Best of 2010

January:  We begin what turns into a year of massive home-improvement.  As of December 28th, no wall had gone unpainted.  Phew!

February:  MacGyver gives me the Nike+ accessories for my iPod, and I begin half-marathon training.

March:  We visit my grandma in Florida.  We love the beach.

April:  MacGyver completes the engine swap on his z.  He's got skillz.

May:  MacGyver and our oh-so-helpful friends and family add a deck onto the back of our home.  Those frightening-looking posts are now a beautiful pergola with a porch swing.

June:  The Sunbean is potty-trained.  Oh, happy day.

July:  Nana and Bampa bought a boat.  We enjoyed lots of naps on long boat rides to get ice cream.

August:  We visit the Ohio State Fair and introduce the Sunbean to the joy that is the giant slide.  Also, our baby girls turns 2.

September:  We find out Baby #2 is on the way, just four days before what would have been my first half-marathon.  This proves that we aren't very good at math.

October:  The Sunbean is over the moon to be an owl for Halloween.  Also, overly adorable.

November:  We celebrate my birthday with friends in Columbus.  Caught this pic on our way there outside of the temple.

December:  I got a gourmet chef for Christmas.  Just today, she made me onion and eggplant ice cream.  Delish.

Happy New Year!

Update from Our Casa

• MacGyver worked a total of 2 days this week.  That means tonight is the start of a 5-day weekend.  Love it.
• Christmas was fantastic.  Having kids is great.
• We haven't had internet at our house for a few days.  I was going batty.
• We haven't had internet because we have been flipping some rooms around.  The Sunbean got a new (bigger) room so she can share with Baby #2.
• I'm sick of people telling me our kids shouldn't share a room.  Seriously?  They'll share and they'll like it.  And they'll both be good sleepers, because that's what we'll teach them to do.
• We've watched some good movies this week:  Inception and Bad Company.  Both are good.  Bad Company is on Netflix Instant Streaming.  Watch it tonight.  It's funny.
• I'm 18 weeks pregnant and finally into (what I percieve to be) the obviously-pregnant stage versus the ate-too-much-for-lunch stage.  Much better.
• I haven't been to the gym for about 3 weeks.  I need to go tomorrow.  Must.  Go.
• I had to come to work this week for 3 hours (feel bad for me) and no one told me it was jeans day.  Sheesh.
• We officially have a name for Baby Boy and Baby Girl.  For some reason, it was stressing me out.  We both agree, the Sunbean has given her stamp of approval (fyi...not a dealbreaker), and we'll find out for sure on January 10th.  As much as I really don't want to find out (MacGyver insists), I'm really looking forward to knowing for sure.  A few weeks ago, they predicted boy, but the tech told me not to take the tags off of stuff.  Santa may or may not have brought some cute boy clothes...
• Did I mention I'm looking forward to MacGyver's 5-day weekend?  That's 5 whole days of sleeping in for me.  What a husband.

Have a good one!

Merry Christmas

On the twelfth day of Christmas, my true love gave me to me...a totally easy and free advent calendar, the best Christmas movie ever made, quick gift card cozies, our Christmas tree, a sweet Christmas memory, the story behind the shoes, Mary's Lullaby, homemade Snicker bars, a gift for the pint-sized crafter, a family Christmas tradition, a visit with the jolly old elf, and a Merry Christmas wish!

Merry Christmas, everyone!

I hope your weekend is full of fun with family and friends, and thoughts of the miracle of our Savior's birth.

A Visit with Santa

  On the eleventh day of Christmas, my true love gave me to me...a totally easy and free advent calendar, the best Christmas movie ever made, quick gift card cozies, our Christmas tree, a sweet Christmas memory, the story behind the shoes, Mary's Lullaby, homemade Snicker bars, a gift for the pint-sized crafter, a family Christmas tradition, and a visit with the jolly old elf.

So, here's the story.  I haven't really been talking up Santa much, just because I really don't think the Sunbean is old enough (almost 2.5) to really grasp the concept, and if this is one more year where Santa can get away with being a slacker, then I'm all about it.  I've got some stocking stuffers, but nothing fantastic.

But for the past week or so, she's been dying to see Santa.  Huh?  I still don't understand how she even knows she could 'see Santa'.  I was hoping we'd see a Santa somewhere, but we haven't.  I mentioned it to my parents, and so they're on their way over now.  Yes, we're those crazies who are going to the mall on December 23rd (strike one) to see Santa (strike two).

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Well, we're back now, and it went surprisingly well.  I was thrilled to find that it was free if you brought your own camera (which was nicer than the one they were using and I'm more than confident I have better camera skills than their photographer).  The Sunbean was a little timid, but climbed up to have a picture with the old man.  She's been talking about it all day, and says, "Santa is amazing!".  Love that child.

