Making Christmas, Part 3

By the time this posts, my family will have finished (or is probably still be in the middle of!) opening Christmas presents! Now I can show the rest of our creations!

David & Elizabeth got in on the act this year & helped make ornaments for MawMaw & Grandma! These are Elizabeth's drawings:

And these are David's - a blue Christmas tree for Grandma and a purple Christmas tree for MawMaw:


Food gifts were also given this year. You've already seen many of them, but here are the drink mixes I made:

Included are English Breakfast Tea, Hot Cocoa (regular and sugar free), and several flavors of coffee: Bavarian Mint, Swiss Mocha, and French Vanilla (decaff).

More aprons were created for my family, but with some special meaning, too. My Grandmama had scads of clothing. We gave away tons of stuff after she died, but I kept several items with the intent to make something that might last a bit longer. This year, I came up with an idea. The floral fabric used for this apron I made for my sister was one of Grandmama's house coats. (click photo for a larger picture) The denim and embroidered design on the pocket was from one of Grandmama's many denim shirts.

Getting the fabric from a house coat into an apron was a little more challenging than I expected, so for my sister-in-law's apron, I used one of Grandmama's broomstick skirts for the dark fabric and the pink accents came from one of her shirts.


I think they'll like them. I wish I could have made them full aprons, but the fabric I was using was limiting. This was an emotional project for me. I've washed the clothing numerous times & it still smelled like Grandmama. I hope I was able to create something that she'd have been proud of.

Making Christmas, Part 2

Merry Christmas to all!

I have been so eager to post pictures of things I've been making this Christmas, but I was afraid that the recipient would see it! MawMaw has no Internet at her house, so I know I'm safe now! These gifts will go to Dad's family on Christmas Day. Here's the apron I made for MawMaw:

This pattern was so easy! Here's the one for Aunt Jana - same pattern, but completely different look:

And I made a little tag blanket for my new nephew, Mason:

The back is made out of that super soft minkie stuff!

There are a couple of other things that will be given on Christmas Day, but I can't show them yet, because my family will be getting similar items a few days later! (and I know they'll see this before then!) Hopefully I will get pictures of everyone with their gifts, too!

5pm Christmas Eve. I just finished the last Christmas present I was making. Still waiting for the UPS man to arrive...

Joyful Christmas Eve to You!

"Isn't there anyone who knows what Christmas is all about?"

Making Christmas, Part 1

So after all our comments about Lauren & her faces... I have to admit, I tried to take a serious slightly-irritated-professional-chef-looking photo and I couldn't stop laughing. So it's a lot harder than you might think to take a goofy picture of yourself. : ) I also have to add, WOW! On Lauren's last post she had some photos where she was not making faces & what a beautiful young lady she's turned into!

I've been a busy beaver, but I can't show pictures yet! Someone might see! Aunt Sissy couldn't believe I still have the apron Grandmama brought us from one of her trips long ago, so there I am, not looking serious in my chicken apron with my beloved Mix 'N Scraper, that I just realized is now cracked! Since we've moved in, I've gone through almost 15 pounds of flour! (whole wheat & white combined) So here's some food I've been making:


Brownies from a box with M&M's added. Mysteriously they're almost gone. I don't know what happened to them... but Dad says he's been sharing with Elizabeth...

My most exciting new recipe of the year: Christmas Mint Cookies! Oh. My. These little gems are delicious! They taste exactly like Girl Scouts Thin Mints. You must try this recipe! I used the Andes Mints version of the recipe mentioned in the recipe reviews. Wow! I made Dad take them to the fire station today so I wouldn't eat them all... of course I have ingredients to make more, though. : )

I can't tell you what these are. David made them. They have sprinkles. Act surprised if you see them again.

On an impulse, I saw a bag of Key Limes at the store the other day & bought them. Then I had to make a pie. It's very tart, but very tasty! I used the recipe that was on the bag. I didn't find one that was the same online, so I may add it to RecipeZaar later. That way I won't loose it.

Dad specifically requested that I get Grana's recipe for Gingerbread. Turns out she has the recipe written out in her grandmother's own handwriting! That makes it Dad's great-great-grandmother's recipe! I added "Grandmother's Gingerbread" to my cookbook so I wouldn't loose it, too. It's also printed in the first edition of the Sew-N-Sews Cookbook. Dad took the whole pan, minus this piece to the fire station today.

Then he requested I made a Pumpkin Roll! WHAT?!?! I have never done this before & it seemed like one of those fancy, hard-to-do type desserts. Turns out, it was much easier than I thought... so I may have to do it again. Doesn't that look pretty?

