Author: sofijaburton

My Baby Turned Two

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Hello Friends,

Our baby turned two last weekend. It was a very sad day for me. I just don’t want here to grow up. It’s happening too fast. But we had a party anyway. And for the occasion we flew out a professional photographer to capture the memories. Or rather, we invited our friends, and she happened to bring her oh so nice camera. The party was low key. I didn’t have much time to prepare. The beautiful raspberry mouse chocolate cake came from Whole Foods. Usually my 11 year old bakes the cakes for our birthday, but she was too busy with school this week. We bought the cake, and my 11 year old decorated it with some cake toppings we had gotten donated from a friend. I thought it turned out pretty nice for being completely impromptu.

The Birthday girl had just gotten up from her nap, so she is still a little sleepy in some pictures. And she generally didn’t get what the fuss was all about.

Here I am cutting the cake. Between my friend and I’s kids, we have enough to make it look like a big party.

By now she has woken up and realizes there is some yummy cake coming her way.

Life is good.

Love the pictures. My house never looked so good. If you would like to see more of Emily’s work go here.

Have a wonderful day,

Sofija

My Baby Turned Two

friday-grams

sofijaburton2 Comments

Friends,

how was your week? Ours has been busy with school. I can’t believe in two weeks we are already done with the first quarter. We have been working hard. That is probably why I haven’t posted much school related; I’ve been too busy “doing school”. Above is Shane working on spelling.

Above is my first grader Ella working on her reading.

Even the little crew is working. Above we have Lucille and Natasha at our home-school co-op. Natasha can barely reach the table, but she feels so big doing pre-school.

Recently we took a small break when we had an old friend visit us. He is a musician and came to Albuquerque to do a show. He might be the best hammer-dulcer player in the country. He and his friends did a concert right in our living room (above). I could get used to concerts in my house.

Here is my toddler styling.

Rain in the desert, always pretty.

Any plans for the weekend? Besides the usual shopping, church, exercise, we do have plans. My man is taking me to an October Fest tomorrow. I can’t wait to go on a date. I doesn’t happen often enough.

See you back here next week!

Sofija

friday-grams

He Shall Set the Captives Free

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Friends,

Last week I got an e-mail from Joshua DuBois and it made my week. Never heard of him? Well, I hadn’t either. He introduced himself as  leading  President Obama’s faith based office in the White House. He said that my signing a petition to end human trafficking and sex trade made a difference. I might add here that 75,000 people signed that petition and subsequently received this e-mail. Still I felt like I really made a difference. I have signed tons of petitions and written letters to Senators, but this one, coming from the White House, really felt like I was part of a little bit of history.

Here are some of the facts:

  • Each year, nearly 2 million children are exploited in the global commercial sex trade. (UNICEF)
  • 27 million men, women and children are held as slaves. (Kevin Bales, Disposable People)
  • 1 in 5 women is a victim of rape or attempted rape in her lifetime. (U. N. Development Fund for Women)

As a result of the hard, relentless work of organizations such as International Justice Mission, World Relief, Catholic Charities, and others, President Obama addressed this issue recently at the UN and is taking some decisive steps to stop it.

“The President’s executive order stated that the U.S. government “bears a responsibility to ensure that taxpayer dollars do not contribute to trafficking in persons.” Among other things, the order forbids federal contractors from “using misleading or fraudulent recruitment practices during the recruitment of employees.” It also prohibits not paying “return transportation costs [to the employee’s home country] upon the end of employment.”
Since the federal government is the largest purchaser of goods and services in the world, this order has the potential to make a big difference.”

The quote above comes from Break Point, a Christian Organization started by the late Chuck Colson, who cared deeply about modern day slavery.

I will keep signing petitions that come my way, and hopefully someday I will be able to do more. I urge you to do the same, and someday you might also get an e-mail from the White House. 🙂

Have a fantastic day!

