dance

This (a video) is why I watch So You Think You Can Dance. We have watched this 25 times already and it's still not getting old. My favorites are the robot guy at the beginning and the hand spinning guy at the end. So cool! Makes me wish I could dance. And I love the version of Yellow too. Watch it. (Sorry - I couldn't embed it on here.)

hmmmm . . .

Tonight - a conversation between Jack (9) and me . . .

JACK: I guess I won't find out if Santa is real or not until I'm an adult.
ME: How will you find out when you're an adult?
JACK: Well, I'll live by myself and I'll get some gifts in the mail. I'll put those under my tree and then when it's Christmas day - if there are presents from Santa - then he's real.
ME: Do you think that's the only way you're going to find out?
JACK: Yep.

Jack's heard from all his classmates (he's in a 4th/5th split) that they don't believe in Santa. I'm not sure if he's holding out because he thinks he won't get presents if he doesn't or what. He really wants to believe in it. I'm feeling terrible now for even perpetuating the whole facade. What if he's crushed? Should I tell him? Should I wait until he asks?

I'd love to hear what you all think about this. When did you find out? When did your kids find out? Did they ask you about it?

I found out about Santa when I was 6 and in first grade. My little brother (a 5 year old kindergartner) found an Atari in the closet. He came to tell me and said, "Dad's Santa!" I'd also heard the rumors at school but I didn't want to believe it. But I also didn't want to look like a dummy to my little brother. So I asked my mom if she and Dad were Santa. She solemnly told me yes. And then it hit me about the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy. I think I was disappointed that there was no magic in the world, but I don't think I was upset for too long.

giveaway!

Heather over at a la mode fabric is doing a giveaway! She's giving away a pair of my earrings (winner's choice) AND some great fabrics! Go over and check it out!

Heather is a friend I met through the infamous flickr fabric swap (the one which I was addicted to for several months). She's the administrator for several fun quilting flickr groups. She's also got an etsy shop which you should check out. Thanks Heather!

In the Christmas Mood

Hey all of you who look at my blog through some sort of reader. I just put up some Christmas tunes. I'll be honest, they're the same ones as last year, but they're some of my faves. They are NOT on autostart (because I know how that annoys everyone, including me.) But if you want a festive mix to listen to sometime, open up the blog and check it out!

mice

Remember last year's ornament exchange? I was a little bummed when I got some very unattractive ornaments (all from people I didn't know). So this year my sister-in-law Carrie and I decided to do our own ornament exchange and invite our own crafty friends. I am loving getting cute little packages in the mail every day! When I get them all I'll show you a photo. Every single one of them is WAY better than the best one I got last year. Thanks girls.

Here's what I made:

After looking for tutorials online, and finding a few different ones that weren't quite was I was looking for, I kind of modified this one. I was trying to make them look similar to these little guys. Maybe I'll do my own tutorial one of these days.

p.s. If you weren't invited to be part of the exchange, it wasn't because you aren't crafty, it was because it was limited to 12 people. After we started I thought of another 12 or more people I could have invited to be a part of it.

snowy

It isn't the first snow we've had but it's been the best one so far. Snowing all night and still snowing. Charlie and Luke wanted to play in it. When they came in they both said they had fun. And they both got some hot chocolate.

This first shot was to show you the fence. Still only partially painted and needing some trim, which we hope to finish up in the spring.



Cute Charlie.


We did put in a little mini sled hill for the guys to sled down. It's perfect. (below)

These next 3 pictures are Luke trying to figure out how to smile.

No.1: Luke says, "huh?" (his most often used word)

No. 2:
No. 3

belt loops are great for stashing candy

brought to you by Luke.

making stuff

I've been a bit absent lately due to 1. still being sick (it's been about a month with some sort of cold that keeps morphing - I think it may be almost over) and 2. making lots of stuff, which I cannot yet show you as it's all for people who read this blog and I'd like them to see it in real life first.



BUT I did buy 18 half pints of cream at the store the other day because it was 30 cents a piece (so less than $6 for 9 pints total). I couldn't pass it up, I had a hard time limiting it to 18! Now I'm not quite sure what to do with that much cream. I will be making some caramels and some ice cream. If you have a great way to use cream - please let me know in the comments! I wish I could send you all ice cream!

I've also been trying to create space in my freezer. I had peaches and strawberries from the summer in there - just waiting for the winter to make some jam with. It's nicer to make jam in the winter because it's so hot in the summer with all that boiling water. So I made the peach jam last week and today I'm making the strawberry jam. Busy busy.

I'm also starting to stress about all the Christmas stuff. I wish I didn't get stressed about it, but I do. I thought I had all the stuff for the kids, and then they made their lists and the things I got them isn't on their lists! Then Dan wants to do the Christmas letter. I love his Christmas letters, but they are SO MUCH WORK for me. I wanted to make the kids something - some pj pants and maybe a pillow for their beds. We'll see if either of those get done. (I found this great plaid fabric this fall for $1/yard and bought 9 yards of it! - with pj pants in mind). And then there are neighbor gifts, and getting a tree, and decorating, none of which have been started or thought about yet!

Also - I've been wanting to do an advent which includes Christ. Like maybe instead of a candy per day (or in addition to) there's a scripture, or a thought about Christ, or an activity that helps to focus on him, or even a family activity. I've seen a few posts - like this one (which has links to other posts) and this one and I want to take some things from each one. If you have any ideas on that front - I'd love to hear about it.

And last but not least . . . I promised to do a giveaway. But I still haven't updated my shop yet! So I'll be doing that soon - I promise.