 weeks away from giving birth, I should not have browsed this site. I came very close to peeing my pants...multiple times! Too, too funny!!!

Warning: some of the messages are a little inappropriate but still really funny.

Imagination at it's Best

2011-02-09T14:19:00.000-06:00

Ava's at the point in her playing that is really fun for me to watch and eavesdrop on. She makes things up and has her animals talk to each other. Most of the time she uses phrases that I say or Steve says. Her favorite pretend play right now is using her doctor kit on all her animals. She refers to herself as Dr. Ava as she diagnoses and fixes up all her furry patients. She also likes to garden while in the tub. She has a favorite little watering can that she plays with while taking a bath. She even sings to her flowers as she waters them. The things that come out of her mouth just make me smile.

While she loves pretending, it often leads to this at naptime.

Not so much napping and a whole lot of playing until eventually she passes out. At least for now she is still taking naps and for that I'm grateful!

Naturally Sweet Valentine's Idea

2011-02-07T13:21:00.000-06:00

Images: Twig and Thistle

We go through a lot of fruit around here. Right now our big kick is anjou pears which have been really, really good in the stores lately. When Ava wakes from her nap she usually wants a small snack and instead of reaching for Teddy Grahams or pretzels, she wants fruit. I'm happy to oblige her. We share with Simon, our bun, too. He couldn't be happier with that snack option either.

As I was reading through some blogs, I ran across these stickers which are adorable and a nice departure from the sickeningly sweet candy that most people are forcing in your face around Valentine's Day. Go check out her blog, Twig and Thistle to download these and several more stickers for a healthier holiday.

Seriously...

2011-02-03T14:52:00.000-06:00

He makes me smile. His check fluff reminds me of our bun, Simon. Check out all of Veronika's other creations on her Etsy site. There are so many cute little guys. The businessman cat has so much personality too.

Kids Project for Valentine's Day

2011-02-02T11:23:00.000-06:00

The snow is here and we've been stuck in the house for 7 days now between Ava being sick and now the weather. I've pretty much exhausted my ideas of things to do. I'm hoping that tomorrow we can venture out into the winter wonderland to expend some of her energy.

Today, I got together a few materials for Ava to make her own Valentine's for her friends. Here's what you'd need to make these too...

*Some festive scrapbook paper shapes.

*A glue stick: This was the first time that Ava has used a glue stick and now she's obsessed! She glued these flowers for almost an hour.

*Crayons or markers if the little artist decides to add a splash of color.

*Some photos of the wee one to make them even more personal.

I let Ava do these all by herself. She picked out everything from the supplies I gave her and she went to town creating. It's amazing what a little glue, paper and crayons can do for a budding 2 year old artist.

For another easy Valentine idea, check out this post from last year. The fingerprint hearts are super easy for little ones under 2 to make their own art.

Winter Storm

2011-01-31T13:19:00.000-06:00

elde

We're preparing for a winter storm here in St. Louis. From the way people act, you would think we are going to be under 6 feet of snow for weeks with no power, heat or food. What's predicted is ice followed by up to a foot of snow. Don't get me wrong, that is significant but stores are out of bread and milk because people are so worried. I, on the other hand, am trying to plan plenty of activities for the next couple of days to keep little Ava busy while keeping my sanity. We're making Valentine's tomorrow and played with play dough making robots for over an hour today.

During nap time I was doing a little Etsy browsing and discovered these little lovelies. Don't they look so warm and snuggly? Perfect for waiting out a winter storm while having hot tea by the fire.

My Old Self

2011-01-28T14:45:00.000-06:00

For a long time now (we're talking a couple months...at least), I've felt the way on the inside that poor sick Ava looks on the outside. I've been crabby, tired, moody, lazy and outright not nice to my poor husband at times. I was nit picking at everything and worrying about things that just don't matter. For those who know me, I'm generally a go with the flow, low maintenance kind of gal. It was getting to the point where I couldn't stand to be with myself. That was my normal. I had been in that funk for so long that I started to think that's who I was all the time. I was so used to being crabby that I couldn't remember what the old me used to be like and maybe she was just gone. I didn't want to think that but that's where my head was at the time...she's gone.

Luckily, the past day or so I've had more energy, played more with Ava and our sweet bun, Simon. I've planned meals and found new recipes to try. Thought of tons of things that I have to make/sew for Ava and the new little guy. Gotten tons of baby gear cleaned and ready to go and it feels so good. I'm not that moody mom I thought I was. It's just those darn hormones and being ridiculously pregnant. I am so happy to have a glimpse of my old self that I don't care if she's not all the way back just yet. I know in time she'll be back to stay and for that I'm thankful.

