Closing out 2012 and looking ahead to 2013

A belated Merry Christmas to all of you!

Christmas was the normal busy time of year it always is, full of work and family. I think I need to start planning December in July, because it always feels like I just squeak by each year. :) On Christmas Eve, I had forgotten to make cookies for Santa! Yikes! My daughter rushed into the kitchen with this revelation, just as I had gotten home from work and was beginning to make a quick dinner before we were due to go to my parents house for their annual small get together. Being the resourseful Mom that I am, I thought we could get by with popping a few Otis Spunkmeyer cookies dough balls into the oven and call it a day, but the look of dismay that Abby gave me at the suggestion stopped me halfway to the freezer. If you have ever seen the last Shrek film, when Puss is asking Donkey to lick him because he is too fat to reach you will have a sense of how big and sad my daughters eyes were at the thought that Santa wasn't going to get cookies with sprinkles on them. :) So out came my trusty Better Homes & Garden cookbook and the ingredients for Sugar Cutout cookies.

While all this was going on, my son started feeling ill with a headache and stomachache. In the end, it was 8:30 and we still hadn't made it to my parents. We finally just called it a night and decided to skip the party, try to get the kids to bed at a decent hour and meet up with my family at dinner the next day. The kids got their new Christmas Eve pjs on, checked Santas progress on NORAD, put the decorated cookies out for Santa, tossed some reindeer food on the ground for Rudolf and friends, and after a quick read of "The Polar Express" they were both tucked snug in their beds, with visions of sugarplums dancing in their heads. Hubby and I finished our wrapping, and the house was in bed and settled by 12:30am...much better than 2:30am like last year! :)

Christmas was filled with laughter, ripped paper and squeals of delight. I am terrible at remembering to take pictures on Christmas morning, how about you? I am just too tired and then caught up in helping the kids with their gifts, and the camera just ends up sitting on the table. Ah well. :) We headed to my parents in the afternoon and enjoyed a delicious dinner of roast goose (our traditional feast - my fav!), ham (added since I married and added new family to the dinner table since a goose doesn't feed more than 4 or 5 easily), kale (grunkohl in German), knudel (potato dumplings), corn, cheesy potatoes, and bread rolls. We were all stuffed! :) Later came dessert: apple pie, a turtle ice cream cake (dad had a craving for ice cream cake this year!), fresh strawberries with whipped cream, and stollen. I again was kicking myself, because I didn't get any pictures of the spread, but trust me, it was delicious! :)

We had a real snow fall last night - it;s beautiful! I chuckle because the first real snow fall of the year always puts people in a tizzy...which is funny, because it's Michigan, and of course it's going to snow! :) But everyone forgets how to drive in it, and the news is full of anticipation of the snow and then analyzing every detail of where it's snowing, how much it;s snowing, etc. Last night they were thrilled that the snow came with a WInter Storm Advisory sothere was much fuss over driving conditions and predicted snow emergencies in various towns, etc...all the more effective if told via a live feed by some poor weatherperson standing outside while the 20 mile per hour gusts toss their hair and swirls snow all around them. This morning, they were thrilled that they could report it was the biggest snow storm we've seen in the area in 22 months! (Nevermind the fact that only 10 of those months are really capable of producing snow). With all the hoopla you would think we had a blizzard of 20+"....but no, we had 3"-4". In January, this wouldn't even be news...but I guess it's been a little dull of the weather front lately. Now, I'm not saying that the roads weren't bad last night...they weren't great. My 15 minute drive home took 30, but that was because I decided I had no where I needed to go fast, so I just slowed down and drove carefully. This morning the roads were fine and it was a beautiful drive.

Now as we close out 2012, I'm looking ahead to 2013. Besides wanting/needing to work off some of the holiday weight (clothes have gotten a bit tight lately - yikes!) I really want to work on some of the house projects that have been waiting and are now to the point that they have to be done. One of the big projects is work on the front of my house. Here is a photo I took when we were looking at the house before we bought it, and it gives an idea of what I want to fix:

My goal is to remove the black metal railings and replace them with wooden posts and railings...something like this:

(via myhomeideas.com)

I also want to work on the scraggly plantings in the front and put in something a little nicer along the fenceline. Any suggestions? I'd like to work on a larger garden space in the side yard so we can grow more veggies and maybe add a few fruit bushes...currants, blackberries, blueberries maybe?

