5 Things He's Loving Right Now {2 Year Old Edition}

Riding his big chair like a horse...

His water bottle {that's just like Mama's}

Helping Papa with breakfast in the mornings

Dipping like crazy...

His lights that W put up in his room when we did our decorating!

Happy Birthday, Little Man!!

Hand {& Foot} Print Ornaments

I've been lamenting lately about how Theo has zero ornaments this year. And I was still wanting to add another homemade ornament to our tree this year.Why not come up with an ornament that does both?

So my hunt began and my criteria was simple: homemade, easy for Mama to prep, personalized, and kid-friendly. And I found this:

Salt Dough Ornaments

I made my salt dough during the boys' naps. Since we don't have any cookie cutters yet {tragedy, I know!}, I had to great creative. Then the idea hit me: PRINTS!

I'd also been lamenting this whole year that I don't have any of E's {and subsequently of T either}. In fact, it became one of my New Year's Resolutions at the beginning of this year. And I finally and actually fulfilled my goal. What?! I'm still in shock since I still can barely meet the daily goals of brushing my teeth, getting deodorant on and oh, forget make-up.... So sorry, I digress...

I followed the recipe. Worked my dough out.

Found my forms:

Put the dough ornaments on parchment paper and used a skewer to get a hole through the tops of them. I made sure that the hole went through  all the way.

Once the boys were up, I helped them pressed their respected appendage into the dough. I then used some small letter stamps that my mom had to get their names on too {got that idea here}. Then into the oven they went at 250 degrees for about 3 hours.

Cost: Free {if you already have the flour and salt}

After they harden, I strung some jute string through the holes and hung those adorable babies up.

 You could also try painting them as see here.

Additional Tips: 

-don't make your ornaments too far in advance. By the time Theo woke up, his were already starting to harden so I had to re-roll his out again

-I wrote 2011 on the back with pen once they were dry, but using the skewer would have worked too

-water was my best friend to get that dough-y texture in order to get decent prints. Whenever the dough got too cracked and hard, I just added some more warm water to my hands and re-worked the dough.

-I tried doing a hand print of T's but I just couldn't keep it open long enough to press it while holding him upright. Should've seen how silly that looked. So I opted for a foot print and it came out so much better.

Christmas Time Adventures

We've done a few more fun events this month that have been exceptionally more fun with a toddler this year. 

We warmed up with some hot cocoa and apple cider at our friends' house before hitting up our downtown Christmas parade.The leaves in their neighborhood are crazy! Seriously, everywhere. W and E had a great time rolling through the tower-sized piles.

We got some great seats and watched the parade go by. E loved the high school marching bands best.

Last week, we made our 2nd annual trip to Deacon Dave's lights on steroids.

And our friend, Greg, joined in on the Swenson fun. Uncle Greg was definitely one of the highlights of the night for Ezra. They were unseparable.

We put the kids in pjs, grabbed some warm drinks in cheery red cups, and enjoyed the lights.

All The Stockings Are Hung

{I used this pattern again to add Theo's stocking to our bunch this year. And until further notice, he's the prep-ster of the family...}

 

And now I want to update E's. I saw some super cute bike print on Etsy that has his name written all over it. 

Happy Birthday, Mom {Women's Christmas Dinner}

On her special day:

A few days before:

This is the third year Mom has hosted a table at the Women's Christmas Dinner. It's become one of those traditions that I look forward to each year. She really out-did herself last year with The Grinch theme and this year, it was a theme after my own heart: Mason Jars. It was simple, clean and beautiful. 

My favorite part? The tiny little mason jars turned into snow globe favors. 

A few other tables...

Such a wonderful evening with amazing food {you should have seen how full my plate was...its a good thing I'm burning calories while bfing} and great entertainment. And with some lovely, lovely ladies. 

Merry & Bright

Over the last two weeks, we slowly got out our decorations, got our tree, and transformed our home into merry and  bright.

I ordered this pinerest print and W put my ornament wreath from last year outside on the door.

This was probably the first year that I felt like we were pulling out 'our' decorations. My mom gave me most of her things after we got married, like the pillow below. This has been so great because our home is still merry while we slowly add/modify our decorations. Now I'm finally making and collecting items myself. Definitely a fun adventure.

