Christmas Blessings!

It's almost been a week since Christmas.

I haven't had the time or energy to post.
Not that I've really been all that super busy.
Our house wasn't chock-full of gifts to find places for.
But I've been doing regular day-to-day stuff and playing with Eloise.
Blogging just hasn't been a priority.
I did figure I'd get on here and share a few photos from our celebration(s) though.
I believe we have somewhere around 450... yes...
FOUR HUNDRED AND FIFTY...
pictures between Christmas Eve and the 26th.
Wowsa!
I am not going to share THAT many... trust me!
But I'm sure you know what I mean when I say that you can never get those moments back.
Of course, you can never get ANY moment back...
but we wanted to capture as much of Eloise's first Christmas experience as possible.
She seemed to have a good time - though she really didn't know what was going on!

Christmas Eve was spent with my side of the family... eating a yummy brunch and then opening a few presents!

Later on that evening, we were able to visit with some friends who have a 3.5 month old little boy. Eloise wasn't all over him - which I was thankful for. She just tottered around and played, stopping now and then to point at the baby and talk some gibberish!


That is one big boy! He only weighs 4 lbs less than Eloise...
and is only about an inch shorter.
Do you remember that I just said he is
THREE AND A HALF MONTHS OLD!?

(Cory claims that if that kid doesn't go to the NBA or NFL...
his friend has failed as a parent!
Ok... he's just teasing... but seriously. Huge Kid.)

Christmas morning was spent at home.


It's so hard to get a good picture of "the kids"!

(That's the stocking I made Eloise!)


Cory's parents came to celebrate with us!
I think they enjoyed watching Eloise and Boo open their presents and play!


After 2 hours, Eloise was tuckered out.
We didn't end up making it to church because she needed to eat, sleep and get dressed.
They made our church service earlier than normal... so things got all out of whack!

Later in the evening, we went to Cory's parents house and had Christmas dinner!


And when we finally made it home... Eloise was zonked!


I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas, celebrating the birth of our Savior!!

Christmas Card Time!

Well, since I changed my blog around...
and used my Christmas Card pics in the header...
I figured I'd share them in a post too!

This year I had no time to make my own cards.
You can see my previous block print cards here and here.
I love making my cards. I don't know... there is just
something about giving & getting a card that wasn't just
picked up off of the store shelf - or taken out of a box.
Ya know?

Well...
Obviously with Eloise running all over the place...
I didn't trust myself to pull out the block printing supplies.

I bought a few boxes of cards... and started addressing the envelopes.
*SIGH*

But then, one night while we were trying to get a nice
picture of El in front of the tree to send WITH the cards...

This picture happened:


How could we not use that, right?

So we got online to Vista Print (who has some good deals)
and ordered our cards!

We included our own message:

"Eloise could hardly contain her excitement to wish you a Merry Christmas!"

AND...

Vista Print included a small black and white photo above the message...
FOR FREE.

So, instead of people seeing this hilariously silly picture
of our daughter and thinking she was a total goob...
we included this picture as well:


We were really happy with the price and the quality!
(They were like real cards - not photo paper)
And the shipping was timely as well!

To top it off, since I bought from them... Vista Print gave me some
discounts and I was able to order FREE return address labels
(Ok, so it was like $3 in shipping... but I saved like $8!).

This was the picture we chose to use for the labels:


They'll make a great gift for the in laws!

Hope you've sent your cards!
Christmas will be here before we know it!

**NOTE: I was not asked to review anything from Vista Print...
I just am a happy customer and wanted to share!!**

Snowman Mallow Pops!

Seriously. How cute are these?

My mom and I are hosting a Christmas party for the ladies of my former employer. We have been doing it for the past 5 years or so... and every year we try to make some kind of goody for the ladies to take home with them. My mom came up with the idea of marshmallow snowman lollipops. Not sure if she saw the idea somewhere... or if it just popped into her head, but I thought I'd give it a whirl.


I had no directions...

I just took some giant roasting marshmallows
(you can do it with regular ones too)...

skewers...

white melting chocolate
(white choc chips work... but tend to seize up pretty quickly)...

decorations!

After covering the marshmallows in the chocolate, I placed them on wax paper-lined cookie sheets, decorated and then put them in the fridge for about half an hour to set up.

