Our December Weekend

Hello hello!!!  I can't believe how quickly December is going already!  Our Elf has arrived (though she didn't bring breakfast yet...) and has been pretty lazy by staying in the same spot a few days...Ooops!! Ellie is noticing and so we have to up our Elf game!!

It's crazy how much having Ellie in school every day has changed our schedule and how we've tried to scale back our calendar.  Time slow down!!! I put up our DIY advent calendar this weekend but haven't even figured out what's going into the pockets 😳.  Maybe it's my new switch over to minimalism, where we don't have to do all the things? I have no idea but I've also been scaling back our holiday decor and got rid of two boxes of Christmas decor already this year!!  And don't you worry....our home is still extremely festive 😉

This weekend was one of my favorites!  We did two of our yearly traditions: my Ladies Holiday Tea and our Christmas Outing!!

Ladies Holiday Tea

I think this was my 9th year hosting and it is so much fun!! Over the years I've gotten into a groove and it gets "easier and easier" to put everything together to host!  I love just getting together with my favorite people and having a chance to all catch up!!  Ellie loves it every year and this year Finnley was a great Hostess as well.  Séamus got to be the sole boy this year (because boobie baby) and he was quite the gentleman and charmer of the ladies!

I served Orange Oil Brownies, soft Gingerbread Cookies, assorted cheeses and meats, and then scones with jams!  We had wine and tea (obvs) and the Wellness Tea was a total hit!  

Wellness Tea:

cup of tea

1 drop Thieves Vitality

1 drop Lemon Vitality

1 drop Copaiba Vitality

Spoonful of Honey

Our conversations were so much fun, the girls loved having people over and I've never gotten so many compliments on how my house smells.  I was diffusing Christmas Spirit and Pine.

Christmas Outing

This year we went to Enchant Christmas and it was so freakin cool!!  It's located at Safeco Field and all of the lights were just mesmerizing.  The girls had so much fun running around, finding the reindeer, and checking out the lights.  Us adults had a great time just watching the excitement of the kids!  Ellie and I got to go Ice Skating and it was so much fun!  I loved how the rink was laid out...more like a winter stroll than a big oval.  All the people skating had a great time, Ellie was brave and tried skating all on her own...she fell a few times but was determined to "go fast"!!!  I love how there were people of all ages out on the ice just trying to figure it out and having the best of times. 

Finnley had so much fun hanging out with Nanny and Papa and Thomas was a champ holding onto Séamus and my phone!

Making these memories with our kids is so important and I hope that they will feel the holidays are special for years to come (no matter how distracted we are).  It was just so nice to take a break and just enjoy the season!!

♥ Ashley

Under the Sea with Ellie and Finnley!!

I had the brilliant idea of combining the girls Family birthday celebrations this year and it was hands down the Best Thing EVER!!!

 
Thankfully both girls love The Little Mermaid so going with an Under the Sea theme was super easy...and the girls have quite the collection of Ariel toys that decorating was easy too!  We kept things fairly simple with food basics: sandwiches, chips, pirates booty, pasta salad and a veggie tray.  I enlisted the help of our local grocery store to make the cake and life couldn't have been simpler.



I found the decorations at Party City online and purchased them for in-store Pick Up so I could get cashback through Ebates.  I got a balloon pack, cups, plates, napkins, and forks along with some streamers and a table cloth to use as the back drop.  Then on the day of the party we stopped at Target and picked up a couple more decor pieces that we just couldn't pass up. And as usual I got my chalk art skills at the ready and decorated our chalkboard pantry doors to match the party theme!

per Ellie's preference: Vanilla with Vanilla and all Vanilla (no chocolate in sight 😉)

I made an Under Water backdrop for photos and we used the streamers as seaweed, along with shells from our beach adventures and all the fish toys the girls have collected over the years!

Our simple food station:

Chalkboards:

all the cousins!

I found some sparkler candles that didn't light very well but all the kids got a kick out of them! It was a celebration to remember!

Combining the girls party was an excellent idea and I have a feeling that we will be doing that for years to come.  They totally loved getting to celebrate together (and it minimized the chaos and number of presents) as well as allowed for some together gifts to really shine: like their trampoline!! I loved that all of our family was able to make it and we were able to get a photo of all cousins...which is a rare occurrence.  I highly recommend if you're on the fence about it.

♥ Ashley

A Friday in May

Y'all it's MAY!!! for some reason it's one of my favorite months and I look forward to it every year.  I think it's the perfect combination of weather not too hot, not too cold and there are so many beautiful flowers out.  It's the beginning of Peony season here in the PNW (and probably elsewhere) and we're nearing the end of the school year which means Summer Break is upon us.

