Winter Break

As I am getting ridiculously far behind I will try to make this brief.  And pictures are always fun to look at. 

This year we had no snow for Santa on Christmas Eve… However it did begin to snow on the night of Christmas just after we returned home.  It stayed cold, snowed on and off all week between Christmas and New Years.  Add a little more accumulation to the mix and THAT right there would really make the perfect winter all inside of one to two weeks.   

On Rick’s birthday the kids were able to go outside with Rick to play in the snow.

and make a cute little snowman. We found the old hand-me-down snow pants, dug out some boots for everyone from their basement containers and everyone had a blast staying out until the cold had gone straight through those boots and mittens.  Not the size of the snow men I remember helping to make as a child (my kids cannot fathom that much snow) they sure made some cute little snowmen!

As I was making Rick’s favorite birthday dinner (Christmas Eve leftovers) I discovered this goofy cat, Scruffles, eating JELLO!!!  I simply could not keep her out of it so I gave her her own piece.  There was plenty and she dug in appreciating it completely.

The kids came inside and warmed up with hot baths and pajamas… and dress ups!

I’m not sure which view of Rick’s Raspberry Chocolate Truffle cake I like best.

Any way you look at it the cake was delicious!

While Spooky was not too appreciative of the visiting classroom turtle named Brownie visiting the cat food dishes he did approve of my new quilted doily on the table.

Spooky was sure this was made just for him.  And I have to say once again that a camera does this cat no justice.  He is so beautiful (handsome) and my camera just never seems to truly capture this.

We celebrated New Year’s Eve with lots of fun food and a night of family games, a kid friendly countdown around 9, and watching the ball drop later on at midnight.  This was Tristan’s first year watching the ball drop with us.  As he went to bed I warned him that I’d better not see or hear him before 8:30… that would REALLY be sleeping in for this boy.

There were crackers with a cheese ball, and pizza fondue.

There was fresh fruit with a yummy fondue for dipping and Skyline Chili Dip; a delicious “SO Cincinnati” thing.

The kitchen table looked fun and festive on one of our favorite nights of the year.  Later on I made my Mom’s infamous eggnog.  Once you’ve tried it your hooked and you’ll never ever go back!

That’s good stuff… and what was left we added to pancakes in place of the milk it asked for… quite delicious!

This is my kitchen window view when it’s cold outside and then the typical scene at the heat register as they try to warm up and found themselves sharing the warm space suddenly with a chilly turtle.

One more thing to celebrate; Kaitlyn’s Birthday and then Winter Break would be over.

December

“Believe” captures the month of Christmas on so many levels.  Here is a little bit of what went on during the month of December that I haven’t previously touched on.

Haley was honored at evening of “Young Women in Excellence” for having earned her Young Woman Medallion earlier in the year.  This is the equivalent of a boy earning his Eagle Scout.  I must add that Haley is completely self driven with this and got very little help and no push from me.  This is all her. 

Oscar learned what an exciting month Christmas is at our house. 

Tristan donned a Santa hat for his Orchestra concert early in the month.

One night when I was down at my craft area working on a Christmas gift I had two cats riveted to the workbench area of the basement.  They never caught anything on this occasion but they were obviously keeping an eye on something.  Should I have been nervous?  I like having kitty company downstairs, especially as the hours grew late.

They were certainly keeping their eye on “something”.  And Sara finally found another feline friend after all these many years.  She and Oscar get along pretty well although this is about as close as she’ll let him get.  They are often socialize without growling these days; a real change and a nice one for Sara.

Kaitlyn got dressed up for the theater and attended “Santa’s Workshop” with her Kindergarten class.  Apparently her “new”ish shoes with heels (shopping in our basement at the last second for some that fit) were all the rage with the girls that day.  Spooky seemed to be counting down the days on the advent tree on the table along with us and Oscar just took it all in.

There were Christmas movies to watch and blankets to huddle under as temperatures dipped.  And for the cats there were birds to watch from their kitchen perch.

And even more excitement… we got to take Brownie home for the 2 1/2 week Christmas break.  He’s the Kindergarten classroom pet (one of them… I didn’t trust us with a bird for obvious reasons).  Several cats were enthralled or at least curious about this new critter crawling around.

