I've been a big fan of Freshly Picked moccasins (and an ardent admirer of founder Susan Petersen's humble beginnings and keen business sense) for a little while now. So it was quite the happy mail day when my daughter's pair of Freshly Picked moccasins arrived in our mailbox! Her pair of Raspberry colored little-people moccs arrived in a drawstring bag with the gorgeous Freshly Picked logo and pin on it. I'm big into details like that.
First of all, I was honestly (and very pleasantly) surprised that the moccasins are available in toddler sizes up to size 10. My daughter measured right at a size 8, so I opted for the 9's because when I was growing up my mom wouldn't buy a pair of shoes unless there was a thumb's width of space in the toes. When we slipped the moccasins on they were very roomy on her foot. I CANNOT stress enough how impressed I was that they, nonetheless, stayed on her feet without any slippage! That hidden elastic around the ankle sure does it's job.
The moccasins are beautifully made (in the USA!), and the leather is soft and supple. The colors are really, truly, gorgeous. I've been limiting wear to the house and backyard because I'm a bit of a priss, and can't bear the thought of scuffing the gorgeous leather too much just yet. After a week of wear, the leather is beginning to mold to her feet. They're so comfy that once she's wearing them she often forgets that the moccasins are even on her feet. Unless she catches a glimpse of them. She's a big fan of the color she chose. And the fringe. Definitely the fringe.
Disclaimer: a big thank-you to Freshly Picked for sending me a pair of moccasins to review at no charge. I was not monetarily compensated in any way for my opinions as stated in this blog post: all opinions are my own.
+ always asking to sew
+ old stone wall
+ wolverine, now with sporks
+ dancing in the weeping willow
+ twirling with dandelions
The daffodils are blooming! Their happy little faces lined up along the garden wall look so lovely. I still don't have the garden entirely cleaned up from Winter, so there are still weeds and bits of trash floating around.
It's a bit odd to be experiencing all of this warm weather before the lilac trees bloom. The other day I actually got confused and became concerned that the lilacs had died since they hadn't bloomed before the 70 degree weather hit. Then I remembered that it's only March. They're covered in budding greenery now though, so as is well.
This year Spring meant that I needed a new pair of slip-ons. I decided to go with those beauties above from Aerosoles. Providentially, one of our local department stores had them on a great sale. I totally lucked out!
And if an awesome sale on the shoes one wants just when one wants them isn't sweet enough, look at that face! Of our three children Little Miss P looks the most like her mama.
Don't forget to stop by the shop and take a look at the new line of bow fascinator clips! For now they're available in Peony, Silver/Gold, Marigold, Sea, Raspberry, and White.
For the last week or two, my two-year-old has been producing lots of drawings. They all look the same. It's almost freaky to go through a stack of papers and see the same thing drawn over and over and over on them! She's sketching these odd little faces on blank paper, in her tablet, on instruction manuals, and paper plates. It's actually quite fun to watch her little hand manipulate a circle! I wonder what will be next on her repertoire?
We finally managed to put our book ledges together and get them up on the wall! And by we, I mean my husband. I needed some more space on our regular book shelves for school supplies for the kids, and since we also use the bookshelves for toy storage we decided to move some of their books onto ledges.
There was this odd bit of wall space between the grandfather clock and the steps in the dining room (really it's more of a school room at this point), and I adore the idea of books under the stairs. We can't build bookshelves into the steps because the stairs to the basement run under there. But this is the next best thing! I want to add a comfy pillow to the floor as well.
I found this metal wire basket in our yard right after we bought the house four years ago. It's been sitting in the basement ever since. I spray painted it gray, and I think it is perfect for our book nook!
One of the great things about the ledges is that it is much easier for the kids to see what books are there. I want to paint them white eventually, but we're still painting our living room and kitchen, and I don't think I can take any more painting projects right now!
There is a window to the left by the stairs, so the kids also like to sit there and look out the window while reading. I'm so glad our kids love books! The ledges are packed two to three books deep, plus there are still plenty more books on the big bookshelves, not to mention the books in their rooms. Yup. We love books, and book nooks, in this book house.
For quite some time now, I've wanted to find a place to display our kids' artwork. With our previous (and lousy) wall space usage there just wasn't a good spot, but now that we're totally redoing our walls I'm so excited to have these frames up! I lucked out big time when I stopped at Michael's to buy these frames; they're pretty cheap to begin with, but they happened to be on sale for $5 a piece. Score! I opted for white frames so that the colors would really pop. This wall makes me smile. A lot.
I also snagged this small storage box at Walmart to store the rest of their doodles and paintings. It was under $5, and it fits construction paper perfectly.
How do you display your kiddo artwork?
I have three little people at home. They are all unique, with different personalities, different interests, and different struggles. As they grow and their personalities shine through stronger, it's so funny to see how they are like me (and how they are not like me, but like their Dad, or simply like themselves).
My almost-four-year-old daughter likes to build with blocks, and loves the challenge of putting puzzles together. She is very much like me in in this way, and it's fun to be able to do these things with her! She recently acquired a 100 piece lenticular puzzle- what fun we had putting that together! She's also the master of funny faces. She rarely puts on a natural smile for pictures, but instead sports a really fake looking smile or makes an altogether crazy face. This she gets from her Auntie B.
Another trait that she inherited from dear old Mum (and Dad too) is her crazy-bizarre sense of humor. One of her favorite things to do is to make up songs. When that kid starts singing, one never knows what might come out. Some all-time favorites are, "Old MacDonald had some Pants," and, "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, how I Wonder What You had for Breakfast." She recently sat at the dining room table and sang an entire rendition of "Chicken Bells." It was awesome.