No fancy presentation, though. I wrapped it in foil, froze it & when I got up this morning, it was gone. I did taste the ends that I'd cut off (it was uneven, I had to trim it up!) and it was delish! Of course, I found the wonderful recipe for the Pumpkin Roll online and it came from a B&B in New Braunfels!

So if you happen to be in Fort Worth and notice that the firefighters appear a bit heavy, it may be from mint cookies and gingerbread and pumpkin rolls... just to name a few things.

Dad's view from the office...

Dad took my camera to work with him Saturday because he knew he was going to Station 14, and that Saturday is clean-up & equipment maintenance day. Which means the 135' aerial ladder (one of the tallest ladders made) gets checked out, too. That's our car you can see in the parking lot.

He also got a video while he was up there...

Our angel isn't on top of the tree...

...she's beside it.

Tomatoes are coming...

Yep, I ordered my heirloom tomato plants for next spring already! They ship in March. I think I may try to save some seeds from them next year.

Crafters Beware

Have you heard? In an effort to protect our children's safety, the US Government is taking away freedom from the hand crafter.

Here's a quote from the article at Cool Mom Picks, a site that features cool stuff for moms & kids:

We're all for strengthening the safety standards of mass-produced toys, clothes, and accessories made in China, and banning toxins like phthalates and lead. But this year, congress passed the ill-conceived Consumer Products Safety Improvement Act, a law which goes into effect in two months and will absolutely decimate the small toy manufacturers, independent artisans, and crafters who have already earned the public trust.

With this act going into effect February 10 2009 so many people we love will be affected: Moms who sew beautiful handmade waldorf dolls out of home, artists who have spent decades hand-carving trucks and cars out of natural woods, that guy at the craft show who sold you the cute handmade puzzle--even larger US companies who employ local workers and have not once had any sort of safety issue will no longer be able to sell their goods. Not without investing tens of
thousands of dollars into third-party testing and labeling, just to prove that toys that never had a single toxic chemical in them still don't have a single toxic chemical in them.

Some are reading the act as if it doesn't just stop at hand crafted toys - but other hand crafted children's items as well: clothing, hair accessories, shoes, diapers. This would effect a lot of people I know - people who sell at small online shops, people who sell on Etsy, people who sell at craft shows. And myself even, as I have been a crafter & seller of children's items in the past (blankets, play silks, felt sets, diapers, bibs & other baby accessories) & had hopes of getting some stuff back on Etsy after we get settled in.

Click on that button at top right to go to Cool Mom Picks' entire article, which also includes suggestions & links for how you can take action, and lots of other resources for more information.

Here are a few mentions I've read recently on other blogs I follow:

• Don't Let Handmade Toys Become Extinct
• Auf Wiedersehen Selecta (…Good-Bye Hand-Crafted Toys?)
• Love Handmade? A Call to Action for All of Us

Tiny Talk Tuesday Visits Santa

This is a scan of the "official" photo that they took. I say "they" because the photographers were teenagers with digital cameras, not a professional photographer! Don't be fooled by David's face - he was laughing!

Edited to add: I thought I had set this to post at the right time
& just realized it was still set in draft! Sorry for the delay to all you
who've been waiting for it! : )

Saturday we made a trip to visit Jolly Old Saint Nick. (I'm sure David would not approve of me calling him that.) I've never really made a big deal about Santa, but we go get the picture with him every year, we read 'Twas The Night Before Christmas at some point & we leave out milk & cookies. I don't think we've ever actually discussed the particulars of Santa, though. We spend more time talking about the Nativity & I've been really trying to teach David about giving this year.

David was actually excited about telling Santa what he wanted this year. I just figured he was at that age. Elizabeth was less sure about the whole thing.

We stood in line for probably 30 minutes waiting for our turn. I explained how it would work: We go up this ramp, you get in the sleigh with Santa, he'll ask you what you want for Christmas, we take a picture, then we go down the other ramp and wait at the bottom for our picture. Simple enough, right?

First off, David went right into the sleigh and started talking to Santa. Elizabeth didn't want to get in the sleigh. Dad was a trooper and saved my photos by getting in the sleigh with them. Yeah, Dad!

Well, Santa was interested in having a conversation. You think he'd get tired of that. He asked David if he'd been good, if he was going to leave out cookies, and what he wanted for Christmas. David said, "I want a new toy for Christmas." Then he waited for Santa to ask him what kind of toy. Santa didn't ask quite right, so Dad prompted David to tell him what kind of toy he wanted. "A toy Wall-E," David replied in a quiet voice. Santa didn't hear him, so Dad helped again. Santa kept asking if that was all he wanted, are you sure there's nothing else? I was wondering if Santa knew who Wall-E was and then if Santa really wanted every child to come to him with a hundred item list.

