Ode to 2009

Here's a review of the highlights of the past year...

During one of the snows this last year, the snow drifted on our deck and created a HUGE pile. We made a snow fort:

Liam turned 4:

We moved David's crib into Liam's room so now they share:

We finally went to go see the tulips this spring:

Liam rode his first "big boy" bike:

He also had his first over night trip to Nana and Papas alone:

We got a new table from a friend, and David loves to climb up on top:

David turned 1:

We visited my Grandparents and got to pick cherries:

We went to a AAA baseball game:

David had his first canoe ride while we were at the Lake this summer:

Daniel and Faith got married:

Liam was Ring Bearer in a friend's wedding:

Liam started learning how to shoot a pellet gun:

The boys and I had an adventure traveling by bus and foot around Seattle:

Liam started home school:

Jon and my dad took Liam and David to a nearby corn maze:

I had a tea party for my birthday:

The boys enjoyed romps in the leaves:

We had yummy turkey dinners:

We helped decorate the tree at my inlaws house:

We ended up with our own "mini" tree:

I took Christmas pictures of the boys in their matching Christmas jammies:

Christmas at the Butchers:

Christmas at the Jandts:

2009 was a fun year for us with lots of new beginnings and all the cool things we ended up doing. Hope you had a good year.

Happy New Year!

Apron Fun

I made aprons for Carol, Nicole and Jessie for christmas this year. I took my mom's set of patterns that she made mine from, and made a few changes to the pattern (like only one ruffle, where mine has three) and sewed away.
It actually took me until Christmas Eve to finish them, but that was my own procrastination and nothing else.
Here's the photo log of my progress through the creation of these aprons.
Having chosen the fabrics:

Each one thought over and over and over to try and figure out which fabric for which girl. I think I made the right choice in the end.
The bodies of the aprons cut out, hemmed and ruffled:

All done and ready to be wrapped:

And here's my girls' modeling them:

They were fast, easy and so much fun! I hope they get a lot of use and are as well loved as they were lovingly made!!!

(this is homemade presents post number 1. Check back soon for crocheted cowboy boots and plarn!)

is this okay?

Since I've never made Kombocha before, I have no idea what is and isn't good. And since Facebook wasn't letting me upload my pictures there for some reason, I am uploading them here for my friend Pamela to look at and tell me what she thinks....

Reconnection

While we were at my parents, I had made plans to go to coffee with Pamela and see our friend Adriel, who we have not seen in ages and ages. We went on Saturday afternoon and it was so good to see her again. We spent a fun hour getting reacquainted and catching up. So nice. I hope it is not quite so long before we see her again.

I took the picture from her camera, cropped it and played around with it a little in picnik, cuz picture on my camera didn't turn out as good...then I played around with it a bit more and got this:

Can you tell I like playing in picnik?

Christmas with the Jandts

After Christmas morning at the Butchers, we headed over to my parents in the afternoon. There, we continued our Christmas celebration with more presents, fondue and good company. Take a look!

David checking out the presents under the tree:

Faith loving the quilt my mom made her:

Daniel opening the oriental picture we gave him:

Dad gave mom this beautiful glass rooster:

Grandpa helping the boys open a present:

After opening the cars in his stocking, David was done for the rest of the afternoon, totally into his cars:

As you can see, we had a wonderful Christmas. It was exactly as I hoped it would be, a pleasant and peaceful time to enjoy family and all that Christmas is. Wonderful.

Christmas with the Butchers

We had Christmas Eve and Christmas morning with the Butchers and we had a fun morning. Check out a few pictures:

While waiting for the last couple people to arrive for present opening, Pierce and David kept themselves busy on the congas:

David opening his first present:

Duo present opening:

We pretty much have a little band going....

Liam on the guitar and David on the keyboard:

Pierce on the drums and Liam on the guitar:

I made aprons for the Butcher girls and here they are modeling them:

I was so happy that they loved them! Yippee! 

Merry Christmas

Muffin Tin Crayons

I found a recipe a while back for Muffin Tin Crayons (found the link!).
I had already brought home a big bag full of broken crayons from church. My boss had gone through all the crayons and was going to throw them away. My plan had been to melt them down and make new crayons, so finding this recipe was perfect.
Wanting to make some for Christmas presents for some of Liam's friends, we got to work the other day. I forgot to take a picture while we were preparing them, but here's what I did get:

Freshly melted and cooling:

Closer view:

End product, in the baggie:

Here's the recipe, my additions in italics:

All you need is:

*old crayons

*foil muffin papers

>Lay out muffin papers on a cookie sheet or in a muffin tin (muffin tins

help them keep their shape better)

>Divide old crayons by color and put

into papers

>Place cookie sheet in warn oven (200-300f...I did it at 250) until crayons are melted. You will start to smell waxy smell. This took about 15-20 minutes, but check often.

>Remove from oven. Do not agitate. Allow to cool completely.

>Peel off foil papers and package in a clear plastic treat bag. Tie with a bow and pair with a coloring book!

I just put mine in zip-lock baggies and added a print-out of the recipe. So fast and easy and such fun!