cookie dough pyramid

After making sugar cookies with the kids this holiday season, I told myself that I would be making cookies on my own for awhile. But I wanted some cookies and the kids needed something to keep them busy. It actually went well this time because I worked really hard to give them jobs so I wouldn't get frustrated when they took a job upon themselves resulting in disaster. We made a brown sugar pyramid and then took turns pounding it as you can see Benjamin starting off.

Playing Dress Up

Strutting her stuff

Claire is getting into the dress up phase and it has been so much fun for Emma to have someone to play with. You should see their room when they get everything out. Sheesh!

A photo a day for a year

Happy New Year! I can say that I was up to welcome in the new year, but I was in bed reading. When I finally looked at the clock it was 1:00 am. Jason gets off at 3:00 am so I decided to just shoot through the next two hours and welcome him home as well. He just laughed at me when he saw that I was still awake. The book I was reading you want to know? Forest Born by Shannon Hale (fourth in the series, very good).

Last year, I can say that because it's January 1st :), I came across this blog with a really cute idea for journal-ing the year with photos. (Now I can't seem to find the blog to give the person credit, but I am looking.) The idea was to take a photo each day and write just a short caption. Not a lot of work, but the end result is 365 pictures (or more) from the past year. I thought that would be so fun. This year we're going to try it. It might be a big undertaking, but we'll see.

White Christmas: We did not get a white Christmas, but a white Christmas break. Emma and Paul love to stay out and play in the snow for hours. I think that is partly due to their snow pants. Benjamin and Claire get too cold and they come in quickly after going out. And chances are, if you send your kids out to play in the snow they're going to want hot chocolate when they come back in.

Letters from Mom: I started this last year for the kids. I want to write a letter each year to each of my children telling them the fun things they learned and how they grew and how much we love them. I will keep them until they're 18 years old or so and then they'll have a bundle of letters to read when they graduate. Then hopefully I won't hear so much from my kids that I can't remember the little things they did when they were little. My mom is always saying that she can't remember what we did when we were little. I know January has dawned, but I'll get them done and sealed up here before January takes off and 2010 with it.
New Year's Resolutions: This year I want to really follow through with my New Year's Resolutions. One that I'm really excited about is to Keep Christmas all year long. My inspiration comes from the warmth and glow I felt this past Christmas, the desire to have that feeling continue, and this statement by Charles Dickens, I will honor Christmas in my heart and try to keep it all the year. I am excited for this. During Christmas we're more prone to be forgiving, caring, serving, and loving. I want to remember to be that way all year. I also want to look for random ways to spread cheer and brighten people's lives all year. January 1st has arrived, let's get started.

Paul opening his Lightning McQueen car. He knew what it was beforehand because it makes noise.

He doesn't like Sophie

We found out about two weeks ago that we are having a girl. Yeah! She is growing and everything is well. I am not sick any more-yes! I'm not too uncomfortable yet at nights-yes! And the back pain hasn't started yet-yes! I just have the hardest time convincing Jason that my want for Subway subs and take out pizza are indeed cravings. It doesn't work too often though.

I love to figure out baby names. Needless to say when I first went down some random list and came across the name Sophie, I remembered that I had thought of it before and considered that name searching was finished. He even told me it was OK. Well, that OK translated to "Yes we can name our baby that." When I started telling people that we liked Sophie he wasn't too thrilled. So Sophie is out. Bummer! I thought Miley would be cute because Jason's middle name is Miles and he always wanted to use it - I was the reluctant one. Only, everyone would think we named our kid for Miley Cyrus. No Way! We like Leah and Lanie, but we're still undecided.

Christmas excitement

We have been so excited for Christmas around here. Can you believe that tomorrow is Christmas Eve already?

