Advent

Today I'm taking a break from the gift guiding {here are gift guides one & two} and sharing a little inspiration for advent that I created with my dear friends/photographers Pictilio!

There are twenty-five beautiful days in December leading to the celebration of Jesus' birth! Growing up, my grandparents got advent calendars for us every year, and my cousins and I strategically picked our favorites at Thanksgiving {my family is big on traditions, so I'm talking every year until we were practically in college!} 

SO. You better believe we're carrying that tradition to our kiddos, with a little twist! Every day of December, we're making a conscious effort to come up with a little family activity we can do or chat about together, to really be remembering the reason for Christmas and not get consumed with distractions. I mean, we're definitely filling the boxes with treats about half of the days, but we're also going to have some fun ideas of how we can GIVE to others, and how we can remember this year. Here are some we'd like to do in our home:

1. Bring a meal to a family who could really use it. Maybe a friend with a newborn, a family in the middle of a move, or someone who is sick or in the hospital.

2. Draw a picture or write a letter to someone who has made you smile this year.

3. Bake cookies together and bring them to a neighbor or two.

4. Make a mini holiday video as a family, and do this one every year!! How amazing would it be to be able to watch a minute video celebrating Christmas traditions for every year as the kiddos grow? (videos are my new favorite thing since the day I tried using iMovie and realized it wasn't as hard as it looks!)

5. Read the Christmas story together with a fire in the fireplace.

6. Choose a gift to donate to families in dire need {there's a little video on the right to show kids how it all works!}

We're pretty excited about this. It's also SO simple to do the box idea, because they're basically already wrapped. You can find packages of boxes at any craft store. Ours are from Paper-Source. Just add a little sparkle with a ribbon, and you're good to go! 

Also, Pictilio has more ideas for filling the boxes on their blog today! 

Thank you so much to Pictilio for the beautiful photographs! xo

Apples, Apples, and More Apples

We currently have about 10,000 apples on a tree in our backyard. Seriously. The tree is massive- about three stories tall and full of apples. We went back there yesterday and the yard was covered in sad, bruised apples. Brian and Sophie, the apple pickers of the family, went with nets and baskets and picked an enormous collection before they all fall and are wasted. 

NOW- as you might have realized- we don't go through apples as fast as we need with this kind of supply. We are handing them to friends and family when we see them, but we need more uses for our apples!

We have a GREAT recipe for apple pie, but do any of you have any amazing applesauce, apple cider, apple-anything-else recipes that are perfect for fall and will last longer than a week?  

Brunch

Before we had children, going out to brunch was an every-weekend-essential date with Brian. Even when we had Sophie, we continued the routine of taking a walk to get a fabulous brunch every weekend. I mean, the choices at brunch! ... if I wanted huevos rancheros, he could still have a salad.. if he wanted pancakes? I could eat a sandwich. It's the best of both worlds, mid-morning on the most relaxing day of the week.

Then we had Maggie. Brunch with one child is still relatively chill. Brunch with two? Not ideal. We'd be trying to feed them, attempting to salvage the last bit of orange juice before our children downed theirs and ours, and doing our best to keep the avocados on our plate from being snatched by toddler hands... We had to come to grips with the fact that our overpriced eggs and waffles would no longer be our weekend routine. 

Wait, there's good news!  

I still craved the big brunches or breakfasts that were a step above the every day. Just because you stop doing something the way you once did doesn't mean you have to totally stop doing it altogether. Enter: culinary efforts! Who knew I could do this?

Creating onion/tomato/avocado/cheese scrambles is SIMPLE. Waffles are SIMPLE. Huevos rancheros, the easiest! Mexican breakfast with "papas y chorizo" (I use soyrizo, actually) is just not as difficult to make as I once thought. Bread pudding- laughably easy. And it's all delicious!! I've discovered that making fancy brunches is the easiest meal of the day. 

The best part? I feel so thoroughly accomplished when I've fed a beautiful brunch to my grateful family. We are in our own home, relaxing, chatting, and orange juice refills are aplenty, and a full bowl of fresh strawberries doesn't cost us $8. 

