WHERE HAS JANUARY GONE ....

It wasn't my intention to take January off, but it seems to have happened.
Hello bloggy friends!!!
Wow 2012 arrived, and we hit the ground running .... so many things to do, prepare and plan for - yes, life is busy, busy, busy right now.
So let me bring you up to speed ....
I am spending most of my free time doing this at the moment ...




Scrapbooking .... Boy Child bridges to Boy Scouts next month (for anyone familiar with the Scouting program, this is a big deal, marked by a banquet). We get to do a table display of our sons journey through Cub Scouts. Now you know why every waking moment is being spent with photos and adhesive in hand ..... 5 years of Cub Scouting needs to be scrapbooked in 2 months!!!!


I also made a decision at the beginning of 2012, that we needed to pay better attention to leading a more healthy lifestyle (if you're a girl, you know that means that "D" word ..... I have chosen not to use it, as it dooms me to failure every single time:-) As part of this Boy Child and I decided we'd run/walk a 5km race each month .... that's our aim anyway. So last Saturday saw us fulifilling January's goal ....

I walked 99% of it, and ran 1%. Boy Child left me in his dirt, but was waiting with a big smile on his face, and a Well Done Mom hug, at the finish line. He did it in 35 mins, while I did it in 55 mins ............It was in under an hour, and that was my goal!!!!


I've made a few little things too ....

I'm busy making some jammie pants for my wiggly little nephew ..... my sister is tired of struggling to do the poppers up on his baby gro's, so this should solve that problem. So tiny, and so cute:-)

Who doesn't love a little piggy!!!! This is my January ornament for YOE III. The pattern was a freebie on Wee Wonderfuls, and ever so fun and easy to make.

The Blooming Flower Cushion continues to grow slowly ..... it is still proving a joy to make.
I have a creative list a mile long, of projects I'm wanting to do ..... I just need to get through February, and then things will return to a more normal pace ....

WELCOME 2012 ....

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

I hope it is the year that all your dreams come true.

I am not a big New Year person - while I like the idea of a fresh start, something about it causes me a fair amount of anxiety. It's one of those things that happened after we left South Africa and our families behind, and moved to the US. I guess 7 years of uncertainty, insecurity and feeling like you don't belong, can do that to you. However, it's here now, and I plan on trying to make it a fantastic year!!!!

I'm popping in to show you the progress I've made on my Blooming Flower Cushion!!!! Sadly the yarn didn't arrive in time for me to finish it and have it wrapped and under the tree. In a way, I'm a little glad about that, as it's meant that I can enjoy making it. The pattern is one of Lucy's (Attic 24). She writes such fantastic tutorials, she has a real talent ..... not to mention that her work is just gorgeous. I did struggle with the first few rounds of this cushion - why I don't know, because the directions are so clear. Once I got the hang of it though, round and round I've gone creating row upon row of beautiful petals .... ahh, floral perfection!!!

Isn't it pretty? It is for Girl Child, and I've chosen colors that work well with her new bed linen. I still have a few more rounds to go .... it's got to grow to 14 inches across, and then of course there's all those loose ends to sew in.

There's some other floral goodness in our house too. Once the little table top Christmas tree was relegated to the garden for planting, I could once again fill my pretty, little thrift shop jug with some gorgeous flowers ..... Ahhh, I just love these. They make me smile.

The only resolution I've made this year, given that very seldom do they ever get kept, is to try and be better about staying on top of all things housework!!! As I've mentioned before, I have never been top of the class when it comes to this, as much as I wish I was .... perhaps this will be the year:-)

MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM OUR HOUSE TO YOURS ...

It's all done and dusted ... it always seem so incredible to me that we plan and prepare for many weeks, and then, in what feels like the blink of an eye, it's all over.
Hope your Christmas was fantastic - Ours was, infact I'd go as far as saying that it was my favorite Christmas since we've lived in the USA, so far away from our families.

Hubby decided that we'd plan a great suprise for the kids this year - 2011 was an exceptionally hard year for us ..... 14 months of unemployment (thankfully this came to an end in November), takes its toll on any family. We've come out on the other side of it though, stronger and with a new appreciation for what is really important. This was our way of spoiling the kids. We booked into Great Wolf Lodge for Christmas night (after we'd had our traditional Mommy cooked Christmas Lunch at home). It was fantastic, and we had an absolute blast!!!!


I finished all the gifts I had planned to make ..... whew, it was close:-) I'm here to share with you, The 2011 Cookie and Candy Tray!!! This is the tray I give to our neighbors and friends.


I found these appetizer/dessert tiered trays on clearance at Walmart in the summer - $2 each!!! They've lived up in my spare room, with just this purpose in mind. For the bottom layer, I made butter shortbread .... scrumptious!!! For the top layer I made peanut clusters, key lime bark, white chocolate peppermint bark and milk chocolate peppermint bark - I really love what they look like. The bottom picture shows them all wrapped up in their cellophane and red tulle ribbon goodness!!!!


Enjoy this week of calm, as we savor the last that 2011 has for us, and look forward to all that 2012 will be for us.

TEACHER CHRISTMAS GIFTS ...

