Some Christmas Crafting

Here are a few of the things I made this Christmas:
Helen's Christmas dress, made from a hand-me-down pattern from Kim Rudd and some pass-along fabric from Lisa. I intentionally made it big, so she could wear it next year too, provided she follow my plan of growth for her. Ha ha.

Superteeth now has a pajama shirt. I did this with freezer paper stencils. It was nearly the most fun project ever, like I caught myself wanting to jump up and down in the kitchen as I peeled the stencil off the shirt.



And Christmas cheesecake. This little stinker grabbed my fork off the table! He hasn't even mastered baby cereal yet, and here he goes for caramelized sugar, Ghiradelli chocolate and cream cheese. From the accidental tastes I've had of baby cereal, I can't say that I blame him.

Merry Christmas from us to you, albeit a late greeting!

And Jack just turned six months old. He has four teeth and a great sense of humor.

Another Helping of Insanity, with a Little Crazy on the Side

Two days before Christmas, Jason had carpal tunnel surgery on his right wrist. We made it through Christmas with his one-handedness, even hosting out-of-town guests and holding a Christmas morning brunch for the extended family. We had a LOT of help from Uncle Phil, Aunt Twila, Jonathan and Andrew!

As our company pulled out of the drive, I wiped Owen's tears, then said to Jason, "I'm ready for you to get over this surgery, already."

"I can tell you are," he replied.

"Oh really? I didn't know I was so transparent."

"The first day, you were so nice. You kept bringing me drinks and ice and asking if there was anything else I needed....and then it stopped."

Well.....ahem.

Yesterday afternoon, a poopy diaper on Jack interrupted my busyness. I dropped the overflowing, slimy, yellow mess into the trashcan because I didn't have time to origami-fold it into the smallest, tightest wad I could. I ran back to the kitchen to work on my time-sensitive soft pretzel dough for another get-together. As I was throwing the Kosher salt on my pretzels, Jason appeared with Jack. He had been investigating the foul smell, and when he found it, asked me why in the world I left such a smelly diaper and didn't finish the take-out.

I didn't handle the question very well. I shoved my irritation for about five minutes while he dumped the diaper in the garage bin, then unloaded as politely as I could. I might have mentioned some things about the kid wrangling, the cooking and the house cleaning I had been doing, without much of his help.

After we got to our destination, and had mingled a bit, he came back with a sheepish smirk. "Well, I guess I got paid back for my comment," he announced. It turns out he noticed something on his shoe, and when he couldn't tell what it was, he wiped his finger in it and smelled it--Jack poo!

Cheesecake ahead

Confession: I've never made a cheesecake before--GASP!!

Two reasons: 1) Jason is just not that into cheesecake, but I am, and I didn't want a graham-cracker-crumb-covered, 3-blocks-of-cream-cheese pie in my fridge and me with a fork in my hand. 2) It intimidated me because too much was at stake; expensive ingredients, the better part of a morning, my *cough-cough* cooking reputation--all could go up in smoke, and I could end up with a dry, tasteless, cracked-top cheesecake that nobody but the compost pile would want to eat.

Saturday I faced my fears and tried this.

I made it for Jason's family Christmas, and nobody has died yet.

3-4-5

Once Upon a Time...

...I was cool.

I wore this coat for several years. Please accept my apologies, World.

What's really scary is that Mom saved it. I cut out the pocket zippers and threw the remains in the trash bin. (The zipper salvage may scare some of you readers, but you never know when you'll need a good zipper.)

Spelling it out

Some Basic Rules around our house:

1) Use good table manners.

2) Treat others (including pets) with kindness.

3) Share your toys.


Some lately-formed Specific Rules:

1) Don't set your sippy cup on the edge of the table. Push it way in, so when you stretch or move your hand, you don't knock it onto the floor.

2) Don't lock the kitty in your cupboard for an hour and a half. Don't put her in there anymore, at all.

3) Let PawPaw watch your new combine video. He isn't feeling well, and he will enjoy it. Stop crying. Stop asking to watch your combine video when PawPaw has it. Go to bed. Stay in bed. Go back to bed--OK--go potty, then go back to bed.

Cleaning the Living Room

Yesterday I removed three nails from the trim above my living room window. They had held up a sheet in lieu of a more traditional window treatment, but the sheet had been down for, oh I don't know, maybe a year?

Last night we put up the Christmas tree. I found busy weevils snacking on a gold spray-painted pasta ornament I had made with my students 8 years ago. Because I'm sentimental, I:

a) air-hosed it off and hung it from a light fixture.
b) repaired it with glue and dried beans.
c) thanked God for the chance to get rid of it, and junked it along with the box.

You decide.

Aunt Brag

Check out the pictures of my new niece!