Thumpidy, thump, thump, look at Frosty go...

This was my second year volunteering a night at Bentleyville with Elsie and Hannah...and I got to be Frosty the Snowman again!

Greg and the kids came by for a while (it is always really fun to have them see me dressed up) and then they waited in line to see Santa.

Here are the little monkeys...

And here we all are! It is kind of hard to see in this picture, but Greg's hair is white with snow - I bet he had 1/2 an inch on his head. It was snowing really hard this night...we ended up getting a little over 12 inches by morning. Another fun year at Bentleyville under my belt...it's a great way to get into the holiday season!

Salvage Sewing!

I've entered a whole new world of sewing (thanks again to Melissa - who I swear sees fabric in a different way than anyone else...and for sure different than me). So this is now what can happen when I have a big hole in my jeans and decide that the "fix" looks too bad to wear! Yesterday I cut up my jeans and made a cute, new pair for Ava!!

Aren't those fun??

Here is a shirt that I bought from the Gap and when it got washed the very first time, it got ruined in the machine (we were having some problems with the machine this past spring/summer). I was so, so sad. I couldn't bring myself to throw it away - who knows why?? I just thought I might use the embroidery pieces somehow for some project...

Here's a better look at the embroidery and the stains...

And now...here's a brand new skirt! I got the corduroy fabric scrap from Melissa and of course I already had the cute embroidery...I am feeling it with a white turtleneck, brown sweater, tights and riding boots...

Here's a closer look at the bottom of the skirt...

So, total cost of boutique style jeans and a corduroy skirt for Ava...free...that's what I'm talking about!

Everybody can can - cause we can can can...

Ava doesn't need any more skirts...I am aware of that...however...I also can not resist it when I see something extra cute that is just begging to be made. This will be Ava's holiday skirt (and I'm sure she'll be able to wear it for at least 2 years (3 if she puts some leggings on under it when she's bigger). It's the Can Can skirt from 'Dana Made It'. I'm really happy with how it turned out!

I don't think the pictures of this on the couch do it justice...I'll take a picture when she wears it and post it!

If you don't know the Fatboy Slim song in the title (from Moulin Rouge) and want to know what is rambling through my head as I write this...here you go!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5GXO3hChU4

Happy Birthday Greg!

Greg is the big 43 today! We went out to dinner tonight and while we were waiting for our food, I asked the kids what they would get Greg if they could get him anything in the world and where they would take him if they could take him anywhere.

Andrew said he would buy Greg some really nice ice skates and take him to Six Flags. Zach said he would find someone to buy a material handler from Greg and take him to DisneyWorld and then Ava said she would buy him macaroni and cheese and take him to school. It was so cute to me.

I can think of all kinds of things I would like to get for Greg and a million places I'd like to go with him! I do love my Greg (and Greg on a trip is almost enough to put me into a happy coma).

Happy Birthday Greg!

Duluth, Minnesota sings it Old School

I know that there are schools across the country that have Christmas programs that are now "Holiday Programs", where you probably can't sing anything that has any significance to any religion, but here in Duluth, Minnesota...nobody has delivered the politically correct memo and if they did, it wasn't read.

The boys had their Christmas Program on Friday and I was a little surprised to hear the line up of songs. I don't know if I just didn't pay close enough attention before, or if the songs really were even more religious this year. They sang 'Oh little town of Bethlehem' and 'I believe there are angels among us' and 'The Dreidel Song' along with others.

It was a great program and I love hearing all of the music from Christmas, Hanukkuh and even Kwanzaa - so, here's for hoping the memo never arrives!

Cards, presents - check!

The Christmas cards are out and all of the presents are wrapped and/or sent! It's a great feeling! Now I can just enjoy the couple of holiday parties that are left and get ready for my parents to visit. The kids are getting really excited, which gets Greg and I really excited. I have high hopes for Christmas day...a day in our pajamas eating cinnamon buns and quiche and having fun playing with the new things we have gotten...I can hardly wait - and lucky for me - that's all I have left to do!

Christmas Baking...check!

Here is a little look at a couple of the Christmas baking items from this year. There isn't anything new this year...we are pretty settled on what I make...but, there is always room if we find something so good that we just have to add it! These are the peanut butter truffles...mid way through the chocolate dipping!

And here are some pfefferneuse - pre powdered sugar!

I did about 45 dozen cookies/truffles and a whole bunch of peppermint bark. I think we'll have enough to get us through the season! It is nice to have it done, to enjoy it and to check it off the list of December "to do" items!

A tradition continues...thanks to Marisa...

Here is this year's picture of the tree being topped. I love it! Thanks Marisa!!

