Little elves

These little elves are loving the Christmas season this year.  I thought they looked so cute in front of the tree in their new gowns, I couldn't help but get some pics of them!  Not a fan of flash, but sometimes you have to use it and I'm glad I did :)

Santa pics 2015

Well, it's that time of year again where we make our annual visit to see Santa.  This year was especially magical for the girls as they are both very into Santa this year.  The anticipation was great & meeting the big man was met with squeals of delight from the girls.  I'm overall mostly pleased with pics this year.  Per my usual, I got the CD & edited the pics slightly as the color was slightly off. I think my tweaking made it a little better.  The "photographer" graciously listened to me when I asked him to take some pics of the girls talking with Santa, you can see the excitement.  I love this annual tradition & the joy they bring to our Christmas season!

Sewing projects

For my birthday this year, my in-laws very generously gave me a basic sewing machine.  I've been thinking about getting one for a while, but I really haven't sewn anything...no, really, like in my whole life!  My poor mom, she tried with me & she is an excellent seamstress, but I think that gene must skip a generation because I've always avoided sewing at all costs.  I guess my fear & dislike of sewing started when I was in high school & we had to sew a sweatshirt for our senior home economics project.  Mine was awful!  The cuffs fell off & it just was not good.  Because of my unnatural love of all things Pinterest, I'd been thinking & looking at sewing tutorials online for about a year & with us now planning a Disney trip in  April, I was more seriously looking at tutorials for DIY Disney shirts for the girls.  I have to say that as I've discovered with sewing (I grant you my 1st 2 projects) it is very precise; but also, somewhat forgiving as there is usually a way to fix things.....thank goodness or else I would have wasted a lot of fabric :)   For my 1st project, I decided to start with an extremely simple skirt for Ella.  Originally I had thought pillow cases, but she picked the Frozen Fever fabric & that was it, she wanted a skirt.  On Pinterest, this little skirt didn't look that much harder than a pillow case, so I gave it a shot.  I did the skirt 1st with elastic, but then I remembered they had Frozen Fever capes that they never wear, so I decided to add a little ruffle to the end of the skirt.  That was the hardest part because the fabric was very thin, but once added I do like the effect & Ella loves it, which is what matters.

Once Jessica got home from Kindergarten, she was just not having it that Ella had a skirt & she did not, but in true Jessica fashion, she did not want a skirt.....she wanted a dress!  Oh boy!  Of course, I had only bought 1 yard of this butterfly fabric (I actually really like this fabric also, I'm thinking about making myself a skirt with it), which she expected me to make into a dress & she didn't want sleeves, so very little room for error.  I took a deep breath & found a fairly simple pattern for this little dress.  I managed to mess up the seam to attach the bottom to the top, but was able to add the little belt to cover it.  Certainly not perfect & I really wouldn't want her to wear it out, but not too bad for my 2nd sewing project & 1st dress ever.  I'll keep working on it & hopefully improve. The hardest part of the whole thing was the button holes (P.S. Mom, I did finish the edges of the belt, I promise I didn't leave it like it is in the pictures :).

That owl in the background, that's the Christmas Owl, he's like our elf on the shelf, he visits Santa nightly to give him a report on the girls' behavior & also causes mischief...last night he made himself a cape, after we sewed all day

It begins...

And so it begins:  The Christmas season at the Passineau household.  We've been busy decorating, getting our tree, & of course, posing in front of said tree.  Let's 1st back up to Thanksgiving.  We had a low key Thanksgiving at our home this year.  Michael's parents visited & Michael fried a turkey, yummy!  He was very proud of himself :)

Thanksgiving weekend, we went to the tree farm to cut our own fresh tree this year.  A tradition, which will become part of our Christmas season.  It was so much fun, but alas, I forgot my camera, but I did have my cell phone :)  We rode a tractor out to the field & the girls selected just the right one for us.  Then, Michael cut it fresh from the field.  Of course, our tree, was the largest on the return tractor ride, a fact, my husband did not let go unnoticed.  

This is not our actual tree, but you get the point!

Then we decorated said tree...she's a real beauty, about 12 feet & a lovely shape

On Wednesday & Fridays, when I don't work, Ella has been helping run errands & never fails to want her picture made with the decorations mostly inside grocery stores.   Here she is with the saran wrap snowmen in Trader Joes :)

Then this morning, Jessie was feeling particularly cooperative, so she decided she wanted to have her picture taken before Kindergarten in her fav. blue dress.  I'm shocked by how different she looks as compared to last year.  She will be losing a lower front baby tooth ("O" in dental language) very soon, so she's not that into smiling right now, as "the wiggler" doesn't look so great according to Ms. Jessica & she doesn't like people to see her self-proclaimed "wiggler".

Ella: Little Fall princess

Dear neglected blog, I'm sorry I don't have time for you anymore.  Here are a few pics of Ella in her "real" wedding dress, she loves this dress & is our little princess :)

Ella: Little Unicorn

The girls have been on a unicorn phase for about a year now.  When we were in Norway back in the summer, I found them matching unicorn hats, which I thought would be perfect for the coming cooler weather.  Today, after church, Ella played outside in her hat & a new cute coat my mom sent to her.  A very sweet little combination if I do say so.  Love this age with her & her joy for life.  She loves life & is mostly always happy!  How can it be this sweet little girl is almost 4 & 1/2?

Kindergarten school pictures

School pictures are a rite of passage in my mind, a great way to mark the changes in your child year to year.  Although, I'm sure there will be some awkward years & years that the pics just don't turn out very well, this years pics are pretty cute, if you ask me!  Here's our precious Kindergartener, grandparents your prints are on the way.