Christmas Collage

There were way too many pictures to choose from, and i did not want to bore everyone with a thousand Christmas posts so i thought i would play around with the mosaic collage option on picasa...it is pretty fun!!!

The kids were so excited about the presents...but what kids aren't? The big gifts were the gun and the american girl doll. They loved them as we expected they would.

My kids are special, and apparently very considerate. They wanted Santa to know that if he needed a potty break that he was more than welcome. Click on the letter to make it larger and you can see just what Avery wrote(i think that will work, but i have never done picture collages before). Was it wrong? we went to check the potty and found that Santa had been there....there was red glitter on the seat and elsewhere!!!!!

These were some of my wonderful gifts. Is this not the cutest little elf ever? i think he will be living with us all year, not just at Christmas time. Avery and Chris made me this owl holder for my i pod. They spent a long time crafting this together, and i love it. This bowl is from a local potter, and i knew when i saw the sewing machine dish i had to have it...and sure enough it was there on Christmas morning.

Then we finished our Christmas day at my mom's house for dinner and more presents. It is nice to have them close so we can have Christmas together. Doesn't she have a pretty tree? Thanks for the yummy dinner mom.

Merry Christmas

The presents are all opened, the house is a huge disaster...candy and toys everywhere, but it is a happy house. We are recovering and spending time playing together with all the new toys. I am thankful for my friends and family and for the gift we were all given on Christmas day. Hope that you all had a wonderful day. My sister has a great poem on her blog you should go check out about the day after christmas. very funny, and clever sister!!!! Blogging will probably be a little slow between now and the new year...enjoy all your celebrations!!!

Geek Heaven!

This is one of my favorite pictures from today...Chris got to make a trip to the 5th avenue Apple store. He was more than thrilled. This is a picture of him gazing up from the depths of the store. It is very cool...from above ground it just looks like a big glass box, then you go down a winding staircase and you are in the store, where geeks and nerds abound!!! They all have their silly saying shirts, in red of course for Christmas. He did manage to get a Christmas present out of the trip...he picked it but i am still insisting that we wrap it and it go under the tree with everything else. As a side note....isn't he is just too cute???!!! I love him!


ps..i do have a few fun crafty and sewing things to share but i am afraid if i shared them now that there would be no surprise for Christmas...since i am certain they are reading this...so i promise that i will have a few things to share soon.

Because my Mother Said So

What have we been doing? Lots more than i thought we would be. Somehow despite my best intentions to stay home as much as possible during this over the top shopping season we have been out for some reason or another. All the while wishing we were home.

But, today was an exception to that. Because if you live nearby, a trip into NYC during the christmas season is a must. It is so fun to listen to cheerful, happy christmas blaring from store fronts while people are being rude to one another in the street and horns are honking. Very NY!! The people watching is fun. There are the lights and the pretty storefronts....grand central terminal has a laser light show....there was even a scraggly Santa walking amongst the crowds of people there to see the tree at Rockefeller Center.

Today we headed to the Central Park Zoo, just to prove to Avery that there is more in NYC than just the american girl store. It was small but very fun. We loved the tropical rainforest bird house, if for nothing more than the chance to warm up, because it was freezing today. My glasses fogged up as soon as we walked in!!!

Chris and the kids had a great time posing as animals in the children's zoo. My favorite is the Avery turtle...she looks stuck but trust me we got her out!

Now of course we did stop by to see the tree and what a tree it was. When you stand right up next to it it is amazing how big it is and it looks so pretty. I had the kids stop so we could get a picture with it and without me realizing it i captured the true essence of my son...see that tongue sticking out? Little stinker!

And this is them winding down on the train ride home....plugged in to our respective game/phone devices. They were completely unphased by me taking a picture, never even flinched or bothered to look up. All in all it was a good day....bought a few gifts....avery got to go to the AG store...had a street hot dog and pretzel. See you next Christmas NYC.

Mug Shots!

Before

After

Before

After

The kids had haircuts today....very needed! I love the face Mitch made...making this look even more like a mug shot, I know. Avery has wanted shorter hair for a long time now, and i finally conceded, letting her get a more big kid hair do. She is thrilled! I had no idea getting her this kind of haircut would be like when Mitch got his first big boy cut. They age years right before your very eyes and i don't think i am ready for that.

Family Cookie Night

Chris wanted to make some cookies this weekend so we got busy...so busy we had 4 different recipes going at once. This, i think, was the first year that both of the kids could be so involved. Avery even was able to work at the stove this year. Chris was helping...we were all doing it together and it went amazingly well.

The back story on that is that in our early years chris and i could not be in the kitchen for more than a few minutes together before one of us lost it. So it is refreshing to be productive in the kitchen and happy together at the same time. I love you honey!!!

These are the results of our time in the kitchen together. Yummy right? It was a perfect weekend together...we cozied on the couch and watched christmas movies with the kids...made cookies...had breakfast for dinner. perfect!!! i loved every minute. Me thinks my heart grew three sizes!!!!

Everything's Coming up German!!!

In the spirit of the season....and the hopeful defeat of the Navy football team....i am making a big pot of Gluhwein, pronounced, glue-vine, to take to a party this afternoon.

Start with 3-4 bottles of Gluhwein. It is a pre spiced, mulled type of wine in either red or white that you can get in most liquor or grocery stores during the holiday season. You can see we used red today. If you can not find actual Gluhwein you can use any cheap white or red wine as your base. Pour it all in a large stockpot. Add 2-3 cinnamon sticks, a palmful of whole cloves and 2-3 sliced lemon and oranges.

