Calvin is Three!

Calvin turned 3 back on January 10th.  He is still my "baby" and always will be but he is very much a big boy now.  Here are some things about my (little) big guy:

* Cal is super affectionate.  He is going through a stage right now where he wants you to carry him or give him hugs.  This is usually not a problem, except when you are doing something like the dishes or cooking around a hot stove.

* His favorite toy is anything that sings or makes music.  He got to pick out a toy for his birthday from Mamo and he chose the ugliest pink Dora guitar, but hey, it plays music!  He sits around and pretends to play.  It's adorable.  His other favorite thing is puzzles.  He got puzzles for Christmas and he does them all the time.  

* He still adores Yo Gabba Gabba (I actually brought him to YGG Live back in November and he was AMAZED), Dora the Explorer and Baby Einstein videos.  The Baby Einstein ones because, again, music!

* Cal isn't a super big eater, but that's okay.  He is still 50th percentile for both height and weight so we are not concerned at all.  Some of his favorite foods are:  Toasted bagels with butter, peanut butter and Nutella sandwiches, raisins, any and all fruit, cheese, and bread.  Of course, no vegetables at all.  Typical toddler.

* We just started swim class and I was pleasantly surprised how much he likes it.  He is not a huge fan of getting his head wet and he can be timid when it comes to new surroundings, but on the first day, he got right into the pool.  I think it helps that Jack is also in the class.

* Cal goes to school two days a week.  It's playschool and he really enjoys it.  The first week, he cried when I would drop him off, but now, he practically RUNS to class.  The artwork he brings home is adorable.  I really feel like this helps him be more social and comfortable being around other kids and challenging himself.

* Someone mentioned the other day "Oh, you have a threenager?".  I had to laugh, because age 3 is exactly like that.  Mood swings, tantrums and very sporadic happiness.  Cal is generally a very happy kid but man.......If he doesn't get what he wants, he will be very dramatic and throw quite the fit.  I think he gets that from me.

* Cal still wakes up about once a night, but that is almost always because his legs hurt.  Both my boys get terrible growing pains in their feet and shins.  This just started with Cal so I guess that means he is due for a growth spurt.  I also need to mention that I am so grateful that he still naps.  THANK GOODNESS.

* Cal brings us so much joy and he is incredibly hysterical.  He will randomly throw a "thumbs up" with the funniest grin on his face.  Cracks me up, every time.  He will also say "Oh......my.......goodness!!!!!!!" when something is funny to him.

3 years has flown right by.  I swear, it goes so lightning fast and I am always so surprised by it.  We love you Calvin Wyatt.  Continue to be hysterical and affectionate.  WE LOVE YOU!

Enjoy some pictures from Cal's birthday below.  We had his favorite meal (sandwiches, lol) per his request and some great strawberry cupcakes.

I Made It - Holiday Edition

This post is also a catch up from over the holidays.  Just like last year, I did a ton of homemade gifts and treats.  Enjoy!

Lego Table

As I mentioned in another post about Christmas, I made a Lego table for the kids for Christmas.  I have seen the Ikea Hack post all over Pinterest and thought I would try my hand at an easy craft.

This table cost under $40 total.  The table was $8 (Ikea Lack), the 4 Lego plates were $23.96 and the glue I used was $4.69.  Total cost was $36.65.  The assembly couldn't have been easier.  The table legs just screwed in, no tools necessary.  The plates were glued on with an epoxy glue.  To be honest, I didn't even measure.  I eyeballed where the plates should go, put the epoxy on, let it sit for the instructed 5 minutes and pressed down.  Easiest project ever.

Felt Christmas Tree

This project was also very easy.  I had seen these felt Christmas trees at Target and decided to make something similar.  I bought the felt and the double-sided tape at my local fabric store.  The bonus was that they were having a 30% off sale so in total, I want to say I spent less than $10 for this project, and the boys can use it for several years.

I freehand drew the tree using a white crayon and simply cut it out.  I made ball, bell, heart and star ornaments.  I also drew those with a white crayon and cut them out.  Using double-sided tape, it all got hung up on the wall. The tape was light enough that the ornaments could be moved around many times.  The boys really enjoyed "decorating" their own tree.

Ribbed Socks

I made several knitted gifts this year for Christmas.  These are just the ones I hadn't posted about yet.  This was a last minute gift for my mother-in-law.  I had the yarn and she raves about the other socks I made her so I made another pair.  Again, she loved them.  

