Jack had a birthday waaay back on December 20th. He is happy to be six! He loved all of his Star Wars presents. He is our squeezy child. He is not fat at all but curls up into a ball and is just so fun to hug and squeeze. The other day he was mad at Cole and called him “fat and squeezy” and I told him that “squeezy” was a compliment. At least in my book.
Photos of Christmas are so memorable. And funny. My Mom is funny in a very quiet way. We will never forget 2008 – our last Christmas in Omaha for awhile. I think that if we never bought presents for the kids they would still be spoiled by my sisters and parents. They loved it all (even the extra Wii controller Jack wasn’t too pleased with at first – he is sure glad to have it now!). I think they’ve already worn out all their moustaches.
We drove up the street to Chalco Reservoir. We had to ditch the stroller because the ice was so thick that we couldn’t get the “regular” stroller over it (wish we had taken the jogging stroller, oh well). Ben seemed to walk better on the ice unassisted. We took the neighbors dog, Marcie, since they had asked us to let her out the night before while they were going to be out late and I FORGOT to even tell Cole to do it (note: we are very unreliable people). I didn’t want to get another concussion before this one has fully healed so I was really leery of the ice. The boys, however, weren’t phased and had a great time looking for fish frozen in the ice. We returned home with no head injuries and nobody fell in and I count that as a victory. Cole did learn that when you crunch ice over water and your foot goes through, the water is VERY cold. I’m glad he learned it today rather than on a 10 mile scout camp hike. We are going to miss this annual tradition when we get to Houston. We’ll have to replace it with something like swimming at Christmas.
I am almost done making a beautiful scarf for my sister LeAnne for her birthday. It is so pretty and lightweight and soft it is going to be VERY difficult for me to give it away. I hope she really likes it because it makes my eyes look so blue and I am sooo tempted to keep it for that very reason. I used this yarn above – Lion Brand PolarSpun in PolarBlue 100% polyester which is kinda sticky to work with (don’t expect to be able to frog anything – it knots up) but is very forgiving – I accidentally had a few yarn over holes and they were easy to disguise. I’m making it extra long. I found a pattern using this same yarn for a kid’s pullover here and I may just have to give one a try because all of my kids were fighting over who got to keep this super soft scarf. My kids are so easy to please – they love every project I make and that makes it worthwhile for me.
I am loving this Christmas break. Lots of staying up late playing games and then sleeping in and staying in bed and reading. There is nothing better than reading for an hour after you wake up but before the day really begins. Normally, I would read scriptures and then hurry off to start the day but this Christmas break, Don and I have been waking up late and catching up on our fiction piles — such a nice treat. I am thoroughly enjoying the 2000 edition of the Best American Short Stories edited by E.L. Doctorow and Katrina Kenison. My favorites so far are a Utah author Ron Carlson’s “The Ordinary Son” as well as Amy Bloom’s “The Story” and Percival Everett’s “The Fix”. You can see more reviews at Goodreads . I do think it’s ironic Don is reading Twilight and going to donate blood to the Red Cross on his birthday. Makes me chuckle. He says he’s going to take it to read “in the chair” on-site. He’s closer to 50 than 30 today but I can guarantee you he doesn’t act like it. He will always be a boy at heart and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
The following is a guest post from Don (the hubby) and it does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the owner of this blog. I have a slight concussion (don’t ask!) and Don will be posting for me a bit this week. xoxo & Merry Christmas to all!
Okay, I took over the blog for a bit. I am going to get this posted. heh heh. Have you ever had a song stuck in your head and cannot get it out? Have you ever had that same song stuck in the heads of four or five people at the same time? Well that is what is happening around here right now. I saw this video over on YouTube and thought it was great. So great that I HAD to show it to the boys. At one time I had 4 boys looking over my shoulders watching it so intently I was quite surprised. They now have it mostly memorized. Even the youngest will break into song if you prompt him. Are they driving us nuts? I really don’t know. It doesn’t bother me, but I am sure if I had a concussion it would not be pleasant. The best part is that even though the whole song is about Star Wars, the tune is a medley of John Williams show tunes (Jaws, Indiana Jones, E.T., and Star Wars). When our 12-year-old was listening I asked what song it was and he first said Star Wars, because of the words being sung, then he stopped and listened and realized that it was something else. He was surprised and amazed. I think the music he has had really made an impact. If you have boys that like Star Wars they will love it!!
