getting in...

sadly, this little blog of mine has been put on the back-burner. ever since I went back to work I've felt spread too thin. I started subbing at a local preschool while simultaneously opening an Instagram shop (@shoplittlemouse - come find me!) so any spare time I've had I've solely focused on my family. blogging just didn't fit in this past month or two.

however, my hours at the school are slowing down and I'll be home with Norah more so we're not going anywhere just yet.

the one positive outcome of this busy period is that my downtime was not spent on the computer or my phone. It's been much easier to separate work time from play time because I've been forced to. When I was home full time it was too easy to go on my phone or sit at my desk, in the room with Norah but not really there. Now it's much easier to put those things aside and spend quality, hands-on time with my family.

we even have some evenings like this:

though i've been exhausted, i'm grateful. not only for the fact that i HAVE a job (or two!) but that it's helped me to start managing my time better. when i can set aside certain periods of time for work, blogging, IG shop work, etc. it is more likely that i can say yes to norah every time she asks me to play, or color, or sing, or get in the bath tub with her... 

tonight when norah said "mommy take a bath too?" i hopped right in, no questions asked. i wasn't too busy on my phone, my mind wasn't anywhere else, i just got right in. she gave me a bubble beard and i styled her hair. we splashed back and forth (tidal waves!) and i showed her how to blow bubbles in the water. we stayed in well past her bedtime, fingers and toes pruned and both of us ice cold. but you know what? she had a huge smile on her face the entire time. 

and so did I.

we're back at work/school tomorrow, but i look forward to what evening will bring.

makin' it monday // valentines

after seeing these adorable printables i knew i wanted to make something similar for norah to take to her classmates on valentine's day! however she is two and her friends are all either two or under, so i didn't want to use pencils. luckily i found a pack of bubbles at target (where else, love target) and i used those instead!

i kept the general idea, the bubble tubes were the "arrow" and instead of printing, i just drew on the paper with a fine point sharpie. easy!

you will need:

 the paper i used was a heavy cardstock. poster board would work well too!

I simply cut strips of paper for each valentine (approximately 2"x5"). Using a knife, slice two openings (about 1.5" in from each end and a little over 1" long) for the bubbles and slide them in. I addressed each valentine individually.

On the front, I drew an arrow and decorated each one with mini hearts and stripes.

Norah already keeps trying to get to them so I know her classmates will love them too! I also have a great plan for her teachers' gifts :) I'll be sure to post about those as well.

christmas cookie baking and delivery

two nights ago we made a whole lot of sugar and peanut butter blossom cookies (the ones with hershey kisses in the middle!). then yesterday morning we packaged them up, added a christmas card and delivered them to our neighbors. norah was a good helper with the delivery part, but she definitely enjoyed the cookie baking more ;)

so excited

i do it mommy

i was actually very impressed with how well she did with the cookie cutters. most of them came out ok with just a missing limb or a crooked head ;)

my two favorite shapes of norah's, and the cookie that she sprinkled all by herself 

::drool::

half the batch

packaged and ready to go // my little delivery girl

- - - - -

hopefully we brightened some peoples day!

norah, what do you want to do today?

{{ wordless wednesday }}

"cheerios? togethers?"

"play-doh with friends!"

"watch ELF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

"see trains!"

"color circles, mommy"

"go see SANTA!"

i think she enjoyed our day :)

linked with:

the paper mama

parenting by dummies

project alicia

jenni from the blog

bree: his honey and her mommy

live and love outloud

fresh mommy

5 minutes for mom 

sarah halstead

love bug

 seven clown circus

TAG!

Who is up for a little Christmas Fun? 
Thanks so much to Jen at That's What She Read for including me in this fun "Tag" themed post.

The fun started over at Raising Reagan, where Lanaya answered 5 Christmas themed questions and "tagged" five other bloggers to do the same, and then on and on until we're all in the Christmas Spirit! 

1. What makes Christmas such a special holiday for you and your family?

Besides the most important aspect of celebrating the birth of our Savior,  Christmas has always (for me) been a holiday based on family. Now that I have one of my own it has become 1000x more fun! From November - December we celebrate each other and how thankful we are for each other. We also try to give much more of ourselves in this season than we do the rest of the year. 

2. Were you told the truth about Santa Claus by your parents or did you find out another way? And..do you plan on lying to your kids (if you have them or plan on having them)? Oh yes…I went there. 

I actually figured out the Easter Bunny first and because of that I was suspicious of Santa that year. Eventually my parents sat me and my brother down and told us the truth even though we already knew, just denied it. I plan on "lying" to my kids but I don't like the idea of telling Norah that she has to be good in order to get gifts. It seems like the exact opposite of what I would teach her about Jesus. So instead, we'll go along with the Santa game but as she gets older and is easier to understand, I want to explain to her that there will always be presents under the tree because like Jesus, Santa operates on grace. 

3. Real tree or Fake tree?

UGH so torn! Growing up we always had real and I love the way they look and smell. Mmm... However fake trees are SO much easier! It's a toss up. 

4. Do you open presents on Christmas morning, Christmas Eve or both?

We do one with the Grandparents on Christmas Eve and the rest on Christmas morning.

5. What is your favorite Christmas movie to watch? Favorite Christmas song to sing or listen to? ( I know…technically two questions)

That's a tough one! I really love It's a Wonderful Life and also all the old classics like Rudolph and Frosty the Snowman. However Home Alone (1 and 2) will always hold a special place in my heart ;)

Also, I will freely admit that I still listen to Hanson and N*SYNC's Christmas albums. Don't judge me.

