It's the Most Wonderful Time...of the Year!

Ah, Christmas is on the radio, in the stores...permeating the air! I love it! I used to be more of a Scrooge, but having kids has really made the season magical again. There is something about seeing Christmas through your kids eyes that just makes you feel like a kid yourself again!

On Black Friday I was up early (4:07am - the alarm was supposed to go off at 4, but someone who shall remain nameless hit the snooze before waking me up) and hit the stores. I was back home, laden with Christmas goodies, by 10am. We ate lunch and then headed out in search of the Christmas tree!

We go to a farm about 10 miles north of here. Why people go buy a precut tree for 2x as much when you can drive 20 minutes, find the perfect tree, and pay half the price is beyond me! Plus. wandering around the tree lot is half the fun - especially when it's in the 60's! I know I would be grouchy about it were it snowing, but I LOVE NC WINTERS!

Lucy loved wandering around the trees!

Here is the Perfect Tree...funny how it looks much smaller in the outdoors...

Notice the baby gate? Yes we are locking the children out of the tree this year. Yes, we could train Lucy to not touch the tree, but frankly...I'd rather use a gate this year. Next year she'll be old enough to understand better, but for my own peace of mind this year...we have the gate!

This year I bought a Little People Nativity Set to keep out on the coffee table where it can be used for decor, but at the same time the kids can play with it and I don't worry about it. Here are Mary, Joseph (well, a wise man playing Joseph) and baby Jesus in the stable.
And here's the part of the stories where the pirates come to pay homage to the new babe. LOL!

That was all Toby. He is hilarious these days.

It is also the time of year to keep sugar and flour on hand! Behold, the first sugar cookies of the season! Yum! Toby helped...he loves helping in the kitchen!

Hope you all had a great weekend. Curtis's semester is winding down, which means lots and lots of work for the next couple weeks. He's been very busy. We've had a rainy couple of days here...I was really glad we bought the tree on Friday as it's rained ever since. This morning we had 2 inches in the rain gauge! I need to go work on my Christmas cards...they aren't going to address themselves..I left them for a week just to see if they would, but no luck there! Still blank...

Take care and hope you're enjoying a nice start to the holidays!

Mmmmmmm Turkey Day

Happy Thanksgiving! I hope you are having a lovely day! We sure are!

It is a beautiful fall day here, just perfect for Thanksgiving. And we took full advantage of the weather to....GRILL our turkey! Oh yes we did and it was fantastic!

First, the finished product (sorry these are in backwards order)...

Our table...we had turkey, stuffing, sweet potato casserole, green beans, and cranbrery salad.

This was on the grill, about halfway through smoking.

Anyway, many kudos to Curtis! The turkey was awesome, and we have tons in the freezer now. I am so ready for a nap...

Tomorrow I am going to brave the crowds for Black Friday...wish me luck!

Sometimes Life sends you Lemons in the form of crock pots

Ah, yes, the demise of my beloved crock pot. It was a wedding present 5 (almost 6!) years ago...and I thought it would make it longer than this, but apparently she was D.O.N.E. Last night I was cleaning her up, preparing her to make her speciality: ribs today for Curtis's birthday. That's when I saw it - the crack. Running clear from one side to the other across the bottom of the crock. My first thought was it was more of a scratch, and while I wouldn't want to use it for food, maybe I could replace the crock and use the scratched one for dyeing yarn (yes, I have problems, I know). But I turned it over and the crack ran clear through the crock. You'd think I'd remember doing something to the crock hard enough to actually break it clean through...but nothing. I have been using it a LOT lately, but I've even been handwashing it rather than running it through the dishwasher.

Well, I was determined that Curtis would have his crock pot ribs for dinner today, so I ran to WalMArt after dinner to see if I could buy a replacement crock. No luck. Checked online - they don't even sell them in the size I need. Total bummer. So I resigned myself to making the ribs in the oven today and at some point replacing my crockpot.

