the day after

Sometimes the day after a birthday is hard, but today was a good day! This morning, Jude, Felix and I ran a few errands. They both brought their hand kites with them everywhere (yay!). We went to two post offices to get Christmas stamps (the first one was out), dropped of some library books that were long overdue, and got two more thyme plants at the local nursery, because I had used up the one we had. (I am still loving my front porch herb garden and use it all the time in my cooking!) While there, I saw some Christmas ornaments and got an idea of one I could make for Felix...

I have noticed just in the past week or two that we have turned a corner with independent play - meaning, I don't have to supervise the boys' play all the time anymore! This is a huge milestone for me. I can be in the kitchen while they play upstairs in their room...it is wonderful. This afternoon, all three of them were engaged for about an hour doing their own thing (well, I was helping Felix off and on a lot of that time, which is understandable). Felix was painting with glitter, Jude was building with Legos, and Henry was playing in his room. There were some thuds and bangs coming from upstairs that Felix and I were wondering about, and after a while, we went upstairs to check it out.

 Turns out he had turned their room into a restaurant! He loves this new kitchen - they all do!

Henry and Jude proceeded to serve me a number of delectable dishes.

I also completed a big project today - the Christmas cards! The past few years I have spent so many hours on these, and I decided to go simple this year and "mass produce" them - i.e. each one is the same design. I am really pleased with how they turned out.

 Cards are best addressed with a cupcake and a cup of tea. (Or a large glass of wine.)

In case you're wondering - yes, that is our address on the card. I send one to myself every year because I love to save them, and want to have the postmark on the card. I can't be the only one who does this, right?

I set out this little basket and paper tonight, hoping it will inspire some creativity tomorrow...we'll see!