...Till We Meet Again

We said goodbye to our cute sister and Aunt Tamara on Sunday before she heads off on her mission to the MTC this week, then on to California. Words can't express how much we will miss her bright, sunny personality. It's already hard having her twin brother gone on his mission (yup, you guessed it - in California too - twins just cannot be separated very far!)

On a total side note, do you guys see my chick boots? I got them a couple months ago on a total whim to boost my chickness. (and to keep my feet warm while walking to church in snow-covered sidewalks). I was tired of wet nylons and freezing feet each week. Glad I was able to finally remedy that situation.

I've Been Busy

So, I took the Christmas break seriously and took time off from my newspaper writing. I didn't feel guilty in the least because trying to conduct interviews on the phone with my herd in the background is next to impossible. Therefore, I had a little time on my hands to work on some crafting projects, starting with this baby -


My friend showed me this darling crayon roll pattern and we knew we had to make some for our 3-year-olds. So two days before Christmas, we spent the evening sewing. We were a sight to behold because it was like the blind trying to lead the blind. We are both just beginner sewers, so it was absolutely hilarious trying to first get our sewing machines to work, then trying to figure out the pattern, then sewing them babies up. Once we got them done though, we were glowing with pride with our finished products (a mere two hours later!) Isn't it cute...

I put it in our church bag for Natalie to use and she was so excited to have a little "home" for each of her crayons - making sure to put each crayon back into its spot after she was done using it.

Next up on my project list was this -

I have been just itching to get a hold of my crotchet needles again, especially when I found the pattern for this cute toddlers hat. I spent one whole morning while John was hooking up the new dishwasher just trying out different crotchet flower patterns to find ones I liked. (Guess who had more fun. however, now our dishes actually get clean...thank you my man.)

Natalie is thrilled with her new hat and now the older girls want one too. I bought some fun yarn for them - now I just need to figure out how to make the hat pattern a little bigger for their heads.

And lastly, I finished up an I Spy Bag just as the break ended.

Of course, my perfectionist nature is getting the best of me and I want to redo this bag using a thicker flannel and sew up the bag, then turn it inside-out for a cleaner edge. No worries though - any excuse to get the sewing machine back out again. You should see the next sewing project on my list - a card table house. Don't expect to see any pictures soon. I may be working on it for the next few months.

Now its back to reality this week with John back at work, story deadlines looming, helping girls with homework, and piano lessons.

And can I just say, this posting is completely ironic to me because as most of you probably know, sewing was not up my alley a few years ago. Funny how things can change.

One Joyous Day

We had a joyous Christmas this year.

I especially enjoyed myself because compared to last year when I was only getting a few hours of sleep at night with a newborn babe and still adjusting to the new addition, I was so much more relaxed this year. A joyous Christmas for sure.

Here were some of the highlights:

I'm sure most of you know the story of our strings started by my great-grandpa during the great depression - since they only had one gift each, my great-grandpa would "help" Santa use string to reach their one gift, therefore extending the Christmas fun. Over the years, my grandma continued this tradition with her kids, my mom continued it with us, and we have continued with our kids. Usually the largest or most exciting gift is at the end of the string.

Here is Alicia with the epitome of joy reaction caught on camera -

And here are the girls with each of their end-of-the-string gifts:

Kimberly got a used pair of skis. In Utah, they give 5th graders a free season's pass for all of the ski resorts, so we thought it would be a good time to get her started. She is signed up for lessons in January, so I get to go up skiing every Saturday. To say I am excited is a pure understatement. I am giddy with joy. I love skiing having learned how to ski at the age of 12 with my mom. Now I am just praying the weather cooperates. Driving and skiing in yucky weather is never fun.

After the string fun, the gift fest began. Megan was more than ready -

Here are the pillowcases I made for the girls with my new (used) sewing machine. Yup, I am definitely addicted to sewing and have several projects lined up in the coming weeks.

My mom (the one who originally taught me how to sew, but I poo-pooed the idea when I was younger) sewed dresses for all my girls (Megan's dress was on the sidelines during this picture). They looked so pretty on Sunday, but of course, I forgot to pull out the camera, so I will have to take pics the next time they are all dressed up for church.

Here is me hard at work (it looks like Megan is helping too) with the gift John gave me:
In the background are the skis I got too, a very used pair of shaped skis since I've only owned the straight kind. Having rented shaped skis in the past few years, I can definitely say, shaped skis are the ONLY way to go. In fact, DI doesn't even take skis that are over 10 years old. Mine were about 20. Off to the dump they went.

