Holiday Hangover

The holidays of 2012 are officially over and Gracie, our cat is so happy that her reindeer antlers have been retired until next year.

We had a nice time with both sides of the family. Christmas eve was spent at my parents home and was celebrated with lots of food, desserts and "thoughtful" white elephant gifts. This is what my husband was lucky enough to bring home. 

It sings and dances and is just overall - creepy. This will be re-gifted for next year.... I will make sure of it.

Christmas Day was spent with Peter's side of the family. We celebrated the Austrian way. Plate full of schnitzle and potatoes - YUM!!! I'm sure that there was other healthier good for you food, but this is all I can remember. This is the stuff that gets fought over even if there are plenty left for everyone. Mmmm. Makes me want one now. 

The whole day and evening was a lovely celebration and being together with family is always the best gift. 

My brother-in-law, Andrew was in town from Kodiak for Christmas. His birthday was back in September, but we wanted to celebrate such a big birthday as a family. So although it was a little belated, we snuck Happy 50th Birthday party for him a few days later. 

This is the center piece for the table. (thank you Pinterest)

My angels had to cover their eyes when the decorations came out. I raided the after-Halloween sales for a few "appropriate" birthday decorations.

I made this shirt for him using the freezer paper method. It worked out great and he thought it was pretty funny. Now he won't get carded so much. Ha! 

We had a busy time, but a good time with all the family. Goodbye 2012 and Welcome 2013!!

 

Christmas Pajama Party

The four-year-old I nanny has been asking repeatedly if he can have a pajama day. Unfortunately our days and schedules don't let us do those as often as he would like, so we came to a compromise that we would have a Christmas Pajama Party. He was elated. I asked him what he would like to do at his party and his full response was to "play with friends." I asked him if he wanted an activity and he said no until I asked him if he would want to do a project with candy - I got his attention and his excitement. So, I had to be creative and well, Pinterest helped me with so many ideas. Here is what we settled with.

We decorated sugar cones to make Christmas trees.
We had green icing, M&M's, Star and Candy Cane sprinkles, Sour ribbon, tiny marshmallows and miniature Reeses Peanut Butter Cups.

I wish I took a photo of all of them as a group, but tending to five four-year-olds and a camera was a little much. All in all we had a great time. Only one melt down but mostly giggles and good times. 

For lunch I served Pb&J'S, veggie Christmas tree and Star shaped apples. (I used cookie cutters to make all the shapes) The kids loved everything - I had clean plates and had to go back and make more Pb&J's! Wow, those kids can eat!

So, here is the party crew, minus two. We had so much fun and are so blessed to have this opportunity to celebrate together! Merry Christmas!

Blessings and Thanks

My favorite holiday is officially just around the corner. I love Thanksgiving. I love the family and friends that it brings together. I love the food. I love the feeling of just being with each other and not having to worry about presents or other things; I do wish that there were more holidays like that. At Thanksgiving, all there is to worry about is whether or not you choose to wear stretchy waist pants and if you should do the dishes after dinner or wait until the morning. Mine usually gets done half and half.
My side of the family actually had our Thanksgiving celebration early this year. We wanted to make sure that the weather was good enough for everyone to travel in and we also wanted to space things out so there wasn't so much turkey and not enough appetite for it. It worked out amazing. We hosted this year and I loved it. Sixteen people do fit in the house comfortably! I just wish that I took more photo's to prove it! All in all it was a blessed day.

I have been working on a few crafts with the boy I nanny. His family is having family from out of town for Thanksgiving, so we have been working on some holiday crafts. These are the place cards for their dinner. I can't say my on Thanksgiving dinner will be this crafty, especially since I'm not hosting it, but I wanted to share. The boy is only four and loves to make special things for his family and friends. I do believe that his family will enjoy these on their Thanksgiving table. 

I'm looking forward to the upcoming week and another plateful of turkey, stuffing and cranberry sauce. YUM!

It's Birthday Season

This weekend my dear husband had his 39th birthday.  For his birthday dinner, I made him chicken legs, brown rice with diced celery and carrots and baked sweet potato chips. For dessert, he doesn't have much of a sweet tooth. In years past, I have made him cakes and he would take one or two bites and be done. So this year for his "cake" he wanted his favorite cookies: gingerbread cookies and peanut butter cookies. I made him both of them and then stacked them for the "cake" look.

