fun and good cheer

Such a busy season. Just posting a few pictures from the last few days before we head out to another holiday party.

I hope everyone is enjoying their holiday bustle!

a tree

Woah. The days just whizz on by this time of year, don't they? These pictures are from last weekend, going out to get our tree. Somehow I just downloaded them now, along with about a hundred others, of all the busy fun we've been having.

We found our tree in a little clump in a back field. We try to choose a tree that needs to be cut anyway- on a fence line or path, and this one we could feel good about cutting as it was growing too close to other trees for any of them to do well. It has a lovely front side and a scraggly thin back where it was up against the other trees, but that's okay, that side is against the wall and no one can see it anyway!

It has become tradition to bring a little picnic and sit with our chosen tree before we cut it, thanking it for growing so beautifully and for giving itself to us. We drank hot apple cider, but Dori was getting sleepy, so we didn't break out the whole picnic.
He didn't make it all the way home before he crashed. He has the rest of his nap in his snowsuit in the bed.

We had a party to get to in the afternoon, and so the tree decorating happened in several stages. Ari was so excited to get out the decorations and look over each one. Dorian was pretty thrilled to see the tree up when he woke up, proclaiming it "boo-ti-ful." The boys finished decorating the tree when we got home, still dressed in their party finest. I love this picture- they look so little and cute and I love how they are hanging all the tin tinsel in one place.
The next morning Ari set to work on a holiday scene. I moved their table close to the tree when I was shuffling things around to make room for the tree, and the table is now home the of an elaborate scene with gnome homes and farmyards and train stations and bear caves.
I'll try to keep posting amid the holiday bustle, I am sewing like mad today, trying to finish the Solstice gifts while I have a few quiet minutes. Must get back to it!

Happy Thursday!

visions of sugar plums

It is feeling pretty festive around our home, knitting and making things with the kids, cleaning up my sewing nook to make way for more projects, mixing up yummy treats, and breaking out our favorite holiday music (Ari is currently obsessed with this Sufjan Stevens song. There are some serious Christmas dance moves going on in our kitchen these days.) Today we made

sugar plums and spiced nuts. I was excited to find this sugar plum recipe, as I've been trying to find holiday treats to incorporate into our traditions that are still healthy, and the name "sugar plum" just says Christmas to me, though I'd never eaten one before. The boys had fun dredging the balls in icing sugar (I must remember to make some of my own powdered sugar in the vitamix though, the stuff from the store is so nasty,) and they are so delicious, the combination of spices is really festive and a little different with the coriander in there. These will become tradition for sure.

We also made cinnamon vanilla walnuts to give as gifts (And snack on ourselves of course) and they are so yummy. They look a little less like walnuts and more like chunks of candy than the picture in the link, but no one is complaining. These made the house smell absolutely amazing. Mmmm. Forget the sugar plums, I want to nibble those chubby baby hands!
I hope your homes are filled with deliciousness this weekend!

Once upon a time...

I wanted to thank everyone for the sweet comments and e-mails about my article in Rhythm of the Home. I enjoyed writing it so much and feel really lucky to be part of such a beautiful publication. Thanks for all the kind words.

Here are some shots of the finished play set. This was so much fun to make, and most of it I could sew while the kids were playing, so those parts came together pretty fast. It was a bit of a crunch getting the castle and bag done in time, but I didn't have to pull an all-nighter or anything, which I've been known to do.
The boys were very understanding of the fact that this was not a toy to stay, but I did allow them to try it out a little before I packed it up. Ari says we wants one for his birthday, but with a red dragon, of course. I used a pattern from this etsy shop- I made her doctor kit for Ari's last birthday too, and the patterns are great. I didn't see the final bid on this at the auction, but it brought in more than I had hoped, so I am pleased with that.Now on to holiday crafting. I have quite a list to accomplish and the month is slipping by. Gotta break out those knitting needles and get going!

love for a little girl

The fundraiser this weekend was quite amazing. There was an incredible array of handmade gifts for the auction and it was really moving to see the outpouring of love and support for our dear friends and their little girl. Lots of emotional moments, thinking of all they have been through and all they still have to face. But it was lovely to gather together and send our love and raise some money for these amazing folks.

We were there a good portion of Saturday and the kids played hard until late and both fell asleep in the car on the way home. Both boys love watching live music, and Ari waited all night for this colourful bass to be played. Dorian is quite taken with all the fiddles (we have a vibrant fiddling scene in our community,) but Ari will only dance if there is a drum kit and an electric guitar in the band. I think I might be in for some trouble!

A wonderful night and a pretty amazing amount of money raised...

Sending love our to little Wren as she goes through more treatments this week. We love you, little girl.

december

Its been busy over here, getting ready for this weekend's auction for little Wren and finishing up this crazy sewing project. I just put in the final stitches tonight- hurrah! I'll get some pictures in the light tomorrow before I pack it up and send it off into the world. You should check out Annie and her partner's contributions over on her blog- amazing!

Snowflakes will be one of the main decorations, so everyone I know has been snipping away, making stacks of them. Ari is really getting into making these. I'm sure there is more snowflake making in our future. And I am excited to be a part of the winter edition of Rhythm of the Home. You can read my article here. There is lots of loveliness in this issue, I am enjoying reading through it and soaking it all in.

So far I've been loving:

*a beautiful article about celebrating the solstice,

*a tutorial on how to upcycle on old down duvet -glad I kept that one of my grandmothers in a bin in the barn!

*a winter book list,

* handmade tomten tutorial (we have some serious tomten love in our home)

off to bed, I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

welcoming

There have been so many babies born into our lives in the last while- such excitement to have so many friends having babies at the same time! Two little ones have entered the world in the last few weeks, one born to dear old friends (welcome little Mio!) and one born this past week to friends on our farm (welcome little Sylas!). When I discovered this summer that several of my friends were pregnant, I started knitting away, happy to put some love and excitement into wee gifts for precious wee babes. I found several single skeins of discounted super soft merino wool in just the right gauge to knit my favorite baby hat pattern, and I carried these little projects around with me on a couple car trips and in my bag at the beach. These hats are from the Little Turtle Knits Pilot Cap pattern knit in Mission Falls Merino. This one I managed to photograph before packing it up with some other treats to bring over to the home of the newest member of our property. My model is a bit big for it, but he is happy to oblige with some silly-ness.

Ari is so very excited by it all. He is utterly fascinated by pregnancy and birth, and is just so thrilled when he learns that someone we know is pregnant or has a new baby. He made this card for our friends- a picture of them with their baby, still in her belly. I love it so much it was hard to give it away.

And a little package, photographed at night just before I put these little things in a box to send to one of the newest members of the planet.To be able to welcome these precious new souls to the earth is a gift to be sure.