from our house to yours...

Merry Christmas! from Texas

Twas the night before Christmas...

while visions of sugar plums danced in their heads...

Between Todd and I we tucked the kids in at least 21 times. Tummy aches, drinks of waters, can't sleeps, can't sleeps, can't sleeps, can I sleep in your beds, I'm boreds, can you tuck me in, can you rub my back, can I have a drink of warm milk... oooh the pain of trying to sleep on Christmas Eve. [Note: Someday ask me about the broken sheep ear. It's a pretty funny story, but I'll have to tell you when the professor isn't around.]

May your day be MERRY and BRIGHT!

thanks to the village...

Jakob wanted to bring the biggest gift for his teacher, so he wrapped his apron in a huge box and added 4 cans of soup and packing peanuts. 4th grade boys...

Perhaps it is because I'm up at the school so much this year with PTA. Perhaps it's because I have kids in K, 1st, 3rd and 4th grade. Whatever the reason, I really LOVE my kids' school. And, I love their teachers. And, I love so many of the people that work up at the school (even the sweet Spanish-speaking janitor who goos and smiles at my baby every time I'm up there). So, I had a really hard time narrowing down the list of people we would give gifts to. Unfortunately, my heart is ALWAYS bigger than my capacity to give, and I was unable to create homemade wonders for everyone on my list. The kids and I made 4 teacher aprons. I bought the aprons for $3 each at Sam's club. (They were out of white.) The kids picked out the fabrics and traced the names, I sewed. Then, the kids wrote thank you-Christmas cards to a few people they appreciate at school. And, I wrote thank you-Christmas cards to a few people that I appreciate at school. We bought nuts (in the shell) because they are one of our favorite things at Christmas time, and filled bags for all the people we love. The kids had fun delivering bags of nuts to the nurse (Ellie's favorite person), the secretaries, the librarian, the music teacher, the lunch ladies, etc.. Wish we could have done more.

I am SO grateful for the many, many people who touch our lives on a daily basis. And, I'm grateful for this time of year when we can remember to say thank you. Thank You! Thank You!

Thank You!

7 more sleeps!!!

This is me...

A bit frazzled by day...

Enjoying the nestled children at night...

love it.

things i love about christmas...

i love the branches of my tree about kid-height that have 12 ornaments hanging from them...

i love the continual "letters to Santa" that i find around my house.

this one says, "my mom has my Christmas list so just talk to her if you want to know what i want for Christmas." love it...

i love this santa and mrs. claus...

my mom painted some just like this with my dad's sister when i was a baby. we had them until my little sister and i took them to school for show n tell and they broke on the bus. last year i found them on ebay and bought a set for me, my mom and my sister... they make me happy every time i see them...

i love kid arranged nativities...

i love the wise man with no head... i love the worshiping my little pony and 8 twigged reindeer... i love the horse in the balcony (you can't really see it in this picture) who is peaking over to see the baby Jesus... i love the added angel (i made this ornament the first year of our marriage)... i love that baby Jesus is ALWAYS in the center...

i love kid-made ornaments... i love the ornaments made at the end (before I could rescue them) that are painted "mixed"...

what a glorious season...

Kids make Christmas magical!!

what's happening to the elves?

all i want for Christmas is...

As we cuddled in bed this morning...

Mom: What do you want for Christmas honey?

Ellie: I don't know. pause. Probably a HORSE. a REAL horse.

things that made me laugh in the shower...

I read this on the tag of my nursing bra.

Sorry. I try not to post about unmentionables, but I couldn't help it.

SERIOUSLY?!?

I mean, I've been dry cleaning and ironing these babies for years...

So, on Tuesday a friend of mine (well, she USED to be a friend of mine) asked me if I was pregnant. ?!?! Seriously? I have 6 KIDS. I have a 3 MONTH OLD. And, I'm quite skinny- if I do say so myself. I said no in a perplexed tone and she said, "Well, you never know with you." (Maybe I deserved that.) She was still talking to me when I came up with my perfect response. DON'T YOU HATE THAT... you ALWAYS think of the best things to say after the fact. Next time, this is how I want our conversation to go...

Ex-friend: "Are you pregnant again?"

sufficient pause for me to think of my perfectly cutting and funny response.

Me: "No, I'm not. Are you?"

Evolution-- Leah got into my make-up 3 times yesterday... when I went to put my lipsticks back, this is what I found. See- this is how we're smarter than monkeys. This morning she picked up the picture that she used to cry when she saw. (You can read about it here, maybe). I said (in my most terrifying voice) "Oooh, SCARY... that man will EAT you." She laughed and said, "No Scary... FUNNY!"

Drats. When your children are ready to potty-train they will begin to show signs...

And, finally... I was trying to think of some words to describe my quilting for the description part of my OTHER blog. The quilts I like best are FAST, CHEAP and EASY. I know. I can't write it cause I totally sound like a QUILT SLUT.

ho, ho, ho...

I'm off to FINISH my Christmas shopping... as if I could ever finish. I think Christmas just needs to come so I stop thinking of more people I love and more things I can give them. This year I'm afraid we all feel a bit like this poor Santa... but luckily the joy of the season makes us ENOUGH...

nasal cleansing.

So, what did you do last night?

At our house we had a little nasal cleansing.

