{pretty, happy, funny, real} Second Week of Advent

~ Capturing the context of contentment in everyday life ~

Brought to you by Like Mother, Like Daughter

This morning Arden asked me to open the Book of Common Prayer to where we were reading this week. I opened up to the appropriate page, and she promptly began marching around the house, book in hand, singing, "On the second week of Advent, my true love gave to me. . . " which soon morphed into Jingle Bells. I just love how their little minds process things!

{pretty}

Winter has really arrived! The snow was even crunchy today. :)

I've got a few decorations out, this wooden star included, but we haven't really decked the halls yet. All in good time. (And maybe after a coat of paint in the living room?? We'll see…)

Prettier than a star by far:

Arden and Cinders are becoming fast friends.

And here is a joint colouring project by Arden and moi, the angel Gabriel. Arden is really taken by the angels in the story this year.

Gabriel is sitting on one of our old pump organs, moved recently from the living room into the dining room. We are hoping to pass it along to someone else, but until then, it will have a home here.

Also gracing the organ, a pair of lamps I picked up second hand. I love the bases, but the shades are a little fussy for me, so I think I will end up switching them out for something more modern.

{happy}

This room is a happy place in the morning, especially with the sun shining in!

We now have three rocking chairs by fire. The smallest was a gift from Micah's Dad, a true heirloom that has been in the family for years. We are very happy to make it part of our home!

A few bits of family life this season - small and simple joys.

{funny}

Of course, Jack loves Cinders too, but he really needs to learn how to show his love in an appropriate way! (I.e. Not by chasing, holding by the neck, puling by the tail, etc.)

I think she managed to escape this time.

She is still small, but getting bigger!

{real}

Trying to capture pictures of children in motion and moods.

"Intent on feline capture"

"Just warming up to the day"

~lg

{pretty, happy, funny, real} December 5

~ Capturing the context of contentment in everyday life ~

Brought to you by Like Mother, Like Daughter 

It's been awhile! I have a lot of lovely fall photos, but I think I'll just jump in where we are right now in this first week of Advent. It's all a bit random over here. . .

{pretty}

Here is our Advent wreath! This year I finally purchased the brass candle holder and some "real" Advent candles. Arden and I went for a walk on Tuesday and cut spruce branches and ferns from our little woods and picked up pinecones from the spruce hedge for the greenery.

There are also a few little red berries and bits of birch bark hidden in the green. Arden helped me to "arrange" it all, and the results are quite pretty, I think!

{happy}

Our dear black and white kitten, Pickwick, met with an unfortunate end this fall. We decided we liked being a home with two cats, so we brought home this little barn kitten when farmer friends of ours had an excess! Meet Cinders.

Arden is smitten. (And the kitten is tolerant!) Cinders is so named because she has not a speck of white on her, and spent the first few days hiding out (from our other cat Milly) behind our fireplace!

And here is Jack, growing by the day. He is a happy little thing.

It's hard to get him to sit still for a picture!

{funny}

Creating our own indoor fun!

These days there is almost always some sort of "tent" or "house" made in the living room.

{real}

Morning chicken run in pajamas. (And Jack in Arden's old pink boots!)





~lg

{pretty, happy, funny, real} on September 26

~ Capturing the context of contentment in everyday life ~

Brought to you by Like Mother, Like Daughter

Just one photo today...

{real}

This is Jack. And Jack's blankie. He likes to stand on a little footstool and look out the dining room window in the morning, just to say hi to the world. It happens to be pouring rain on this particular morning! He's so cuddly when he first wakes up.

Happy Thursday everyone!



~lg

{pretty, happy, funny, real} on September 19

~ Capturing the context of contentment in everyday life ~

Brought to you by Like Mother, Like Daughter

Here is our slice of life from the last week or so! It's all rather random, but mostly focused on life with the children. :)

{pretty}

Ok, food gets the pretty label this week! I've been enjoying our garden harvest. The tomato plants got blight, unfortunately (and just as the loads of beautiful tomatoes were ripening!), but the rest of the garden has done very well.

A rather oddly shaped tomato!

Swiss chard and tomato omelette

Garden helper

The carrots have been CAPITAL!

Spiced beef stewed for hours in the oven. So moist and delicious! (With our own carrots and turnips)

Are you going to Scarborough Fair?