We've been up to a lot of things lately, some home improvements and playing outside!  I am adoring this season of life with both of the girls, ages 2 and almost 5, and plan on soaking as much of it up as I can before little baby bro makes his appearance in July and changes the whole dynamic of our family...speaking of which I'm in the 3rd Trimester!!  Hooray!!

::ONE::

Finnley found a Connect Four game and was mesmerized by it for over 15 minutes just working on her fine motor skills putting the "coins" into the grid.  She was so proud of herself and the fact that she figured it all out on her own is my favorite.  I'm thinking that we might need to invest in one because Ellie loved it too!

::TWO::

The girls and I have been doing swimming lessons for quite some time but recently I was able to schedule both lessons at the same time so we all get to have some extra pool time once their classes are over.  I got Ellie a pair of these goggles and her confidence in the pool has grown immensely.  It's funny how the little things can make such a difference at this age.  I'm loving seeing her excitement in the pool and enjoyment in the water, I feel that swimming is a valuable life saving skill and I'm so glad we have the opportunity to get in the pool every single week.  Finnley likes the water most of the time, as long as I don't dunk her, and I love the one on one time we get to have with her parent child lessons.

::THREE::

Gardening is my therapy, for the longest time my garden was my womb due to Infertility.  Since I was unable to conceive and carry out a pregnancy, my garden allowed me to be fruitful in something.  I really grew a fondness for it and love to get outside and weed, plant, and nurture all my plants.  We've been growing a vegetable garden since 2009, our first married Spring in this house and I have learned so much.  We moved locations of it in 2010 when we remodeled our front yard (removed over 20 junipers and tons of gravel and replaced with a giant flower bed, spans of grass and doubled the size of our vegetable garden.  I love sharing my passion with the girls - though I am very controlling - but the fact that they enjoy it too just makes it everything.  I totally switched up our vegetable garden again this year and put to use some old raised bed boxes we had been storing for several years.  So the amount of space for actual growing has been reduced but I think that it has more purpose.  I am also instituting a new "trick" I learned about and am covering the unused ground with cardboard to prevent all the weeds from growing (so now I can repurpose all the boxes we have, thank you Amazon).  So far I have quite a bit growing: Kale, Sugar Snap Peas, Artichokes (again...), Brussels Sprouts, and Leeks.  I also got a new Bay Leaf Laurel that I have in a pot and potted up some mint (it spreads like crazy - live and learn) to help deter some pests.  Then I pulled some of my extra Lavender and am seeing if I can transplant it to the Vegetable Garden to help encourage the Bees!!

::FOUR::

The weather has been fantastic lately and the other day we got to spend so much of it outside.  I wasn't feeling too well, my tummy was queasy all day but the girls sure did have a great time.  Ellie got to ride her bike for about 45 minutes, they played with bubbles, drew on the driveway with sidewalk chalk, had popsicles, jumped on the trampoline (thank you Nanny and Papa for the birthday gift), and we got a new hammock that we've all been enjoying.

::FIVE::

Last weekend we hosted all of our family to celebrate Under the Sea both Ellie and Finnley for their birthday's.  I loved having a combined celebration for them and plan on that for future years.  April and May are pretty busy months for us with 6 birthday's that combining the girls this year was the best!  Both of the girls are obsessed with Ariel (Finnley especially) and it was the perfect theme...we had so many props already that we really didn't have to get too much for the decorations.  The girls had the best time and got some pretty great presents too: a Trampoline!! (thank you Nanny and Papa) a 3in1 Slip'n'Slide (thank you Uncle), some WalkieTalkies (thank you Cousins), SnuggieTails (thank you Uncle) and some Magnetic Dolls (thank you Cousins).  I'll post more of their party details next week!!

::SIX::

Lowe's was finally back on Ebates so I was able to get the Chandelier I've had my eyes on for forever to replace the beautiful original 1989 light fixture in our Master Bedroom.  It was the last one we needed to replace and I cannot believe the difference it's made.  I'm so glad that we waited this long though because I've been looking for a solid 10 years and am pretty sure that this is the very best one ever.  I was pretty concerned about whether it would provide enough light in our room (which happens to be the darkest and coldest of the whole house) and I am so happy to report that it brings so much light and warmth, it's perfection.  Our room has taken a while to get its makeover but the best things happen over time and I am so happy with the progress.  So far we have: replaced the carpet with wood flooring, painted the walls white, upgraded the baseboard, upgraded to a King bed, replaced all our matching furniture, replaced the light fixture, switched out to a flat screen tv,  and added in bits of farmhouse decor like old ladders, benches and crates on the walls. Not to mention our reindeer pelt we picked up while in Finland!! I love it!!  I also have replaced all the door knobs in our house so they are all in working order and matching!!

Have a Happy Happy Weekend!!

♥ Ashley