Feliz Navidad Everyone!

For those who missed this on Chuck's Facebook page, Ollie sings...something. Merry Christmas!

Things Making Me Laugh

While running some errands on Monday, Ollie started singing a "death metal" version of Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer. He didn't do the whole song until later when Chuck came home from work. I'm dying over this video. Dying. Where did he come up with this?! He claims it's his "Gremlin voice." This kid. (If you saw the Facebook video Chuck posted, watch this one too. The ending is, um, surprising.)


Then, after constructing four gingerbread houses, I still had lots of dough left. I thought, HEY! I'll make a gingerbread Scamp. This, apparently, is much easier said than done. For now, it remains on my stove, making me laugh every time I walk by it. I'm sure there's a lesson in this experience.

That's It: We're Returning All Christmas Gifts

We had to pick up a gift for Chuck's coworker so off we went to the non-Joann fabric store closest to our house. This one sells a lot of home dec stuff and as Rhett has to make a stringed instrument over the holiday break, we asked if they'd give us one of the empty rolls. Of course Ollie whined and of course the employee gave us another one.

Little did we know (although much should we have guessed) that these long cardboard rolls would keep them busy for the next two days.


I'm betting no Christmas gift will even come close.

I Made Stuff for Me

I've been using my Silhouette pretty often these days. When browsing their sales after Thanksgiving I saw some cute patterns and bought them. Because that's what adults do: buy themselves whatever they want, whenever they want (you know, after they save and talk to their spouse and sacrifice for awhile). Unless those things are 50 cents, in which case they just buy them.

Anyway, how cute are these bags? I used a couple already, but made extra just in case.


This fun mistletoe.


I've also made some cute gift tags, and these happen to be my favorite.


Obviously not from my Silhouette collection, but Chuck and Rhett made these ornaments for Rhett's teachers. I love them.


Especially this one made from a little forest service truck. Yes, that's the one I chose to keep for us. I'm selfish like that.

I Made Stuff for Others

Even though I didn't think I was going to end up making things for Christmas, I did. In fact, all members of my sister's family (except her husband) got homemade gifts.

Her boys requested these shirts. Ask (within reason) and it shall be given, boys!


Her older daughter recently got her ears pierced. I saw some cute earrings made from candy wrappers, but sadly, they didn't turn out as well as hoped. They're okay, but. So I added some others made from regular fabric. I like that they're not copies of each other.


For her younger daughter, I saw some paper dolls that I could cut out with my Silhouette. These are backed with magnet paper so she can use them on a cookie sheet or the fridge. I think they turned out pretty cute!


And for my sister, she got this cross-stitched version of her family. I'm not sure what she's going to do with it (ornament? wall hanging?) but it's still pretty fun. Of course my sister is wearing flip flops. I love Emmy's striped tights. Also, can you believe all six of them have blue eyes?!


Finally for them, they got a new dog this year. So of course Brigham needed a new stocking. Of course I whipped up one while watching something.


Lastly, a friend is having her third baby. I made a baby carrier for her oldest child when she was pregnant with #2, so I figured #2 would like one to wear when my friend is wearing #3!

Why I Learned to Sew (and its scary effects)

When people ask when I learned to sew, I generally tell them it was when I realized pants were always about six inches too long. (See Exhibit A.) I think in this picture I'm 8, so I'm not really sewing quite yet, but clearly my mom was slacking. Because those cuffs? They're practically up to my knee. (\endhyperbole)


Then, after necessity, it just became fun. Can you believe I went straight from hemming pants to sewing clothes? Units, to be precise. Unless you were born in the late-70s and raised in Utah, you might not even know what these are. But I do. And Emily does. Look at us rockin' our homemade Units outfits (Exhibit B). I'm wearing a standard solid navy top and bottom with a peach belt for pop (the wood bear necklace adds something special, don't you think?). Emily is sporting a more casual gymnastics t-shirt with Units pants and belt. Both of us have pants tucked into socks. Hot.


Exhibit C shows another hip way to wear them: tuck your sweater into your jeans and find a coordinating belt. Soooooo cute! Now you're ready for that 7th grade dance where you just stand around. And Emily? Wowza! The 5th graders won't know what hit them!


P.S. I have three scheduled posts this week! Clearly my boys decided to play happily together for longer than eight minutes.

Imagine If We Recreated This Picture

I know you've seen how people re-create pictures from their youth. How awesome would Emily and I be if we re-created this gem? How awesome if our mom had kept those pajamas so Emily could dress her girls in them? How awesome if our mom had kept those pajamas so I could dress my boys in them?



P.S. Rachael, if you're reading, this picture was taken in your house!

P.P.S. Emily, are you wearing blue underwear???

My Favorite Christmas Decoration

Do you have a favorite Christmas decoration? I do. It's not like it's a big thing, or an elaborate thing, but man, every time I see these snowflakes falling on the Christmas village I feel happy. Happy like when we made the snowflakes with this little man. Happy like I when I wore matching St. Patrick's Day ties in December.

Thanksgiving for Four

This year we did Thanksgiving with just the four of us. Neither Chuck nor I really knew what to expect with this. Would it be terrible? Would we be bored with each other? Would the boys drive us crazy? Thankfully, the answers were no, no, and yes, but the answer to number 3 is always yes.

There are certainly a lot of pros to keeping it to your immediate family. We decided when to eat (3 p.m.), but if it didn't happen then, oh well! We decided what to eat (orange rolls, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, cranberries, turkey, apple pie). We got a smaller turkey. I could run (and run and run) in the morning and not feel guilty. We didn't over-overeat because there was no interesting discussions keeping us at the table once dinner was over. We could go for a walk between dinner and dessert. The boys could eat off china. We could clean as we went, and then clean some more between dinner and dessert which meant no late night cleaning which meant much-needed down time for Chuck and me.

Rhett, of course, was disappointed that we didn't invite people. And both boys ate little more than rolls and the "a la mode" that Chuck and I had with pie. But it really was a lovely day! This doesn't mean we'll always do it just the four of us, but it certainly means we won't shy away from it either.

Family Pictures

Christmas cards went out yesterday. When you receive yours, you'll see why we couldn't use the following pictures in them. But that doesn't mean we don't love these or that we're not displaying them in our house. Because we do love them and they're already hanging!

This picture is just so Ollie! He's been covering his mouth during laughs for the past couple of weeks. It's adorable. And poor Rhett who just doesn't know how to smile on cue.