So today I was making pumpkin pies and had just stuck them in the oven. Lucy was playing in the kitchen with me - in her exersaucer - and I was starting to unload the dishwasher. I reached up in the cabinet to put away a mug when I lost my grip and it tumbled down on the stack of dirty dishes on the countertop with a mighty crash. Glass was EVERYWHERE. Thank God Lucy was fine...I handed her off to Daddy and just stood there a minute surveying the damage. I have never seen so much glass in my whole life...and I didn't even know what it was from! I just started cleaning....and cleaning....and cleaning. Finally I got to the last bit of it and told Curtis I had no idea what had broken - I just couldn't picture anything sitting on the counter this big. It was way too much glass to be a cup...that's when Curtis asked if it was the crock pot lid.

Oh lordy. No question, that was it. I would never have thought a thick lid like that would shatter like that...I would have expected a few big pieces...not thousands of shards everywhere. But that was the guilty glass. So in two seperate incidents, almost 12 hours apart, I lost my crock AND the lid. Apparently she is done cooking.

I am just so thankful that neither Lucy nor I were cut...we were both right there and there was glass all around both of us. And that the pies were in the oven because I would have cried buckets if I'd had to throw them out for fear of eating glass.

Yesterday we went to a train show here in town. It was an event for the local miniature train hobby group - they have a whole scene set up in the basement of one of the local historical houses and once a year they let the public in to see their trains. We took the kids and they had a lot of fun watching the trains winding around the miniature scene. The detail was amazing!

Lucy at the train show

A picture of the track

Toby made this pilgrim hat at MOPPETS this week!

Last night the kids and I went outside to play for a bit...and it was chilly! So in the spirit of cold weather, Toby had his first taste of hot chocolate! Except he kept calling it coffee and after awhile we just quit correcting him. Of course this morning when I made a pot of coffee for Curtis and myself, Toby wanted some too! LOL!


Today is Curtis's 29th birthday! The kid woke him up wishing him a Happy Birthday...which would probably have been more pleasant had they not been climbing him :) So far it's been a nice day (for him, he didn't have to clean up the massive glass event), tonight we're eating ribs for dinner, then we're planning to take the kids to Coldstone Creamery for dessert (love their birthday club - free ice cream!)

Happy Early Thanksgiving to all!

Booties, Mid Shawl, and Penguin

Here is the start of a commissioned shawl:

A penguin for Toby for Christmas! I'm totally psyched about this considering I didn't think I'd have time to finish him up :)

Booties for a friend of mine expecting any day now. Aren't they cuuuuuuuute? Things that make you go awwwwwwwwwww.

I am working on the shawl, a couple Christmas gifts, and have some new orders coming in right now. It's a busy November - and busy is GOOD!!!

Still chugging along on my list of projects! I've had a lot come and go this month!

The Rainbow After the Storm

After 2 days of rain the sun finally peeked out just before dinner tonight - and to my delight, we had a rainbow! Now keep in mind this is the SECOND rainbow I've seen in the 5 years we've lived in NC...and Toby had never seen one before. He was so excited! Now it's "Rainbow this" and "Rainbow that"...Haha!


Today is Lucy's 11 month birthday! I can NOT believe that in just one short month she will be ONE! Aw, my baby is growing up :( She is so busy these days. She's a full time walker now. She really took off just over 2 weeks ago, and hasn't stopped since. She spends all day walking from one room to another, then back again. And when she makes stops in her room, she makes a special effort to get into her dresser and toss some clothes on the floor, usually keeping one sock to wave around while she does her rounds.


Toby had to get in on the picture action too, lol! He's so funny these days. He's always telling me something that he's seen or wants to see. Today he and I ran errands and he was such a chatterbox the whole time!

Last night we went to the Festival of Trees at the Carolina Hotel (think fancy shmancy Pinehurst resort). It's a yearly benefit for one of the Children's Centers where different organizations donate trees and all sorts of exciting auction pieces and they hold a silent auction over 3 days. There are all sorts of elaborate Christmas trees and wreaths, not to mention the neat things up for auction. Our favorite was a donation from our favorite saltwater dealer - a Nanotank reef set up; it came with fish, corals, crabs...everything you need! Of course WAY out of our budget, but fun to look at anyway! Santa was there too, but the line was ginormous and Toby didn't show a real Need to talk to Santa, so we'll do that one another time. I was really glad we went early because by the time we left it was starting to get quite crowded!

