A Very Merry Christmas

We had a great day yesterday!


The Prince got his own (used) iMac!


The Lego set that he has wanted "forever"


A new baby and swing for the Princess


Trying out the spinbrushes that Santa brought


An Abby Cadabby costume!


She had to try it on right away.


The police helmet that he really wanted




The police helmet was a hit, so were the Nerf guns!




Trying on makeup and "pretties" with her cousin


Oh yeah- I made peppermint bark!

Merry Christmas!

I just wanted to pop in and wish everyone a very Merry Christmas!

Bourbon Balls

This is one of my favorite holiday treats. My grandma used to make these every year around Christmas time, I made them about 2 weeks ago to take to a Christmas party. I've been seeing several favorite holiday recipes lately that I thought I'd share one of mine.

These balls are so easy to make. When I made them last, I doubled the recipe and it was plenty for my needs. If I make them again, I'd for sure double it... maybe triple?


Bourbon Balls
from BlondieSpeaks' Grandma Marye

3 cups ground vanilla wafers (seriously ground... like flour!)
1 cup ground walnuts (again, grind these really fine!)
1 cup powdered sugar
3 tablespoons light corn syrup (Karo?)

Mix above ingredients, then add 1/4 cup bourbon (or rum) and 1/4 cup water. Roll into small balls, then roll in powdered sugar (to coat). Chill at least 3 hours before storing. Let set at least 24 hours before serving.

Makes 4-6 dozen.



I love these around the holidays- they are decadent and delicious!

We did take more photos today, with my brother (because Mom wanted pictures of him with my kids for her Christmas cards).

Here are some of my favorite shots:





The Princess was NOT interested in taking pictures with her uncle. "No! I don't want to!"

SO... I played with Photoshop and have ordered 100 of these to send out tomorrow:

Absolutely AWESOME Santa Canvas giveaway!!!

I am head-over-heels for this Santa Canvas:



And she's GIVING IT AWAY! Just posting about it here gets me 5 more entries- so please go tell her how much I love it! LOL!

Found link!

Hey- the post I mentioned last week (a vinyl tote bag I'd seen on a blog, I thought it was from Amandajean)... I found it!

It is listed on this post, just scroll down a bit. I think my MIL will be getting one for her birthday (next week!) if I can find the vinyl I like in time.


This picture is of the tote, found in this book

Handmade Christmas

I am planning on making most of the gifts that I'll be giving this holiday season. I've been collecting links of ideas for a few months and am just getting ready to get started. The problem is, I don't want to appear "cheap" to my relatives who don't appreciate handmade goodness nearly as much as I do... I want to be able to give gifts that they will appreciate and use. Some members of my family seem to place a lot of importance on money and the monetary value of things, I want to find gifts that they will be happy to receive.

Some of the links that I've been saving for this upcoming holiday season are:

Candy Cane Sugar Scrub
Crayon Rolls or
Coloring Wallets
Makeup Bags
Neck Warmers
Fabric Baskets
Homegrownrose has tons of ideas here and here
And Jill has a great linky list here

I'm also thinking about lounge pants... I might make a few pairs for gifts. Also, someone posted ages ago about a tote bag she'd made out of vinyl (hers was green and cream, I think). I loved the bag and keep thinking I'd like to make a similar one- now I'm also thinking about making them as gifts. I THINK it was Amandajean, but after some searching of her blog, I can't find that post. Do you know which bag I'm thinking of? It had fun machine-stitched zig-zags to decorate the vinyl, and I think she'd made a matching coin purse. Super cute, I just wish I could link to it and a picture!

I've also been browsing etsy for ideas. I'm open to purchasing handmade gifts to save myself some time and help out some fellow crafters. I've found several great shops and will probably make some purchases over there as well.

I haven't narrowed down exactly what I'll be making for everyone. I'm still really open to ideas. What are you giving this holiday season?

Still Laughing

So I have two uncles... the older one is in his early sixties and rather out-of-touch with young girls. He has a son (21), several (younger) nephews, a niece (11), me (28), and my daughter (20 months). Not too much contact with little girls, especially with those the Princess' age.

My aunt (his wife) is a nurse and works a lot, he owns his own business and has flexible hours- so he did the Christmas shopping this year. He asked me what kinds of things Princess likes, I thought I gave him some good suggestions. I also mentioned (laughing) that she likes to climb up onto our coffee table and dance... and that MIL joked that "at least she's not dancing on poles!".

Barnes and Noble. He decides to buy Princess a "dancing" book- because she likes to dance. He tells my aunt that he got her a dancing book... surely he wrapped it before she had a chance to see it.