I left it unattended for ten minutes while I went to go switch out laundry and by the time I got back, there was one cookie missing from the bottom. (grrr) My elderly father-in-law has very sticky fingers when it comes to cookies or sweets. I told my dear husband about it, and all we could do was laugh.

Happy 39th Dear Husband. Prost to the ones to come!!!

Pinterest inspires

Well, as you may know, I nanny a now four-year-old kid (He gets very upset if I call him a little boy!) Each year when birthdays or special holidays come around, I rack my brain trying to figure out a good gift for him to make for his parents. I have been eyeing this project for a while and keeping it in my mental files so that I may use it for one of the upcoming present giving opportunities. Well, the time has come. The four-year-olds mother is having a birthday and this is what she will receive.

Melted crayon art.

The silhouette is actually of the 4-year-old holding his mommy's umbrella. 

I also wanted to share some of our other past projects. Sorry the photos are not great, but it will give you an idea. We do have a lot of fun with projects.  I love to do them, but it can be hard to come up with new fun things that will make the parents happy, which is why I love Pinterest. So many fun and amazing ideas that are shared and inspire me.

A foot print butterfly for mother's day.

A hand printed baseball cap for father's day.

A handprint tree for father's birthday.

I hope that you too become inspired to create something. Can't wait for the next project!!

2nd Wedding Anniversary - Cotton

We have been so blessed this past year. Good health. Good Job. A roof over our head. Food on the table every day. And good friends and family watching out for us. This year, we celebrated our 2nd Wedding Anniversary on Whidbey Island. We stayed at a beautiful vacation rental across the street from the ocean. It is a great location to whatever touristy thing you could or would want to do. We relaxed a lot, slept in late, cooked at the house so we didn't have to worry about what restaurant to go to and just enjoyed being together, alone with nothing that we had to do if we didn't want to. It was a really relaxing and nice vacation.
We did venture out a few times. We went to downtown Coupeville and walked through the shops. We also stopped at Toby's Tavern for a house beer, chicken and sausage gumbo and some fries. It was all really good and gave me something to add to our menu list at home to make.

We went into several little shops that carried a lot of souvenirs and other little tchotchkes to buy. But one of our favorite shops had this sticker in the window.

This made our day - we were laughing for a while, so we ended up going in and buying a magnet with this saying on it. I also love the little dutch boy and girl salt and pepper shaker kissing in the background.

The other time we chose to go out to eat was on our actual anniversary. We were both very hungry and we not going to be picky about where or what we were going to eat. We went to a mexican restaurant - I can't even remember the name of it, but it was in Oak Harbor. We both ordered and we ate, but we weren't impressed. The beans tasted like a tin can and the rice was really dry. We ate because we were hungry and I wasn't going to be picky, but we should have been because our dinners gave us tummy troubles later. Ugh.

I wanted to make our evening special, so before we left, I designed a logo for our get away. I put it on two wine bottles and also made t-shirts for the both of us. Since it was our Cotton anniversary, I thought it would be perfect for a gift for Peter. He liked it, but it was way too cold to wear it. It was the thought that counts, right!? Here is a photo of the wine bottle.

We also spent some time at Fort Casey. We hiked around for about two hours. It was a lot of fun. While we were there, we saw these guys practicing Kite Dancing. It was amazing how they were guiding and flying the huge kites synchronized. We also went down onto the beach, walked around the light house and just had a overall good time. 

We went for a few walks on the beach close to the house and while we were out. I got my heart in the sand again for this trip and we also found our heart shaped rock. Everywhere we go we always find one!

Hooray for Two Years of Wedded Bliss!!!

Canning Season is On!

It's the outcome that I look forward to most, but I do love the process - even when it keeps me in the kitchen all day and doesn't let me leave until the late evening. I have begun my canning season. Today I tackled the plums and pears that my father-in-law picked in our back yard before the squirrels took a taste of each one and left the remains on the ground. I had no idea what I was going to do with all these plums. They are Italian plums, small and sweet but what to do? I could have dried them, but seriously - we don't need that many prunes. I searched online and tried my hardest not to get distracted by Facebook or Pinterest. I finally came across a recipe for plum sauce. I figured it would be great to give as a gift or just to pour over a pork loin and bake! YUM!