My mom sent over some nifty shrink wrap (totally LOVE!)... so while they were chilled,
I used my blow dryer to shrink wrap them and then tied a little bow!


Great for parties and they would make adorable gifts!
And the best part - they were super easy to make while Eloise napped!

Decorating the Tree!

The Sunday after Thanksgiving, we decided to decorate our
Christmas Tree!

Growing up, we always had a real tree. I remember being poked and pricked as we decorated those trees, crouching under them to give them water, spilling it everywhere!... and oh, the sweeping of the needles!!
As much as I probably complained then,
I wish we could have a real tree now.

But, alas, we use a pencil tree that is in our living room all year anyway.
(Though it only has Christmas ornaments on it at Christmas time!)
It's just easier.

Maybe someday I'll get my real tree again, but until then, I'm ok with what we have!

We decided to let Eloise put the first ornament on!


I have a plethora of crazy Christmas ornaments!
Mrs. Potato Head seemed to be appropriate for Eloise!

Of course... she would rather have shoved
Mrs. Potato Head into her mouth...
so the decorating was short-lived.

Cory kept Eloise entertained while I put the rest of the ornaments up!


Now, the challenge is keeping Eloise away from the ornaments and presents!



(She already opened one.. haha!)

I can't wait to show you our Christmas cards!
Hilarious!
But that will have to wait.......

Christmas 2010

This year didn't feel much like Christmas to me. At least not in the sense of the "magic" of Christmas and the present opening and such. I felt like we were so busy running from place to place that it was more of a blur than a relaxing day to reflect on Christ's birth and the time spent with friends and family. But, I am thankful that we were able to see our families... and we even had a little time to stop in to see my Grandma in the Alzheimer's Unit. (That was emotional for me... but I think I held together pretty well!)


This was my "big" present of the day from my parents. Of course, it is in the basement at the moment since we're kind of in "baby mode" these days. I am hoping that once I get into a routine with the baby and things are a little less chaotic, that I'll be able to read up on spinning and perhaps take some classes by a local artisan!


This was the sweetest present of the day. My brother-in-law is hoping that I won't have the baby until February 2nd... you know... Groundhog Day (it's a big "holiday" around here since we are in the general vicinity--though thankfully not TOO close for all of the hubbub!). He nicknamed the baby "Phil" as a joke.... and when we got to my sister's on Christmas morning... my nephew came running up to me with this piece of paper with a quarter attached. "To Fill"... it just warmed my heart! :)


I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas!!
We're looking forward to next year!
(However, the time can go VERY slowly... I don't want to rush it!)

Signing off for the Holidays!

Enjoy the coming weekend!
Eat lots of goodies and soak up the time with friends and family!

But remember the reason for the season...
It is CHRISTmas, after all!

Smiles Across the Miles

I would encourage you, if you're finishing up your
Christmas cards (or heck, just starting!),
please consider sending a card to a Recovering Soldier.

I know that not everyone agrees with the whole "war" thing...
but the bottom line is that these people put their lives on
the line...
FOR OUR FREEDOM.

Regardless if it's the current war...
wars of the past...
wars that are sure to come...
or just national security!

It's important to let these folks know that we appreciate
what they do!

Here is the address, in case you can't quite read it from my photo:

Recovering American Soldier
c/o Walter Reed Army Medical Center
6900 Georgia Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20307-5001

Let's send some smiles across the miles to folks who could really use it!

(That's my Christmas card block print!
Finally figured it was OK to post the final thing
since my cards went out a bit ago)

All I Can Say Is...

Thanks to Cory for helping me make some
chocolate covered pretzels last night.

Too bad they're not for us!
(But maybe we did sneak a few... Mmmmm!)

Deck the Halls!

The day after Thanksgiving, Cory and I pulled out the Christmas decorations. I wanted to definitely make the effort to have a tree this year, despite my lack of motivation.

We already have this large pencil tree in our living room year-round, so even though I prefer a real tree, it was just easier to decorate the one we already have set up. We usually use colored lights, but again... my motivation kept us from going all out. So we left the white lights on... and Cory decorated as I sat on a stool and handed him the ornaments.

Normally, I'm pretty picky when it comes to my tree. The ornaments go in certain places and the garland has to be just right. I even have become a bit of a tinsel-aholic... however, due to a cat who likes to eat (and not digest) the tinsel, we opted out of tinsel this year.

