Holiday Trimmings

We certainly went out with a bang this year.  You could say our family was super busy by our standards.  I think in total we had and attended a total of 7 parties.  By January first I was completely knackered!  All my extra energy that I had went towards chasing baby Kate at houses that were not baby proof and chasing the kitten away from ornaments.  Who keeps China tea pots on lower levels of shelves anyway?  My father wanted to know why there were no ornaments on the lower half of the tree.  I will give you two guesses; one craps in a box and the other craps in her pants {with diaper}.


There was a nice fresh centerpiece made from borrowed tree tips from the forest placed in a wooden plant box and filled with silver balls.  We added tea lights and pine cones and Ana ruined 3/4 of our display in a matter of minutes.  I walked my daughter to school and returned to a dining room full of smashed silver balls and pulverized cones.   I should have taken a picture but had to scramble quickly to get the glass off the floor before baby Kate stepped in it.  Ana kitten did cut herself because I noticed the fresh white tablecloth had a couple bloody paw prints on it.  I just ironed it the night before!
I had a special present from Sweden to open and my family was just bugging me everyday to open.
That was really fun to exchange gifts.  I sent Maria a pewter ornament with our provincial bird and flower; the chickadee and purple violet.  I have the exact same one so we have matching ornaments.
I also made her a red and white banner.  She was supposed to get the handmade tags but the wrong ones were put in and she ended up with factory tags with English phrases of Merry Christmas.  She sent me some lovely goodies including some of her photography.  I have yet to take photos of what she sent so I will have to do that at another time.  She sent a cute craft for me and Megan to work on and a necklace that I will wear for my upcoming Birthday party.  She also sent a heart shaped soap which I think you can see in the silver bells photo above.  When things settle back to schedule and school begins I can use nap time to write thank you notes.   Thanks so much Maria!  Tack så mycket!

{peppermint, polka dots pennant}

Happy New Year!
~Beck