My secret store

One of the high points of clothes shopping in Pennsylvania is that there is no sales tax.
Being an Asheville resident, it is ingrained in me to shop second hand and on consignment. Everyone does it! Imagine the delight I feel when I step into a charming little consignment boutique with a plethora of high end children's clothes. Although Asheville has quite a few hip stores, most of them are picked over by the time I get around to them.

Baby & Beyond has outlasted most consignment stores in the Wyoming Valley. It could be in part that the owner Nicole is awesome. She's always so welcoming and helpful. She even has the store sorted out by popular brands. This time she had Mini Boden, Gymboree, and Corky jackets on racks of its own. The rest of the store had an assortment of Lily Pulitzer, Gap, Heartstrings, Blueberry Boulevard, and many others on its racks. I also fall for everything from the great shoes to the chapter books!

The gals always get compliments on their flashy clothes. Now my secret's out. I just shop in Luzerne, PA., not anywhere fancy like I let on.
And for those of you who are old school enough to remember: You can't lose in Luzerne ;)

Busy, busy, busy...

Crafting, concerts, and parties, oh my!  We are in full swing into our holiday season, always working on something, always on the go.  The gals and I have started to learn new crafting skills and are really into our homemade Christmas this year. Although things are moving quickly, I'm glad I take the time to notice that I am (finally) healthy and my family is safe. We do have many blessings this year.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mya's Birthday

My youngest turned 6 yesterday.

 

 

Of course the day started off typical Mya style.  She woke up very upset that her age was now counted on two hands instead of one.  She, oh so dramatically, insisted she wasn't 6. She didn't even care that her birthday was on 12/12/12!!

 

 

We planned a fun filled day.  The gals and I sneaking out of school early, and with Dave lucky enough to have time off, we were all set.  Of course, I had to make silly treats for her class (I LOVE doing little over-the-top things like this)

 

 

 

 

Upon Mya's requested, we visited the Biltmore house again.  Beautifully decorated, I may add.

 

 

 

We celebrated at Mya's favorite restaurant with our extended family and Mya's two best buds.

 

 

It was a fabulous day!

 

Holiday Cheer!

Gathering with my neighborhood lady friends is definitely on my short list of favorite things.  Sometimes I just invent silly reasons to have a party with these women.  My latest antic was one to bring in the holiday season.  I decided to forgo the cookie exchange and hold a mix drink swap last week. Why not spread some holiday cheer?

The plan was to have everyone bring their favorite mix drink in a pitcher and several copies of the recipe.  Everything was set up on a table in my downstairs living room.  We had cups to sample each drink and everyone could take home several recipes. 

The party was a hit.  Twenty five women showed up, we had some drinks and got a few recipes.  It was a fairly tame evening, considering the overabundance of booze available.  A few left early, a few stayed late, and a few got rowdy (no need to name names here ;)

Whenever I have a crowd of people laughing, or drinking, or dancing in my tiny kitchen, I always wonder how I got so lucky to live in such an amazing community. I think everyone realized that this party was totally unnecessary. I mean, if you wanted to get a drink recipe, just google it.  However, everyone made an effort to come out and socialize.  It seems that people just get busier and busier as time goes on. I am glad to be surrounded by like-minded people. People who know that the value of a little time and effort towards friendships, neighbors, and community reaps its rewards.  For that I am grateful and I will continue to throw my cheesy weeknight parties for my lovely neighborhood friends :)

Counting the days until Christmas

The days leading up to Christmas are more exciting than ever now that the gals are older.  I just finished my Advent calendar & activities just in time for December 1st.

I got this quirky Advent calendar a few years back from HABA Toys.--which kinda makes me sad, knowing that my kids have outgrown this fantastic toy company.

Each drawer comes with these nifty little wooden toys.  That used to be enough for my curious toddlers.  However, these grade school gals are craving more.

I started to place notes inside each box, along with these odd array of little wooden shapes that we just can't let go.  We mix the anticipation with giving & receiving.  I wrote these little notes to put in each of the boxes:

If there is not a note in the box, the gals know to look under the tree for a small surprise (thank you Scholastic Bookclub for your cheap books!)

 

Another little thing I do for Marlee is place these little printable holiday jokes and facts that I found on Pinterest in her lunchbox.  She claims that the jokes are lame, but I found out differently.  My class has the same lunch period as hers, and I usually catch her reciting these to her classmates.  It's almost made her have a cultish following at the lunch table with these corny jokes.

 

 

 

You can click here and here for the notes and jokes.

 

I'm sure these days will fly by quickly, so I'm hoping these activities will create some tradition and memories over the years.



Thankful

This year, our Thanksgiving was filled with warm weather, family, great food, nature walks, and works of art :)

 

 

 

 

 

On Thanksgiving...

I've been seeing many month-long celebrations for Thanksgiving and thought I'd give one a whirl.  We actually started this board last year.  I got the idea from www.parents.com

The four of us rotate each day & write what we are thankful for...

We also saved the cards from last year since we thought it would be funny to see what we wrote in the past. This is Mya's from last year:

 

 

I also found this other idea from www.theartfulparent.com These "thankful stones" were a great rainy day activity.  The kids loved melting the crayons over the hot stones.

 



The gals got really into the theme this month and we have many original (and funny) ideas.  Next month we shall bust out the advent calendar and really try to balance the giving and receiving of the winter holidays.

Stayin' in

Our school district had the day off for Election Day.  The gals and I had big plans to return to the Biltmore House on our day off from school/work....I've been feeling the pressure to go and get my money's worth since I got a little crazy and bought that yearly pass.

Things changed quickly when we woke up to 34 degrees and sleet was lightly falling.  We quickly declared the day a double doozy of "no drive day" and "pajama day".

I'm noticing these days are becoming fewer and far between.  The chilly fall days we knew of the past are replaced with 65 degree + days in the past few years. Of course we take advantage of every warm and sunny day in the fall, but sometimes we just enjoy a gloomy day indoors, one where we do not feel obligated to play outside just because the sun is shining.

As my favorite neighbor Rachel and I were having our fence post chat the other day, I expressed my frustration about hearing so many people remark how this mild weather should be the norm every day. Umm, yeah, if we were in Miami.  But since we live in the mountains, I think we need our fair share of chilly days leading to a deep freeze or two over the winter months. 

We did have a very mild winter last year.  I was disappointed that I only pulled out the North Face jacket a handful of times. I was even more disappointed to have not done as many indoor winter activities as I planned.  Who wants to have a movie marathon, go bowling, or play board games when it is 70 degrees every weekend in January?

I reflect on the year past and I'm quite disturbed by the daffodils blooming in January and February only to be dead weeds by Easter.  I was pulling ticks off my kids in the early days of March.  My indoor cats got infested with fleas! Bacterial pneumonia is being passed around our county like a stomach bug (hello..red flag, CDC??) I'm just hoping this year was a fluke. But this may explain why I (and many others) feel so off balance and cannot find a rhythm aligned with the seasons.

Nonetheless, we had a great day today.  Here's to hoping for many more chilly, temperature appropriate, slacker days: