AN EARLY START: OUR FIRST CHRISTMAS TREE & DIY ORNAMENTS

This past weekend, we put up our Christmas tree! Yes, November 9th is admittedly a little early, but it's our first tree, and we don't really know if we'll be home for Christmas or not. Baby 2 is due a few days before Christmas, and it all depends on when she arrives. But mostly, these are just excuses. I love Christmas and I wanted to put my tree up!

Thaddeus loved every minute of it. Even now, he keeps saying "WOW!" every morning when he sees the tree all lit up. And I mean a BIG "WOW!!!!". It's probably the cutest thing ever, and I reeeally hope I can catch him on camera!

Sadly, however, these beautiful glass ornaments didn't make the cut. I got them as a gift at one of my bridal showers, and since we have never had a tree, I've never been able to use them. I brought them here from Ottawa this summer with much anticipation, but of course, once I dropped one we decided we should probably wait a few years before they make an appearance on the tree! I had to snap some shots though, because they are just so pretty!

But there's nothing more that I love than handmade things. So this year, I got my craft on and made a bunch of decorations. I love love love our tree so much!

This last ornament was one that someone made for us for a bridal shower gift. Love it!

Our biggest challenge was the "tree skirt". We didn't have one... so we had to be creative! I had bought some sweet Christmas burlap from Michaels to wrap around the tree but I had only enough to wrap around half the tree. Oops! Not like I can just run to Michaels and pick up some more! (The closest Michaels is 3 hours away...). So Mark thought we could try to use it for the tree skirt. All it needed was one of my scarves underneath, and it worked perfectly! 

We had such a blast putting it up, and Mark did a great job letting me do all the ornaments while Thaddeus slept! Hehe. He knows me so well! So happy it's up, and we are really enjoying having it lit at night while we watch a movie or a show (Gilmore Girls!) on our new TV!

Have you put your tree up super early too?

FOUR

Today, we celebrate four amazing years of marriage. We are blessed beyond measure, and falling in love more and more every day!

"Wherever you go, I will go; wherever you live, I will live. Your people will be my people and your God will be my God". Ruth 1:16

DAW

"Daw, mama? Daw?" have recently become the first words out of little bear's mouth when he enters the kitchen in the morning. Every morning. And then after naps. And when we get home from being out. But it mostly means that he wants me to draw, while he tells me what to draw! Yes, there are scribbles here and there, which are cute, but he really just loves telling me what to do! It's pretty amazing though, because he now can recognize a few symbols: heart, sun, star, moon... and many animals as well. Of course I think he's brilliant!

His (or our, I suppose) artwork is warming up this little corner of our kitchen and I love it so. I recently came across a wonderful idea to take pictures of every piece of artwork and make them into a photo album down the road. So I have only been keeping a few choice drawings up at a time, and saving photos of all the rest. I just bought some finger paints and a painter's smock so we will get started on some messier projects in the days to come. I hope to frame some, and get a couple canvases as well.

The little artiste himself!

Have a great week friends!

INDIAN SUMMER

One of the elders in our community said to Mark, that "this is what we call an Indian summer". The past two weeks have been nothing but warm weather and sunshine, which is quite a change from the last two years we have lived up north. We had a little rain today and they're calling for more tomorrow, but I won't complain! The longer the snow stays away, the better!

We have taken the opportunity that the weather has given us to enjoy as much time as we can exploring the outdoors to take in the sights, the smells, the sounds, and the incomparable crunch of fallen leaves. Thaddeus comes alive when he is free to explore the world around him and experience many of these senses for the first time. It is a marvel and a mama's joy to watch him as he makes each new discovery. 

My heart and soul are so so happy that we are actually experiencing a proper autumn up here this year. This week I've been noticing the overwhelming, beautiful smells of the season. It brings me right back home to Ottawa where autumn seems most magical. Outside - the ground, the wet leaves, the chimney smoke in the air; and Inside - the baking, the pumpkin chai tea, the scented candles. I close my eyes as often as I can remember - to inhale and exhale as slowly as I can - taking it all in before it's gone. Autumn smells so good. Oh how blessed we are to live in this creation!

