Paper and Crayons

     Drawings and pictures and journals and books and treasure maps...I have a drawing maniac over here right now! It's really neat to watch how excited my daughter is about creating because she always used to say, "You draw it," if we suggested drawing anything. And suddenly a switch has been flipped because she is constantly asking for paper (which I am happy to give but seriously need to up my supply). She started out with monsters but now she is working on hearts (and doing a pretty darn good job of them I have to say - may need to hire her as a freelancer for my Valentine's cards), houses, trains, castles, crowns, whatever strikes her fancy. She likes to make books of her drawings and stories as well (which she used to do with stickers but now does all her own illustrations - lol).

A small collection.

Speaking of amazing handmade drawings. My daughter received a hand delivered piece of mail from her friend Andy. So sweet - he knocked on our door (sadly Piper was not home) and dropped it off with my hubby. Piper was pretty excited to open it when she got home. It contained a very cool drawing on a piece of cloth!

Here is a little mail she's made in return - love it! It will be on its way shortly!

Christmas is getting close (at least it suddenly feels that way!). If you have any children on your list think about crayons and paper (simple but wow, the things they can do with them...endless and dare I say, priceless!). In fact, crayons and paper for everyone on your list - there is something incredibly relaxing about picking up a crayon and doing a little doodling. People with kids have an excuse and opportunity to do this all the time so if you don't have kids or your kids aren't 'crayon colouring age' anymore go buy yourself a new pack (fresh tips, untouched, brand new colours to do with what you will). Not embarrassed to say I even have my own colouring book (hands off kids!) because it gives me an excuse to sit still every so often. I quite enjoy a new pack of pencil crayons as well.

Of course, stationery, pens and postage are always great gifts too. What kind of mail blog would this be if I didn't mention that!

561/1000 - 4 important pieces - some may include crayon drawings...

Pen Pals

Have you ever had one? Do you have one now? The bigger question may be...do they still exist...duh, duh, duh....

I remember with fondness my first penpal...she lived in Papua, New Guinea. I remember her paper thin envelopes and the beautiful stamps that graced the upper right corner. There was no chance that we were going to meet so we took our time and our letters to share our worlds with each other. It was a magical experience - writing discovery.

I've had many penpals over the course of my writing lifetime - many relatives (of all ages - cousins, aunts, uncles, nieces), people I worked with who live all over the world (thank you Disney) and a few through school trips/projects/assignments.  Of course this all started in an age before email/the Internet and texting. How would our relationships have been different if we just texted or messaged or emailed (if we didn't pour our hearts out on the page, send photos or wait an agonizing week or more for our letters to arrive)? Different, just different I guess.

So the cool thing is that my daughter has a penpal! Her name is Abby and she turns four on April 16th. They've only had two playdates (and one of those was just before we left for Cali because she lives quite far away) but they play wonderfully together. They send each other drawings, letters (with a little dictating to their Moms), little gifts and are building a friendship  in a really cool way. I'm so excited for the both of them. Abby is Piper's girl and Piper is Abby's girl. They love each other. This is how they talk.

Penpals!

We are sending a special girl (Abby), some special mail (it's her birthday), and maybe, just maybe Tinkerbell might be involved!

Penpals...rethink it. Maybe a new way to get to know an old friend or maybe, a new way for your kids to interact with others. I'd love to hear if anyone gives it a go. I can't tell you how excited my daughter gets when she has mail. It's a wonderful thing to see.

And looking for something different to send? I'm sending out two Sincerely Scent cards from Scentsy! They are so fun! As soon as I heard about them I knew I needed to get on board. Thanks for introducing them to me Penny. A card you can personalize with photos and text and a scent of your choosing! Check them out here and my girl Penny can hook you up with credits!

351/1000 One special package, two thank you notes, two Sincerely Scent cards, a postcard, something for fun and...that makes 7 for the count!

Wish You Were Here!

Yep, it was our turn to send postcards!  

My Beautiful Princess!

We were lucky enough to be able to take a trip to Disneyland and celebrate birthdays while we were there (Sam - 1 and Piper - 4). What a magical adventure! From favourite rides (Teacups, Jungle Cruise, Tiki Room) to becoming a princess, Rapunzel to be exact, (at the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique) it was amazing to see my daughter discover Disney for the first time.  We all enjoyed Carsland and Fantasy Faire - the imagineers do such an amazing job with all of their projects! We are big fans!

The Amazing Bus!

My son (who turned one) was really just along for the ride. And funnily enough his favourite ride was the bus that we rode to and from the airport and to and from the park - easy to please! He did grab a Winnie the Pooh off the shelf that was the size of him and wouldn't let it go. It was his birthday so we figured it was the perfect gift! And really who could say no?

As I mentioned we sent out some postcards from our lovely, warm, fun-filled spring break! And as one person has already mentioned - a little Disney magic in mailboxes here and there from us! Wishing you all could have been there or at least that you get to experience the magic with your own loved ones sometime soon.


Also, heading out into the world is a stack of thank you notes for birthday gifts and various other sundry reasons! Also, a couple other special pieces! I love the mystery and gift of mail!

Would love to hear some of your favourite Disney memories/moments!

344/1000 12 postcards, 24 heartfelt thank you cards & 2 mystery pieces of mail! On a roll!

Thanks for Your Patience!

Oh...hello there...good friend. I've missed you.

You look fantastic by the way!

...just breaking the ice :)

I've had my blog window open on my computer for over a week now...wondering if I can just sneak in a new post...you know, like I've been doing it regularly for the last (eep!) two years.

I kind of took a sabbatical, went on hiatus, got lost in the desert and by that I mean wow, life is crazy amazing and just swept me away, as only it can do. And guess what? I didn't stop sending out mail, I just didn't blog about it. I thought a lot about blogging every time I let an envelope gather speed and fly through the mail. I'm probably pretty close to my goal or at least halfway but really it would be easy to just say that wouldn't it and to be honest I didn't keep track. So I'm going to start from January 1st...I actually started writing them down...must have known that blogging was in my future once again.

And what was I doing while I was gone you ask?

Well among other things...I was watching my beautiful baby Piper turn into an amazing little girl who I love more and more everyday! And wow, she is almost 4! And rumour has it, she would like a rainbow cake for her birthday (at least that is the latest intel-I'll ask again in 5 minutes).

9 days old

And last year we went from a family of 3 to a family of 4 when we welcomed our sweet little Sam(uel) into our lives.

6 months

He is growing super fast and keeping us on our toes!

10 months

And here he is now - my sweet, smiling, baby boy Sam (who is almost one already)





Thank you to Candice Wong at Candice Wong Photography who took these beautiful photos of my Sam. She has an amazing gift.

So I guess a little "Thanks for your patience" is in order :) And now back to our regularly scheduled program...1000 pieces of mail here I come, and off they go.

Running the numbers: Norway (2), California (1), AB (2) and BC (14). That'll be 19 (it's a start...again).

272/1000