Jason has to work 7pm-3am both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. So the window that we'll be able to spend with family during the day is quite short since he gets off work and then needs to sleep in - a little! :) He took three days off and added that to his normal two for five days off that end today. It was so nice. We went a couple of times to Tri-Cities to be with Jason's parents and stay the night. It was nice to lounge and visit. We also made a trip to Mattawa to see my family. So even though the actual holiDAYS will be a little rushed for us, we still got to spend some good time on these days off. We took the kids to see the Princess and the Frog and then to lunch at McDonald's. Fun, Fun!

Emma and I had a good discussion about the creation that led into why we need a Savior and that led to Christmas. It all began with one of her questions that let you know they really are thinking. It was so fun. She said, "I want to do this for Family Home Evening." Unfortunately, we don't have many of those discussions for FHE because we try to keep it short so that the kids that are already jumping off the couch and running around the kitchen can be released. It was fun just talking with her.

I'm off to make some sugar cookies to leave out for Santa.

Thanks TyLeen

My friend Tyleen Dixon just sent me the cutest nativity. I played the game on her blog where she said the first five people to comment would get something made by her and this is what she made. Isn't it just adorable?!

Don't worry those of you who played the game with me, I haven't forgotten. :)

Family Picture Time Again

Savvy Moms Save Blog

So my friend Crystal Porter has a blog where she reviews and gives away items. It has been really cool to follow. It's called Savvy Moms Save. Right now she's doing one for this really cool Tupperware decorating tool. It's called the Squeeze it decorator. It has different tips to change out and it comes with a lid so you can store the leftovers in the fridge. Very cool!

Letters to Santa

Last year I had this really cute idea for letters to Santa, only it was too late to use it that year. So along with my projects I got this out to finish it. I found the tube at Craft Warehouse. It's made out of wood. So I painted it and worked up some vinyl for it. Emma saw what I was doing and got so excited to write her list for Santa. I told her that I was just getting it ready for our Christmas countdown coming up in December. She couldn't wait that long. She wrote and re-wrote her list so many times to get it just right.

Here's the idea. They write the letter and we stick it in the tube. We leave it overnight and then check it in the morning. We then magically discover that the letters are no longer there. They have been delivered to Santa. Emma checked it this morning before I was out of bed and then came in, so excited, to tell me about it.

What I've been up to

I am past my big enrichment and vinyl prep weeks. So yesterday, I sat down and worked on some things that I wanted to get done just for me. It was so fun! I love doing vinyl, but when there's a lot to do and a very close deadline, it gets kind of crazy around here.

I think having wood (8 foot lengths and blocks and signs and stacks) around our house will always be characteristic of us. I keep telling myself, and everyone who visits, that it's simply because we don't have a garage. I thought once we moved out of our apartment into a house we'd have so much more room and it wouldn't be all over. Not the case. It's still everywhere.

by the back door

by the microwave, thanks to Paul

by the mirror
these are actually sanded and ready for me to complete

by the front door

we don't just have wood around, we have tools too. It's either the drill press (above), the sander (above), the router, or whatever else

And when it was clear that we wouldn't be using our dining table to dine for a few days, we set up dinner in the family room. It'll be nice to have a dining room table that is just for gathering the family and eating. Who knows when that will be.

I love the drill press by the way. It helped us at my craft night to make the FHE signs go smoothly. It also helped me to complete the following garlands that I've had on hand for a long time.

This one I've had since Ellensburg. I made one for my sister-in-law at the same time and then never got mine completed. Finally, yesterday I did. Hooray!

My mom gave me these little decorative things to go around mason jars. The idea was to fill the jars with cookies-in-a-jar or soup-in-a-jar or whatever and then slip these cute little seasonal wooden wreath things around the jar.

Well, I pulled them all apart and turned them into garlands. Thanks to my drill press I was able to drill through some walnuts and chestnuts to add some dimension. I had bought some wooden beads at Micheals to use as well. Then just used torn fabric pieces every so often.

Fun! Fun!

A few fun things with vinyl just because I wanted to.

I am so pleased with how this one turned out. It brings me joy just to look at it.