Thaddeus' molars have been coming through on top and bottom gums, and he has been one really tough cookie. Today was the first time since they have been pushing their way through that I have given him any Advil, and it has been weeks now. He has been extra fussy and has gone back to two naps a day. I won't pretend that my patience wasn't tested more than once today! But there is truly no better pain relief and calm-down strategy than getting outside. It has quickly become my first choice of soothing methods, and if you are ever at a loss with your fussy or teething toddler/baby, I highly suggest you give it a try!

I hope that you too have been able to enjoy the season, and I urge you to take advantage of all that autumn has to give before she is gone. Sleep well, and have yourselves a very happy Friday friends! And we are sending out a very special happy birthday wish to Papa Ardley! ♥

ADRIANNA'S DEBUT

My dear and talented friend Adrianna has asked me to help her out by spreading the word about her debut solo fiddle album Kickstarter campaign. At this point she's just about half way to her financial goal, with just over two weeks to go! It's all or nothing, so please come and visit her Kickstarter page to learn more about the project, donate, and share. She is an amazing artist with a ton of talent, who deserves to be heard. Let's help her out and celebrate the beauty of this music!

About Adrianna:

Boston-based fiddler & step dancer Adrianna Ciccone is quickly establishing herself as a distinctive voice in the new-acoustic music scene. Her style, while rooted in the Ottawa Valley & Québecois fiddle traditions, continues to be inspired by the many different regional fiddles styles of Canada and the world including Appalachian, Métis, Cape Breton, Irish, Scottish & Scandinavian music. 

Adrianna’s desire to explore new musical languages is reflected in her compositions and arrangements which draw from traditions of the past while forging a unique musical identity.  She has written over 40 fiddle tunes, and her compositions have started to enter the repertoire of traditional musicians throughout North America. 

  

 “What makes her extraordinary is her gift of not just technical virtuosity, but the ability and desire to try new ideas, musical languages and make the instrument truly speak."  - Bruce Molsky

This distinctive style has brought the Timmins, ON native many awards and achievements.  She is a Maritime Open Fiddle Champion & American Grand Masters Fiddle Championship Finalist.  Adrianna’s arrangement of Québecois fiddle tunes for string orchestra was played by Berklee World Strings during their 2014 United States tour, in which she was a featured soloist. 

  

Adrianna is also an active & experienced instructor.  For nearly a decade she has been passing on Canada's rich musical heritage to students of all ages and levels.  She maintains a lively studio in both Northern Ontario & Boston, as well as throughout North America via Skype Video lessons. 

In May 2014 Adrianna graduated magna cum laude from the Berklee College of Music with a degree in Professional Music & a minor in American Roots Music.  She is recording her debut studio album in January 2015.

(Excerpt from her website)

GIVING THANKS

If you were celebrating the holiday this past weekend, I hope you were surrounded by some yummy food, good company, and lots of joy. We spent Saturday preparing our contributions to the dinner: apple crisp (and ice cream), sweet potato casserole, caesar salad (bagged...), and of course, stovetop stuffing. Although we dearly missed our families back in Ontario, we had a wonderfully mellow, but perfectly complete Saturday night Thanksgiving dinner with our Beauval family. There was plenty of laughter, full bellies, sleepy children, and leftovers to be had (which on our part, were had quickly and joyfully). I couldn't help but think of Joey from Friends as I ate my turkey dinner, thankful to be wearing maternity (or Thanksgiving) pants.

On Sunday, Mark, Thaddeus and I enjoyed spending the whole day with one another, which included a Thanksgiving walk in the sunshine around Beauval. It wasn't exactly a walk in Gatineau park, but we sure do live in a beautiful place. The weekend left me feeling very, very grateful.

In other news, I have been feeling for a while now that Thaddeus may be nearing the stage where he will go down only for one nap a day. Well, today marks the beginning of that stage, although I don't know if I'm ready for it! Over the past month or so he has been quite easy to put down for a morning nap, but not quite ready for an afternoon nap. It was definitely beginning to be a bit of a struggle to get him down the second time. So this morning, I finally bit the bullet and decided to push his morning nap as long as I could. Piece of cake, Hallelujah!!! Mind you, we are in the city right now and we spent the morning at WalMart and Value Village (side note: I totally found a Thyme Maternity winter coat for $20!!! I am over the moon!) so I think all that excitement made it easy. We had a quick lunch back at the hotel, and he was out by 11:55. It's almost been an hour now, and I'm hoping I'll get a solid two out of him. Then we'll push through to bed time. So far, so good! Hopefully he'll have a great night's sleep and tomorrow will be just as easy. Here's hoping!

