Small Business Saturday || Two Favorite Shops!

Just popping in to feature two of my favorite small business!

Julia's Bowtique: This is the place we get ALL of Caroline's hair bows from. We've moved back down to the solid color 3 inch bow now that we are clipping into Caroline's hair instead of an elastic headband and this size is perfect. Before her hair came in we attached all of her bows to elastic headbands which I bought in bulk from Amazon (here).

We love this boutique for many reasons -- the quality is incredible, the shipping is fast and the bows stay in Caroline's hair really well. Right now there is a special offer for $1 solid hair bows (and free shipping). We've lost most of our 3" bows so I've stocked up on all our favorite solid colors this morning! 

BronzedBerry Tanning: For my Charlotte friends! I've been using Christina with BronzedBerry for spray tans for special occasions the year and could not be happier with how long these tans last. Even in Jamaica my tan made it through layers of sunscreen, chlorine and salt water and still looked fabulous for a full two weeks. Christina offers a mobile service and will come to your home to give you a tan or you can swing by her place for a $25 tan, which is what I usually do. She's offering $5 off spray tans right now too. Check her out!

Happy small shopping!

Wish List Wednesday || Meaningful Gifts for Kids

Between shopping, decorating, parties, traditions, baking, traveling and more, the holiday season can quickly escalate from enjoyable to stressful for us. And now that our minis are at an age where they are excited for Christmas I want to make sure we make it as meaningful as possible without overextending ourselves (I'm looking at you, Elf on the Shelf). So this Christmas I'm hoping to implement just a few new traditions and continue some old traditions that require minimal effort but still excite our kiddos and provide a good mix of Jesus and Santa!

So today I'm sharing a few simple Christmas tradition items you can use throughout the season with your children.

Advent Calendar: From candles to candy, there are tons of advent calendar varieties to choose from. Last year we received a wooden tree calendar with little boxes which we fill with m&ms. Every night leading up to Christmas Caroline would get so excited to open the next box (and eat an m&m). We saved the advent calendar as the very last activity before bed so it also doubled as an amazing toddler incentive to eat dinner, take a bath, clean up the toys and get in jammies. :)  

Fisher-Price Little People Nativity Set: A super simple way to break down the Christmas story for little ones. Both of our kids love this set. This is also a GREAT gift for baby's first Christmas!! 

Books: God Gave Us Christmas //  The Night Before Christmas // Itsy Bitsy Snowman // How the Grinch Stole Christmas // How to Catch an Elf // The Mitten // Christmas in the Manger // The Polar Express 

Mini Christmas Tree: Last week a note was sent home with both Thomas and Caroline's daily report cards asking parents to consider putting a small Christmas tree in their kids' bedrooms this year. Each year it's encouraged to add a new ornament so that one day when our kiddos go off to college they have a small tree with lots of meaningful ornaments of their own. Cue the tears.

Christmas Pajamas: I've already covered this in a previous post so I won't go in to it again.   

Pickle Ornament: If you don't already have a pickle ornament for your Christmas tree you need one! The person to find the pickle hiding in the tree on Christmas morning gets to open the first present. 

Magic Reindeer Food: Last year one of the little girls in Caroline's class gave all the classmates bags of "magic reindeer food." I thought this was the cutest idea and we loved sprinkling it in the yard on Christmas Eve! Reindeer food is a mix of oats and glitter which makes for an inexpensive gift idea if you're trying to gift a class full of kids something at Christmas. I found this super cute printable too!

Cookies & Milk for Santa: Growing up we always set out cookies and milk in front of our fireplace for Santa as well as some carrots for the reindeer. I love this special little set!

Birthday Cake: This is a tradition I really wanted to start last Christmas but dropped the ball. Each year I want throw a little birthday party for Jesus with a cake or cupcake and sing "happy birthday" with the kiddos.

Want some additional tradition ideas? Check out my previous post on meaningful holiday traditions!

Park Play Date

Over the weekend we took the minis to Freedom Park for a fun morning of feeding the ducks, running around and playing on the playground. The explosion of fall colors was unreal and it was such a perfect temperature for mid-November! In typical fashion I snapped a few too many pictures for ya...

 

Thomas was most excited about the loaf of bread we brought. After recognizing he had nibbled through 70% of the bag Caroline quickly swooped in and claimed the rest for her duck feeding...

It went over well.

Thomas warmed up to the ducks pretty quickly.

Also - big news! Notice that bow in Caroline's hair?! We just realized over the weekend that she has a few long enough hairs to clip a bow to finally! She was so proud to rock the mini bow.

After we fed the ducks we hit up two different playgrounds and then went out for pizza! It was a perfect Saturday for the books!

Outfit Sources: 

Thomas: Leggings // Shoes // Pullover (on sale!) // Hat

Caroline: Leggings // Boots // Poncho