happy new year

You may have noticed I have been a little MIA lately, but over the holidays I've decided to take a bit of a break from the computer. I have been soaking in as much family time as possible and loving every minute of it.

I wanted to take a moment and wish everyone a safe and happy new year. Our family has been truly blessed in the past year. We can't thank our friends and family enough for being part of it. There will be many new and exciting things happening in the coming year and we can't wait to share them with all of you.

To my readers, again you make this blog possible by your constant support and advice.

Happy New Year!!

merry christmas

I wanted to take a moment to wish everyone Happy Holidays from our family to yours. Thank you to my readers for your tremendous support through out the year. Best wishes to you all for a happy, successful and healthy 2013.

december

As many of you know, I have had the privilege to write a monthly article for KnowBrockville.com. KnowBrockville is a dedicated team working hard to inform their community on what is happening. This month, I had the chance to talk about tradition and what it means to our family. With Christmas right around the corner, I thought I would share my article. KnowBrockville has now added the opportunity to view their magazine online - check it out here.

What traditions does your family celebrate over the holiday season?

snowman craft

I love love love this snowman craft. It is super easy, few materials required, and perfect for little hands to work on.

Each year, we celebrate our Christmas countdown with small goodies the kids hunt down until the big day. In previous years, we have used our stockings to collect our finds but this year I wanted to involve the kids as much as possible, so we made "snowman buckets" as Little Miss L. likes to call them.

Each day, they fill their cup up with goodies such as candy canes, hair elastics, pencil crayons and socks... you get the idea. The plastic cup is the perfect size to hold their loot and not too heavy for Baby D to carry around. Plus, both kids were very proud of their snowmen and named them Charlie and Marley.

There are endless possibilities with this craft such as using different materials to create your snowmen - definitely a must-try with the kids this winter.

Materials we used:
-white plastic cup
-pom poms
-construction paper
-craft glue
-pipe cleaners
-felt
-plastic eyes

nepean museum

Last week, we traveled to the Nepean Museum for the first time. This museum is a little gem. It's small but cozy and wonderful for small children. We enjoyed a morning of crafts, carols, and story time with Santa.

Little Miss L. loved everything about it. She could have not been more thrilled when Santa asked for some helpers to come up front and read with him. Little Miss L. was the very first one to jump up on her feet to be by Santa's side. Baby D on the other hand decided to keep his distance and watch Santa from afar. He did however, show lots of interest that day in the crafts which usually aren't his thing.

If you are looking for something to do with the family in a kid-friendly, safe and clean environment, I would definitely recommend the Nepean Museum. The staff were very welcoming. I will be sure to go back again soon!

Craft time.

Where is Baby D?

Do you see me yet? This is a much better place to be.

Time to read with Santa.

Little Miss L.  was such a good helper.

Hanging out with the big guy.

This will be the third time, but I will tell you again just so I can make sure you know exactly what I would like for Christmas...

Seriously, mom? You are making me sit on this guys knee again?!? Did you not realize the first two times that I was not a fan!

Yep, I will just sit here and watch the big man chat it up.

barbie party

What little girl didn't grow up loving Barbie? I still love Barbie and was so delighted my mother kept a few for me to pass on to my baby girl. She loves dressing them up, taking them for a ride in their car, and fixing their hair just right.

Little Miss L. was beyond excited when I showed her an invitation to her friend's upcoming Barbie-themed birthday party. As a parent, I should have known better than to show her the invitation weeks in advance because every morning she would wake up running towards me with a  big smile on her face and ask if today was the day she gets to go to the Barbie party. Well, after a long wait, the big day finally arrived this past weekend.

My friend Sara sure knows how to throw a party, especially when it involves making several little girls extremely happy! There were feathers, pink, glitz and glamour all over the place. If it wasn't already the perfect party, Barbie made a special appearance for a magic show, some dancing, jewelry making, balloon animals and face painting.

You know it was an awesome party when your daughter is still talking about it days later! Here is a sneak peak at the fun we had...

The inspiration.

Lots of yummy goodies on this table.

Chocolate covered strawberries.

Sugary marshmallows.

Drink station.

The girls hanging out and sampling the delicious food.

Barbie has arrived and the girls are in awe.

Time for a magic trick of two.

Where did it go?

Balloon animals! Barbie is really good at these.

Mr. L. showing off his blue giraffe. 

Face painting time, or if you are like Little Miss L., hand painting time.

Our attempt at a group shot with Barbie.

The birthday girl surrounded by love.

Little brother getting ready to sing happy birthday to his sister.

This cake was perfect and tasted as good as it looked.

One happy family celebrating their little girl's birthday. 

christmas party

I am a little behind on my posts. The holiday season is upon us which means we are always on the go. Last weekend we had another run in with the big guy in red. We attended the hubby's work Christmas party which was catered to the kids. Little Miss L. and Baby D had a blast crafting, watching Christmas movies while munching on popcorn, getting their hands painted, and hanging out with Santa.

Little Miss L. is just like her momma when it comes to crafts. She made sure to hit up most of the craft tables. There was lots of glue and glitter all over the place, I was happy I wasn't cleaning it up for once. I will share a few of the kid-friendly crafts with you later this week.

Baby D was a little under the weather so he did not want to venture too far from mommy and daddy's arms. We did however try our luck with Santa again and we fast learned he still did not want anything to do with him.

It was a fun-filled family afternoon spent with the ones I love, I couldn't have asked for a better day!

Time to get our craft on!

Hard at work decorating her Christmas tree.

Time to make our Christmas tree made out of icing.

She is very precise in how she places everything.

Baby D and Little Miss L. checking out Santa's seat.

Smile.

Who are you? What are you staring at?

There was no way Little Miss L. was going to let them paint her face. Instead she decided to have Santa and a reindeer  painted on her hands. 

The finished product.

santa

Happy Friday! I just realized I never shared our photos from meeting the big guy in red last Friday. Let's just say that one of our children were over the moon excited to see Santa and the other one was able to turn every head in the mall with their bloodcurdling scream.

Little Miss L.'s eyes lit up as she saw Santa walking towards her. She was the first in line and quickly started chatting it up with the big guy. She was quick to tell him her request for Christmas. She would like two dollies, one being purple and the other pink and if he would like, she'll take a computer as well.

After a few minutes by herself, it was time to bring her little brother into the action. Well, Baby D did not want to partake in this what-so-ever. With the tears, the screaming and almost diving right out of Santa's hands, it was clear to us he is not a fan. Often times I wonder why we torture our children like this, but mere moments of their unhappiness bring many years laughter for us.

We have since then met up with Santa two more times and each time proved to be like the first. More on those in some upcoming posts.

Have a great Friday everyone. May this bring a smile to your face today!

I love this photo - she was in absolute awe of Santa walking towards her.

Nice to see you again Santa.

Two dollies please.

Who is this guy?

Why is he holding me?

Seriously, I am not impressed guys!

We did it. Thanks, Santa for the goodies.