Printable Valentines From Etsy

2011-01-26T11:36:00.000-06:00

$4 each from Green Apple Paperie

$3.50 from Monkey Moo Moo

$5 from Studio 30 Baby

Valentine's Day will be here before you know it. Here are a few printables from Etsy that I came across. Cute, cute, cute!

I've got a sick kiddo again so we are laying low and enjoying some Max and Ruby on TV while cuddling. These slow days are kind of nice sometimes. I'm soaking these up before I'm on mommy duty around the clock with a newborn. Stay healthy out there!

Book Club: The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield

2011-01-25T08:00:00.001-06:00

For our January meeting we read this lovely story, The Thirteenth Tale. Margaret, who works in her father's book store, one day receives a letter from one of the days most famous writers asking her to write her life story as she's dying. She has told her story to many other journalists before but they have all been just that....made up stories and lies. She is now ready to tell the truth and it's Margaret she wants to tell. This is a mystery of sorts that tells the tale of deep family secrets, a mysterious ghost, a governess that disappears, an abandoned child and oh so much more.

I wouldn't say it was a page turner as far as mysteries go but I was definitely interested throughout the book. There was a charm to the writing that I really enjoyed. There were a good deal of ideas to sort out at book club too which made for some good discussion. If you are an occasional reader then I would maybe pass on this book. If you are a true book lover then I think you would like this one. If you read this and enjoy it then I would also check out The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon. Another mystery dealing with books and authors.

Next month: The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot

I'm thinking this one will lead to some great discussion...we'll see!

Recipe: Blueberry Coffee Cake

2011-01-24T09:47:00.000-06:00

Sorry about the unexpected week long break. Sometimes time just slips away from me and the blog is the first thing to go. To make it up to you here's a simple little recipe that I made a couple times over the holidays. Once for a light Christmas morning breakfast and then again for our New Year's Eve shindig with friends were we served breakfast for dinner in our jammies. I've made this recipe with blackberries and blueberries and both are yummy. The blackberries however are heavier and sunk to the bottom so the end result was not as pretty but still very tasty. This isn't your traditional coffee cake recipe with the crumbly brown sugar topping but definitely worth trying out.

Blueberry Coffee Cake

Serves 8

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon salt

¾ cup granulated sugar

6 tablespoons butter, softened

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 large egg

1 large egg white

1 1/3 cups low-fat buttermilk

Cooking spray

2 cups fresh blueberries (1 pint)

turbinado sugar (optional but adds that great crunch on top that I love)

Preheat oven to 350°.

Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, baking powder, soda, and salt, stirring with a whisk.

Place granulated sugar and butter in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until well blended. Add vanilla, egg, and egg white; beat well. Add flour mixture and buttermilk alternately to sugar mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture; mix after each addition.

Spoon half of the batter into a 9-inch round baking pan coated with cooking spray and parchment paper covering the bottom. Sprinkle evenly with 1 cup of blueberries. Spoon remaining batter over blueberries; sprinkle evenly with remaining 1 cup blueberries.

Bake at 350° for 40 minutes then sprinkle top with some turbinado sugar. Return to over for another 10 minutes or until a wooden toothpick comes out clean. Cool in pan 10 minutes on wire rack; remove from pan. Cool completely on wire rack.

Source: Cooking Light, May 2008

Free Desktop Wallpapers

2011-01-14T08:57:00.000-06:00

Super cute and free January wallpapers for your computer over at We Love to Illustrate. The adorable little mice are now gracing my computer for the month. Such a talented group of ladies who share their work with us.

I hope everyone has a great weekend!

eeBoo: Educational Toys & Games for Kiddos

2011-01-13T08:00:00.000-06:00

I discovered eeBoo while looking for ideas for Ava for Christmas. She received several of their games and toys from Santa. I even ordered the alphabet cards to hang in baby boy's room. Ava is currently obsessed with the Lotto game. So much so that I had to hide the game for a day just so I could take a break from playing it. She loves the Mystery in the Forest matching game too. We make up stories using the little pictures instead of reading books some days. She loves that just as much as matching them.

I fell in love with this company because they teach valuable skills, they're well made and the illustrations are very detailed and adorable. I ordered all of our eeBoo items from Amazon because they had the cheapest prices, no tax and free shipping (for orders of $25). You can't really beat that. If you have any kid birthdays coming up then I would definitely look into all Eeboo has to offer. We've been loving their stuff in our house.

The First Snow of 2011...

2011-01-12T08:00:00.001-06:00

did not disappoint! Ava and Steve had a blast while I tried not to fall on my behind while taking pictures of the 2 of them. Hope you all are staying warm where ever you might be!

6 weeks and counting

2011-01-11T08:00:00.008-06:00

With a little less than 6 weeks until our little man is officially due my husband has been "nesting" so that means that I have started as well. We moved Steve's office to the basement, shampooed carpet, painted, picked up new furniture, set up Ava's big girl room and started to get the baby room ready, too. I didn't know how Ava would take her furniture being moved out of her room to the baby room. Once she saw her big girl bed she was thrilled and immediately climbed up on it. She was more than happy to give her crib to her baby brother and didn't look back once. See that big smile above?

