The One With the Fruity Valentines (+ Free Printable)

Every year when Valentine's roles around and my kids want to give out those licensed Valentines from the grocery store I try to talk them into something more fun and creative. And this year we finally came to an agreement when I designed these little cards and we washi taped up some little paper bags of cuteness. Also, I love puns, especially fruity ones, as you can see. 

"You are simply sub-LIME and I like your smile." is my favorite. Also, "Hey you, ORANGE you cute!" I was really hoping to find a peach graphic so I could say, "you're such a peach and I'm glad we're friends." But alas, I didn't find a peach graphic. Maybe next time.

You could put really anything inside. We gave mini homemade cookies (like these Frosted Brownie Cookies) to our friends, because everything is better when it's mini. But their school has a weird rule about not allowing homemade things for events like this, so the girls packaged theirs up with little Valentine's erasers or chocolates. I think these would be the cutest with flower seeds inside or even Sour Patch gummies or other fruity candies like Starbursts. (If you are going to put in something baked like brownies or cookies, I suggest wrapping them in clear plastic wrap first, or the oils will bleed through the paper sacks.)

Of course, you could attach these to ziplock bags of actual fruit for a healthy snack! Except maybe not limes... I don't know how well those would be appreciated.

I made the design using graphics by AF Studio via their Octavia Font on Creative Market. (Can I send a Valentine to Creative Market? I love them so.) Watercolor textures used for the fruit names are via Watercolor Texture Pack.

And guess what? I made all this into a free printable for you! Isn't that so nice of me? You know, just in case you're procrastinating about Valentine's Day and your kids are expected to bring something on Friday. You can get it here. Just download, print on white cardstock and cut along grey lines, then every 2 inches to separate each card (final product should be about 2x3.5" - standard business card size). Tape onto something cute, or just sign your name and you're good to go!

Happy Day of Love and Chocolate and Snail Mail! (It's my favorite.)

Additional sources:
Mini paper bags - 3x4" (shown) or 4x6", available at most craft stores

The One With the Valentine's Frosted Brownie Cookies

If you've known me long enough, you know that I like Valentine's Day. A lot. A friend of mine theorized that we are all very fond of the holidays closest to our birthdays, and maybe that's why I like it so much. Or maybe it's because Valentine's Day is a good excuse to break up the bleary wintery days with pretty notes and chocolate and heart confetti. And to try to talk your children out of store-bought valentines in exchange for complicated handmade ones that are not going to turn out as you are currently envisioning. Sigh. 

But let's get to the point. I made these cookies for Superbowl as a little test. And they passed the test. So I think I will be making more and sending them as valentines to friends near and far. And so should you. Or you could just make some and eat them all yourself. That would also be a good idea. 

Frosted Brownie Cookies
Makes 12 large cookies. Adapted from Sweetapolita.

For the Cookies

• 1 1/2 cups high quality semisweet chocolate chips
• 3 Tablespoons butter
• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 2 Tablespoons Dutch cocoa powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

For the Frosting

• 1/2 cup high quality milk chocolate chips
• 1/4 cup high quality semisweet chocolate chips
• 2 Tablespoons butter
• 1 teaspoon corn syrup

Sprinkles of Choice (I like these.) 

Preheat oven to 325 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a double boiler (heat proof bowl in a pot of water, 1 inch deep), melt the butter and 1 cup of chocolate chips over medium heat, being sure not to let the water boil or spill into the heat proof bowl (if water gets into the melting chocolate it will cause the chocolate to "freeze" and be unusable). Stir every so often until melted and smooth. 

Meanwhile, use a fork to sift together the flour, baking powder and salt in a separate bowl. Set aside. 

In another bowl, use an electric mixer to beat together the sugar, eggs and vanilla until well combined and smooth. Add the chocolate mixture to this and beat together on medium speed until well incorporated. Add the flour mixture in 3 increments, beating on low between each increment. Finally, stir in the remaining 1/2 cup of chocolate chips.

Use an ice cream scoop to scoop out six dollops of batter and place two inches apart on baking sheet. These will spread in the oven, so be sure to give them plenty of room. Bake for 10-12 minutes, until the cookies have a cracked appearance. (Do not overcook or the cookies will dry out and taste chalky.) Let cool on pan for 10 minutes, and then on a wire rack for another 10.  Repeat to make the last six cookies. 