Pattern Credit

Yarn Credit:  Hazel Knits Artisan Sock yarn in Splish Splash

Sweater

My mom requested a sweater for Christmas so I found a pattern I liked at my local yarn shop and then picked out the yarn.  I ordered the yarn online since I could get acrylic for a very good price.  It's hard to knit up a sweater and it ends up costing $80 just in yarn costs plus the many, many hours of work.  I was able to purchase the yarn needed on KnitPicks for $30. Score!

The yarn is more of a plum color.  It was hard to photograph.  It's a very simple v-neck pullover with a split bottom.  That way, it fits nicely over the hips. It turns out that my mom loved it!

Pattern Credit

Yarn Credit:  KnitPicks Brava Worsted in Mullberry

Bow Hat

You guys, I think this makes 8 of these hats that I have knitted.  If anyone else asks, the answer is NO!

This hat was for my sister.  She asked and she is an exception to the "NO" rule.  She requested the hat in black so here it is!  I used something other than my standard black yarn.  I used black, but in something a little nicer since it was a gift.  The yarn itself is so soft!

Pattern Credit

Yarn Credit:  Malabrigo Rios in Black

Fisher Cable Hat

I couldn't leave my brother-in-law out so I knitted him a hat as well.  The yarn was more navy than black like the picture shows.  

Pattern Credit

Yarn Credit:  Imperial Yarn Erin Worsted in Navy

Chocolate Pie

For Christmas Eve, I offered to bring dessert.  I love baking and hadn't done a lot of baking over the holidays.  My Aunt makes the best chocolate pie every Thanksgiving and she was so gracious and gave me the recipe.  It's actually a recipe from a really old Hershey's cookbook for Banana Chocolate Cream pie.  I don't have the recipe handy, but this one is pretty close.

My Aunt's trick is when the crust comes out of the oven, sprinkle some chocolate chips in the bottom of the pan, let them melt and spread with a pastry brush.  This keeps the crust from getting soggy.

I topped the pie with some sweetened whipped cream mixed with a touch of peppermint extract.  It really made it taste festive!

Christmas Appetizers

Every year when celebrating over at my Aunt's house, we have something called a grazing table.  No formal Christmas dinner, just a bunch of snack type foods and treats.  My contributions this year were goat cheese stuffed dates and sausage balls.  

I didn't use a recipe for the dates.  I just pitted them, halved them and put a bit of herbed goat cheese in the middle.  Very simple and very tasty!

The sausage balls were also very easy.  You use a pound of hot sausage (I used Jimmy Dean), 12 ounces of sharp cheddar cheese, shredded, and 3 cups of Bisquick.  You mix all that together (this was not very easy or fun - I just used my hands) and form into golf ball sized balls.  Bake in the oven at 350 for about 15 minutes.

I assembled and rolled these the night before so all I had to do was bake them off.  Such a good idea!

Christmas Cookies

I was on vacation from work the week of Christmas and we had no plans.  The only plans the boys and I had were crafts, baking and playing games.  I did make one batch of cookies and they are always my favorite:  Peanut Butter Blossoms

I had the boys unwrap the Hershey kisses and when I checked on them, a few had bites taken out of them.  LOL.

Recipe credit

There are a few things that I am sure I am omitting.  Like the beaded pipe cleaners that my kids did.  Or the peppermint ornaments we made.  Or the no-bake peanut butter oatmeal cookies that Jason requested.  

I have done a few more knitted items since Christmas, so that post is sure to come soon!

Catch Up - Randoms

Another catch-up post!

* I stated in a couple of posts back that we were having financial issues.  I am very very relieved to say that we are back on track.  I applied for a mortgage modification and we were approved.  We are saving over $200 a month on our mortgage which gives us some wiggle room.  After our huge medical bill is paid off in May, we will be a lot more comfortable and have a lot less to worry about.

* I am starting Weight Watchers on January 12th,  I cancelled my membership when money was becoming an issue.  I am excited to start back up!

* Starting back to work today after being on vacation over most of Christmas was so nice.  I know that is awful to say but it was so tiring being home and entertaining kiddos for over 2 weeks.  Finding things to do and keeping them occupied was difficult.  I tried to keep them busy with Christmas crafts, I spent a whopping $15 on beads, felt, pipe cleaners, mints and other goodies so they could make ornaments and play with a felt Christmas tree.