Did  you notice the brown building on the side of the house in the first photo? That's actually an addition to the house. I have no idea why they thought it should be sided in wood when the rest of the house has vinyl siding, but that's another project to tackle eventually. Maybe its the weather, or the fact that there are just a few days left in the year, but I am so ready to start some new projects around the house and do a little sprucing up! :)

On a side note, I have been working on some more knitting. I've been working through some of the yarn that my grandmother gave me a few months ago and the latest project is a baby sweater. I've never made a real piece of knit clothing before, and so far it actually looks like the early stages of a sweater. :)

Its knit from the top down so you are seeing the neckline, sleeves (which look like cap sleeves at the moment, but will be longer later), and the open front of the sweater. Jewel was very helpful last night, as she kept my legs warm while I was working. :) I love Ravelry - they have some great free patterns (this is called Helena)! Hopefully it will finish nicely and will become a warm gift for a friend who is having a baby soon. I actually have two friends who are having babies, so I hope to make a second sweater after this one...keeping those knitting needles busy! lol

I hope that all of you have had a wonderful holiday season thus far, that you were able to spend time with loved ones, and are looking forward to the start of the new year. Here's wishing you a joyous New Year and all the best blessings that you could possibly have!

Advent Calendar

I wanted to share the Advent Calendars that my children have this year. :)

My mother made them - aren't they cute? These are a bit of a tradition in  my family. She made these for my brother and I every year when we were growing up. We would wake up on December 1st and we would find the calendars hanging above our heads in our rooms. It was so exciting!

Now my kids get so excited when they arrive at our house, and even I do too. :) The pieces are made from foiled paper that my mother bought in Germany. She uses templates to outline the pieces and cuts & glues them by hand. They are then filled with a small piece of candy and hung on a strand of string decorated with 1.5" pieces of drinking straws and foil squares.

December 6th is Nikolaus in German traditions, and that day is marked with a small stocking. It's filled with extra goodies!

Nikolaus also stops by the children's rooms and drops off a little boot filled with treats. Here is the boot that appeared in Abby's room, by her mini tree on her dresser. :)

Do you celebrate the season with an Advent calendar? Do you have any fun twists or traditions with yours? A work colleague told me yesterday that her family has a traveling advent. Each year one member is chosen to make a calendar for another family member. The goodies have to fit a certain size & price range and they usually end up being very silly little gifts. Others I know have given books as the Advent gift each day, David's Tea has a tea sampler advent (I just found out about that - wow, I would love one of those!) and last year my kids were sent a Playmobil Advent calendar by their great-grandmother in Germany, each day being a little piece/character of a winter scene. I know Lego offers an Advent calendar also. So much fun!

Happy New Year!

Can anyone else believe it's 2012??? It feels like we just started 2011!

Things here have been pretty hectic...no surprise there! After a lovely birthday celebration, we spent the next 2 days cleaning and prepping for guests on Christmas day. Yes, that meant on Christmas day itself! :) We spent the afternoon on Christmas Eve wrapping family gifts and the tree looked so festive with some gifts underneath it finally. Having two cats and kids means we can't put out wrapped gifts out too early...we've also given up on using ribbon or bows on gifts since the cats love to tear them off and eat them, and it's just not worth the mess. :) The kids were so excited to put out cookies for Santa (and an extra one for Mrs. Claus, at Santa's request!) and as a little gift from us, they each got a new pair of pajamas. They were so excited to find a present on their beds it could have been broccoli and they would have been happy! (Actually, they probably would have been, I'm lucky to have kids who like their veggies!) Anyway...

Christmas morning was funny. Of course my son was up by 6am, and then crawled into bed with us. He and daddy then spent the next 20 minutes or so "whispering" about what Santa might have brought them before I finally gave up on the idea of sleeping. Note to self...try to be in bed well before 1am on Christmas Eve...  They then went upstairs to wake up Abby and we went to see what goodies had been left. Santa doesn't brings loads of presents to our home, which is a good thing. We want our children to learn that Christmas is about more than just gifts. But Santa did bring the xBox Davin and Daddy have been hoping for since last Christmas morning, and Abby got a Barbie house. Putting that pink monstrosity together was a nightmare for me, but she was so excited as it came together it was worth it. :) Andy and I gave them some books, and a few other smaller toys, and I'm proud to say that one of Davin's very favorite was a "Tornado maker" by Discovery kids, which uses water to create the effects of a tornado in a cylinder. He loved it so much it had to be the "centerpiece" on the dinner table. Score one for Mommy and educational toys!

We had a pretty quiet afternoon. We celebrate Christmas in a secular way, so it's all about a focus on family. We cooked, ate, played games, and generally had a nice time. At around 3, our dinner guests started to arrive. It was the same gathering as we had for Thanksgiving, so we ended up with a total of 8 people. Sometimes I long to have a large family bustling around, but then I have to cook for people and I realize that "8 is enough". :) I missed having my mom with us, but my dad told us that she had called from Germany to wish us all a happy day. I really can't wait till she gets home in a few weeks.

