HOLIDAY FUN WITH KIDS: A GINGERBREAD HOUSE PARTY!

Chocolate, fondue and gingerbread houses? Yes please! Kind of screams a childhood holiday tradition to remember, doesn't it? When Chocolats Favoris reached out and asked if I would be interested in working with them to create a special and memorable experience for our kids using their chocolate, I couldn't resist dreaming up this super sweet (literally!) gingerbread house decorating party.

We invited a little friend over to join in the fun and I told the kids we would be doing this the night before the party and they were so excited they could hardly sleep. Between the Maple White Chocolate hazelnuts (Kaia's favourite) and the Milk Chocolate fondue (Noelle's favourite), you can see that they not only enjoyed the process, but devoured all of the goodies too!

I used a little paint palette to separate the candy into separate colours and this gave the kids easy access to the goodies without sticky fingers going into bigger bowls. I also made a few mini gingerbread men and trees so that the kids could dip the cookie into the fondue and try it while saving the actual houses for eating later. It worked out really well to have separate gingerbread houses for each kid and also icing bags and candy. The fondue was perfect to use as glue for the decorations although not a lot of the fondue ended up on the houses as the kids kept using the wooden sticks as spoons and devoured it! 

We played Christmas music, the kids iced the houses, added candy, licked fondue, nibbled on chocolate and generally had the best time. They are already asking if we can do it all again next year. For a huge selection of holiday goodies, head to Chocolats Favoris' newest location in Victoria, BC or shop online. With a range of delicious chocolates from covered nuts and chocolate bars, to fondues and the cutest advent calendar, they have you covered for those chocolaty gifts. 

*This post was created with Chocolats Favoris. All words, photos and ideas are my own.

HOW TO GET YOUR CHRISTMAS CARDS DONE EARLY!

I know, I know...a little early, right? Christmas cards in November??!! Trust me when I tell you how great it feels having these done and dusted (SO great!). I always love receiving Christmas cards from our friends and family all over the world but I am definitely terrible at getting our own Christmas cards written and sent. Big thanks to Mixbook, this year is different! It can be for you too!!!

The process was SUPER simple and therefore completely doable (even with three toddlers!). Here is how we did it: I chose a simple backdrop of a window in our house, added some gold stars from Pearl & Jane and snapped away. As you all know, once kids are involved in photos, getting the ‘perfect’ shot gets a little harder and instead of creating a stressful moment, I wanted this to be fun. We put on Christmas music, I gave the kids some little gold ornaments to decorate the tree with and also handfuls of pretend snow. They LOVED the fun and I got some cute shots!!

I then looked at all the Christmas Cards (I chose from hundreds of professionally designed card themes that you can personalize in any way you like) on the Mixbook site and selected these super pretty and festive gold foil Merry and Bright ones! Aren't they sweet? Simple and so easy to customize to fit any photo that you have taken. I love how they turned out!

As you're choosing your holiday card, there are so many other products available to peruse while you're at it. From custom calendars to canvas prints and photo books similar to the summer one I showed earlier in the year, they have you covered!

Shipping was quick and I was really happy with the thickness of the premium paper and quality of the cards. Next up is actually writing them! I recommend making a coffee (or pouring a glass of wine!) and just doing it. Such a great way to get ahead for the holiday season and make a nice big tick next to 'christmas cards' on the list.

Good luck friends!!

Mixbook is kindly offering 10 free flat cards. Use code FREE10 to redeem.

*This holiday post was created in partnership with Mixbook.

KIDS HALLOWEEN COSTUMES

Up until yesterday, we didn't have costumes! I took this super easy DIY costume idea from over at the hello, Wonderful blog and adjusted it to fit Xavier's request of a green dragon with black spikes and fiery breath! He LOVED it! A few friends have asked how I get him to do these poses and I thought I'd share a few tricks. My husband is standing far right telling him he's a good, nice dragon (he doesn't want to be) and he is instantly trying to ROAR back with his fiery breath, saying he is very tough, enabling the perfect photo op! Rest assured he was absolutely bribed with Halloween candy too (he is a third child after all!). 

The girls on the other hand were so excited to have their twin baby fawn costumes finally ready that they wanted the photos taken so they can look back on them through the year. The head bands were a quick glue gun job and the clothes were existing they already had.

We had so much fun this weekend with the kids being excited about dressing up, carving pumpkins, eating seeds and talking about the magic of Halloween...going out at dusk, playing with neighbourhood friends and yes, of course, eating candy.

