Penmanship Practice

A good friend of mine gave me this really cute idea for a quick and easy way to get your little one to practice their penmanship. You write a letter and have your child trace your writing. Ingeniously simple.
Well what better way to get them to practice their letters than to write a letter to Mr. Santa Claus!

Henry just really excite and quoted me word for word what he wanted to say in his letter to Santa.

After I wrote it down in pencil, I gave him a marker to trace. He concentrated really hard, took his time and even had to switch markers in middle of writing because he "was not proud of his letters". When Henry was finished, he felt so proud! After addressing the letter to the big man in red, Henry insisted he must lick the envelope. Where was he when I had to lick 40 Christmas cards? (ahem)

 Post office bound with all those Apple n Amos order I have to mail out, Henry, with letter in hand, patiently waited for mama to finish up at the counter. With my camera at the ready, I was able to snap the very first pictures of Henry mailing a letter. I can't wait to add this to his baby book!

All in all a good activity, from the practicing of letters, to discussion of letter writing and what is a sentence all the way to how the mailman brings the mail to the North Pole. This is sure to be the start of a new holiday tradition!

In the Spirit

    

      I was never big on Christmas, oh sure, as a kid I was, but once an adult, the magic seemed to have left me. Being a mama now has changed everything...as it usually does. I love having  holiday music playing in the house all day and night. The lights must go up and the house decorated. I love our little tree too.
Last year, Henry and I decorated our tree with glittered pine cones in red, green, gold and cooper. It looks so great, I just can't get over it. The glow of the warm holiday lights around the house just makes me feel better. With it getting cold and dark outside, having these little bright twinkles all over the place are putting me in a better mood. But, nothing gets me in the holiday mood better than Henry. His sweet face, lighting up every time there is talk of Santa, or Christmas, or snow...boy....he just sparkles.

     December 14th our baby turned 4. For his special day with us, we took him to see Santa on the Polar Express train ride in Essex CT. It was great! Lights everywhere, our car had its own elf, doing tricks, singing carols...the works.
Santa and Mrs. Claus made their appearance complete with hot cocoa and cookies! Henry loved absoutly everything about this adventure...he was beaming ear to ear and so was I!
Kids just put you in that special kinda mood!
May you and yours be surrounded by all the magic that only your kids can bring!

Depressed

For those of you that do not know me, I broke my left ankle and my right foot just before Thanksgiving. It has me really depressed. My son, Henry, has watched so much t.v since the freak fall, that he is getting really hard to handle. Being stuck in the house with nothing to do has made us both different. There is more yelling going and it makes me fell like shit. The shop has me really busy too. I am really bummed that all of or normal traditions have to be tossed aside this year due to the fact that Papa Joe is running around non stop trying to take care of me, Henry, work, the shop, laundry, dishes, dinners and everything else his demanding wife is asking for. I feel so sorry for him. It is like we are all walking on a very short tight rope. Because of my yucky mood, I have not wanted to write anything on this space.
December in general is a very busy month for us with Henry's birthday and then Christmas, not to mention all the sewing I usually do for gifts. Not this year...makes me really sad.
I promise to come back soon and share. Warm winters wishes to you all.

GIVE-A-WAY CLOSED

And the Winners... Congrats!

Two Tutu Ladies -FLY ME -Bubble Gum
Belinda Hare -FLY ME -Party
Mommy Bug- Star YO-YO

Today up for grabs...a STAR YO-YO and a FLY ME -Bubble Gum- and...yes and a FLY ME  -Party...yup that's right 3 winners will be picked starting Now!
Don't forget to comment on which one you would like to win!

On the day of the Give-A-Way, a picture of the prize that is up for grabs will be posted on my face book page as well as here on the blog. All you have to do is comment about the prize here on my blog  for your chance to win it.
I will use Random Number Generator  to pick a winner from the comments.
In order to be eligible you have to be a fan of Apple n Amos facebook page, a follower of my blog and you must commented on the day's give-a-way prize.
Good Luck!

Letterboxing again

  With the unseasonably warm weather visiting New England these days. We found ourselves on a double letter boxing adventure in a very old historic cemetery a few towns over. The day was simply beautiful and the cemetery was just amazing. Although old, the cemetery did not have the least bit of creepiness. It was warm and inviting but then again I love cemeteries, in fact Papa Joe proposed to me in one. That is another story.

Today's letter box adventure had us going on a clue hunt, looking from grave stone to grave stone for clues all while learning some of the history.

 This stamp was called the "wandering witch". If you notice, she is hand carved and the detail on her is amazing. This is by far the best stamp we have found to date. Love her!

  Henry and I were having some trouble finding the second letterbox. When Papa Joe got home, we went back to the cemetery to look some more. I had a good feeling where the hidden letterbox was but digging around a old rock wall covered with leaves with Henry by my side was no my idea of safe.
Papa Joe, Henry and I looked for along time, all those nooks and crannies had us busy, but finally I found it or should I say Henry found it. All our hard work had paid off, for this time it was another hand carved stamp called the "spooky ghost".

                                                        It was such a fun day!

FRIDAY FINDS

Here is another installment of Friday Finds for handmade goodies to give out this holiday season. If you are like me, you have a tricky book lover in the family to buy for. These studious treats are sure to intrigue even your toughest critic.

'For the Love of Books- A Gift Guide ' by applenamos

MarianneLoMona... $27.00	gardenmis $12.00	riskybeads $14.95	someUNDERGROUN... $10.00
jtopolski $12.00	86home $158.00	LeatherDruid $79.00	riverwestconce... $22.00
PamelaFugateDe... $34.95	ilfant $12.00	natalya1905 $17.50	cleverhands $17.95
theshophouse $72.00	bonnbonn $25.00	SimpleJoysPape... $50.00	LittleHouses $195.00

Treasury tool by Red Row Studio.