nesting + crafting

hope everyone had a nice christmas :) we had a really fun one - hudson adored his little wooden drum set & played it morning, noon, & night, hardly even stopping for sustenance. everytime we asked him if he was hungry, he said "i not hungry. no! i not!" (this has become a pattern, by the way - as in "i not take a nap. no! i not!" or "i not go to the grocery store. no! i not!". awesome.)

anyway, clint & i had debated back & forth the merits of getting him this little wooden set verses a larger drum kit, but decided that with a new baby on the way, we probably could do with out the bigger, bulkier, LOUDER, more expensive kit. but then on christmas eve, we were introduced to what i now know as "christmas eve parent guilt" when the worry sets in that your child is going to be so disappointed the next morning. well, he wasn't & we were so glad. anyway, i'll do another post on the little drummer boy...

we spent the rest of the holiday cleaning out like mad! i went into this crazy nesting mode & had all our christmas decorations down & packed the next day. how very scrooge-ish, i know, but wow did it feel good. we went through closets, cabinets, & hudson's soon to be new room & cleaned & organized like mad people! the only junky part is that now we've got to do some heavy vaccuuming because of all the dust we stirred up :( bummer! and though it made me feel so much better to get things much more together, i laid in bed last night thinking about all we still need to do to get ready for tiny baby sister (did i ever tell you that's what hudson calls her??! funny!). it's the pessimist in me! i'm working to fight it...

anyway, on to the crafting - i've wanted to try this "ruffle bottom onesie" idea for awhile & finally got around to it when my mom gave me some leftover tulle...

i felt like it needed something on the front, so i added a little "pouf". but now i think it looks kinda funny, so i might need to add a few more to make a cluster...


the pouf worked out better on the pink one...




i also played around with a headband idea...

the band part is actually pantyhose!! funny huh??! but it's super comfy.
i think it looks better folded in half, though - i'm afraid otherwise it will be huge on her head (though thanks to clint, we do have a tendency towards large headed babies...)

i hardly have any bows @ all & i'm realizing i need to get on that :) unfortunately, i'm finding that i'm really picky about them & that makes it tough. but i have a feeling we might need lots of bows because if she's anything like clint, hudson, or i - we were all practically bald for a long time! of course, maybe she'll surprise us & come out with long dark hair - wouldn't that be crazy??!

well, anyway, i've got to get on to finishing h's quilt & working on baby girl's nursery (7 wks to go!!!!), so i'm hopping off. talk soon...

merry christmas eve

merry christmas eve!

i shouldn't be posting - i should get back to my busy cooking & wrapping & baking (& laundry!), but i had to force myself to sit down for a minute b/c my feet were hurting!!!
poor mary! i think i'm tired - i'm not @ 9 months yet! and poor donkey that carried her all that way!!!

i should be finished with the laundry, by the way, but for some reason i decided late last night that i MUST get every 0-3m item we have washed & hung up immediately! and let me tell you, i had forgotten how long it takes to wash, dry, & fold a load of tiny baby clothes! there are so many of them!! but they're done now & i must say i do feel a lot better :) though now i'm having to scramble to be sure the 3 of us (you know, who actually NEED clothes now, as opposed to being in the womb for 7 more wks!) have something to wear tonight!

tortilla soup is on the stove - stephanie & i are having a tortilla soup throw down tonight as a few of us gather for dinner before our christmas eve service. i'll let you know if i win :)
coming up next, i'll be starting a new zucchini egg bake recipe for tomorrow morning (you know, trying to get some veggies in there in the midst of our sugar overdose these holidays!), & then on to peppermint fudge...

gifts are (mostly) wrapped - i finished them up this moring, which reminds me of one of the funniest things about christmas with a 2.5 yr old - you can pretty much wrap their presents right in front of them & they have no clue! heehee! i giggled while i wrapped :)

clint's out buying his own gift right now. sad, huh?!!! it's just the way it all worked out - he had to go run a few errands for me anyway & since he changed his mind @ the last minute on the gift, he offered to just pick it up himself! i was super grateful as my feet are hurting (did i mention that??!) & i wasn't sure they would carry me all the way to homedepot to fight the crowds this afternoon. and don't worry, i did get him a few small things that will be a surprise!

so i'm sitting here in a moment of quiet on this christmas eve. well, a moment of quasi-quiet. i'm listening to pandora (sufjan stevens christmas), but over the monitor i can also hear a certain little guy who refuses to nap this afternoon, but is quite content to be jabbering away by himself! he says the most hilarious things to himself & his monkey @ nap time. right now he's telling himself "no. not watching it, hudson, not watching it. no!" i think he's talking about "charlie brown christmas", which is what he'd love to be watching 10x a day lately & apparently his super mean parents have been saying no a lot!!!

okay, well i guess my break is up - i'm glad i'll have this little snippit of christmas eve 2009 to re-read in years to come :)

merry christmas eve!!!

sussy

am i the only one who didn't know the term "sussy"?

