Nightgown update

Betsy did indeed wear her nightgown last night - ALL night. I put it on her at bedtime and she whined for two solid hours and then, for some reason, she got over it. I don't know what caused the sudden change of heart but I think it had something to do with the fact that she and Porter were playing together and watching 'Cars.' Anyway, she slept all night in her flowers nightgown, and she woke up in a really good mood and didn't try to take it off.

Who knows what this child is thinking...

And if Betsy's teeth look especially clean in that photo, it's because she has brushed them five times this morning with her new Barbie toothbrush.

Santa was here!

Christmas is the best with little kids in the house, isn't it?!

The kids actually slept in (we're enjoying it while we can; all the times Matt and I woke our parents up at 4 a.m. will be back to haunt us soon!) so they came down the stairs together. They ran right to their gifts, knowing exactly what belonged to whom: a basketball set for Porter ("BAAALLLLLL!") and a blue bicycle for Betsy.

They didn't even want to open their other gifts; they just wanted to play with their new stuff! But, I found out Betsy really likes the wooden cars and puzzles that Santa brought to her baby brother.

I gave Matt new slippers, pants, and a new bag for work. Super original, I know. Matt came through as always - he's a really good gift giver, despite annual protests to the contrary - with chocolate, and some other stuff... like a Hobby Lobby giftcard, and a really cool shirt from H&M that's kind of like a corset, without the organ-squeezing and fainting.

We had the missionaries over for dessert on Christmas Eve - they were impressed with the sheer volume of cookies I've produced - but on Christmas Day it was just the fam; we wore pajamas all day and watched Cars and ate, ate, ate. Good times!

And by the way, the pictures are in B&W because I've already started editing them to scrapbook. (I'm a dork, I know.) I was thinking maybe American Crafts paper and ribbons on a black background; but I still haven't ruled out Chatterbox. Because the best thing about after Christmas - besides the sales - are scrapbooking all the awesome pictures of the kids having fun.

The countdown is on.

Presents are bought. Cookies are baked. The cards were finally mailed today and the ham is in the fridge. We have watched The Grinch and Charlie Brown and listened to the Muppets. We're almost ready for Christmas. But...

But...

It's raining today. Actually raining. And if the weatherman is right, there won't be any snow for Christmas. This isn't a full scale disaster, but it's certainly distressing. Betsy actually told me the other day that we can't have Christmas yet: we have to wait for snow.

And you know, I think she's right.

...And a PSA from Betsy.

Those cars have to watch out for me. They must not bleed me. 'Acause they must only drive on the road, and not on me.

So, please watch where you're driving. ;-)

A girl's gotta party...

Betsy celebrated her 4th birthday yesterday. Yes, we had her party on a Friday, because Saturdays in December are too completely insane, and because none of her friends are in school yet anyway. It was the first birthday party I've ever done, and theough everything was VERY low key, it seemed to go really well.

We started off decorating aprons: I'd gotten some little kid sized aprons for like $3 apiece at Hobby Lobby, and gave the kids some fabric markers to use. Then they all wore their aprons while decorating cookies (helpfully made from that break-and-bake dough; I don't bake from scratch for a bunch of 4-year-olds) with frosting and various candies. We fed them lunch, opened presents (Betsy's really excited about her new Barbies) and let them watch Charlie and Lola for a while. The kids all got to take their aprons and their cookies home: handy party favors that the parents probably won't hate me for. It was easy, required almost no planning, and really fun!

Tag! I'm it!

My neato scrapping friend Carolyn tagged me (check out her blog and try, just try, not to be jealous of her insane photography talent) so it's my turn...