Tomorrow we've got big plans - the cable guy will be here sometime between 1 and 5 to exchange out our broken remote. The thing is evewn function, it's just that the battery cover is broken, so we need a new one. I just can't get over the fact that they're sending someone out - on a SUNday, no less - to give us a new remote! That sure is a weird one!

Well, it's getting to be bedtime (WOOHOO!), so that means kiddos to bed and time for mama to knit! Have a great fall weekend!

Finsihed Longies Sets

Despite the lack of posts, I have been busy! These longies and hats have been the project forthe last two weeks. I love them!

I was able to try a new technique on the American Girl Hat...Needle Felting! It's awesome and I'm in love! It was easy and I think once I have some more practice under my belt the possibilities are endless!

Pics from Portrait Innovations

These are the pics from Portrait Innovations last weekend...

Enjoy!

Some pics

Despite my protestations, it's happening. My baby girl is growing up. She has discovered (oh the horrors!)...the phone...

It's also getting to be that time...Christmas! Early bird that I am, I got a head start on my Christmas cards last week. I always try to take advantage of Winkflash's 40% off sale in October/ early November - ordered my photo cards for 23 cents each! Woot! I was bummed to see that I somehow blurred them a little (not the photo, when I made the cards, but it's not too bad).

Anyway, here are some pics from our Christmas photo session...

Last weekend we had family photos done. I haven't scanned them in yet, but as soon as I do, I will post them. I thought the pic turned out nicely. We also had a pic to commemorate Lucy's first bday. I can't believe it will be here so soon!

This weekend is the Festival of Trees...we've never gone before but I've heard wonderful things so we're planning to take the kids...and lots of pics!

Busy little bee

These are two custom knits. Both are size mediums.

Election Day Trauma

What is a good childhood without some good old fashioned trauma?

As in, Mom and Dad say we're going to go vote. We load up, we drive down the block to the polls (which just so happen to be right next to a lake), we vote, and we head home. And then the 2.5 year old loses it when he figures out we're heading home.

Why?

Because he thought we were going on a boat.

Oops.

Toby no tail!

Last night, Toby's bedtime story was "Guess How Much I Love you", a story about a daddy hare and little hare. About 3/4 the way through the book, Toby spreads his legs and starts poking around. Puzzled, we stopped and I asked what he was doing...he looked at me and replied, "Toby no tail!" So we've established that he does not have a tail. And in case you were wondering, he's also informed me that Daddy does not have a tail, Lucy does not have a tail, and Mommy does not have a tail. But Lex has one, as do the fish.

Last night was a new first for Toby - he jumped with both feet off the floor! For months now he's thought he was jumping, but it was really a funny sort of hop, with one foot always on the ground. But he was convinced he was doing it and neither Curtis nor I had the heart to tell him that it was not, indeed, a true jump. But last night (apparently inspired by the hares in the story), he took to jumping, and they truly were jumps! Go Toby Go!

Curtis's car has a flat so we need to take care of it today. Luckily, his class today was cancelled so that gives us a few days to take care of it before he needs to drive to Raleigh again...which means he's not leaving me stranded without a car! Yay!

The fish were moved last night and seemed thrilled with their new tank setup. I'll have to get pics soon and post.

Happy Monday to all!
Chel

Oreo Balls

Back by popular request...the recipe for Oreo Balls!