Now on to a little complaining...I'm ready for this little one to come any day. I know that sounds early but he is a big boy, and I'm already tired of being kicked in the ribs. With Ava I was a week late and never uncomfortable. I know that sounds unbelievable but I enjoyed being pregnant and never had aches or pains to complain of. This child on the other hand is causing a lot of sleepless and restless nights. I have a hard time standing for long periods of time, too. Did I mention that he's just a big kiddo? You know you're in trouble when your doctor jokingly says we should name him Bubba. I'm hoping that for my sake and my husband's, he does decide to come a little early because I don't know how much more *ahem* griping my husband can listen to ;o)

Happy Birthday, Steve!

2011-01-10T10:38:00.000-06:00

We had a very busy weekend. I'm exhausted and it's only Monday. Although that's not saying much because it doesn't take a ton to wear me out these days. Yesterday was Steve's birthday so we celebrated with some cinnamon rolls and OJ...this morning. Yesterday was busy with early church and time with his family so this morning was our little family time to celebrate Daddy. Ava was super excited since she had never had a cinnamon roll before and knew that they sounded yummy. She was not disappointed in them.

Happy birthday, Steve!

You are an amazing husband and father. I'm so happy to share all these moments of life with you.

Conversation with a 2 1/2 year old

2011-01-05T13:55:00.000-06:00

Ava: "Mommy, when is baby brother going to pop out?"

Me: "Pop out?"

Ava: "Yeah."

Me: "He'll be here before you know it."

Long silence

Ava: "He'll play with me in my room, right?"

Me: "When he gets a little older he will. You can play in his room too."

Another long silence

Ava: "He's lives at our house????"

I think the wee princess is in for a little shock when baby brother does finally get here.

Happy New Year & a Freebie

2011-01-04T13:57:00.000-06:00

I think almost everyone's New Year's resolutions (if you make them) have to do with eating more healthy, exercising, etc. I know my body is craving fruits and veggies after all the obnoxious eating of sweets I did over the holidays.

While browsing the blogosphere the other day I came across this amazing calendar that highlights what fruits and veggies are in season each month. This artist designed a new font and drew each image herself, and they are stunning. Go check out her wonderful blog, Cottage Industrialist and free calendar for the new year. Here's to keeping those resolutions for longer than a few weeks!

Winter Hands

2010-12-22T07:30:00.000-06:00

Every winter my hands get so chapped and dry. They even start to bleed at times. I know that was probably too much information but it happens. I am in love with this hand lotion. Yes, it is expensive ($19 a tube) but a little goes a long way and it keeps my hands in great shape all winter long. Steve and I opened presents early this year from each other and this was in my pile of goodies from him. Love it! Just thought I would share in case you had some last minute person who you never know what to buy. Steve uses some of their men's line too. It's all around good stuff. Check it out if you feel like pampering yourself or someone you love.

Christmas Wonder

2010-12-21T08:02:00.000-06:00

Experiencing Christmas this year has made me feel like a little kid again. This is the first year Ava really understands whats going on and I'm loving it. We spent last night driving through Tilles Park to see thousands of lights. The excitement in her voice as she pointed out everything she saw was making Steve and I laugh so hard and remember Christmas when we were little. We then ate some yummy Greek food before we headed to Dan's Emerald Forest. Dan's is just a house in a neighborhood that is pretty amazing. Ava has been very into trains lately and this house has trains, lights, waterfalls and loads of other winter scenery throughout his entire front yard. It was quite the site. Ava was very excited for the entire night. As we were driving home, she started to doze off in the back seat. I asked very quietly if anyone would be interested in some ice cream. She perked right back up and proceeded to eat over half of my mango frozen yogurt loaded up with fresh fruit from FroYo. I think it's safe to say that she had a very good night last night. Steve and I had a pretty amazing night, too.

Gingerbread Playdough

2010-12-20T10:46:00.000-06:00

Ava and I whipped up a couple batches of play-dough to give her friends for Christmas. She helped with all the measuring, dumping and stirring while I did all the serious mixing on the stove. These make quick, easy, cheap and fun gifts for all the little people in your life. Not to mention that they make your house smell yummy while you make the dough. We made a chocolate play-dough too but I wasn't as happy with the end texture so I'll work on the recipe and then post it.

