Merry Christmas from our family to yours!
Have a lovely time with your family.
-Sofija
Month: December 2012
Dressed for the Holidays
Friends,
It’s one week till Christmas! Are you ready? My kids are uber exited. Everyday new packages arrive in the mail, mostly from their grandparents.
I thought I’ll share some outfits we will be wearing on Christmas or over the holidays. My friend Emily did this photo shoot with us a couple of weeks ago. I posted some of those works of art here.
For a photo shoot I try to see what we own already and buy as little as possible. I only bought Ella’s dress, cape, and hair pin, and Esther’s dress and shoes recently. Everything else we either bought previously, got as hand-me-downs from our stylish cousins, or we thrifted. My jacket and Tasha’s red shoes were thrifted for example.
First up is Ella. Her dress and cape are from the Gap. Her shoes are from the Children’s place, tights are hand-me-downs. Her hair pin is from a local hobby store.
Next is Shane. The shirt is from H&M, jeans are from Old Navy. Pistol is from Cracker Barrel.
Next up is Finn. Finn always wears the same clothes so it is very likely he will wear this outfit from now until summer, unless he manages to grow out of it again. Top is from the Gap and pants are Levis.
Lucy is wearing all hand me downs except for her shoes and hair pin. The dress is from Gymboree, and the blouse from Ralph Lauren. The hair pin from Hobby Lobby, and the shoes from the Children’s Place.
Natasha is wearing pants from Carters, white top from Old Navy, and a tunic from Tea. The shoes are thrifted.
Esther’s dress is from Target, cardigan from Old Navy.
I’m wearing Levi’s skinnys (never thought I would be brave enough), top from Anthropologie, jacket from Talbot, boots from Merrel. I bought the buffalo leather bag decades ago in Frankfurt.This is the first pair of boots I have bought (other than snow or hiking boots). I bought rain boots to justify the purchase in case I didn’t wear them enough. Well, I wear them all the time. They dress up every outfit.
I will be posting Christmas pictures soon. I’m amazed how they turned out thanks to Emily. All pictures were taken behind our house.
-Sofija
Weep with Those who Weep
I wrote my last post before I got the horrible news of the school shooting in Connecticut. Please forgive me for posting something trivial when we should be mourning.
Every time I look at the list of names I cry. I have a six year old daughter, I have been holding her close.
Charlotte Bacon 02/22/06
Daniel Barden 09/25/05
Rachel DaVino 07/17/83
Olivia Engel 07/18/06
Josephine Gay 12/11/05
Ana M. Marquez-Greene 04/04/06
Dylan Hockley 03/08/06
Dawn Hochsprung 06/28/65
Madeleine F. Hsu 07/10/06
Catherine V. Hubbard 06/08/06
Chase Kowalski 10/31/05
Jesse Lewis 06/30/06
James Mattioli 03/22/06
Grace McDonnell 11/04/05
Anne Marie Murphy 07/25/60
Emilie Parker 05/12/06
Jack Pinto 05/06/06
Noah Pozner 11/20/06
Caroline Previdi 09/07/06
Jessica Rekos 05/10/06
Avielle Richman 10/17/06
Lauren Russeau 06/82
Mary Sherlach 02/11/56
Victoria Soto 01/04/85
Benjamin Wheeler 09/12/06
Allison N. Wyatt 07/03/06
Pray and weep…
This list was released by the State Police of Connecticut
When They Should be Doing School…
This is what they do instead:
Especially the two on the last picture. They have lost all motivation to do anything related to learning. All they can think of is Christmas…I feel for teachers everywhere.
But that is part of the joy of Christmas, the anticipation and the waiting for the One who can save us.
Have a calm weekend!
-Sofija
A German Christmas
Hi there,
how is your week going? The level of intensity in anticipation of Christmas is rising in our house.
Our home-school co-op is doing a “Christmas around the world” party. I volunteered to do a German table with a poster board and typical Christmas goodies. I thought I share some of those traditions with you today.
Germans really relish the time before Christmas. Early in December the Christmas markets open. They are usually set up in the old part of town and offer mostly handmade Christmas toys, yummy goodies, and the famous hot, mulled wine to keep you warm. Some have children’s rides. Going through them takes hours.
