Four years ago today was possibly the most joyful - and the most terrifying - day of my life.
How has it been four years?
For years of joy, wonder, learning, and love.
Happy birthday, baby. I'm so grateful to know you. I'm so proud to be your mama.
I love you more than the moon,
more than the stars,
more than the fireflies lighting up jars.
This weekend, one of Thea's friends turned four, and celebrated with a magical fairy party on the lawn of Maymont's mansion. The party was so sweet, and so well done. There were glittery feathers and butterflies draped in the trees, sweet tulle & flower wings for each little fairy, stories, dancing, and a search for materials so each little one could build their own fairy house.
The fairy godmother who hosted the party was a lovely Englishwoman with a soft voice. She used a wooden flute to capture the attention of the little fairies and to transition them from activity to activity. I wish I had gotten a photo of that!
It was a perfect afternoon, quite cool, but with warm sunshine.
The great trees themselves are magical: they are old & massive with great draping branches. I feel so grateful that we have such a picturesque park to explore and enjoy, right here in our hometown. (I've shared other photos of our time at this park here & on my Instagram feed).
For the birthday girl, Thea and I made her a small fairy garden. I may have had more fun making this than Thea! I handpainted the fairies & mushrooms, and we collected various other plants and treasures to complete the garden.
What a lovely afternoon! Thank you, Freemans, for inviting us to be a part of it.
This week, we hosted a small party for the kids in our little neighborhood. It was such fun!
The night before the party, I made the houses from graham crackers. Each child was given a bag of royal icing to do their decorating. Thea helped me fill muffin pans witha variety of yummies to pretty up the houses.
It was my first time making them, and the houses were actually much harder to make than I anticipated! I made quite a mess! The houses are all "unique" but I like to think that adds to their charm. I don't think anyone minded crooked houses or a little extra messy icing.
I'm thinking this might have to be an annual tradition!
Hoping your season is merry and bright. And sending love and peace if your spirit needs a little extra loving care. xo
We've been busy little elves preparing our home for the holidays. I always forget how much I love crafting decorations for the season. It really seems to get me in the holiday spirit.
My most favorite creation so far is our winter snowflake wreath, which hangs on the front door. Ours was inspired by Annalea's - once I saw hers, I had to make one of my own.
I love the combination of colorful yarn, vintage lace, happy jingle bells, and my mother's doileys. I didn't have one quite large enough to span the entire center of the wreath, so, to fill the space, I ended up knotting it together with another piece of vintage lace.
I also made one to hang on my studio wall.
Thea and John collected some greenery from the yard to decorate our window boxes. I made these bows from red and white ribbon, and I love the cheer they bring to the front of the house.
And the snowglobes! I've seen these mason jar snow globes lots of places around the web, and, since Thea has been begging for a snowglobe of her own, I knew we had to make a few. They're so simple! And lovely too.
We also made several of these felt snowmen (made from felt beads and felt scraps), and we thought a few would be fun in the snowglobes.
This mama and baby deer is Thea's favorite one.
We have all of the snowglobes clustered on our mantle.
And speaking of the mantle, I strung a colorful garland of felt balls to brighten things up. I'm really loving decorating with lots of bright colors this year.
And tonight, I finished new stockings for me and my mister. Photos of those to come soon!
And now I'm off for a bit of rest so that I can {try to} keep up with my girl tomorrow.
{Thea, our orange flower fairy princess}
We knew she would want to be something orange, it was only a question of what she would settle on. For months, she asked to be an "orange sled," before changing her mind only a few weeks ago. I must say, I breathed a huge sigh of relief when I could stop figuring out how I was going to make that costume!
The costume wasn't complicated, and didn't even take that long. For the flower necklace, I used this tutorial from Martha Stewart (though there was no template for the flowers, so I used this one from her pet costume tutorial).
For her dress, I dyed a white cotton jersey sheet orange - though it turned out much more peachy in color than I intended, which actually worked out quite well. I used this super easy pattern, by chicken hill on etsy. To finish off her costume, I dyed some white tights green for her flower stem and made her a wand from felt scraps.
Thea came down with an awful cold a week before Halloween, so she spent the week home with me. We spent our mornings working on things to get ready for her preschool class Halloween party. We stuffed treat bags and mede these little monster treat cups from recycled egg cartons.
{sick, but still silly}
On Halloween day, she was finally well enough to return to school, and it was a good thing: I think she would have been heartbroken if she had missed the festivities.
