Holiday decorating.......

I decided to join in with some of the blogs I've read...where they show photos of their decorations.

Here is Santa with his bag of goodies. This was a hand me down from my mom, a friend of her's made him. I added the duck and kitty softies to his bag from some swaps I've been in.

Next to him is our tub of Christmas books. We read them throughout the month.

Santa is standing on my old sled from when we lived in Germany. A few years ago, we used it in Oklahoma. We had to clean it up and wax it but it worked just fine! The neatest part is that my name and address from Germany is still visible on the underside.
The little nutcracker was my parent's but they gave it to me years ago. It also came from Germany.

Here is the kid's tree upstairs. We had a bigger one but it finally died a few years ago. This one is smaller but perfect.....the kid's love having one of their own.
The cute little moose was made by the same lady who made the Santa.

I made these stockings years ago after pricing ones like them in the Bombay Company catalog. Ginger and Mojo and Leo have their own too. I have lighted garland to drape along the mantle too but have to buy (yet another) extention cord!
The Santa collection was made 13 years ago by a sweet friend who did cermaics. She gave me some, I bought some. I usually have them somewhere else but Curly Girl had other ideas this year.

This is where the Santa collection usually goes but Curly Girl discovered these houses. I haven't put them out in years but when she saw them, her little face just lit up so here they are.

Here is the railing from below....see the large stocking?
Curly Girl was in that for her first Christmas! She was due Christmas Eve but our doctor induced so I could be home with her for the holidays. The set of 3 trees are on top of a chest my dad made in the 70's.

Here is out tree lit up for the evening. We bought it 13 years ago and we still love it!

Tea Party...

On Friday, Dean and Ripstick Boy set out to brave the crazies at the mall while I stayed home with the girls and started putting the Thanksgiving decorations away.

Curly Girl had a friend sleepover and they were busy playing so I lost all track of time! Later in the day, Curly Girl's friend went home and we both realzied we were starving.
We were just making ourselves a little snack when Dean called and said they were on the way home and were us bringing a surprise!
Our favorite lunch from "La Madeline's!"

Curly Girl suggested an impromptu tea party........who could resist?
It is amazing how FAST that salad and pasta disappeared using those teensy forks! The soup proved too much for the little spoons so we had to pull out the SERIOUS artillery to finish it off.


I can't believe it was after 3 PM and we were STILL in our pajamas!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Ready, set, sew.........

I finished the kid's pjs! I finished Ripstick Boy's last weekend and Curly Girl's today. They both LOVE them!
The only ones I didn't get to....haven't even cut out are mine but they can wait until January.

Eight pair of pj bottoms for RB...


He doesn't like tops anymore so he just wears undershirts or no top at all....

I cut these all out when I made the Halloween pjs. He had grown so much between those couple of weeks, that I couldn't even put a real hem in!
Yikes! He went from an XL in boys to a S/M in MEN'S in 2 weeks!

Curly Girls stash.....pj bottoms, nightgowns and complete pjs...



The only thing with CG is that she started in on the 'customizing' thing where she had me cut sleeves on some, made waist bands shorter on some........it was crazy. I could have saved a bunch of fabric if I had known........I'll be sure to keep that in mind next time....BEFORE I cut the fabric!

Now that I'm on a roll.....I need to move on to the next category 'APRONS."

Leo's love affair

Leo's love affair with water continues. I don't think he is a mini lion, he is a mini tiger!
I've blogged about his antics with the waterer here and here.

He hasn't moved on, he is just ADDING to his obsession.

Here he is peeking out of the kid's shower:



Here he is sitting in the water while Curly Girl dries off!



Whenever the kids shower, he runs between the curtain and liner and chases the water droplets as they run down the liner. He does that with the glass shower too, it is so funny.

And here he is looking forlorn....his lovely water is draining away...but he will just sit in the tub until it is all gone....

Let's share...

To commemorate this day of the beginning of the frantic traverse across the states by vehicle, I will share with you with a little story. Then you can share your story...best, worst, funniest, grossest.....you get the picture.

After Christmas, when Curly Girl was about 5 or 6 years old, we were traveling home from Florida.
Curly Girl has allergies.
Actually Curly Girl has BAD allergies.
On this particular trip, she had allergies AND a cold.
Allergies + cold = snot. Lots and lots of it.
Get the picture?

The story goes like this:

We make a pit stop and grab some food.
Curly Girl and I are in the line at the ladies room.
Curly Girl sneezes. It is a BIG sneeze.
Curly Girl says in her sweet little voice "mommy, I need a tissue" so I gave her one.
Then Curly Girl again says, "I need another tissue mommy."
So I gave her one. She did this 3 more times. The last time I said "you don't need another one honey, there isn't anything there (as in on her face.)

Then the lady in line in front of us says "IT'S ON MY FOOT."
And there is was....a big green goober on the side of her foot. (She was wearing flip flops.)

Ah, yes, the joys of wiping your daughter's snot off a strangers foot with a tissue while in line in a public bathroom.

Curly Girl got all teary. The lady was NOT happy. (can you blame her?)
I said in my best mommy voice. (as I am wiping the goober off this stranger's foot.) "Oh honey, people know these things happen, its okay." "Afterall, you didn't do it on purpose."
Curly Girl cried anyway. I apologized to the lady but I don't think it mattered at that point.

Meanwhile, I was trying REALLY hard not to wet my pants. I mean.....I was howling inside....I bet that poor lady went home and boiled her foot.


Your turn......

Sassy Holiday Apron Swap

I participated in Lucy's last apron swap of the year....the Holiday swap.

My secret partner is Lucy's best friend so she gave me the inside scoop on her. She prefers 'old world' themes and colors and full aprons. She also doesn't really like bright colors. I learned (from blog snooping) that she participates in many Renaissance Festivals. With all that in mind, I set out to find the perfect fabric.
When I found these two, I snatched them up. A good thing I bought it right then....the next day they were both G O N E.

Since I know Vea MUST have one of Lucy's Sassy aprons, I couldn't exactly make her one with that same pattern. (which is my go to pattern for full aprons) Instead, I used one of my favorite aprons as a template and enlarged it for her. Instead of using the stag fabric as the 'main' fabric as I usually would, I used the paler harlequin fabric....trying to keep to her request of nothing too loud. I think the stag fabric gives just enough color to it.

I included the required cookie cutter and recipe....and also added a few other goodies. I've never looked for 'stag' ornaments before and let me tell you, there are some GORGEOUS ones out there. I stuck to something simple though as I didn't know her taste. For the bookmark, I researched the significance of the Stag in Medieval times which was really interesting.



Here is a close up of the applique I did:



I hope she likes it!