Have you recovered?

Christmas Eve this year was beautifully simple.

Nothing fancy, nothing over-the-top, just good food and family...and a whole lot of love.

But now that it's over...well, that feels really good too.

Wishing you a wonderful Christmas!

Make merry, be grateful, and love all those around you this Christmas!

Sound the trumpets, please...there's an announcement to be made

Sometimes life gets in the way of sewing and quilting, crafting and decorating.  

Sometimes you get stuck in a rut, lose your mojo, or just get a little lazy.

And then sometimes you find out that you're pregnant, develop the worst case of morning/noon/and night sickness, and discover that you can barely stay awake for more than three hours at a time

That's what's going on here...

Yep, there is a sweet little person growing in there.

I'm beyond excited and happy and really, really grateful.

Something about this baby coming to me at age 35, seven years after my last baby, seems extra miraculous and very, very special.

So I'm trying really hard to forget about my messy house and unfinished Christmas projects and just enjoy this stage...even if it includes lots of nausea.

Cuz, I'm busy making a baby, folks!

Clap your hands, say yeah

At 35 there are parts of me that I love and parts of me that I try really hard to remain civil with.

Up until about two years ago, my eyes were always pretty firmly planted in the "love" category.

But then something mysterious, and I'm convinced age related, happened...I began to have "creasing issues".

No matter what technique or product I tried, I would inevitably end up with my concealer and eye shadow creasing on my lids.  Corey and I even developed a little sign language routine that would let me know during social gatherings if I needed to wipe my lids.  I hated it.  I'd get so fed up that I would take week long breaks from wearing anything on my eyes...trying to embrace a very natural look 

Anyway, the very exciting news is that after hundreds of dollars poured into empty promises, I have finally found something that actually works...

Do you hear the heavens opening up and a choir of angels singing?!?!

Oh, sista, I sure do.

Run to this website for the deats:

http://www.sephora.com/browse/product.jhtml?id=P284715&categoryId=C23090

Here's to you, my sweet girl...

*A hot lightbulb + cold water = shattered, dangerous mess.

*A $15 unfinished wooden nutcracker that HAD to be purchased but was discarded when painting it got frustrating.

*Two American Girl dolls, taken outside for a sledding adventure,  forgotten on the slopes and left in the snow for days.

These unfortunate events occurred at our house recently.  

Each were followed by a hysterical daughter...coming to me in tears.

And while I really REALLY could have gotten angry;

each of these exhausting messes were caused by my daughter's impulsive behavior,

I found myself filled with gratitude.

Gratitude that even after all we've been through together, in her time of desperation and regret, my daughter still came to me and trusted me with her mistakes.

I know that our future together will entail many adventures...some good and some not so good.  And I am positive that I will not always be able to fix the messes that my daughter gets herself into.  But I hope and pray that she will always feel safe coming to me...

even hysterically and in tears.

I love you, Soleil, even when you make messy, regrettable mistakes.

The stockings were hung...

While my friend was pregnant with twin boys, I knit them each a Christmas stocking.

Unfortunately, at the time that I gave them to her, she only had one of the boys named...Frank.

Frank and Baby No Name...

Now that the sweet boys are here (they were born in February)...and they each have names, "No Name" is now Evan...their stockings are complete.

I used this fantastic pattern from Canadian Living:

http://www.canadianliving.com/crafts/knitting/holiday_stockings.php

It's easy, fast, and looks beautiful in many different color combinations.

I just love the classic styling and simplicity of these...

I hope the boys enjoy them for many, many years.

I found some slightly outdated, but deliciously adorable photos of the two boys..

My heart nearly explodes looking at their little faces...I love these boys so much.

OXOXOX

Peek of the week. December 9th edition.

Here's a little information about Peek of the Week, from Happily Home Sewn's blog...

Cuz I'm linking up this week.

What's Peek of the Week, you ask? 

It's Happily Home Sewn's regular Friday feature...It could be a cool finished project, a work in progress, a personal accomplishment, a cute kid moment, or something that surprised you.

If we could peek into your week - what would you want to show us?

We made our annual trip to the Mall of America this week to visit with Santa.  

It's become tradition for the kids to bring along letters for Santa, listing out all their wishes.  

I love watching their nervous faces as he reads each list.  

They can hardly contain their excitement.

The whole holiday season is magical, isn't it?

Ornament wreath, dressed in red

What do you give a fabulous friend for Christmas?

You know, the friend that has the most incredible taste and sense of style?!

A red ornament wreath, of course...

Isn't it pretty?  

I had the best time collecting ornaments and glittery red things, and then putting it all together.

It just got better and better the more I added.

It's a little like a Where's Waldo or I Spy book...the longer you look at it, the more you see.

Before I gave it to my friend, I let it do a little modeling over my mantel

And the best part?  I truly think she loved it.

*If you want to make your own...here's a great tutorial for you to follow ;)

12/10/2011 ~ I just received a photo of the wreath in it's new home...

My friend named the photo, "My prized possession"...isn't that sweet?

Oh My!

(For those of you that follow my blog regularly...check out Soleil's face in this photo...it's that sweet expression that I love)

We've been crafting and decorating, and compiling our wish lists...it is definitely feeling A LOT like Christmas!