Christmas celebration with that part of the family... he tells me that the book her got her "might be a little too old for her". I unwrap the book. It's a calendar. He tells me what he bought, and why he thought she'd like it- because she likes to dance. (She dances like most toddlers do... it isn't a big interest of hers!) I look at the pictures on the calendar... I think it might be too old for ME! I show this calendar to my aunt, she's way surprised and can't believe he's bought this thing. The entire family takes turns looking at the calendar, he's embarrassed, we laugh a lot.

This calendar is now sitting on the file cabinet by my desk, mainly because I'm not sure what to do with it.
I'm still laughing about this gift.

Some of the more questionable pictures are below... keep in mind, Princess will be 2 on May 1... I'm also including a picture of the info just in case you decide you need this calendar for yourself.























Again, this was a gift to my baby girl, who isn't even 2 years old!!!

Are you still laughing? :)

Updates

So, I guess I should either make a point to post more often or not feel slightly disappointed when some of my favorite bloggers haven't posted in a while... I just clicked through my bookmarks and had a brief "bummer" thought when I noticed that someone hadn't posted since the 8th. When I got over to blogger, I noticed that I hadn't posted here since the 9th, so I really don't have any room to talk. (I have a goal to post on my other blog every day... trying to get rid of a few extra pounds before spring!)

If you've been wondering, the lipstick came out!!! Hooray! Three cheers for isopropyl alcohol and liquid dishsoap! The alcohol really did the trick, and the dishsoap got out any traces that remained. I wonder, though, if part of the reason it was so easy to get out was that the lipstick was from The Body Shop- a company that keeps their products as natural as possible with very few "unnatural" ingredients. Princess got off without much more punishment than a shower with soap and shampoo- that was enough to piss her off and know that mommy was not happy with her.

I've been reading here in the blog world about everyone's adventures at Target, primarily in the 90% off Christmas topic, and I thought I should add my adventures. (Or lack thereof.) I went the day after Christmas and stocked up at 50% off, knowing that things would get picked over FAST. I went back a few days later and reshopped at 75% off... then returned several things that I'd purchased twice- returning them with the 50% off receipt. I knew this would be ok (though the Guest Services lady didn't seem too thrilled with me), because I worked the Guest Services counter during college... you can do it but they aren't happy about it. Side note- I bought a Christmas tree at 50% off that year, then when everything went to 90% off I returned it... and immediately re-purchased it at 90% off, plus my 10% employee discount. I ended up paying $9.00 for a $100 tree!

I got my copy of Simple Gifts to Stitch today! I'm looking forward to getting started on the first project, but am not looking forward to a table runner that I heard mention of....

I'm leaving in a few minutes to go help with snacktime at the Prince's preschool. Today they are celebrating his 1/2 birthday, even though he's been 4.5 for a month now ("That's the funniest thing I've ever heard, Mom!"). They asked if we could celebrate in January because December was so busy and there were already 2 actual birthdays to celebrate. I'm so excited about snacks today, though, because I've been planning this for a while. Last year I didn't realize when they celebrated his 1/2 birthday, and just sent regular "approved" treats. But for birthdays you can bring "real" treats- it doesn't have to comply with the list of ok foods! I felt so bad that I knew I had to do something special for him this year. I made cupcakes in ice cream cones, topped with frosting and sprinkles to look like ice cream sundae-cones! I'm really excited, and I'm taking my camera to hopefully be able to capture some shots of the kids enjoying...


I had to make 20 to take for snacks!


Seriously, am I an awesome mom or what? :)

Company

I LOVE having company over- especially the kind that we like enough to have stay overnight. No really... I AM serious!

We had some friends over this weekend and had a blast. They have a sweetheart of a little guy ( just barely 6 months old!) who is at least as heavy and almost as tall as Princess (20 months). She adored having him here and gave him lots of kisses and lovin'. I truly meant it when I told them that they were "welcome back anytime" and that I wanted to do this again soon.


Yes, that is the Prince, tying up our company and trying to pull him off the couch.


Then he tied him up even more. Wonderful, son. (can you feel the sarcasm?) Actually, this was hilarious- I was laughing so hard. Turns out that 4 year olds can actually tie pretty decent knots!


Had it not been for the glare, this would have been a great picture


Princess felt she had to give the little guy a ride on her 'bike'... he recently learned how to sit up by himself, so this was interesting...


Both the Prince and Princess just loved having a baby around, but I bet they'd hate it if the baby was ours and didn't ever leave!


I know you don't care, but I think this is a great picture of some wonderful people- it made me smile.