Last Friday (I wish I could repeat this day), I was able to get out with some friends – and their kids – and have a nice casual Panchero’s lunch. Here’s some cute pics of the kiddos – they’re growing too fast! Afterward, I got to do some shopping at Sephora. I’m still reeling.
If you didn’t catch my post over at www.lightrefreshmentsserved.com, be sure to check out the good ideas for neighbor gifts. They have some fun articles running now about the days of Christmas. Back to neighbor gifts — my personal favorite was one that a friend and neighbor gave me years ago (Cole was just a baby then!): a relish tray. I know it seems strange but amid all the sugar and chocolate, it was really appreciated. We nibbled on it all evening long while we watched movies. So, it isn’t fudge and it isn’t a candle (you know, your normal neighbor gifts) but it IS something healthy and not what you would normally do for Christmas and I sure hope our neighbors enjoyed it — even if it is a little different. Just like us, I suppose. It wasn’t very expensive but let me tell you it took me quite awhile to wash, chop and cut. The sun dried tomato dip recipe was really good. We didn’t have any leftover and I’m pretty sure Don will be requesting some more tonight so I’d better get crackin’ in the kitchen again.
Any pet’s collar can actually enter, not just dogs. This contest is from the blog of Sue Whitney, of Junk Market fame. Be sure to check it out – there are some adorable ideas for collars out there. The picture above is from Sue’s blog (hyperlinked on the word “contest” above).
Who’d have thunk it? A cute advent house from Gardener’s Supply. Adorable! I’m curious, though, as what to put in the small little boxes without encouraging MORE candy at Christmas? Maybe quotes? Maybe scripture? Love notes? Jokes? Your thoughts on advent surprises?
Yet another felted wool project from Betz White’s book. Really. Great. Book. Easy stuff and so satisfyingly rewarding when you’re done (because they’re so cute!). I need to make some more of these cupcake pincushions for Christmas gifts for my crafty friends. This was project #2 out of the book for me. The first was the felted hand puppets that you can see here. I took a third project from her blog which was the Cashmere Bunnies you can see here. As you can tell, Betz is amazingly talented.
It’s not Halloween anymore but it’s so cold outside, I kinda feel grouchy enough to want to wear something like this! Knitted by the brilliant mind behind Things and Ideas. She has great instructions over at her blog which I love because it’s about knitting and gardening and gardening and knitting. And she’s moving, too, so I feel like we’re automatically related. Except that she lives in Scotland. These international knitters have so much more style.
This is a recursive post about a guest post. (You’ll get that if you are a TRUE geek like me, Lizabeth’s hubby.)
The guest post is up! You can see it over at www.lightrefreshmentsserved.com and it looks good.
Here is the image for the knitted bottle toppers that they didn’t post to.
The page that they live on can be found on their site by going directly here: Sundance Home Decor
Thanks for stopping by!
Post Poser Don
Getpalmd from Helsinki, Finland who wrote, “Cool, I’m in here.” Very succinct, I might add. If she doesn’t claim her prize within 7 days (email me back with your snail mail), it will go to the second place winner who was Rachel. We’ll wait to see if Sara from Getpalmd really wants her sunglasses. I’ve already emailed her with the news and hope she loves ’em!
Spotted online and saved for future purchase and/or to spark new ideas when I’m doing my own crafting. Great colors and design! The jumbo stocking was sent to me by my sister, LeAnne, and is now hanging beautifully on our shiny black front door (really, black. really pretty!). It’s from Pottery Barn Kids. The cable stocking and stuffed, plump fabric candy canes are both from Country Home. The tree skirt is from Company Kids. I can’t remember where the mittens are from…anyone seen these? I hate to post it without credit. That’s what you get for saving inspirational pictures at 3 a.m.