The Chocolate Covered Cherry Incident

I accidentally backward snorted a chocolate covered cherry. I popped one in my mouth and bit down on it, letting that yummy sugary goodness ooze out and then I forgot all laws of gravity.

I bent over, way over, and ducked my head inside the kids' fort made of blankets where my littlest one was giggling her head off. Daddy was in the tent with her and he was tickling her ribs and her feet making her squeal. With my head upside down, I sort of laughed and inhaled my chocolate covered cherry UP my nasal cavity!

I whipped back upright, but it was too late. The chcocolate covered cherry had gone all the way up my nose from the back and now I felt the urge to sneeze, so I grabbed a tissue and blew my nose before the sneeze could happen. 

Yup, I blew out the chocolate covered cherry candy into the tissue; it was a big sugary booger! It went in, now it's out. Full circle. Through my nasal cavity! That's not how it is supposed to work!

It stung. It still stings actually, and it's been a few hours. I drank some water, but that didn't go the same route so it didn't help matters any. 

I think I'm done eating Christmas candy now.

 

Gingerbread Cookie Dresses

I picked up the cutest Christmas fabric! It is a busy glitter infused gingerbread cookie print, and I got a trim fabric that also has tiny gingerbread cookies on it. I think I got it in October at Joann Fabrics, but I'm not entirely sure any more. October was a long time ago.

For Halloween, actually for a school project right before Halloween, I made a pretty black and white dress for Gracie. I thought at the time that I would just make one like it for Libby and that could be their Christmas dresses. But, then December came along and I remembered that I purchased some adorable gingerbread print and I wanted to be sure to use it. The black and white dress could easily be used as a special occasion dress on any occasion, but gingerbread cookies are Christmassy.

I used a pattern I have never used before: Simplicity 4647.  As soon as I cut it out, I decided I didn't like it. But, now that the dresses are finished, I've changed my mind again. It's a cute dress, but the part of it that I liked until I actually cut it out was the bodice. I was having trouble loving the length of the bodice for an older child. On a toddler, a short bodice is adorable, but on a child who is over 4 ft tall, the short bodice might look too childish. Well, once it's cut, it's cut! No turning back, so I went ahead and scolded myself for not thinking about that earlier and sewed it up.

I made a few little mistakes. I didn't measure my 4 yr old correctly and her dress is too long. The bodice fits her well though. And I have the size 6 sleeves on the size 4 dress and vice versa. Whoops.

The sleeves are a flounce cap sleeve. In the picture on the pattern they are flouncier than in real life. On the dresses, the sleeves tend to stick straight out giving the girls wings rather than sleeves, but the girls didn't seem to even notice. This may be due to the type of fabric I chose, or the fact that I lined the sleeve flounce with trim fabric (since I figured you would often see the underside if it were bouncy and flouncy), I don't know, but the flounce sleeves turned out to be pointy wings. Guess what, these are the most  adorable sewing mistakes I've ever made! Every time I see the sleeves pointing straight out, I can't help but laugh!

The girls are leaving a trail of glitter in their wake. Glitter infused fabric is fun to wear the first time, but it falls like pixie dust. The term "infused" is very misleading. The fabric is more or less "sprinkled" with glitter rather than infused. That's ok, there is glitter all over my sewing area, in my car, in the stroller, and everywhere in between.

The girls wore their Christmas dresses twice, both times to Disneyland. I wanted Gracie to wear it to her school winter program, but the kids were instructed to wear red or white tops and dark bottoms, so much for gingerbread cookie print. I also wanted to have the girls wear their dresses on Christmas day, but when that day came, I completely forgot and they were happy to wear their new things that Santa brought for them.

When I took the girls to Disneyland  in these dresses, we heard lots of comments about the dresses! Even from men! They were a hit and people complimented us all day long. It's amazing to walk through a crowd of strangers and hear wonderful words. The girls really feel special when they hear people exclaim that their dresses are so very wonderful! I feel pretty special too when I hear compliments all day long. Amazing experience! The best was Mrs. Claus, she was so animated with her expression and her compliments were genuine. Of course, she loved the gingerbread cookie  print! She is a cookie loving woman after all.

The dresses must have been comfortable, there sure wasn't any complaining about seams being itchy, armpits too tight, zipper touching their backs, neckline too high, or any of the other usual commentary. It's funny how they'll complain to me about their things I make for them, but they complain even worse about store-bought clothing! They always want me to fix something or another.  Neither one of them complained one bit about these dresses, so I guess the pattern was a good choice after all. The skirts were long enough to keep their legs warm and they had enough volume for a good twirl.