And since I handed the reigns of ornament
placing over to Cory...
I am learning to not be so picky.
I think he did a fantastic job!
(And I appreciated his help!)



Another way I like to decorate is with my cutie-patootie Annalee figures. I admit, some people think that they are creepy (including my hubby).
But I like them!
I think their faces are sweet!



Last year, my parents got me this big Santa!
I love him!



After a few days of down pours,
we finally got a nice white blanket of snow!

I am enjoying being inside surrounded by
Christmas decorations and coziness!


23 Days 'til Christmas!!

60 Days 'til Baby!!

Christmas Cards!!

When we were growing up, my mom would always make our Christmas Cards every year. They usually consisted of line drawings of me and my sister. Sometimes they included our pets, other times our cars (can't resist putting a VW Bug in a picture!) or a wreath, present, etc. I guess it just depended on how creative she wanted to get! (Don't worry, she didn't draw EVERY card! She drew one and then had them printed at the print shop!! Didn't want to give anyone the wrong impression!)

It always made me feel good to have a special Christmas Card sent out from our family. Not that I have anything against store bought cards... there are a lot of nice ones out there. But just having a personalized card that was drawn by my (very artistic) mom... just meant a lot. (Even if us girls did groan and grumble when she wanted to take our pictures to use as her inspiration for the design).

We even knew people who saved the card each year... which was pretty cool.

So, last year I decided I wanted to try my hand at making our Christmas Cards. I am definitely not nearly as artistic as my mom... but it doesn't hurt to try, right? Instead of line drawings though, I decided to do some block printing. I'd never done it before, so it took me a bit to get into the swing of things... but I was happy with the result and decided that I'd like to try again this year.

Of course, I can't do anything EASY... so this year I started drawing up a pretty intricate design. Once I started carving the block, I thought, No way am I going to be able to do all of these little lines and curves without messing up! I ended up setting the block aside and forgetting about it for a couple of weeks.

Well, last night... something got into me and I started working on it again. I couldn't believe it, but I actually finished it! I figured it would take me hours and hours! (It did take awhile, just not as long as I'd expected.)

I couldn't wait, so I pulled out the ink and brayer and rolled out a few test prints...

WOO HOOOOO! Success!!!!

So this morning, I couldn't help myself... I had to start printing them on the cards. I still have plenty more to do... but I thought I'd give you a little sneak peak.

This is not the "intricate" part of the design... but I didn't want to give the whole design away because I know that some of you will be getting your very own Devon Original this Holiday Season and I don't want to spoil it!!

(This was after I'd wiped some of the ink off)

If I remember, I'll post a picture of the full design in a few weeks, after I know all of the cards have been mailed out and received!!

Are any of you working on making your own Christmas Cards??

In other news: My appointment with my doctor went very well. I was pleased. So now I feel like I can breathe a little easier for my next appointment!!

Early Christmas!!

Well, you may have read my post from the other day about needing some sort of rocking chair for when the baby comes. I have been kind of up in the air on how to approach it.

Cory and I were trying to decide if we should invest in just some sort of rocker/recliner for our living room to go with what we already have... or perhaps, if the price was right, invest in a whole living room set. (The one we have now was given to me a number of years ago when I moved into my first house)

Since Cory had the day off for Labor Day, we decided to take a drive to a couple of places and check things out just to see.

At the first store, I was a little discouraged.

Cory prefers to have recliners IN the sofa. We don't have that right now... if we want to prop our feet up, we drag over the ottoman from the one chair. So... the condition was... I could pick out the furniture, as long as it had recliners in it.

Seriously. All of the reclining furniture just gives me a flashback to my great grandparents house. And it is all over-stuffed... which is uncomfortable for someone short like me, whose neck doesn't reach right... and my head ends up being tilted forward instead of comfortably resting back!

We walked through the first store and saw absolutely nothing.

We went to the next store... and it was much of the same type of styles. I had an idea in my head of what I wanted... it was just a matter of finding it with the reclining function!!

Wouldn't ya know it... maybe 5 minutes into the second store... I saw it!

A sofa and love seat set... both with recliners... and they weren't the over stuffed, poofy style!

I was excited, but Cory talked me into looking around the rest of the store. Plus, we really were hoping to find a rocker/recliner that matched. There wasn't one in the set display.

