We Had A Flu Christmas...

Our little family is just getting back into the swing of things after a horrible week of the flu. We didn't take too many pictures of our Christmas, although I am sure it will be one to remember. We ended up taking Sienna to urgent care on Christmas Eve after her fever spiked to 105 degrees and fever reducers wouldn't bring it down. A trip to her regular doctor's office on the day after Christmas showed us she also had a middle ear infection.  And, a trip for Mama to urgent care the Saturday before, with a positive swab for the flu let us know just what our little family would be facing. Little Forest was the last to come down with it and he is still getting better.

Santa brought them each a rocking horse ...

 Sienna on Christmas morning.

Forest on Christmas morning. 

On the little rocking horse. 

On the big rocking horse.

And, on the Friday before Christmas, we had a day of snow before our flu-filled week.

Snow angel.

Sienna and Nana's snow girl. 

We hope everyone had a beautiful Christmas!

And, Just Like That ...

... she is a reader! 

She's been reading the Frog and Toad series to me and she sounds out most every word on her own. We are so proud of our wee reader.

These (Almost) Winter Days...

The last few weeks have been very full with Winter celebrations and preparations. On the Saturday after Thanksgiving, our little family attended the tree lighting ceremony in the little town that we live in. 

Then last weekend, we started a new (very old) tradition of leaving carrots out in the little ones' boots by the front door on Saint Nicholas Day, December 6th.  

The next morning, Sienna woke up to find that Saint Nicholas had come during the wee hours of the night. He left her a Satsuma, a honey stick and a new book. And for Forest, a Satsuma, a honey stick and a Kleen Kanteen tippy cup. 

Later that morning, it was "watch week" at dance class. Her lavender dance studio was all decorated for Christmas.

And then, we went to the Christmas Tree Farm to choose our tree. Sienna helped David carry the tree to our car. 

Forest stayed bundled up and cozy with Mama.

This year, Sienna begged us to decorate our tree with all of our Christmas ornaments. So, it is no longer just an animal tree, but a tree for all. Forest points at the tree and says, "Wow!" whenever he sees it.

We love our new to us Christmas tree skirt! We thrifted it back in November for just a few dollars and it is handmade.  

I'm sure there will be many more special moments to share with you in the weeks to come.

Creating, Together

Forest wants to be just like his big sister. The other morning, I caught him climbing up a chair to sit next to her at the little table. She was making a hundreds chart. He wanted to color like he sees her doing so often. I snapped a few photos of them working together.

Both of our wee ones are growing so fast!

Heart Kitty

Our sweet, new-ish kitty Kona has a patch of brown fur on her chest that looks like a little heart.

We love our Kona kitty that Sienna picked out all by herself.

November-ish

Lately ...

It's been feeling quite November-ish. We've been thrifting to find treasures for Christmas. But, of course, we've found some new treasures for our little home and for the wee ones, too. 

And, we loved crunching in the Autumn leaves on a local hiking trail yesterday. It was a beautiful day for a hike. 

Our kitties are also working on fattening up for the long Winter ahead. I often find them at the food bowls together and thought it was very sweet, so I thought I'd share a photo of them together.   

Nikki McClure print, framed - $6.99 

John Holt book - $0.50 

Nature's Children - $0.50 

A red wool sweater for Forest - $4.99

Back of sweater 

A handmade sweater w/bear buttons for Forest - $4.99 

A new basket for seasonal books - $3.00 

A very old barn at the beginning of the hiking trail. 

Autumn trees 

A trail through a wet meadow. 

Sienna on the trail. 

Forest on the trail. 

A purple mushroom fit for a fairy to sit upon. 

Sienna's alder cones for the nature table. 

A banana slug. 

Fallen hornet's nest. 

Walking, together. 

Chai and Kona fattening up for Winter.

Happy Autumn!

Mama's Day

I must start off by saying that this blog post may be a little weepy, as I've been reflecting on my day a bit. That said, Forest and I started off our day by going to town to go shopping. We were just going to stop and get a few much needed items: milk, a bar of soap and apple butter. But, I thought why not go over to the Co-op and take a look at the wool mittens. Sienna and Forest are each in need of a new pair for Winter. After no luck with mittens or apple butter, I decided to go thrifting at a little shop nearby instead! Today was Mama's lucky day!

A sweet pair of peg angels to paint with Sienna - $0.49 each 

A vintage prairie dress for Mama (hopefully it will fit) - $6.99 

Four sweet, vintage, handmade placemats - $1.99 each

The other side!

I have to admit, I just love calico prints. I think it will always be my favorite type of fabric. 

And, I found David one of his Christmas gifts for $2.99! I can't wait to share it after Christmas, of course. Now, as I was waiting in line to pay the sweet, little old lady in front of me noticed the dress I was purchasing and told me it was so pretty and it was going to look beautiful on me. This made my day.

Then, I decided to try a Fair Trade shop we have in town for wool mittens. After we were out of the car, I realized it had gone out of business. So, we walked over to the yarn shop just to see if they might have any already made mittens for sale. Well, they didn't. But, we did meet another very sweet, old woman from the Czech Republic that was making a hat for her great granddaughter and she wanted to size Forest's head to get an idea of how much yarn she would need. The store owner was also so nice and invited me back and said she would help me knit the mittens myself (if I purchased my yarn there) for FREE! I'm sure I will go back soon. 

Anyway, all of these by chance meetings today really have me missing my own grandmother very much. I know she would have loved my babies and I wish she could have met them.   

Some other going-ons today. I thought I'd share a few photos of a few posters I put up that were from an old friend and our Mayflower project from yesterday. And of course, a few of my sweet, wee boy eating his lunch today.

 Butterflies!

 Birds!

Animal Tracks!

 The Mayflower. We were learning about what the Pilgrims took with them on the Mayflower. The little flaps show some of their provisions.

And, the sweetest, wee boy!

He loves applesauce and bratwurst. 

Love those chubby cheeks! 

 And, this silly face!

Happy November, friends!