Sledding Fun

I have to say upfront - I don't have any pictures. . . I know not good blogging etiquette! Getting all 6 of us out the door in snow gear is all I'm going to say :) That and our camera is big (dslr) and could easily be hurt - which would not be good. A pocket camera is wanted for these occasions, but a luxury for us at the moment . . .

We had a blast! The snow is waist deep for Joe and I, with each step you sink to the knee - especially challenging for the little ones, but worth it! A 50' hill with little bumps built in for excitement! The girls have all been sledding before and got right to it once the path was forged. Ella and Emmalie especially got right back up for more sledding, even if they veered off the path, or got snow in their faces. Sophia was happy to go down with Joe or I and carefully/slowly make her way back up the hill.

At first I thought Owen would be happy mostly sitting in the snow and going down a few time with Joe or I. Which he did, but then while waiting for his turn, he decided to go on his tummy down the huge hill. Joe stuck with him at first, especially while on the first steep part, and he kept sliding down. He would make it to the bottom and came to expect one of us to carry him back up. . . which we did - and he started all over again. After a while we just went down to get him. He went face first a few times, but mostly feet first watching us smile at him as he went down. I was expecting him to wear out of this but it continued to be fun for him - he's 19 months old. Our last baby and getting to do lots of stuff younger than his sisters ever did. Being a boy helps a bit too, he is more eager to get involved, and isn't concerned with consequences usually :)

After having been inside the last few days we were all getting a bit stir crazy. This was the perfect cure :) Did you do something fun today!? I hope so. Just wanted to share our adventure - I still haven't gotten to my sewing machine . . . maybe tonight :)

Amy

If you want to see the kids dressed for snow I posted a few pictures here a while back. . . we have so much more snow than in those pictures now!

Christmas Highlights

We had a blessed day yesterday! The snow was falling all day (about 18") and we were happy to stay indoors, cozy and warm :) Everyone had something new to hold their attention and for the most part the little ones got along. There's usually something that everyone wants, and Owen is too young to understand that not everything is his! All in good time :)

For Christmas Eve we went to a service at 3 in the afternoon. This service (1 of 5) was geared toward the kids, with young readers reading passages of scripture, and directed readings. There was also a kids choir for those that wanted to participate, Ella and Sophia happily agreed. We were so proud to watch them singing of our Saviors birth.Thankfully I had a couple of pads of paper and pens in my purse to keep Sophia and Owen happy while the service continued, usually there is coloring books/crayons for Sunday mornings available. After service we made our way home and finished up the grocery shopping to be prepared for a day at home. The girls and I made a Birthday Cake together before they went to bed - fun memories. Before I turned in - I prepared breakfast, made coffee, helped Joe get the presents down - and made it to bed by 10! That never happens :)

The highlights :Owen's new truck.
Emmalie and her scooter - she's been riding it around the kitchen!
Sophia and her Groovy Girl - each of the girls got a different one.
Ella and her addition to her Littlest Pet Shop collection.
Owen eating the cookie that Santa left.
We ended the day with a program the girls have been practicing for the past week. They each sang a song individually, and finished with Jingle Bells together. We are so thankful to have had a great day together celebrating Jesus' birth.

At the moment I am itching to sew! It's been a solid week since I touched my machine . . . but since I had a "day off" yesterday (dishes only) the house is a bit disheveled - time to dig out :) The driveway needs digging out too - but I think I will leave that to Joe today!

Have a great weekend ~
Amy

Christmas Breakfast

I almost forgot! In the midst of cleaning and cleaning today - I thought about this recipe a few times but have only now gotten to sit here :) Just in case you don't have breakfast plans for Christmas morning - I want to share our favorite.

Oven Baked French Toast

Ingredients:
1 loaf of French bread
8 eggs
1 1/2 C half & half
1 C milk
1 tsp vanilla
2 T sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
dash of salt

Prep:
Slice bread into 20 one-inch slices. (Our local grocery sells an enriched egg loaf, made in the store. . . really good and eliminates cutting) Arrange in a generously buttered 9x13 baking dish. Layer and overlap the slices.

In a large bowl combine remaining ingredients - beat until blended but not bubbly. Pour mixture over bread slices evenly. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

Praline Topping

Ingredients
1/2 C butter
1 C brown sugar, packed
1 C pecans
2 T light corn syrup
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg

Combine well. Sprinkle over French toast before baking.

Preheat oven to 350, and bake uncovered for 45 minutes, until golden brown. Serve with syrup, if you can handle anymore sugar :) This serves 12. While not diet food this is a GREAT holiday treat!

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I pray that you are blessed with love, joy, laughter, and many memories this Christmas!

Blessings ~
Amy

Finished Doll Quilts

I am feeling a bit disconnected! I've had extra people in the house, some crazy back/shoulder pain, and lots of baking still happening - it all adds up to not much time for blogging.

This one is for Ella - the back is the same as the yellow binding, simple.

