Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve at our house means going and listening to Mommy play bells at the midnight (11 pm) service,

opening new Christmas jammie pants



wrapped in a new Christmas pillow case from Grandma,


patiently posing while Mommy insists on a picture of everyone in said jammie pants,


and then choosing one present to open



before hanging your stocking


and drifting off to sleep to "dream of Santa Clause and his reindeer" (Emma's words).

Christmas outfits

I took on way too many projects too close to Christmas. Any day that I didn't get much done I became very stressed. Any day that I got a lot done was a day that I missed doing things with the kids. So I took a step back and decided that there were certain projects that I was not going to be able to complete.

I was able to get the Christmas outfits done though. Other years I have given Em's Christmas dress as a present on the 25th but this year Emma helped me choose the fabrics so I had them done in time for them to wear the clothes on the last Sunday before Christmas.

I made Emma askirt and a top. They turned out very beautiful I learned a new stitch (bullion stitch) for the embroidery on the front.



I don't make clothes for Daniel because there just aren't that many patterns that don't look dorky if homemade. But this year I found a pattern for a tie and thought - why not! I really didn't expect him to wear it because he doesn't see Tuan wear one and never has put one on before. But he actually wore it! And looked quite dashing if I do say so myself.

Don't you love how Emma has accessorized? lol






For Beth I crocheted a skirt with some red yarn and a ball of fun fur. I tried my hand at machine embroidering a tree and star on her shirt. Eh - not so much. But the skirt is adorable!


This is what she gets to put up with everyday! She is one patient girl.

They love her tons and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Trimming the tree

We always had a real Christmas tree every year growing up and it's a tradition that I love. But this year we had a harder time finding one. There are several Christmas tree lots in town and I had decided on which one I wanted to go to. Most truck their trees in from a state or two away and one was from a local farm. You can guess which one I wanted! But when we got there (both Em and D had woken early and we rolled down the windows so that they wouldn't take 7 pm naps and be awake until 2 am!) the lights were on and the sign was flipped to open but nobody was there! Everyone must have gone to dinner. Two other cars pulled up and they would have sold 3 trees! Expensive dinner! So we drove to a different one and found a very beautifull tree. I just wish it hadn't be trucked in. Here we are trimmin our Christmas tree.





Beautiful!


After lots of fun and yummy food they were out like logs!

a bit of catch-up

Emma is taking dance classes and had her first recital a few weeks before Christmas. She was a little snowman. She was adorable.

Everyone was excited!


Very excited!


Very, very exciiii - hmmmmm.



Yes - they both fell asleep on the way to the recital!! Luckily Emma woke as I carried her in through the falling snow.

I was actually really dissapointed with the recital. The littles were interspersed with the older kids and Emma's class was the first of the littles to go. I think this must have been her teachers' first recital because they stood off in the wings and the girls did about 4% of their routine. The rest of the time they stood around looking lost. For the rest of the littles the teachers sat at the edges of the stage to help their students remember the steps. Oh well - there is still the summer recital.

Now would also be a good time to explain the glasses Emma is wearing in the family picture. Tuan wears glasses and I wear mine when I'm driving in the dark. So Emma wanted some glasses of her own. But where to find glasses with clear glass? Claires in the mall carried this cute pair for only $6!! She looks super cute in them if I do say so myself!

random

random picture from earlier this month - sorry that it's not very clear:


the kids found one of the bottles that goes with my breast pump. They stuck a piece of chocolate in it and fed it to each other and even pretended to feed it to Beth until I put the kibosh on that! lol

Snapshot Sunday - er Monday

eh - close enough right? lol

A tradition that I loved from my childhood. Each sibling got their very own box of cereal for Christmas morning. And luckily there are some decent gluten-free cereal options now.

I got a poinsetta last year after the Christmas concert I played in. I was determined to keep this year's plant alive . . . longer than last year's anyway! lol

When did this happen? The sad thing is that I thought I was doing well but didn't even notice when this happened.


A fun tradition from college - blowing up the holiday gingerbread house on new years eve. Unfortunately, I forgot to save some fireworks from July so we may not be able to do it this year. :o(

updated post with links

I meant to include links for all of the patterns and/or tutorials for the Christmas projects that I am working on. But I forgot. It happens.

So I have updated that post with the links included. Just in case the crafter in you wants to make the same thing!

Oh - and I have finished Em's skirt and top and the crayon rolls. I just have to say that I LOVE the skirt! This pattern is the best I have ever made!

Snapshot Sunday

Every single one of us has a cold. Daniel got it first so is the least sick now but still cranky. It has been project keep them entertained in separate rooms all day today. As soon as they get together D goes after bugging Emma and she screams dramatically if he touches her. Oh la!

If I don't blog as often until Christmas . . .

it is because I am making every gift that I am giving my kids this year.

So if I have a spare moment I probably won't be blogging - I'll probably be working on

Emma's Christmas dress (skirt and blouse):


Or Daniel's Christmas tie:


Or http://www.youcanmakethis.com/info/featured-products/KIMONO-STYLE-BABY-SHOES-Sizes-0-14mths.htm:

and this:


or maybe these:


or this:


one of these for each kid:


oh, and Christmas jammie pants for everyone!

I'm busy here!

right this minute

Because I'll use any excuse to post an adorable picture of my kids!

I don't post a lot of pics of Beth right now because, well she sleeps a lot and mostly in the sling! lol

New hair bows

I made some new bows for the girls for their pictures.








I also made some bows and headbands for a friend's little girls.



Fun times!

Also, this is a blog that I frequent for inspiration on hairbow styles etc and her prices are awesome!! Most in the $0.50 - $3 range. Really cute stuff! http://ohsogirly.blogspot.com/

It must be said

I'm sure you have heard/read about it. Chris Brown (a recording artist) beat and tried to kill (strangle) his former girlfriend and fellow recording artist Rhianna.

He beat her. He tried to kill her. He is a convicted felon.

He is promoting a new album. He is taking vacations. Girs are begging him for his autograph.

Yes - that all describes one person! How can we let this be happening? Who are the people paying for his music? They are supporting his lifestyle!

Lainey is a gossip blogger and she says just what I feel about this mess.

You need to read this:
(some strong language)

20/20 promotes Chris Brown
This interview can’t be characterised any other way. It was a fluff piece. Robin Roberts and 20/20 allowed Chris Brown to repeat his empty apologies without qualification, without addressing any new questions, without pressing him on anything of substance.

Oh great. We get to watch his “sorry” face as they played back Rihanna’s candid segment with Diane Sawyer. No accounting for his conduct, no calling him out for self promotion not even a year after beating down his girl, and worse…

They edited the piece in a way that allowed him to smugly boast about how his song Changed Man made her cry. SMUGLY. Watch. That bitch is SMUG. SO SMUG. And they spent a full minute of a 10 minute interview allowing him to be smug.

And then.

Then they went for it…

Chris Brown takes you inside his closet, showing off a huge space, filled wall to wall with designer clothes and hundreds of pairs of shoes.

What in the f-ck of the what in the what?

Hey kids! Look at Chris Brown. He abused his girl and STILL LIVES LARGE. This could be you!

The video is below. It will make you angry but you should watch. You should watch how ABC has decided it will eat the ass of a felon. The way they handled it, they made the ordinarily sickeningly obsequious People Magazine seem downright confrontational. 20/20 stands for journalistic integrity.

http://www.laineygossip.com/Chris_Brown_2020_interview_was_a_joke.aspx?CatID=0&CelID=0