And now I rest. This was the final event in our marathon celebration of Christmas, nothing more planned until next year (yay!).
The kids are in bed... asleep... hubby is playing a computer game ("shoot 'em up", I think).... and he suggested that we take the evening off and do our own thing, take time to unwind. Thank you honey, it's a great idea! I think I'll work on finishing my quilt.

Christmas Recap, New Project

I thought I'd post a couple of cute pictures from Christmas, which is not over yet for us. We had extended family arrive in town last night and will be celebrating Christmas and a couple of birthdays with them over the next few days. Today, however, I am taking some time to myself and am working on a new project. More on that later.

Here are some cute shots from Tuesday:


Playing with a new Little People set


Opening a gas pump for the car he got 2 years ago (hopefully he'll share this with his sister, for the car she got this year!)


This I love- taken after everyone had arrived and brought over all of their gifts as well. Princess just wouldn't let go of her plate and brought it with her for the picture!

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Some info about me. I married my high school sweetheart in July of 2000. When we started dating, there was a down comforter on his bed that he'd had for at least a year or two, he used it all through college and I LOVED it- the warmest, softest blanket I'd ever used. When we got married, we bought a king-sized down comforter. We learned that we don't share blankets well, and because I'm not a big fan of the new comforter, I took his old one and he uses the new one. My (twin-sized) comforter is now about 15 years old (?) and I still love it, but I've noticed that the down is all getting smooshed to one end, and I've been cold at night lately. I suggested that I might need a new one, but Hubby suggested that instead I use the comforter as the batting for a new quilt- the first I will have made for ME.

I went out on Sunday, armed with a purse-full of "Coupon Commotion" coupons, and visited my local large fabric store. I decided on a warm, furry, fuzzy backing and then began choosing fabrics for the top. I wanted fun fabrics that I liked, and I didn't care if it matches the room decor or not... neither one of us has a cover on our comforter that matches the room anyway. (A bedspread is an upcoming project, but as it will be 3 yards square, it isn't a priority!)

I didn't take a picture of the awesome warm fuzzy fabric (it's like those fuzzy blankets that are so popular right now), but here are some of the fabrics that I've chosen:


This is a little washed out, but this fabric matches the fuzzy backing (which is a similar bluish color)


This got a bit washed out in the photo, but I love the daisies and zinnias in the print!


Also kinda washed out


This one is washed out, too


I used this for the binding!




I measured and thought I'd purchased enough fabric for the top, but now that I have everything cut out it seems that I'm short. I'm considering going back and getting more of the blue sqiggles fabric, or just digging into my stash. I know that I have some fabric that I could use, but I'm not sure if I'd have enough with that or not. I might use the rest of the fabric that I used for binding, but I had decided in the store that I didn't like how it looked with the other fabrics enough to use it for squares. The prince would say that I have a predicament... not sure what I'll do.

Christmas Wishes

I wish for you a very merry Christmas, time with your loved ones, and peace to all!


Today the prince and I made our Christmas cookies. We spent all morning and made several dozen... at least 2 dozen were eaten before the last batch came out of the oven!

He gets to help decorate- and uses tons of colored sugar!

Christmas Busy-ness

This has been a busy week! I certainly didn't plan to go a whole week without posting- although I haven't missed a day of lurking...

I've spent a lot of time this week working on the quilt that I decided to make for MIL for Christmas. Here it is, waiting to be made into a "quilt sandwich":


Ready to sew on the binding:


Ready to be trimmed and blind-stitch the binding:


YAY! I finished this last night, with plenty of time to wrap it to be opened on Christmas day!

The front:


The back:


I love this shot-


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The prince was supposed to take treats to preschool to put in 'stocking bags' for his classmates. I wanted to make cupcakes in a jar- but I wanted to try making them in baby food jars (the perfect size for preschoolers, don't you think?). By the way, if you've ever wondered how to mail a cupcake, check this out!

Dear sweet prince, however, did not grasp the awesomeness of this idea, and preferred to give his friends candy canes. Simple. But he wanted to give everyone two, and he wanted to "put a sign on them that says Merry Christmas from Me". no problem I said... then I thought about it for about 2 seconds and realized that the cupcakes might have been more fun and require less hands-on time and effort.

We ended up wrapping ribbon around each set of two candy canes, tying a label to the ribbon, and then curling the leftover ribbon.

I wrapped 24 sets of 2 canes over the span of about an hour. This took waaay more patience than I thought it would have. I made sure to pack them securely back into their boxes so that they wouldn't break before they were delivered. In the end, the treat-delivery went well and the set that he put into his own bag has already been eaten.