Wump Wump

Today, I drove the kids to the park... yadda yadda... so I'm driving along in the neighborhood going between 20~25... and this kid comes flying out into the street on his skateboard RIGHT in front of me!  He came flying off the curb between two parked cars. He's lucky I saw him! I braked and at the same time he saw the van and he hopped off that skateboard and landed square on his feet out of the way. 

But, his dismount was forceful and he shot that skateboard right under the van. I was hoping I would straddle it, or that it was going fast enough to roll under. I was barely moving at this point, but since he wasn't in my way I didn't stomp on the brakes.  

Wump Wump. Whoops. My back tires ran over that stupid skateboard. I looked in my rear view mirror and it was still in one piece, no harm done. He picked up his board and gave it a quick once over and just stared at me.  You should have seen his little face. He looked astonished. 

I'm not sure if he was grateful that his young life was spared, or amazed that his skateboard successfully survived a mini-van drive by, or if he was sad and ready to cry because I broke it. I have no idea.  As I glanced in my rear view mirror the board appeared to be in one piece with all the wheels still attached, but then again I didn't stop to inspect it. I'll bet it has a tire tread mark on it at the very least.

Let this be a lesson, kid. Play at the park and keep your toys out of the street!

 

Christmas Prep

I think we've been shopping every day in December. I can safely say I'm sick of shopping. Probably not done with it, but tired of going to the stores! I still don't feel ready though. I'm sure I will be out shopping again today. Sigh.

We went to several malls, Targets, Walmarts, and other stores. Of course, shopping around means eating out too. Girls need some shopping sustenance!  We've walked a lot of miles through the merchandise and down the malls, except Libby. That kid has it easy! I want to ride in the stroller for once.

Christmas shopping is fun though. Crowds, lines at the checkouts, picked over merchandise, things out of place, filthy public restrooms, no decent parking spaces... ah, good times.

I love all of the Christmas trees and decorations in the malls. So very pretty! Really, you can't get that experience online. The stores are all decked out with pretty ornaments and displays. Christmas music playing. I love that.

What I didn't find in the crowded malls, I found online.  I only ordered from three stores, but all of my shipments came in plenty of time, all correct, and none too expensive. Love it!  The problem with ordering online comes when the package arrives. Luckily, they are wrapped well and nobody can see what is inside. But, the kids are excited for packages.  The first box arrived and I told the kids "It's soap", of course, they wanted to see it.  Darn, that was supposed to work!  "It's toilet cleaning soap".  Ohhh, never mind. Excitement gone.  The next package, I said it was for Dad. Well, no excitement in that! The next package arrived while we were all in the driveway so the kids saw the box. It says Disney on it, has Mickey and Pluto on the box... it was hard to squelch the excitement over what was in the box. I just shoved it into the van and locked the doors, in fact, it is still there. Apparently they forgot.

We saw Santa twice. Once in Disneyland in mid-November and yesterday at Shakey's Pizza.  I saw him in the malls, but steered the kids away from looking in that direction. I just didn't feel like standing in line to visit Santa after we'd already seen the best Santa on earth at Disneyland. The Santa at Shakey's was great though. He could have been more animated, but his costume was the best and his authentic hair and beard couldn't be beat! He even had glitter in his beard!  His visit with Gracie was magical so I'm glad we went to see him. Two great Santa visits this year, sweet!

Make that three. I almost forgot about the Santa that comes through our neighborhood to collect food for the needy. We ran down the street to meet him. Gracie noticed that he wasn't the real Santa Claus and she had a lot of questions about that! He didn't have a real beard, that's the tip-off. Faker. 

I've been sewing every chance I get!  I'm not done yet, so I will be at the machines burning the midnight oil the next couple of nights. I made stockings for the whole family about 6 years ago. We have five stockings. We've been doubling up in them to make them stretch for all of us, but with ten of us this year (and the dog) I decided we just need new stockings. I set out to find just the right fabric and lining to make ten stockings, plus I should make a few extra since Katie will probably give us lots of grand-babies in the future and I'll never find matching fabric again. I had to go to three stores to find exactly what I wanted, but I found it. I have five done, several more to go!  I also could not find a yellow dress anywhere. I did find some very pretty yellow fabric, so I bought two yards, which is more than enough.

The kids did a few crafts. It's hard to do crafts with a wild toddler who loves to jam crayons in his ears. Luckily, we got Henry to paint his hands and feet and make some tree ornaments. My gift from my grandson. I love my new decorations!