For the next round of  You're It, I am tagging these bloggers:

Lindsay @ You Are the Roots

Wendy @ This Amazing Day

Lindsey @ Ot & Et

Randalin @ Harvesting Kale

Melanie @ Now a Queen

Hopefully these ladies pass on the fun! 

we like carving pumpkins but we don't like guts

{{ wordless wednesday }}

linked with:

the paper mama

parenting by dummies

project alicia

jenni from the blog

bree: his honey and her mommy

live and love outloud

fresh mommy

5 minutes for mom 

sarah halstead

love bug

 seven clown circus

family pictures

last saturday our good friend abby took some family pictures for us. we went back to the tuckahoe train station, where abby had taken our engagement photos three years ago. i am blown away by her work and i am so thrilled at how these photos turned out! THANK YOU, abby! we love them!

all four at the pumpkin farm

{{ wordless wednesday }}

linked with:

the paper mama

parenting by dummies

project alicia

jenni from the blog

bree: his honey and her mommy

live and love outloud

fresh mommy

5 minutes for mom 

sarah halstead

love bug

 seven clown circus

the totally awesome blog hop

i found this blog-hop over at lazy explorers (thanks chloe!) and i immediately linked up. blog-hops are a great way to find new and awesome blogs to follow and hopefully get some new followers for yourself! i have been spending a little time each day on all the blogs linked over here and i am pretty excited for all my new reads. thanks again, ladies!

want to participate? here's the link-up info:

Hello, and welcome to the Totally Awesome Blog Hop. This will be an ongoing effort brought to you by four really cool ladies, hopefully resulting in the biggest community link-love fest evar! 

The hop will be linked between four sites, ensuring everyone's links get seen and clicked. We want our audiences to get to know each other! Our goal is community building between like-minded folks, and this is a place for of people to meet, make friends, and expand their following!

Participation is super simple-

#1 Follow your four hostesses- they are the first four links.

Chantilly of ChantillySongs

Marisa of The Shades of Monet Chronicles

Roxy of Grrfeisty

Chloe of The Lazy Explorers

(We promise you will love these blogs, and they are all totally worth getting to know!!)

#2 Link your blog/ website

#3 Visit other sites, follow, and comment

#4 Grab a button & post it on your blog

#5 Post about it on twitter, facebook, and all your social media sites

We love you, and thank you!

mix and match pumpkin faces

norah had been asking to paint for the past couple of days so i thought of a simple (ha) painting project she could do that could also serve as halloween decor. two birds with one stone, right? this was a 3 part project that took two days to complete. in hindsight, i could have made it much less complicated but it's ok. it's done, and now i know for next time!

my way:
- cut out pumpkin shapes from white construction paper
- have norah paint the pumpkins orange (and help her cover the whole paper)
- place each pumpkin on a 2nd sheet of construction paper (first sheet got extremely flimsy from the weight of the paint)
- set pumpkins aside
- cut out mouths and eyes* from black construction paper
- guide** norah in placing a mouth and two eyes on each pumpkin (while orange paint was still wet! acts as glue)
- let them dry overnight
- glue each pumpkin down to it's respective 2nd sheet of paper (if it didn't already stick together from the paint)
- place pumpkins under something heavy (i used several books) in order to flatten the pages
- after an hour or so cut out the pumpkin shape from the 2nd piece of paper. you should have a pumpkin face on 2 layers of paper at this point.
- hang and enjoy!

a better way:
- cut out pumpkin shapes from orange construction paper
- glue to 2nd sheet of paper for stability
- have norah paint the pumpkins orange (they are already orange. no need to make sure she paints the entire thing)
- set pumpkins aside
- cut out mouths and eyes* from black construction paper
- guide** norah in placing a mouth and two eyes on each pumpkin (while paint is still wet)
- dry overnight
- in the morning, IF the paper has curled, place under a heavy book other heavy object for an hour or so to flatten.
- cut out original pumpkin shape (2 layers of paper)
- hang and enjoy!

the 2nd way eliminates having to take extra time to help the child paint by starting out with an orange pumpkin. for an older child, i would probably still use white but norah just paints in circles in the same spot over and over. she doesn't understand the concepts of "spread the paint around" and "cover all the white" yet. an older child would have better success with this. the 2nd way also eliminates having to re-glue the 1st pumpkin layer down to the 2nd paper.

*i cut out four different shapes of mouth, two of each shape. the eyes were squares, rectangles, or triangles leftover from the "teeth" cutouts. i wanted to let her mix and match as she pleased to make her own faces. 
**by "guiding" i mean i told her which shape to pick up, and then i pointed to where on the face she should put it. sometimes she did, sometimes she put it somewhere else. some of her faces look like faces, and some of them look like....lopsided faces. the important part is to remember that art at this age is NOT about the product! it's about the PROCESS! who cares if it looks terrible!

we hung some of our pumpkins on the front door and some in the windows on the porch. norah has been staring at them a lot saying "hi pumpkins! hi pumpkins!" over and over. success!

beginning of fall

{{ wordless wednesday }}

linked with:

the paper mama

parenting by dummies

project alicia

jenni from the blog

bree: his honey and her mommy

live and love outloud

fresh mommy

5 minutes for mom 

sarah halstead

love bug

 seven clown circus