A - Available or single: Married, but that's not one of the choices?
B - Best friend: Besides my Cutterpede? Probably Rebecca, she brought me a bucket of chicken when I was having a hard time.
C - Cake or pie: Oh, definitely cake. With LOTS of frosting.
D - Drink of choice: At the moment, Target hot chocolate.
E - Essential item you use everyday: soap (Aren't you glad?)
F - Favorite color: Blue
G - Gummy bears or worms: Both! I love candy!!
H - Hometown: grew up in Rochester
I - Indulgence: baked goods (ask me about the chocolate cherry cookies, sometime)
J - January or February: Oh, definitely February.
K - Kids & names: Betsy and Porter
L - Life is incomplete without? Scrapbooking!
M - Marriage date: 12/16/00 (yes, our anniversary is on Saturday!)
N - Number of siblings: 7
O - Oranges or apples: Golden Delicious apples
P - Phobias or fears: Enclosed underwater spaces. You know, like the Dolphin Dome? Yeah, it freaks me out every time.
Q - Fave quote: I don't have one. I guess I am not deep like that.
R - Reasons to smile: (According to my children, there are none.) Christmas is only a week and a half away!!
S - Season: the Christmas season
T - Tag 3 or 4 people: um, I don't know? Who hasn't done it yet?
U - Unknown fact about me: I've been pulled over twice this year for speeding. No tickets, though.
V- Vegetable you don't like: Peas. And I like them even less after having to pull 2 peas out of Porter's left nostril last night. (FYI, the second one was really wedged in there - I had to use my scrapbooking tweezers to pry it out.)
W - Worst habit: Twirling my hair. And interrupting people.
X - Xrays: um, if they're covered by insurance, I guess
Y - Your fave food: Oh, I love it all! Is that wrong?
Z - Zodiac sign: Sagittarius

Happy birthday Betsy!

Yep, she's 4! She had a pink birthday cake with pink frosting and pink candies (that she helped me with) and opened presents. Good times!

scrapping

Worked on some stuff today. I hope to get more pictures in the mail soon!

Sometimes, I do wish my kids could actually smile for a picture. From the looks of my scrapbook, I have the most chronically depressed offspring in the world...

they're done!

So, I managed to finish the stockings today (in between tutoring and complaining about having a cold)! They didn't take nearly as long as I had thought they would, since I really only started yesterday. I'm feeling a lot more confident now - I was going to say competent, but I think that may be stretching it a bit.

lucky, lucky me!

Look what my awesome husband gave me for my birthday!

Yep, he not only gave me a neato kitchen radio/CD player, he installed it while I was at the library with Betsy. This thing is so cool: it has a little remote which is magnetic so it sticks to the side of the fridge. I also got some new slippers which Betsy picked out. They are blue, with ribbons on them.


I've also been busy with sewing. Can you tell which stocking is mine from when I was a kid, and which one I made today? Here's a hint: the one with the cool '80s strawberry fabric, the difficult bias tape along the impossibly scalloped edge, and the overall sense of competence is NOT crafted by me. ;-) I've been sort of 'faux-machine'quilting' the fabric I got on a felt backing, so it at least has the same quilted look as the original (which I used as a pattern template) without adding the bulk that would break my little machine. Anyway, that's Matt's stocking, which you probably could tell because the fabric is all masculine looking and whatnot. I'm hoping I can finish 2 more this week... mainly because I have decreed that I am not allowed to do any more scrapping until the sewing is done!

cookies

Don't they look good?

And does anyone know where I can find some coarse sugar? I swear I have been looking everywhere.

baking cookies

Holiday baking continued today with a second (double) batch of chocolate cherry cookies. Betsy was extremely helpful, especially at making the dough into balls and putting a 'perry' on top of each cookie.

I had Matt take some pictures while we were making some spice cookies. We had to roll a ball of dough into a snake, then twist it into a little pretzel shape. Betsy really enjoyed it, although the cookies were shaped with varying degrees of success.

A scrapbook store and a sick kid...

This morning I went over to the grand opening of the new Archiver's in Castleton. It was a neat store, although they seriously lack the awesome paper selection of Scrapbook Corner. (For a paper-lover like me, that's a pretty harsh condemnation.) I was sorely tempted by the Rhonna Farrer swirly clear stamps, but I reminded myself that my birthday AND Christmas are just around the corner, and got just a pack of BasicGrey mini chipboard letters. Yes, BasicGrey... while I am less than crazy about most of their paper, I do like their chipboards. Of course, I like chipboard anything, so that doesn't tell you much, does it?

Anyway, Porter, who's had a cough the last couple of days, was falling asleep in his stroller while I was shopping... at 9:30 in the morning. He never does that. His breathing was getting raspy, and he's developed the dreaded Scary Cough, so I took him in to see Dr. Davis. Care to guess what my son has? He's got croup. Yes, croup, like Diana Barry's little sister had in 'Anne of Green Gables.' I think I would have been only slightly more surprised if he'd had rabies or the plague or something, but according to Dr. Davis, it's not super uncommon in kids as little as he is. Anyway, Porter got a shot (he loved that, so soon after his 18-month checkup) but since it's a virus, there's really nothing else you can do. I'll just drug him up on Dimetapp (or whatever the generic purple stuff is), keep him home from church, and stop feeling like a bad mother.