Once again, I didn't get Christmas cards sent out. I love Christmas cards; I had every intention of getting them all done, but it didn't happen. Maybe next year.  I didn't do any baking neither. I'm not much of a baker, so this should be no surprise. I am pretty good at buying baked goods at the grocery store, and I did that pretty well!

One of our favorite things to do before Christmas is to just drive around to see the pretty lights. Some neighborhoods are lit  up nicely. Our neighborhood is fairly dark, just a few lights and inflatable yard decorations. We found a cul-de-sac of 13 homes on the other side of town that were completely lit up and set to music.  They were all connected and had a radio station for the music, plus speakers as you walked. The neighbors handed out candy canes. It was wonderful!

Christmas will come whether I am ready or not, and I'm mostly ready. Plenty of food, presents, the whole family will be here. The house is clean enough, the sewing machines have been running and whatever I don't get done, I'll finish in later days.  Maybe.

I'm finally ready for Christmas! Almost.

It's the end of January already? How did that happen?

I have my Christmas cards half done now and I just ordered a Christmas gift. Guess it could be a birthday gift. No, that was a few weeks ago for the little recipient... Valentine gift?

Have you ever made a photo book?  I thought it would be quick and easy, but it's really not like that.  The layouts are all premade, but then they gave me options to change them.  I did, over and over again.  The book only has 20 pages unless I pay for more but I figured if I added one or two more pages, I would decide to just add one or two more and so on.  I decided not to tempt myself and just stuck to the minimum number of pages. I didn't need to go broke making a photo book!

There really weren't enough spots on each page for the multitude of photos I have.  So many adorable pictures and only one, two or three photos per page.  On the last page of the book, I chose a layout that looks like a checkerboard of photos.  I can't wait to see it all printed and bound in my hands!

Luckily, I thought about myself when I ordered the photo book. It is just too cute to give away, so I ordered two!

The photo book is for a little girl who just turned two years old. I'm sure she will appreciate all the thought that went into the picking and choosing of the photos.  She is my toddler's best little baby buddy.  It was decided before they were born that they would be best little buddies and have lots of playtime together. And, that's exactly how it was. The girls really did bond and form a loving friendship even though they are so little. Libby's little friend moved away recently and though the girls don't know how far apart they are geographically, they do know that they miss playing together.  So I thought the photo book would be nice for both girls, pictures of them together.

I can't believe it took me two months to put the photo book together.  But, it did.  First I had to go through two years worth of photos on my computer and select all of the possible pictures that I might use.  After building a photo folder of copied pictures, I had to sort and select the ones I wanted. Still had way too many.  Then I needed to arrange them in the book.  Some were too big, some too small, a few off centered, some needed a bit of color correction... there was just a lot of tiny touches to be done on photoshop.  I arranged the photos, changed my mind and started over again a hundred times or more. I had 55 photo spaces to fill with two years worth of total cuteness.

My intention was to get this done in one sitting and order it as a Christmas gift.  Then I decided maybe it should be a birthday gift for a January birthday.  Now, it will be a Valentine. (I hope). I was able to include a few pictures that have never been seen yet!  I think the girls will enjoy those pictures the most.  I'm very excited to see the end result!

Now, to finish those Christmas cards and get them in the mail.  February is still included in "the Christmas season", isn't it?

My Teacher Made It!

So far, every preschool art project that my daughter has brought home so far this year has been wonderfully done.  Perfect cutting, painting, gluing - amazing technique for a four year old.  But, my four yr old isn't taking credit for her teacher's artwork; she always tells me that Miss Teri made it. 

I'd rather she bring something home that she made herself.  Apparently, that's not going to happen.  I've been letting is slide but I was really hoping that by this time in the school year she would be learning how to cut, glue, paint and draw on her own.  These are skills she will need in Kindergarten and beyond.

Here is the ornament the teacher made.  According to Gracie, "Miss Teri painted my hand and helped me put my hand on the ornament. Then Miss Teri painted the snowmen and put sparkly ribbons inside and wrote my name". Hmm. 

Wonder if the teacher really thinks I think my daughter made this!

Not that I don't appreciate the lovely crafts Miss Teri has made for me, but I am dying to hang a glitter covered wad of colored paper and glue kid-made ornament on my tree!  I've decided it's time to get crafty at home.  Now.... what to do?  Any ideas?

Tree Instructions

I just spent nearly an hour digging around the files on my computer for the instructions on how to put our tree together.  Don't let me lose them again!

Chased Down Santa - The Story in Poetry

Our town does a very neat thing in December every year.  They have Santa and  his helpers go around to every neighborhood to collect food for the local food pantry and visit people. The high school choir rides on the sleigh and sings carols.  It's very fun! 

