Last year, I decided to make going to the Nutcracker a family tradition. This year, Greta was deemed old enough and we all went. We went to a local showing done by the rec center where the girls take their ballet classes. The tickets were only $8 (whoop), and we had great front row seat (double whoop!). Greta wasn't quite old enough and as soon as the program passed her threshold of sacrament meeting time (1 hour and 5 minutes), she was done. "Hungee Momm, hungee!" I took her out and we did not re-enter! Despite the early exit, it was really fun. Holly liked it and wanted to know when her turn was and Greta did enjoy it until her stomach took control of her emotions. 

Holly's currently going through a really funny smiling phase. I love all the photos I have of her with her squinty-eyed, intense smile. I think she thinks her smile needs to be something specific. I gave her a little smile pep talk when Conor was taking photos of us and I told her to just laugh. While she's figuring out her smile in this world, I'm loving all the pictures I have of her experimenting with her smile. 

A couple weekends ago, Conor and I got our craft on and took four separate trips to Lowes. Ha! But now we have all the supplies for this craft. I saw the idea for this modern branch on Sugar Lander and immediately knew that I wanted to make this with the husband. I love working on projects with Conor! By the end of making 4 (!), we had quite the system in place. I'd like to make a longer one actually. Also trying to decide if I should paint the tips of all the branches metallic. Wouldn't that be pretty? I'll likely leave this up all year round and hang different things from it. I just love it!

This year, I outdid myself on the girls' ornaments. Really. These little suckers took so, so long to sew up! They were done completely by hand and completely exhausted me. Fortunately they're adorable in every single way! All the pain was worth it. Holly's is a kitty and Greta's is a bunny. I hung them up with ribbon safety pinned to the backs of their heads. I need to change out the ribbon around the bunny's neck (attaching the bodies to the heads was not as neat and tidy as I would've liked it to be! Luckily the ribbon hides that!). I made Greta's sleeping, since I love to take little snapshots of her napping. And Holly's has squinty-ish eyes since that's her favorite way to smile for photos these days!

You can find the pattern from Gingermelon here. I'd like to make a fox and a bear, but that is likely to be a project for the new year. 

I absolutely love having a live Christmas tree each year. Our home smells so good!

We don't have very much space in our apartment, so it was a bit of a challenge to pick a tree. We didn't want one too wide or tall. I think we found the perfect one! And then on a whim, Conor decided that the girls should have a little elf tree for their room. Yes please! It's the cutest little thing. We don't have very many ornaments (we'll collect more as the years go on), so I made some pom-poms to hang on their little tree. Holly is so much more into Christmas this year and she's an absolute joy! I love this time of year.

I've made a couple Scout tees and it has continued to be one of my favorite things to sew up and wear. I've made a total of three now. It takes me just under 2 hours to make one, including cutting it out of fabric. So, I can make myself a new shirt during naptime. It fits loose and I make mine longer so they have a more tunic-y feel. The fabric I used is a small gingham that a friend gave me years ago. Feels good to get that outta the fabric bin and on my body! I love sewing for myself. And I plan on doing just that a little more this month! 

BTW, this is a great beginnger pattern. It comes together really easily and has no darts. I highly recommend it. When belted it has a peplum feel. I wore mine with a camel colored sweater and loved the look.