Happy Halloween...xo

CAPTURING A MOMENT IN TIME {WITH MINI WHITE PUMPKINS}

It's been a tremendously rainy, windy weekend here in Vancouver and sometimes these grey and cold days lend to more indoor time with the little ones and more time to reflect on the little moments. 

I had taken these quick shots a couple of weekends ago when the sun was out and the weather was obviously warmer. I wanted to capture the essence of autumn and the little pumpkins that I'd been trying to find around the city for a couple of weeks. I had no intention of posting them but then thought it might make sense to share how quickly I captured these (10 minutes!) and how you can create a mini photoshoot with literally a few little pumpkins and some sweet smiles! 

So, instead of thinking how hard it will be, just get your kids, pop outside with the pumpkins you've collected from the farm or the store and take a few snaps! I ask them questions as I click, such as "if your pumpkin was an animal, what would it be?" I find that when they are engrossed in telling a story, the smiles naturally come out and their faces light up. If you are shooting more than one kiddo, it helps to pop them on the a set of stairs so that they are captured at the same depth (or plane) on camera, which works to keep them all in focus.  

The pictures may not be perfect, but they recreate this perfect memory...our front steps, their mini pumpkins, fall 2016 and my very favourite little smiley faces. Sometimes the little moments are the ones we'll look back on and remember with the biggest fondness. 

Happy Monday friends!

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WORLD GEOGRAPHY WITH LITTLE PASSPORTS

I finished high school and it was an easy choice – grab my passport and go traveling. I wanted to see more, know what was out there, meet new people, taste new foods; EXPLORE! So when Little Passports contacted me to work with them and offered to show me what big things can be taught from a little suitcase, I immediately said YES!

I met my husband (an Australian) abroad (in London) and once we were finished our time there, we naturally took time to travel. We have traveled to well over 50 countries. My first time overseas was at a year old and basically it never stopped. My parents are European and I was born and raised in Canada. We traveled. To see relatives, to explore different cultures, to learn how lucky we were to be raised in a safe and wonderful country…we traveled.

That was all BEFORE KIDS. Yes…you heard that. Our traveling has basically entirely stopped since having children. It’s not that it can’t be done; it’s simply that it’s not quite the same easy and carefree experience given we have two 5 year olds and a 3 year old. My desire for the amazing sights, sounds, smells, tastes and colours of other cultures still pulls at my heartstrings regularly. The conversations you have while traveling are the best kind. The people you meet. The experiences that just don’t compare to daily life. The memories that are created.

We will definitely pick up where we left off again…but until then, Little Passports is a great way to teach our children all about the world we live in. It’s such an easy process; you order online and receive a starter kit in the mail with a sweet little suitcase for your child to put all of their treasures. We chose the Little Explorers package, which was perfect for our preschoolers. There are also characters (Max, Mia & Toby, the dog) that write a letter to the recipients and our kids instantly fell in love with them. The girls especially loved the characters, Xavier, my three year old especially loved the suitcase and all of the kids enjoyed putting the stickers into their passport and seeing where the continents are on the map.

It helps that we have family and friends all over the world; I showed them where everyone lives and we talked about all of the places we dream of going together one day. I also found this amazing DIY that explains the concept of how our community fits into the wider world to explain the concept to young children.

The kids were extremely interested in the whole thing and once I told them another package would arrive in about a month, they were very excited to check the mail each day!

The second month, we received a package all about landmarks. It was great fun as I could tell the kids stories about going to some of these landmarks (take me back to the Eiffel tower and the great sphinx of Giza now please!) and the kids then wanted to re-learn all of the things we had talked about a month earlier.

By the time the third package arrived, the kids literally ran to the door yelling, "Mama, Max and Mia are ready to take us on another adventure! Mom! It's the music one!" They were SO excited to explore music of other countries and I was impressed that Putumayo World Music (who put out some of our favourite playlists) had been involved to produce a new cd about songs from different countries.

The learning from this package is endless and provides such a fabulous foundation to start telling the kids about our world. As a parent who has traveled extensively and is now trying to teach my children about other places, Little Passports is instrumental to this process. I would highly recommend giving them a try; what a perfect way to introduce geography to preschoolers!

You can take advantage of The Little Passports Back to School Sale by using code READY15 at check out.

*This post was created with Little Passports. All photos and words are my own.

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