merriment

on christmas eve...


our stockings..


christmas eve, making lavender sugar cookies (recipe from herban lifestyle) in our aprons and slippers..


mixing the dough, with good scents of lavender, butter and sugar wafting into our olfactories!


thinking of peppermint ghost, ginger foxes and pine hares too..


the delicious cookies ready, with lavender icing and her little purple sprinkles too..


her presents wrapped in pages from the december issue of real simple, tied with yarn. homemade and green as well..


illumination..

and now, for christmas morning...


her first glimpse at her first bike..


new clothes from nana (with her nana too)!


her first ride on a lovely, bright christmas day...

between the lupines and the tree

While sitting with my daughter, watching Corpse Bride (her choice for movie night), we also took up pens and notebooks for drawing. This is what I did, inspired in part by my very simple, lupines et tea, a diary of words and photos.

A little something I leave here with you as the countdown to Christmas begins!

a december day...

the wellness tree

This past month or so I've been getting to know another woman I met through the wide world of blogging. Her name is Nicole and she does the blog GardenMama which I truly enjoy. It is filled with so much warmth and heart like nature inspired projects she does with her daughters, natural living and more.

Nicole contacted me a few weeks back to participate in a wonderful and inspiring project, The Wellness Tree. Touched by a comment she once received from a woman named Kelly, she pursued to know her better and she did. Kelly blogs with her best friend Kandyce at Notions and Threads and also has cancer. Here is what Nicole shared with me:

Kelly has stage four breast cancer.

She was diagnosed around 6 months after her son Ari was born.
She felt a lump in her breast and for months thought it was a clogged milk duct. She finally went in and they confirmed, the same day, that it was cancer.
She had a double mastectomy because they explained that with her young agethe likelihood of the the cancer returning was high and it was better to remove both breasts and not just the cancerous one.
After her surgery, they told her that she had a rare type of cancer. Kelly has received additional news in the last day or so that chemo will be needed for the rest of her life.

Nicole has been so touched by Kelly, she started The Wellness Tree, where other women around the world make one handmade ornament for Kelly with positive wishes for her future. I immediately said I was in and when I was sharing this with my husband, Natalie quickly wanted to join in and send her love to Kelly as well.

Here are our handmade ornaments made with love:

Natalie wanted to make an owl for Kelly (since we all know that owls are our favorite). She picked gray for the color (felt glued to cardboard cut in the shape of an owl) and glued on glittered red buttons for the eyes. She drew a heart on a piece of gingham fabric, I cutted it for her and she also glued it on.

I decided on a white bird, like a dove I suppose. Doves usually carry the symbolism of peace which I think we all need within our hearts, especially when times are tough. I also thought of grace while making this for Kelly as well.

These little tokens of love are ready and being shipped to Nicole to get them ready for Kelly. Please stop by The Wellness Tree to see all the wonderful ladies who participated in this community of inspiration and love.

the night at the magic kingdom...

And the night...


























(can you spot rick and nattie?)

the day at the magic kingdom..

A few scenes from Disneyland...