Danita Art: I have great news to share and a Giveaway!!!#links#links

Danita Art: I have great news to share and a Giveaway!!!#links#links

What we watched tonight

Merry Christmas!

It is harder for me to post when I am not at home. I will try to post when I am able. However I just wanted to wish all of you the Merriest of Merry Christmas wishes. May your holidays be filled with lots of cheer! Can't wait to read about all of your wonderful holiday celebrations and festivities.

A Letter to Sloan's Teacher

"An Apple for the Teacher"

Dear Mrs. Prouty, 

If I had millions and millions of dollars I would give some of it to you. Since I don't, I am giving you this apple instead. You spend your days doing what many only wish they had enough patience to do. Teaching our little ones all the things that we had to learn oh so many years ago. You are a  super hero of sorts. You must be. You do all the things super hero's do except without a cape. Thank you for being such a wonderful teacher to Sloan. I hope you have a Merry Christmas with your family and a very happy New Year.

Yours Truly,

Summer Swanson

Here is "Amsterdam" in its photo album. I added the 2008 because there was too much empty space in the corner once I placed the illustration in the sleeve. All I need to do is wrap it up and its ready to go. Only 4 more gifts to go.

First of the Handmade Christmas Gifts

This little guy will be placed in the cover of a lovely red leather photo album. The album is for my brother in law and his wife. They went to Amsterdam for Thanksgiving. What do you get for the people that can pretty much get what they need or want? I figure everyone loves photo albums. At least I hope so. I will post a picture of the illustration in the album tomorrow when I have better light. Well I'm off to start on the sketch for the next Christmas gift. I would have started it tonight, but I just looked at the clock. Oh my!

The Most Important Thing

Yes this was one of the most important things I did today. Snuggle time with my Zoe. We laughed and giggled. We made silly faces and when we were done taking pictures we both closed our eyes and took a snuggly winters nap. It was a perfect way to spend an afternoon. How blessed I truly am for moments like these.

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree.......

I really was going for one of those classic "under the Christmas tree" photos here. You know the kind you find in your parents photo albums? The little ones are still a little too wiggly. I will try again next year. Although I must say this picture of Sloan makes me laugh. She is such a goof ball.

Aris was mesmerized by the tree. She even helped to put up ornament. I think this is the reason she hasn't tried to take any of them off. They aren't mysterious anymore.

Sloan choreographed a series of photos, this was one of them, "Ok Zoe, now lets do like this by the tree, no over here. Ok Mom take the picture." It was very funny.

A holiday tradition every kid can't resist, the annual shaking of the gifts.

It is silly that it took a Christmas tree to make me feel the spirit of Christmas. There are so many who have so little. I will be working on some handmade gifts tonight. Just a few more days until we leave for San Diego. I miss all of my family so much, I can hardly wait to see everyone on Saturday. Only wish my parents and siblings lived closer. 

Aris' version of Christmas Carols

It's a little jumpy, but you can tell by the look on her sweet little face, she is serious about her Christmas music.

I Found the Spirit of Christmas Folks & all it Cost me was $7.50

Here she is. The tree we weren't going to get. The beauty that we always say we don't "need" because we won't be here for Christmas. Man oh man, may I tell you what a difference a tree makes? Dean found trees at The Home Depot for $7.50. We just couldn't pass that deal up. It was such a treat. Dean took Sloan & he let her pick it out. She did an awesome job. We are going to decorate tonight. It's beginning to "feel" a lot like Christmas. Yes it finally is.

Holiday Humbug

I am really having a hard time getting into the holiday spirit this year. What is my deal? Is there anyone else who is dealing with this dilemma? Where are you Christmas & why can't I find you?

*Image found here

The ol' Swaparooni

Can you tell we love to read? I still need to paint the house bookshelf & add curtains to the windows. I will save this project for a warm weather day.

So I apologize for all the pictures of mass chaos. The room seriously looks like a bomb went off. I still wanted to share the "room swap" that we did with our girls. We have a two bedroom home. Dean and I pretty much just sleep and get dressed in our room so it made sense to us to move the girls into the master bedroom and us into the smaller room. Can I tell you how much I love sleeping in a room with no children? Its nice. Dean and I can talk again before we go to sleep and we don't have to worry about waking up a baby. It's also nice when we kiss and stuff, uhm uhm, that there is no longer a little head popping up yelling, MOMMA! Yes this room swap is nice.

I still need two toy chests. I am going to sketch up my ideas in the hopes that Dean will oblige my creative request. A normal size toy chest wouldn't work. The girls need more of a toy chest/window seat to store all of the stuffed animals and dolls in. A second one is needed to store all the toys. Three girls, three age groups, 8 years of toys, you do the math. This is the reason I tell people my girls really don't need anything. They can hardly play with all the toys that they have. I have however gone through their toys and donated what is no longer played with & we are very good about buying things to go along with the "sets" of toys they already have. 