After browsing the rest of the store, we caught up with the sales lady and I showed her which set we liked and explained that we were hoping to get a rocker/recliner as well. Wouldn't ya know... she led us RIGHT to a matching one in the recliner section! WOO HOO!

The next thing I knew, we were looking at fabrics and pillow options... she left Cory and I to talk it over... and HO, HO, HO... MERRY CHRISTMAS to US! We purchased our first set of living room furniture today!! (It's our expensive Christmas present to each other... maybe for a few years.. haha!)


Here's a pic from my cell phone of what it looks like... however, we chose a brown thin-whale corduroy with some different pillows.


I am nervous about the brown... we went with a darker brown because we were afraid that the lighter browns would clash with the carpeting. Our walls are a light green... and the pillows we chose should tie the walls, carpet and sofas all in together. At least I'm hoping!!

So, in 6-8 weeks... I shall be unveiling pictures of my living room! And I am SO excited!

And it turns out, that we are able to give our current furniture to a friend who is in need... so it works out wonderfully!!

Yea for new furniture!!! Now... to pick out a crib...

What to do...

... with my old Christmas Cards.

I went through my stack of Christmas Cards from this year... and decided which ones I could use to make Christmas Gift Tags for next year! I snipped and trimmed... and glued and glittered. I didn't add ribbons... but I figured I could do that next year when I actually wrap and decorate gifts.


This would be a great project for anyone, even those of you with kids! And any cards that you don't want to cut up can be sent to St. Jude's for their Greeting Card Project! Cards are being accepted through February 28th. Any type of greeting card is accepted. For each card a kid cuts... they earn 15 cents to put into their personal accounts! :)

St. Jude's Ranch for Children
Recycled Card Program
100 St. Jude's Street
Boulder City, NV 89005

Check Out Those PJs!

My niece and nephews loved the PJs I made them for Christmas! Here is a video from Christmas morning when my youngest nephew tried his PJs on. I was so happy that he didn't just toss them aside to open other presents!! They are a little big on him... but still cute... and he can wear them next year, hopefully!! (He's a little modest mouse... can't change in front of people... hehe)




Ok, that was all! Happy New Years Eve Day!

Flashback Friday #8

So, since it's Christmas... I thought I'd share a Christmas picture from way back... I would say that this was around 1987 (don't know for sure). There really is no story to go with this picture... I just think my face is HILARIOUS!

P.S. - I used to be so jealous of my sister's PJs. They were like I-Dream-Of-Jeannie, silky and sheer... by the time they would've gotten passed down to me... they were in tatters! DARN!

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas!

See more Flashback Fridays at Christopher&Tia's!!

A Merry Christmas Eve!!

Today is Christmas Eve (obviously). I have spent the morning so far in the kitchen. Not only were there a crap load of dishes to do... but there was also baking to be done!! My in-laws are the hardest people to get presents for. They are simple and sweet and really just don't expect presents. Plus, I can't imagine what we could get them that they don't already have or that they would really want or need anyway. SO... Cory and I decided to bake some raisin cookies for his dad (we got his mom something else). We swung around to a couple of stores and the raisin cookies were almost $4 (for like 6!)!!! So, after buying some shortening for $2 and some raisins for less than $2... we had everything else in the pantry and set to work this morning! I, personally, do not care for raisins... but they seemed to have turned out well... and the recipe made 20 cookies! So I think he'll be set!

Anyway... I wanted to share with you my Christmas Cards! I had made some back in November and tried to scrounge through my scrap booking papers for Christmas things to use... and I even went to a couple of craft stores and couldn't find anything that wasn't WAY too expensive. So I used what I could and made around 11 or 12. Then I decided to send some regular cards out that I had gotten at the end of the season last year. Well, wouldn't you know... I was at a Christmas Event at a local store where all Christmas items were 25% off... and I came across some make-it-yourself card kits (originally for photos) that were a good price... and I decided to get them and continue my block printing cards to finish out the rest of the addresses I had yet to send to. So... my apologies to friends and family who didn't get the handmade card... I am going to make more of an effort for next year!!
Don't forget to swing by tomorrow for Flashback Friday!!

All Cracked Up...

Have you ever really thought about what the inside of an egg would look like frozen? Honestly, I never even gave it a thought until the other day when I went up to collect eggs from our chickens. We only got one that day... and it was cracked. So I brought it inside and pulled the top off... and here is what I saw...It's kind of cool! It wasn't frozen like an ice cube... it was more of like a slush. I know it's kind of a random thing to post about... but I thought it was interesting!