Christmas surprises showed up on the doorstep in brown boxes from faraway family making Christmas anticipation grow even greater.  And as days shortened and evenings wore on for more dark hours we enjoyed a few candle lit meals at the table together when schedules allowed. 

And this was December.

Homemade Christmas

I like to make things; anything for any reason.  I guess I like creating… especially when it involves making something out of nothing if that makes sense.   I also like saving money, I like the thoughtfulness it takes, I like having time to myself during the process of “creating” or sharing the experience with one of my children but really I just enjoy the creativity.  I wish I’d had more time this year, meaning I wish I’d have started my homemade gifts earlier than I did.  But, I have so many other things to attend to and sometimes, most of the time, spending time elsewhere is more important than sewing or painting or whatever.  My little boy spent more time in front of movies while I sewed or baked than he should have probably during November and December.  I only have limited time left at home with him and I’m feeling it these days.  On the flip side, it’s cold outdoors and those Christmas movies are only out once a year anyway.  He watched Rudolph every single day, I think!  These gifts were worth the bit of time I took with them.
This gift went to my Mom.  Her favorite colors are blue and pink and I tried to keep her in mind as I carefully went through my stash and picked out the scraps I would use for this bag.  I really hope she liked it.

The exterior of this bag is made entirely out of material scraps that I had on hand.  Many of them were beautiful pieces my Aunt had given to me.  The pink handles and matching interior lining was from a large piece of fabric I purchased at a yard sale in the front of a beautiful Cedar shingled home down the same street from my parents home in Upstate New York sometime during my college years, which must have been at least 20 years ago.  I have no idea how much I paid for it anymore but I know it wasn’t a lot.  I had been “saving” it for a quilt because it was such a large cut but I decided to pare it down because it was perfect for this project.  I attached a pretty homemade label and ribbon.  If I ever go into business selling any of my items I think I would use this name.  Since “Heather” is the name of a flower the name seems perfect.

The bag is hopelessly imperfect but that is part of the delight of a homemade gift.  After battling a difficult pattern (more difficult than it needed to be, I’m positive) I loved this bag so much I almost wanted to keep it except that it was made with my Mom in mind and I felt like that fact really shined through.  It was begging to go to her and I was so pleased.

In the interior of the bag I embroidered my Mom’s initials with a similar shade of floss to the fabric.  I traced the letters that I found on a font that I picked out and printed from the computer.  Who knew computers and sewing needles would be tools I would use together to create a more beautiful product. 

Lindsay received her wish; long, warm, flannel pajamas.  I used the same pattern for both pair with different fabrics and lace bought when flannel went on a really good sale for $2.99/3.99 per yard.  The lace was purchased with a 50% off coupon since it was not on sale.  Even with the sale I wonder if I actually saved any money by “making” the pajamas instead of buying them.  Maybe I did.  But one advantage is that they are cute.  Would I have been able to find horse pajamas in the stores?  The Christmas kitties would have been hard to find in the store too.

I made catnip toys this year at the last second so the only kitties that got them were my own this time.  I fashioned these after the ones I see at the vet’s office being sold to raise money for a local animal rescue out of scraps from making Lindsay’s pajamas.  The long ones are really great for the cats to hug while using their hind legs to scratch at them.

Sandy KNEW exactly which gift was hers and appreciated finding it in her stocking along with some kitty milk and treats. 

Spooky and Scruffles were on Santa’s good list as well and enjoyed unwrapping their own gifts.

Scruffles loved being under the tree with her catnip that week of Christmas.

This is a picture of a special gift made for me this year by my Aunt.  It made my day getting that package in the mail.  Knowing my favorite colors are pink and green she found pink snowman fabric to make this and I thought it went perfectly under another special gift given to me by my Mom a number of years ago.  It is a holiday house that lights up inside with a candle and matches with my special occasion stoneware that I get out for Christmas.  They look beautiful together and a doily is much less dangerous to perch things on than a tablecloth these days with kids and cats around the table.
Sometimes it is hard to know what to make for people but there are so many thoughtful and useful things to make for everyone on your list.  Maybe next year I’ll get to more projects.  Maybe not.  But either way, a little creativity and thoughtfulness can go a long way.  As much as I like to make things I like receiving thoughtful and unique hand made gifts as well.