The Doll House

I got some inspiration from Young House Love on how to build a doll house and loved the sleek look and simple design so I thought it'd be easy and fun to build one for Kate.  I consulted with my master wood worker, Tom, about the ease of said project and he seemed to think it was completely doable, he just needed some plans.

So I sat down and drew up some plans...

That year of architecture in college DID come in handy!

...that was three months ago.

Tom got to work, in September, and completely built this beautiful, sturdy doll house for Kate.  I, on the other hand, completely dropped the ball in getting it papered and lovely for a princess to play in.

He is a master builder.

Progress!

Tom even added this wonderful shingled roof!

Today, however, I got to work.  I NEEDED to get this done...for Kate.  (Especially since she had already found it several times in the basement and again in the garage.  #parentingfail  I must get better at "hiding" things.)  In my defense, I selected paper to use and when I asked Kate if she liked it she plainly said, "No.".  No.  She didn't like what I had initially selected.  So then I had a major complex about the wall paper.  I ended up taking her with me to the paper store and asking her what she liked to get a better feel for what she was looking for.  In the end, and with her assistance, we were able to compile a perfect combination of papers to complete this masterpiece!

It's a beauty, right?!

Kate picked the happy stripes and I picked the floral.

It's become a perfect princess palace!

I am so pleased with how this beauty turned out and Kate has been playing with it non stop!  I love an inexpensive, homemade project that will be used for years to come!  I know Maya will get plenty of use out of it too!

Thank you, Tom!

Ginger Bread House Party

Last season, Kate and I met up with one of my coworkers and built a gingerbread house.  I was newly pregnant with Maya so she came along too only in utero!

This year, we looked into doing the same thing but prices were outrageous, so we brought the party to our house and invited a few more friends!

It has been so warm this season that we even got to play outside for a little bit!

Surely this will be another holiday tradition that we keep up with!

The table is set up and looking good for gingerbread house building!

And there are lots of toppings to choose from!

Little Miss waiting for her friends!

We set up a little paint your own ornament station too!

In the thick of decorating!

Quality control!

Looking good!

Our house this year was a lot less "organized".  You see, I'm still
learning the whole mom of two thing.  Here's a line of frosting, now
decorate.

Sammy gives us a candy grin!

Kate's final house photo!

And the other side!

Maya Giggles

If anyone could do it, it would be Kate.  Maya's forever idol.  Love those little laughs!

Breakfast with Santa 2015

We've had this tradition of meeting up with a few of Kate's cousins and doing the annual Breakfast with Santa at a church near where they live.

I say this every year, but this is a great tradition that I'm so excited we've been able to be a part of.

This year, to sum up the highlights, Kate was not in the mood to participate in pretty much anything, that includes sitting on Santa's lap, and we got an EPIC picture with Santa.  It was also just Kate, Maya, and Gina this year because Courtney and Wyatt couldn't make it.  So it was a smaller crew.

Doughnuts for breakfast.  Yes.

That means Kate wants me to hold her and is not
interested in participating in the dress up.

Yep, not interested.

...and, still not interested...

The puppet show did capture both Kate and Maya's
attention for a little bit though!

And now, what you've all been waiting for!!!!  Our picture with Santa.  What is wrong with this photo?  First, Kate would not even sit next to Santa. I had to literally sit next to him and hold her next to him... Second, if Kate wasn't going to enjoy sitting next to him, she certainly wasn't going to smile.  Third, Santa is looking at Maya and it makes me wonder if he's got a good grip on her.  Fourth, the photographer literally said, 'SMILE', took a photo, saw that 1 of 4 were smiling and then said, 'GOT IT'.  Um, last I remembered it was my kids here to see Santa, not me.  But, I digress...

Epic, I tell ya.  EPIC.

This photo will surely make us all laugh in years to come!

To see previous Breakfast with Santa's click here!

Annual Christmas Cards

People.  I'm about to share with you a whole lot of family photo AMAZINGNESS!  These are just too good to only share a couple.  We had these taken the day before Thanksgiving at a local park area right near us. 

We love all of them!  Especially those with our girls!

Thank you, Monty!

Family photo with Jack.

And family photo of humankind only!

I will always cherish those little cheeks!

My littlest love.

I love you, Maya!

I love this one of Kate!

My blue-eyed babes!

Silly girl!

Family photo take II!

Yummy shirt!

Infant love!

Little girl love!

Sister love!

And, all of this to say, we have officially completed our Annual Christmas Cards too and we think this years is the BEST ONE YET!  #soproud

The front!

The back!

A bit of Hendricks Family infographics for your year 2015!

To see Christmas Cards past, go here!

Oh, Christmas Tree

All while we snuggled in bed...

...Brian bought a Christmas tree and home he fled!

We let the tree breathe and hang for a bit...

Then we got our ornaments out and decorated
that s&*t.

There's something so special when a Christmas
tree glows...

...almost as special as this one's little toes.

If that doesn't get you in the holiday spirit, I don't know what will.

DIY Felt Board

I've made a couple of felt boards as Christmas presents this year because I think they are so much fun and they can be used for so many different things.  When I was searching online to purchase said board, I noticed they were all super expensive and super small.  Enter idea of doing it ourselves!

The most expensive part of this project was the board itself, but you can tailor it to any size you'd like!

Materials:
-(1) Dry Erase Board
-Felt
-Exacto Knife

My method is simple.  Cut a piece of felt to cover the BACK of the dry erase board.  Tuck the felt under the board lip.  The felt will kind of stretch so it is very forgiving and your cutting doesn't have to be perfect.  (Can I get an AMEN for not having to cut felt perfectly?!)

Once you've tucked all the felt in, you are done.  DONE!  And you have yourself a custom felt/dry erase board that can also be used as a hill for sliding cars down!

We selected this blue color to help our felt
pieces stand out.  I may go with a gray next
time though!

Using your exact-o knife to tuck the felt on the
backside of the dry erase board.

Felt tucking perfection!

Felt board story fun!

I have grand plans to create some fun felt "things" but have yet to do so.  I'll keep you updated when I do!

North Pole Breakfast 2015

I decided to add another tradition into our holiday craziness: a North Pole Breakfast!  What, may you ask, in the world is that?!  My friends, it is a breakfast that our Elf brings when she arrives at our house!  Of course!!!

She surprises us all with things we normally wouldn't be eating for breakfast and decorates and brings a little gift or two!

This year, we had Mimi and Papaw come over at the crack of dawn to join us!  This tradition is definitely a keeper!

Our elf has arrived!

Complete with a sprinkle of snow...

...that I didn't tell Brian about.  #hewouldfreak

So festive!

Little ornaments, two Christmas movies, and two little Snoopy's
made up the gifts from our elf this year!

Yum!

Candy cane fruit - bananas and strawberries - and peeps for breakfast
AND sprinkles in our yogurt?!

And M&Ms?!  Yes, please!!!

Brian said it looked like I was decorating for
the Italian festival.  I can see that.

Sleepy head coming down to see the craziness!

Sleepy smiles!

Say cheese!

Playing under the table with Papaw post breakfast!

The only planning fail I had with this was that our sprinkle doughnuts were in Ohio State colors (scarlet and gray) instead of Christmas colors because the Ohio State versus Michigan game was this very same day.  Maybe I'll plan differently next year...

Christmas is coming!!!