* Speaking of work, I got a new job!  I work for the same company, but will be switching roles.  It's a bit of a promotion and working with one client, and I am so grateful for that.

* We went to Longview on New Year's Day to celebrate our extended family Christmas.  It was in a different location this year because Jason's aunt moved.  Her new house is gorgeous and everything I would want a house to be.  It is an old Craftsman home built in 1920.  Beautiful!  When I "grow up" and buy a bigger house, that is about what I would want.

* On that note, our New Year's Eve was very low key.  I had bought a bottle of Prosecco and planned on doing a whole lot of nothing.  Jason and I put the boys to bed, I enjoyed a bath, some knitting and some Prosecco.  I think I was in bed by 10:00.  Heh!  Getting old is fun.

I can't really think of anything else to post at the moment.  Now that the holidays are over, I plan on catching up on blogging and life in general.

Happy 2015!

Catch Up Post - Christmas

Now that the holidays have ended, I plan to do a few catch up posts.

Our Christmas was wonderful.  Busy, crazy and hectic, but wonderful.  We had decided beforehand to cut back on Christmas this year.  We would still do gifts for people, but they would be more thoughtful and less of them.  We needed to stick to a budget for obvious reasons.

Our Christmas Eve was spent over at my in-laws where Mamo visited.  We had a lovely dinner and the boys got to open their present from Mamo.  I do believe they were chomping at the bit because they saw the huge stack of presents under the tree and wanted to open MORE!

I have a tradition of getting the kiddos a new set of Christmas jammies every year.  I buy them on sale ($5 each!) and they continue to use them after Christmas is over.  They are warm and look adorable for pictures.

A rare family shot

We rushed home around 8:30 and immediately got the boys into bed.  A quick detour to leave out cookies, milk and carrots, a story and a kiss and they were out like lights.  I was shocked they didn't stay up to wait for Santa.

This year, Santa brought the boys a Lego table that he made himself.  I will do a separate post on the things I made this year for Santa.  Making the table for $40 was cheaper than buying one for $100 or more.  

I had asked the kids beforehand what they wanted Santa to bring them for Christmas.  Each time I asked, their answers seemed to change.  I made a guess and just bought.  And thankfully, Santa was spot on!  Jack requested a marble run and Cal requested a Thomas toy.  

I stuffed stockings and went to bed around 10:30.  However, I couldn't sleep.  I was too excited for the morning.  I tossed and turned pretty much all night with cat naps thrown in.  

Surprisingly, the boys slept until 7:00.  When they stumbled out of bed, I woke Jason up so the kids could do stockings and open their Santa presents.  Jack's reaction to his Santa gift was priceless.  He shrieked in this high pitch voice that Santa brought him a marble run.  I got it on video and I will watch it over and over because it makes me smile.  Cal seemed so shocked that Santa brought him a Thomas toy since it was just what he wanted.  It was sweet.

Jason went back to bed for another hour while I sipped coffee and the kiddos played with some of their stocking stuffers and new toy.

We packed up our car with the boatload of gifts and made the trek over to my in-laws' house.  We ate a quick breakfast and then tackled the gifts.  My boys were spoiled.  Even though we cut back, I shopped smart, bought on sale and was very savvy in what I purchased.  I bought equal amount of gifts for the boys, although I doubt they would have noticed.

Not only were my kids spoiled, but so was I.  I got so many knitting things and money that I was just so overwhelmed!

Once presents were opened, the house tidied up as much as possible and light snacks were eaten, Cal went down for a quick nap while Jack put together one of his new Lego sets.  This year was the year for Lego for Jack.  He asked for "as many Legos as Daddy has" and he got almost that much. I lost count, but I think he opened about 10 packages that were Lego related.

Once Cal was rested, we drove back home to unload the car, crate the dog and make some appetizers to bring to my Aunt and Uncle's house.  Every year, we go to my family and enjoy time together and a ton of food.  There is something called the "Grazing table".  Instead of a formal Christmas dinner, we have tons and tons of snacks.

This was about half of the food.  There was more hot food in the kitchen.  I brought goat cheese stuffed dates and sausage balls which were all gobbled up.

We laughed with my family and ate and the kids opened gifts.  We don't do an exchange with the adults anymore, which is just fine with me!  I would rather watch the kids open their gifts.

