A little gift

:: Art and craft supplies are a wonderful and much appreciated gift. Although, not completely appreciated (by my little one) at the time of opening, the paints came out the very next morning. Thanks again, Mom, for stocking up our supplies.


:: The djembe drum inspires music and song.

Any gift that spark a child's imagination and invites creative play are tops on my list. It's more about the quality than quantity, wouldn't you say?

A few treasures of Christmas

:: This picture captures a holiday tradition my family has had since I could remember - singing Christmas songs together. It was joyous to see my little one participating.



:: My little one's angel drawing series filled our stockings.


:: These colorful ornaments made by my little one also made it into our stockings.


:: A gift brought home from school. One of many treasured memories and mementos I will treasure.

The joys of giving

The joys of making pictures for the family consumed my little one tonight. She was busy drawing pictures and wrapping them with tape and a colorful bead, for most of the evening. I overheard her telling our dogs that she was excited for Santa's arrival and that it was special to make presents for the family. Daddy's stocking is the highest stocking on the staircase and it is sure fun to fill (with whisper "angel drawings"). Tonight, I am feeling very happy that my little one is enjoying the joys of giving.

Making Christmas Wrapping Paper

Great pride and joy came from making some holiday wrapping paper. We have a few homemade gifts for family and friends, some little gifts of chocolate and some pictures of the little one, for the grandparents. We are also hoping to be well enough to make some of Daddy's favorite cookies. We try to keep the holidays sweet and simple, keeping in mind how blessed we truly are.



Merry Christmas to all.

Rosy cheeks, just like Santa

My little one came in with the rosiest of cheeks, after sledding and playing in the snow with Dad. They were both covered in snow, a sure sign they had fun. As they made their way up the stairs, my little one was asking for some hot chocolate, with whip cream and sprinkles (of course) to warm her up because she is so cold and really needs hot chocolate to warm her up. I think I had 4 request for hot chocolate in 1 sentence.

Getting ready for the snow

Tomorrow, they are predicting snow for the entire day. So, a quick trip to get milk and bread was first on the list. Then, it was time to get thinking about some activities with my little one. Of course, we'll have to go out and play in the snow. And the little elves will be leaving out some cookie cutters and holiday sprinkles. Aside from singing and listening to Christmas music, here are some other great seasonal songs that we have enjoyed singing in the past.

Seasonal Books - Winter

Fun shots with snowmen and wildlife.

The woodland animals prepare for the Big Snow.


Children creatively make up their own story in this wordless book, The Snowman.


Younger children will love this simple story of a boy's Snowy Day adventure.


A young girl and her father share family time on their travel in the woods, in Owl Moon.

Holiday Festivities

The littlest angel at her school pageant. Holiday music filled the air. It was a wonderful way to start celebrating the holidays.

A family made ornament for the school's Christmas Tree. We made these last year.

Pine cones of snow and glitter. A fun activity that your little one could do all by themselves, which I love.

Games with Dad

My little one looks forward to these times with the family - especially music class (dad is signed up to attend with us this semester), puppet show or dollhouse play, day trips, movie night, and game night. 

Here my little one was playing Pretty, Pretty Princess with Daddy. Dad looks cute with all his jewelry on, too.

Me and Mama artwork

Artful collaborations & quality time painting and creating with my little one. We utilized many different objects in our create box - rice, pine cones, toothpicks, sand, confetti, glitter, straws, and beads among other things. Anything goes. 

Artful drawings

A school project

Some doll names we need to write down so we could remember them.


Our flower garden

A Bit Nutty

A special thanks goes out to Courtney at TwistedHandmade.com for featuring my little rainbow acorn set in her Etsy Faves : A Bit Nutty.

A fun and colorful set of sweet rainbow acorns available in my little esty shop - Natural Kids and Toys.

Beaded Candy Cane ornaments

Some colorful beaded candy cane ornaments made by my little one.

Gingerbread Girls ... and boys

The little elves left out our gingerbread cookie cutters and our book with the gingerbread cookie recipe. Little A was only interested in making & decorating her gingerbread girls with sprinkles and lots of icing. Yum

Tomorrow, the elves will leave out a tiny candy cane and some pipe cleaners and beads to make candy cane ornaments.

Putumayo Free Music download

Click here for a free Putumayo Christmas tune. We are a big fan of the Putumayo Kids cds, they are lots of fun.

Making paper snowflakes

The little elves left some paper and scissors in my little one's Advent cone for making paper snowflakes. My little one could not have had more fun this evening. She was so amazed that when she carefully unfolded the paper, a beautiful snowflake was revealed. She was so proud of herself and kept asking to make more. We hung them on our decorated archway "so everyone who comes in our house could see them." 

It's wonderful to decorate the house with our family creations.