Christmas Past

My, how time flies! I was looking through some pictures from past Christmas photo sessions and thought I'd share:

2004

2005

2006

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Here's a peek at the picture that will be going out in our Christmas cards this year. YES, I said WILL BE. I'm running a little behind, but am almost finished!

I love how it looks like she is gazing lovingly at her brother, because that is how she feels about him! They are so close!

The Prince had a field trip today. All of the K4 classes went to sing Christmas songs at a retirement home, and then went to eat lunch and play at Chuck E. Cheese. Not only did she stand by him and sing all the songs, she followed him in line--with her arms folded just like he does. She was a TEENY bit upset when she didn't get to ride on the bus with him. At Chucky's, they played games together--even with all of his friends there, he chose to play with his sister. *SIGH* Mommy's heart melts!

Winter Time Craft

The Prince wanted to take a little something to his school Christmas party for all of his classmates. I had found this idea in the magazine Family Fun. It's really easy--and cute, too!

You use the containers from yogurt drinks. I used the small kid-sized ones for all the kids and two larger ones for the teachers. Cut off the label and wash them well. Use a Sharpie marker to draw on the face and buttons. Tie a fleece or flannel strip around the neck for a scarf and attach a circular piece to the top with a rubber band for the hat (I added a rolled-up tissue inside my hats to give them more shape). The directions said to fill with M&M's. Being a mom who doesn't let her kids eat already opened candy, I put in a package of mini M&M's.

What I liked about this craft is that almost any child of any age can participate. My four year old son was able to put the M&M's in each snowman, and he balled up all the tissue. Older kids can tie on the scarf and even draw on the face and buttons!

Definitely more "crafty" than professional looking, but for this...that was the point!

I'm Back!

Did you miss me? Oh wait, you didn't even know I was gone! We were right in the middle of the HUGE ice storm that swept the country. We were without power for 3 days and without internet for 5! I am thankful for HEAT!

I have never in my life seen anything like what that ice did to our old trees. The best way to describe it, is that it looks like a tornado came through, but didn't touch the houses. I took some pictures to record THE ICE STORM OF THE CENTURY!

A few of our backyard:

Where we slept:

The kids keeping warm (and going a little stir crazy):

Jingle Bells

The King is an avid runner.....I am not. He used to run to stay fit, but he's now on track with the goal of running a marathon. He just ran a quarter marathon, has registered for a half marathon, and so on. I really just need to get out and walk--that would be exercise for me. Is anyone else married to their opposite?

Anyway, after his quarter marathon, the kids were all excited about running in a race of their own, so the king found a 1K (just over 1/2 mile). It's called the Jingle Bell Run and in your race packet, they provide you with jingle bells for your tennis shoes. We all signed up and took part this weekend. It was a fun family event and the kids were so excited to be doing something "just like daddy." The Prince and The King took off at the beginning and did pretty well! The Princess wanted to run, too. Luckily, her run is still at my "walk" pace! She "ran" almost the entire thing.

My MIL came along, too. Did I mention that it was 40 degrees and misting? It was pretty much miserable in the weather department, but you warmed up as you started to move. I'd say it's getting added to the Traditions list.

The happy (if cold) family:

Traditions

The holidays always bring to mind traditions. My family had them as I was growing up, and I want my children to have similar fond memories. The King always had a Christmas train growing up, and this year, he purchased one for our home.

Here are the kids waiting (oh so patiently) for The King to open the box:


Here are a couple of their faces when they actually saw what was in the box:



The train:


They laid on the floor and watched the train for a LONG time!



Another tradition is holiday decorating. The kids are getting old enough to remember things from the year before, so they were more excited this year as I took decorations out of their boxes. They even helped. It turns out that The Prince is a pretty good bow fluffer!

Cupcake Cutie!

Gymboree has come out with, what I think, is their most adorable line....EVER! I am a pretty big fan of their clothing, but have been left feeling a little ho-hum about their lines, recently. NOT this one--I think we have 7 pieces of this one. I know for some of you Gymbo Mamas out there, that's just a drop in the bucket, but we usually stick to the 2-4 piece range. The colors are right up my (our) alley. I had to add the "our," because The Princess is definitely expressing her own opinions about clothing.

