Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas from our family to yours!

*I am not sure that I will be posting next week as we have lots to do and Joel is off for the week!  If not, see you in the new year:)

One More Day

I'm really busy working on things tonight and wrapping gifts! Only one more day!! The girls gifts are all but done, just putting the finishing touches on. I am really excited about how things turned out and cannot wait to post pictures after the New Year. I am making the same things for my niece and nephew, and we are not having Christmas until January 3 so I can't show anything until then! We also went to buy the rest of things I needed to make my Christmas presents for family. I still have a lot of work to do and hope that I have enough time!!

We got Java's nails clipped tonight, and we are very happy about that! They haven't been done since we got him because he would flip out so much. The vet couldn't even do him. He is such a little guy, but at Petsmart, they had him attached to the little leash thing with a man holding him down while the girl did his toes. What a turkey!

Okay, one more day to go! Make it a good one!

Our Wintry Wonderland

On Saturday, we woke up to several inches of snow with it coming down quite quickly. The girls were so excited, and we decided to go to the park to sled a little before it got too late.



This does not convey the excitement they were expressing at all.



Pilly was not super-excited about being dressed like a pink marshmallow. She couldn't move very well and her boots drive her crazy.



This is the alley beside our house. It is still covered in snow except for where the sun has melted it. Cars have driven down it, and the tracks are pretty much just ice. The city does not plow this alley, our street, or the street perpendicular to ours. They are too narrow.

This is the only time the girls really rode together. I think Pilly would lean on Pnut too much and knock her over.



It was nice that they hadn't done anything to the sidewalks yet because the sled went smoothly down them!



Pilly and Joel got quite far ahead. I had forgotten how hard it can be to walk through snow when you are wearing three layers of everything plus snow suits. Whew!



There was only one other father and son there to sled. We couldn't believe it! It was 9:00 so we expected someone to be there! It was great! We didn't have to worry about the girls getting knocked over or anything.

Pilly went down one time, fell off at the bottom, and pretty much cried the rest of the time we were there except when I was holding her. Children in snowsuits get heavy!



When we got back, Pnut and Joel made this tabletop snowman.



Two hours later, this was him.



By the next morning, he had totally disappeared, and we haven't seen him again.



The girls enjoyed some hot chocolate with marshmallows when we got back.



Pilly was much happier! She was so cute. She wore her little long johns the rest of the day. I'm pretty sure that is one of the cutest things ever!



I can't believe how buried the girls car is! The play lawnmower has disappeared, and the sled is covered! Pnut wanted to go slide down it.



Java is still enjoying the snow. He eats it, I think. His nose is usually covered when he comes inside. Funny dog:)

I am almost completely done with the girls presents, which is impressive considering I hadn't started them before the weekend! I'm super-excited and hope to finish them off tonight:) So now I must go to do that!

Christmas Table Wreath

First of all, a fun sandwich idea:





I always use cookie cutters to cut out the girls sandwiches. They eat them much better if the sandwich is shaped like a heart or a dinosaur. I saw this in a Martha Stewart book, however, and thought it looked pretty cute. You have to use rather small cookie cutters, but they looked really pretty! Pnut didn't like it as much. Hers was the candy cane, and there wasn't much for her to hold onto that wasn't messy.

Last Thursday, Carolyn and I made our wreaths while watching Home Alone 2 and having fun talking and giggling. We really like the way they turned out! I don't think these pictures give them justice, but it will give you a rough idea.



That fake garland is super-poky, probably pokier than working with real pine branches!



We intertwined red berry branches throughout to give it a nice amount of red sprinkled over the whole thing. Carolyn took her time with this more than I did, and hers looked better:) We also had little silver bells that we secured to branches with flower wire. I put two bells together, and it looked better than just one. One would have gotten lost amongst the greenery.



We also put dull red glass balls throughout and really loved the way they looked!



There is space in the middle for a jar candle, and it really make the table feel festive. It should be noted that we learned that I cannot tie a bow to save my life. They flip over and twist and are generally unruly. Carolyn has the magic touch!

Tomorrow I will have a fun post of our storm-filled weekend!

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Sew Liberated Book GIVEAWAY!!!!

Wordless Wednesday x 3!

A Little Resemblence

The painting looks awesome! I am not going to post pictures until it is all finished, but it looks great! I am so excited!

The girls and I had a fun day with my mom! We got to eat lunch at a local smorgasbord (delicious!), and went to some stores looking for fun sprinkles. We got candy cane and snowmen sprinkles, which the girls were really excited about, and we got to tour a super-fun grocery store that was full of delicious and tempting treats. The girls took a very good nap. Pnut was excited because Gramma laid down with her. She was excited to tell Daddy about it when we got home:)

I want you to look at these pictures:





That is Pnut at 12 months and Pilly at 20 months. I saw the car picture the other day and thought how much it looks like Pilly now!