Gingerbread Play-Dough

1 1/4 Cup flour
1/2 Cup salt
2 tsp. cream of tartar

Spices--Cinnamon, Allspice, Ginger, Nutmeg
1 cup water
1 1/2 Tbsp. vegetable oil

Mix all of the dry ingredients in a medium pot. I started with a teaspoon of each of the spices. I know I ended up adding more cinnamon to the pot though.
Add wet ingredients and stir over low heat until a ball starts to form and the dough pulls away from the sides of the pot. It will take a couple minutes on the stove to get to the dough to start forming.
Remove the ball and knead until it is a consistent color and texture.

We "wrapped" the dough in plastic containers with a cookie cutter or two and tied with a pretty bow.

Trafalgar's Square Giveaway

2010-12-15T09:59:00.000-06:00

These prints just makes me smile. I love all Kit's work. I have 3 of her prints for Ava's room. She's illustrating some children's books now that I can't wait to see.

Trafalgar's Square has all her items 15% off right now but if you're into freebies head over to her blog and leave a comment for a chance to win both of these prints. Good luck!

Pajama Day!

2010-12-14T14:42:00.000-06:00

I've been a little under the weather since Saturday. The busy weekend just wiped me out. When Monday finally rolled around I declared it a pajama day for Ava and I and we didn't leave the house. I read most of Mockingjay, the final book in the Hunger Games series, while she put together puzzles, played with play dough and built things out of her blocks. It was a really nice relaxing day and I think I'm on the mend. I'm savoring these days with only my little lady and me because before I know it there will be a new little bundle of joy in the house. Hope all of you are staying warm and keeping healthy this holiday season!

Book Club: Picking Cotton

2010-12-10T11:06:00.000-06:00

Tonight is our book club Christmas party, and I'm really looking forward to it. It's so fun to get a group of girls together to talk and stuff our faces :o)

The book we read for this month was a memoir of a young woman who was raped and the man she wrongly accused of the crime. Merry Christmas, right? This story is interesting in the fact that it is told in 3 sections. The first part is told by Jennifer the victim of the rape. The second section is told by Ronald who was wrongly accused and served 11 years in jail. You read that right. 11 years. The final section is told by both Ronald and Jennifer. There are no interesting or suspenseful plot twists. The characters are real people with real feelings. This book is worth a read though. I found Ronald to be the most interesting. He survived jail for years knowing he didn't commit the 2 rapes he was accused of and he forgave Jennifer. It was a true story of forgiveness. I know I've said this before but I love my book club for so many reasons but the top reason being it pushes me to read outside my norm.

Easy (& Inexpensive) Christmas Present

2010-12-09T13:21:00.000-06:00

$5 from Lily Cards

$5 from Partysaurus

Both are $6 each from Print Your Party

I love that you can add your own photos to the bottom calendar.

$6 from Ali Design

$8 from Lemonade Paperie

Last year I bought the 2010 printable calendar from Lemonade Paperie to give to my mom, grandma and girlfriends. These printable calendars are great because you buy it once and then print as many as you need. With a little glitter, a corner rounder and some ribbon you have a really sweet and inexpensive Christmas present. There are a ton of great choices out there on Etsy and all different sizes, too. At these prices you can print out one for just about everyone you know! These are just a handful of the calendars I like for next year. Decisions, decisions...

Here Comes Santa Claus

2010-12-08T08:00:00.001-06:00

Ava woke up from her nap the other day saying, "I want to see Santa and sit on his lap." I'm thinking ummmmm, ok. This was coming from the girl who takes a good while to warm up to people she already knows so the the fact that she brought up Santa and wanted to sit on his lap was huge. After dinner we loaded up and went to Bass Pro Shop which has a great free Christmas village and a free picture with Santa. We walked right up to Santa (no lines or time for her to change her mind) and he was amazing. I can't stress how non-scary he was for her. He talked to her and held her 2 little hands and then asked if she wanted to sit on his lap for a picture. I know that again none of these pictures show big smiles but there were no tears and that was great in my book. Her and daddy colored, played with rc cars and she loved the train. I even got a little Christmas shopping for my dad done while we were there. On the car ride home she announces from the back seat, "I love Santa." That kid just melts my heart.

The Elves are Here!

2010-12-07T08:00:00.003-06:00

Ella and Emma Elf finally made it to our house. A few days late but they did make it. These two little ladies are admittedly not very elfish but more Christmas-y. This was my first attempt at doll making of any kind and overall I am happy with them. I used this template from Martha Stewart's website to get a rough idea of what I was doing but improvised a few things. I learned a lot and will make a few changes next time. I have a feeling that I will be making a few more of these but bigger and for everyday use like tea parties, hugging and reading time. I've already got a gazillion ideas for accessories and hair for these little ladies.

Every morning Ava wakes up and searches the house for the 2 elves and her wrapped book. These 2 tricky elves hide in a new spot each night which makes our normal mornings a lot more fun. She loves to hold them both while we read her the Christmas book that Ella and Emma have left for her each morning. I cherish making these memories with our family and can not wait to add our little boy to the mix too.

