Christmas

Here are some pics of the homemade gifts I made this year.

The first is my favorite. Mr. Potato Head made for my Dr. D, and he LOVES it! I got the instructions from the Make it and Love it blog. My sewing is never perfect, but it came out cute enough for my boy. It can also be Mrs. Potato Head, but I didn't take pictures of it with the girl stuff on. Dr. D seems to prefer the mouth with the moustache. He thinks it looks like him with the white teeth. :)



The next project was this apron, which I made for my bff Naunee.
It was not a pre-planned project. In fact, I was planning on making something completely different for her, and went into Scrapbooks, etc. to get some paper. I hadn't been in that store in MONTHS and discovered....they sell fabric! THE BESTEST MOST FAVORITE FABRIC!! Yes, Amy Butler, Heather Bailey, Michael Miller, Moda. I immediately changed my mind and knew I had to make SOMETHING out of that glorious fabric. I settled on an apron. I couldn't find my pattern, so decided to wing it. It came out alright. The cuteness of the fabric saves it from my amateur-ness, barely. Here is Sweet G modeling it for me.



And this wasn't a gift, but here picture of the sweater that I converted into a dress. With instructions from, you guessed it--Make it and love it. My Little Miss is graciously modeling it for this picture. Aren't these houndstooth leggings perfect with it?



I have another homemade gift that I actually haven't finished yet, but will post as soon as I have. I know, I'm lame for not having given one of my gifts away yet! Oh well. I refuse to give up on it, though, and I figure better late than never! :)

My Baby!

Playdoh is cool again!

So, in my blog reading the other day, I came across a blog with some FUN play doh recipes on it. I don't remember now which blog it was, so I will post the recipe I used here. I actually combined a couple ideas because most of the recipes were for playdoh that you have to cook, and while it's a good one I was barely surviving the idea of cooking dinner, much less having to cook up playdoh. So I used the non-cook version, and it came out really good. Not too sticky, but nice and soft. I wanted gingerbread playdoh, so I added cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice to it, plus an abundance of red glitter. Oh yeah! The perfect Christmas playdoh!

PLAIN PLAY DOH

2 cups flour
1 1/4 cup salt
1 cup boiling water
1/2 cup oil

So, to this recipe you can add the spices like I did for gingerbread playdoh, or you can add some peppermint extract for mint doh, or cocoa for chocolate playdoh, or color it orange and add pumpkin spice. Go crazy with it!

Dr. D says

The other day my oldest boy, Dr. D, came walking into the kitchen looking as pitiful as possible and rubbing his tummy. "My tummy hurts!", he whined. "I think it means I'm hungry." I gave him a snack and he went on his way. A few minutes later he returned claiming, "My boobs hurt!" Hmmmm... Not sure what that means, buddy! I think I gave him another snack and that cured him. :)

Goings on -kinda long

Wow, this last weekend felt like a week instead of just 2 days. In a good way, that is. My house is a complete WRECK as proof that we were busy little beavers. I'm trying to muck it out today (it's gonna take all week), and conquer "Laundry Mountain".

This is not even half, people!!
On the up side, my Christmas decor is out and I am LOVING it.

Well, all except the tree which I'm hoping we will get to this week. One of my favorite things about Christmas is getting the ornaments out and watching the kids reminisce over each one. It's very bonding, in my opinion.

Saturday I went to Goodwill for half off day and SCORED a ton of stuff!!! We got like 6 pairs of pants-some for me and some for Sweet G, which were desperately needed; 3 cute long sleeved shirts for Blondie; a super cute jacket for Blondie; 5 bags of brand new pull-ups (for night use) at only $1.50 a bag!!!!!!; 2 new skirts for Sweet G, plus a shirt; a shirt for me; a CUTE purse for me; 2 pairs of pants for Dr. D; some berry thingys I'm going to put in the Christmas tree; and a mug tree that is perfect as a little wreath holder! It's going to get a paint job, but is working just fine for now! Isn't she cute?


I also turned a sweater that my friend Naunee picked up into a sweater dress for Little Miss, and paired it with the perfect leggings. I used the tutorial from the Makeitandloveit blog to do the sweater dress. SUPER easy. Also altered a black velvet skirt (I think it was a women's mini skirt?) into a perfect little holiday skirt for Little Miss. All I had to do was sew down both sides and it is perfect!
We also had our ward Christmas party, which was fun and several of us participated in. The kids got to sit on Santa's lap (our FAVORITE Santa, no less!). Pictures of that are coming.
Yesterday, we picked up a trundle bed that I scored on Craigslist for Sweet G and Blondie to share. We have done some room re-arranging, now need to do some furniture moving to cement in the changes. DH and I had to drive out to Florence to pick up the bed, which gave us a couple hours of "alone time". It turned out to be a very wonderful trip! We put the three older girls in a room together, and put Dr. D on the top bunk and Little Miss on the bottom bunk in their room. We are also going to put the crib in their room for our little Tail Gunner. I'm considering keeping the old mattress and giving it to Dr. D as a trampoline for Christmas...

Then last night was the First Presidency Christmas Devotional, which I LOOOOVE. I thought the music was especially out-of-this-world! My favorite song was "For unto us a Child is born" from the Messiah. But they were all good. Christmas songs are my favorite, anyway.
Then a practice for Stake Conference next week. I am playing my flute with the choir, and my good friend who plays the oboe. We used to play together a lot in high school, and it was so fun to get together again! Just like old times.
DH is on a diet and lost almost 14 pounds this weekend!!! His wedding ring is loose! I started walking this morning with the older girls and began an eating plan as well. I'm SURE I won't get the same results as DH, but hope to lose at my own rate.
Read part one of Stephanie Nielson's (NieNie) story in the newspaper yesterday. I'm keeping it, so if anyone wants to read it, you can borrow it. Part 2 comes out next week. She just keeps amazing me, that girl!!
Oh! Don't want to forget to mention that Teeny Bopper was in a dance performance last week, and my girl can dance! She did GREAT! It was so fun to watch. Here is a picture I snuck that I wasn't supposed to. heeheehee I pointed her out~

Well, I'm off like a dirty shirt to keep on doing that laundry and other mess. Dr. D should be occupied jumping on that mattress for a while...

Happiness Is...

Today, happiness to me is Christmas music playing while the kids are playing so nicely. (and some are napping--even better!) Hearing my little guy sleep without coughing. Seeing my baby smile. A cozy house. When my husband does the laundry. And helps with the dishes. Nursing my baby. Playing the piano. Thinking of all the Christmas movies I am going to watch soon. Not having to go grocery shopping to make a good dinner. Knowing that Jesus Christ is my Savior and loves me, despite my faults.