Happy Thanksgiving

Today I am thankful for all of the many blessings God has given to me and my family.

New Pictures of the Girls

A few weeks ago I started thinking about our Christmas card. I have taken the picture for our card the last few years. They have been fine, but I can only keep the girls attention for a short period of time. I shot Kelly Braman an email to see if she could work us into her schedule.
Needless to say, I am thrilled! The shots are fantastic and the personality of each of them shines through.I am not spilling the images that I used for the card. You will just have to wait patiently for those. Thanks again Kelly.

all photos by Kelly Braman Photography

Christmas List

If you plan on making gifts for your family and friends this year, you better start crackin'. Here are a couple of things on my list.

1) Quilts for my girls - I know they will not be done before Christmas, but I will be sure to finish them during my Christmas break. I am using this fabric and it comes in panels that are already squares. I am then adding fabric to cover the words (because they are dumb) and then quilting the squares.
2. Notepads with drawings by the kids - This would be a great gift for teachers, grandparents, or the kids' friends. There are easy instructions here. Craft Apple happens to be a great blog and when I ordered one of her patterns last year we discovered we have a college connection as well. Amazing what a small world!3. Make your own I Spy book. Brassy Apple has a great tutorial. The best part is that you have everything you need in your house. You could make this into a bound book with Shutterfly or Snapfish, or you could just use a cheap photo album from the dollar store.

4. Design your own stuffie. I am going to have my girls draw a picture of a stuffed animal that they would like to bring to life. There are a couple of companies that do this, but they are quite pricey. I plan to use felt and fleece so that they are easy to sew.
All of this and I still have orders to fill for Christmas. This is what I plan on getting done this weekend:
1. Kara's Diaper Bag and Hooter Hider (I have never made one of these so I will have to see how it goes)
2. Stacy's Jade Diaper Bag (She lives in Canada and I need to get this to her before her little one arrives)
3. Library bag for Krista (I already have her other stuff done.)

Hopefully this will catch me up enough to start working on a pillow I want to try.

Let the gift giving begin

Tonight are parent teacher conferences at Claire's school. A couple of weeks ago we gave the teachers mason jars of "Friendship Soup." Tonight they are getting Home Made Hot Chocolate mix. It is so easy and you can make a ton with the recipe.
4 cups nonfat dry milk powder
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup non-dairy coffee creamer
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 (4 ounce) package instant chocolate fudge pudding

Mix all the ingredients together in a large bowl. If a finer consistency is desired, you can pour the mix into a blender or food processor and run it through that. Store in an airtight container. Add 1/4 to 1/2 cup (depending on your cocoa preference) of the mix to an 8 ounce mug of boiling water.

I added marshmallows to the top, made sticky labels and tied on the instructions. I got all of the ingredients at Aldi which means it was really cheap. About $2.50 for the large jar size.

Then I made cookies. (Yes. I know. I was motivated.)
1 box chocolate cake mix
2 eggs
1/3 cup vegetable oil
semi-sweet chocolate chips - 1 cup more or less

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
Mix up the first three ingredients, and then stir in the chocolate chips.
Drop the dough in small palls onto a greased cookie sheet.
Bake 10-12 minutes.

I hope that the teachers enjoy their pick me up after meeting with all of the parents tonight.

These would also be great gifts for Sunday School teachers, bus drivers, piano teachers... Just remember that Handmade and Heartfelt is the way to go this gift giving season.

Veteran's Day

Everyone should check out this great documentary about 3 senior citizens in Maine who have welcomed home over 1 million troops who they don't even know. Their mission to make everyone of our soldiers feel appreciated and loved should be our mission as well.

The Way We Get By - Trailer from The Way We Get By on Vimeo.

Thank you.

Craft Show Update

So...I have some stuff left over from the craft show. I have some bags in each print in the photo above. I also have several Eye Spy pillows.
The bags are $45. I have some set up for stroller straps and some with the snap closure in the middle of the bag.
If you are interested in anything, please let me know.

The school also sold Pigs in a Blanket and have lots left. They are $8.00 a dozen and are well worth it. You can let me know if you want any of those and I'll get them for you.

If you have kids who love music, you need this

While reading my blogroll on Friday, I came across this post by Cool Mom Picks. I was interested and went to the link to listen. I was immediately intrigued by the songs. I ran the album in the background while I worked and liked most of the songs, which is more than I can say for most of the kids music CD's out there.
I stopped by Barnes and Noble to pick up the new Jimmies CD/DVD combo. Retail is $19.99, but we have a membership there so it was just over $14 for the pack.
I must say that my girls have listened to it over and over. Watching the videos and doing karaoke at home and listening to the CD in the car. Coco is even putting some of it on her ipod.
Claire cried after listening to Taddy for the first time. She is ok with the song now. She asked for a Jimmies Tshirt for Christmas, but they don't have any in her size listed on the website. So, I had to write an email to them tonight from Claire.

Dear Jimmies:
I love your music. I love your videos. I am your biggest fan. I went to your website tonight to look at the Tshirts, but you don't have any in my size. I am 7 years old, but your Tshirts only go to a size 6. Do you make a shirt to fit me? Can you make me one with your picture on it?
Your biggest fan,
Claire

I will see what response I get, but if they don't have a shirt for her, I think I will be making a Jimmies shirt for her. She was singing the songs while laying in bed tonight. She may very well be there biggest fan at the moment.

If you need a Christmas gift idea, or just need something to occupy your kids for awhile, this is great! Check it out!

Halloween Night

Our celebration started early with Mummy Dogs for lunch. Then we were off to the Bos' for Seth's birthday party.

We didn't carve our pumpkins this year. Instead, I cut templates out for a pirate, skeleton, and spider out of sticky felt and just stuck them on. It worked great and our pumpkins will last awhile. I plan on removing the sticky stuff and making a harvest display.The girls ended up trick or treating in the Bos' neighborhood. Thanks to Mr. Nathan for taking them. They had a great time and were totally wiped out by the end of the night.