Now add a 1/4 c. sugar per bottle and a half. Today i used three bottles, therefore i added a 1/2c. sugar. Stir and let this simmer on low for about 1 hour. Be sure not to let this boil. Not good for the wine. And measurements are not exact, make it to your taste!!!Strain this over a crockpot to get all the large and small pieces out. Just set your crockpot on low and enjoy.

Sew and Tell Friday

I made it!!!

It is not always easy to find what I am looking for. This is the kind of mess i make when i am looking. What was i looking for you might be wondering?....and if you were not that is ok too. :o) I was looking for some scraps to make, maybe the one and only handmade gift i will finish this Christmas. There were some good scraps in there.

Since i am fully confident that the family member i made this for never reads my blog, i feel comfortable sharing. Sorry, those of you that do read it is not for you. hope you won't be disappointed.

I made a bread bag...to store fresh bread, homemade or otherwise. It is lined with the same green floral in the patchwork. In doing this bag i conquered some of my least favorite things that i am not so great at....buttonhole and interfacing. I know you seasoned sewers are thinking, what those are easy things....but i tend to shy away if i have more to deal with than straight lines. i used this tutorial from this fun blog Adelaide Lemonade. When i saw it i knew right away that it would be a great gift for my uncle who makes bread all the time.

I embroidered it with the words 'frisches brot'....German for 'fresh bread'. Said aunt and uncle enjoy things of german persuasion...and when i last spoke to my aunt she was gushing about my uncles latest bread and how it was like a good german bread....crisp outside and soft and chewy in the middle. Sounds good to me. hence...frisches brot. NOW, i have not been to Amylouwho's to check out the rest of the finishes because i was too busy trying to finish mine while it was still Friday....so go and check them out with me. I know there are going to be some great ones.

Recent Purchases

This is my new pack of loveliness. I got it from my recent go-to quilt shop...the Fat quarter shop. They are not the only place that i look for something, but they always have a huge selection of what is available and what is coming soon. I was shopping around for a friend who wanted me to make something for her, i am flattered! When i was about to order the fabric for her i just wanted to browse around see if there something for me too!! I found this lovely fat quarter bundle of Paula Prass Woodland Delight fabric. And no, i am guilty of not knowing what i am going to do with this. I just loved it!!! I could not resist the color combination.

And JONELLE, this is for you!!! I know i did not ask you what you thought before i bought it, but i thought it fit your description of what you wanted the best...blues and white and silver.

I hope you like it. I wish i was able to make the tree skirt for you in time for this christmas but you and i both know it was never going to happen. So what do you think? It is from a line called Venetian Holiday.

Family Craft Night, Christmas Version

From time to time i love to have us all sit down together and make something fun!! Crafting together is way better than crafting alone. For this craft night we were going to try our hands at a 3-D style snowflake. Avery is the perfect age for stuff like this. She is coordinated enough that she does not need much help anymore and actually does it herself. Mitchell quickly loses interest and we end up making what he started.

Yes that is a giant pencil...i am waiting for one of the kids to whack themselves in the head with it while they are writing.

Chris helped to make the snowflakes but he also made hanging it much easier. All i had to have was the idea, and he found a way to make it work. I have a stash of sticks and branches in the garage, some have even moved with us, and i thought this would be the perfect way to use them. Chris used fishing line to hang the branch from our ugly flourescent light and we then hung the snowflakes from said branch.

More than the snowflakes i am in love with the branch. i can not help myself. i have sticks all over my house. That stick is going to be a permanent fixture whether i have something hanging on it or not. These are not as tricky a snowflake to make as they might look. I used a wonderful tutorial at Heritage Acres Homestead blog. Try it out, they are fun to make in lots of different sizes.

Drumroll Please!!!

and the winner is Jingle

Jingle said...

Wow! congratulations on your 500th post! That is impressive! It looks like you have a wonderful blog! Thanks for the fun giveaway.

Thanks everyone for coming and commenting. And welcome all you new followers. I hope that you continue to come by and say hello. I appreciate it. I never thought there would be such a huge response. Jingle, I sure hope that you enjoy the Wonderland Layer Cake!

Where Have I Been?

Well, there has been a lot going on here. Lots of house guests...all wonderful...thanksgiving...very yummy...and giveaway day. Giveaway day is over tonight. Phew! I never thought i would say that, but man it has been hard to keep up. Don't get me wrong, i am thrilled. I just had no idea that so many other wonderful bloggers out there would be as excited about my giveaway as i was to take part. Thanks all of you commenters and new followers. I am flattered. My hubby and I are going to get the technical parts taken care of and i will post the winner as soon as i can. I hope i find some more new and wonderful bloggy friends through this.

but here is a little flashback...in order to be orderly my sister and very organized husband set up a whitboard with the schedule of cooking for Thanksgiving. What and when it had to be made. That is all very tidy of them, right? As funny as i thought it was it really helped.

The little girls made a thanksgiving "tree"... they used a template to cut the leaf shapes and then wrote every guests name on a leaf, then taped it to the branch for the centerpiece. So cute.

And of course eventualy the tryptophan catches up with everyone on thanksgiving. Though if you look closely my dad caught us taking pictures and stuck his tongue out at us. naughty dad!!!