holly jolly

sophia meet santa....santa meet sophia.

today was a big day for sophia. it was the first time she got to meet santa and have her picture taken with him. she was very excited. she brought her little purse. inside her purse she carried a mini snow white, mini princess belle and a strawberry shortcake doll. she knew that santa would really love them.
it was meticulously thought out on her part. she wanted to wear her gumboots and a cream sweater. have i mentioned she is bossy three and very opinionated? that's ok she has good taste. she also really loves having braids and wants to grow her hair forever just like tangled. i am never allowed to cut it again, not even her bangs. this could be trouble.

yes, i did take pictures of a picture. i don't have a scanner.

a couple days ago we made our traditional pearson gingerbread. best ones around i tell ya!

kung fu sophia was ready to go!

...so was ballerina sophia.

bad hair day for us both. but we had fun!!

she definitely takes after me!

sneaking in kisses

more dough, can't get enough!

clean up time!
have to let the dough chill for a few hours. seems like an eternity for a three year old!

forcing her to look at me while she does "dishes". the teenage years are going to be fun!

the hours have passed and the cookies are ready to go in the oven.
(newly aquired ariel bandaid for a her pretend owie. she would be covered in bandaids if i let her!)

waiting so patiently

*note to self - clean the oven window



voila!
our yummy finished product. loaded up with *smarties of course!! the only way to eat them in the pearson household.

*smarties are a canadian chocolate candy. i have heard in the states they have a candy named smarties but it is chewy? these smarties are delish and don't melt or crack in the oven like m&m's would. also they are a little sweeter than m&m's.

come over to my house and you can try them and have an eggnog latte too!



sophia's first preschool christmas concert

last thursday sophia had her first school concert!

what a joy seeing her and all her class buddies walk into the gymnasium with their santa hats on all dressed in their best. it was a large crowd to perform to. there was 4oo or so other parents watching.

me and my little camera (that *ahem* got dropped and broke earlier in the day by a certain three year old) were ready to capture the special moment. the video isn't that clear and quite wobbly. i didn't want to watch her while looking through the camera so i did my best just free holding.

and YES she is chewing gum.....parenting fail!! let me explain. so the concert was at 4:00 and when it came time to get ready she was not in the mood to get dressed or have her hair brushed. the clock was ticking and i succumbed to bribing her with the only thing i can...gum! you see back at halloween i gave her a sucker. a sucker that i didn't realize had gum inside. a little later i noticed she was chewing something. i asked her "is that still the sucker?" she said she didn't know and showed me what was in her mouth. gum! well she couldn't have been prouder or happier that *she* was chewing gum. in the past i always told her that gum is only for big kids and she had to be at least five. anyways she was co cute chomping away on her gum i let her keep it in her mouth with the wise words of...if you take it out of your mouth and get it stuck somewhere she could never have gum again. fear never hurts right? haha. the few times she has had it she has been great with it and has had no problems. so back to my story. i gave her the gum to get ready and i told her we have to throw it away once we were at school. i dropped her off in her class and in all the crazy commotion i totally forgot she still had the gum. i didn't remember until that exact moment on the video where you hear me say it. so funny!! i can't believe she is chewing gum at her first school concert. my little gum chewing chomper girl!

i will leave you with a funny quote sophia said when she first chewed gum " this gum takes forever to chew".

yes it does sophia, yes it does!

how fun is it being three by the way? and how fun is it to be a three year olds momma!!

sophia and grampa talk santa

(tip of the day- adjust the number underneath the video screen, it may say 240p change it to 360p and the video will be much better quality!)

old lady chic

my name is laura and i am a value village addict.

every tuesday (while sophia is at preschool) i head to my local value village. tuesday is senior discount day! and wouldn't you know it my dad is also a vv-aholic. i get to use my dad's 30% off seniors discount... appropriate enough since i call my style old lady chic.

when i was in high school i was an avid vv shopper. mostly for clothes. i stopped my thrift store addiction for a long time. i forgot about how much i love it! nowadays i am all about the housewares and kids clothes. about 90% of sophia's clothes are from the vv boutique. look around my house and the majority of things you will see are from there. it's getting out of hand.