YUM. I am definitely going to do a garden again next year. This year was a great confidence building exercise!

{happy}

A sunny day!

Jack sure is getting his share of pink tea parties these days. Never fear, he also loves anything with wheels!

The kids played happily and largely independently for quite some time in the yard, and I just sat in a chair and let my mind wander into the crisp fall breeze...

{funny}

Ok, so now I must confess my little love of the monarchy.

"Hem, hem!"

Guilty pleasure - royalty magazines, usually supplied by Mom when she comes for a visit. :) On a rainy day, Arden was asking for more activities to do with her scissors and glue. Out came an old issue of Royalty, and we made these paper dolls!

I cut out some of the full length queens (past, present and future) and glued them onto cereal box cardboard. I wrote their names and countries on the back. I'm not sure who was having more fun, Arden or me.

Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands, FYI.

Any other royalty fans out there?  (I'll save my Coronation Street confessions for another day.)

{real}

Friday it poured rain all day. I had to be proactive. The following idea came from The Toddlers Busy Book.

Indoor car racing! I made tracks with painter's tape all over the dining room and into the kitchen. Between the cleaning up in anticipation of, the creation, and the playtime, it used up a good portion of the day.

Later on we added some more tunnels and bridges, but the most popular feature was the footstool ramp.

I hope what they say about the residue-lessness of painter's tape is true. . . because I haven't pulled it all up yet!





~lg

{pretty, happy, funny, real} Arden's Room

~ Capturing the context of contentment in everyday life ~

Brought to you by Like Mother, Like Daughter

This morning (Thursday) the sun is shining through the after-rain mist in a simply glorious way! After quite a few chilly fall days, the windows are open as I sip my coffee and it feels like summer out. Which is good, because I wasn't ready to let go of the nice weather yet!

This picture can't really capture it, but here is the view...

I am embracing the fall routine and rhythm though. Arden and I have been doing "big girl activities" in the mornings when Jack goes up for his nap. It's nothing so academic that could be called "school," (she is only 3 after all!), but we are looking at and learning letters, singing songs, sharing stories and doing some kind of hands-on activity together. It's been good for both of us!

We've been learning the hymn "All Things Bright and Beautiful," and colouring little pictures that go with it! 

~

But what I really wanted to show you was Arden's bedroom. It is a mix of {pretty}, {happy}, {funny} and {real}! It is by no means a big "reveal," but it is another step along the process of making it a special and beautiful place for her.

My friend painted this little sign for her! 

She moved into this bigger room sometime last year after Jack moved out of the bassinet and needed the crib. We had painted it this colour (BM Honey Harbour) when it was our bedroom, but I hadn't really got around to any sort of "decorating" or personalizing it in any way for her. Well, last night, Arden and I went up there and spent an hour together making things a little bit {pretty} for her. It was fun!

"We" decided to make it like a garden.

Arden's Garden. :)

It still needs some more details, but I found some flowery pictures to put up that I had stored away, and we imagined that the rug was a flower garden.

Her big girl bed was actually in pieces in the attic when we moved into our house. I've considered painting it, but right now it's as we found it. I got the quilt second hand.

These were recently given to me by my grandma - stitched by her and my great aunt in the '60s!
I wasn't sure where I was going to put them, but they seem to fit quite nicely in here. 

Her dresser is an antique (a kijiji find from a couple years ago), and I just love its curves!

Right now, one of Arden's favourite things to do is to wake up her dollies and stuffed "friends" in the morning and put them to bed at night! She is very caring and deliberate with the whole process, and is especially particular about which blanket goes where. She already had a little cradle, but she was running out of bed space for all her little friends, so that's why I brought the bassinet into her room!

The dollies are sleeping here, completely tucked in under the blankets! 

We also made a little reading corner, and this is how she arranged the pillows. Every day she comes up with a new arrangement - sometimes she makes doors with them, or tents with the blankets, or lines them up as a little bed. It's so cute. I love seeing her creativity and imagination start to take off!

The gardener herself!

Arden is very {happy} about it all, which makes me very happy! (I'm also happy that I was able to create something with what I had on hand, humble though it may be. That's the {real}!) And now that we've started to make it special, I will be on the look out for inexpensive ways to dress it up a little more. Any ideas for a garden themed girl's room?

Have a great weekend everyone!




~lg




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