Alright, I have to find some motivation to do some crafting because I am really tired now. Sleep was a little elusive with the many attempts by our children to infiltrate our bed last night. Of course they succeeded for a while, and I never sleep well then! Have a superb night!

My Christmas Gift:)

No pictures tonight...I know, lame! We didn't have a very exciting day so there wasn't really anything too much to photograph.

I do have some exciting news!!! Tomorrow I am getting the start of my Christmas present. Joel had a whole elaborate plan to keep it from me, but he couldn't find anyone to get me out for a day. Our Saturdays are rather busy so that really messed it up. So he had to tell me, which is okay because who knows if he would have done it the way I want without my input! He is painting the bathroom and the trim in our bedroom (YAY!!!) and the girls' closet. I am so excited to have a room with white trim to go with our blue instead of a blue room with green trim. I am going to get new curtains for there and am super-excited! The bathroom is going to be gray with white trim, which is exciting because I learned that gray is a neutral color and I can pick from a wide range of colors for accents:) It is easier to change accents than walls!! His brother and a friend are coming over to help so hopefully they will be able to get everything done that he has planned for tomorrow. Eventually he is going to replace the floor as well, but he didn't want to rip it up and not be able to get it finished and have the floor be all sticky or whatever. As long as it gets done before next Christmas, I'll be happy:)

I just spent the last 45 minutes working so that I don't have to do anything tomorrow if I don't have time. Now I need to get to work on some Christmas presents that I still have not really even begun. Oh boy. Eleven days. Pnut asks every day if she can have her Christmas presents now since she saw me wrapping presents the other day.

Have a merry night!

A Saturday Post!

What is this? An unheard-of Saturday post! The past two days have been very busy so I thought I would post as a surprise today. Besides, the dog got me up at 6:30, and I have nothing to do!

The girls both have mild colds, Pnut worse than Pilly. They didn't nap very well yesterday, and Pnut was cold so when we came down from nap, I thought some hot chocolate was in order. I don't think either of them have ever had it before, and it was a hit!



I didn't realize this was how you use a straw. Those little chunks of dry chocolate powder were too irresitable for her! Their chocolate was really only mildly lukewarm. Yuck!



Pnut was too messy by the time she was done, and she finished when she had eaten all of the whipped topping out of hers.



Pilly, on the other hand, was very messy! This was only halfway through. I wanted to take another picture, but I didn't want her to touch anything before I could clean her up. I didn't let her finish her whole cup, and she got mad.

Carolyn and I got together Thursday night instead of Friday so I was hoping to get some work done on my not-started Christmas projects last night. As in, I haven't really started any of them. Thirteen days left. I am feeling slightly panicky! However, I didn't get to sew because I ended up having to work until 8:45. I have had barely any work all week, and when there was a lot yesterday afternoon, I didn't want to give it up to someone else. I ended up being a little over a 1/5 short of what I usually make in a week. It was worth it but not very fun.

I was hoping to be able to show you the super cool wreaths Lyn and I made Thursday night. However, they did not get made. We picked up everything except pine garland because Carolyn had some at home. We returned all ready to do our wreaths, and she searched through her things and realized that the garland was still at her parents' house. So we are going to try again next week!

We have a busy weekend in front of us, but it is going to be a lot of fun! I hope everyone gets some rest this weekend and is able to enjoy the time leading up to Christmas!

An Off Day

We had an odd day, an off day. I am glad that we have a new day tomorrow. It wasn't bad, just not normal. I guess we were away both Monday and Tuesday mornings so the girls wanted to know where we were going today. They were surprised when we stayed home! Pilly felt a little off as well. I am not sure if she is getting her two year molars or what. She has a low-grade fever and just was clingy.

I didn't hear any new Bible stories today. I just keep thinking about yesterday and laughing!

Tonight, I am going to work on my new dress, I think. That is the plan. So hopefully it happens. I would really like to complete this dress so I can wear it!

Here is a throwback picture from Pnut's first Christmas:



Isn't that a ridiculous amount of stuff?!

Our Tree:)

Joel got the tree out on Saturday while I was out to breakfast.



This is only the second time we have had a tree since we have been married, the first being a very sad little Charlie Brown tree. We got this tree at Target for $17 last year after Christmas. It is pre-lit. That is great!



The girls were really excited to decorate the tree. We let them each get a special ornament at Wal-Mart. Pilly got a set of Winnie the Pooh and Pnut picked out a princess ornament. I think after Christmas I might go look for special ornaments for next year. These ones are plastic and seem kind of flimsy. I am afraid they are going to be removed frequently and won't have a long life!



Joel kept saying "put your ornament in a different spot!" They have about eight ornaments in a small space, but after they put those up, they did a good job spreading it out. They are also doing good so far at not removing them, but it gets more tempting each day.



