shop update: christmas part 2

Red Scallop Collar Dress//White Deer Dress

Plaid Jumper//Red Velveteen Daisy Tunic

Red and White Dress//Flower Maxi Dress

 Plaid Pinafore Jumper//White Frilly Blouse

Plaid Sleeveless Dress//Navy Blue Pleated Dress

The second and final batch of holiday clothing is now listed in the shop. Be sure to remember all domestic shipping gets a free Priority upgrade for the month of December, so there is still plenty of time to get your favorite piece of clothing before Christmas!

And, I know that darling flower power maxi dress doesn't really fit the 'holiday theme', but it was just too cute not to list right now. :)

shop update: christmas part 1

Candy Cane Dress//Smocked Gingham Dress

 Navy Blue Blazer//Red Plaid Jumper

White Button Up Dress//Silk Taffeta Polka Dots Dress

Plaid Jumper//Paper Doll Blouse

Saks Fifth Avenue Velveteen Dress//Plaid Peter Pan Collar Dress

After a year break I am finally updating the shop! I really didn't mean to take such a long hiatus, and I am happy to be back in business for the holidays. This is the first of two Christmas-y updates I am listing this week, and as a special gift to you all domestic shipping will be given a FREE Priority upgrade for the rest of December. No special codes or messages needed.

Thanks for your support friends. Head on over to take a look at them all!

thankful + joules clothing

We spent Thanksgiving with family in the desert. It was a nice respite from our cold temps and was probably our last chance to run around outside without hats, coats, mittens, scarves, and boots for awhile. These two girls took advantage of every minute they had with their cousins while us adults enjoyed playing games and talking late into the night. Sometimes holidays can seem hectic and go by way too fast, but I felt like this Thanksgiving was slow and we were all able to fully enjoy being with each other. It was nice.

I really am truly thankful for this little family of mine and the time I get to spend with them every day. This was a difficult year of loss for me, but because of that loss it was also a year of immense personal growth. The greatest gift I received was a more abundant appreciation and love for my children, and a greater understanding of what a blessing it is to be a mother. That is what I am most thankful for this year.

Recently Joules was kind enough to send us some clothing for the girls including these two dresses. I must say they have quickly become a favorite staple in their wardrobe. The girls love that they are warm and comfortable with just the right amount of twirl, while I am a big fan of the quality and the fact that they still look brand new after several washes (not to mention no ironing required!). All of the girls clothing at Joules is darling and would make a really nice Christmas gift. Here are some of my favorite pieces - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.

Oh, and don't try to come between a toddler and her polka dots. There can never be enough. :)

sponsored post: happy thanksgiving from crayola!

I have been looking forward to this week all month. Thanksgiving is definitely one of my favorite holidays since in my book not much can top taking a time-out from our busy schedule to spend a whole weekend with family. Oh, and let's not forget the food. 

It is also fun to do some holiday projects with the girls. So far this year we have kept our Thanksgiving crafting pretty simple. I set out a roll of paper with some markers and crayons on the coffee table and the girls have been drawing pictures of things they are thankful for... our family, home, rainbows, flowers, warm beds, trees, kites, crayons, scribbles... :) It has been a good way for us to keep an open discussion with them of all the blessings we enjoy, both big and small, and help us all fill our hearts with gratitude this season.

As a kid I remember being given the job to make place holders and paper turkeys for table decor. It made me feel important like I was contributing to the meal too, and looking back I am sure it was my mother's way of keeping me entertained and out of the kitchen! I am sure my girls will need some entertainment while we are busy prepping food, so I have been taking mental notes of easy Thanksgiving projects they can do mostly unsupervised. Crayola has put together a short Thanksgiving craft inspiration video for those of you looking for some fun ideas too. You can watch it below.

This post is sponsored by Crayola.

pear harvest

This year we were better prepared to harvest the fruit trees in our backyard. Last year at this time we were in the thick of the remodel and were sorting through a bunch of rotten apples. Our backyard smelled like rotten fruit and I felt pretty overwhelmed at all of the clean up and pruning our trees needed.

We inherited an old giant pear tree that is half dead and needs a lot of care. Last year when we tried a pear straight off the tree the texture and flavor was so gross I thought maybe the tree was sick and produced bad fruit. I had no idea that pears should never ripen on the tree! Thankfully, this year I did some research and we picked the pears early and let them ripen off the tree and it made all the difference - they were SO good! The taste and texture was delicious, although Lark enjoyed  nibbling on the pears all summer long and didn't seem to mind whether they were ripe or not. ;) We ate our fill and shared a lot with friends and family.

Next year we hope to make our pear harvest turn out even better, these are the types of learning curves I really enjoy.

the best advice my mother gave me

How some advice my mother gave me helped make this messy memory a happy one, guest blogged over at What To Expect.

(Family picture photo credit on the What to Expect blog goes to Valerie Hart Photography.)

kindergarten

It all happened so fast that I didn't even get a proper picture of her sweet excited face until after we had walked home from school. I blame this on my naivety that we were right on time instead of early and so she was ushered inside immediately upon arrival and it was all I could do to get my goodbye kiss. There were no tears, maybe because I didn't even have time to think to cry, but I also knew she was ready.

She chose her outfit that morning and I noticed with a smile that she was wearing some of my hair elastics as bracelets. So when she confided to me that she was 'a little bit nervous' I told her if she felt sad or missed me she could twist the hair elastics around her wrist and be reminded that I love her. She wore them for the rest of the week.

So, I guess I have a kindergartner now, and a toddler who just happens to have a nap time that perfectly coincides with her sisters school hours. I don't know how I pulled that one off. 

p.s. I made the backpack for her last year, tutorial here.

summer is...

Spending warm evenings at the lake...

Exploring the nature around us...

Cooling off in the backyard (and locking ourselves out of the house)...

Enjoying being together at home...

Going on adventures...

 Relaxing and soaking it all in...

Summer is winding down and we are settling into a new routine. Part of that routine means I get a few hours to myself each day. So far that time has mostly been spent enjoying the quiet and tending to the garden, but I am sure it won't take me long to fill up those hours with shop work (after a looooong break) and a project here or there.

For me this summer has been wonderful and healing in a lot of ways, and hard and humbling in others. I am watching all of the women who were announcing their pregnancies around the same time I was now announcing the birth of their babies. And they are beautiful and I am happy for them, but I can't help but feel a pang in my chest for my empty arms. This summer is closing a hard chapter in my life, but I am leaving it with a heart filled with hope for the next.

another edelweiss

I couldn't go too long without whipping up another Edelweiss dress. Since I made the last one a tad bit more difficult with all of the added piecework sewing a more simple version the second time around felt like it went super fast. You may have noticed a color theme going on this week. I promise I didn't plan on making everything black and white, but what can I say?! I am falling for the trend.

So this is my KCW summer wrap up! I didn't have time to sew a ton and I didn't even sew a single thing for sweet Lark, but it was really fun creating these outfits for LM.

       Stenciled Cat Top                      Jumper to Jumpsuit                     Black + White Edelweiss