In other "news"... Tuesday Evening my mom and I hosted a Ladies Christmas Party for the women of my former workplace. We have done it the past two years. In the years prior to our "take-over"... the ladies would get together for dinner and do a gift exchange. The year that it was my turn to host it, my mom and I knew of a family who was having a hard time financially and so we organized the party in such a way that the ladies would still come for a dinner... but they would also buy presents for this family and bring them to the party to wrap and decorate. It would all be done anonymously--so the ladies wouldn't know the family and the family wouldn't know where the presents came from. The police agreed to take the presents to the home on Christmas Eve so that it would come from a neutral source. The idea was a big hit with the ladies and it REALLY blessed the family (we heard through the grapevine). So... we did it again the next year... and then again this year (blessing different families each time). So, Tuesday night went really well and I am so excited to know that we are going to help make Christmas special for a family who is struggling in these hard economic times. :) My cousin helped us out with decorating, setting up and serving... and my nephew was there also... which brings me to my next story that kind of ties in. Earlier that day, I stopped at Goodwill to look for sweaters to use in some of my projects. As I was browsing the SALE rack... I came across this hilarious little outfit. It was a corduroy, plaid one-piece jumpsuit... in a 4T! I had to get it. It was only 29 cents! So, I brought it with me to the Christmas Party.. and while the ladies were eating... my mom bribed my nephew (with money) to put on this jumpsuit while we were in the kitchen. He wasn't too sure about it at first... but after awhile, he enjoyed the attention... and it was a RIOT!!! We tried to get him to pose like John Travolta... but it didn't work out so well... LOL! Here are a couple of pics I thought I'd share... he is too cute and he cracks me up!!
Happy day before Friday!!

Christmas Project Complete!

I decided this summer that I was going to make the Christmas presents for my niece and nephews this year. Of course I have procrastinated! Now I have less than a few weeks to get it all done and it stresses me out! I have taught myself (with some tips from my mom and the internet) how to sew... and trust me, I'm a beginner! I like the patterns that are emblazoned with the words EASY across the front! I just don't know what all of the sewing lingo is yet... and I would rather not deal with the hassle of having to figure it out!

So, the projects I needed to complete were pajamas. Pants and tops for the boys and a night gown for my niece. Easy enough, right? My mom picked up some fabric and patterns, etc. for me for my birthday... and I was SET! Until I actually got the pattern out for the night gown and read the instructions. Oh my gosh. It seemed so complicated! There were folds and tucks that I had no idea about... and then it called for BIAS TAPE. What in the world was that!? Amazingly enough, I had gotten a huge box of sewing stuff from my old co-worker's wife... and after digging through it (I'd looked it up online to see what it was)... I found some! Yesterday was spent almost entirely on sewing that darn night gown... (except for the breaks I took to get on the computer and rest my neck/eyes). I am SO glad that is done with... so I thought I'd share the finished product with you! I think it turned out pretty good! (Cross your fingers that it fits her!!)
Are any of you working on projects for Christmas? I'd love to hear about them or see them!!

Christmas Shopping!!

Have you completed your Christmas Shopping yet? Maybe you haven't even started! I have gotten a few things... and I'm working on some projects... but I think I have a pretty good start.

I just wanted to share with you this awesome piece of pottery that my mom made... She threw it on a potter's wheel and then hand built the face. It is so funky and unique! Of course my photography skills leave much to be desired... but you get the idea!

Oh... did I mention it's for sale?
Grab it before it's gone! It would make a great gift!!
**SOLD**

10 days till Christmas!!!

This month is FLYING. This whole YEAR has flown! WOW.

Anyway... I wanted to share some good news! Cory is officially now a HOMEOWNER! We are excited! He signed the papers on Friday and will eventually start moving in (depending on weather)!! WOO HOO!!!

This weekend, we went to a Christmas Dinner at the Teen Center we volunteer for. I wanted to share some pics.


We had a good crowd and lots of good food!!


Cory playing cards with some of the kids.


My nephew and Cory.


My nephew and me!

Me and Mr. & Mrs. Claus (grandma & grandpa)

I hope you are all gearing up for the holidays!! It will be here before you know it!