We were in the store the other day and I was picking things out, when she says "That one's not so great, Mommy." I say, "What? It's not so great?" And she says, "Yep! How 'bout this one?" Ooookaaaay....at THREE we're doing this? At least she said it nicely (right?).

Anyway, this is the first Gymboree line that has inspired me to make a Made-To-Match custom piece:


You can find it HERE. My favorite touch is that the sprinkles on the cupcakes are all hand-sewn glass beads...yummy! They say "CUTE AS A" [cupcake] on the front and "I" (heart) [cupcake] on the back. I'm also offering the applique work on Old Navy jeans if that's what you prefer.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I pray that you get to spend the holidays with the people you are most thankful for--I do!

I enjoy holiday entertaining and spend quite a bit of time thinking about my table setting. This year, my table looks like this:


I was able to purchase EVERYTHING you see for $50.00! I made the pies tonight and tomorrow is all about the turkey!

The Kids

The Prince has been in desperate need of his own dress-up clothes. I don't know why we don't think of boys as needing these things.....but THEY DO! After a number of occasions where The King came home to find his Prince in Princess dress-up clothes, something had to be done! I found a Buzz costume on sale for $9.99 and found this Woody shirt and hat for a whopping $3.00. My boy is in dress-up heaven!


After the Prince got to be a Pilgrim in his program last week, the Princess decided SHE needed to be a Pilgrim, too. I whipped up a simple little costume for her Mother's Day Out Thanksgiving Party. I took a pic with her cousin--The Princess was taking the whole "Stoic Pilgrim" thing a little too far. SuperMom to the rescue:

The Business

I am in the process of listing MANY of my Sample Sets and Resells--and they all have BIN options! Some have already been snatched up! To check them out, click HERE.

Third Time's a Charm?

This past week, I have tried to post twice. Both times, I've typed my entire entry, uploaded my photos.....and CRASH! Who knows what happened, but if you're reading this, the 3rd time's a charm.

I'm taking this post to catch up on a few photos of the kids for the family that checks in here. Also posting a couple of my recent sets that are still listed for my friends and customers.

We are in the full swing of Autumn. We'll have some of my in-laws here for Thanksgiving and will be going to my folks the day after (as we have all 13 years that we've been married).

The King is working, I'm sewing, The Prince loves school, and the The Princess just loves life. We are happy, if busy. Just tonight we were talking about the need to slow down and regroup as a family again. It seems to make all the difference in our home.

My Little Pilgrim
at his K4 Thanksgiving Tribute
My Birthday
I kid you not! Every single picture my husband took looked something like this:
Model in the Making
He needed a Christian-themed shirt for school, so I made it the night before. He wanted to take pictures (like his sister). I may list it (some day).
My Sweet Set
Find it here:
My Sock Monkey Set
Find it here:

Dress Up!

Here at our house, we don't do the whole "Halloween" thing. Instead, there are a TON of area "festivals" that we choose to go to. Here are some pics of the kids in their King Solomon and Queen Esther costumes.

FUN FEST 2007
The kids won the FAMILY COSTUME award!



IMAGINATION DAY
At Mother's Day Out, The Princess had Imagination Day.


HALLELUJAH PARTY
A HUGE festival put on by a church near our home. TONS of games, inflatables, and CANDY!! Jackson won 3rd place for best Bible-themed costume!

A Day to Catch Up!

I'm adding a few posts today, since there's so much to catch up on! The King has had a few business trips this month, we've all been battling the cold that seems to be EVERYWHERE, and my sewing orders have been more than steady. Add in holiday festivities, and just the everyday life of being a mom and....BAM! Don't you wish you didn't NEED sleep?

The Winner Is....

Thanks to all of you who signed up for my mailing list! The winner of my drawing is:

ANNIE

Congratulations!

Fall Is In the Air

Today the prince had a school field trip to the pumpkin patch. The princess and I went along. It's a great place outside of town with all kinds of animals! It was quite chilly this morning, but you can't really go to the PUMPKIN PATCH when it's warm out, can you? It should be brisk and crisp outside!