-Sofija

He Shall Set the Captives Free

Halloween Costumes

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Friends,

Halloween is getting closer and the excitement in my house is building up. The idea of having our candy supply restocked by the end of the month is just too much. Personally I am not a fan of ghostly decorations and spider webs on my door. But I do like a cute costume. Here are some adorable ones I found on Pinterest:

You can find the tutorial for Little Red Riding Hood’s cape via petitepurls.com

You can find the sock monkey tutorial here.

The Apollo is by Sarah Illenberger for Nido Magazine.

I have seen a lot of Frida Kahlo’s lately. This one I found via Cal51.tumblr.com.

I found Madeline via omsh.

Aren’t these costumes adorable? I have more here.

Have a wonderful day!

-Sofija

Halloween Costumes

Oilily

sofijaburton, , 2 Comments

Friends,

Here is the last fall collection I would like to share with you. Oilily has been an inspiration to me for years and years. They are a dutch company and have made mismatching, colorful clothes hip. What I appreciate about them is their commitment to art. Their catalog pictures are so good that  you can frame them and hang them on the wall.

I love their colorful, carefree, comfy style. It inspires kids to be creative and have fun. Their pieces are roomy and allow for running and playing. What do you think? Too colorful? I think in a country where it rains a lot it would brighten your day.

Have a wonderful weekend!

-Sofija

Oilily

Bennetton Kid’s Fall Collection

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Hi there,

It was so much fun doing the fashion shoot with my friend Emily. I noticed I am on a roll as far as fall fashion goes. Largely because the collections I have seen are just so good this year. Also because there are some European companies I would like to introduce you to you might not be familiar with. Benetton from Italy is one of them. If you grew up in Europe, Benetton is an old hat. Frankly, I haven’t always liked them. At times they were too poppy for me, and too much the same year after year. However their kid’s fall collection won me back. I appreciate the art they put into it. And I guess I like the Italian take on British style. Take a look:

What do you think? I appreciate when a company understands that not every parent wants their tween to look like a rock star or a skater.

Have a great day!

-Sofija

Bennetton Kid’s Fall Collection

Tea Collection: School Aged Kids

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Here is the second part of the Tea clothing photo shoot my friend Emily and I did with our kids. First we have my friend’s  8 year old Eirik. He is all boy. On most days you can find him catching lizards, digging in the mud, riding his bike, and pouring over field guides. He is wearing Tea tops, not sure where the jeans are from. The snake top is my favorite, because it is so him.

Next we have my 6 year old Ella on the left, Siri in the middle, and Hanna on the right. Hanna, and Siri are my friend’s daughters. I don’t have a any Tea clothing size 6 for Ella, so she is wearing a dress size 4. Tea clothing is so versatile, you can use them as dresses or as long tops over leggings, thus giving them a longer life. We layered with a cardigan from Next, to make the outfit more suited for fall. Her clogs are from Gymboree. Siri in the middle is wearing a top and skirt from Tea.The skirt is from 2 years ago. Hanna is wearing a complete Tea outfit from the Asia collection last year.

The stuffed animal the girls are holding is a pig from “If you Give a Pig a Pancake”. It goes everywhere Ella goes, so naturally it made it into the shoot.

My two year old Natasha wriggled her way into the shot. She is wearing a tea dress from last year.

Next we have Siri with her little sister Aida. Siri’s top is one of my favorites, from the Eastern European collection two years ago. Aida is wearing a Tea dress purchase in January.

This concludes our photo shoot. This was so much fun, I hope to do it again. You can find the first photo shoot we did with the little ones here.

Have a great weekend!

-Sofija

Tea Collection: School Aged Kids

Tea Collection Fashion Shoot: Pre-School and Toddlers

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Friends,

I’m so exited to share a recent project my friend Emily and I did. She and I both really like buying children’s clothes from an American company called “Tea”. Their clothes are so comfy and timeless. Between the two of us we have 10 kids, so we both have acquired quite a collection. I thought it would be fun to do a photo shoot to introduce you. Emily set up the the shoot, we dressed the kids up, gave them some toys to play with, and my friend started clicking away. I must warn you, this is cuteness overload….

