Craftastic

The art of a family Christmas card is definitely just that....art. Especially when there is a toddler involved.

This year I enlisted my sister to take our family portrait. With a quick tutorial on how to use my camera and a change of clothes for the three of us, we loaded up the car and drove to my newly discovered alley. This alley provides a perfect backdrop for portraits featuring the old buildings of downtown Greenwood. Of course, our child who typically sleeps twelve hours a night and takes a one and a half to two hour nap a day decided that this was the day, of all days, that she didn't need her full twelve hours nor her daily nap.

Oh joy. Where is the peace?

Bottom line: Our smiles were forced, our frustrations ran high and there was much pressure. Pressure because apparently the alley I discovered has also been discovered by every other photographer in Greenwood. Yep there were 3 other photographers waiting for any given opportunity to capture their subjects in the alley.

I don't want to spoil the recipients of our Christmas card by sharing the pictures here just yet. But I do have to share one. In case you were wondering where Jim Boggs' Ass was......it just to the right of my head, down the alley.



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Madison is very independent. We often find her off somewhere in the house playing by herself, talking away to her babies, or monkey or no one in particular. She'll play like this for twenty or thirty minutes before she comes to find one of us. After of few minutes of not hearing her I do tip toe around to find her so I can secretly watch her playing.

On Saturday, I knew she was in her room so I grabbed my camera so I could snap a picture of whatever it was she was doing. I tip toed down the hallway and peeked into her room. Apparently I am not so light on my feet nor my toes because right when I went to snap a picture of Madison she looked over and said "Cheese!"

 

I asked her to read to her monkey and she did. So, now I can at least pretend like I sneaked up on her and caught her in a moment.



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I've been obsessed with adding color into our home for the past month. We have a lot of beige and deep red but hardly any of the other gorgeous colors featured on the color wheel. So, my mission has been to add a splash of color to our home. And how am I doing that you ask? I'm making some crafts.

Here, sitting on our fireplace mantel are some glass jars that I painted along with a straw wreath that I covered in yarn and adorned with some colorful felt flowers.



I also decided to recover our dining room chairs with a colorful fabric. For a mere $13 it's like a whole new table.

BEFORE:

 

AFTER:

 

I've also left a few party decorations around. Why? Well, because I spent a lot of time on them and I just like them. They make me happy!





I'm now branching into holiday decorations. Here is a little decoration I whipped up to put our Maddie Cakes in the winter spirit. A little snowman shirt.



Since she was wearing her snowman shirt, I thought that it was only appropriate that we constructed some actual snowman from some foam pieces.





Yeah, some of my ideas aren't so good. This is about as far as we got. Our glue wouldn't stick nor would Madison stop trying to eat the snowman's fuzzy balls that were supposed to be his ear muffs. She kept saying "Tandy!" and would pop one in her mouth. Since Halloween this child has been obsessed with candy. Needless to say I packed up our pieces and we'll just try this craft again some other time.

Well, bye for now.
Love, -K

Happy 2nd Birthday Madison!

11-11-11 was the day our little gal turned 2.

Two years ago, on this same day, we were at the hospital waiting to meet our little gal. Anxious to see the little face that we had made and eager to embark on the journey of parenthood. This year, on this day, the birth of our little gal, we were anxious again. Anxious to see how she would react to the traditions of celebrating her birthday.



Well, as quickly as she caught on to trick-or-treating and the whole get candy thing, she caught on to the it's-your-birthday-you-get-gifts thing. She didn't even allow my sister to make it past the entry way before she tore into the gifts she brought.



I have no idea where she gets this excitement over one's birthday from. (wink,wink)





My sister and I took Madison to the kingdom of birthday celebrations.....Chuck E. Cheese! This was Madison's first trip and I'm thinking she's going to want to go back.





Nothing like dropping a boat load of money for a boat load of junk. But hey, it's a right of passage as a parent and also as a child. And I can guarantee that we'll go back just to see our little girl oh so happy.



Ryan and I enjoyed the evening with our little girl and watched as again she quickly tore open her gifts. We've got a glimpse of what Christmas is going to be like and I can't wait.





The following day, Saturday, Madison celebrated her birthday with her tiny friends and lots of balloons.



I spent hours and hours planning and crafting this special day for her.







Each minute that I spent was worth it. It was so worth it to see and feel the love that filled our home.



The little ones and the not so little one's enjoyed crafting.





And everyone enjoyed the snacks and cupcakes.



Most of all our little Madison enjoyed it all. She was giddy with excitement and was such a trooper even as she became more tired with each passing moment. I'm thankful for the two wonderful years that we've had with our Maddie O. And as I've said before we couldn't do it without the help, guidance and support of our friends and family. So to you, all of you, we thank you. Thank you for being there for us and celebrating with us. We are looking forward to the many, many more celebrations that lie ahead.

Quick Post

Yep, we are still here and I certainly have not abandoned my dear blog. Just merely put it on the back burner to simmer for a bit. I thought I'd briefly catch you up on the last couple of weeks.

We had some visitors come stay with us and as usual my camera, blog and I take a break while we make memories. My mom and dad came for a visit. During their stay, we took a trip to the apple orchard.



One would think, by looking at this picture, that this child actually knew how to read by the seriousness and focus on her face. She's just a really good actress.







I was even able to sneak away for a bit to do a photo shoot with a dear friend and her family.







How cute is this little guy?

 

This year my parents were here for Halloween and joined us for Trick-or-Treating.



It didn't take Madison long to figure out the whole knock-on-the-door-get-candy thing. At each door she would hold out her candy bag and would occasionally and quietly say "trick-or-treat". It was sometimes followed up with a "thank you" and even a "you're welcome" now and again. Hey, a "you're welcome" might not be the appropriate thing to say when you're receiving candy from strangers but at least she was being polite.





Once the candy was placed in her bag, she quickly turned around and yelled to those waiting on the sidewalk...."More tandy!" It was as if she couldn't believe that they had done it again. Someone else had placed more candy in her bag and all she had to do was knock on their door. I can see how this would excite anyone. Heck, I was even thrilled when I saw a Reese's peanut butter cup being dropped in amongst her loot. It was wonderful experiencing the thrill and excitement through our little gal.

Also, while my parents were here, they got to celebrate their little gal's birthday. And who is their little gal? Well, it's me, of course. Yep, I celebrated another year and another great year it was. I again look forward to what is yet to come.



And what did I get from my wonderful husband and daughter.......this isn't just a bag or a plain old purse. It's actually a camera bag. How cute, awesome and stylish is this?



Speaking of birthdays.......we're celebrating another one this weekend. Madison is turning two on Friday followed by a party with her closest friends. Well, my closest friends who have kiddos, who will in turn become friends with my kiddo because that is how we Mama's do things. I've been planning and crafting getting ready for the big day. So, be looking forward to our next post in which I will share the love, joy, excitement and celebration of our little Maddie O.

Bye for now!