The kids were able to hand feed the goats. They got to see a camel and a buffalo--yes, a camel and a buffalo. They climbed on the requisite mound of pumpkins, took a hayride, and picked out their own little pumpkin to bring home. Most of the pumpkins were mid-size, but the prince picked out a cute little pumpkin that fit in the palm of his hand. I asked him why he picked a little pumpkin and he said, "I couldn't carry the big pumpkins, I couldn't even carry the medium pumpkins, so I picked a little pumpkin." Can't argue with that logic!

SPC--Week 4--Food and Me--After Food

During this entire month's SPC, I've really tried to tie my pictures into how I feel about food at any given time. Today, food means dishes, clean-up, more work. I remember the days when I didn't have a dishwasher and my deal was, "If I just had a dishwasher, my kitchen would always be clean." Yeah, right.

So here it is....a picture of how I feel about food today. I need to invest in more disposable dishes, utensils, etc.

Note to self: do NOT take a self portrait from the back, again!

SPC--Week3--Food and Me--Comfort

I've been sick--runny nose, achy body, deep-chest cough. I'm getting better now, but took this picture the other day when all I wanted to eat was the ol' standby--chicken noodle soup.

11.14.07

The long awaited date is arriving! The new season of Project Runway begins! YIPEE!

SPC--Week 2--Food and Me--Decisions

I love chocolate.

My husband loves me.

He gives me chocolate.

Now......which one do I choose?

To see more pictures from the Self Portrait Challenge, click HERE!

Gotta Have It!

My SIL, Erin, made this FANTASTIC necklace for me and I love it! I wanted to take a picture of it today and had The Prince (who's only 4) do it for me!

You can find yours HERE!

Love

The other day, while taking pictures of one of my outfits, the kids decided they were in the mood to pose. It was so much fun AND, I got some of the best pictures of them! I look at these and feel my heart overflow with love....you know, the honest-to-goodness feeling that your heart is just not big enough to hold all that you feel for your children? The feeling that only your children can cause? My cup runs over.....

SPC--Week 1--What Will It Be?

Here it is--my first attempt at the Self Portrait Challenge. This month's theme: Food & Me! Well, I have plenty to say about that! I love food! Really, I get a lot of enjoyment not only from eating good food, but also from preparing it. With an Italian husband, from a typical Italian family, food is important! When I think about the pictures I could take depicting the role of food in my life, I realize that I'll have a difficult time choosing just four!

This week I titled my photo, "What Will It Be?" I feel like I spend more time than is appropriate standing in front of my pantry trying to decide what will be eaten...by me....for dinner....for my kids' snacks. This is also where I stand while trying to figure out our grocery list and where we throw away our trash. I'm thinking I need a chair!

Finally, a last little peek into my life....the blur in the bottom corner (aka my son). There are few things I can do in life right now that won't include my children in some way!

Resells! Resells!

I've listed a few of my sample sets on ebay.

Mermaid 1

Mermaid 2

Christmas

Vintage Blue

Or click HERE to go to ALL my ebay listings.

I Did It!

I signed up for the Self Portrait Challenge. Tune into my blog on Tuesdays for a peek!

Last Minute Rock Star

Two days ago a few of the girls in my design group, The Lil Peas, decided to do a mini-launch based on the High School Musical *craze*. I (of course) decided to jump on board. This is what I came up with:



It's a dress, jeans, and tee, and you can find it HERE!

First Soccer Game

Last Saturday was our first soccer game. They did so well! This is the third season for the Prince, and his progress is beyond noticeable. This is the first season for the Princess, and her skills are noticeably better than the Prince's were when he began. To be fair, we KNOW that this comes from the previous two seasons where she was able to watch every practice and game--she definitely had a head start.

At this week's game, the Prince played goalie for a while and he blocked FOUR goals! He took the job seriously, and while he was in the goal--no points for the other team!


The Princess actually followed the ball around the field (didn't just stand there and kick at the dirt, like someone else did their first season). She even got in a pretty good kick! At the age of three, we tell her, "Keep your eyes on the ball, listen to your coach, and try to kick the ball just one time." She did her job!


They had a blast, and for us, that's all that matters!