...apparently not b/c i couldn't find it on wikipedia to provide you with a link! whew!

anyway, just so you're not also caught unaware, should you venture down here to bayou country, the word "sussy" is an old cajun word that means a little gift or small present.

houston! just when you think you're getting settled down, you're reminded you're in a foreign land!! haha!

anyway, here's a little sussy i'm giving away this year...




tea towels. i really love tea towels.

and here are some close ups, though they're not that great. click on them for a better view...

i also did one with little present boxes on it, but i gave it to my mom before i snapped a pic.

they were really fun to make. endless combinations of fabric & christmas/wintery ideas. i could have made a million. the embroidery always takes waaaaaayyyyy longer than i think it will, but it's one of those things you can do while watching tv or chatting. plus it totally makes you feel like ma from little house on the prarie, sewing away on your christmas sussy :) haha!

hope you're having a great christmas week. i'm off to give away some sussy right now!

***this post is dedicated to jaclyn, without whose friendship i would never have known the true meaning of sussy!!! haha!!!

done

i don't want to cook anymore.
done.
this is a problem because we like to eat.
bummer.

i think i remember getting to this point when i was pregnant with hudson, but i think it came sooner this time. eek.
and right before the holidays. oh dear.

i don't know what we're going to do for christmas dinner. do they make something really, really yummy & gourmet that you can just pop in the microwave?

but don't worry, we won't starve because while mama is suddenly done with cooking, she seems to be just fine with late night to the grocery for ice cream :)

ps: ben & jerry's americone dream is yummo.
pps: i'm pondering the pros & cons of yellow, black, & white.

first christmas craftiness of the year...

***please excuse the bad pictures! it's overcast here & i'm trying to shoot the pics w/o a flash because they seem to be better (but not great!) w/o it.
well, now that i'm home & most of the laundry is done & the house somewhat back in order, the true christmas craftiness has begun.

we started with the wrapping paper i told you about & promised pics (can't wait to get the pics back from c's camera of hudson actually doing the painting - priceless!)...



i think the paper turned out really cute. as you can see, i used thick yarn for the ribbon (on sale @ michael's!) & just a sharpie to label the gifts. on the back, i wrote "wrapping paper artwork by hudson", just so everyone was clear on the artist :)
so here are my suggestions if you want to try this (& so i remember for next year)...
-pick a pretty day (maybe even in october) to roll the whole paper out on a sidewalk or driveway
-strip child(ren) down, give them plates full of fingerpaint (among other pluses, it dries faster & is easy to clean up) & let them at it!
-beware because the paper can get slippery
-show them how to do handprints - hudson loved doing that
-when finished, carry directly child directly to the tub!!
- let paint dry (1-1.5 hrs, i'd think) & then roll up & hose the driveway down

and fyi: if you are crazy like me & want to try this inside, the fingerpaint really wasn't hard to clean off of our tile floors & cabinets, it was just kind of a pain. and it was hard to keep our dog off of the paper while it dried (oh, & don't do this right before dinner b/c then you'll be stepping around the paper & you will be annoyed!)

anyway, it was a really fun project & would be even more fun done outside. hudson really, really liked it & that made it so special. and it was CHEAP! the whole huge roll was something like $3, the paint wasn't even $2 for a good sized jar, & the yarn was about $5 on sale (for more than you could probably use). and good thing we saved on wrapping paper this year because i just shipped the packages today & WHOA - so $$$! bummer!

so on to project number 2, a christmas ball wreath...



here it is on our mantel - i just started decorating it...


cute & fun! i got the idea from this post & i'm really happy with the way it turned out! again, a few suggestions in case you want to try it...

-be sure to hot glue the ornament tops on because they really will fall off & it's a total bummer (plus a pain to clean up - trust me!)
-my first hanger's hook part snapped off, so be sure yours is sturdy before you get tons of balls on there & have to redo it.
-i think the key is getting different sized balls - i got 3 different sizes. @ first i was unsure about how it would turn out - if it would have big gaps, but then i just started stringing & making sure to put a variety of sizes throughout & it worked out great.
-when you get to the end, be sure to fill the hanger all the way before you twist it back together - mine's a little sparce @ the top & not as full as i think it's supposed to be.

the only bummer (how many times will i use that word in this post??!) about this project is that it cost me about the same amount it would have to just buy it! i looked @ the dollar store for ornaments, but they only had one size & i knew i wasn't going to have to go to big lots or some other super cheap store, so i decided to just buy mine @ target. i bought the cheapest ones they had, but it still took quite alot (about 80). oh well, it was a fun project & i might buy up some more ornaments when they're super, super cheap after christmas in case i want to do another one next year (or wouldn't that be a cute gift?!).

