December Review

December has come & (almost) gone and it was a busy ride. It always amazes me just how much stuff we can cram into those short days. There were school concerts and parties. Afternoons for baking one too many batches of cookies. Late nights of wrapping and staring at the lights on the tree. There were moments of magic watching Anna's eyes light up. There were moments of complete quiet and lounging after all the hustle & bustle of opening gifts and eating had ended.  And then again there was more eating. There was movie marathons, outdoor holiday festivities, 2 hour waits to see Santa and Christmas Bureau deliveries. There was contest winning and lots of squealing. We chased Sun Dogs and waited for the clouds to part trying to get a peek at the Christmas moon. We spent time with family and found moments where we knew Dad was there with us and it made my heart feel light.

December you were good to us, thank you.

Oh What Fun

product: pattern paper, stickers & washi tape: Kaiser Craft's Holly Jolly, cardstock: Bazzill, pearls unknown

Earl Is Back

I posted this to my other social media yesterday & thought it needed a post here too but with a little more depth. Christmas can be a tough time for many people, I know that first hand. Last year I didn't really participate here at home. I don't remember anything about decorating the tree. I pulled everything out this year and was flooded with images of me sitting like a zombie watching it all happen around me. I was so angry that everyone was just going about their business while my Dad had died and with him went a huge part of my Mom. This year I have been experiencing flashes of that and moments where I need to leave the room to collect myself. I love this time of year, I love the colors, the music, the smells but most important for me- I love the magic. I loved it before I had a child. Now it's even more important for me to share the magic, to help bring it to life. To build traditions in our family that she will one day, maybe, share with her family. One day she will get to spread the magic. How amazing is that! 

One of those traditions in our family is The Elf on the Shelf. I happen to have bought the trademarked elf but really... anything will do. 

Our elf is Earl and I am excited he's back.  I go on social media and see so many people complaining these past couple of weeks about their elf and it bums me out! They're complaining because they already feel overwhelmed by all the things their elf "needs to do". But the problem here isn't the elf, it's comparison. Stop comparing yourself to someone else. Stop setting sky high expectations about what your elf is suppose to do! The image above is the everyday here, Earl moves to a new spot each day and Anna wakes up all jazzed about where he is. She rushes about to find him and when she does she yells out the location in a voice that makes me so happy. I did my job, I spread a little magic. In our house this year Earl won't be set up in an elaborate snowball fight, or having a marshmallow roast. I might put him in the Barbie bathtub and fill it with chocolate so I can eat it throughout the day. That will be the extent of my  creativity, I have other things (like baking & scrapbooking) that I want to spend my time on. Anna doesn't care what he's doing, she just wants to find him. 

If I forgot to move him one day (and I will)- that's OK. That's life. I have already set this up by letting her know that sometimes Earl might not move because he fell asleep waiting for all of us to go to bed. Elves get tired too. 
Earl is here for the magic, he is a daily reminder to be kind & caring. He might even leave her a note if she or I have a tough day. She will get gifts from us & Santa even if she has a shit day. Because we all have shit days!
 Parents,this is not a contest. If you love to go all in- DO IT!!! I love it. But if you don't want to do that- DON'T!!!! I love that too! 
Let your elf be about the magic! 

We're all amazing parents- with or without the elf! 

Hello Santa: December Month Kit at Treasured Memories

I coordinated & assembled the December month kit for Treasured Memories, I also designed the layouts that go along with the kit. To see the kit contents you can pop on over to this post. 

These are two of the layouts that I created, I am loving the reindeer I cut out for the first layout.

Aside from the layouts-  I just can not get over how fast this sweet girl is growing. Her first picture with Santa which she slept right through and the photo from last year. 

Christmas Mini Book Workshop

I am teaching my yearly Christmas Mini Book workshop this Saturday, November 29 from 10:00am - 2:30pm at Treasured Memories. I think this might be my favorite one yet. It was a process getting it created this year and I really had to dig for the creativity but it came out wonderfully. To see all the class details pop on over to here to read all the details. 

Holiday Wishes

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas. That you ate too much, opened a gift made of chocolate and got to spend time with loved ones. Ours was pretty wonderful, there is not much else more wonderful that watching Anna get excited about seeing family, special treats, Santa and of course... opening gifts that made her scream and jump up & down. Awesome!

Happy Holidays Friends!
XOXO
Nadine

ps. I ordered our Chalk Board Christmas card from this Etsy shop- Peace Love Etsy

A Visit with the Real Santa

This picture is killing me! Could these two be more fabulous! Nope! I obviously am terribly biased when it comes to my sweet girl but for real- she is the epitome of this season. Pure Joy. 

We drove across the city to see this wonderful Santa, I believe he may actually be the real deal. ;)

I was so happy with him I should have hugged him. He had been listening to me talk to Anna while we were in line so when I was paying he called her over to him by name! WOW. She looked at me with the hugest eyes- "He knows my name!" He called her over, asked for a hug and then made her pretend to be a rocket ship to get on his knee. She LOVED it! They chit chatted for a bit, she asked for drums. He raised an eyebrow at me, winked and then asked her what else she would like.... just in case he couldn't make that. She asked for slippers. Santa can do slippers Anna! Drums.... I bet those are really hard to fit in the sleigh!  Meanwhile, my heart is bursting and I want to pay to have my photo taken with him too!

On our way back out of the mall we had to walk by him again. He saw her, waved and then blew her a kiss. She blew one back. Smiled like she was lighting down town, looked at me with the wide eyes of a believer and we headed home. 

Heart melting.

 I LOVE CHRISTMAS!