Oreo Truffle Bombs
This recipe makes a mixture of crushed Oreo cookies and cream cheese balls which are dipped in white chocolate and drizzled with dark (or semi-sweet) chocolate.-->-->
Ingredients:-->-->
8 ounces cream cheese, softened-->-->
1 (16 ounce) package Oreo cookies (may use Mint Oreo cookies, instead)-->-->
White chocolate, best quality (four Baker’s brand packages)-->-->
Dark or semi-sweet chocolate, best quality (two Baker’s brand packages)-->-->
(Optional: peppermint flavoring, up to 1 teaspoon or ½ teaspoon vanilla)-->-->
Directions:-->-->
Using a food processor, grind cookies to a fine powder. -->-->
With a mixer, blend cookie powder, cream cheese until thoroughly mixed (there should be no white traces of cream cheese). -->-->
Add mint or vanilla flavorings if desired. Mix thoroughly. -->-->
Roll into tablespoon-sized balls (or egg shapes) and place on wax-lined cookie sheet. -->-->
Refrigerate for 45 minutes, to firm.-->-->
Line two cookie sheets with wax paper. -->-->
Roughly chop white chocolate and melt in a double-boiler, over medium/low heat. (or you can use a metal bowl to put the chocolate in, placed over boiling water in a smaller pot, if you don’t have a double-boiler).-->-->
Add food coloring if desired, and stir in.-->-->
Dip ball / egg-shape and coat thoroughly. -->-->
With slotted spoon, lift ball / egg out of chocolate and let excess chocolate drip off. -->-->
Place on wax-paper-lined cookie sheet. -->-->
In separate double boiler, melt dark chocolate (or milk chocolate). -->-->
Using a fork, drizzle white chocolate over ball / egg. -->-->
Let cool. -->-->
Store in airtight container, in refrigerator. -->-->
Other options:-->-->
-Add green, blue or red food coloring to make pastel colored eggs for Easter. Top with a jellybean. -->-->
-You can also add the mint or vanilla flavoring to the mixture.-->-->
-Instead of dipping egg into chocolate, chop the chocolate up into fine pieces and roll the egg in it for a “crumb shell”.-->-->

Of Trick Or Treating, Rearranging Furniture, and Broken Toes

Or, our Halloween weekend, revisited. :) It's been a busy week!

Last Sunday we went to the zoo for their Halloween celebration. It was uber-cute, with tons of free games for the kids to play (beanbag games, etc), a magician, a clown, a costsume contest, and of course, the animals! It was a gorgeous day to visit the zoo, and we had a lovely time.

Toby and Lucy on the stump at the zoo

Toby as a scarecrow!

Lucy was pooped :)

Toby throwing beanbags

A friend of mine owns Alexia Jean and makes hairbows and all sorts of beautiful things. She and I did a swap last week - I made her a knitted cardigan for her daughter and she sent some gorgeous bows for Lucy! Here's one -

We tried pigtails last week for the first time! TO DIE FOR. Don't you just want to squeeze her?

And finally, the big Trick or Treat night. We went out last night around the neighborhood. This was Toby's first year trick or treating and he was practically drunk from the sugar fumes...before he'd eaten any! He had a blast... I think he wanted to go again tonight :)

And here he is with his Halloween loot

Last week after the zoo we came home and Curtis and I got to talking about the way our living room is organized. We've been tossing the idea of a reorganization around for about 6 months or so but the idea of moving the fish tank was so daunting that we just couldn't commit. I don't know if it was boredom or what, but we figured out what we wanted and put the plan into place. As of now (Saturday night), every piece of furniture in our living room has been moved to a new location (except the dining room table and china hutch). It looks great and makes the room appear so much larger! All that's left now is getting the fish back into their tank, but that's not happening until tomorrow, and then I'll take pics. I love the new setup though!

And today we had just put our bookshelf (the last piece) into place and I started loading it with books....and managed to walk into the wall. I think I broke a toe...since it's a minor extremety (whoever decided this must NOT have had a broken toe) there's nothing anyone could do for it anyway, but it still HURTS. It's a lovely shade of purple and hurts to high heaven if I move it. Which for some reason draws the kids in like little sharks...they have never shown much interest in my toes until I tell them they need to stay away from mommy's toes! Since they are finally in bed, I am heading to the couch to prop up my leg for a bit with a new knitting project.

Hopefully I will be back soon with pics of healthy fish in their new location!

Night!

Chel