Washi Tape Advent Calendar

For awhile now I've been conjuring up some kind of advent calendar to make/do for the girls this year.  Last year we had a fun sticker-a-day calendar and read Scripture along with that, but this year I wanted something a bit more DIY and creative/interactive.

So I decided to do a washi tape tree on the wall.  I then just took some scrap paper we had lying around (that had already been doodled on) and cut out "ornaments" to be taped on the wall.  On the front of the ornaments is a number, and on the back is the name of a story from The Jesus Storybook Bible which we will read each corresponding day.  I'm also working up some festive December activities to do on each day as well (simple things such as paint a manger scene, make a Christmas craft, bake cookies, read a special book, etc.).  Finally, I added some glow-in-the-dark stars just for fun!

Elise was mesmerized when she came home and saw the tree and kept saying "Ah, Mommy, it's so pretty!"  So, even though it's crooked on the wall (oops), the toddler approves and that's all that matters ;)

(It was also a bit hard to photograph in such poor hallway/nighttime lighting…)

So we're slowly getting geared up for Christmas over here, but let's not haste, we're ready to enjoy some delish Thanksgiving turkey this week…then we'll head into December :)

The Girl's Got Jokes

This two year old is a hoot.  Here are a few recent E quotes that may bring a smile to your face (at least they do to ours :)

- "Shishi, shishi, you think this is shishi" (when quoting from Monsters Inc., "Sushi, sushi, you think this is about sushi!?")

- "Nory nakey girl" (when changing Nora's diaper) 

- "My phone's ringin'" (then she pretends to pull her fake phone out of her pocket and talk to whoever she comes up with :)

- "Bla bla bla bla lala la bla bla" (when reading from the Bible)

- "What does the giraffe say, Elise?" "Neigh" (I think because the giraffe on our puzzle somewhat resembles a horse shape and we've never taught her a noise made by a giraffe…so she ad libbed :)

- And one of my all time favorite conversations she's had thus far was with her yogurt…

E: Good mornin, yogoat.

Yogurt: --------

E: How are you?

Yogurt: --------

E: I'm good. Bye.

Love that girl and love her toddler wittiness :)

With Da Babies...

I feel like it's not all the time that I'm in pictures with the babies.  I usually like (and thus end up) taking them.

But occasionally, Daddy Boy (E's token nickname for Jas) will grab the camera and we'll end up with a keeper or two.

Such as these.

I'm totally in love with E's smile right now.  You ask her to smile and you get mostly bottom teeth :) 

I also love that that one's smile is, well, just beginning.

…and while those smiley ones are "picture perfect"…you know we like to make sure and keep things real around here.  Let's try this one on for size, shall we!?

Ah, that's more like it (I think out of 20 or so pictures, 18 of them looked like the one above ;)

Thanks, Daddy Boy, for capturing the keepers AND the crazy.

And...I'm glad I get to be their mama.

Nora Rose: Seven Months!

Oh ya'll, this little seven month old girl…

She catches us off guard daily, I think.  She amazes us, as a matter of fact.

Three weeks ago she started crawling.  Then just yesterday she started pulling herself up.  And I'm afeared that she'll start walking next month!  It's crazy town, but crazy cool too.  She's, simply put, awesome (again, we're slightly biased ;)

She's also really developed an appetite for peas and carrots.  She'll pretty much eat anything, decently well, but she's tried plums, peaches, apples, bananas, carrots, sweet potatoes, green peas, rice, and puffs.  She's finally gotten the hang of those little puffs too! 

I wouldn't say at this point that she's got the whole nighttime sleeping thing down.  She still generally wakes a few times a night.  Instead of it resulting from hunger (she really only eats once a night), it's largely from her rolling over to her belly and/or loosing her paci, which then wakes her up.  Ah well, she'll get it eventually!

Still taking two to three naps a day and nursing between four and five (with an occasional six) times a day. 

Her second bottom tooth just started coming in today! 

Splashing with her sis in the tub has been a fun new activity this past month and it's provided for some times of endless baby girl giggles (love. it.). 

Speaking of her sis, N follows E around everywhere and wants to do exactly what Big Sis is doing.  It's super cute, though I think E doesn't quite understand it yet ;)

(Halloween 2013.  We'll call them "fairy princesses," aka, working with what we had :)

And a final seven month note, she's starting to mimic different things we do…such as raising and lowering our hands, clapping, and bouncing up and down.  Too cute.

These seven months with you, N, have been without full nights of sleep, but absolutely full of joy.  Love you bunches, lil bitty.

Imitation Art on the Cheap

…and by cheap I mean free.

I came upon this painting one day while perusing the interwebs and just really fell in love with its simplicity and quality quote (not to mention the quote's origin is Spanish).

So I sought to imitate it.  Granted, I'm all for and fully support creating your own art (though I've done a few other imitation pieces), but when it comes to a piece you fall in love with but don't have the dough to dish out, why not get your create on and make your own?

That's what I did.

And guess what?  The original just so happens to be $4,000...but not mine!  Mine was free, which means happy me :)

(it should be noted however, the original is a good bit bigger than mine)

(it should also be noted that this project took me about two art "sessions" with Elise, which means a total of about an hour…about all the time I have for painting these days :)

It's not as grand and fun as the original, but it was a simple little project to recreate and add to our art collection.  I'm a fan (and I guess that's all that matters, right? ;)