Turkey Hand Prints for Thanksgiving

In just one week's time it will be Thanksgiving. It feels like only yesterday we were celebrating our very first Thanksgiving here in America. It sounds like such a cliché, but the time really has just flown by. 

Ava is super excited about Thanksgiving - especially the turkey part of the holiday. She can't wait to eat turkey, she wants to dress as a turkey and she's eager to create turkey crafts. Dressing as a turkey may be a little odd but making turkey crafts is right up our alley.

A little search on Pinterest provided a lot of inspiration for turkey themed activities. I've got a few turkey projects planned for the girls but first up here's the messiest (and therefore the most fun!) of the lot: turkey hand prints.

Hand print turkey

This is a really simple project and the kids had a lot of fun with it.  

Seeing Double

I never thought I'd be one to dress my children in matching outfits.

As a child I absolutely hated it when my mother dressed my younger sister and I in matching outfits. That said, my sister is 8 years younger than me and no 12 year old wants to be dressed the same as their 4 year old sister!

Fast track a couple of decades and here I am dressing my 5 year old and 2 year old daughters in matching outfits. I just can't help myself. With so many cute clothes out there, how do I chose which girl gets to wear my latest find? That's a tough one. When I find an outfit that Ava would like I just know that it's going to look cute on Lola too, and vice versa. I've been finding myself buying two of everything lately; a big one for Ava and a little one for Lola.

Not only do the girls look cute in their matching outfits, they actually want to wear the same clothes as each other. Buying two of everything avoids the inevitable jealousy that comes about when one of the girls gets a new outfit and the other one doesn't, plus they're really easy to spot in the playground when they're dressed alike!

Ok, so the girls don't dress the same everyday but it certainly does make things easier in the morning when trying to pick out clothes for the day.

My favourite brands to dress the girls in? Tea Collection, Mini Boden and American Apparel.

Tea Collection and Mini Boden make the most gorgeous dresses. The simple lines, bold colours, quirky patterns and comfortable fit make their dresses perfect for everyday wear from the school yard and playground to parties and special outings. They're perfect for layering too which is a must for the San Francisco Bay Area where the weather changes at the drop of a hat.

American Apparel is my favourite brand for basics. Both girls have a wardrobe full of American Apparel t-shirts, leggings, cardigans and dresses. The Skater Tank Dress (which you'll see below) is a favourite and we have it in so many colours. I wish they made it in adult sizes!

Enough talk. Pictures speak louder than words so let's see those cute girls in their favourite matching outfits...

Tea Collection Adorable Dots T-Shirt Dress

Laternenfest

Another weekend, another festival...

This weekend we celebrated St Martin's Day with our German friends by attending the Laternenfest at a local German preschool. We drank glühwein, ate würste and, as is the custom on St Martin's Day, the kids joined in a procession with their homemade paper lanterns.

Glowing lanterns - with squished handles!

Lola and I made paper lanterns with her little friends during the week in preparation for the festival. Amid all the paper, paint, glitter, pipe cleaners and dot art markers the kids created a beautiful mess that was turned into lanterns with a few dabs of glue here and a strip of tape there.

Can you believe I forgot to take photos while we were making them?

I did however remember to take photos at the festival on Sunday evening. However, wriggly kids and glowing lanterns at night time don't always make for the best photos so I didn't quite get the shots I would have hoped for but at least you can see how our lanterns turned out.

Ava with our lanterns - waiting for the procession to start

Sugar Skull Masks for Day of the Dead

This one's a little late, but you know what they say; better late than never...

---

As you know last week we celebrated Halloween. What you may not know is that Halloween wasn't the only celebration of the week. Following right on the heels of Halloween is the Latin American holiday Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead).

Day of the Dead is a day to remember and honour those who have passed away. The holiday is celebrated with candle lit processions and altars dedicated to the deceased. These altars are decorated with (among other things) candles, marigolds and sugar skulls.

In preparation for Day of the Dead, Ava and Lola made sugar skull masks with their friends Rider and Fiona. We used the Sugar Skull Mask Kit from Paper Source which contained pretty much everything we needed. You can find them online here. We added a few glitter pens and stickers (also from Paper Source) to the mix and the kids had a field day decorating their masks.

Ava, Rider and Lola show off their masks 

Mickey Mouse Party Ears

You may have noticed in the photos from Lola's recent Mickey Mouse themed birthday party that many of the children (and a few of the adults) were wearing Mickey Mouse ears. Now it was no coincidence that so many of Lola's guests were decked out like Mickey. We provided ears for them all to wear!

Ta da! Mickey Mouse ears!

I made all of the ears for the birthday party myself. They were quite simple to make and a hit with the kids (both big and little!) so I thought I'd share how I made them.

Time to vote...

It's time to vote!

No, not in the presidential election - or at least not yet.

It's time to vote for Ava and Lola in American Apparel's Halloween Costume Contest.

Both Ava and Lola's costumes for Halloween this year were a combination of pieces from American Apparel and handmade or store bought accessories. Ava's cape, belt, wrist bands and mask were all handmade by me. Lola's Minnie Mouse skirt and tail were made by me while the Minnie Mouse ears were a gift (of Ava's) from Euro Disney. Pretty much everything else came from American Apparel.

Super Ava

Mini Minnie Mouse

Trick or Treat

Halloween is over for another year.

We carved pumpkins, we made costumes, we drew scary pictures, we dressed up, we went in a school parade and, most importantly, we went trick or treating.

Here's a look at our Halloween for 2012.

First up, Ava's school had a parade with all the students and teachers dressed up. Ava was super excited about dressing up in her super hero outfit at school. Lola was super excited to see all the kids in their costumes and was desperate to join in.

Lola joins Ava and her classmates for the parade