Happy Friday, friends. I totally recommend a grand feast of a breakfast or brunch this weekend... I have a feeling this weekend is going to be a great one.  

(it HAS to be good... it's Brian's birthday weekend!) 

 ps. Links up next, later this weekend. xo

Make it: Finger Puppets

These little finger puppets are so easy, it's almost silly to have a tutorial- which is totally my kind of DIY post. 

These came about because Maggie was having a birthday, she loves puppets, and well- who knew? Finger puppets can cost a pretty penny. I had all this felt from making bows {for Maggie's birthday a year ago!}, and it was time to put it to good use. So I did: 

Really, all you need to be pushed to do is create a whole stack of colored finger covers. It's soo easy, and once you have those, you can be as creative or NOT creative as you want! The hippo took about one minute flat to cut the face shape, hot glue to the finger cover, and use permanent marker to draw the face- simple. The sun took me a little while to cut... all those ridges, of course, but Sophie couldn't stop telling me how much she loved it best. Basically just freehand, or do a google search of some of the extra nice ones on Etsy {these and these were my favorites! So fancy!}, and try to replicate them with your own scissors. I used white paint on the dots + black marker for the eyes, but you can also use white-out if you have that in the house. 

Basically, get those scissors and hot glue gun busy, and have fun! This is too simple NOT to try for your preschoolers, and they'll have hours of fun with them!  

(ps. felt rectangles are only like 33 cents each, and make probably 8 puppets)

Birthdays are the best

Gorgeous sweets all created with love by my dear friend Hilary // The Sugar Studio.

 (The Happy Birthday song was a bit unnerving for both of my girls at their 2nd birthday). ;)

Maggie at 2:

Loves puppets & Mickey Mouse and friends. Says "okay" to everything (!!). Adores her sister, calls her "Vivi" and copies her dance moves. Requested at her 2nd bday party to eat her cupcake with a spoon and took 30 minutes to do so. Likes to eat anything we've ever given her, except zucchini. Can read books by herself on the bed for a looong time (15 minutes is ages in toddler time). Colors until every inch of a picture is filled. Spins and says "whoooaaaa" until she's dizzy enough to fall down, for kicks, daily. Takes paper bags or boxes, puts them on her head and runs full speed around the house (thoroughly terrifying her mama). Sings one note as loud as she can for as long as she can hold it. Clutches a neon pink stuffed octopus every time she falls asleep... or else falls asleep in a fit of tears. Takes off her diaper any chance she gets. Brings her dishes to the sink and tosses them in after most meals... also tossing food wherever she goes. ;). Wants to wear jackets every moment of every day. Takes shoes on and off as much as possible. Squeals and jumps up and down when her daddy comes home. Watches the garbage trucks out the window every week in awe (both girls do). She is sunshine on any cloudy day. xo.

Can't wait to celebrate your every year with you, little Maggie girl.  

Ps. (The Sugar Studio is amazing. Take classes with Hilary & buy all her sweets (they'll change your life... or at least your pallet... with their fresh deliciousness).

Sweets // Puppet Theatre // Temporary Tattoos // Puppets (tutorial soon!) // Striped Paper Cups  // Candles // also, thanks to Manus for photo help. :) 

Make it: Tortilla Soup

Because it's been chilly here lately, I made some soup today. It felt right. Hoping that good ol' sunshine returns soon to SF, but until it does... here's a go-to recipe. I give credit to my aunt, who gave the recipe to my mom, who gave it to me. It's simple and gooood. Ours is allllll gone, and I'm sure any parent understands: that that's a big deal.  

Tortilla Soup: 

 (Fill one pot with everything... keep the other dishes clean. ;)

• 1 lb. Chicken, cooked & shredded
• Chicken Broth
• 1/2 Onion, diced
• 2 Cans Tomatoes
• 1 Sm. Can Chili Peppers (NOT jalapenos)
• 1/2 Bunch Cilantro
• 2T lime juice
• 1/2 t Cumin
• Pepper
• Frozen Corn

Serve with chips, cheese, and avocado!  

It is SO simple. We're big fans because it's hearty, but it's broth, so it's not too heavy. Just right! If you're missing an ingredient, it's still great, so enjoy! 

xxoo.