Valentine's Day Card Making With Kids

We've been working on our valentines over here.  Our first photo shoot didn't go too well and entailed a lot of tears and tantrums and a few overzealous moments of love which then resulted in more tears.  Fortunately the second attempt was a little better.

While the kiddos may not have appreciated the photo taking, Ella did love the card decorating.  

She took it VERY seriously.

Or at least it seemed like she was until I saw her notes......

Is it just me or do these look...well...like...boobies?

I apologize in advance to whoever receives these.

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

Christmas 2014

I can't believe that Christmas has already come and gone.  We even have already taken down all of our decorations.  Sniff. Sniff.  At least we are left with a lot of great memories celebrating with family and friends.  And this was our favorite Christmas to date.  I anticipate we will say that every year as the kids grow.

This year we spent Christmas Eve with my in-laws.  Christmas Eve morning we headed over there in our PJ's for breakfast and gifts.  We had been prepping Ella for days on what to expect this Christmas so she woke up shouting "Christmas Time!"  Which she still shouts every morning. Wishful thinking Ella.

We came home for a bit to attempt our naps and then went back to Grandma and Grandpa Keith's for a big Christmas Eve celebration with great grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins etc. Below is a pic of the original Fyvie, Great Grandpa and the newest Fyvie, Griffin.  Also known as Fyvie 1 and Fyvie 4.

Even though it was super late when we got home we took a few minutes to set out cookies and milk for Santa and some carrots for the reindeer.  Unfortunately all I had was a bag of little carrot slices - sorry reindeer.  Ella thought they would still love them.

Brandon and I were so excited for Christmas morning, we hardly slept.  Ella was so exhausted from Christmas Eve she slept until 9:30 and Griffin was up from 4-6 screaming so he eventually fell back asleep and I woke him up when Ella got up.  I had to, I was so excited for Christmas morning.  It was just the four of us and so perfect.  I loved watching Ella's reaction when she saw the tree with all her presents.  She understood that Santa had visited and kept telling us that he brought her presents.  Eventually she learned that he also brought presents for everyone else but that took a minute since she also thought it was her birthday.  That took some explaining.  It didn't help that we kept telling her it was Jesus's birthday.  Life can be so confusing when you're two.  And Griffin, well he just wanted the wrapping paper.

Midday we headed to my parents to celebrate with them.  I love that both our families are in town.  Less travel and more family time.  Ella picked up right where she left off - unwrapping gifts.

Ella thought the gifts made a great seat when she had to quickly jump on her computer to "work". 

We spent the rest of the day at my parents eating, relaxing, playing games and enjoying our new gifts - in our PJ's of course.  

It is always so sad when Christmas comes to an end but I am always left reminded of how blessed we are to have ALL our family nearby, healthy and together to celebrate the birth of our Lord.

Hope you all had a joyous Christmas too!

DIY: the simplest cake banner

I am not a baker and I certainly am not a food stylist but I did find a super easy and fast way to create a cake banner - out of desperation of course.  I waited till the last minute to bake and decorate a cake for a party and then scrambled to find something to make it "cute" (by my standards).

Using twine and post-it flags from the dollar section at Target I constructed a banner in literally 5 minutes.

I wrote my message on the flags first and then folded the flag in half over the twine using the natural sticky back to keep it in place.  I then tied the twine banner to two wood skewers (or straws) to finish it.

So easy!

And it looks cuter in person - cell phone pictures don't do it justice.

Hello Griffin Fyvie Keith

We are overjoyed to welcome Griffin Fyvie Keith to the family.

Born May 27th weighing 8lbs 7oz and measuring 20.5 inches he has captured our hearts and we couldn't be more in love with him.

Even proud big sister Ella thinks so.

So thankful for these two precious gifts!

God is good!

my little easter bunny

 

Ella has discovered her empty Easter basket and eggs.  She carries it everywhere so I monopolized on this and spent the morning following her around with my camera and occasionally trying to get her to wear bunny ears.  Now that she is an opinionated, stubborn toddler it is almost impossible to get her to cooperate for a little photo shoot.  I don't blame her though.  I would rather play and run around then sit and have my mom dress me up.  Fortunately for me there are certain items that Ella will always play dress-up with and this skirt and easter basket just happens to be at the top of the list.

She spent a fair amount of time trying to sit on ALL her eggs.  She has no idea how appropriate this is. My little mother hen.

And then we went right back to climbing.  One of her favorite activities.

If I would let her, she would climb all the way to the top and stand there triumphantly.  I've seen it.  It's scary.  So we aren't usually allowed to climb on this anymore but I made a slight exception for the sake of super cute photos.  I will regret this decision these next few days.

I always say it because it's true but what a difference a year makes.