David showed Santa his Wall-E shirt that he was wearing. We took the pictures & headed down the ramp.

While waiting for their picture to print out. David asked for his toy Wall-E. Dad explained to him that we don't get it right now. Today, we just visited with Santa, showed him the shirt and told him that's what you wanted. Dad said, then Santa might bring you one on Christmas. David replied,

"Can he bring it out right now?"

Um... I think we've misunderstood this Santa photo-op... which is all *I* was considering this to be! It took some convincing but we were able to leave without tears!

And Elizabeth was so cute when she would say, "Ho, Ho, Ho!"

Don't have a cow... Give One!

Several of the kids craft blogs I regularly read have mentioned the organization, Heifer International, and I hadn't really paid much attention to it. Until now.

Most recently, it was Kiddio, who's 6-year-old daughter has decided to give a gift of bunnies and chicks to an impoverished family. With this gift, the family will be given not only a food source, but also a source of income. And the girl came up with a fundraising project to raise the $50 needed for this gift - She's making & selling Christmas gift tags.

Visit Kiddio to read more about her fundraiser and a link to make an online donation. In the mean time, here's another video you can watch to learn about Heifer... and don't you just love that name?!

The Day that Wore Me Out

I'm not sure I've recovered yet... I got up early (like 5:15 early) with Grandma Saturday morning & we did something special together. Click to see what got us up so early... : ) Dad & the kids were still sleeping when Grandma picked me up.

I was back at home by lunch time. David enjoyed some play time in the sand box while Elizabeth napped after lunch. He got just a little bit sandy. When he saw his dirty face in the mirror, he was so proud of himself! He had to have an early bath, because we had more stuff to do on this eventful day...




While I was out with Grandma, I found this light-up Wall-E Christmas shirt! (I'm surprised by Disney this year - I've hardly seen any Wall-E clothes, toys, accessories, or anything. But Cars is still all over the place!) Ever since David decided to be a robot for Halloween, then Grandma introduced him to Wall-E about a month ago, anything robot is big stuff at our house! My first intention was that this shirt would be a Christmas present. But then I realized it's a Christmas shirt, so he should be wearing it before Christmas. But I'm positive he will wear it as long as it fits! Well, I think this shirt just made his day! And now, he was able to wear it for our visit to Santa!

David started talking to Santa immediately upon entering the sleigh. I'll tell more about that on Tiny Talk Tuesday! : ) Just wait... you'll get a good chuckle out of it!

From there, we got something to eat (the pregnant woman couldn't wait), I ran inside one store & finished my Christmas shopping (now I just have to finish the things I'm making!), and then Dad ran inside Lowe's to get some light bulbs.

And we finally made it to Frankie's Family Christmas Party:

Frankie's mom & Dad's grandmother were sisters. I think that makes all those kids cousins, to some degree, with David & Elizabeth... right? There were kids & people & food all over the place. It was a lot of fun. And I think it was about 10:30 when we got home. Whew.

Prison Fellowship Angel Tree

Saturday morning, I went with my Mom shopping for our Angel Tree kids. It's something I look forward to doing every year. We like to do that together & I think it helps her keep all the kids & gifts in order. She was shopping for 5 kids that her Sunday School class had adopted & I took the baby in a family of 6 kids.

I specifically wanted to do Angel Tree from Prison Fellowship this year. These are local children who have one or more parent in prison. The family we were shopping for with 6 kids, who are now living with an aunt & uncle while Mom is in prison. I don't know her crime and I don't know where their Dad is. But that doesn't matter. Think about how it would feel to be a child, not able to spend Christmas with your parents, but then not have any gifts from them either. That has always been my motivation for participating in Angel Tree - the children.

As I was looking for a video clip to use on this post, I came across the one below. For the first time, I realized that Angel Tree is not just taking care of the kids, it's also ministering to the parents who are in prison. Now imagine being the parent and you can't go Christmas shopping; you can't bake cookies together; you can't take your kids to see Santa or go to Christmas parties. Then Angel Tree comes in and connects you with people who are willing to do the shopping & add beautiful gift wrapping with bows & everything. The parent in prison gets to write a note to put on the gifts (toys & needed clothes) and now they have gifts to send to their children.