And these were VERY last minute this year. I'd had them on my" To Do" list, but time got away with me, and well, last night arrived and I had to come up with a plan, pronto!!!! I needed to do 7 gifts!!!
What did I have in the house (now we all know Walmart is open 24/7, but I really didn't want to have to leave my warm house) ..... quart mason jars, cellophane and tulle (these are staples in our home, year round), and then of course I had got down to some candy making yesterday.

So, I filled one quart jar with homemade key lime bark, and a second one with peppermint bark.
I cut circles of Christmas scrapbook paper and glued it to the lids. I glued ribbon around the rings of the jars. I piled them on top of one other, wrapped them in cellophane and added a tulle bow and a little Christmas ornament ..... Done!!!!
They'd make nice neighbor, mailman ... anyone, you want to give a little something too .... gifts:-)


At last the kids are finished with school - Yay!!! We can now get down to some serious Christmas nesting!!! Warm fluffy jammies all day long, fluffy socks, Christmas movies and endless Christmas mugs of hot chocolate ..... just us, warm and snuggly at home:-)

BERT & BERTHA - THE BOOK BUDDIES ....

Luckily my niece and nephew are way too little to read my blog, so I'm safe showing you these little cuties, before Santa harnesses his reindeer, takes to his sleigh, climbs down the chimney and delivers them:-)

I sent each of the babies some books and a little book buddy that I made them. Bertha's pattern comes from THAT book again .... you know, my all time favorite Rebbeca Danger - Big Book Of Knitted Monsters. She is actually the Attic Monster in the book. I just love her top knot!!!! Bert is a pattern I drew myself. I wanted soft and squishy, and the perfect size for little 9 month old hands to hold.
Wow, time is short now!!! I'm almost there ..... just the baking to do. I think today is going to be candy making day .... nut brittle, peppermint and key lime bark, salted caramels, peanut clusters .... let's see if it all gets done!!!!
I have to share Boy Childs cake decorating with you. Last night was our Cub Scout Pack - Dad and Lad Cake Bake Competition. The theme was camping, and this year Boy Child did most of the work himself, from mixing to decorating. I'm so proud of his effort. He didn't win any of the prizes, but that didn't matter.

Tents around a campfire. Please note the fish waiting to be cooked ..... it's camping, it's my son, so that means there has to be fish in there somewhere:-)

CHRISTMAS IS COMMING ....

Faster than ever ......
It happens every year, I try to be organized, but somewhere along the way, it all goes awry!!! This year my preparations have certainly been better though. Unfortunately a very sick guinea pig has thrown a spanner in the works, as he's requiring a lot of attention right now. He is Girl Childs friend ... she adores him. We've done what we can, but it's not looking good right now .... my heart breaks for her. To top it off too, we lost his little friend about 6 weeks ago (they're old, rescue piggies) - the relentless sobbing and funeral scene are still VERY fresh in my mind. To see your child so inconsolably sad was heartbreaking.
I do have some things to show you though .... there's a lot I cant. The recipients of the things I'll show you now, don't even know that I have this little blog, so I'm safe!!!

A mug rug - made using the left overs from the table runner I made for Shawnees Table Runner Swap. Lots of room for a steaming mug of coffee, and a delicious cookie or two (come on, it's Christmas, you know you want that second one:-)

I warned you there'd be more of these ..... such lovely results for such a little amount of work .... Aahhh, the perfect Christmas project!!!

I am impatiently waiting for a package of yarn that I've ordered .... Girl Child saw this beauty that Lucy made http://attic24.typepad.com/weblog/blooming-flower-cushion.html , and mentioned how she'd REALLY love one for her room. I couldn't find colors that would work in her room at Joanns or Hobby Lobby, but I did online ...... fingers crossed it arrives in time for me to burn some midnight oil ..... we'll have to see.
Wishing y'all a little quiet time, to enjoy this wonderful season.

APRON EXTRAVAGANZA ....

While browsing through my pictures, I came across some aprons that I've made, but not shared with you yet. There is also one that I put together today, using 2 dishtowels and a roll of grosgrain ribbon .... super quick and easy, but oh so festive!!!!

I found the tutorial for the pleated skirt part of the apron on a blog .... now I cant seem to find it again - ugghh. I added a bib to it, just because that's what I prefer.

Then this one, using my all time favorite apron pattern ..... it was this pattern that won me my 2nd place ribbon at the Texas State Fair back in September.

This is the dishtowel apron!!! Very bright and festive. The dishtowels came as a 2 pack from Target .... 2 seams and some ribbon, and I was done. Who wouldn't want to pull out the cookie sheets and start baking wearing such festive attire?
Now for a quick peek into all the mischief those 2 little mischief makers (aka Gabby & Bart) have been getting up to ....

Who wouldn't want a friend with springy legs? Imagine how much fun you could have with that!!!

They must definately be missing home ..... my car was reindeerified (Yes, there is such a word. We found it in the elf dictionary). We jingle wherever we go now!!!

They are fearless!!! A spot of elf balloonchuting!!! When you're so small, all you need is a few helium filled balloons and away you go .... jumping off the top of the stairs!!!! No wonder santa has grey hair!!!!
Hope your Christmas preparations are on track ....