Not that you can really see it, but here it is all decorated. We need to buy a star after Christmas too!

It was also doing this Saturday, which made for a lovely tree-decorating day:



Java loved the snow. We would put him outside and then forget that he was out there because he was playing in it so much.



It is mostly melted from the sun already (PTL!). I love it for like the first day it is here, but then once it starts to get dirty and in icy piles, I am ready for it to go.

*Cute story alert*

Tonight after her bath, Pnut wanted to tell me a Bible story. She started telling me about a shepherd who took care of his sheep, and the sheep were all white and had legs and arms but not feet like ours. One of the sheep got lost. After some prompting of "did he find the sheep?" she said that he did and it was hiding in the grass. She did a good job with the parable of the lost sheep! Except for the part where she added in that the shepherd spoke to a fairy named Joseph who didn't fight because he was a fairy. I think she was talking about Mary and Joseph but got confused with fairy and it went downhill. We have some work to do, but she is listening. Also, as she retold the parable to Joel, she was singing it, which was very interesting. It is like having our own comedy!

I took a break from sewing tonight, but I hope to get back at it tomorrow night. I have this dress that I would like to wear Sunday, but I would really have to get a move on to have it done. I am such a procrastinator sometimes!

Now, Professor Layton needs my help. See you on the flip side:)

Shortest Update Ever

I've just got time for a quick update.

*Please note the new etsy store to the right!!! CheerfulChic.etsy.com I only have two items right now, but hope to add more soon!

*We put up our tree this weekend, and I will try to post about that tomorrow.

*My children keep getting up in the middle of the night so I am really tired!

Have a wonderful night:)

Tents and Tea Parties

One of the most wonderful things about having the girls so close in age and having two girls is that they play so nicely together!



We made a tent out of blankets and chairs, and they played under there for about an hour while I worked! Awesome:) They have watched a total of two hours of TV this week! They are so much more pleasant when they don't watch it!

They had a tea party under the tent, which they got to use their real tea set for, but the tea party had a problem: Java ate Pilly's cookie. I told her he would if she didn't eat it quickly enough, but she put it down on her plate anyways. They wanted water for their cups, but I had to say no. I know these two, and they like to throw water once they start playing! They are a little crazy in the bath.

Oooh, let me tell you about that turkey I made yesterday. First of all, I am not a fan of handling whole, raw birds. It just grosses me out a little. And what's up with all of that blood in the bottom of the turkey package? Gag me. But anyways, I managed to get it into the oven and fully cooked in time for supper. The guy we had over to share it with us was shocked that it was the first turkey I've made because he thought it was excellent!:) I like him, he can come back for supper. Joel really liked it too. As far as turkey goes, it was the best I've had, but I would necessarily choose to eat it over chicken! I coated the top with melted butter and sprinkled some sea salt on and then put strips of bacon across it. That was Joel's desire. His mom used to make it like that. The bacon flavored the meat nicely and the white meat was very juicy. Whew, I'm glad that is over for this year!

In other exciting news, I just know you love reading about this, Pilly pooped in the potty tonight of her own initiative! She told me she needed to go, and she did! No, I haven't started potty training her yet. Maybe she will just do it herself. Pnut also had another dry night last night:)

Alright, I need to wrap this up. I've got things to do!:)

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Little Update:)

Aren't children funny?



They use the landing as their bed and they read stories together and pretend to do to sleep. Sometimes one of them lays on the step and they have bunk beds. Right now, they are playing food in the basement. It amazes me how long they can play with their kitchen stuff. I would be willing to get rid of pretty much everything else! They barely play with their toys in the living room, mostly they just put things in bags and carry them around!

Pnut has stayed dry at night for two nights now! We had one accident the first night and then two perfect nights! I was setting my alarm and getting up at 12:30, but that is just too much! I decided if she was really ready, she would just do it, and she did! Last night she got up all by herself and went to the bathroom. I know because one of the girls woke the other one up and then they both came to our room. That is why I didn't post last night, the night before the girls had been up and came to our room around 12:00 and it was not a restful night! Pilly has been coming to our room almost every night, and I am not sure what to do. She seems to be scared and cries a lot if I just put her back in her bed! So she has been sleeping us most nights. It isn't too bad when it is just one of them, but both of them, four people in our bed, just gets a little cramped! I do like holding them though, and I know this isn't going to go on for many more years!

I am making my first turkey today, and it will be ready in 37 minutes so we will see how it goes! At least there will be mashed potatoes and rolls and some vegetable if it isn't good:)

My holiday sewing is not off to a good start! I have been so tired in the evenings that I haven't had the energy to sew. I need to try to get my work done in the morning so that I can sew in the afternoon.

Today is giveaway day over at Sew Mama Sew so check it out!

:)