Jack and Cal played with their cousin Hazel and we just let them eat what they wanted.  I had decided that I was not going to worry about nutrition, which is probably smart since Cal single-handedly ate most of the cookies.  Ha!

It was a wonderful Christmas with four events over two days but I wouldn't trade it for the world.  Our entire holiday seemed to be stressful but the day before Christmas Eve we received wonderful news and I was able to enjoy the rest of Christmas.

The above two pictures are probably my favorite from this season.  Two happy boys playing TOGETHER with a new toy and our cute little tree surrounded by presents and kitties. 

Merry Christmas everyone!

Randoms

I don't have a whole lot of updates but I thought I would share some recent happenings in our lives.

* The boys had a blast on Halloween.  We went to my in-laws' and ate pizza before heading out to Trick or Treat.  We went to about 12 houses and that was plenty.  Here is my special forces soldier and my Elmo in all their glory:

* I have been trying to finish up my Christmas knitting. For some reason, I am procrastinating this year on finishing my mom's sweater and to make my sister's gift.  I have all the materials but just am NOT motivated.  I will do a post soon about all the things I have whipped up lately.

* Speaking of Christmas, I have been worrying about how I am going to buy all the gifts we need for people.  With money being tight this year and us trying to pay down debt, I have spent many a night worrying.  Yesterday, I followed up with someone who owes me a substantial amount of money and they will be paying me this week!  That has greatly reduced a lot of my stress and worry.  I have a few things tucked away for Christmas already but this will help me buy almost everything else.  

* This will probably sound contradictory in light of my money worries, but Jason and I went away for our anniversary.  It was budgeted and we did it fairly inexpensively.  We rented a condo on the Oregon Coast for $69 a night, which is completely reasonable.  It was very important for us to spend some time together sans kids and we had a really good time.  We slept in (7 am for me, ha!), ate really good food, saw a movie, relaxed and spent time with each other.  In the hustle and bustle of daily life, we often forget to talk to each other and have good conversation.  Date nights are far and few between so this was much needed.  Here are a few pictures:

This was the shot right outside our window.  What a view right?

The view outside our room at low tide

* I applied for a new position at work.  I interviewed several weeks ago but now I am waiting on some further information from my client - the client also has to interview me in order to approve the promotion.  It has been a month and I am getting anxious.  I wish I would hear one way or the other so I can work on looking for another position if necessary.  I don't discuss my job on here hardly ever.  I love my job.  I can't say that enough.  However, my boss is.........not good.  I won't say anything further about that.

That's about it for now.  I am very much looking forward to Thanksgiving next week.  Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Happy Birthday Calvin!

Calvin celebrated his second birthday on Friday January 10th.  We had a very low-key party this year.  Being that we had a huge shindig last year, we kept things simple this time around.

We had a simple dinner of pizza, Ceaser salad, and fruit salad over at my in-laws' followed by presents and Cal's choice of cake.  He is OBSESSED with Yo Gabba Gabba, and while I wasn't doing any type of "theme", I happened to find some Yo Gabba Gabba items at the party store.  Score!

Here are some pictures of his birthday.  Enjoy!

Checking out his presents

Dinner time!

He loves books right now

Yo Gabba Gabba boombox.  He played with this for the rest of the night.

My in-laws got him this. He plays with one at church and loves it.

This drum and other instruments were a hit for our little music lover

When I asked Cal what kind of cake he wanted, his answer?  "Cookie!".  So alas, I made him a giant cookie for his cake.  It was a hit.

Embarrassed while we were singing to him

Enjoying his special cake

Look for a post about Cal at 2 soon.  He is so much fun these days.  And he is not a baby anymore!

I Made It

Besides making it through the holidays in one piece, I have been very crafty lately.  This year brought a lot of homemade gifts, knitting projects and awesome holiday recipes.  Here is a round-up of a few things that I squeaked out before the New Year.  This post is going to be a long one, so hang in there!

Salt Dough Ornaments

There is a recipe/project floating around Pinterest for these Santa hand salt dough ornaments.  I had all the ingredients and thought it would be a fun project for me and the boys to tackle while I was on vacation.  Not only were these completely easy to do, but they were fun.  We gave them as gifts to my in-laws and Jason's grandmother and they were a huge hit.  Because my kids have fairly large hands, they are more like wall hangings than ornaments though.