Unfortunately we've also been dealing with illnesses, and car issues, and hard to manage schedules so I'm a little behind on my blogging.

Hopefully I'll have a hand-knit reveal coming up later this week 

and maybe some photos from our visit with Santa.

Stay tuned.  

Thank you my faithful friends.

Forced family fun

Family fun was missing from our house last weekend.

Sure we were all together under one roof, but it felt lonely.  

Laptops, iPads, Harry Potter, and Angry Birds had swooped in and stolen the whole weekend away before I had even noticed it.

So I rallied the troops, loaded them into the car, and forced us all to enjoy cookies, hot cocoa and eggnog lattes together at the coffee shop. 

Just us. 

Harry and and birds had to stay home.

Cuz sometimes that's the only way you can make family fun happen.

white Christmas ornament wreath tutorial

I made something pretty this weekend and I want to show to you...

(I was inspired by a tutorial in this magazine.)


Gorgeous, righ?!  And would you believe easy, too?!
Wanna make one?  I'll tell you how...

What I used:

(I bought everything at Michaels)

~ 12" Styrofoam wreath

~ Wide white ribbon

~ Floral wire and cutter

~ 17 large white glass ornaments (they come in boxes of 8 at Michaels, I originally bought 2 boxes but ended up sending Corey back to the store because I needed 1 more...he loved that.)

~ 10 small white glass ornaments (if I was to do it again would buy 20 of these)

~ A whole boat load of other round white things...pom poms, floral picks that I snipped apart, painted acorns, etc.

~ copious amounts of hot glue

How I did it:

( This was made late at night so the "in progress" photos are less than stellar)

I started by wrapping the Styrofoam wreath with the ribbon, securing it with hot glue.  I don't know if this was really necessary since I was using a white wreath and covering it with white ornaments, but it would be if your ornaments were a different color

Then I made a hook out of floral wire and attached it to the top 

The next step was to start glueing the largest ornaments around the perimeter of the wreath.

*Super good tip* - keep the wreath laying flat on a hard surface as you do this step so that it will later on lay flat against your door or wall*

Once you have the large ornaments glued to the entire perimeter, start filling in the middle with some of the medium sized things.

If I was to do this again I would definitely also add ornaments to the inside of the wreath...I regret not doing that.

Lastly I filled in any little gaps with little things and in some places layered...I think more is more with this project ;)

 And then I hung this pretty little thing above my mantel, on top of my stained glass window (using a 3M hook)...and stood back and admired it...

I just love it.

I'm going to Hook Up With Hepworths so head on over and check out the other great tutorials and ideas!

Thanksgiving 2011

This year I am very, very thankful for the freedom, time, energy and support to do all of the things that make me happyfull. 

Thank you God for this amazing life of mine and all those that I get to share it with.

I am blessed.

No photo today

Life is a little ugly around here right now.
You don't want a visual.

Some sort of stomach virus has struck our house and taken poor little Shore down.  

He's in bad shape.

So much for hosting Thanksgiving at my house this year.

Has this ever happened to you?

My kids seem to always get sick on holidays. 

I'm just waiting for someone else to fall.

You know it's gonna happen.

Hope your Thanksgiving smells a whole lot better than ours.

Winter is here!

And the kids are so excited.  

Soleil was even able to build her first Snow Person of the season.

My goal is to try to embrace winter the way the kids do...

I do have snowpants.

I'm having one of those Mondays...

I'm a little low on energy.  My creativity seems a little dried up, too.

I've only been able to accomplish two things so far...

and

Maybe I need to start drinking caffeine again.

Here's to you, my sweet girl...

I recently took a photo of my daughter.  She was working hard at something and had this seriousness about her. As she concentrated, her little tongue stuck out of her mouth a little.  

I've seen this serious face of hers a million times, she's been making it since she was a very little girl.  There's something comforting about seeing it again.  Kind of a reminder that as much as things change, they really stay the same.

Sweet girl, I love you so darn much.

2nd baby clothes quilt top reveal...

The second quilt top made from baby clothes is complete!  

*Now remember, this is only the top layer of the quilt...there still needs to be the batting layer, the backing layer, and all the beautiful quilting stitches done*

But check out all of these cute squares made from little onsies, sleepers, and itty bitty shirts and pants:

I appliqued the boy's initials on some of the white flannel squares, just like I had done on his brother's.  This way he'll always know which quilt is his.

There are lots of little details that I love...tiny pockets, fuzzy velour, and sweet embellishments...

Imagine each little boy snuggled underneath their quilt...wrapped in their mother's love.

~These make me truly happyfull~

Quick shout out...

I'm super proud of my husband this morning.  His company, Naiku, was featured on the front page of the business section in the Mpls. Star and Tribune newspaper today!

Check out the article here: http://www.startribune.com/blogs/133699428.html

That's my man.  And to think, he can run a company AND look good in butterfly wings.  

Once again...Meow.

Embrace the camera: bubble edition.

We're embracing the camera again this week with The Anderson Crew...and taking it to the bathroom 

(as I promised my eight year old, no private parts will be shown).

My kids still LOVE to take baths together...especially in the big bathtub in my bathroom.  I usually can think of a million excuses to say no to their bubble bath requests, but tonight I said yes...

I'll never get tired of looking at those sweet toes.