In our family the traditional dinner is roast goose. I love goose and look forward to Christmas each year because its really the only time of the year I have have some goose. If you've never had it you don't know what you're missing! It's basically all dark meat, and is really moist. The only down side is that it isn't a large bird, on average they range from 11-12 pounds, but even that size can takea bit of searching. For a family of 4 it's perfect, but beyond that you really need something else to go with it. I've started having ham as a second option. All in all it was so yummy, though I am still nowhere near my mom in terms of making gravy. :)

We then had round 2 of presents and our house was littered with paper again. :) Ice cream and leftover birthday cake for dessert followed and then we just relaxed until people started heading home. All in all a very good weekend.

Starting Monday I had a full week at work...and a very busy one. The museum was hopping each day, and the attendance increased each day. I really should add up the total attendance for the week, but I think it was over 18,000 people between Mon and Fri. Needless to say I was worn out! :)

But Friday was a special day because hubby took me to see "Wicked"! He got us tickets as a Christmas present and I was SO surprised! I have never seen it and have been hoping to see it for years. It was at the Detroit Opera House, which is a stunning building. We had great seats and the performances were amazing. I was just on cloud nine all night! My hubby is the best! :)

New Years Eve was spent at home. I had a few errands to run but made sure to come back with some party hats and noisemakers. We danced with the kids, put on mustaches and just got silly! At the kids request I made a cake to celebrate New Year. My bother-in-law and niece came by later. I'm sure the kids would have made it to midnight with my niece, but they were so wound up that they were turning into little monsters so we finally had to pack them off to bed after a little New Year toast with some sparkling cider. The rest of us rang in the year together, even my brother-in-law made it, after repeated claims he was going to fall asleep.

Yesterday we had a big New Years breakfast together and then did some cleaning (of course!) I woke up with a sore throat and just a general ickiness. No surprise with all the hustle and bustle of the past week and the amount of sick people I have been around at work. I took a nap that ended up lasting 3 1/2 hours! Yikes! Hubby enjoyed watching the Packers beat the Lions and my dad called to hassle him about it. :) After the kids went to bed we took down the Christmas tree. As much as I hate to see it go, it's dropping needles like crazy now and our front room is a total disaster. The kids are up this morning and I don't think they have even noticed! lol

This week I finally have a few days off to spend with my family. I have a few projects I'm working on, and plan to finally clear off my craft table. One of my new Years resolutions is to be better about sending birthday cards to my friends and family. As many cards as I make I'm not great about making cards for specific people. I'm also working on an afghan for Lil A, which will take a while to complete but it's getting there. I'll post a few pics as I move along on that project.

I hope that you had a lovely Christmas and New Year, and wish you all the best as we start 2012!

A Visit to Santa

These are a few days late, but my schedule has been so hectic that I just haven't had a moment to post these! We dashed up to the museum on Friday after Big D and hubby got home from school. Following a quick change of clothes of course! Well by the time everyone was dressed , coats and boots on and parked at the museum it was about 4:45. Did I mention the museum closes at 5? lol Well we made it and thankfully there was no line.
The kids were soooo excited when they saw him!

Our Santa is great...he really loves children and is very patient and softspoken. He's the only Santa the kids have ever been to. The set up is lovely...it's really like being in Santa's living room. The window is actually real, but no longer looks outside. Instead, this hand painted backdrop of the museum creates a festive snowy scene. Our winter has been very mild so far so we haven't seen snow anything like this yet. (In fact today it's in the mid 50's and has been raining this morning! Not very Christmas-y!)



 At the end of  their visit they each got a special coloring book and crayons from Santa. He also asked if they would be kind enough to put an extra cookie out for Mrs. Claus. Since Friday, both of the kids have been reminding me that we can't forget that! :)

I do love the magic at this time of year, and hope my children hold on to it for a very long time!

Glitterific!

Yesterday I needed to sit at my table and get my craft on. After the craziness of the week it was time to sit down and destress with some crafting. And I know I really need some craft therapy when the first thing I reach for is glitter. lol

I decided to make some ornaments. I used laser cut wood shapes and covered the entire surface in a single color of glitter. It was fabulous and messy. My whole house sparkles! :) But after the worry and focus of the past few days, seeing little sparkles around the house just made me smile.

The colors I used here were silver ("family"), gold (angel), champagne (Eiffle Tower), and a soft blue (snowflake). I also used a clear glitter on the shooting star, but I may redo this one. We'll see. I think the Eiffel Tower is my favorite! Sorry for the lighting in these pictures...the sun set faster than I expected so I lost a lot of my natural light.

I also made glitter filled bulbs. I have a video on YouTube showing how I made them two years ago. So easy, and the effect is just beautiful. And since the glitter is inside, no glitter mess when they are hung up!

I have plans for these bulbs already and have more to make as teacher gifts. I think I will also make a set for our tree at work. So many of the ornaments are breaking and while I love vintage ornaments, some are beyond their shelf life. :)

Are you making ornaments for your tree this year? What do they look like?

p.s. I just ordered a couple more colors of glitter, so look for those colors appearing in projects down the road!