Sew Mama Sew Giveaway

I occasionally stop by this blog: Sew Mama Sew. And they have great tutorials and ideas. They are hosting a great giveaway and I've never tried one, so here I go-I am entering my first giveaway.

I'm giving away these earrings. I'll choose a winner by the best answer to this question: What is something that you admire love about yourself?

I will ship internationally and the giveaway ends on December 17th.

Thanks for stopping by! Good luck!

indiana at thanksgiving

we ventured to indiana for turkey day. and other than being in chicago for 3 extra hours because it just so happened to be the-busiest-travel-day-of-the-year we made it safe and sound and had a lovely time. we saw family, ate and ate and ate, and blessed zoe. we went on outdoor adventures seeing birds nests, deer beds, rabbit burrows, and playing hide and seek. i have always been amazed at the sunrise and sunsets in indiana-they blow me away. i remember the first time i saw one when evan and i were dating and just being in awe of how the sun could light up the sky like that, and that the sun was so huge. i still look forward to them when we are in indiana.

Zoe's Blessing Dress

Zoe was given a special gift by my Aunt Debbie. She made Zoe's blessing dress. This dress was the most beautiful blessing dress I have ever seen, using knitting, crocheting and sewing. I wanted something warm to bless her in, and long. And I am in love with how it turned out. First of all you have to know that my aunt Debbie is the MOST AMAZING AND TALENTED KNITTER IN THE WORLD. Really, this woman can knit anything you ever wanted. She has been knitting for ages, and has made me an afghan, and a few purple sweaters. And you know how I feel about purple. When I was about 5 she knitted me a rainbow hoodie. It was my favorite.

The dress has little crocheted flowers around the neckline and the bottom, with a little pearl bead inside of them. It has scalloped edges with ribbon coming through. The knitting itself is unbelievable. I was so grateful for Debbie for this beautiful dress and for how special it made Zoe on her special day.

Zoe also wore the shoes that were given to Maya on her blessing day from her Great Grandma Dean. All 3 girls have worn them. We blessed Zoe in Indiana where Evan is from and it was a wonderful, special day.

the two year old

brynnie boo boo schnoozoo turned 2 last week, and i feel like life is passing too quickly. we celebrated her by blowing up balloons and putting them in her room for her to wake up to. i found her in her room reading books and i told her there were balloons for her. her reply was "balloons? me?" and you have to hear her voice to appreciate that little phrase. she has serious inflection at the end of her sentences and a sweet little voice so to hear her say it was...well just so sweet. i don't know another word for it. we sang to her, had a cupcake party with friends, a pizza party with dad and our neighbors and their dog. what a great day. i love my little squishy. she is full of sass, stubbornness, cuteness and love. i love what she brings to life. happy birthday brynnie!

a good day

we awoke to snow this morning! and it was like utah snow-big, fat, fluffy flakes coming down; a little piece of heaven. the girls and evan went outside to build a huge snowman, that turned out to have a rather large neck that was hard to get a scarf around. but he's legit with a carrot and a pipe!

they came in soaked and i made hot cocoa. and drank it on a little stool.

then they decided it was time to paint faces.

like i said, a good day.

Picnic with Evan

We went and picked Evan up for a picnic downtown. Right on the Mississippi is one of our favorite parks called Gold Medal Park. It's in the Mill district of the city where all of the old buildings were once flour mills. It's a funky spot. We sit on the grass, run up and down the hill and admire the might Mississippi. I love the green grass and blue sky, and that Brynn is dressed in pink vans, tights, polkadot skirt, and a pajama top....one she picked all by herself. I love this stage where she has giant input as to what she wears each day. She is really into skirts and tights. I love it. Maya on the other hand has been in a rain boot fetish for a good month or so. She is sporting bright blue ones. We are loving this unusually warmish weather around here-yay for park days!

littlest lady

i won the headband discussion with miss zoe. or "zos" as brynn calls her. evan hates to have anything in their hair, but when you have children like i do with a plethora of hair i think a tiny little headband or barrette is so sweet. especially when it's purple. it's alright that i'm pushing purple as the favorite color around here isn't it?

this pic captures this little lady perfectly. this is exactly her face, since the day she was born. i'd love to know what she was thinking here.

purple

too much purple? never.

my little squishies

our favorite peeps come to minne!

my sister amy and her 3 kids came to visit us in minne. oh how we LOVE LOVE LOVE visitors! we have had such a wonderful time. maya and brynn are don't let their cousing cam out of their sight. they follow him around and want to be right by him. we have dressed up 3 times this weekend and brynn was a little done with it by the 3rd time. she fell asleep trick or treating. my sister and i made dragon outfits for the little ladies. it is so fun to have cousins here! we made delicious pumpkin soup and salmon for halloween and we tried homemade donuts for the first time, which turned out heavenly by the way. thanks amy and kiddos coming out here-we love you!!!