Family Life

Celebrating 100 Days of School

sofijaburton, , 2 Comments

Friends,

how is your schooling going? Are you close to the 100 day mark? Do you have a big party to celebrate? When my oldest went to private school, the 100th day of school was a big deal. I’m sad to tell you, when I school the kids I get so busy that organizing a party seems like way too much work. So when my friend Mimi invited me over to celebrate I was thrilled.

Here are some ideas my friend came up with to get you started on your party.

  • Count 100 pennnies
  • Make little round cakes, shape them into the number 100 and then decorate with 100 m&m’s
  • Make a paper crown and add 100 stickers
  • Take 100 steps on your balancing beam (if you happen to have one in your house)
  • Swing a hula 100 times
  • Jump 100 times on the trampoline

It was a fun party and a fun way to break from the school routine.

-Sofija

Celebrating 100 Days of School

Sledding

sofijaburton, , Leave a comment

Hi there,

how was your weekend? Did you try to squeeze in as much fun as you can before school starts up again? My kids certainly did. Thanks to dear friends they got to go ice skating twice and sledding. Here are some pictures my 11 year old daughter took when she went sledding. I must say this girl takes some good pictures.

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The picture of the girl is Esther’s good friend. Looking at these pictures makes me sad I missed it. I did make it into the mountains once, I’ll share pictures soon.

Have a lovely day, and good start back to school!

-Sofija

Sledding

Happy New Year

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Friends,

how was your start into the new year? Ours was not glamorous at all. We spend a lot of time holding and nursing sick children. But after the recent school shooting I am more than grateful to have sick children to nurse.

What are your hopes and dreams for this new year? Any big travel plans? For me a good year is a year I travel a lot, or I have lots of visitors. I’m anticipating some of my family coming to visit, so I am exited about that.

Do you set goals for the year? I try to set spiritual and personal goals. For spiritual goals I might attempt to read the bible in one year. For personal goals I might make a list of books to read, or take a class. And there is always the goal to exercise more…

I started a new category Art and Faith. For a long time I have been in awe how many creative friends I have. I thought this might be a good place to introduce you to them.

Have a lovely day,

Sofija

I took the pictures behind our house. I never get tired of our view.

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Happy New Year

Dressed for the Holidays

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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.

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Next is Shane. The shirt is from H&M, jeans are from Old Navy. Pistol is from Cracker Barrel.

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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.

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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.

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Natasha is wearing pants from Carters, white top from Old Navy, and a tunic from Tea. The shoes are thrifted.

i-VDmMvgH-XLEsther’s dress is from Target, cardigan from Old Navy.

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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.

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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

Dressed for the Holidays

friday-grams

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Friends,

How was your week? Our week flew by with Halloween festivities, going bowling, and the last mountain bike club ride. I don’t really like being gone during week nights; my days are busy enough. This week I was gone three nights. Can’t wait to chill at home with my husband tonight. Oh, and how in the world is it already November?

November happens to be one of my favorite months. There is Thanksgiving! And there is Operation Christmas Child. I will post more on that topic in a couple of weeks.

Here are some pictures from our week. I hope the first one makes you smile. My 6 year old Ella made this Lego scene for me. Her creations are so cheerful and cute, they always make me happy.

Here is Ella at the bowling alley. She did a fundraiser for their AHG troop (a Christian version of the Girl Scouts), and as a reward for their hard work they got to go bowling.

Here is my 11 year old, Esther, drawing a design on our pumpkins. The girl picked the design, gutted and  carved the pumpkin, and baked some pumpkin seeds. She had some help from my 8 year old, but Esther was the driving force.

Here are the results.

A pumpkin heart. For me, from my son.

Have a lovely weekend.

I’ll see you back here next week.

-Sofija

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My Baby Turned Two

sofijaburton2 Comments

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

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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