The pears, I'll prepare in two ways. Pear sauce, which is great to bake with during the holiday season (I substitute the oil with either pear sauce or apple sauce and the baked goodies come out so yummy and less fat and stuff!) I sometimes even use the pear sauce for making pancakes or waffles on Sunday mornings - adds some great flavor! The second way I will process the pears is by making and canning juice. My sister-in-law, Monika turned me onto this idea - and I love it! I will start on the juice next weekend - I need to wait for more pears to fall. Today, I used the crock pot to make the pear sauce instead of the stovetop. It makes it a lot easier and since I don't have two large pots, this takes care of it all since I have two crock pots.

(Pears)

For the plums, I cooked them down in the crock pot with some red wine, cinnamon and cloves. I then pressed them through a sieve to remove any pits that may have snuck in and also to remove the skins. I then reduced the sauce on the stove top after I added some Agave (instead of sugar) and then put them in jars! The sauce still is a little bitter to me, but I figure when I cook with it in the future, I can adjust it to fit what I'm cooking with it. I may have added a little too much cloves to, but I'll take it as a learning experience.

(Plums)

I never thought I would be the kind of gal to can food. It scared me. What if something I made made me or someone else sick! I could never live with myself, however I couldn't let my fears get in my way and I couldn't let all this food go to waste, especially now with this economy!

However, the hours I spend in the kitchen washing, cutting, prepping and cooking the best sound in the world after all that work is the "POP" of the lids sealing as I sit back with a glass of wine and stare at the sink full of dirty dishes I created. Today - the dishes can wait until the morning!

Happy canning season to you!

One Year of Wedded Bliss Under Our Belts.

Ok, so I should have written about this sooner - but here it is, better late than never!

Well, we did it. On October 2, 2011 marked our one year wedding anniversary. We had a really nice celebration too. We decided to go back to a cabin (Tree Frog Cabins) in Port Townsend, WA. It was gorgeous and so peaceful and relaxing. The weather actually held out too. It was raining in the the evening and during the night, but kept dry during the day. It was so nice for us both to just sit back and not have to be anywhere we didn't want to be. We watched a lot of movies, but also went on some beach adventures and also to a winery tasting room. We had some amazing breakfasts at the local restaurants and just enjoyed giving each other our undivided attention.

On the ferry to Kingston

Finnriver winery - Yum!

Beach Stroll

Our honeymoon Cabin!

We love this place. It is so quiet, peaceful and rejuvenating. We will find our way back there again!!

Stitch by Stitch

I have been using my sewing machine faithfully. I have become a simple quilting addict while creating some cozy quilts for family and friends. I love learning from my sewing mistakes that I classify as "Love Whoops-a-Daisies." It's a time for me to be by myself, listen to some music, watch a movie or just day dream and meditate.

The Henry quilt was made for a friends son. We were blessed to use their property for our wedding and I wanted to give them something special for their kindness and something that Henry and his parents could cuddle up with for family cozy and story time.

The Sophie quilt, for my niece who was also my flower girl in my wedding. She loved the surprise of it and the coziness. I'm so happy I can put smiles on their faces!

Looking forward to some upcoming quilts for friends and neighbors who are welcoming a new little one into their families.

The Magic Machine in Arizona!

One of our gifts for our wedding was made by my Aunt Roselva with the help of her husband, Uncle Mike. What I thought would be a nice thought turned into a masterpiece once it was put in the hands of a dedicated, creative and hardworking woman.
For our wedding, I wanted to have a guest book, but I wanted something that could be displayed and not just pushed aside after a while. After a lot of research and inspiration I came up with the perfect solution. A marriage certificate that everyone could sign! Well, here it is in all it's glory. Professionally framed and finally hanging on my wall! I love that we will have this permanent piece in our home.

Thank you so very much Aunt Roselva - I loved it when I first saw it and I am so happy and blessed to have a piece that was created with so much love in my home!

xoxo

I spy... Ten Tiny Fingers!

Now that the first of the holiday gifts have been handed out and opened, I have decided to show my work. I am a nanny for a two-year-old boy named Jude. I recently introduced him to the "I spy" game once the Christmas tree was up. We would sit for at least half an hour at times and spy different ornaments on the tree, even though his favorite thing was to point out all the blue lights. When we first started playing it, he would get so excited when he would find something which sparked the perfect gift idea light bulb going off in my head!

Well, here is. My perfect light bulb gift idea and my first project on the sewing machine I recieved as a wedding gift. I made a "I Spy" quilt for my little two-year-old. I think it turned out pretty gosh darn nice and every -whoops a daisy- in it is a "handmade with love" disclaimer.