The advent is observed much more closely than here. On the first advent families get together, light the first candle, sing Christmas carols, and children often get a special treat. Consequently every Sunday another candle gets lit.
A lot of people have these fancy pyramids, the best are made in the Erz region. When the candles are lit the wind causes the figures to move in circles. This provides hours of entertainment for children.
Santa does not come on the 25th. Instead St. Nik comes on the 6th and fills children’s shoes with goodies. You can read more about him here. The big night is on the 24th, when the Christ child brings presents. The 25th and 26th are big holidays where people eat meals like duck or goose, but there are no presents. Most people keep their tree and decorations up until January. The Christmas tree was invented in Germany.
Another big tradition is the advent calendar. Starting December first children get to open a door each day filled with a small toy or chocolate.
Germans are not as big on Christmas cards as here, if they send a card it is a traditional card with no family pictures.
Germans go all out for Christmas. The whole month is one big celebration and most children get goodies each day, on the 6th, and on the first advent. This is the place you want to be in the month of December!
What are your family traditions? I’d love to hear.
-Sofija
Little Red Riding Hood
Friends,
how was your weekend? Ours was packed with a Christmas play and a photo shoot. I have been planning the photo shoot for a while and I can’t wait to share some picture with you today and the next two weeks. Thanks to Emily from Lonely Mountain Photography they turned out like I hoped to.
Here are some pictures of my 6 year old Ella. Ever since I found the red cape I wanted to do a Little Red Riding Hood shoot with her. Take a look.
I love doing photo stories.
-Sofija
Cape and dress from the Gap. Hair pin from Hobby Lobby. Shoes from the Children’s Place.
Photos taken by Lonely Mountain Photography. You may use these pictures but be kind and credit.
Styling by Sofija Burton
Guess Who Came by Last Night?
Do you have a favorite Christmas tradition? One of mine is St. Nik’s visit on December 6th. Children set out their boots before dark and then they wait for St. Nik to fill them.
Our children only get to put one shoe out so they make sure they find the biggest boot they own with plenty space to fill. Here we have all six shoes.
After dark the shoes get mysteriously filled. There is always a big chocolate Nikolaus, some chocolate coins, and one or two toys.
St Nik brought my 8 year old a cap gun with caps.
Usually there is a loud knock on the door to announce St. Nik’s arrival. However last night the family ran an errand and when they came back they found their shoes filled. I had stayed home cooking and I reported that in fact there was a rather loud knock.
It is always a mystery to my children why St. Nik only comes to our house but not the neighbor’s.
-Sofija
On the Train
Hi there,
Milk, a French children’s magazine, did this shoot on a train to Versailles. Not sure if this is a public train. If so, it would be a classy ride for sure.
I like how this shoot doesn’t take itself too serious. See the girl yawning in the last picture? If I had my pick I would dress my girls in the golden dress (second picture) and black and white coat (fourth picture). Oh and I would put bow ties on my boys…if they ever let me.
-Sofija
All pictures taken from the “En train” fashion story in Milk 28
Photos by Elisabeth Stoll
Style by Melanie Hoeppfner
Photos still life Claire Israel
Katrina Tang Children’s Photography
Hi there,
Katrina Tang is a children’s photographer from Latvia. Here is a shoot she did for the London Times. The outfits are by different well known designers.
Have a look.
I like how she used toys as props to make the shoot look natural. I like the moccasins on the girl in the first picture. I bought a pair from Nartjee for my 4 year old and they make every outfit fun. I wouldn’t mind owning that star dress on the last picture for the holidays.
If you are into children’s photography be sure to check out her website. She has a unique style. Kind of dreamy, fairy tale like.
Have a great day,
Sofija
It’s Starting to Look a Lot Like Christmas
Happy first December!
The kids opened the first door of their chocolate advent calendar, and we bought a tree. Feels like we accomplished a lot today. It might look like we had a lot of helpers decorating the tree, but really it was my 11 year old and I doing the hard work. The little girls only showed up for the easy part…
Looking forward to tomorrow. We are taking all six kids to a concert. Our friend Andy is playing guitar for the band Future of Forestry They doing their advent tour and playing in Albuquerque tomorrow. If you live in town go check it out.
Have a great first Advent!
-Sofija
Teach Where You Live 