I managed to start crocheting the blanket, much to Haven’s delight. The pattern is a very simple ripple. I chose to use only two colors, alternating them in a 3 row/2 row sequence with the dark violet and pink magenta (I’m using the ‘Anna Ripple Afghan’ pattern from the Lion Brand site for those of you that may want to take a gander at the actual pattern). I wanted something that wasn’t too technical since the majority of time I get to spend on this will be at night when I am kind of tired. This way there are fewer chances for major screw-ups. Well, here’s hoping anyways. I like using a basket to keep my yarn and acessories in as it allows me to be able to take it with me by just grabbing the handle and I can easily store it on a high shelf when I am done for the night, keeping the little ones from pillaging my yarn and scissors and cutting up the begginings of my project. Yes, that has happened before. Ouch. Lesson learned. Once this is done though, I’m sure Haven will want a matching blanket for her doll. Considering how cute that would be I’m already trying to figure out how I might scale the pattern down to doll size, or maybe just into a shortened version. I know, chalk that one up to knowing how much I would have loved that myself when I was a little girl too. I’m such a sucker.

And I wanted to wish everyone a very Happy New Year, I hope that you have a lovely evening tonight. I know that we plan on staying home as the weather is supposed to get kind of ugly, and I don’t have any intention of being in the canyon trying to drive home in that kind of mess.  We will just have to console ourselves with a good movie, a roaring fire, and some tasty homemade munchies for us and the kidlets. Oh, and I’m sure there will be some furious crocheting going on as well. Yeah, I know, it sounds like a raving hot party at my house, not that I’m complaining. I’m not one to pass up a peaceful night anyways. Maybe if I lived in the same city as my family I would have some better and more exciting plans, but seeing as I live here instead, well there you go.

Anyways, hope you have a good one, and Happy New Year!

Christmas was lovely, and we are still enjoying some time off together. Craig isn’t back at work until after the New Year so we have been making the most of it these last few days. Here are a few pics from our week and such…

I made Candied Citrus Peels with oranges a few days before Christmas. Simple, pretty and tasty, it inspired me to try lemons next.

Christmas Eve in new jammies. I bought them all this year. Carpal Tunnel wins. That and my sewing room is not set up yet. Soon hopefully. (this pic is Craig and 6 of the kids as Dylan was gone and I was operating the camera)

The bird feeder Haven and I hung outside by the bay window. The birds have been flocking to it, it’s been so fun to watch them pig out.

Six of these cute kid sized mugs, perfect for sipping hot cocoa, on super post Christmas clearance for $0.75 each…hooray! The bonus, finding a fabulous recipe for a tasty hot cocoa mix and making enough dry mix to fill 6 of those jars…hooray again!

Yarn one of my girls picked out so that I can crochet her something snuggly and warm. Nothing like a cozy project on a snowy winter day.

Two very popular and oft read books around here. The kids have been dragging them all over the house.

My living room, post Christmas decoration cleanup. Not post toy cleanup however. And still half furnished. *sigh* I haven’t a clue what to do with this room.

The kids spend several hours a day playing outside in the snow, sledding down the little hill in the backyard.

The gorgeous and super cool fabric my sister Holly brought back from Africa for my Christmas present (squeal)! I am loving the pink onion print…apron maybe?

Gave these to my husby for Christmas. Can’t wait to watch them all over again!

 Stumbled across my vintage cookie press a week after I so desperately needed it. Darn. There’s always next year.

I hope your are enjoying yourselves, and I also hope that you had a wonderful Christmas. I know I am loving all of the beautiful snow we had dumped on us. It snowed almost every day for a week…and I loved it!

The family Christmas party was tons of fun, and we had a great time eating and just hanging out.

The talent show was a hit, and everyone that wanted to was able to get up and be a part of it.

Heidi, Holden and Livy doing a very cute and funny “Johhny Verbeck”.

Craig, ever willing and funloving, is filling in for a missing cousin so Noah was able to have his lightsaber dual for his part of the talent show.

Dylan and Ciel played beauitfully for us, each sharing a new or favorite piece with us.

Little Miss Hannah wowing us all with her incredible singing, all by herself, and every word of the song!

and here are just a few of the reasons I need to take up jogging this week. Ugh, the food was beyond delicious, and the goodies were even better! Yum!!!

