What are you doing New Years Eve?

If you're anything like me heading to bed soonish with a good thick application of vapo rub on your chest and a fresh box of tissues. It's not all about the hacking though, We enjoyed a butter chicken feast spicy enough to clear my sinus for a little while and watched Rango on Netflix together before banishing the girls to bed to cough and sneeze themselves to sleep. In case you're wondering yes, we are all a little sick. Any strong healing thoughts are welcome, appreciated and currently high on my wish list for the new calendar year.

To end the year on a good note I give you my girls this last month:

One of my favourite wishes for the coming year can be found here It's better said than I could ever say myself and speaks to me in all the right ways. To you and all of yours I wish you safe and happy celebrations tonight. I'll see you in 2012.

Hand Made Holiday

So, I have this friend on facebook; I went to art school with her and her husband way back when. Today she posted on her status about how her holiday shopping this year is mostly made up of handmade treasures making this year's trip to the mall less stressful and as a result more enjoyable. In the comments she went on to say that if everyone in the small town where she now lives in made the choice to give one gift that was locally hand made the change that would cause would be astronomical.

Think of it, one gift hand crafted by an artist or artisan who lives in your own back yard; a kind of 100 mile challenge of the holiday variety. In large city centers this is so easy to put into practice, even in smaller communities getting a lovingly handcrafted gift can be as simple as keeping an eye open for craft fairs and gift galleries that specialize in local artists. A quick visit to Etsy can locate local artists and their wares within specific search parameters, so if you're looking for an iPhone case that isn't the same as every other hipster's; a t-shirt for your in house baby paleontologist, an earth friendly coffee mug for the caffeine deprived loved one or a special bauble to adorn the throat of your significant other, you can find one in your country, state, province, city or town.

If everyone made the choice to purchase one gift from a local artist/artisan think of the change that could create!

For the artists in our communities making a living from designing and creating.

For the people who receive the gifts that had a little extra thought put into them.

For those doing the gifting dealing with a less stressful shopping experience...

the list could go on and on because like the long long list of handmade gifts that can be gifted the ripple effect from buying one single handmade gift locally would just spread out and out.


This is a movement I can really get behind because it's one small purchase, it's a baby step towards bigger change; not a call for a belly flop into the deep end. Would making the choice to make one of your gifts handmade be something that you could add to your holiday gift giving traditions? I'm not suggesting you drop the most wanted toy (in our house that would be an easy bake oven) from your kids list in favour of a hand made toy but I am suggesting that instead of buying an impersonal gift basket of pre-packaged teas and cookies you think about visiting a holiday craft fair and picking up some hand-made soaps or artisan toffees.

I couldn't write a post like this without (as I've been known to explain to the Peanut) putting actions to my words. Our gifts to grandparents, cousins and even a few gifts to the Peanut and the Bean have been (or are currently being) lovingly handcrafted. I'd love for this to become a wave of small change for the rest of the season and next year and the year after that too. Spread the word, it's going to be a thing.

This year is a little different

Not least because the Bean's trying to pull down the tree at every opportunity. It may be because it's been less than a month since my Gran passed (on the 24th anniversary of my Dad's passing no less) and I'm just not feeling organized or like I have any grip on the holidays this year.

Don't get me wrong, we've had the tree trimmed and the lights out for a few weeks now. But the gifting, the baking, the planning to get out and do fun holiday themed things just seems beyond my reach. I need a kick in the butt.

Anyone else feel the same? how do you get the holiday fuse lit?

Weekend Word Picture

Peppermint drifts up from a candy cane to mingle with the rich smell of hot chocolate and roasting chestnuts. Family all aglow with the wash of millions of many coloured lights. Brass horns play holiday songs amidst laughter, and toddler and baby tears with the train whistle steam filled call filling in the spaces in between. Salt popcorn kisses taste buds while we wait our turn to ride the train.

I at least had a plan

I did the bulk of my gift shopping this weekend. The one thing I wish I could have been able to do was have at least one handmade gift in the mix for the husband but I'm not going to should all over myself. After a day filled with walking walking walking I'd rather put my feet up and ask the husband to give them a little rub. I am however, glad that I was able to do a good portion of our shopping in local independent shops and or Canadian owned businesses.