'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'Matthew 25:40

While the deadline for getting presents for in is tomorrow for us, Angel Tree can still accept donations online that benefit the Christmas Angel program, as well as their camping programs and mentoring programs. Click to make an Online Donation to Angel Tree. Share the love this Christmas.

Another Place to Give

In addition to Child Sponsorship, Compassion International also has various relief funds you can specify for one-time gifts. These include: disaster relief, AIDS initiative, unsponsored children, leadership development, medical assistance, malaria intervention, global food crisis, hurricane relief and more.

Christmas Full Moon

Elizabeth & I thought it was cool that we could see the full moon by our Christmas tree tonight!

Does Your Santa Know CPR?

If you've ever heard me talking about him before, you know that CPR Teddy gets me excited! Not only is he an adorable bear, he's a good helper and wants to help you be ready with your CPR skills.
I am an Independent Distributor for CPR Teddy. I sell them online. I don't make a lot, but it doesn't cost me anything but some time. And I am totally sold on the value of this product, myself.

This week I sold a bear kit to a grandma who's having Santa deliver it to her 5 grandsons on Christmas morning. How cool is that?!

And, if they're willing to pay international shipping (which is more than the bears!), I am also working on a deal with a lady from the Irish Red Cross for some bears for their training program.

Here's a little review of how you can use CPR Teddy:

I have been blessed with water...

For weeks now, we've been living with this yucky, undrinkable water. I've been driving over to my parents' house to fill gallon jugs with their tasty, soft water. I had to clean my dishes after running them through the dishwasher due to the calcium in the water. The smell of metal (iron in the water) almost made me sick at times. I smelled it when washing clothes, showering & bathing the kids. The tub full of water was yellow from it.

Then Dad, my hero, installed our new water softener! The difference is amazing! It's clear, it doesn't stink, and while it doesn't taste as good as Momma & Daddy's it is now drinkable. My dishes are clean and I'm not worried about what long term exposure to the hard water will do to our clothes when they're washed.

But now I've been reminded that people all over the world would have been happy with what I called undrinkable. How spoiled we are to be so blessed.

A lot of people give this time of year because it's Christmas or because it's your last chance to get a tax deduction. Whatever your reason, think about giving more this year. Not because it's the thing to do, or for the deduction, but because even in hard times, we have been blessed. Pause the music & watch...

From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded...

Watch the Advent Conspiracy video, too.

Tiny Talk Tuesday

Elizabeth crouched down to look at Tort, the cat who was sitting under the wood stove, and said in the most adorable, happy little voice ever: "Hi, Tort! I love you!" Then she just stood up & went on about her playing. Her mother's child indeed.

After watching a VeggieTales the other day, David was walking around this morning humming one of the songs & then added this line, "This will be frosted." I think he may have missed the point of the song.

Here, you can see how a Christmas craft - tubes of red & green glitter - almost instantly turned into a double barrel gun. Go figure. You can not tell me that some of this stuff is not just ingrained into little boys. We own no actual toy guns.

I wonder if Grandma & Grandpa can remember what David said last night that had us all laughing?

See more tiny talk at Mary's.

Potatoes

I signed up with SheSpeaks and my first assignment was to review Ore-Ida's new Steam & Mash Potatoes. I got a free bag of the product, a free potato masher, and coupons to share.

I tried the Garlic Seasoned Potatoes. They were very easy to prepare - you just put the whole bag in the microwave for 10 minutes, let them stand for 2 minutes, dump them into a bowl and mash with some milk & butter. Super easy.

What I liked about them was not having to buy a 5lb bag of potatoes and not having to peel them. I found that a whole bag was a lot of potatoes.

The flavor was pretty good, but we thought the texture was a little dry & undercooked. Maybe it's my small microwave or maybe I didn't add enough milk. Dad said they had the texture of leftover potatoes. I reheated a bowl later & added more butter and some cheese and I thought they tasted better that time. The next day, I made potato patties from the leftovers & they were enjoyed by all. Here's my mom's potato patty recipe:

Grandma's Potato Patties

Leftover Mashed Potatoes
1 egg (or 2 if you have a lot of leftovers)
diced onion (amount based on your preference)
flour

Saute the onions. Mix together the leftover mashed potatoes, egg and sauteed onions. It will be kinda runny. Add flour, a little at a time, to thicken. Heat oil in a skillet. Drop spoonfuls of the potato mixture into the hot oil and gently flatten. When it's lightly brown on one side, flip them over. When done, drain on paper towels.

I like to dip mine in ketchup, but Dad used Cholula. I served them with pigs-in-a-blanket.

