Welcome 2009

Happy New Year everyone,
I hope yours was lovely. We brought it in calm and steady but wishing for great things to come.

School starts again today - the break seemed so short, yet long and much needed. I, of course, didn't really do the things I thought I would. More lounging, sleeping in late, playing with the kids than much else. We have completely managed to disrupt our schedule by staying up late and sleeping in. In that sense I am ready to get back on a schedule of some type, yet also looking forward to spring and summer and sailing this year. I think austin is old enough to finally learn to start sailing a small boat by himself some which will be so exciting to watch and Tyler may be more manageable on the boat. They will both love swimming and it is bound to be easier to have them in the water this year. We have been going to the pool at the gym regularly over break and they are both really getting used to it and more comfortable in the water.

I have some big units on space and science i'm getting ready to do for school this month with a fieldtrip to the planetarium at the children's museum. It will be exciting and hopefully help winter go by a little faster!

i'm contemplating training / running a 1/2 marathon this spring. I have it narrowed down to 2 races or maybe both. Having a hard time finding the time to train so I need to nail that down in the next week or so and start progressing past the 3 mile mark!

okay - i'm ready for a crazy first day back...here we go

the eve of eve

can you seriously believe it is almost here? i could be the worlds worst procrastinator at christmas. i have all of these great ideas on what i want to make everyone, etc...my thoughts are usually way bigger than my time and resources....and here i am rushing to get it all done. i think my problem is that I feel if i keep putting it off the christmas season will last longer....i love the joys of it all - the lights, the tree, the food, the ambiance and i want it too last forever....at least more than 3 1/2 weeks. but, here it is - faster than last year and it's going to be a late night!

we did get a gingerbread house made and decorated which is more than i can say for last year. and i made the boys their x-mas pj's instead of buying them - the crazy thing is - i think they are way cuter than any i've ever bought...i'm finishing the pants and then i'll take a pic and post - you can let me know what you think!

the beginning

the icing the decorating

finishing touches

i made 2 batches of cookies on sat / sun. and have 2 more to do tonight / tomorrow. i have the other food bought - ready to be put together tomorrow for christmas day - can't wait!! okay - so i'm still debating on the whole christmas card delimna. i usually love the process of sending them and this year it just never fit in with my schedule...probably because i couldn't get both kids to pose (together) at the x-mas tree farm and haven't had them looking good enough since to snap a decent shot....maybe new year's cards? as i've been getting them from friends i am remembering how great it is too see how the kids have changed each year and laugh at how much they look like mom / dad! so i think i'll have to find a way to get them out.

Tyler's are the ones on top / Austin's are on bottom

okay - just finished making choc. chip cookies to bake tomorrow and will do sugar cookies tomorrow and other stuff. i'm uploading the pics of gingerbread and pj's then back to the studio to work on gifts! happy happy day before the day before!

Snow Day

yesterday we had our first snow day at school....should i be worried that i was sort of upset and bummed as the teacher versus jumping up and down for a unexpected day off?? it was our last day to finish our mom gifts before the class x-mas party on friday. plus we were having evan's b-day party (which is always fun to have sugary treats at snack time!) i think i'm just one of the kids. so - i'm hoping this inch of ice covering all of our side roads is gone by tomorrow - i'll be so sad if we miss the last day - i had so many fun things planned! Our schools did a 2 hour delay again today so we will see. it is pretty gross out there!

we are making reindeer dust and reindeer cookies in class tomorrow (cross your fingers!) out of nutter butter cookies / m&m's / pretzels and chocolate chips - they should be fun and the kids absolutely love doing anything with food!

my friend came over yesterday to set me up knitting some wrist / hand warmers. I got the best yarn from another friend's stash and i'm very exciting to whip these things up (we'll see how fast the whipping part goes!) the thumb will definately be tricky and i'll need some major guidance...it's been quite a few years since i've picked up the knitting needles.

i'm trying to make an effort to get back to the gym today....hard in this dreadful weather. we are having an all-out baking day on saturday with my sister-in-law and the kids....cookies galore!

time with this

i'm going to be spending lots of time with this today:

i have been sewing cloth diapers for a fellow co-op mom / friend. you can view them here - i had no idea they had come so far. If i was just starting out with my kids I would totally invest....but my luck tyler would potty-train himself within 3 months of buying them --- maybe that isn't a bad thing! It has been really fun making them and i'm happy to be using my machine again.

my big guy likes to spend lots of time with these:

we are going to write a letter to santa and mail today -maybe i can finally get him to pick a 'few' things he really wants for christmas. if i get ambitious we will put together the gingerbread house!

i have a few gifts to finish making before x-mas. school is out this friday so i still have a few free days next week. we are supposed to get a few inches of snow today so i'm trying to get motivated to run my errands this am.

etsy is updated!

i spent a few hours yesterday updating my etsy store! so check it out. i realized after i took all the pictures that i should have shrunk the files - so i had to re-take some of them to fit. but i have added a few things and plan on adding some more tomorrow if i get a chance!


I also wanted to show you the thanksgiving craft we did at school ( a bit late i know!). also - notice our head-wear!



and here is the funniest picture of my little guy at my parents house over the holiday!



wish you were having one of these is this frigid weather? we went from 46 degrees when i got in the car this am to 16 degrees tonight...brrrr.....wouldn't a hot tub feel nice right now?

Santa

i finally downloaded some pictures off of the camera...we saw santa yesterday when we picked out our x-mas tree at dulls tree farm. all of the fir trees were picked over in the field - so we ended up picking out a frasier fir that was pre-cut. the wind was really bad making it feel so cold! after we picked out our tree we had some hot chocolate and played tic-tac-toe in the cabin and Austin saw santa - tyler wouldn't have anything to do with him this year! so much for a great christmas card picture!



I think they were exhausted after the christmas tree hunt and cold weather - at least it was a quiet drive home!

it's amazing how peaceful they look when they're asleep! especially when i know how hyper they'd been all day and week....i'm going to update etsy right now - i'll post when it's done!

Season of giving

We love Robeez shoes at our house for the little feet running around. I just received an email from them for their season of giving charity. For every Robeez e-card you send they donate $5.00 to Kids in Distressed Situations (K.I.D.S.) and the card is free to send! If you are out of time to send cards in the mail - try these via email and help a great charity! Click here for the link to the cards!