The city paints stars in several spots all over town, these are the Santa stops.  Luckily, there is one just a block away and we can see it from our front window.

Each night there are two or three neighborhoods that get a Santa visit.  It takes a week or a little more to cover the entire town.  Our neighborhood's turn was last night.  As much as I was looking forward to it, the evening rolled around and I totally FORGOT!

I had the three kids in the bathtub together and Charlie was done.  Figured I better get him out and dry him off before he reached his limit. Got him out and wrapped up in a big froggy towel and then heard sirens and  I remembered.  Two kids in the tub and now I think of this?  Oh me oh my. So I took a peek out the window... no...  I know just how to tell you this story.  In the form of an iconic Christmas poem! 

Twas a couple of weeks before Christmas
When all through the house
All the kids were stirring and splashing
In the same tub upstairs in the house.

The stockings were still stuffed in a storage box in the garage,
The tree is there too, placed in the corner with care.
The house isn't ready but the children don't care,
They hope that St. Nickolas will soon be there.

Two children were soaking all snug in the tub
With the bubbles of shampoo dancing on their heads,
The baby naked in his towel and I in my jeans,
Had just just set out the pajamas for our nighttime scene.

When out on the street arose such a clatter
I sprang up over the bed to see what was the matter.
Away to the window I flew like a flash,
Tore down the blanket we use for a curtain
And looked out over the sash.

The streetlights and flashing police lights lit the sidewalk aglow,
Gave a mid-day luster to the crowd below.
When what to my wondering eyes should appear?
But a great big sleigh and one giant reindeer.

With a fat old driver so lively and quick
I knew in a moment it must be St Nick!
More rapid than eagles, I yanked the kids from the tub,
I whistled and shouted and called them by name.

Now, Gracie! Now, Libby! Now, Charlie-Bear!
On diapers! On pajamas! On jackets and boots!
Now to the front door and into the stroller!
Now Dash Away, dash away, dash away all!

As dry leaves on the front walk did fly,
I ran with three barely dry kids in the stroller to the end of the drive,
We looked up the street and it was quiet and dark.
The sleigh was gone, and Santa Claus too.

And then in a twinkling, I heard on the next street,
The sirens and honking of Santa's caravan.
I buckled in the little ones and told Gracie, "Let's run!"
Down the street and around the corner we raced with a bounce.

He was dressed all in red fur from his head to his foot,
With a white beard, white gloves and black boots.
A collection of canned food was flung on the lead truck.
Santa waved goodbye to the crowd and they drove on to the next star.

With big sad eyes, Gracie yelled, "Mom, we missed him!"
So we ran down the street following his lights.
Her belly started to ache, the running was too much
Four year old feet were tired and such.

With no time to spare in our journey in the night,
I gave her the front seat of the stroller,
pushing while carrying Libby with all of my might.
Running down two more streets to catch up to the elf.

Half a mile from our home I ran with three kids,
But I caught up to that fast old man and his friends.
I was out of breath and sweating like mad,
but the kids were delighted to be part of the crowd!

His eyes how they twinkled! His dimples were merry!
His cheeks were like roses! His nose like a cherry!
His beard was falling off, so he reached under his hat
and tightened the bow.

Child after child he held on his lap,
Libby told me she wanted to be a part of that!
Gracie said she would ask him for Rapunzel and Flynn,
Libby chimed in with requests for Santa to bring Chocolate.

Santa wasn't chubby but he was stuffed plump,
And I laughed when I saw him in spite of myself.
He welcomed Gracie to his lap and reached for Libby as well.
She changed her mind about the jolly old elf!

She kicked and she screamed, the tears rolled down.
Promises of chocolate for Christmas didn't provide any slack.
The two year old wasn't talking to the old elf wearing a red hat.
I told Santa, "Hold her tight, I'll be right back".

Santa looked frightened, Libby looked worse.
Gracie was concerned, worried about the worst.
I stepped back a couple of paces with camera in hand
And snapped some photos of my cuties with the old man.

Charlie was relaxing in the stroller by himself.
He loved looking at the lights with his big eyes and happy grin
I wondered if he wanted to sit on Santa's lap.
Decided not to traumatize the babe and just leave him alone.

Santa spoke a few words to his big elf and reindeer,
They loaded the trucks for the food pantry and
 I packed all three children in the stroller for the long walk home,
 Libby exclaimed "That was FUN! We saw Santa in the Street!"

 He sprang to his sleigh and to his team gave a whistle,
The choir, elf, deer and helpers hopped aboard for the ride.
But I heard him exclaim as he drove out of sight,
"Merry Christmas to all, and to all a Good Night!"