I spent some time yesterday and today deciding where I was going to go, what I was looking for where at each of my stops. I'm not finished, I have a few things to pick up over the next week that will be easy peasy then it's wrapping and filling up the space under the tree. I'll be working on getting our holiday new years cards done up over the next few days. This years card is going to be short and sweet because as I've mentioned above I'd rather put my cankley legs up and watch holiday specials.

Oh my how time is a flying

The Peanut went to her first company holiday party yesterday. We gussied her up and went to the Husband's work where she was fed pizza and juice; was directed to a table where she could decorate and eat sugar cookies and then to the craft table where she made tree ornaments and pipe cleaner jewelry. Then we all were treated to a wild life show from a local animal rescue organization. The Peanut is still talking about the Leopard Gecko and the giant snake skin that she was allowed to touch. Then there was a visit from the jolly red elf and the Peanut was allowed to open her first present of the year; a new dinosaur stuffy which she promptly named Scratchy the Stegosaurus.

Last week we pulled out the advent calendar that I made last year and filled it with candy cane kisses and the Peanut has been opening one each day and counting backwards from 24. And my sister stopped by with a large suitcase from her latest trip to Alberta full of wrapped presents. So far we've only managed to strike two names off of our list. Usually I've started and almost finished gift shopping by now but this year I'm feeling a little distracted (could be the twitchy, bumpy, kicky little passenger in the belly) and we're behind in the gift department. Luckily for the most part the rest of the gifts we need for family (other than the Peanut) are all photographs of the Peanut with a few family pictures thrown in for good measure. Easily done over the course of the next week.

And speaking of time getting away from me: Here are the last dates you can order an ornament from PeanutButterPie and still receive your package before the big day:

In Canada using Regular Parcel:
The last day for ordering to receive your package is December 10th
for customized orders please order by December 8th

Using XpressPost (please convo me with this requested shipping method and I will adjust shipping charges accordingly):
The last day for ordering to receive your order is December 18th
for customized orders please order by December 16th
To the United States using Expidited Parcel: The last day for ordering to receive your order is December 8th
for customized orders please order by December 6th

Using XpressPost (please convo with this requested and I will adjust shipping charges accordingly):
The last day for ordering to receive your order is December 16th
for customized orders please order by December 14th

To Everywhere Else
At this time in order to get your order to you before the Holiday shipping I will have to ship via Canada Post Priority™ Worldwide (Rush) Please convo with this requested and I will adjust shipping charges accordingly:
Your order should to be placed by December 14th
for customization please order by December 12th

All decked out

For Halloween we picked up the most fabulous black glittered skeleton who we dubbed oh so ingeniously Disco Skeleton. We hung Disco Skeleton in the doorway between the kitchen and the living room and when we packed all the other spooky decor away until next year Disco Skeleton escaped our notice and managed to hang out in the same place for over a month. That is until we put the tree up on Saturday and I decided that what Disco Skeleton really really really needed was a change of scenery, a chance to perch precariously at the top of the tree and keep a look out for the jolly red elf and perhaps give a passing nod to the Holly King as he makes room for the Oak King during the Solstice. It does help that Disco Skeleton is super sparkly and he does have the most infectious grin. I'm determined to get him a little Santa hat to help him enjoy the holidays.

This year we've done a mini gingerbread village instead of a house. I'm not sure we'll go this route again next year but the Peanut had lots of fun with them and can't wait to decimate each tiny house.

I'll be posting a post mortem on my first ever sale tomorrow. If you're looking for something different for your tree head on over to PeanutButterPie and check out our ornaments. The sale ends tonight at midnight Pacific Standard Time.

I'll Post Some Pictures

Later today of our tree. Our family decorating party was a lot of fun. The Peanut is now old enough that she was a huge help in putting the tree up. Once we had the lights put on she leaped into decorating. Before I knew it all the decorations were hung and all that was needed was to add the disco skeleton to the tree.

Today we'll put out our tiny village and train set and then we'll be going out to the family swim at the community pool in the hopes that the Peanut will tire herself out in the water and that I'll be able to enjoy a certain weightlessness that being in a large body of water while pregnant gives a person. I'm starting to see swollen ankles at the end of the day and also early in the day too. The Bean is on the move all the time with kicks and hiccups and rolling over.

And last but not least: My ornament sets sale continues until tomorrow Midnight. Save 15% off of the regular retail price of $60 USD. The rest of PeanutButterPie will go on sale later today, starting at 6PM Pacific Standard Time when you'll be able to save 10% to 15% off of the regular price on everything in the shop. If you're looking for unique one of a kind tree ornaments, want to add something extra to a gift for someone special or need the perfect host or hostess gift for that party you're invited to these ornaments fit the bill.

