December Blur

December is one of those months that always seems like a blur. I think I will get started early, and instead I find myself up all night Christmas Eve. This year was no exception...but before we skip straight to Christmas, I will show you a tiny bit of the build up.

I am not sure if I actually made this in December, but the pictures were taken in December, so I will say it counts.

This summer my sister hosted our extended family IN HER HOME for a family reunion. Over thirty people. Jenny is amazing. Not only was it a great time, but the reunion also happened to coincide with her birthday. Because of this, and as a thank you, I promised her an apron. It took me four months to deliver, so long that Jenny had completely forgotten about my promise. The sad part is that I think I picked out the fabric for her apron over 2 years ago. It just went to the bottom of the project pile and out of sight out of mind. *sigh* It is done now, and it did make for a great surprise.

My second project was something I never thought I'd take on. At the beginning of the month a parent in Eve's class asked if I thought I could make a Cabbage Patch doll. She had found a head at a thrift store, but didn't want to take the project on. I knew I should decline, but I like to help out, and I wanted to see if I could do this. I am SO glad I did! It was a fun project, and I think there will be more of these in my future.

Isn't she cute? I had so much fun recreating the look of a real Cabbage Patch doll. Aurora and Eve would now like their own dolls with purple and blue hair respectively...I am not sure I want to start making custom heads, but I would like to make a few more. My favorite part about this doll (aside from her bum and belly button. They were really cute!) is that I couldn't find fabric the right color for the skin, so I dyed it. To my surprise, it was a perfect match for the face! WOO HOO!! (really I yelled that when I pulled the dyed fabric out of the dryer)

And now to Christmas. Oh Christmas. I had such good intentions. Matching outfits and jammies, some blankets and maybe even some doll things. I also had plans for a few special friends. Well, my poor friends got left behind (I do love you all I promise!!) and my kids got store bought jammies. The matching outfits did happen, but only under the pressure of a Glee concert.

I have mentioned my kids' total inability to pose in a normal fashion haven't I? Good. Then you aren't surprised by the picture. :)

The only "momma made" gifts the girls got on Christmas morning, were name blankets. They have both been getting jealous of all the new babies getting blankets with their names on them. When I made their cousin Juliana a big sister name blanket, official requests were made. So I stayed up late late late on Christmas Eve making blanket sets for the girls. One for them, and one for their dolls. They were very well received. (which made the late night very worth it)

After Christmas we made a long snowy trek to central Wyoming for New Years. It was VERY cold, but the kids had a great time sledding, ice skating, jumping on snow filled trampolines, and hanging around with cousins. It was a great way to round out 2010.

December also meant saying goodbye to some amazing friends. Somehow, this was yet another thing that I didn't manage photograph. We do have some excellent memories. Kim, Jeremy, Seth, Amelia and Libby, we miss you all terribly. It wasn't the same ringing in the New Year without you....and we'll Skype soon (don't get any ideas Kim!) :)

Hope you had a fantastic holiday season, and may you have a wonderful 2011.

P.S. I am not one for resolutions. I only break them, but I am not opposed to a goal or two. Last year, I set a goal to read 24 books in 2010. I made that goal by the skin of my teeth. (see list of books read in my sidebar) This year, I would like to up the ante and read 36 books. I have a few books in queue, but if you care to make a recommendation, I'm all ears!

Three Reasons I Love November

1- My Canadian Quilting Weekend- I am a little spoiled. Once a year, I get to fly to Canada to spend a long weekend with my best friend, Janelle, and her family. We go to a chalet and we sleep in, sew and hot tub. It is fabulous, and I never take enough pictures...sometimes I take next to none. This was one of those times.

2- Aurora- Every time my kids have a birthday I am taken by surprise. I cannot imagine life without them, and yet, time has gone SO quickly. Eight years.

How did this adorable chubby toddler...

turn into this beautiful girl?