Our new room is small, but cozy. I will admit even when I was a little girl I never dreamed of vest giant rooms with lots of space to put things. No I always played that I lived in small spaces with cozy walls and comfy tiny rooms. Thankfully for me. Ever since I moved from home I have lived in smaller circumstances. Even though it would be nice to have one more bedroom & a laundry room, I would never want a huge giant house.
I still have a lot of things to do in our new room. I found a paint color I would love to paint the walls, a pottery barn color. But we have a ton of unused paint in the garage so I will work with what we have. I can't wait to hang some of the artwork that I have had in storage and I really can't wait to post the "after" pictures. In the mean time I am sure to have a good time working with my newest blank canvas.

Speaking of Giveaways................

Zana over at Sitting Pretty Studio is hosting a most wonderful giveaway. She will give one lucky person a hand painted one of a kind portrait of their pup/pet/woodland critter. I love her beautiful watercolor portraits. They are reminiscent of a more innocent time. Run on over and check out her lovely giveaway. Don't forget to leave a comment and pass the word along on your own blog. 

Thrift Store Finds & the big Switcharoo

My little calf with a cheerful woodland creature. $3. I put this little cutie in the girls room. You can't see it, but it is sitting on my set of hand embroidered napkins with matching place mats. They are in mint condition and I got them all for less than $4. 

I couldn't believe I found this. It was almost too much. Look at the cuteness here. Yes that is the original "Sears" tag on the vintage coat I bought for Aris. It was a little over $3, but well worth it. It is still new, never worn and I love that cute little tassel on the hood. Any ideas on how old this jacket is? I am guessing from the print and zipper and pattern on the fabric::late 60's early 70's. Do any of you know?

This is my find of the night. $6. Vintage, so freaky its cute, elephant cookie jar. It is hard to find these in good condition. I have been looking for a cookie jar for a while now & I was so happy to give this little guy a home. My friend that I was shopping with, lets just say she had a good laugh. I get a little silly when it comes to thrift stores. I forgot how much fun they are. I used to go all the time before I had kids and even when Sloan was little. I love to buy unique and vintage items. It's fun to look for that one piece you just have to have. My yard sale/thrift store/antique store rules to shop::I only buy things I love. Period. Why would I want to fill my house with more junk I am just going to get rid of in a few months or a year. I try to find things I am going to enjoy indefinitely. I am also a little picky, I won't buy anything if its damaged, or stained. You can always find things you love that are in good condition. Sometimes you might have to wait, and look. Then the "find" is all the more sweet.

So what's going on here? A little sneak peak? A before? Where's the after? Well those will be coming soon. As soon as my little ones stop coughing, sniffeling, sneezing & throwing up. It could take a while folks. Until then.........happy hunting for all your hidden thrift store treasures.

Thank You!!!!!!!!!

I wanted to take a few minutes to say thank you to my lovely friend Lori over at Morning Glories and Moon Flowers for sending this cute little button bracelet my way. Lori makes these cute bracelets and sells them in her ETSY shop. She also does custom made to order jewelry. Her bracelets would make a perfect gift for someone on your shopping list. I love these two colors together. I can't wait to wear it during the upcoming holiday. Thanks Lori for all your kindness. If you haven't had the pleasure of visiting Lori's blog yet, you should. She is such a fun and talented person. 

Last but not Least

I figured I would post the last of the weekend pictures for now. I am a little sad that I have no pictures of me with just my dad. Not one. Next time I will have to get a couple. 

Bumma & Aris

Sloan's Baptism

Dean, Sloan & I

Kirstin, Abby, Sloan Zoe & I

The whole bunch of us!

So we have been a little busy around here. I can't wait to post pictures of what all the fuss and muss has been about, but seriously it has been a lot of work. It is so worth it. Although we have been busy I thought I would start to post some of the pictures form our amazing weekend. I will do them in segments due to the pure volume. So many good memories. 

 

My parents came for a long weekend. My dad has wanted to fly out so he could baptize Sloan for quite a while. My parents were able to get a great deal on some tickets and it was so fun to have them here. My dad baptized Sloan on Saturday and it was so special to have family and friends share in this special day. A special day for a very special 8 year old. Sloan was so excited to have her Poppop baptize her. After her baptism we all went out for a most delicious meal. Deans dad David came up for the weekend also. My dad was able to meet Dean and David for the first time. It was so much fun to have all the family around. It just makes me miss them all the more now that they are gone. Thank goodness for Christmas. We will be back in San Diego in a little under two weeks. 

Weekend Full of Family Fun.

My parents and father in law all came into town this weekend. We are having a super fun time. I will post some pictures tomorrow. At the moment I am just to stuffed (we ate the most delicious meal tonight) and exhausted (too much fun going on) to download all the photos I have taken. Hope everyone is having as much fun this weekend as I am.