One of us has an issue with mucus. One of us was watching Oprah a long time ago and heard Dr. Oz talk about the life changing "Nasal Bidet- Neti". One of us bought one at a health food store a couple of months ago CERTAIN it would be life changing. One of us wanted to return it and get back the $13.99 to spend on Christmas... but that was before we tried it. (You can buy your own here for $24). One of us extracted a nose cleansing commitment that one of us has tried for several days to avoid. One of us was so excited about taking pictures. One of us was worried that the pictures may find their way all over the Internet, or that a certain un-named friend's husband who lives in 'bama, may happen to glance at a nasal cleansing and see it as a sign of weakness. One of us reminded another one of us that trying new things, caring for our bodies, doing things that we may not have ever thought we would try, is not a sign of weakness, but of strength. One of us was a nasal cleansing natural. One of us had some minor choking, drainage issues that were shortly overcome with proper head alignment.

Both of us laughed.

Both of us cleansed.

Both of us went to bed singing, "I can smell clearly now, the rain is gone..."

Let us bond through Neti cleansing more often...

sweet.

I'm finished!!

I have 4 other quilts laying on my couch that I just need to BIND.

The funny thing is, only one is actually for Christmas.

i love quilting. and, i'm tired.

yummy...

dear drew, love mrs claus...

Dear Drew,

Santa has A LOT of elves to feed. And reindeer food, has gotten pretty expensive these days.

Plus, Santa is on a budget... his bag-- the magic one, it's A LOT smaller this year, so everyone has to cut back.

Santa doesn't like fighting games either.

Actually, Santa thinks it's a lot more fun to buy girl toys.

Sorry. Try God.

Ho Ho Ho!

Mrs. Claus

dear santa, love drew...

Dear Santa, For Christmas I would like: Pokemon ranger for d.s, wally for d.s, lego star wars for d.s, surprising things, my one basketball, the new d.s., games for the new d.s., zoo tycoon for ds, pokemon cards, caotic cards, digymon cards, new toys, new books, new experiments, a Wii, an exbox 360, and exbox, a labtop, a flat skrean t.v. -Drew

quiltland...

See what I'm making... doesn't it look fun!!

bed at 1:30 am...

two quilts ready to quilt...

3 more tops in progress...

i love projects...

How do I do it?

Check out my family room... QUILT LAND!

No. I didn't neglect my kids. We made cookies after school. They ate dinner, with REAL mashed potatoes, AND I read them books before bed. This morning Drew got a sack lunch, the girls got dressed like Snow White and Ariel (It's Disney's birthday. duh.). We found 4 quarters so they could get the Disney ice cream special... and, they were a bit tardy for school but i told them to run to class and see if their teacher makes them go to the office for a slip. I still need to put up Christmas decorations (throw away the shriveled pumpkins in my front garden) and Anna is lucky that she could wear Ariel cause I REALLY need to do laundry. But,

i love projects...

fleece blankets...

It is always hard to think of boy presents... this year, we are loving these fleece blankets. I told you about Jakob's Texas Tech/Texas Longhorn blanket. HE LOVES IT!! It is the first thing he cuddles in each night, and he grabs it anytime we snuggle down for a movie night.

This is a Christmas gift I'm just about to send off...

Blanket How-To...

You need-

2 yards of fleece for the front and 2 yards for the back

**if you want to add a name you need 1/8 yard of a coordinating fabric and 1/8 yard of Heat n Bond light

Applique the name on first-

(I type the letters in a fun font on the computer and print them out using 'mirror image'.)

Trace the letters (backwards!!) onto the Heat n Bond light.

Iron the Heat n Bond onto the 1/8 yd contrasting fabric.

Cut out the letters.

Iron the cut out letters onto the fleece backing.

(To be sure I didn't melt the fleece, I layered the backing, the letters, and then a piece of cotton fabric while ironing.)

Stitch around the letters using a zigzag or applique stitch.

Easy Blanket Assembly-

Lay the top and the bottom pieces of fleece on top of each other on the floor just like you want the blanket to look- wrong sides on the inside.

Trim around the edges to be sure that both pieces are the same side.

Cut a 4x4 inch square out of each corner.

Use that 4x4 scrap to help you measure and cut strips aprox. 1.5 inches apart and 4 inches long all around the blanket. Cut through the top and bottom at the same time.

Knot the fringe (be sure you tie each fringe twice for one knot).

Tah DAH! My kids are really great at tying the fringe, but I cut the edges myself so they stayed fairly even.

Have Fun!

1/4 inch from the edge...

quilts, quilts, quilts...

So, my friend Bliss is always coming up with new ideas and sucking the rest of us into them.

Her latest idea, a quilting blog. We have a little quilting group here that is AMAZING. Seriously. These women can quilt, and they quilt A LOT!! I'm a bit embarassed to post my quilts next to theirs- cause they are PERFECT. (And, most of my quilts are just copying theirs.) But, I am faster than they are and maybe a bit more computer savy. So, if I post my quilts first you may not be able to tell that I've copied all their ideas... hmmm. So, I'm INTRODUCING YOU TO...

Quilting Sisters

We're all 1/4 inch from the edge!

http://www.quiltingsisters.blogspot.com/

go check it out... you'll LOVE it!!

remembering thanksgiving...

I'm having a hard time giving up Thanksgiving...

i think i need to put on some Christmas music...

what a great idea.

thanks.

ps. my laundry is DONE and PUT AWAY,

the house was all straightened up last night,

and I'M SEWING!!!

wow.

amazing.

thanks.