Belated May Day Baskets

May 1st was so rainy and so unseasonably cold that we decided to put our usual May Day Basketing on hold until a more "May like" day. A little over a week ago, the weather was absolutely perfect and the girls and I decided that it was finally time to surprise our neighbors and friends with May Baskets. We stopped by our favorite local flower stand, chose some lovely Johnny Jump Ups and got to work. After the decorating was done, and the messages were written, the fun of delivering them began! This is one of our most favorite traditions and it didn't feel quite like May to us until we delivered these sweet spring gifts. There is just something so sweet and simple and lovely about this tradition. It truly embodies the month of May and the season of Spring beautifully! Happy (belated) May Day, friends! We hope this month has been absolutely magical for you! xo

Childhood Memories

"Daddy, can we set your trains up please?"
"Sure, girls!"

And off he goes, into the basement to get the box that contains the train set from his childhood.  The box that will also contain memories from the girls' childhoods. It's a beautiful thing, the way memories and traditions are passed down from one generation to the next.

 

It's a life full of special moments and wonderful memories, indeed.  

Christmas Cookies!

There is nothing like baking Christmas cookies (sugar and gingerbread) with such dear friends!

Aren't their aprons great?!

Yes friends, she is wearing Halloween jammies that say "wickedly cute"!

And now for the super fun part!

Evidently Halloween jammies are the attire for using cookie cutters, while the bathing suit is required to decorate them!

We had so much fun (as we always do) and there was truly no better way to spend such a cold day than with warm cookies and sweet friends.  It was the perfect ending to another fabulous day!

Skippy's Home

Our elf, Skippy, has been finding lots of good hiding spots around our house lately.  I do believe though he finds it a little tricky to find a different spot that is up high each day, out of the reach of little hands.  The day after we decorated the tree he found a perfect spot right near the angel.  The girls were thrilled and loved to check on him all day.  "That's a good spot for Skippy, mama!" was echoed throughout Tuesday.

This morning we came downstairs and right away Emma was sad to notice that Skippy was not in the tree anymore.  She looked around for a bit and then discovered him in her stocking.  "Hey!" said the littlest and off she went to get her trusty stool.

She climbed up on her stool and was still slightly too short to reach.  She pointed at Skippy and said "My hoho" extending her arms as if to indicate that she wanted to hold him.  Knowing full well she wanted him back in the tree I handed him to her and off she ran.  I scooped her up and she put him back in "his spot". 

And it has been decided that there he shall remain.  It seems as if we have a new part of the tradition now.  And I love that it was started by the girls.  From now on, as soon as the tree is decorated, he will find his "home" in it and remain there until Christmas Eve night.  Sounds good to me, sweet girls.  Sounds good to me.