when you are on a strict budget life can be challenging. i always feel the need to create and craft and above all i love to decorate my space. two things that can be impossible when you can barely spend any money. should i even mention my other love? my love of shopping for sophia!!! going to the mall and cute stores just made my heart ache seeing all the pretty things and knowing i couldn't buy any of it. so very hard for a shopaholic like me!

the photo's i am posting below are not amazing feats of craftiness. in fact the pictures don't really do them justice. but i wanted to post them to show my sisters. when gina was here for a visit i got her started on a vv addiction. we had a lot of fun looking at things and thinking what we could do with them and how she could decorate her new home on a budget. sorry gina that you don't get dad's senior discount. i think you should befriend a senior in your area ;)

the before of all the frames and sconces i collected. not gonna lie i wasn't hating them gold but i love them white!

before of the mirror i scored

the before of the frames (on the chenille i found!)

after -  two of the frames!
 i really wanted a photo wall. all i did was print out the black and white pictures on regular paper, no cost.
the top frame in the right corner i made into a chalkboard from chalboard paper i had.

loving milk glass these days!  i have quite a few pieces of it. see? i told you i was old lady chic.

 milk glass flower pot/bookend ( i have another larger one on the other side of the books)

after - the sconces and the mirror. i love how they turned out

the flower curtians i got for sophia, LOVE them!

they make my old lady heart a flutter


 

cute little chairs i found

sophia really needed a bedskirt and voila i love it

one of my first household purchase from vv.

the coolest part? i found out that these exact cannnisters belonged to a lady i used to work with. she received them as a wedding gift in 1975. she had just recently dropped them off at the thrift store. true story!!



i had really been wanting curtains for our living room but couldn't afford any. chris jokingly said if i could find curtains for $10 i could get them. he was joking... but i took it as a challenge!!  i found the blue panel for $10 and the cream one for $8 so technically i was over the limit but i was close! my mom and i cut the two panels and sewed them together. easy peasy. i was lucky to find two curtains that had the same ring top so that made things very easy.
this room still needs some work. i also recently added an awesome white lamp i found at vv. i am loving my old lady rocker!! in fact i am sitting in it right now as i type :) the chair was one my mom had in her home that she let us use. it really cozies up the room. oh and the third frame is up there above the key rings.



and this is my next project!
sophia has been using this as her "kitchen" so i am going to cutesy it up by painting it and modpodging it up to look like a real kitchen for her. i am very excited to do it!

on a random tangent...i just want to say sorry to my blog. i have so many pictures, stories and goings on that i am just so behind on. i feel like i am so busy with everyday life and have no time for being on the computer. you have definitely become last on the rung of life. i guess that is ok though, priorities right? i have thought about shutting you down, but i just can't quit you! i am making no promises but once in a while when the stars align and all my everyday things are taken care of me and you will have some quality time.

get ready for a cousin picture-fest!

gina,sam and lola came to visit!

they stayed for one week and the time we spent together was so wonderful.

sam and sophia got along like best buds. i don't remember one time where they were not getting along. it was amazing. there is just nothing like family!!

it broke my heart to say goodbye to them. sam and lola stole my heart (like they do every time). it was so nice to spend time with my sister and just chill together. we are already planning another trip but this time i go to see them. i can't wait. january can't come soon enough!!

we love you guys!

xox



sophia's halloween costume, she's a tough but smiley pirate!



sam the cheetah in the wild jungle of grampa's garden!

twinsies!! gina and i both unknowingly bought the same outfits for our girls!

at the park



lola bear




have i mentioned how much i love fall??





love these two little munchkins!!!



race ya!!

swing time fun!

lola and sophia

lola bear in the pumpkin basket!

pumpkin patch time, giddy up!

gonna "milk" the cow

best friends forever holding hands

oh this photo makes me laugh sophia....bend with the knees girlfriend!

my loves! it was such a fun, awesome trip and we can't wait to do it again!!