Home Alone

Andrew had a rare sick day today and stayed home from school. When it was time for me to take Ava to pre-school he didn't want to get up and come with us. I have never left him home alone and wasn't sure if either of us were ready...I asked him if he wanted to try it and he said, "yes". So...I got him both Greg and my cell phone numbers and we even practiced me calling the house from my cell phone so Andrew would know exactly how the caller ID would come up. And then - Ava and I were off.

Andrew called about 3 mintues after I left the house and just wanted to talk. He's so great. We had a fun, little conversation both ways to and from pre-school. I made him come with me when I went to pick Ava up because Zach was home and I knew I wasn't ready for them to stay home together or for the hassle of trying to explain to Zach why Andrew could stay home but he couldn't...baby steps! But, for one brief moment today (really about 15 minutes) Andrew was actually home alone - and he handled it great!

Skirt makeover!

One of the first skirts I made for Ava was using the top of a pair of jeans that were too short and then adding a layer skirt to the bottom. I was initially pretty pleased with it, but just never liked it enough to have it be something that Ava really wears. Today when we were picking out her clothes for church, I decided to take that skirt and remove the bottom and start over...and I'm really happy with how this turned out!

It's pretty bold, but I love it. And it has a great spin to it...that is really important to Ava right now! (Just so you know, she did not wear these tights with the skirt today - I finished the skirt and then just had her try it on - I know they don't match).

She's happy with the change and so am I - what could be better than that? Now I know it will get some wear time!

A love of reading...

It's fun to have Andrew be so excited about reading. He got this book (Diary of a Wimpy Kid) on Wednesday and read it in just a day or two. He has been reading little pieces to Zach all weekend. It's great to see and fun to watch.

There really is nothing better than a book that you just don't want to put down!

We decked the halls!

On Friday we decorated the house for Christmas. I love it. Everybody helped and it was nice at the end of the day to sit down and just enjoy everything looking "Christmasy"!

So cute...

The perfect Christmas card...

And of course a picture opportunity wouldn't be complete without at least one or two "crazy face" pictures!

And here is our traditional picture of putting the star on the tree. This year was Ava's year. I'm just hoping Marisa will turn this picture into the black and white negative that she did for Andrew and Zach...please??

So, now it looks like Christmas at our house. Hopefully I'll get some baking (if not all of it) done this week and then we can just sit back and enjoy the season!

Christmas Robes

Beth and I decided to make Christmas gifts for each other's families this year. I was having a hard time thinking of something for her boys (girls are so easy for me) and then my friend Tami suggested these robes. She made them for her boys a couple of years ago. Off to get the fabric and pattern and away I went! These are the completed robes...obviously my boys modeled them for me!

This is the robe for Eric...

This is the one for Ryan...

And here is the robe for Nathan. I am really happy with how they turned out and now I have a good idea for something to make for my boys! They really liked them too.

They are now wrapped and ready to be shipped! I love that feeling! Thanks again Tami!!!

Family Traditions

This year is the 3rd year that we made the kids trick-or-treat candy into a chain to count down the days until Christmas. It's fun to see how excited the kids are when they wake up on November 1st and see the chain hanging in the den.

I love seeing the reminder too...it's even fun for me to see the Christmas countdown! And it's espcially fun to have our own little traditions that make the holidays feel like "ours".

Holy Whoopie Pies!

Oh my goodness...oh my goodness! Last year I made pumpkin whoopie pies and loved them. Well...I decide to make them again this year and boy oh boy did I make them! I had a slight recollection that the recipe made more than it said it did (12 pies/24 individual cookies), but I had NO idea how much more. I decide to do a quadruple batch because I want to bring pies into Greg's office tomorrow...so, I thought it says it makes 48, that gives me plenty to take to work and then I'll have a little left for us. Hmmm...in case you are wondering, a quadruple batch ends up making 123 completed pies, yep, 246 individual cookies, uh huh, over 20 dozen. I'd say we have just a few left over!

There were whoopie pies everywhere today!

I didn't have anywhere near enough pans to put them in, so they had to be doubled up!

Or tripled up! Anyone want a whoopie pie?? And yes, I made a note on the recipe this time!

The arrival of Winter

We got a good snow on Saturday/Sunday and to me it makes it feel like winter is really here. Luckily it has just been at the freezing point and so the weather has been as mild as it can be and still have snow on the trees (my favorite winter look).

The kids have been so excited and have been getting out to play in the snow every chance they get. We also just got our Chester Bowl season passes and so all of the kids are excited to get their skis on! It's great to have everyone looking forward to winter - especially since we definitely have winter in Duluth!

It is so satisfying!

To go from this...

And this...

To this! I just love to hear the little "pop" of the lid...music to my ears!