Our sweet chalkboard finally looks complete...

W set up the advent wreath he made last year. Last Sunday night during dinner, we lit the candle, explained the significance of advent, read some verses and sang a song that focused on the anticipation of His arrival. I picked one of the verses to put on the chalkboard to memorize this week. Can I just tell you how successful its been already?! I'm really enjoying have His word in my line of sight throughout the day!

The peppermint wreath is a craft courtesy of pinterest. I used this tutorial. Four bags of candy and two trips to Target later, I got this beauty. And its four pounds of heavy! The jars are filled with candy canes and peppermint bark.

Until I get around to making one, we've been using the advent calendar. It's the one I grew up with; moving the little mouse. Does that make it vintage if its over 20 years old? ;) Either way, E loves that little mouse.

Getting & Dressing Our Tree

We did a quick trip to Home Depot this year for our Christmas tree. Our weekends have been a hap-hazard recently. And although we were invited by W's brother, Frank, to join them in cutting down a tree with his National Forest permit, we're going to wait until next year to make the big drive up to Marysville. 

We got home, took some much needed naps {did I mention everyone was pretty cranky this day?}, and waited until the evening to start dressing our little Noble Fir. Ezra was all about it. He went over to his kitchen set and grabbed his felt knife to help Papa cut the cords that held the tree together. Most creative and adorable solution he's thought up to date. We got a hardy laugh out of that one. 

He loved putting on the little 'balls'. He kept saying "hang up" as he put another one on. All the while, we explained how once they were on, they stayed on. Hoping to discourage any 'ornament mis-handling'. ;) So far so good.

So far Theo has ZERO ornaments. I keep hoping I'll make time to creat 2011 ones; similar to my 2010 ones {like the 'S' pictured above}. BUT all I have left to do with his stocking is embroidering his name on it. That's got to count for something. 

Christmas is so much fun this year with a toddler who's starting to 'get it' and able to participate and a sweet little new baby. It's going to be hard to top that in future years!

Our final product:

Yes

Yes, we have a tree.

Yes, our decorations are up.

Yes, we're doing fun events.

And yes, we've been busy! 

I'm just not on it to document it all! Coming soon!

And here's a peek while you wait! ;)

Upcycled Chalkboard

We had one day before going back to the grind, post-Thanksgiving. And we did what every normal family does: de-clutter and completely re-arrange our downstairs furniture which, of course, led to a quick diy project. You do that too, right?!

This project was so quick-- I didn't even take before or during pictures. Plus it was at night, in the garage-- really horrid lighting. I was really over the large framed print we had in our living room, hanging over our sofa. It was from Target, like four years ago. So, I basically followed a tutorial I found a while ago {and since can't find}. I spray painted the frame to up date it and chalkboard spray painted the glass. Real easy chalkboard. The print still sits behind the glass. Why have I waited so long to make it??

Cost: Absolutely free!

Definitely need to work on my bleh handwriting skills.

But what I'm most excited about is being able to write up scripture verses since we spend most of our time downstairs. Perhaps it was the conversation with my sis-in-law about wanting to memorize more scripture that gave me a kick in the pants.

{...was experimenting with a cotton ball garland via pinerest...can't decide if I love it yet. W thinks I need to add something to it...maybe some snowflakes??}

My current dilemma is what to put above our sofa now; however, I'm SO excited to finally have a chalkboard something in the house!

Three Months

At three months, you're...
-sensitive to Brother's voice...when he yells, talks or sings

-finally giving Brother smiles when he invades your personal space
-loving when your diaper gets changed

-loving making bubbles and cooing
-60th percentile in weight, 78th in length, and 9th in head {I make really small-headed babies. E was like that too. Great for birth!}
-Definitely not happy in the car, but it's much better than E was
-have some serious man-boogers and ear wax
-your half smile is to.die.for.cute...I swear you're already flirting
-have the most edible cheeks
-already going for the tall, dark, and handsome look
-have these 'knowing' eyes...I sometimes wonder if you're going to be an "old soul" type
-and Mama is lazy and wonders if/when you'll finally see that nursery of yours...