After the two batches are cooled, make the frosting. In a double boiler, melt the chocolate chips, butter and corn syrup together, stirring occasionally until smooth. Use a knife to spread the frosting onto one half of each of the cookies and then add sprinkles generously.

Wrap them up all prettily and send them to everyone you love. I'm sure they'll like them.

P.S. These cookies are very rich, so you don't need to send a whole batch to each person.

The One With the Famous Women Dress Ups

 On Monday, the girls had "Dress Like a Famous Person Day" at their school. I would not be convinced that a Disney princess counted as a famous person. I'll give them that some of the princesses are based on real people who did do things for which they deserve fame. But Ellie wanted to be Aurora. And Aurora just took a one hundred year nap and then got kissed. Not very fame-worthy, in my book. 

So we came up with different famous women to emulate for this day. You know, so they can be all empowered to be strong women who know that they have value and are smart and talented and that their minds and hearts are more important than their looks. And all that good stuff. 

When I suggested to Ellie that she could be Louisa May Alcott, the author of Little Women, she actually got very excited. We are reading (and almost done with) Little Women right now. And Ellie keeps asking me to read the part where the dad comes home to everyone who comes over to our house. She thinks it's a lovely scene. 

She has a hard time pronouncing "Louisa" so she just said her name was Jo March, since Little Women is semi-autobiographical and Louisa was the real life Jo of her family of four sisters. 

I made Ellie's skirt using this tutorial and then we paired it with an Old Navy blouse and jacket. I was glad to put that fabric my grandmother gave me to good use. It's kind of perfect for this occasion. She was very proud of it and wrote in her notebook all day like a real author. 

Olivia got pretty excited about being Amelia Earhart and liked to tell everyone she flies planes over oceans. She borrowed her outfit from Henry, who is lucky and always gets cool pilot gear. Olivia was so excited to be Amelia that I even convinced her to wear pants for the first time in about two years. It's usually only leggings and dresses for that girl. Also, she is lucky because she is tiny enough to fit into a 2T pilot's jacket. She's just itty bitty. 

I'm glad that in the end they had fun dressing up as women of substance. Women who matter are just as fun to pretend to be as pretty girls with good singing voices. Maybe I should create a dress up line of costumes for historical super-heroines. Boys can have Batman, we'll have Florence Nightingale and Marie Curie. Yes. I think that would be fun. 

One last picture of Ellie showing all her beautiful baby teeth. One of those bottom ones is loose now and I'm panicking a little. I don't want her to start loosing teeth. And not only because teeth really gross me out. But also because then she will be a real Big Kid. 

The One With Georgia's Winter Portraits

So the nice thing about having a gorgeous sister who is a senior in high school is that she offers lots of opportunities to practice senior portraits. When we visited at Christmas it snowed and I love pictures in the snow, so pictures seemed like a great idea. Plus, hanging out with Georgia is pretty much the best. 

Isn't she such a babe? And she's so kind and smart and strong to boot.  It's so good to see her grow into this confident, thoughtful woman. I hope she comes to live in Portland for college so that my daughters can have another wonderful role model. I would be proud for them to grow up to be like her. 

Love you, Georgia. Like, seriously, a lot.

The One With the Homemade Holiday Gifts

As much as possible, I really love to give handmade gifts. But I also really want to give practical gifts that people enjoy. People not liking the gifts I give them is one of my biggest fears in life. (So if I gave you something you hate, please just regift/donate/toss it without telling me. Or maybe tell me so I can do better next time? Idon'tknowanymore.)

Anyway, last Christmas Henry was the crankiest ever and so I just didn't have much time or ability to put into thoughtful gifts, and it wasn't very fun. I felt bad getting really creative, wonderful gifts and giving a gift card in return. Sad day. This year Henry was more cooperative and I finally felt that I had the time and creative energy to make a lot of the gifts we gave.

I discovered the wonder that is Creative Market, which enabled me to do most of these projects. I got all the elements from various artists there (see source list at bottom of post), and just got to design them in whatever way I wanted.  And it was really fun! I hope the recipients appreciated getting them at least half as much as I enjoyed making them!

Here's a sample of a few things I made this year:

^^ I made these family crests for three couples and paired two of them with one or the other

 of the feather wreathed quotes. I got to see  the first two hung up in Stephanie Stucke's 

adorable New Hampshire apartment and it totally made my day! 

 ^^ I made this initially for my friend Betsy's birthday. Then I made a copy for my mom. 