I'd love to hear about any traditions you and your family have for Christmas.

Free Holiday Tag Printables

2010-12-06T08:00:00.006-06:00

Seriously cute *FREE* tags to print off at www.welovetoillustrate.com. Just in time for all that wrapping you have to do this holiday season. I just started wrapping this past weekend and with a 2 year old helper it takes just a wee bit longer than usual. Oh well, she's having fun wrapping and that's what matters.

Chilly Day

2010-12-03T09:58:00.000-06:00

Image: Pinterest

Our furnace stopped heating today so lets just say we are busting out the sweaters, warm socks, blankets, etc. until we can get it fixed. If I had a sweater for our bun like this little guy I would have him in it. Here's to hoping you're spending your Friday nice and warm!

Go check out the cute little pig in red rain boots on Pinterest, too. He made me smile.

Family Pictures

2010-12-02T08:50:00.001-06:00

I am in love with our family pictures this year. Ashley and her sister of LeLe Photography work together and take amazing pictures from weddings to births to little ol' families like us. After rescheduling twice due to weather and Ava being sick, we finally had a gorgeous day to take some pictures with Ashley. Ashley was amazing with Ava. She did a great job telling us how and where to look and smile. She even did a great job of not making me feel like the giant blob that I am right now! Steve and I joked that she is now permanently on our calendar for at least the next 10 years. If you live in the St. Louis area I would highly recommend these girls for your pics of any kind. They were awesome!!

Freebie from Lemon Squeezy

2010-12-01T08:56:00.000-06:00

Sharon over at Lemon Squeezy designed this adorable holiday card and you can print it out for FREE. My kind of holiday cards! Her style is always so clean and simple. Love it!

We're off for a play date and some mommy chat time. Hope your Wednesday is off to as good of a start as mine is. The little is spending the night at my parents house so the hubs and I are off tonight for a solo dinner and then Potter. I'm so looking forward to it :o)

PS: Our family pics are in and I am completely in love with them. I'll post some of my favs soon.

Advent Conspiracy

2010-11-30T17:20:00.000-06:00

So I'm going to go there with today's post. I'm talking about religion. Actually, it's more about my church and some of the awesome things they do and promote.

We've been attending our church for almost a year now. We had been at other churches and moved around every so often. We never found something that really fit both of us. In January of this year, we visited The Crossing and have been going ever since. One of the things they promote during the Christmas season is Advent Conspiracy. There are 4 main themes:

Worship Fully

Spend Less

Give More

Love All

Even for those of you reading this who are not Christian the last 3 themes apply to everyone. Try spending less money this Christmas but give more of your time to the people around you. In this economy who can't benefit from spending less money. Instead give your time to your friends, your family, volunteering somewhere important to you, etc. Finally, love all by donating to those in need whether it be your time or your money.

I know this Christmas I'm trying to put more thought into the gifts I am giving my family and friends by giving them relational gifts or gifts that will build and strengthen our relationships. The example our pastor gave at church was about a 20 something son giving his dad a pound of coffee. Doesn't sound like much until you read what the note attached to the coffee said. His dad was only to drink that coffee with his son and he was to tell his son stories about his life when he was younger. Now that is a gift that I think any dad would like to get from their son or daughter.

Stacey Yacula Studio

2010-11-29T08:00:00.000-06:00

Images: Stacey Yacula Studio

Can I tell you just how much I love this artist? She does amazing work. Her ornaments are adorable and her little snowmen are so detailed and have such great personality. I want every single one of her snowmen living on my mantel to enjoy all winter long. Actually, I want one of everything in her store. I might have to settle for one of her ornaments for the time being but I'll keep dreaming.

Thankful

2010-11-24T12:55:00.000-06:00

I have so many things to be thankful for in my life.

I'm thankful for the cold rainy day we're having in STL so that Ava and I could bake our cream cheese pumpkin muffins and snuggle with good books. After her nap we're watching her newest obsession, Wall*E. She loves that little robot. I thankful for having a wonderful husband who puts up with my incredible moodiness lately. Love you! I thankful for getting to experience having Ava as my daughter. I'm thankful God is blessing us with a son in February.

The list goes on and on. Let's just say I'm thankful. Especially for the little moments like seeing Ava's eyes light up on the carousel for the first time. She got to ride the one she wanted too...a dragon!

Have a great Thanksgiving with your families. I'll be back again on Monday hopefully full of turkey and well rested!

Recipe: Herb Biscuits

2010-11-23T10:54:00.000-06:00

Sometimes when planning a large menu like Thanksgiving, I forget to plan for things. It happens. This year it was the bread. I would love to make rolls from scratch but this year I totally forgot so I'm going with plan B. I don't even know if you can call this a recipe but I'm going with it. I like these because they look fancy with very little work.