Thanks so much to everyone, the party was so much fun, and we enjoyed being able to spend time with loved ones over the holidays. And we all agreed Heidi was a genius for thinking to add the talent show portion to the party this year, it was too fun, we had a lot of laughs and we also enjoyed seeing the kids really shine. Now we need to start thinking about what we want to do for next years talent show…karaoke?

Many wishes for a very Merry Christmas!

Much love, from our family to yours

**update**

I had lots of fun, and lots of cute and enthusiastic little helpers/tasters. I managed to bake a pound cake, chocolate candy cane cookies, chocolate mint cookies, butter cookies, white chocolate cranberry biscotti, double chocolate n’ butterscotch biscotti, and caramel pecan brownies. And now I’m ready for bed. See you at the party!

***

Tomorrow is the family Christmas party and I am in full baking and cooking gear right now. I have food to prepare for the party and I want to get as much of it done today as I can.

These past few days have been crazy busy as I have been trying to keep my house clean and in some kind of order while trying to keep up with the hordes of hungry kids and teenagers milling around the kitchen. My oldest usually brings his friends over after school most every day, so I am usually scrambling to make sure there is a snack or treat in large enough quantities to feed a bunch of ravenous teen boys. So far the biggest hit has been moneky bread, mmmm! I just love that stuff, so darn good!

I hope everyone is having a great holiday, and that you are enjoying yourselves! I know I am having fun in the kitchen. Now if I can just get my two little “helpers” to stop helping me so much with the flour. Oh well, they’re so cute even when they make a mess.

My Mom bought these boots for my oldest child when he was 3, right after we moved back here from Guam. He could put them on and take them off by himself. Sweet independence. Each boot is adorned with a big picture of Barney right on the front. Even more to love. And love them he did. For two winters in a row.

Probelm was, I didn’t like these boots. At. All. Not what I thought my son should be wearing. Snob. And they matched nothing. Me and my weird ‘matching’ thing. I am mostly over that weird snobby matching hysteria these days. Mostly. And anyways, he grew out of the boots eventually. After two winters. Two long winters with these loudly colored boots. And once he had outgrown them I thought that was it. I could be rid of those blasted boots forever. Not so fast. His little sister found them in the back of some closet. They were now hers. And darn if she didn’t love those boots just as much as he had. For three whole winters. Darn petite little girl feet. Darn Barney boots. Darn three long winters. But she loved them. So I got over myself and I got over those boots. They were winter boots that fit and kept her warm, happy and dry as she played outside And my kidlets loved them. These are good things.

Then she outgrew them, and once again they were shoved to the back of some random closet and forgotten. Until my third child was suddenly in need of some boots. Four kids, a new house and a new baby on the way, money was tight. So I fell back on the old reliable boots. Two more winters of purple dinaosaur happiness on my third child.

And so it went for child number four, then five, and now child number six. Pulled out for the next child in line, happily worn for a few winters until they are outgrown, then put away again to wait for the next child. The color always seemed to work for each of them. Not too boy and not too girl, but just the right combination for each of them, being bright and Barney enough to make them all happy.

They’re just a pair if boots now. I no longer loathe them. I’m too practical these days to care just how garrish, goofy, turqouise and purple these dinosaur boots are. Creased from the many steps my children have taken while wearing them. Happily. Playing in the snow. Walking to school. Sledding on the big hill. Helping Daddy shovel the driveway. Looking more and more hammered with every child, uglier now than before, looking totally worn and so much older.

A staple in our winter gear. Always at the bottom of the boot box, ready for whichever child they fit at that time.

This is Gracen’s second winter with them.

Finley is the next, and last in line. Then we really will be done with the boots. How odd to think there will soon be a winter without these boots. Even odder is that I’m pretty sure I am going to miss them. Darn Barney boots.

I’m sure you know by now that ‘The Crafty Crow’ is a favorite site of mine as I tend to talk/post about it a lot. I can’t help it, it’s such an incredible resource for tons of fun ideas, crafts and such, I love stopping by to see what’s new. So imagine my amazement yesterday when I discovered that my blog was part of a recent post on peg dolls (mine are pictured middle row, far left). So fun! It really made my day (woo hoo!).

Just make sure you don’t miss out on any of the current Winter/Christmas crafts and ideas on there, although you will hardly know where to start as there are so many cool and amazing ideas and crafts to choose from!