After baking:

Painting in progress:

Final product:

Here is the Pin from Pinterest if you are interested.  You could use the same recipe to make any kind of ornament using cookie cutters too.

Cal's blanket

Cal is obsessed with the show Yo Gabba Gabba.  I was at the fabric store picking up some knitting supplies and wanted to see if they had any fleece in the YGG print.  I knew it was a long shot, but I figure, I could buy a piece of fleece and call it a blanket.  Easy gift!  They didn't have fleece but they happened to have a piece of flannel.  I couldn't believe it!  It was on clearance so I bought what was left:  The perfect size for a blanket.  To make it extra soft, I got a piece of fleece to sew onto the back of it.

I am not a sewer by any stretch of the imagination but I knew I could at least sew four straight lines.  I borrowed my mother-in-law's sewing machine and here is the result.  A super soft blankie.  Cal is in love with it.  He asks for it for nap, and when he goes to bed.  And when he wakes up, he likes to snuggle on the couch with a blankie.  This one is a hit!  At less than $10 for the materials, it was a fun and easy Christmas gift.

Freezer Meals

Jason's Mamo is notoriously hard to buy gifts for.  Every year we struggle.  This year?  Easy!  I made a huge batch of freezer meals for her and her friend.  She is elderly and takes care of her friend full time so she needs simple meals to prepare.  It's hard for her to cook so I took the work out of dinner for her.

I made the following meals for her:

Million Dollar Casserole
Poppyseed Chicken
Old Fashioned Beef Stew
Sweet Barbeque Chicken

I also made a double batch of blueberry muffins that they can eat for breakfast or a quick snack.

The recipes were all very easy and will serve them for at least two meals.  This was a huge hit and Mamo was very excited to have dinner all planned out for the next couple of weeks.

This beef stew smelled amazing by the way.  I have bookmarked the recipe to make for my family!

Becky's Hat

I made my sister this lovely hat as a Christmas present.  I have the same hat actually, and I love it.  I made mine in a different color and a single button.  I hope she likes it!

Here is the pattern I used.  Yarn credit:  Berocco Vintage in Elderberry

Dad's Hat

My dad is a simple guy so he got a super simple hat.  I didn't even use a pattern; I just cast on the standard number of stitches for a men's hat and went to town.  Yarn credit:  Berocco Vintage in Smoke

Fingerless Gloves

This is SUCH a fun project to knit.  It goes super fast and it uses up leftover yarn.  I have actually made three pairs so far.  A pair for my cousin for Christmas, a pair for my sister using leftover yarn from her Christmas hat and a pair for myself using leftover yarn from my scarf.  I already have my aunt asking me to knit her a pair!

The pair shown above is slightly different than the pattern.  I wanted a longer cuff for the wrists so I added a few extra rows.  

Pattern here.  I used Lamb's Pride yarn for the pair for my cousin.  

Hodge Podge hat

This is the best way to use up extra yarn.  I save all the ends (as long as there is a good amount) from my projects and they do come in handy.  In this case, a hat for Jack!  I will be adding a pom pom to it and will also make a hat for Cal.  After all, Cal gets a little jealous if he doesn't have the same exact thing as his brother.

Once again, I didn't use a pattern.  I just cast on the number of stitches for a child's hat and made the stripes in varying widths.  

Sweater Ornament

I don't have a pattern for this since it was my aunt Laurie's pattern.  I believe she actually created this pattern.  I went to a lady's craft event at church a few weeks ago and she had packaged up this pattern along with all the supplies needed to make it.  I made this one for Lynn and have a red one for myself to knit up.  These would make awesome gifts since it takes less than an hour to make it.  I love that I can say that I knit a sweater in less than an hour!

Pumpkin Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

When I think of winter and fall, I immediately think of peppermint, chocolate, pumpkin and spices.  This recipe is actually a pumpkin bar, but it was so moist that I am calling it a cake.

Cake recipe:  http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Pumpkin-Squares/Detail.aspx?event8=1&prop24=SR_Thumb&e11=pumpkin%20squares&e8=Quick%20Search&event10=1&e7=Home%20Page

Frosting recipe:  http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Cream-Cheese-Frosting-I-2/Detail.aspx?event8=1&prop24=SR_Thumb&e11=cream%20cheese%20frosting&e8=Quick%20Search&event10=1&e7=Recipe

Buffalo Chicken Lasagna

I have made this before and the recipe is posted on my old cooking blog.  This is one of those recipes that you kind of question because it sounds weird.  Buffalo chicken?  Lasagna?  Together?  But it works.

