Holiday Traditions with Hanna Andersson

It's no secret that we love LOVE the holidays. To us, the holiday season begins the first of October. When there is a nip in the air and the leaves begin to turn to rust, mustard and maroon. When we begin to snuggle under blankets with hot beverages. When everything is covered in plaid. When we pull out our scarves and boots and sweaters. And the holiday season lasts straight through Fall, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas! Basically, we are in the best three months of the year! Hooray!

I love the holidays because I get to decorate my house, my children, and do all things festive! Every fall we start our holiday bucket list. And this year, we wore our Hanna Andersson Bear Hugs sweater collection for our family traditions! First and foremost each year is a family leaf fight! This is Edith's first fall and she wasn't too sure about all the crunchy leaves. She did enjoy shoving fist fulls of them in her mouth but thought her big sisters were crazy for throwing them. Vivienne and Lucielle couldn't have loved it more! Whether they were simply tossing them up or trying to get Papa, they were delighted!

I mean seriously! How cute is Edith in this Sweater Jumper?! I die!

Even though the sweaters are made of unbelievably soft cotton and warm Merino wool yarns, we went home to make S'mores and warm up by the bonfire. The smell of burning leaves and roasting marshmallows will always trigger happy autumn memories!

How cute is the back of this bear sweater! It cracks me up and the girls like to poke the bears butt when being silly, which of course causes a giggle-fest!

And of course we can't forget all the holiday baking! I have always pictured my little girls patiently waiting at the table sweetly ready to mix, pour, and spread whatever delicious treat we were baking. In reality, baking with kids is a whole lot messier that I anticipated. We made some Cranberry White Chocolate scones because it's my favorite kid friendly (aka, they can't mess it up with less than accurate measurement haha) recipe. Plus, a warm scone and hot tea just screams the holidays to me!

An obvious fall Family Tradition for so many is Pumpkin Carving! The girls loved watching Papa carve and help plan what they wanted our girl pumpkin, named Jill, to look like! They were NOT a fan of trying to get the seeds and "slime" out from the inside haha. They would erupt in giggles every time they touched it.

 "It's so slimy and ticklish!"

 Plaid is always a staple for the Holidays. I love it. Like LOVE it!!!! So Vivi's Buffalo Check Flannel dress will be on repeat all season!

It's no surprise that I get the most excited about Christmas. While I have been trying to curb my unbridled enthusiasm until after Thanksgiving, there are some things I sneak in. Our first Christmas cocoa is a big deal! The second it's cool enough, I pull out our special Christmas mugs, some peppermint sticks and marshmallows to make the best cocoa ever! Every once in a while, when it's really cold out, we also listen to Christmas music. Shhhh don't tell! And of course it never hurts to pull out a strand of twinkle lights.  Since it gets dark so early now, they make our home so cozy and festive!

'Tis the season for family traditions! What is on your family bucket list this season? 

*This post is sponsored by Hanna Andersson, but good gracious we love the Bear Hug Sweater collection so all thoughts and opinions are our own*

Horsin' Around

All summer, we have been talking about going to meet Rebel, our friend's horse. Finally, we found a date that worked for us all to go! The girls were so excited! They picked out their prettiest dresses to show the horsey and tall boots "so they won't step in poop!" haha. They loved to pet Rebel's nose and watch Papa feed him an apple. Even Edith was enamored by the beautiful horse and couldn't take her eyes off him. Our friend Bekah was so gracious to not only let the girls pet the horse, but to take the time to teach them about every thing she was doing. On the way home, I had to be the "bad guy" to the girls AND Papa and tell them that we can't get a horse at our little house haha. It was so fun though, so maybe someday!

Lake Harriet & Leather Moccs *Giveaway*

The other day, the weather was GLORIOUS! It was warm but with a slight breeze so all the mosquitoes blew away. The perfect evening to head to Lake Harriet with an iced tea to watch the girls climb and play at the playground and then dance long after bedtime to the live band at the bandstand. I'm not sure why we don't do that more often! It was so fun!

Edith recently received a couple fun new accessories I have to mention! The adorable head wrap is from Bailey's Blossoms. And since polkadots are basically a "solid neutral" in our household, it matches nearly everything haha! Got to love my polkacuties!

Her new moccasins are t-straps from Starry Knight Designs. They are simply fantastic! We have had a few "regular" moccasins throughout the years, but these are adorably unique. The t-strap design caught my eye immediately, but the soft supple leather and the elastic stay put band really sealed the deal! I'm so glad that Edie got a pair just as we are crossing into that mobile baby stage. She will soon be crawling around and goodness knows regular shoes will no longer stay on. But these handmade leathers beauties will! 

I have exciting news for you! I am giving away a pair of t-strap leather moccasins to one lucky person! They are size 3-9 months (4 inches) in the gorgeous brown Tribe color. To win, comment below. For an extra entry, visit my Instagram and follow instructions there! Giveaway will close Sunday evening 9pm and winner announced within 24 hrs. Good luck!