Herb Biscuits

1 can refrigerated biscuits (I prefer the Grands Buttermilk Flaky biscuits)

6 Tbsp. melted butter

1 1/2 tsp. parsley or dill or whatever dried herbs suit your fancy

Dash of garlic powder

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a medium bowl combine melted butter, herbs and garlic powder.
Cut each biscuit into 4 equal pieces and toss into the butter mixture.
After all biscuit pieces are thoroughly coated, place 3 pieces in each section of a muffin tin.
Bake at 350 for 14-17 minutes.

Serve these right out of the oven and there's no need for butter since they're already drenched in it. Each little muffin biscuit pulls apart into 3 little sections that are so so yummy. Not to mention that it looks like you spent a long time whipping them up. Enjoy!

The Gift of Reading

2010-11-22T14:55:00.000-06:00

Being a self professed book junkie has been passed along to Ava. We read at least 15 books a day and that's on a low day. Last Christmas season I saw this idea on someone's blog and decided to do something similar for Ava this Christmas. I wish I could remember whose blog I borrowed this from to give them credit but I didn't write it down.

On December 1st when Ella the Elf comes to stay at our house until Christmas, she will not show up empty handed. She will bring with her a basket full of wrapped books. Each night before Ava goes to bed she will get to pick a book to unwrap and read together. Now I realize that most normal people don't have 25 Christmas books at home but being a former 2nd and 4th grade teacher and ordering Scholastic books a lot means that I have just enough. If you wanted to do this on a smaller scale with library books it wouldn't cost you a thing other than the wrapping paper. My plan is to do this every year with the same books. I don't think the kiddos will get sick of the books because they only come out once a year. What better gift to give your kids than getting excited about reading.

On a side note, I'm making Ella the Elf this year for Ava. I will be sure to post some pics of the little darling when I've finished making her. Fingers crossed she turns out cute. In my head she's adorable but we'll see how it translates from my head into fabric and felt!

Beautiful Books

2010-11-19T09:07:00.000-06:00

Image Source: Anthropologie

Penguin does a great job of making their books attractive. Their classics are beautiful and now they have a line of children's classics that are just as stunning. It's hard to resist buying the set for my little one to enjoy down the road. Who am I kidding? They'd be for me to enjoy, the kid's 2 right now!

Anthropologie has them now. Gotta love that store!

Adult Stocking Stuffer

2010-11-18T08:00:00.001-06:00

A few years ago I gave my brother one of these as part of his Christmas present. I know they are totally inappropriate but too funny not to buy. Especially for my brother. How can you not smile at a pooping reindeer? They poop cola flavored jelly beans. C'mon, that's funny! While checking out at Joann Fabric the other day, they had a stack of them at the register. I think they were $3.99. I'm sure you could think of someone who would get a kick out of these. I can think of several. What does that say about my friends and family?? Hmmmmmm.

Recipe: Cranberry Orange Cookies

2010-11-17T14:29:00.000-06:00

I am quite the sucker for all things citrus. Throw in some fresh cranberries and these cookies were a must in our house. They are sweet and tangy all at the same time. These are also chewy cookies which is nice for a change. Everyone in our house loves them. I made some with the glaze and some without. If you don't have time to make the glaze then just leave it off. They still will disappear...quickly! These would be a nice compliment to pumpkin pie and coffee after you've stuffed yourselves with turkey. They look pretty and festive too.

Cranberry Orange Cookies

1 cup butter, softened
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon grated orange zest
2 tablespoons orange juice
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups fresh cranberries, halved
1/2 teaspoon grated orange zest
3 tablespoons orange juice
1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
In a large bowl, cream together the butter, white sugar and brown sugar until smooth. Beat in the egg until well blended. Mix in 1 teaspoon orange zest and 2 tablespoons orange juice. Combine the flour, baking soda and salt; stir into the orange mixture. Mix in cranberries until evenly distributed. Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets. Cookies should be spaced at least 2 inches apart.
Bake for 12 to 14 minutes in the preheated oven, until the edges are golden. Remove from cookie sheets to cool on wire racks.
In a small bowl, mix together 1/2 teaspoon orange zest, 3 tablespoons orange juice and confectioners' sugar until smooth. Spread over the tops of cooled cookies. Let stand until set.

*Recipe from allrecipes.com

Reason #3462

2010-11-16T16:19:00.000-06:00

There are plenty of reasons why my mom is so loved. This is one of those small things that she does that means so much to me. The latest came in the form of a gift she found for the "baby bruder" that will be here before we know it.

This is Bear. She is rather scraggly and matted from being loved and washed so much. She gets dragged all over the house, attends several tea parties a day and helps with puzzles and other difficult tasks throughout the day. Occasionally Ava sneaks her into the car for a little ride with us too. Bear lovingly gets hugged and sometimes dries tears and the occasional snotty nose by accident. She was given to us by a friend before she was born. To say that Ava loves her is an understatement. Here's where my mom comes into the picture.