And one for me, because this is such a good reminder. 

 ^^ I made this for my sister-in-law Emily's birthday. This one is extra special because it 

has the names of each family member printed in the feathers of the arrows. 

I love it. Might need to print one of our family. 

^^ This quote (or possibly collection of quotes?) by Theodore Roosevelt is displayed in the 

foyer of the Museum of Natural History in New York City. I fell in love with it while we 

were there and was so happy to make this print for my son's room. It turned out so well that 

I thought I'd give it to a few other boys I know. 

^^ This one went to a friend who loves feathers and brings people a lot of hope. Love you, Jo!

^^Each print was framed up in various ways. I tried to frame them to match any existing decor 

of the person/family to receive them. 

Yay or nay these prints? I'm really loving all this natural/woodsy theme that seems to be popular right now.

If you're interested in a personalized copy of any of these for yourself, contact me! I love to make these things!

Creative Market Design Sources:
Say Less Font // Just Be Cool Font // Watercolor Texture Pack // Watercolor Flower DIY Pack Vol. 2 // Watercolor Wedding Collection One and Two

Hello, 2015

Everyone does these "looking back on the previous year" posts, and so I'm going to do one, too.

2014 was a great year. A hard year and a wonderful year and a year of adventure and simplicity and enough. Really learning that I have enough. That I am enough.  I think that over this past year I've gained a better perspective on myself, all my faults and talents, of my job as a mother and a wife, learning to accept that there are bad days, that I have a bad temper, and then praying for peace as I approach each situation.

Each New Year's Eve we spend a little time as a family reflecting on the past year, and telling each other things we have loved most about each one throughout this past year. Usually the kids don't pay much attention, but this time, whenever it was someone's turn to say what they love about Ellie, she turned so intently to them, soaking up every word of love and encouragement they had for her. She was so eager to know what her family loved about her. It melted me a little bit. To see her growing into this person, a person who is so kind, compassionate and also passionate, who is knowledgeable and lovable and loving.

My kids, in general, have been especially grand this year. Henry turned from a very cranky 9-month-old, to a more well-adjust 1-year-old. I feel like we understand each other a lot better now. And now he's the perfect "littlest" for our family. He's learned to talk so much since the Christmas season! I guess Christmas is a great time to encourage talking because then he can ask things like, "I want candy cane." and "Please help stuck." about his new toys. He's super snuggly and goes around hugging everyone all the time. It's the best. My favorite thing he does is when he climbs up into my arms with a toy and then just hangs out there as long as he can, fully enveloped in my arms, fully content to be beside me.

Olivia is our little light. This past year has brought on a more uneven temper for her. But she is still our snuggle bug who just wants you to be with her. I always say to the kids, "I'm going to keep you forever." and she has started saying it back to me randomly, "Mama, I'm just going to keep you forever." She is so imaginative and bright. There is always a new story playing in her head. She loves to sing and draw and practice her letters. She is the perfect intermediate child, playing so well with the cars and trains and also the dress-ups and princesses. She and Ellie can certainly get on each other's nerves, but it is always clear that they love each other very deeply. They are always taking care of each other and reporting on the other's needs and talking for hours into every night. (Which always makes me curious as to what they have to talk about for so long? I need a Go Pro or something to figure that one out.)

And Ellie. Ellie is my star. When Henry was littler and more, ahem, difficult, she had to take on the role of caring and getting less care of her own. I feel terrible, being the older sister myself, and knowing that she was taking on too much responsibility because I needed her help. Her needs grow less and less tangible and immediate, and so the ones who are crying for food or sleep get taken care of first. But when she started school again this fall we began reading chapter books every day. I've read A Little Princess and Little House in the Big Woods and we are almost done with Little Women. (And perhaps we should break out of the "Little" titles - 101 Dalmatians, Charlotte's Web and her Kit books are next on the queue). How I have loved this time with her. Definitely there are afternoons where I'm just tired and don't want to read to her, but it's the one time of day that is just hers. She snuggles up to me and we read and talk about what we are reading and then you're bound to hear me reference the books we're reading a little too often. Mallory can attest to the number of times I've started a sentence with, "Well, in Little Women".... I have really seen her blossom during this time together. Ellie is becoming so thoughtful, changing more and more to have her own thoughts and ideas. She is creative and pays attention to the details of things. She loves and listens and laughs readily.  And she cares so deeply for her brother and sister. She never wants to grow up (which she reminds us of daily) and I never want her to.

