Thank you Auntie

Gone fishin'

Thank you Auntie for the oh so cool onsie! Doesn't Kieran look dapper? 

Nice tummy.

Paint me a picture...

Happy Friday! I hope this makes you smile. We sure had a blast! (And a mess to prove it!)

Bath is all set for the soon to be painted boy.

Oh so tidy.

Not too messy.

Oh so happy!

 Have a wonderful weekend!

We got a tree!

We couldn't pass up a tree this year after all! We decided to go with a little tree perched high enough to be out of Kieran's reach. The tree procurement was actually quite funny. We bundled up, strapped Kieran into the the stroller, soon to be tree sled, and walked to the closest tree stand.

Doesn't this little trailer make you smile? It cracked me up, the guys selling the trees were equally entertaining. So after giggling about the "Charlie Brown" trees we chose a little one that was the least "Charlie Brown-esque" as possible. We popped that tree under the stroller and we were on our way. Kieran didn't find the ordeal as humorous as his Mom and Dad did. He sat in his stroller with a serious face on the entire time. Little does he know, that tree is the very tree that his presents will sit under one day soon.

 

So off we went, with our tree in tow through the city, getting lots of smiles along the way.

I love decorating the tree as a family each year. We listen to Christmas carols and make a big deal of it. Growing up we always had very personal trees. Almost every ornament had a story. Some were generations old. Year after year my sister and I each received an ornament which would be ours to take when we grew up and moved away. I'm so grateful for that tradition. Now, my hubby and I pick up an ornament whenever we travel. It's such a nice way to remember time we have spent together as a family. I look forward to carrying on this tradition for our little boy.

So cute, right?

We brought this star home from Italy!

Daddy, can I help?

Felted ball ornament made by Auntie Louisa. Copper heart found on our honeymoon in Italy.

This is all of the decorating we have done so far, not a bad start. What decorating have you done? I would love to hear about it, maybe even borrow your ideas : )

Alphabet soup

I mentioned in my profile that I come from a long line of creative people.  My sister, known now as Auntie in our house, does not disappoint.  One of her latest creations is this wonderful play on the old school plastic letters.  She crafted these beautifully stitched fabric letters from old jeans and scraps of bold quilting fabric (like from this AMAZING quilt she made for Kieran's first birthday).  

Backed in jean with contrast stitching.

These letters are so much fun.  I've been coming up with games to play as the little guy grows up.  Obviously they will be good for learning the alphabet and spelling.  What I'm looking forward to is crossword puzzles and "scrabble like" games.  Yes, I am getting excited about spelling games.  I'm sure they will turn into spelling bees and spelling wars as Kieran gets bigger and our competitive nature rubs off on him.  My mom, sister and I were able to make a crossword puzzle using all of the letters except for two, pretty good right?  Especially because we only had one set of vowels to use! 

The texture and colors of these fabric letters inspire creativity.  There is no way a set of plastic letters would get me excited enough to stay up late "playing".  That's why it is so important for us to take the time to show our children that not everything comes from a store looking one way, made of one material, only having one use.  A pretty good lesson to learn as a little one.  

What are your favorite handmade inspirations?