This is our newest Bear. My mom managed to find a blue Bear especially for our little arriving in February. I don't know how almost 3 years later she found a boy version of Ava's most favorite possession but she did. I'm sure our little man will love him as much as Ava loves hers. Ava kept trying to steal him off the counter so I resorted to hiding him in our closet so he stays fluffy and nice until February. Thanks Mom!!

Thanksgiving Printable Freebie

2010-11-15T07:57:00.000-06:00

Image Source: Paper Glitter

The very talented Linnette over at Paper Glitter is offering up a free downloadable Thanksgiving/Fall set that is so adorable. She has thought of everything from menus to place cards, cupcake toppers to activity sheets. This gal even made up a water bottle wrap. How cute could the kids table at Thanksgiving look with all these little touches. Go check out her adorable blog/website and all her other free printable goodies she offers. What a talent!

Book Club: Little Bee by Chris Cleave

2010-11-12T10:38:00.000-06:00

For this months meeting we read Little Bee by Chris Cleave. It is the story of a young Nigerien refugee Little Bee and Sarah a magazine editor from London. Their lives become intertwined in a sad and tragic way that is so eye opening at the same time. I'm not one who would willingly pick up a sad story to read in my free time but I did enjoy this book.

The gals at book club last night seemed to really like the book as well. Out of the 10 of us, only one really didn't care for the book. I will say this about the book, it made for a night of good discussion. The past few books we have read were good but not good for discussion. This led to a night filled with discussion about oil companies, government, marriages, kids, affairs and the list goes on. While I didn't love, love, love the book it was a good read and out of the realm of things I would normally read. This book club is definitely stretching my comfort zone and I love it!

Next month: Picking Cotton: Our Memoir of Injustice and Redemption

Parks, Parks, Parks

2010-11-11T08:02:00.000-06:00

The weather has been super nice here lately (in the 70s) so let's just say that not much has been getting done in the house. We have taken plenty of walks, fed our neighborhood fish until they were stuffed, chalked up the driveway and visited several local parks. Ava is quite the cautious one at parks but after this week and seeing all her friends can do, she started to lighten up a bit. In all the pictures though she still looks very unsure of everything and kind of like it's torture to be there. Trust me though, she's been having a great time. Really she is :o)

Recipe: Baked Sweet Potato Fries

2010-11-09T08:59:00.000-06:00

image: readersdigest.ca

I'm a sucker for a good sweet potato but no one around me really likes them the way I do. That being said I'm always trying to find a way to incorporate them into our meals about twice a year (other than Thanksgiving). Last night I made French Dip Sandwiches and wanted fries to go with them. Having picked up two sweet potatoes at the store earlier in the week, I decided to make "fries" out of them. These are not going to be crispy like normal oil fried french fries but I think they have good flavor, are easy to prepare and are a little out of the ordinary. Steve even commented how good they were which is saying a lot.

Baked Sweet Potato Fries

2 sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into thick fries

2 Tbsp. olive oil

2 Tbsp. brown sugar

salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
Line a baking sheet with foil and place your fries on the sheet. Drizzle with oil and toss to evenly coat the fries (I use my hands). Sprinkle with brown sugar, salt and pepper.
Bake for 15 minutes.
Remove from oven, toss and bake for another 5-10 minutes or until fork tender.

I'm sure there are countless other ways to jazz these up but this is a simple recipe that you can add your own flare to.

Etsy Finds: Stocking Stuffers

2010-11-08T08:00:00.002-06:00

~Set of 8 Rocket Ship Crayons~

$8.95 from Crayon Couture

~Fairy Holiday Bendy Doll~

$12.50 from Princess Nimble Thimble

~Dino Soap~

$2.75 a piece from Soapsations

~Dragonfly Rubber Stamp~

$3.50 from Norajane

~Princess Crayon Wallet~

$10 from Gifts 2 Give

~Mini I Spy Bag~

$8 from The Crafting Corner

It's that time of year folks and I'm super excited. SHOPPING! SHOPPING! SHOPPING! I know some people hate the crowds and hustle and bustle but I actually enjoy it. I love hunting down the perfect gifts for friends and family. I make a list throughout the year of things people mention and then start planning what to buy. This minimizes my stress and lets me enjoy the holiday season a lot more.

I thought I would share a few of the things on my list for Ava's stocking this year. The Mini I Spy bag is a definite for her. She is going to love this and it will occupy her time and her busy little hands. We already own a couple of the bendy dolls but her holiday dolls are just so cute I might have to splurge and get Ava another one as well. She adores all things crafty and the little stamps would be perfect for her too. You could even hit up the $1 bin at Michael's and put together a cheap stamp kit for your little ones.