I am learning more and more each day to be patient, to let the little things go, to realize that I don't have the perfect way to do things, to let them be kids because they don't get to be for very long. I have embraced imperfection a lot more this year, learned to not apologize if my house isn't always clean, because we're living and loving and being here, and it would be a shame to interfere with all that for cleaning. (Although we do clean sometimes. Usually before people come over, because my mother taught me that was the polite thing to do. And also, it's gotta be cleaned sometime I guess. But if you drop by unannounced, do not be surprised if there are toys and laundry everywhere.) My motto recently has been, "The secret to a fabulous life is to live imperfectly with great delight." So what if I just cannot be organized and creative at the same time? So what if I can't make up my mind? So what if I sometimes say the wrong thing? So what?

I think we live in a world bent on perfection, or at least the facade of perfection, but really, it is the anomalies, the outliers that bring beauty. Someone photographed on Humans of New York Instagram said, in reference to her boyfriend, "I love everything about him. The good. The bad. Everything."  At first is struck me as odd, loving the bad about someone. But as I've thought about it, that's what love really is, isn't it? Accepting and opening up to someone completely, flaws and all. Loving them because of their flaws, instead of in spite of them.

One of my favorite speeches of all time is by the comedian Tim Minchin. He's got a lot of great advice in there, but one of the things I like most is when he talks about defining yourself by what you like instead of what you don't like. I think there can be a tendency to say, "I don't like this or that," and that can become what people know about you. But wouldn't it be better to be known by what you love? What you're passionate about? "Be pro-stuff, not just anti-stuff." And by stuff, he/I don't mean actual tangible things like clutter or whatever, but stuff like art or serving or teaching or loving. Let's be pro-living, pro-being, pro-people.

So this year, I have no resolutions like "exercise more" (because if I feel the need to do that I should start that day and not wait for a new year to come). Instead, this year, I want to just embrace. Embrace life in whatever way it comes to me. Embrace imperfections in myself and others. Embrace beauty and hope and pain. Embrace life in all it's bumpiness, all it's rough edges and quiet strength.

Around here, our little family can't get enough of life. We're always trying to squeeze in a little extra by talking late into the night or having a pizza movie night or singing Frozen karaoke until our ears bleed. We're going to keep doing that this year. Not waiting for special occasions to throw a party or show affection, because our whole life is a special occasion. Today is our someday.

The One With the Snow Pictures

So, it's pretty much been my dream to take those frosty, beautiful snow pictures of my kids for... well, ever. Now that there are three of them I have been dreaming and wishing for snow pictures for our Christmas card. Last year there was no good snow until after Christmas. And this year wasn't looking promising until we were in Idaho for Thanksgiving and on Saturday it miraculously and unexpectedly started dumping snow. Those big, white, fluffy flakes that make for beautiful icing and pretty lighting. It was perfect. I imagined beautiful woodsy photos with those big trees or even baby snowman pictures like these. So I rounded up the kids and put them in the clothes I had been saving for such an occasion. And when it was just the girls, everything was working out nicely.

Pretty, right?

And then we tried to add Henry.

Apparently, Henry hates the snow. Oh, he oohed and aahed over it from inside. He kept pointing outside excitedly and saying, "NO! NO!" (but meaning "snow".) (Even while I write this post he is looking at the pictures and happily chattering about the "no".) But we took him outside and he put one hand on that cold, beautiful, white stuff and freaked out. Screamed in terror and clung for dear life to dad. And when we set him down again he cried  and cried. We even tried to bribe him with a doughnut, but to no avail. Fun times, right?

So, my dreams of beautiful snow pictures are dashed. Maybe next year? How can I help my child love snow in the meantime? We don't get quite enough of it here in Portland to do any kind of gradual introduction therapy.

Slightly more happy if the snow is not touching him.

So, from my family to yours:

Merry Christmas to the Snow Haters Everywhere!

And also, if you love snow, we hope you have a Merry Christmas, too.

P.S. Enough people thought this was funny enough to be our actual Christmas card this year, and so I went with it. It's a good reminder that nothing about this life right now is perfect, it's messy and somewhat chaotic, but I wouldn't change it for the world. I'm grateful to be here, to have these three (crazy) kids and a family full of personality. It won't be like this for long, but I'm embracing every part of having little ones as fully as I can. And, they're pretty cute, which certainly helps.

Merry, merry Christmas!