Habari Gani?

Last post of 2014! What a blessing to move forward in life! To have another day to love to create to learn! Below is a photo recap of a few things that have been keeping us busy!

Winternational was a gathering of many embassies, opening up there customs and treats to us this winter season. Liv got her first henna tattoo and enjoyed dancing to the live music! It’s always wonderful to experience new cultures without even getting your passport stamped!

Zoolights is an annual must! Armed with Starbucks hot chocolate and blueberry muffins we had a blast!

This was the first year I have ever celebrated Kwanzaa! I feel so blessed to be sharing these principles with my child early on connecting with a community of like minds on various levels!
Eagerly anticipating 2015 and beyond!

Soulful Sunday

Can He Get Much Higher!?

This weekend we enjoyed a great first visit to the College Park Aviation Museum! The museum had a small entrance fee but especially with the Holiday event they were hosting it was well worth it! This event was full of crafts, an amazing balloon artist, tattoos. The museum has air planes to get a hands on experience as well as flight attire to play dress up with and lots of other nooks and crannies of amazement! And the biggest moment of the day was Santa being flown into the museum by police helicopter! Big Fun and Loads of Holiday Cheer!

WeLove Chickfila

Yes. That’s right. FREE Breakfast Wednesdays at Chick-fil-A Capital Centre!
December 2014 – February 2015, stop by between 6-10:30am on Wednesdays for a FREE breakfast entree. Store will select the one item each week.

National Christmas Tree Lighting 2014

This year we were blessed to have seated tickets at the National Tree Lighting! It was definitely a memorable event to jump start our Christmas holiday. Liv enjoyed the music and lights a great deal! It was freezing! She had on so many layers and blanket and she had the cutest Doc Mcstuffins & Sophia hand warmers. This Friday on PBS you will be able to view the event.

The holiday cheer continues nightly check out the event schedule here
Also, did you know Santa’s Workshop is open for visitors!

Run over and have a good time! I’m sure your little will have a blast!

WeLove the Smell of Presents

The US Botanical Gardens makes for a wonderful winter day escape. The various plant habitats allow you to escape and enjoy nature in a pleasurable climate. The current holiday display is so beautiful you have to see it to fully enjoy all of it’s splendor. Even the aroma in the places screamed holiday! Enjoy the pics and be sure to add this location to your holiday roster of events.

We Love to Discover

The Discovery Theatre on The National Mall is always a good time! The theatrical learning, storytelling, musical performance and introduction to new languages that happens here is simply wonderful. I make it a point to get Liv tickets for every age appropriate show they have.
This past week her aunt accompanied her to see “The Little Bred Hen” with Barefoot Puppets.

After the show there was an amazing Gingerbread House display by Jenni Vorhees as well as yummy cookie decorating.

Get Crafty: Christmas Edition

*Ornamnents You Can Taste

You will Need…
Peppermint candies
Metal cookie cutters
Non-stick cooking spray
Parchment paper
Toothpick or skewer
Twine or ribbon

How To…
1.Preheat oven to 350F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Spray the inside of each cookie cutter with cooking spray. Lay cookie cutters on baking sheet and fill with a layer of peppermints.
2.Bake for 5-10 minutes. Keep an eye on candy as it melts, remove from oven when candies have melted
3.Lightly coat a toothpick with cooking spray and use it to make a hole in each group of candies. Let candy sit inside cookie cutter until it re-hardens. Once hard, carefully stretch out the cookie cutter, pulling it away from the candy, to pop out your ornament.

*Do you have leftover Halloween candy still lingering?

Head to your craft store ( or perhaps the dollar store) purchase clear ornaments and ribbon.
Fill your clear ornaments with sprinkles, marshmallows or small colorful Halloween candies 🙂

*Christmas Alphabet Tree
Create a Christmas Tree with all the letters of the alphabet
Get some circular colored stickers
Write each letter on a sticker
Allow her kids to decorate the tree by matching the stickers to the tree
Festive and enriching

*Marshmallow Names
You will need …
Marshmallows
Glue
Paper

How To…
Write your child’s name in glue and allow then to stick the marshmallows on

*Name Snowmen
You Will Need….
White paper
Marker
A sheet of colored paper
Buttons, tiny colored Pom poms, Googly eyes
Glue

How To…
Cut out enough white circles for your child’s name plus a face for your snowman
Allow them to write each letter of their name on a circle
Glue the circles together in snowman fashion
Cut a top hat out of the colored sheet
Allow your child to decorate the hat and color on the face