So what is going in your little one's stocking? I love to get some new ideas.

Gifted Magazine

2010-11-04T10:01:00.000-05:00

*Image from Creature Comforts

I am a sucker for presentation and packaging. Gifted, a new holiday online magazine from Creature Comforts, knocked this one out of the park. The EZine is well thought out, organized and easy to navigate through on the computer. There are loads of inspiration ideas, projects, free printables and even the occasional recipe. There are so many great packaging and gift-giving ideas in this magazine I don't know where to start! The gift guide at the end I love, love, love. All you have to do is click the name of the company and you are taken to their website. How much easier can shopping be? I also like that a lot of the companies involved are small businesses and bloggers. It always makes me feel good when I support small business. They have thought of everything including gifts for your pets. Do yourself a favor and go check it out. Trust me you'll love it and come away with at least one idea to use this holiday season.

The Snot River

2010-11-03T09:00:00.003-05:00

I've got a kiddo with a bad cold so we've been spending our days in the big bed reading The Nutcracker over and over and trying to learn how to blow her nose. It really stinks when you can't give her anything to take the symptoms away. We've just been doing lots of snuggling and loving to make her better. Hopefully the snot river will stop soon...

Recipe: Spicy Sausage Dip

2010-11-02T09:11:00.000-05:00

Yup, that's not a picture of spicy sausage dip. This recipe, while thoroughly yummy, is not that pretty to look at. Instead I thought a random picture of my little one was cuter (at least to me it is).

Almost every family I know has this type of dip at family functions and get togethers. We had a small crew over to our house at the last minute on Halloween and I needed something fast, easy and crowd pleasing to fix. I had planned white chicken chili and cornbread but the addition of 4 more people to our already group of 8 had me worried I didn't have enough food. This dip was the easy solution and feeds quite a few people with only 3 ingredients.

Spicy Sausage Dip

16 oz. spicy/hot sausage

16 oz. reduced fat cream cheese (not fat free, yuck!)

2 (10 oz.) cans of Rotel tomatoes with green chilies (I use mild)

tortilla chips, veggies or whatever else sounds good for dipping

In a skillet brown sausage and drain fat.
Add cream cheese and tomatoes to skillet and heat until thoroughly melted and combined.
Transfer to a small crock pot and serve with chips, etc.

In my experience this has always been a great dip for the guys in the crowd. They're always the ones who tell me how good it is. I think because it has a little kick to it. This would be a great recipe to bookmark for a Superbowl party, too.

"Arrrrggg, Mickey"

2010-11-01T11:25:00.000-05:00

Steve took the day off today and we are all still in our jammies. Great way to spend the day after Halloween if you ask me! Halloween was busy and fun. Carter (aka: Elmo) and Ava ran around the yard to get pumped up for trick-or-treating. When we finally headed out with the wagon, she gave the first 2 houses we went to candy out of her bucket not yet understanding that they were going give her candy. Little Elmo did the same thing. So cute! Our little pirate went around saying, "Arrgg, Mickey" all night no matter how many times we said it should be matey. When we got home the two littles ran around the house on their little sugar rushes. Overall, a very successful Halloween with friends and family.

PS: Simon (the bun) wouldn't go near his costume and was not at all happy about me putting his ears through the hat. Hopefully I'll have better luck next year.

Gooey Pumpkin Guts

2010-10-29T09:00:00.001-05:00

The family pics were postponed until next week which only gives me another week to ~~fret over~~ find something more flattering to wear. It was really windy here and cold so we didn't want to take Ava out and chance getting her sick before Halloween. Since we had our evening free, we decided to carve our pumpkins. Ava was super excited and talked about gooey pumpkins guts for 30 minutes straight while we cleaned/carved pumpkins and roasted seeds. She requested a scary pumpkin from me so the above left was the result. Steve went a little more kid friendly with his on the right. I'll try to post a pic of the wee one and the furball in their costumes before Monday. If I don't get around to it then I hope everyone has a safe and spooky Halloween!

Is she pregnant or just fat?

2010-10-28T10:00:00.000-05:00

We have family pictures tonight which I am very excited about. At least I was excited until I tried to figure out what I was going to wear. Ava and Steve look great. I made this little flower headband for her to wear in some of the pictures and she loves it. She prances around the house swinging her hair from side to side. Occasionally she will run to get her stool and look at her flower in the mirror. She's such a girl! Steve looks great in anything especially blue which is what color he is wearing tonight.

Then there's me.

The six month pregnant lady who's trying to look fashionable and cute with a baby bump that just kinda looks like I ate too much Halloween candy at this point. Let's just say I'm less than thrilled with my look and I hope Steve and Ava standout waaaaaay more than I do.