A little Christmas cheer...

Well its 10:30 and I am done sewing and ready to go to G & G's tomorrow for Christmas Eve (Yay!) As I will not be on the computer for a few days, here are a few things we did to get ready for Christmas:

Decorate gingerbread at the library.

GJ mostly licked the stick.

lSM's preschool play (he was a great shepherd)

And usually gets really shy in front of people, but he said he lines, so I was very proud of him. I got to help out this month in his class and get them ready for the play and play the piano while they sang (the two Christmas songs I know)

First ride on Trax.

Needless to say, the boys were in heaven. We drove downtown and parked a little outside from Temple square so we could ride Trax over to the lights.

It was really cold though! I love I get to see my sister all the time! (though I wish I lived next door)

The fam

He threw a fit most of the time because he had to wear his winter coat (he prefers the camo pullover, and fights me everytime) He is 2.

I debated all day, but I went through my scraps and stash and found material to make a little car cozy that my friend Julie had made as well.

I love the material I used on the inside (like chickens crossing the road, get it?)

And I had finished my niece's last week, but I busted out a crayon roll for GJ tonight as well.

Phew! Now its time to go to bed. Or watch a little Chuck.
Hope you have a lovely Christmas!
I am so greatful for all my blessing this year and I know 2010 is going to be a tough one, but it will all work out!

Merry Christmas!

The tree is up, though I didn't take a picture. I made (okay, Lindsey and her cricut made) a Christmas banner out of pretty paper. I glued it together though and laced it with ribbon.
Our advent is over halfway done. Its just stockings from Martha.
I still don't have stockings for my family though, so I am taking any suggestions.

Reading, sewing, thanksgiving...

Not much has been going on here, but I will do my best to pull together a post:

I borrowed a book from Kembe (which I made her give me when we moved) called Teaching your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons and have been doing lessons with Sawyer over the past month or so and he is doing excellent! I am sure preschool is helping him as well, but he can read most words with short vowels (small words) and long a and e sounds too so we're making a lot of progress and he can read simple books to me, though his biggest obstacle is his attention span. I admit I use candy to get through the lessons and they have been going much better (as long as I use candy that doesn't take a long time to chew!) I am so proud of him!

I finished my second quilt for my sister Lisa's baby. I would love to make a quilt for Sawyer's bed, but I haven't found the right pattern yet. And am scared as it will have to be 4x's this size. EEK!



We had a nice Thanksgiving at Tad's parents house. I do admit I miss hosting a big potluck, but this was just right this year and our first time with family since we have been married. I only made cherry pie (which turned out poorly) and rolls (which were delicious as usual) so it was a breeze! Then we stayed up there for a couple more days so we could mooch and eat more leftovers.

Since its freezing, we got a pass to Discovery Gateway (children't museum). So far its been a great success. We discovered the helicopter outside (since it was freezing, we didn't have to share with anyone) and of course they screamed and cried when I said we had to go back inside because mama was too cold. Not the greatest picture, but you get the idea.

Now to get ready for Christmas! The tree and advent are up, we'll see if I can pull anything else off.

Its finished!

I am not a quilter, but I have always wished that I was. I started this quilt back in February at my mom's house (where I could raid her fabric) and finally just finished tonight (hand stitching the binding is hard! My fingers really hurt!) This is a ragged squares quilt for beginners and its not perfect and puckers everywhere, but since I made it, I love it almost as much as a third child. I would like to dedicate this to Jenny, Chante and Angie, the stalwart members of the sewing club (may it rest in peace). I now want to make one like this but I don't think my skills are quite there yet.

I finished crocheting hats for a bit, and am now thinking of new projects for some new babies, but I haven't been inspired yet. They all live in warm climates! I will think of something.

Skate or Die!

Its mostly just funny to watch. Kids falling all over the ice. But I love it.

Good bye October

This has been a nice month adjusting to playing with two cute boys all day. Here is what we have been up to last month. We played superheroes (GJ isn't quite a fan)

Painted pumpkins (GJ is REALLY into drawing and painting, SM lasts less than 5 minutes)

Running errands and refusing to take naps (he really fell asleep the whole time at the grocery store. Looks comfy!)

Going to parks

Seeing conference and MoTab

Being silly.

Painting pumpkinsPainting rockets

Assembly

Rocket launch

Preschool Halloween party, very cute!

Highlight of Halloween night might have been chasing this cat.

My cute fireman and shark.

This month is starting out warm so luckily we are able to keep our park routine (for now), looking forward to ice skating lessons and Thanksgiving! Let me know if you have any toddler/preschool craft ideas for November.

Let it snow!

Or not. I think we got more snow today than all 6 years in Atlanta. Oh well. Bring it on. The kids had fun. Glad I bought the snow pants a few weeks ago when they were on sale.

Snowman didn't make it too long, you can see how it cracked at the bottom. I am sure we will have plenty more opportunities.

Pumpkin Patch

A couple weeks ago when Linny was here, we went to Wheeler farm and got some pumpkins, hay ride and maze. I am not a huge Halloween fan, but I love the fall and we had a great time.

Brave Girls Camp

A while ago, my cousin who is super creative, amazing, arsty, etc.. posted on FB she and her sister were starting a Brave Girls Club. I thought it sounded wonderful, but since I lack a few creative genes, I called a sister to see if they would go, as I can't go alone to these kinds of things as I am way to shy for that. We turned it into a sister's weekend and four of us went down to Idaho this weekend and had an amazing time.

We ate some amazingly delicous food.

And did some fun and very meaningful crafts.

Awesome bird I made.

I thought we would be intimidated by all the other talented people there (designers, people who had their own product lines, etc) but it was no big deal and we learned a lot from the other girls in so many ways.

Its hard moving to a new city and having no friends and trying to find our new groove here, so it was so nice to get away from that stress and just have fun with my sisters and some truly amazing people.

It really is life changing fun for women and I had an amazing time. Let me know if you want to go and I will go back with you!

I have a serious lack of pictures. Hopefully I can get more from the group. I just can't even describe the details and everything they did to make it the PERFECT weekend. It really was amazing.