If anyone wants to give Ore-Ida's Steam & Mash Potatoes a try, let me know. They sent me plenty of coupons to share - $1 off!

Tights

I remember being in David's class at church when he was little. I saw them changing a little girl who was wearing those ruffly bottomed hose. I thought how ridiculous it was to put the nursery worker through that - the wrestling on & off of tiny hose. When I had Elizabeth, I never dressed her in ruffly bottomed hose because I remembered that.

When cold weather hit this year, I felt bad that her legs were exposed when she was wearing a dress, though. I finally broke down and bought a pair of white tights. Turns out, I have never seen anything cuter than Elizabeth wearing tights! It seems not to matter any more if it's hard on her teachers at church. : )

Now she has 2 pair. And I'm thinking it wouldn't be that bad to have more colors...

Christmas Date Night 2008

Our annual date to Sundance Square at Christmastime was Saturday night. Like many other things, it grew this year! We enjoyed a "whole family date" with David & Elizabeth, and shared the evening with Curt & Suzanne.

Little did we know that downtown would be blocked off for the Jingle Bell Run! When we were finally able to get through & get into the parking garage, then we walked to our dinner destination (Billy Miner's) only to find that they were full! So we headed up the block and were able to be seated immediately at Cabo Grande for Mexican food. Downtown was beautiful, as usual, and we enjoyed the enormous Christmas tree and even got a peek at Santa!

Music Has Been Added

I had some complaints about auto starting music before, but it's Christmas now & I'm not taking a poll this time. There's just 18 days to deal with it. : )

In other news, I hope to be adding some posts about what we've been doing this evening. I may post-date them in order to keep things in order. So scroll down & take a look around at what he's up to.

Christmas Tea

Saturday was the annual Ladies Christmas Tea at Grandma's church. This was my second year to attend & I decorated a table again:

We were very colorful, using my Fiesta dishes and Christmas balls as the centerpiece. It was very simple, but I thought it turned out beautiful.

I sat at our table with Grandma & Aunt Wee, while the table next door seated Grana, MawMaw, Aunt Erin, Suzanne, Jan, Kristi & Marlene. I completely forgot to take pictures at the tea this year! To see us at last year's tea, click here. I did take some pictures of the tables when we were up there decorating the night before. They're on my flickr.

Getting Ready for Christmas & Great Giveaways!

We've been busy with Christmas activity around here! I decided I waited too late to make an Advent/Countdown calendar this year, so we went with the traditional Countdown Chain. And the crafts have begun!

So far we've played with glitter, freezer paper, markers, fabric and ribbon. I haven't decided if I'm going to post finished pictures here or not because some of them will be Christmas gifts! The pantry is stocked with flour, yeast, sugar, oatmeal, chocolate chips, and M&M's - all the essentials for Christmas baking! I started a Sourdough Starter this week, and I must say - this stuff is nasty! The only thing that's keeping me interested is the potential for all the different recipes I can make with the stuff.

And guess what? Our neighbor, Mr. Nick, has soft water. : \ Dad found a water softener that also has an iron remover setting, but when we went to Lowe's last night, they weren't in stock. Go figure.

And how about this - 5 Minutes for Mom is having an amazing some amazing Christmas giveaways this year... including a $500 Home Depot Gift Card! Wow, that would almost cover a water softener! I've got every appendage crossed that I can manage to cross and am trying to teach the kids how to cross their fingers, too! : )

And we also have 5 - yep, FIVE - chances to win $500 Kmart Gift Cards! Check out the following blogs to see how:

Chris Brogan
Loren Feldman
Jeremy Schoemaker
Wendy Piersall
Michelle Madhok
Julia Roy

Is it Christmas yet?

SUKA '08: Bump

Right before I graduated from college, my best friend & I went by ourselves on a camping trip. We called it SUKA '95 and vowed that every year we would do something special together. Suka has since grown to include husbands on some years and children as we've added them. I'd like to think that by the time our kids are college aged, they'll have some fond memories of Suka get togethers past.

This year was a wonderful visit as always. We shared lots of love, laughter, and back rubs! And the kids enjoyed each other's company, too. We exchanged some Christmas gifts...

and went on an adventure down by the pond while Elizabeth was napping...

We took in some Christmas lights at the park...


And Sarina & David enjoyed warming themselves by the fire!

In my head, I called this year, "Bump" because my best friend & I, in addition to having the other kids within a few months of each other, are also both pregnant again. I could kick myself for failing to take a picture of the two of us together. I think this was the first time we got together when we both had the baby bumps showing. You'll just have to imagine it in your head.

Click for SUKA '07