Have a happy Wednesday!

AUTUMN CRAFTING

Making crafts with a 15-month-old isn't exactly the easiest thing in the world. While he is slightly more interested than he was last month, I must say I do look forward to the day when a hand will stay still long enough to trace it, paint isn't ingested, paper isn't ripped and the crayons stay at the table. But, 'tis the season, and it's special in it's own way. Thaddeus' attention doesn't usually hold long enough to finish a project in one go, so we are always going back and adding on. A true artist's work is never finished! It also takes a little imagination on my part to complete something like this autumn  hand-print wreath.

I first took out a few pieces of fall-coloured paper and we scribbled on them with some crayons. That was one day weeks ago! Then, we happened to visit daycare one morning when they were doing an apple print craft. We managed to make a few apple prints, but settled with hand prints for the most part. Out of those hand prints, I was able to trace and cut out more hand prints from our coloured paper. Because trying to trace Thaddeus' hand on a piece of paper was pretty much impossible. Cheating perhaps? Hmm, I'll go with resourceful.

And then of course, I did the rest. I cut out his hand prints and glued them to a ring I made out of cardboard. It would have probably been easier to use a paper plate, but I didn't have one. Turned out great though, I think! I'm sure I'll be putting it up for years to come.

We've also been doing quite a bit of colouring. We don't have a printer, and I need to get to the library to print out some colouring pages! For now, I make them myself with a black sharpie. It works! I'm also hoping to pick up some paints this week in the city so we can start experimenting with those as well! Next up though, I plan on making some play-dough, and some salt-dough Christmas decoration. We'll see how that all goes!

Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and a great start to a short week! :)

HOLDING ON TO FALL

October keeps hold of some of the last precious moments of fall here in Beauval. I would not be at all surprised if the first days of winter are upon us by the end of the month. We are making most of the sunny, snow-less days and preparing for the long winter ahead. All the winter gear has been organized in our front closet and mudroom, as we are now adding a layer or two when we venture outside. Our spare bedroom is half way finished being cleaned out and the next step is to arrange all the furniture to make room for baby number two. 

We've been talking to Thaddeus quite a bit about the baby growing in my belly, and he seems to be catching on. He probably understands more than we think he would. We are all loving Baby On The Way and What Baby Needs by Dr. Sears. If you are expecting a new baby and looking for some good reads for your children, I highly recommend these books. They are full of helpful information for children of all ages!

Lately, Thaddeus has been falling asleep for all his naps on my belly. He always asks me to "open" (lift) my shirt so he can see baby sister. He loves to rub his hands over my belly and snuggle his cheek on my warm skin as we rock together in the glider. Now that he has felt her move a few times, he has been asking me throughout the day if "baby move?", and to be honest, I sometimes make my tummy jump on purpose because he gets so excited! But I think it also helps him understand that there really is someone in there. It really is the sweetest thing. 

I can't say enough how much I am enjoying this season of life. It's really busy, and I still feel some fear creep on me every once and a while, but overall I am having a blast. I am so blessed and I love my growing family so much. Plus, it's really nice that the past few days have actually felt like fall. After my last post about how October was my favourite month, it snowed. Thank goodness it has warmed back up again, even if just for a little while. I also got my David's tea order (thanks M!) this week and my morning cup of Pumpkin Chai tea has seemed to make things even better. I've been letting it steep extra long, because the smell warms my home and my heart. Oh fall, please don't go too soon!

"O hushed October morning mild, 

Thy leaves have ripened to the fall; 

Tomorrow's wind, if it be wild,

Should waste them all. 

The crows above the forest call; 

Tomorrow they may form and go. 

O hushed October morning mild, 

Begin the hours of this day slow. 

Make the day seem to us less brief. 

Hearts not averse to being beguiled, 

Beguile us in the way you know. 

Release one leaf at break of day; 

At noon release another leaf; 

One from our trees, one far away."

 -   Robert Frost, October