It's Tree Time and other stuff, And hey! Have you checked out my sale yet?

We'll be putting up our tree today, cleaning the living room, putting it together (we have an artificial tree) untangling lights, unpacking decorations and hanging them. It's going to keep us occupied for a good part of the day and there may even be some holiday music involved... the good stuff like The Pogues, The Raveonettes and Aimee Mann.

We've already put together a gingerbread creation this week so our holiday celebrations are well underway. This year we came across a village kit with 5 tiny buildings. We let the Peanut be in charge of decorating them. I'll be posting some pictures soon; before she starts to pick the gum drops and sprinkles off of the roofs and walls. Also on the to do this holiday list is a trip to the Bright Nights train, a ride on the carousel at Burnaby Village and the Lantern festival on the Solstice. Add in a little baking, some crafting with the Peanut and of course gift shopping and we've got a nice full holiday platter lined up.

I'm battling a minor cold with an irritated throat and sinus and various of aches and pains; although I'm pretty sure the aches and pains are from my not shoveling the sidewalks and driveways during the monster snowfall we had the other day. I say not shoveling because I generally pushed the snow off of the sidewalks with very little lifting of snow involved except for the huge pile of snow that is still sitting melting in the rain in our back yard. I know that I'm probably going to hear from some of you about how a pregnant women shouldn't be doing heavy labour like that but, BUT I was having fun, and it really wasn't that hard and AND it kept my blood sugars well under control all day long. The above mentioned aches are good ones and really are almost nearly gone and so is all that snow.

In between tree assembly and decorating I'll be checking in at PeanutButterPie to answer convo's and questions since my Black Friday Sale is still up and running. We've had a record number of visitors to the shop and I'm looking forward to seeing more customers over the rest of the weekend and all day Monday. In case you're just hearing about my sale, all ornament sets in my shop are 15% off of their regular retail price of $60.00 USD. If you haven't had a chance to come by and have a look now's a good time!

How are your holiday preparations coming along?

And We're Off!

Happy Thanksgiving to my fellow Canadians! I hope your day is full of the scent of roasting turkey, and the flavours that go along with it.

This weekend was busy for us. We celebrated Canadian Thanksgiving at my nieces place with my sister, her partner, her Mom (the Pa's first wife) and my nephew. The meal was lovely, beautifully cooked bird, moist stuffing, creamy smashed potatoes, crunchy salad and some yummy yummy desserts. The company was fantastic and we brought home a portable dishwasher that my niece had sitting in her storage space. No more standing back from the sink so that I can stay comfortable while washing dishes!

Now down to business.
It's official, our new line has been launched; the listings are up! I've Tweeted, I've facebooked, I've started an ad campaign and I'm writing this post.

I have high hopes for this line, and I'm looking forward to seeing how things go. This is my first ad campaign with Project Wonderful. I added an ad box here a while back, firstly to see how the whole process worked and secondly to create some revenue that I could put into my own ad campaigns. We're working on a small budget around here what with the Peanut needing to eat and the Bean putting in her requisition forms for the next 18+ years, so I thought it would be prudent to do things this way. So far my bids are all winning, I'm pleased with the process so far but I'll be honest I'm feeling my way along here.


Click on any of the images here to check out the new listings!

burnt out, and minor ramblings

It's time to get more iron pills, get to bed earlier and eat breakfast. It's hard to believe that a week without the stress of running to this place or that trying to get in as many minutes with family as possible can be as tiring as on with all that running around. Yesterday I had to nap, it wasn't a case of feeling that a little snooze would be nice it was a hammer coming down and knocking me unconscious for 90 minutes for much needed sleep. Thankfully the husband had had his nap just before and was able to feed the Peanut hotdogs for afternoon snack and ensure she wasn't watching inappropriate television. I can feel confident in the hotdog snack having fed her homemade turkey soup chock full of carrots, celery and potatoes for lunch. It's been cold here, cold in the house despite layers of sweaters and fuzzy socks plush 'jamma bottoms and a threatened addition of the fuzzy thermal housecoat, so hot soup was a good call and oh so yummy. I'm so thankful that our christmas dinner care package included some of the bones to make soup. I could eat soup daily in the winter, soup and stews with home made biscuits or bread.

