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*

23 months!

My feisty, full of life toddler has passed her last monthly update before turning 2 years old! Yikes! She's so big! Vivienne is hilarious and loves to make us laugh... intentionally and unintentionally. She is a loving big sister who gives the biggest hugs and kisses to Lucielle (sometimes too big... but her heart's in the right place). She talks non-stop and is consistently speaking in full sentences. She has a bit of trouble with pronouns (everyone is a "her"). She knows exactly what she wants and usually uses her words to tell us. She will occasionally have a throw herself on the ground whining tantrum, but they last maybe 5 seconds before we help her take a deep breath and tell us that she feels "disappointed" or "frustrated" that she can't have/do what she wants. She will also put herself in a time out sometimes by saying, "Vivi naughty. Go time out!" She stays there until she is "ready to listen" and she apologizes and gives us a hug and kiss. I guess sometimes she just needs a little space. Viv is an extrovert to the max! There is nothing she loves more than going out to see people. And she will remember days later exactly who she saw and what they did and will say "I just miss her! Want to see her!" (pronoun confusion.... it's always her haha). Papa was gone for a weekend and Viv missed "her" so much that she cried and cried until she could nap on his pillow. It melted my heart because she is usually a very big Mama's girl. There was a big hole in our home without Papa! Viv's favorite activities are: reading, playing in her kitchen, washing her hands, bathtime, coloring (she can draw a circle without help!), being outside, going to the library, looking for squirrels, and FaceTimeing the Grammies.

The day Viv turned 23 months, I let her help me make some Paleo (muffins. We. LOVE. This. Recipe! So easy. So yummy!And Vivi really enjoyed helping to push the button on the blender. She also REALLY enjoyed stealing chocolate chips from the muffins before we baked them.

Eating and yelling CHOCOLATE PIPS! (chips lol)

Nutbutter Banana Muffins
Ingredients

• 1 cup almond, cashew or sunbutter
• 2 ripe bananas, mashed (about 1 cup)
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/4 cup honey
• 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder (optional)
• Chocolate Chips

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Spray a 12 cup muffin tin (we use coconut oil spray from Trader Joe's). Set aside.
2. In a food processor/blender, combine the banana, eggs, and almond butter until well mixed. Add the remaining ingredients. Add chocolate chips as a topping for pizzazz!
3. Bake for 15 minutes at 350F. Muffins will be firm and slightly golden, but fluffy. Allow to cool for 10 minutes then remove from the muffin pan to a wire rack.

And of course this little honey was there supervising the whole thing. I LOVE MY GIRLS!