Library Time: Toddler Challenge

With Munchkin in school in the mornings, Peanut and I have a little time to kill. On Monday, we headed to the library. While we went to get books for Advent, I thought it would be a good time to let Peanut play. He had a blast exploring, before finding the train table. He definitely had a lot of fun, and was very interested in the books that we brought home. Now that the weather is getting iffy, I have a feeling that we'll be spending more mornings at the library.

One Rookie Mom Toddler Challenge done!

Into The Winter

Although the season doesn't officially start until December 21, December always seemed more winter than autumn to me. Now that November is ending, I'm looking forward to the winter ahead. So just as I did back in September, here are some things that plan to do this winter in addition to the holiday activities I talked about on Friday.

Build a snowman - Usually we just take advantage of the wonderful snowmen that have been around us, but this year, with our back yard, I'm hoping that we'll get in a few good ones.

Drink hot chocolate by the fire - Munchkin was a fan of hot chocolate last year, and Peanut's love of chocolate milk makes me think that he will be too.

Go sledding - We've not done this before, now to just find a small hill.

Make snow angels - Something that we have done before, but this year Peanut can participate.

Have a snowball fight - I'm not sure why I've never thought of this before, but it should be a lot of fun.

Go to the children's museum - We are big fans, especially when the weather gets terrible.

Go to the natural history museum - This is something that I've been meaning to do for a long time, and I think that the boys would really love it.

Family movie afternoon - I fear that we'll be stuck inside a lot this winter.

What kind of winter activities do you do?

A Crafty First Birthday

Two weeks ago, I talked about how I had been making some Pintrest inspired gifts. Well, today I gave two of the gifts at my niece's first birthday party.

The onsies I originally saw on Baby Rabies. I wasn't great at controlling the glue on either (that's why there is a splotch on the "e" in Love), and I didn't make the red dark enough on the Joy, but I think that they both came out very well.

I got the tutus from Simply Real Moms, and I love the way that they came out. Since these were a surprise, I used Peanut as a model, and had to guess what the difference would be. The red is a little longer than the purple, but both are nice a poofy.

The rest of my projects are Christmas gifts, so I'll be keeping them a secret until then.

Getting Ready for December

The end of the month is upon us. The turkey is carved and Santa arrived during the parade. It is time to start looking towards Christmas, and how to celebrate the lead up. I already talked about Advent, and I don't want to go crazy since I still want a relatively simple holiday, but there are some traditions that I am looking forward to doing.

Get a Christmas Tree - Ever since Munchkin could walk, he loved to run around the tree lot as we picked out a tree. There is something about being surrounded by all those trees and picking out the perfect one which is a great way to start the anticipation of the holidays.

Decorating - Last year, our elf decorated one night and the boys loved it. I'm thinking that while they are little, I will let the elf take care of the decorations.

Visiting Santa - There is a mall not too far from us which has a great Santa. We've gone every year and I'm looking forward to continuing that tradition.

Decorating a Gingerbread House - So far only Munchkin has done this, but maybe Peanut can help this year.

Baking Christmas Cookies - We started this tradition last year, taking advantage of my in-laws new and open kitchen. And while this year, our kitchen is big enough for this, we'll probably go to my in-laws once again. Also, I anticipate another helper, or maybe two.

Look at Christmas Lights - There are a couple of neighborhoods not that far from us which have some amazingly decorated houses. We skipped this last year since the weather never worked out for us, but I'm hoping that we'll have better luck this year.

Holiday Fondue Party - This is also something that we've been doing for a while, and it is only getting more fun as our friends have babies.

Christmas Eve - I'm not sure yet exactly what, but I want to start a new tradition this year. My family was never big on Christmas Eve, we celebrated more on Christmas and Boxing Day, so when Hubby and I started dating, we always spent Christmas Eve with his family. That tradition continued until very recently when my in-laws decided not to make the trip down. Since Christmas is such a busy day for us, we really can't get up to them and expect to get home at a reasonable time, so the past few years we've been on our own. This year, I want to figure out something to make the night for us, like a special dinner or maybe having hot chocolate by the tree. I have a little time to figure it out.

Along with maybe a few art projects, I think that this sounds like a perfect December for us. How do you plan on spending December?

Sweet Thanks

Thanksgiving is my mother's holiday. As Munchkin said the other day, it isn't dinner, it's a feast. She makes two full dinners, a turkey dinner and a ham dinner, with all the sides that you expect from both and then some more. For the past few years, I've assisted with dessert. Before Munchkin was mobile, I would make multiple pies from scratch. With two very active children, I have not been able to do that. This year, I had a helper.

I still did not make the number of pies that I used to, we stuck to one pumpkin pie and two corn breads. But Munchkin was thrilled to be helping, he's been talking about making the pie for weeks. In fact, he got very upset last week when we bought a pie to have for dessert, because he was going to make one.

The corn bread is new this year, not something that my mother has ever served before. We'll see if it is something that we'll make again. Although I do like the idea of starting this as a new tradition for us.

And as fall is quickly coming to an end (as evidenced by the snow we had), I was glad to do two more items from our fall list as well as one of my simple goals.

Wordless Wednesday: Thanksgiving Prep

Taking Care of Me

Four years ago, I talked about cleaning up my beauty routine. Over the years, I've switched a lot of my products. I've had problems finding a shampoo and conditioner that I really like, but I've been using Pai on my face for a while now. It works well for me, and I absolutely love it. I often use these to give myself mini-facials, and I think it has helped my skin be clearer than it has ever been.

This past weekend, I got a long, overdue haircut. It felt nice to take the time for me, and was a great reminder that I need to take that time for myself more often.

And while things like this are not as "clean" as I would like, sometimes it is worth it.