Today we take down the tree and I have high hopes that all talk about what the Peanut wants for christmas will go into storage with the decor. She's still asking for this or that for christmas which is sweet but also tiring. This means that we're going to be arranging the house again. There are big plans afoot for reorganizing, my studio area is going to be shared as the husbands music practice area leaving more room in our bedroom for the boxes of holiday decor that were a little moist from sitting in the garage for ten months. We'll be setting up the new printer/scanner I indulged in and I'll be getting started on some new projects that were just waiting for a printer to get started.

I hope that your New Years Eve celebrations were safe and fun and that you are starting out a new year and decade with plenty ramblings of your own, less burn out than I'm feeling and lots of plans for the next year. I promise more photos in the coming posts.

Holiday let down

not the kind where you look at everything around you and feel like nothing measures up to what you had expected or the kind the kind where someone totally makes the holidays a downer but where it's all over and done with and the suggestion of lounging on the couch in a semi comatose state is so very inviting that you collapse there before the thought is finished.

This was our first Christmas with no immediate family since before the Peanut was born. That is itself was both a relief (no need to run from point A to point B back to point A and B then on to points C,D,E,F, and so on) and a disappointment (missing the looks on faces when they opened up the gifts we lovingly made/chose for family), Now that it's all over, gifts unwrapped and put away, new toys scattered across the carpet, left overs taking up refrigerator space all I really feel like doing is napping. Well napping and getting started on some new projects...


I hope all of your holidays were as pleasant as ours, that there was plenty nog in your eggs, the lights shone brightly and if you have children around that the giggles and gasps were contagious.

The giving's the thing

This is why I have tried to stay away from the whole shopping thing if at all possible:

One of my fondest memories is of the year that we made candles for the holidays to give as gifts.

It was after my Dad's first heart attack. Money was tight. The fact that money was tight registered with my sister and I on some level (I can remember consciously making decisions not to ask for too much during that time) but really, all we were thinking about that year was how much fun it was as a family to make those candles and how proud we were to present them to our friends and family. I can remember feeling a little sad that we weren't doing the same thing again the next year.

Looking back on my childhood, I remember the avarice I felt as winter approached, the thought I would put into each gift request from Santa. Looking back, all my presents from over the years are a blur. With few exceptions, I can't put gifts to dates. I can't recall what I got for christmas the year we made the candles (I know that I loved whatever it was I got but I couldn't tell you what it was). When I think of christmas now I think of those candles, that's what I want to give to the peanut each year time as a family and the practice of giving of ourselves instead of giving loads and loads of things.

Despite what I've mentioned here before about avoiding malls and giant box stores at this time of year, I've had to spend some time there. We are still abiding by our decision to buy vintage and handmade wherever possible but there are those things that are better and more affordable if purchased new and mass produced, socks and underwear for instance.

So the Peanut and I spent one good day traipsing through our local mall and just thinking about it has my tummy in knots and my blood pressure rising and my brain figuring out the best way to avoid this next year, because I never want to have to deal with the crazy frantic shopping people again.

The longer I spent there the more stress I started to feel, the more the idea that I hadn't gotten enough for the husband crept in and I started to notice that I was looking, to buy more more more and feeling guilty each time I stopped mid-purchase and thought about if it was worth it.

The gifts I've picked out for him are small, but they are things that he will find useful and hopefully fun. Unfortunately his stocking may look a little deflated this year and each time I think about that flat stocking I have to squash the urge to go out and spend spend spend some more.

This year I've really been thinking about what I want this season to mean to me and to the husband and Peanut. She's already on the I Want Train, any reference to anything toy related brings on a flurry of statements that go something like:

Can we think about (insert item here for example: that whole bookstore) for christmas eve? How about we think of (insert item here for example: that robot truck) for christmas eve? Do you think that I could think about (insert item here for example: that huge giant dinosaur) for christmas eve? Can I? Can I? Can I?

Teaching her that is going to be our next big challenge over the next year. Are you feeling the push to go overboard with the gifts too?

The Wednesday Word

many changing lights
glow in early winter dusk
too long night coming

after

weeks and weeks of clinging symptoms I finally felt well enough to get out and see friends. How fortunate that this was the weekend of the holiday party for Peanut's set of friends and incidentally mine as well.