Fun & Inexpensive Photo Gift Tag

This year I wanted to do something fun for our gift tags. I made our gift tags last year and I liked them but I wanted something even more awesome this year! I printed photos (2 @ 3x4 on a 4x6) of the person each gift was for, punched a hole, wrote a little message on the back and tied it on with curling ribbon. Easy peasy.
The best part is that Anna is all over this! She knows who each gift it for, tells me everyday (repeatedly) who they're all for and then asks me each day (repeatedly) if it's Christmas yet. Her excitement is contagious! She loves to be independent and this will enable her to help deliver the presents.
I am so excited!! Only 7 sleeps until Wachter Christmas 2013! (We have our own little Christmas together before Christmas with Gramma & Papa.)
Have I ever mentioned my love for Christmas?

Welcome Back Earl!

 It is no secret around here- I LOVE Christmas!All the big & little traditions that make this holiday season so magical! It really just makes my heart so happy and there is nothing better than feeling the excited energy surround me, seeing Anna's face light up and being reminded of being a child.

For the second year now our dear friend Earl came back from the North Pole to live with us. This year he brought a letter from Santa and is helping deliver our Christmas book countdown. Each day Earl brings a number card corresponding with the date so that Anna can match up that number with her chocolate advent and her book countdown. Opportunities for learning- thank you Earl.

It took a minute but this face pretty much sums up how 

she felt when she noticed Earl for the first time.

A letter from Santa... "Look, look, look, it's from Santa!!!! It's from Santa!!!"

December Manifesto

I created a list of all the fun things I wanted to do during this wonderful month- I love the holiday season!

Buy & decorate a real Christmas tree

Make snow angels. 

Go sledding.

Drive through Candy Cane Lane and check out all the lights.

Create a Christmas garland.

Make nuts & bolts.

Bake gingerbread men cookies.

Have a board game night.

Decorate the house, inside & out.

Write a letter to Santa with Anna.

Pictures with Santa.

Sew Christmas pillows.

Scrapbook!

Christmas Crafts with Anna.

Go to the Legislature grounds to see the lights.

Create handmade gifts for some special ladies I know.

 Make a snowman... I really hope it's warm enough for this one.

Teach Anna a couple Christmas carols.

Put Anna to bed, turn all the lights off except the tree, pour two glasses of wine, turn on Christmas music and snuggle on the couch. Sounds dreamy.

Crafting Holiday Pillows

I wanted to share a quick, easy DIY for the holiday. 

You will need:

paint

stamps

foam brush

pillow case

1. Decide on a word

2. Find centre on your pillow case

3. Add paint to stamp

4. Stamp word

5. Let dry.

6. Add pillow

7. Enjoy your fabulous new Holiday pillows!

another one gone

Another Christmas gone by way too fast. We had a great little holiday at my parents, too short but wonderful regardless. I absolutely love watching Anna with her Gramma & Papa! She is totally a Papa's girl, always wants to be with Papa, it makes my heart happy!
I didn't waste any time this year, the tree is down and the decorations put away. Okay so I took them down to the basement but they're almost put away. It's so bare and boring, I was a little sad after i had done it. I never was able to make it to Ukrainian Christmas! I had to do it, I need to get into a routine so I can get back on track and burn off all the junk food I ate over the last couple of weeks and I can gear up for my One Little Word and my Project Life. Did I mention yet that I made the decision to jump head first into a new project- Project Life. I'm a little intimidated and a lot excited. I am waiting for my kit to arrive any day......any day now.

Dear Ferrero Roche:
I love you, but please stop coming by my house!
Love Nadine

Here are a few photos to share...

The photo is fabulous and terrible. Anna wasn't crying or looking away= fabulous.

I wish the quality was better.

Anna dialing on her new cell phone from Gramma.

It is so stinkin' cute when she holds it up to her ear.

Hanging out with Brayden, probably wishing she could get up and poke his eye out.

She means it in the nicest way possible.

On a side note, how cute is my nephew? Seriously!

Gramma & Papa bought Anna a new sled / wagon for Christmas.

 This is her with Papa on her first ever sleigh ride.

Happy.

Practicing up for when the snow comes.... because it will come.

Cory got a Magic Bullet (How awesome are these things!) and I tried my first green smoothie. 

I was pleasantly surprised by how delicious it was!

Here's what I used:

2 cups of spinach (blend first with a little water before adding other ingredients)

1 small banana

1 tbsp ground flax seeds

1/4 cup yogurt

 handful frozen strawberries (or any other berry)

1 tsp agave

3/4 cup milk

I'll share my One Little Word and why it was important to me on Friday. I'll also show you my new bracelet from Lisa Leonard Designs that I got for Christmas to celebrate my word.  I'll also share how I did this year as far as my word went.

xoxo

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas Sweet Friends from my family to yours!

 May your holiday be full of happiness, love, laughter, good food and wonderful company.

Christmas Around Here

December first marks a little tradition Cory & I started a few years back, we call it-Christmas Decoration Celebration. We have a nice dinner, we dig out the tree and the decorations, pour a little egg nog and we set the tree up. Anna was right into it this year, digging in the boxes, playing with the lights, wondering what in the world was happening.

This past weekend we headed to Wellingtons for some live greenery & my amaryllis then to Home Sense for a couple fabulous little treasures and I finished up the rest of the house.

I love this time of year. I love the colors, I love the lights twinkling on the tree, I love the smell of pine, I love Chirstmas carols, I love buying presents for my family, I love holiday traditions, I love Christmas baking, I love reminiscing of years gone by. What do you love?