For a gift for his parents, I help my little monkey make a special gift. Last year we gave them a cozy blanket with his footprints on so they could have cozy family time. This year Jude is all about hand prints and has become quite a pro at making them, so this is what we came up with.

I looked into using glass and porcelain paint but because of the violent warnings of possible cancer causing agents, I decided to use a non toxic acrylic paint for his hand prints and a permanent marker to write the poem. My husband than lightly dusted it with a clear acrylic spray coating. It can't be used for food, just display but I thought it was beautiful and I am in love with the platter I found at such a great price at Ross.

Happy Holiday Crafting to you!

I sure do love those Christmas Cookies, with tea!

 The tree is up and the house is decorated... Time to get started on the baking and present making! So, I can't tell you about the presents yet, but I can share the start of my holiday baking! I started the season of sweets with soft gingerbread cookies and some jam filled butter cookies. Both are our favorites, but I foresee a lot more baking in my future! I have included the recipes below - they aren't my own recipes, but I have altered them a little from the original. I hope you enjoy them as much as we do! Cheers to Christmas cookies!

Jam filled Butter Cookies

3/4 cup Butter (softened)
1/2 cup Sugar
2 Egg Yolks
2 cups All Purpose Flour
2 tsp Vanilla Extract
1/2-3/4 cup Fruit Preserves

-Cream softened butter and sugar together. Add egg yolks and vanilla extract. mix well. Add flour slowly until all mixed well.
-Roll dough into 1 inch balls. If dough is too soft, refrigerate for 15 to 20 minutes. Place balls 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheets. Use your finger or an instrument of similar size to make a well in the center of each cookie. Fill the hole with 1/2 teaspoon of preserves.
-Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, until golden brown on the bottom. Remove from cookie sheets to cool on wire racks.

Soft Gingerbread Cookies

*To make and keep cookies soft, Roll out dough on plastic wrap or wax paper while warm, then chill before cutting into shapes.

3/4 cup unsulfered molasses
3/4 cup light brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup butter softened
2 3/4 teaspoon ground ginger
2 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1 large egg - beaten lightly
4 1/4 cup unbleached all purpose flour
2/3 c crystallized ginger, finely chopped (optional)

1. Combine molasses and sugar in saucepan; heat over medium heat 2-3 minutes or until sugar dissolves and bubbles form around edges.
~ Remove from heat and stir in baking soda
~Add butter, ginger, cinnamon, salt, cloves - stirring until butter is melted.
~ Stir in egg, then flour: mix until no white streaks remain.
2. Roll out on wax paper to 3/8 inch thickness, cover with plastic wrap, place on baking sheet and chill in refriderator for 10 minutes and up to 8 hours.
3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees, line cookie sheet with parchment paper and cut dough into shapes.
4. Bake 10 minutes or until firm to touch.
5. Serve warm or transfer to wire rack to cool.

Decorate with melted chocolate (optional)

My Christmas story, limb by limb.

After spending a lovely afternoon at the Department of Licensing to get my new name on my license, I came home to make an early easy dinner of turkey grilled cheese sandwiches, tator tots and salad. Yeah, not very healthy, but a very yummy indulgence for a Saturday night dinner.
Well, after all the dishes were done I pulled out our tree and began to decorate. Funny how the boys seem to disappear when the Christmas decorations come out, but I had a lovely time putting it all together, pulling out the ornaments one by one and getting lost in the memories. Here is the finale along with a few closeups of some of my favorite ornaments, which have been mostly created by my eldest sister, Jessica.

 Ready for the celebration of the Birth of Jesus!

 When I was little, the treasure chest ornament was my favorite and a favorite of a few of my siblings. I cried when Jessica made this the annual ornament she made for gifts. I love that I have my own and hope my future kids will have some day dreams of treasure hunting as I did when I was young.

 Who couldn't love a Frosty the Snowman adorning their tree?

 An angel I bought shortly after my youngest sister passed away. She is with me every day, but also on my tree every year.

 Ok, any house without a glimmer of a leg lamp isn't truly celebrating Christmas, right?

  Beautiful angel handmade by Jessica. This angel has a song in her heart and if you have a quiet evening and a listening ear, you can hear it perfectly.

I love the ornaments that tell a story, so I have a hard time purchasing them from the store - handmade from the heart is always best and every year I can't wait to see what surprise ornament I will receive to add to my story telling collection.

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!