okay, so that's that. i'm off to see what other craftiness i can get into before i hear the little guy on the monitor...

quick hello

hello there.

just a little hi out there to all of you :)
i've been out of town - here & there (dallas & kerrville). christmas partying, saying hi to old friends, road tripping, eating a lot, getting to see some family, meandering around the hill country, a little sales for alacritydesigns, adding ever more projects/ideas i want to do, missing clint, singing in the car with hudson, crying in the car with hudson, and finally making it home to our little house. whew.

it's been a whirlwind few weeks & while fun, i'm happy to be home & getting somewhat of a handle on things (though really, i like to say that "having it all under control" is an illusion anyway, right??!). laundry to do, floors to clean, presents to wrap, presents to send, gifts to be made, decorations to be done, goodies to bake... eek! i'm trying to enjoy the season & not rush just to get it all done - don't we all say that every year??! :)

in the midst of all of this catching up, cleaning, etc & the chaos of the evening, i had the bright idea to have hudson paint some craft paper so we could use it for our wrapping paper this year. and i don't mean with a paint brush. i mean full body painting (or that's what it turned into!). it was crazy & fun & we're all 3 exhausted & about 2 minutes into it i was wondering what in the world i was thinking!! i'll have to post pics tomorrow (their on c's old school cam) & i'll give you my "tips" in case you want to do this too (by tips i mean all the things i should have done to make this little project go easier - like probably not try this when you're 7mos preg!!! haha!)...

but for now, i'm off to bed.

happy holidays to you all.

quiet

i'm sitting here @ my table working out a new little onesie for baby girl.

it's snowing.

yes, snow :)
it appears mother nature has heard my weariness from the houston weather (i guess she reads my blog!) & wow, am i grateful.

it's gorgeous. it's magical. what is it about snow?

hudson liked it from the windows of the car, but wasn't fond of it hitting his face, so he insisted on me carrying him to & from the car on our errands. that's okay, though because while i carried him, he snuggled his little hooded head on my neck & that was worth it all :)

i have this candle going partly for ambiance & partly for light because i can't bare to turn the overhead light on & not be able to see as well out the window.

snow is so lovely. what a gift. it's just what this mother needs right now - lovely, quiet, contemplative snow.

(well, that & some peppermint fudge - i just polished off a few pieces :) )

lentil soup

did you eat too much casserole & pie, too? & did you mean to do better since last thursday, but oops that darn peppermint mocha & chocolate chip cookies were just calling your name all weekend??
oh good, i'm not alone :)

here's my yummilicious + healthy + easy lentil soup recipe. i foresee us having it a few times this month, hoping to combat the pounds that are sure to be packed on this season!!
oh, & i know - lentil soup doesn't sound so interesting, but trust me (and jen!) it's gooood!

lentil soup
(*adapted from giada di laurentiis' recipe found here.)

1 lb (+/-) 1/2 inch cut ham (you can get this cut @ the deli), cut into cubes
1 md onion, chpd
3 carrots, peeled/chpd
3 celery stalks, chpd
4 garlic cloves, minced
sea salt & pepper
1 (14.5oz) can diced tomatoes
1 lb lentils (dried - these are so cheap!)
4 Knorr chicken bullion cubes (keep another cube on reserve in case you need it)
8 cups boiling water (to mix with the bullion cubes)
6 sprigs fresh thyme
1 cup parmesan

1. heat lg dutch oven to md heat. toss ham chunks in & let them cook while you peel & chop the veggies (8-10 mins, maybe). stir a couple of times - you can turn the heat down if the ham starts getting too brown. the point is for the ham to warm/brown well & slowly - this is what makes the soup so flavorful.
2. toss onions, carrots, & celery in the pot & allow to cook for a few minutes. add garlic & s&p. saute until all the veggies are tender, about 5-8 mins.
3. add the tomatoes & their juice. simmer until juices evaporate a little & the tomatoes breakdown, stirring occasionally (about 8 mins).
4. add lentils & mix to coat. add broth & stir. add thyme.
5. bring to boil over high heat.
6. cover & simmer over low until lentils are almost tender (about 30 mins).
**check soup @ about 20 mins. if it seems to need more liquid, you can add another bullion cube mixed into 2 c of water.

sprinkle some parmesan over you soup & voila! you've got a healthy winter meal!

and in case you skipped that peppermint mocha today, i'll mention that if you grab some bakery bread, slice it, brush slices with olive oil, put back as a loaf, wrap in foil, heat for 10-15 mins @ 400, & serve it with your soup, you won't be disappointed...
and in case you didn't skip the mocha & you had some m&ms too (like some people i know), make the bread anyway because it's good :)

happy december 1st!