December 29, 2010

~Winter~

This is kind of a wordless Wednesday post, because I don't have much to say this morning and really the pictures can speak for themselves. I will let you know I am not a huge fan of winter (mostly because of the cold, I don't mind the snow if we can actually be out in it, I hate cold). Despite the things about winter that I hate, there is one thing that you could never hate about winter....the beauty of the season. It is stunning to walk out side and see this.






December 28, 2010

~The Loot~

Winding down after the Christmas rush. We had such a fun Christmas this year, and I hope you all did too! Christmas for us is not just one day, it is a three day celebration. Starting with supper at my inlaws on the 23rd (and present opening), then it was to my Grandparents on Christmas eve for lunch (and more presents) and supper at my parents (Dad, I am still dreaming about that stuffed tenderloin you made! and, you guessed it, more presents). That takes us to Christmas morning and Santa (a couple of cute stories to come) at our house, followed by breakfast and then onto our last celebration that night with Ted's extended family. We had such a great time everywhere, and I think it took me until today to regroup, but so worth it! I love spending so much time with so much family! We are truly blessed, to say the least!

Onto Santa, oh Santa. A cute little story about Trevor. So, I can see down our hallway while I am in bed to the top of the stairs and the boys' room is right by the stairs. I hear and then see Trevor run to the stairs, and then he looks down the hallway and sees me still in bed, so he turns around and comes to me in bed.
He stands by the side of my bed and tells me, "I have been waiting so long for this!"
I pretend I don't know what he is talking about and ask, "for what?"
Trevor looks down at his santa and snowmen pj's and just points to one of the santas. Hahaha, priceless!
This story leads right into a cute one about Landon. Trevor and my conversation wakes up Landon (who is in our bed sleeping). He shoots up and runs down the stairs, Trevor right behind him. We have a mantel at the bottom of the stairs that the stockings were hanging on, but santa moved them into the living room by the Christmas tree.
Landon freezes at the bottom of the stairs in a panic because the stockings are missing, "the stockings are gone, Santa took the stockings."
Ted gets down the stairs before me and of course plays along, "Oh, no. He took the stockings?!"
Landon still stuck in his spot at the bottom of the stairs, his gaze frozen on the empty mantel, now starts to get teary eyed (probably thinking he had been too naughty), so Ted has to go around the corner and let him know he sees some presents. The tears stop and Landon sprints around the corner in complete excitement. He loved everything from Santa!



 my little cousins, so cute!







 ice cream AND whip cream on homemade waffles...only on Christmas!
throwing a fit but still eating :)

 Tuckered out! (he crawled right up and fell asleep and it was still morning)

December 18, 2010

Engagement Party!

My brother in law and soon to be sister in law are having an engagement party tonight. Both Ted and I are in the wedding this July, and can't wait for it to get here...I know it will be a blast and such a special day! Bobby (my brother in law), is like another little brother to me. I have been hanging out with him since I was 14, and he was 10. I love him to pieces, he was the sweetest boy that has turned into the sweetest man. Think gentle giant. He played football in college, and lets just say was not on the small side...pretty much the same height/built as Ted, but lots more muscle and meat on his bones (no offense Ted, if you read this...still love you lots!). Then Ellie, soon to be sister in law, came into our lives. I say our, because she really has always been like a part of the family. Also, the sweetest thing with the best smile in the world. She was a junior in high school when her and Bobby started dating (so five years my junior, and has also always felt like another sister to me), and I will never forget how fun and spunky that high school girl was. She can light up a room.
Look how cute they are!

Enough of the mushy stuff! Back to the engagement party....which means a night out for Ted and I! Can I get a wooot wooot! It has been awhile and is much needed (at least I know it is much needed for me!). We are going to my parents Brewery for the party and I can't wait to have a pint (or two) of the Cranberry Stout that just hit the tap yesterday! It's one of my favorites, and I have to give a big thanks to my dad for coming up with the recipe. Thanks dad!! It is a casual party but I decided that I am going to dress up. Mostly because I never do and just felt like it, and also because you can never be too dressed up for a party. Which leads me to my makeup, it has been years since I have done a dark smokey eye and tonight I will be sporting it. I went with shades of purples. I wanted to do something fun and dramatic for a fun night out. Here is the makeup, still have to do hair. Not sure if I will go straight or wavy? Probably will depend on how much time I have (showered and did my makeup when Ted had the boys outside sledding...hair at nap time, which should be right now).

December 17, 2010

Holiday treats.

The boys and I headed over to my mom's house this afternoon to make some holiday treats. We made treats from about 12:30pm to 4 pm, pretty much non-stop! We got a lot done, but not everything on my list (I still want to make some dark chocolate truffles and some turtles, maybe I will do that some time next week). The boys were sprinkle happy, but despite going through about $30 worth of sprinkles, their pretzels and cookies turned out perfectly and are so cute! We also made ritz crackers with peanut butter and coated in almond bark and cake balls coated in almond bark. I wish I would have been able to take pictures of the boys in action, but since my hands were covered in either cake, almond bark, or sprinkle I didn't exactly have an opportunity to take any. Plus I don't think my camera would have liked being candy coated!







December 16, 2010

More things girly.

I made this skirt after I had saw a picture of one at Moda Bake Shop...let me find the link...Little Girl Patchwork Skirt. That link is for a tutorial to make the skirt, but I have to be honest and say I didn't really follow it. I just went by the pictures, plus I was making my skirt in size 12-18 months instead of the size 6 that is in the tutorial. Ethan was my model for measurements and making sure it was not too big or too small. Afer making one, I know I need to do a few things differently if I make it again. This is the first skirt I have sewn, though, so I am happy with how it turned out. I loved using up the scraps I had, too!



and of course, Ethan tried it on when it was finished

December 13, 2010

Mittens.

I was trying to post a video of Trevor, Ethan, and me snuggling this morning (snow day!). It is still trying to load about 4 hours later, so I am changing this blog entry. Little man is short on mittens, he had a nice pair and then the first time out in the snow one went missing. I have a ton of fleece that my mom had given me, so this project didn't even put a dent in the amount of fleece I have. Quick and easy to make. All I did was trace Ethan's hand to make a pattern, then I cut out 8 pieces of fleece from that pattern (really you only need 4 pieces but I wanted them extra warm). Sew them together so you now have 4 mittens, turn two of them right side out and stuff the other two inside, last sew around the bottom. Done. I used grey and red fleece and turned the red over the grey so it would show on the outside.
My little Optimus Prime with his new mittens


December 12, 2010

So many burpies

Burp cloths are such a fun, quick, and easy project. I love making them. I just finished up twelve burpies! I would love to do a tutorial, but really these are so easy and Prudent Baby already has a great DIY Burp Cloth tutorial.