We trekked to the north shore and into our friends home while light and fluffy snowflakes drifted down and settled on our cheeks like fairy kisses. I know, I know it's a little cliched but I'm leaving it as it is. I like the idea of fairy kisses anyway.

Last week I listed all the things we had done to celebrate the holidays and here's an update:

We baked sugar cookies and butter tarts. (my grandma gave me the super tasty recipe she uses for hers which my great grandma called toffee tarts)

We decorated our gingerbread house, and made more paper snowflakes.

We went out to do some holiday shopping (we limit our time doing this though, shopping in the crowds is too much stress and takes away from enjoying each others company. We went to the local Ikea for a new sheving unit for the living room, a bedside table to pile my mountain of books on and a storage unit for the Peanut's art and craft supplies. These are our gifts to ourselves this year and we can't be more pleased with them.

And of course we attended the Christmas party I mentioned above.

On deck this week:
Stanley Park Bright Nights Train ( a favourite of the Peanut's) more baking (as I type this shortbread cookies are scenting my house), a gingerbread man decorating/ play date with our good friends and a little more shopping (this time at some local businesses) I'll also be attending the public Yule ritual on Saturday this will mark the first time I've attended a public ritual other than for Samhain, usually we're heading out to Alberta to visit family around this time so I'm very excited to add this onto my list of activities.

My posts lately have been a little on the word heavy side and super light on the pictures. I've been neglecting the camera in favour of being a part of the fun. I've taken one or two photos along the way and hope to post some here soon. Also I've been feeling the urge to go all lyrical on you but I'm trying to think of a pithy title to use, I'm open to suggestions.

Just Another Day

So I've never really been a big New Years Eve party girl. My fondest memories of New Years Eve are back in the mid to late eighties and were spent at my Aunt & Uncle's house with my three cousins and my family. One year we played a murder mystery game and then charades, which was fun until the A-Team was the answer to and my one cousin couldn't get past the letter A in the answer. We laughed ourselves silly as he kept repeating over and over "The Ah, the ah, the ah, the ah, the ah,..." getting more frustrated with his brother, who was giving the hints with each ah. Bed time was soon decreed.

My first New Years after turning 18 was spent in a crowded bar, and I didn't even get a plastic thimble of champagne for the $50 ticket. My first New Years with my now husband was spent driving around with his not so great friends looking for a party. When new years rolled around we were stopped at a stop sign in Ponoka Alberta near the towns only bar. New Years Eve 1999 was spent watching TV to see if the millennium bug was going to dash us all into computer-less oblivion. One year we played Monopoly at my Brother in Law's house with his in-laws. Last year we sat in front of my Father-in-Laws red hot wood stove and watched movies and ate piles of junk. As the years go on my celebrations become quieter and quieter.

Last night, we counted down to zero and hollered "Happy New Year!" to Miranda at 7:30 and then I went to bed at 9pm. The Mother-in-Law (also known as my adoptive mom, I'm lucky enough to love her almost as much as my own mom) had left super early in the morning after a six day visit, and the husband was suffering from sleeping pill withdrawal insomnia. I fell quickly asleep and was then promptly woken up at the stroke of midnight, just in time to walk into the living room plant a big wet one on the insomniac, check to see who was shooting of firecrackers and make sure the toddler was still tucked in.

All in all not a bad way to close out the old year and start out a new one.

I am not a domestic goddess... that statement is only half true.

In a fit of holiday frenzy, I pulled out the baking sheets and the big white bowl and started holiday baking. I could say I started the holiday baking but this is the first year that I have baked in earnest for the holidays; and I don't count last years baking, because it was all done in November and was done for the holiday party I held for Miranda's friends and not just for us.

On the baking menu: Gingerbread Men (in Miranda-speak: Gingenbread friends), Shortbread, chocolate chip cookies, puffed wheat squares and rice cereal squares. If I get around to it I'll add butter tarts but since I've mentioned them here that's probably not gonna happen. Today we did the first two and I even had the table and kitchen reasonably cleaned up when we finished too.

It was a lovely morning of mother daughter bonding over cookie cutters and floured forks.

In other news; I had planned on starting a weekly feature called The Same 5 Questions where I would ask an Etsy artist to answer the same five questions that I plan on asking all the feature artists I'd like to promote here.

I shamelessly borrowed the idea from Jane Magazine, they used to have the same kind of feature in the magazine and it was one I looked forward to reading when I got the magazine each month. I plan on varying the questions as time goes on but I've started with some standard questions that I'm always interested in knowing about.

