Strawberry Top Hat

A package arrived this week and there was a little gift especially for MJ. Of course this Mama and little girl can't wait until Christmas (why not spread out the joy?!)...so, we opened it. :)

A strawberry top hat just MJ's size! Knitted with love by Jane Hutchinson, our dear friend in Seattle.

As you can see from these photos - Meredith loves her new bold style. :)

Jane Hutchinson knit a smaller version of this hat when MJ was a little baby. :)

Castle

Saturday morning Daddy and Meredith had some special time together while Mama popped out for some errands. Their main activity was the building and maintaining of a gigantic block fortress! (and...MJ playing dress up with Daddy's scarf)

Whew! That was exhausting...a much needed rest time is in order!

decorations!

This week we finished up our Christmas decorations around the house. Our tree is trimmed, the mantel adorned and festive buntings are hung! :)

Late night tree decorating antics!

I dried orange slices to hang on our tree. This is one of my favorite tree decorations!

One evening this week Madeleine, Erik and I sat around together talking, laughing and stringing popcorn and cranberry chains for the tree. :)

Ta-da!

Art and Craft Show

This past weekend was the annual Glenside Farmer's Market Holiday Art and Craft Show. It was bigger than ever this year with many rooms full of vendors showing their wares. We had our own spot again and Erik played fiddle throughout the day as background music. :)

I added a new baby item to my inventory: baby booties! They were a hit and I can't stop making them - each new pair gets me squealing, "they are too cute!"

Here's the whole booth. My friend made a few wreaths to add to the display and they sold really well!

It was a good show all around.

At the show I got a few custom orders to work on this week. (yay!) So, last night I stitched up another owl...and ended up making an extra owlie friend. Anyone need an owl for a Christmas gift? Let me know...

Weekend festivities

We've been decorating and readying for Christmas around here. Jane made wreaths with our dear friend, Jenny, (who is a wreath wizard!) this past weekend.

Ta-da!

And...we picked out our Christmas tree too! :)

It was quite dark by the time we finished - here's our little tree ready to go!

More photos to come on decorations and our trimmed tree at home!

Dancing with Daddy

Spontaneous dancing happens often around here...Meredith loves it! She and Daddy can really get moving together. :)

lots of squeals and giggles!

Baby Theo

Last weekend we met sweet baby Theo - firstborn son of one of Erik's colleagues at PCMS. What a tiny and oh-so-sweet little guy he is! It was a joy to spend time with him and his parents for a bit.

We found ourselves marveling that our little girl was once this small!

The happy family!!

Brian, Jamie and baby Theo