better late than never, right?

 for all of my advent calendar prep, i didn't get it up in the house until december 5th. 

and...it was supposed to kind of channel the shape of a christmas tree, but my door constricted the shape so instead it channeled post-modern christmas tree instead.

i put each activity on a slip of paper inside the envelopes, stamped the date on the outside, and washi taped these little cuties up on the door to our kitchen nook:

we've been (mostly) doing an advent activity a day.

just a couple here...

like getting peppermint ice cream with a friend

(or vetoing mommy and getting bubblegum instead. totally seasonal, right?)

making artwork for people who we know who are sick or elderly or lonely

eating "snowflakes" & wearing crazy festive headbands

and just on my (unwritten & spontaneous because the day called for it) advent calendar, snapping up these cute & cozy slippers 

some weeks call for cuteness to get you through.

enough said.

total posers.

this took place over about a minute and a half, 

after m insisted we take pictures in front of the tree:

 

the end.

i don't know where the drama comes from...

it's beginning to look a lot like christmas!

we have a very romantic tradition of going to the home depot for our christmas tree.

hey, we live in a city.

the day after thanksgiving we went with matt's family to get his parents' tree & chop 

(or awkwardly saw with a janky handsaw, as the case may be) down their tree, 

so they got that authentic experience too.

 m really wanted to pose with this ornament...

on the hunt for a good one!

 m was pretending her festive headband was a camera, so she took pictures of ruby

 and one of me

 the workers were awesome and literally vanna white-ed our tree options, twirling them around and advocating for theirs against it other:

"this one is SO green!" 

"but this this one is so full and nicely shaped." 

it was pretty amazing.

 we brought our pretty tree home and let it acclimate for a couple days until we decorated it (aka there was no time to decorate it!)

slowly we got our act together,

and i discovered that m is totally a mini me when it comes to the tree.

she was so focused and opinionated on where each ornament should go;

she put up all the ornaments (of course she delegated the high up ones to me)

 

 hard at work

 

oh, and at least while they let us, we have all the kiddo ornaments on a special tree just at their height that they can rearrange to their hearts delight.

glimpses of this week

from my phone

currently our only ornament on our tree,

made by little m for her sister

post-bathtime snuggles

rough sketches for papyrus

studio time

the sound of music on stage with my big girl- she is now so smitten with the stage!

and my mom came with us too as a little present to her...

enjoying some hot chocolate during the intermission

the best pic i could get as we brought home our christmas tree

my girls and their priceless expressions.

no drama around here, y'all

the studio with my girl by my side

no implants, just silent time drawing another imaginary world

on tuesdays, cousin sadie comes to our house after they are all at preschool together

hijinks ensue...

dinner party with friends,

with lovely centerpiece

playdate for my #2~

the girls are playing in "cars"

this kind of weather

sometimes mama needs a little hit of good coffee

bedtime routine, not without the craziness that the witching hours bring for little ones

a christmas tree, as interpreted by m

oh my girls give me a run for my money

starting from scratch...

therapy time + saying goodbye to our awesome therapist through the district.

we'll see who we get next...!

a morning in the studio, so time to hop off of this screen.

(if you haven't sent me your address and you won a treat in the mail, email me your info! love in the mail goes out soon!)

my mom's secret weapon

did you know that yesterday was national cookie day? somehow i failed to bake or eat a single cookie! i guess i'll have to make up for that today.

this weekend my mom baked pies and cookies for a fundraiser for an organization that gets 10-18 year old girls out of human trafficking. she dropped off a few of the cookies at our house on the way. if you look at them they don't look like anything special. in fact, they look kind of bland; the sort of cookie you'd never waste calories on. oh, but you would be so wrong. my mom's molasses cookies are like soft gingersnaps, and are kind of dangerous to have around. they are perfect for chillier weather and they are a nice break from the ubiquitous chocolate chip cookies. plus they are super fast to make and an ode to my mom's (and my own) maine roots!

happy baking and sampling! remember, they don't look like much, but they are pretty addictive and a great afternoon snack on dreary days like today.

Molasses Cookies

1 Cup butter flavored Crisco or butter 
1 Cup Brown sugar                                        
1 Egg                                                                
1/4 Cup Molasses                                         
1/4-1/2 tsp. salt                                             
2 1/4 Cups Flour                                            
2 tsp. soda                                                  
1/2 tsp. cloves
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp ginger 
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla    (or even a dash more than that)

*small bowl of sugar to roll cookie dough in*

Preheat oven to 375.  Lightly grease cookie sheet (*I never do that part personally)
Mix in order; my mom uses her Kitchenaid  but i usually do it by hand, and mix for a couple of minutes til smooth. Chill the dough in the freezer at least an hour (um, sometimes you might just want to bake them sooner than that- i usually pop one cookie sheet in and then chill the rest for longer.)
Roll dough in hand a little larger than a walnut. Roll dough balls in granulated sugar to coat.
Bake 12-15 minutes.  I usually take them out at 12 minutes (or sometimes less) They should be soft looking when you take them out.

***Getting the cookies out of the oven early rather than later is the best plan!***

happy december!

well, i didn't quite make the 30 posts in 30 days in november, but i did get pretty close!

it was kind of fun to post more often, so i'll attempt to keep up the pace in december.

today i'm getting out our advent calendars

+ beginning to decorate for christmas!

and

i'm taking my very grown up four year old to see the sound of music at the berkeley playhouse. i introduced the girls to the movie this week and (shocking) m was instantly smitten ~ as it should be! i think ruby is a little young; she had moments of being engrossed, but i think as she gets older she'll like it more. excited to see what m thinks of watching something live on a stage!

hope you have a lovely weekend!

any fun plans?

xo