Anyway, what with one thing and another I'm postponing the launch of this feature until the new year. My brother-in-law and Mother-in-law are coming to spend a few days with us next week and there will be a more random posting schedule than my more recent try to post every day schedule. I want this feature to start and continue for the first while pretty regularly and that's going to be hard if I start this week. So this is your first fair warning, look for a new weekly feature, right here in the new year.

Not Gonna Happen

The best laid plans often fail after the first engagement, or in my case after I write about it in So anyway. Holiday letter? not gonna happen. I've written it and I'm not happy with it. too wordy, too boring, too full of blah blah blah. But there's always next year right? As it happens I'll be sending holiday cards out just in time to arrive in the new year.

Am I feeling any guilt over this? Simply put, nope. None at all. I'm doing the best I can and that's all I'm willing to contribute at this point in time. I think I've gone over the top just by getting the video plug-in feature in g-mail figured out for me and my technologically unsavy Mom. That in itself was a 2 month job. My Mom lives one province over and walking her through any computer process is taxing on the patience. This G-mail coup would be pop the cork worthy if I was a drinker. Now Miranda can sit in front of the computer and see her Grandma make goofy he he he he noises. Now to set up other Grandma and possibly the Aunties and Uncles too.

In other news, we built a gingenbread (Miranda's word for it, heads right up on the list with Skelet for skeletons at halloween) house Sunday night and we hit the Stanley Park Bright Lights Train ride last week. We bundled Miranda up in her white snow suit and headed out into the chilly night to ride on the train and look at all the pretty lights. I declined to bring the camera this time around (that's last years picture at the top in case you're wondering). If I'm carrying the camera then I'm shooting and when I'm shooting I'm not doing and I wanted to completely enjoy this family experience. Of course I wished I had the camera once I was there but then again it was nice to just do it and not shoot it. We did have our photo taken with Santa, and Miranda had her first hot chocolate, which she promptly (in her own words) spit out all over the car on the way home.

The Perfect Light

I keep dreaming of the perfect photo-op. I mean real REM induced dreams and not the stare off into space and think about what you'd like; day dream kind of dream. Those are good too, but when they come from your subconscious I'm sure that there's a reason for them.

I must really need to get out with the camera.

So what am I dreaming of? The perfect foggy morning and/or evening, is enticing my unconscious brain. There's a certain quality of light when you're engulfed in a fog bank. The light is dispersed evenly and the landscape becomes dreamlike and mysterious.

In my dreams I'm looking out the window as a mist is descending and the world is dressed in a shroud of light. Miraculously, I have full batteries and an empty memory card or in some dreams an unlimited supply of film. I grab my tripod and camera and head out the door; at which point I wake up with an itchy shutter release finger.

I guess this means I have to plan a photography excursion; soon. With any luck I'll get a fog-filled landscape in the bargain.

And now (as the Python says,) for something completely different:
Visit PeanutButterPie and TMCPhoto and receive free shipping to any destination until December 2nd. I've added a listing for a set of custom cards for the holidays and there's an assortment of beautiful fine art photographs that will make a perfect holiday gift for your hard to buy for loved ones.

One of those people.

So I've become one of these people that writes and sends out a yearly holiday letter to friends and loved ones. How did this happen? I mean I always read them when they are sent to me but I have to admit that I also tend to pshaw them too. I mean a persons whole year wrapped up in no more than two pages with the focus on all the wonder-filled fabulous things everyone accomplished each year is usually enough for me to pretend to gag for a few seconds.

I suppose that it doesn't help that there are a few people in my life that tend to only tell you how fabulous everything is in their lives and then avidly hang on every word, pumping for gossip about how things are not so rosy for so and so and whosits. Out of all the letters I read last year only one was enjoyable and that was done by my Cousin Paul's wife Elizabeth. It was so well written with a sense of humour and play that it reminded me of how great that family is and how much I wish I was able to see them more often.

So if anything, my foray into the holiday letter club is most definitely Elizabeth's fault and if mine is as boring and gag inflicting, I'll be putting the blame on her. At the very least I'll be feeling a little green with envy. This letter writing thing isn't so easy. I know the idea is to pick a few memories to commemorate and add coorosponding photographs but what to choose? With a toddler underfoot there are too many adorable, amazing and hilarious things to sort through.