Above we have Emily’s  little 17 month old Aida in a Tea dress purchased in January. My  23 month old Natasha is sporting a Tea top from last fall. Her pants are from Carters, and the shoes are from the Children’s Place.

This is my favorite shot of Natasha holding on to that monkey. The monkey really belongs to my husband. Really. Purchased at Target.

Here is my 4 year old Lucille with the monkey. Her grey Tea top is actually a size 2T  purchased this summer. I’m pretty sure this won’t fit Natasha for some time to come, so Lucille might as well enjoy it for a while. Her pants are from Nano, the ballet flat from Gymboree, and the pink hoodie  from REI.

Here she is waiting for the monkey, she threw in the air, to come back down.

This is the pose she has been practicing for the photo shoot.

I bought this Tea top last fall size 3. So it is a little small but still works. The great thing about these tops is that you can wear them as dresses or as long sleeve tops over leggings. They have a longer life that way.

Ha, little Aida got a hold of the monkey. Her Tea dress was purchased in January. Aren’t her red shoes adorable? I wouldn’t mind owning a pair myself. Natasha’s top was bought last year.

Here is 3 year old Hanna on the right with an complete tea outfit. The pants match a lot of tops; we own a pair, too.

On Hanna: Tea outfit and Hanna Anderson clogs. Lucille’s Tea outfit was purchased last year.

This concludes the pre-school toddler session. I’ll be back next with some outfits for school aged kids. Stay tuned.

-Sofija

Tea Collection Fashion Shoot: Pre-School and Toddlers

Family Mountain Biking Outside of Albuquerque

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Friends,

We like to Mountain Bike. That is, my husband loves it and he is getting us slowly into it, as well. Last week we all piled up in the car and went to the East Mountains, outside of Albuquerque to go for a ride. It was a rather spontaneous thing, so I was surprised that our 6 kiddos could have fun without the usual snacks, gear, extra clothes, etc. Take a look:

We put as many bikes as we could fit on the bike rack (everyone except the baby had a bike), and the rest we piled in the trunk of our suburban.

David and I took the 4, 6, and 8 year old on the bike path. While my two oldest stayed back to watch the baby. The baby is almost 2 years old, but we call her the baby, and probably always will…My 4 year old can’t really ride yet, so we put her on a scoot, the kind of bike that does not have pedals.

She got tired pretty quickly going uphill on her scoot, so she decided to take a rest and do a pine cone dance.

Here is my man in action after the younger kids were done and heading back to the parking lot.

Natasha had a great time walking around the picnic area with no one stopping her.

Lucille taking a much needed rest after her 10 minute bike ride.

At the picnic area I wanted to shoot some action shots of my husband jumping off a ledge on his bike. This turned into everybody jumping off and having a really fun time.

I think we are on our way to becoming a mountain bike family. I so hoped we could find a sport that we can all enjoy on different levels, and this might be it.

So, if you are ever in the area, bring a bike!

Have a great day, I’ll see you back here soon with a kid’s fall fashion shoot I did with my friend. So exited to share it with you.

-Sofija

Family Mountain Biking Outside of Albuquerque

Writing by Hand

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Friends,

Lately I have been drawn to fountain pens, handwritten letters, and simple desks that invite you to grab a pen and write. Since school started my two oldest have been doing a lot of their work on the computer. I appreciate all the cool things you can do, like taking a virtual tour of Ancient cave paintings for your history class. But it also makes me nostalgic for those simpler times when all one had was a fountain pen, desk,and paper. Maybe even handmade paper.

Well, I will keep pinning pictures of handwritten letters, leather journals, and antique looking pens. And maybe I will start writing my Christmas cards early. That is the one time a year you might get a handwritten letter from me.

-Sofija
Sources top to bottom: via debbiehodge.com; via roguemarch.tumblr.com; third picture taken by me at castle Ronneburg in Germany

Writing by Hand