The ‘Family Christmas Party’ is (changed to Saturday the 20th due to weather!) at my house. We will eat at @ 5pm, but you can arrive anytime you want, earlier or later. I am posting the food list here for my own benefit, so feel free to look this over. And the list is just a general idea, you are free to tell me what you want to bring, whether it’s listed or not! Let me know in the comments if you want to sign up for something, and I will post it below as we go. And no worries, I realize how busy things are right now so please, if you’re too swamped to sign up for something just know that Heidi and I will both more than likely get carried away, go overboard, and make way more food than we meant to in the first place. Hey, I’m speaking from experience so do do not feel bad!

Ham - Heather

Potatoes - Heather

Dinner Rolls - Cena

Stuffing - Heidi

Veggie/Side Dish - Mammy

Another Veggie/Side Dish - Heidi

Appetizer - Heidi

Green/Pasta Salad -

Sweet Salad - Melly

Cheese Ball/Brie - Heidi

Drink - Korby

Sweet Treats - Livy/Heidi

Desserty Stuff - Heidi

More Desserty Stuff - Heather

Even More Dessert! -Heidi

Paper Plates/Cups/Utensils - Mammy

Well, the tree is up, decorated, lit, and topped with a star. We managed to find enough of our Christmas stuff that there are even a few extra holiday touches throughout the house besides the tree. And until I can find a really nice pre-lit garland for my stair rail, I am making do with some very fun colored lights. I like lights. Lights are fun, festive, and really Christmas-y. And I love Christmas. Lots. It’s my favorite holiday. I am just hoping for a white Christmas. Although I am sure some of you are cursing the snow already. Sorry about that.

  How are your decorating efforts coming? Any fun crafts you want to pass along? I have gingerbread dough for ornaments chilling in my fridge, all ready for me to roll out, cut, and bake when I actually get a spare minute. And I am still planning on drying orange slices tomorrow if I can, I think they would look and smell nice in the house somewhere. Maybe on the tree, but I’m not sure yet.

We are feeling really settled these days and making good progress on the stacks of boxes still left to unpack. My sewing room is housing a bunch of them, so I am trying to whittle them down so that I can clear out the space and get all of my fun sewing stuff out to play with it all again. Although I am sure none of that will happen until after the holidays, so I am busying myself with baking instead. Mostly bread these days, but I am also having fun with cakes and cookies too. Bundt cakes being my favorite cake to make.

And remember how I promised a break from the onslaught of recipes? Well, I lied. I’m like that you know. You can’t trust a thing I say. Or type. Whatever. At least this one has no calories and will not add a single ounce to your hips, or anywhere else for that matter. This is strictly for the smell. A Holiday potpourri. I wanted to pass it on so that you can enjoy it now. Right now. So what are you waiting for? C’mon, chop chop! I want your house reeking of Christmas in the next 5 minutes!

Christmas Fragrance

1/2 orange, sliced

1/2 lemon, sliced

1/8-1/4 cup whole cloves

2 small cinnamon sticks

2 cups water

Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan. Place over low heat. Add more water as needed. Do not boil. Or pour into a small crockpot set on LOW, and enjoy. You can also make this and pour it into cute pint jars for holiday gift giving if you are so inclined. Just make sure the recipient knows that it’s for fragrance only, and not to drink it. Not pleasant to ingest, just pleasant to smell.

I know I have been relentlessly posting recipes, but this is the last one from our Thanksgiving, so you can breathe a sigh of relief. I will give you a brief respite from the recipe onslaught after this one, I promise. I’ve just been on a baking and cooking binge. Forgive me.

This was a great recipe that worked very well with the fresh pumpkin puree I made a few months ago from roasted sugar pumpkins, then froze in 1 cup portions for later use. I really liked how rustic my pies ended up looking, and they were totally delicious too.

Brown Sugar Pumpkin Pie

2 cups fresh pumpkin puree

1 recipe pastry for a 9 inch single crust pie

2 eggs

1 cup packed light brown sugar

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice

1 (12 fluid ounce) can evaporated milk

  In a large bowl, slightly beat eggs. Add brown sugar, flour, salt, pumpkin puree, pumpkin pie spice, and evaporated milk. Stir well after each addition.

 Pour mixture into the unbaked pastry shell. Place a strip of aluminum foil around the edge of the crust to prevent over browning.

 Bake 10 minutes at 450 degrees F (230 degrees C), then reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Bake an additional 40 to 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Remove the strip of foil about 20 minutes before the pie is done so that the edge of the crust will be a light golden brown. Cool pie, and refrigerate overnight for best flavor.