weekend activities

This weekend was our first "free weekend" in quite a while...however, it became very full before it was over.

On Friday Meredith and I picked up our tiny "Charlie Brown" Christmas tree. Yup...it fit in our trunk. :)

And...by Saturday it was decorated and glowing! Wee trees are so festive.
We worked on various Christmas gift projects throughout the weekend (more to come in that area in posts after Christmas)...and Erik was even able to do a home project we've been pondering for quite some time.

A coat rack for the sun room! But, not just any coat rack....we found a cool branch on one of our walks months ago. I insisted that we bring it home - it was too great to pass up and there had to be something we could do with it! So...it had been leaning against our living room wall for several months while we discussed WHAT to do with it. After dismissing the idea of a curtain rod and other various suggestions...we decided it would become a coat rack in the sun room (on the only blank wall left!). Yet, the right hooks had to be found and this caused another serious delay. Finally, this week I found spoon hooks on Etsy for the right price...and they arrived in the mail on Saturday. Hurrah!! So...Erik had the rack up in a jiffy, and it's even better than we imagined! :)

MJ at 8 months

Our talented friend, Chandra, shot these photos of MJ this past Sunday. Thanks so much, Chandra!

Styling

So...after Meredith had wet two outfits before noon yesterday, Mama got a wee bit creative with MJ's wardrobe (upon the 3rd change of the day!) and came up with this. :) Gotta love bold colors and especially pink on this girlie!

MJ's expression matches her outfit - bold and dynamic!

Yup - that's a cloth diaper butt!

Art and Craft Fair - Dec. 2010

Jane partnered with Sherry Clippinger (life-long friend) this past weekend and had a booth at the Glenside Craft Show. They put together a colorful display that drew a steady crowd the whole day. Sales were excellent and Jane left with a few custom orders and encouragement to keep up her etsy shop!

Her cards sold like hot cakes!

Erik's teethers were also a hit...along with the cloth baby balls Jane made.

Fun with Aunt Aleksa!

Erik's sister, Aleksa, visited with us over Thanksgiving. She and Meredith had lots of giggles, snuggle time, and lots and lots of play time together.

Daddy and Mama had a date over the weekend, thanks to Aleksa babysitting - yay! Hope you can come back again soon, Aleksa!

Wake Up, Daddy!

I used Meredith to wake up Erik a few weeks ago when his afternoon nap lasted a bit too long...

She really relished her job!

He was happy to see her, as always. :-)

This photo below is a month late - from October - Halloween, in fact. We dressed up for the Chipotle deal $2 for a burrito if you dress up as "junk food." So....can you guess what we are as a family?
hint: MJ does look like a tomato...but she's a 'form' of tomato to go along with us. :-)

Thanksgiving 2010

We had a lovely, simple Thanksgiving celebration at home this year. Erik's sister, Aleksa, visited us from Chicago - yay! She helped with the food preparations on Wednesday and gave excellent moral support with the cooking of the turkey on Thursday. :-) We are really enjoying her time with us and all the time she's spending with MJ.

Meredith had a bit of a rough day of teething on Thanksgiving (Aleksa is her kind sympathizer in this photo)...but, it was worth it because a tooth popped through this morning!

The festive table!
Ah...the spread!

I think the sweet potato-pear puree was a favorite for everyone - it definitely had MJ's vote!