Of course, any lasagna done in the crockpot looks pretty gross in pictures but trust me when I say it was amazing.

Recipe here.  By the way, if you want an awesome blog for crockpot recipes, that one is highly recommended.

Easy Fajitas

I do not have a recipe for this.  It's one of those things that I just throw together when I need an easy meal.  The only special planning is how I marinate the meat.  I usually cut up the chicken into strips and put them in a freezer bag.  To that, I add salt and pepper, whatever spices you choose (garlic powder, cumin, chili powder, cayenne, etc.) and some sort of citrus.  I usually use orange or lemon juice.

Once the chicken has marinated, I cook it in a skillet over medium high heat.  While that is cooking, I slice up an onion and three peppers in whatever color I have on hand.  When the chicken is done, I remove it, add some extra oil to the pan and saute the veggies.

Done!  Add whatever topping you prefer.  In my case, it's usually a little bit of cheese and a ton of cilantro.

Candy Cane Chocolate Tart

I wanted to bring a dessert to our Christmas Eve dinner - after all, any excuse to bake, and I immediately wanted to make this.  I saw it in the holiday Food Network Magazine.  Sold!  Peppermint and chocolate.  What else is more Christmasy?  

I don't have a tart pan, so let's just call this a pie.  Oh.My.Gosh.  Amazing!

Here it is before the whipped cream:

Recipe credit:  Food Network Magazine.  Link.

I have never made pudding from scratch, but I am guessing it's very similar to how I made this.  Everyone raved about how good this was.  I added the whipped cream and a layer of red and green sanding sugar to the top to make it festive.

Christmas Cookies

Every year, my sister and I spend a day and go on a baking extravaganza.  This year we made five different types of cookies. I insisted she make her same two from last year because they are awesome.  And I picked my two.  Than we come up with a fifth cookie to round everything out.

Want to see the result?

This wasn't all the cookies either.  There were some more on her counter.

We made the following (links provided as well):

Peanut Butter Blossoms
Spritz
Brownie Peppermint Cookies
Red Velvet While Chocolate Chip Cookies
Hot Chocolate Cookies

Reusable Snack Bags

I saved my best project for last.

For our extended family's Christmas, we exchange gift baskets.  Instead of buying 50 plus gifts for people, a few years ago we decided to make or buy several of the same thing.  Each family brings a basket and the gifts that people bring are placed in the family's basket.  In years past, I have made batches of brownies and put them in Rubbermaid tubs for each family.  One year, I bought mason jars and layered ingredients for cocoa.  Some people will sew things, or knit things or simply buy things.  The rule this year was no perishable or food items.  That pretty much ruled out all the things I had planned since I love to bake.

I went on the hunt for something easy that I could make that wouldn't break the bank.  I didn't want to knit dish cloths, or knit anything really.  I came across this blog:

http://www.dimplicity.com/

In there is a very easy pattern for reusable snack bags.  I have limited sewing skills but even this pattern was something I could do!

I made one modification.  Instead of the fusible vinyl, I bought oilcloth. It was much more economical at $7.99 a yard versus buying more fabric and a box of the fusible vinyl at $9.99 a box.

I got all the supplies I needed at the fabric store for $85.00.  Before you scoff at that total, it included a rotary cutter and a cutting mat which will be used for other projects.  If you take off those items, it was really closer to $48 for my supplies.  I bought enough for 30 bags.

Since I don't own a sewing machine, I borrowed my mother-in-laws.  All total, I spent about 10 hours on this project which includes cutting, pinning, sewing and finishing.

I LOVE THEM.

Thankfully, you can't see my not very straight sewing lines.  I guess they were quite the hit at the gathering.  I didn't go because I am sick at the moment.  I already have requests to make more!  I plan on hitting up the fabric store in the next couple of weeks to make another batch of these.

Phew!  That was a long post.  I am really proud of all the things I made this holiday season.  Of course, this post doesn't include all the dinners I have been making regularly or some other knitting projects I have going on right now.  This was just the tip of the iceberg.

I am channeling my inner crafty-ness and I really like it.