The kids took part in a parade, and then sang sweet songs for the parents. We finished the morning with a party for her little class.
By the end of the day, I was the one who was sick. I went out for a few minutes to watch Thea start out trick-or-treating, but I didn't last long. I managed to snap a few {blurry} photos of her in her costume before I headed to bed.
John continued on, accompanied by our wonderful neighbor friends and their two sweet daughters.
They made it up one street in our neighborhood before it started to pour. Which was probably just the right amount of trick-or-treating anyway.
All in all, it was a good day. A good day indeed.
Six years ago today, John and I got hitched. He was different than anyone else I'd ever loved - in all the best and most important ways. Today, he's still that man I fell in love with, and so much more.
We've been through so much in our years together - too many miscarriages, a high risk pregnancy and frightening delivery, the birth of our sweet & quirky girl, him getting laid off, launching a business, two and a half years of sleep deprivation, post-partum depression, as well as countless big and small moments of joy and togetherness. I am so grateful for my life with him, and I wouldn't want to be on this journey with anyone but him.
On Thursday, my mom kept Thea so that we could have a date to celebrate. Here are a few photos from our afternoon.
dressed up for my mister
(he bought me this skirt in the early days of our relationship.)
lunch at Garnett's
drinks at amuse
walking in the rooftop garden
local ice cream
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I hope your weekend is wonderful!
Yesterday, our sweet little girl turned THREE!
Last week, we had lots of fun getting ready to celebrate.
I made her a birthday shirt.
And a special birthday crown.
We made cupcakes, and used this fun teplate to make happy flags to top our sweet treats.
And we made our own crayons to give to Thea's friends from her preschool class.
I think I had as much fun (or more) as she did!
What are your favorite ways to celebrate your little ones?
Wishing you all a year filled with love, hope, connection, adventure, possibility and wonder. From our hearts to yours - happy new year!
Before we move too far away from this Christmas season, I wanted to make a few notes about how I packaged and wrapped our gifts - mostly so that I remember for next year.
For most of our gifts, I used recycled paper bags that my mother and step-father saved for me. One of our local grocery stores had festive holiday bags covered with bright red ornaments. I used packing tape (I learned last year that regular tape doesn't stick very well.) For some of the gifts, I used plain brown paper bags and brown craft paper that I also use to wrap up books I sell online.
I wrapped each package several times with red and white baker's twine (pictured above). I purchased a large spool of it a couple years ago, and I use it for all kinds of projects. For tags, I punched circles of holiday cardstock left over from another project.
I made quite a bit of vegan caramel corn, and packaged it up in mason jars with festive ribbons and tags.
I also made a big batch of peppermint bark, and wrapped it up in handmade paper boxes.
The boxes were so easy to make! I used this tutorial.
I enjoy the simplicity of using this type of wrapping, and I'll probably stick with it. Though I am considering doing something like this next year.
I'd love to know - what are your favorite ways to festively and creatively wrap gifts?
Our holiday was wonderful and exhausting and snowy, and it couldn't have been better. Mostly, I am grateful to have had so many days at home together as a family. And, I am so thankful that we figured out how to do face-time on our iphones so that we could feel a little closer to my brother and his family, who spent the holiday at their home in North Carolina.
Thea leaving a note and cookies for Santa.
On Christmas morning, my mother and step-father and John's mom all come over early for breakfast and present-opening with Thea. It's a tradition we started at Thea's first Christmas three years ago, and one we all enjoy. I love being able to linger at home for a while before we begin our busy day.
The tutu was a big hit.
Thea wore it for most of the day.
We enjoyed a big Christmas lunch at John's mom's house with both of his sisters and their families. With seven adults and six kids, it makes for a very full house. It is so heartwarming for me to see the way that Thea's older cousins are so sweet with her. Her cousin Trevor gave her a little brown bear that hasn't left her side since she recieved it.
We rushed home for a much-needed nap, and then it was off for dinner at my mom's house.
It began snowing in the late afternoon, and made for a magical evening.
We spent the rest of the weekend playing in the snow, sipping hot chocolate, and exploring new treasures. My favorite gifts were from my husband - a 2011 calendar with days marked in each month for him to take off of work to ensure that we have some quality time together. He always comes up with the perfect thing, every single time.
My heart is full. I'm hoping yours feels that way too.