John bought me a Lego set from Downtown Disney. A Seattle Space Needle to be exact. And yes, I had to put it together myself, but of course, John was right by my side if I needed any help.

It was a Success:


After we spend the morning and afternoon recouping from all the fun, we join up with the Rimington Clan for Christmas Dinner. Here are the grand kids (minus a few) in their Christmas pajamas. So cute!


A very fine day indeed.

Gingerbread Houses - Another Successful Year

Gingerbread houses are an annual tradition for us. This year, I made sure to take John with me to get candy as he has not appreciated my candy selection in years past (apparently the gummy bear year was not a hit for him. For the record, the kids liked having gummy bears to ice skate on their ponds). Anyway, we had a much better candy selection this year thanks to John. Good thing too because he is the gingerbread house expert having done them with his family all growing up.

Megan made short work of the marshmallows.

Okay, technically we did not use actual gingerbread for the houses. Thankfully, the Graham Cracker makers clued in and made specialized gingerbread crackers this year.

The Final Products:

On a side note: another Christmas tradition for us is making fudge. I whipped up a batch last night and discovered something unpleasant...I had a few small bites, and my stomach went into rebellion with the sugar overload. I was appalled! How dare my stomach betray me like that. In all fairness to my beloved keeper of food, there are 4 1/2 cups of sugar, 3 cups chocolate chips, 2 sticks of butter, and marshmallow cream in the fudge. Sure fire way for me to stay away from the dang stuff over the next few days if I don't want a tummy ache.

Another Crafty Hit

I was in charge of the craft today at Alicia's class Christmas party. We made marshmallow snowman.

It was a hit. Even better - it filled the entire allotted amount for each station. Nothing worse than bringing a craft that only takes 2 minutes, then having the kids endure my entertainment for the next 8 minutes.

Speaking of crafts, all of the 5th graders at Kimberly's school recently had an economics fair. Each student was responsible for making 24 items, or 12 and 12. They had to document how much everything cost, figure out how much to charge for the items, and how many of them actually sold. Kimberly sold out of her reindeer pens, which were pretty beastly to make.

I wish I could say my daughters inherited their craftiness from me, but alas, I think I got my craftiness from them.

Cops Everywhere!

This is the sight I got to behold in the wee hours of morning today. I was looking forward to a nice, sleep-in (if you can call 8:30 a.m. sleeping in) and relaxing Saturday morning to make up for the disaster experience I had yesterday with all 4 of my girls at the UPS store (think girls playing in the shipping popcorn, and that about sums up my experience).

Bus alas, it was not to be so. One of my editors called and asked if I would cover the Shop With a Cop event early this morning. I had done my prep work and chatted with the head-honcho in charge knowing full well they do a procession with nearly 50 (trust me, I counted) sheriff cars, patrol cars, dare cars, and paramedics filled with kids in need all headed for a local Walmart with $100 gift certificates donated by local businesses and individuals (which for the first time included a check from us after being slightly guilted into it during a phone request last week).

My timing was impeccable as I got off the freeway just in time to be stopped at the light while all of the law enforcement cars proceeded past me. I was surprised at how emotional I was seeing all of the lights flashing and sirens blaring with kids' excited eyes peering out the windows. Nothing like getting a front row seat.

After all the cars parked in the Walmart parking lot, we watched and I held onto my notes for dear life as the life-flight helicopter descended with Santa Claus in tow. It was such an awe-inspiring event to which I was very grateful I had gotten up in the wee-hours to witness.


My awe-inspiring glow all but dissipated when I came home to clean up the swimming pool created from the overflowing toilet water in the bathroom while listening to the strains of girls fighting upstairs. *sigh* At least now the floor is clean and the din has finally come down a notch as the girls quietly eat their lunch. Nothing like a bunch of food to keep my girls' mouths occupied.

Lights, lights, and more lights.

Our tree has over 1,000 lights on it. Just thought you'd like to know.

It's a real tree.

With real pine needles.

Worried about our house getting burned down?

Needn't be. They are all LED and since they don't emit heat like the other ones, John lovingly filled my tree with massive amounts of lights because he knows how much I love a well-lit tree. He loves me. Good thing too, because I love him **THIS** much.

...and he even gives in to my need for a real tree every year, even if the fake trees are looking more and more realistic these days. It's still just not the same. Thanks dear.