I loved this shot of the Sunbean getting a sneak peek.

This is probably the best shot I got.  I forgot to change my white balance setting to reflect the lighting in the mall, so that stinks, but I love her little face in this one.  Cutie little girl. 
I wish I would have had about 50 of those outfits with me.  I could have made some serious bank.

We followed up with lunch at Chipotle...a fantastic morning!!

Family Tradition: Christmas Pajamas

 

  On the tenth day of Christmas, my true love gave me to me...a totally easy and free advent calendar, the best Christmas movie ever made, quick gift card cozies, our Christmas tree, a sweet Christmas memory, the story behind the shoes, Mary's Lullaby, homemade Snicker bars, a gift for the pint-sized crafter, and a family Christmas tradition.

When the Sunbean was a baby, I started a family Christmas tradition.  I make pajamas for the family, and then we open them either or Christmas Eve or Christmas Day.  This certainly isn't a unique tradition, but it's fun to look back at pictures and see the pajamas I've made.  Here's 2008 and 2009:

 

Here's hoping I actually keep up with the tradition and we have a fun collection of Christmas pajama pictures.  I don't make them holiday-themed since we're opening them on Christmas.  Otherwise we'd look like goons wearing Christmas trees and snowmen in March.

This year's are wrapped and under the tree, and they include a matching pair for Bitty Baby.  It's not too late to bust out that sewing machine....

Quick Gift for Kids

 On the ninth day of Christmas, my true love gave me to me...a totally easy and free advent calendar, the best Christmas movie ever made, quick gift card cozies, our Christmas tree, a sweet Christmas memory, the story behind the shoes, Mary's Lullaby, homemade Snicker bars, and a gift for the pint-sized crafter.

While trolling around on Land of Nod the other week (or was it the other day?  I'm pretty much addicted), I stumbled across this fantastic idea.  An art jar for kids.  If you have a kid in your life like mine, they love to craft.  And if you're like me, you don't love to share your craft supplies.

A fantastic idea?  Yes.  A fantastic price?  Heck no.  Since I'm ridiculously cheap ultra resourceful, figured it would be easy and wayyyyy cheaper to do this on your own.  I'm thinking a big jar would be great, like one of those vats of animal crackers.  I'm sure you could just buy some type of container, but I'd like to think you'd all just recycle something you already have.  Just call me Mother Earth.

So you've got your jar (or maybe jars?) and then all you've got to do is stuff them full of fun stuff, like:

• pipe cleaners
• cool scissors
• glue
• pom pons
• googly eyes
• popsicle sticks
• buttons
• glitter (if you're brave)
• markers
• crayons
• paper
• anything else that looks like it could make a ginormous mess.

After that's all done, you just need a label.  Because I just found a new place to download new fonts, I decided to share the wealth and offer a free pdf of my label.  Because I'm nice like that.  So just click, print, and enjoy.  Feel free to use it for gifting, but let's not go ahead and sell these jars with my label, okay?

Enjoy!

craft jar

Homemade Snicker Bars

On the eighth day of Christmas my true love gave me to me...a totally easy and free advent calendar, the best Christmas movie ever made, quick gift card cozies, our Christmas tree, a sweet Christmas memory, the story behind the shoes, Mary's Lullaby, and homemade Snicker bars.

I spent all of last week in the kitchen, working my tail off to make 20 bags full of homemade treats.  Phew!  Glad that's over.  The homemade Snicker bars were pretty fantastic and ridiculously easy, so here you go:

1  pkg. chocolate chips
 2 tbsp. vegetable shortening
 1 (14 oz.) pkg. caramels
 5 tbsp. butter
 2 tbsp. water
 1 c. coarsely chopped peanuts

Melt over hot (not boiling) water,  chocolate
chips and shortening. Stir until chocolate melts
and mixture is smooth. Remove from heat. Pour one-half of
melted chocolate into an 8 inch square foil-lined pan;
spread evenly. Refrigerate until firm (about 15 minutes).

Return remaining chocolate mixture to low heat. Combine over
boiling water, caramels, butter and water. Stir until
caramels melt and mixture is smooth. Stir in nuts until well
blended. Pour into the chocolate-lined pan. Spread evenly.
Refrigerate until tacky (about 15 minutes).

Top with remaining melted chocolate, spread evenly to cover
caramel filling. Return to refrigerator and chill until firm
(at least 1 hour). Cut into the desired size pieces and
return to refrigerator until ready to serve. Makes about 2
1/2 dozen candies.

FYI:  This only makes 2.5 dozen if you cut them into too-small pieces.  I got just under 2 dozen.  I also doubled the chocolate.