It is like I blinked, and instead of asking us to read Goodnight Moon to her at night, she is reading Harry Potter to us. It is unreal. How did that happen?

In celebration of her birthday (and with help from Janelle's mom) I finished the quilt I started for Aurora's 5th birthday. ***I will add a picture of the quilt. It has been in constant use since she got it, and is in the washer as I type this***

I am so proud to be the mom of this smart, sweet sensitive girl. 

3- Thanksgiving- I love Thanksgiving. Family, food and saying thank you. What's not to love? This year was a bit different though. My mom is an amazing cook. She almost always hosts Thanksgiving and I chip in with pies, cranberry sauce and a salad or two. Since she is in Africa, I was on my own. Did you know you can order a whole Thanksgiving feast from Mimi's? You can! And it is delicious.

At some point, I am sure I will have to cook my own Thanksgiving dinner, I am just glad this was not that year. We had a great low key Thanksgiving at home, and I really enjoyed it. I wonder if they would make me Prime Rib for Christmas...

It just hit me that next time I post it will be 2011. Crazy.

Not quite wordless

I feel wordless. I like the idea of the wordless posts. Maybe if I posted more than once a month, but I don't so, I feel there is an obligation for words. This post will be light on words. :)

Miss Eleanor is the new niece I went to meet last month. She is an absolute doll. I contemplated sneaking her home with me. I really miss this baby. She smells like Heaven...

Halloween. Aurora was Kit Kittredge (the American Girl from the 1930s) and Eve was a "funky-gypsy-tomboy fairy" I was very happy with the way their costumes turned out. Unfortunately, I got really sick last week, so there aren't many great pics of the costumes. The girls were happy though, and I managed to make a few things that can go into their closets rather than the dress up box. Yay for practical costumes! Plus, I love the hats. Knitting makes me happy.

That was pretty much my month. I didn't get to sew as much as I would have liked, but I did make a few things:

(Clock wise from the left: Miss Iris skirt for Juliana, reusable lunch bags, flannel name blanket, and car seat tent for Eleanor)

First day of school

Summer is gone, and as of yesterday I have 2 kids in school full time. FULL TIME! I have dreamt of this moment for years! Oh, the free time, the glorious free time! My house will be clean! I can bake! Lunch with friends! Think of the things I can sew! Somehow I never factored my job into this. In my mind I am a stay at home mom. In reality, it just means I have to juggle my work schedule and I see my kids a lot less. WAY less exciting than my dreams...

All ready!

Eve has been ridiculously excited for school to start. She told me "I am pretty much all grown up now!" All grown up? Apparently, all day kindergarten, is right next to moving into a dorm in her eyes.

Eve was up at 6am. She ate, picked out her outfit, and even let me do her hair! No arguments! And this was before 9 am (her preferred time to wake up)

Sitting in circle (with pretty hair!)

The anticipation to start school was only heightened since Aurora started last week. And since going into second grade is pretty darn exciting too, here is a peek at Aurora all ready for her first day.

curled hair!

Ah, my kids are cute! Even cuter when they allow me to brush their hair. They seem to gravitate naturally towards looking like homeless urchins. This year we have agreed to look our best for school everyday. Do they come home looking like urchins? Without fail, but at least there is a 45 min period at the beginning of the day where it appears that they are not totally neglected. That is enough for me.

And now a PSA. When naming your children, test out how it sounds with your last initial. Several months ago I found out there would be another Eve in my Eve's kindergarten class. I was a bit disappointed. Being a Nicole born in the late 70s meant that there was almost always another Nicole in my class. I went by Nicole N most of elementary school. I never liked it. I wanted to just be Nicole. I was sad that Eve wouldn't get to be just Eve, she would be Eve L. And then it hit me Eve L. Say it out loud...again...AHHH!!  That was a sad and humorous moment, I mean let's be honest, it fits her! Luckily, Eve is actually her middle name. So while she still doesn't get to be "just Eve", at least she isn't "Evil" She is Sandra Eve at school.