This is for Emmalie, she's been on a anti-pink thing lately, so it's mostly not pink. I couldn't resist the pink binding though :)

This is the backing - cute dog print.


And for Sophia the pink button print. With cute little clowns holding balloons on the back!

I hope that all your preparations are coming together, maybe even winding down :) We've had a foot of snow in the last 6 hours - so I've been busy inside wrapping presents and trying out the last recipe I had on my list for this year. I have a killer french toast casserole for Christmas morning, I'll be back with soon :) Gotta run - my girls are too close for comfort right now :)
Amy

Baking Day!

Oh my! We've spent the day baking and I am wiped! Each year I gather ingredients, and make a list of cookies to bake. And work a full day getting all the goodies made!

Here's a list of what we made today:

Chocolate Crinkles
Peanut Butter Blossom Cookies
Toffee Butter Crunch
Cran-Crazy Cookies
Ginger Cookies
Meringe Kisses
Easy Fudge

I linked up to those that I could find online :) The girls love helping pour the measured ingredients into a bowl, or roll cookies in sugar as needed. And of course they love sampling the fruits of their labor! We will be parceling up cookies for the neighbors and mailman tomorrow and get them deliver right away. I don't want to eat too many of the sweet treats :)

Owen cooperated and took a 4 hour nap this afternoon. The last couple of nights he has not slept very well, thus I have not slept very well . . . I found a new tooth yesterday afternoon - duh! I felt a little silly for not looking closer sooner - poor guy. I'm looking forward to a good night sleep tonight :)
Sweet dreams ~
Amy

Photo Challenge

Audrey has tagged me! It's a little different than the usual meme you see all over blogland - here's the instructions:

Go to your fourth photo file.
post the fourth photo.
explain the photo.
Pass it on to four people.

I recently put all my pictures on an external hardrive. I have this knack for clogging up the computer :) so this helps keep more space available. My fourth picture on my memory card - which was actually taken in May!
I'm pretty sure this is the view from the kitchen window. See those tree branches on the bottom left? That's how I know. Mt. Timpanogos, which have been completely covered in clouds/snow the last three days. I'm not sure why I took it but I do love watching the light play on the mountain peaks.

And so to tag 4 people. . . Penny, Amy, Jaimie, and Amy. I hope that you ladies can get to this in the midst of this busy time.

Yes, I know lots of Amy's. In fact, I've had a best friend Amy most of my life :) I've even thought of making a blog just list all the blogs authored by an Amy!

Have a good night!
Amy

A Little Artist

While I was busy at the table this morning Sophia was happily drawing. She had pulled nearly every sheet of paper out of a pad she found on the shelf. Little monsters and letters. Emmalie and I agreed that the one on the right is a jellyfish, and on the left she wrote "LOL" at the top :)
Too cute! I spent and hour shoveling the driveway, it's been snowing all day. I like shoveling actually, our driveway isn't big enough to warrant a blower, and the workout is satisfying. I need to run- I must get those Christmas cards all ready for the mail :)
Hope you are well - Amy

Christmas Cottage - December Swap

Lish was the happy recipient of this mini quilt. I must give credit to Jacquie for her inspiration! You can see the Christmas Villages she has created here and here. It was really fun to make and I'm so glad that Lish is happy to have it her home :) If you want to see more of the swap mini's check out the flickr group.

I've been working on my doll quilts for the girls, and doing some baking. Also, Jenna is home for a month so we have been catching up, and hope to do more baking this week. I will share my list - once I get it together :)
Amy

Mountain Snow

It feels like winter is finally here - to stay too! I have a fresh homemade cappuccino here with me, and my Grandma's Leaf Rolls are baking - filling the house with cinnamon-sugar aromas. My girls are watching Christmas movies after having tuckered out playing in the snow. It's a great day!

Joe went out with the kids, while I was prepping my bread, after I finished up, I grabbed my coat, hat and camera. I just had a few moments to take pictures between fixing a glove or replacing a hat. Then Owen's little fingers were cold and we were done!Sophia

Owen

Ella in the neighbors yard . . .

Joe throwing a snowball at his brother

See Zach there in the background?
Emmalie and Owen too.

Joe laughing when he hit Zach!

Cold fingers - brrrr!

I hope that you are having a great day too ~ Amy

My Friday Evening

Once the kids were tucked into bed, I ran to the grocery store. . . I was in need of chocolate :) It has been one of those days - and I don't keep it on hand as much as possible. With my fix taken care of - I got to work on these Christmas cards. In less than an hour I had my little forest complete, now I need to sit down and write. . . thankfully I have everything on hand!

Hope you've had a good night! I love sewing in a quiet house :) Joe is here, his little brother (17) hangs out over here on the weekends, they tend to watch Discovery Channel and the like, while it is entertaining - I'd rather sew! Big surprise :)

I Am Thankful : : 9

for ~

~ my warm home - it's cold here.
~ bloggy friends - the support and encouragement I've found here has been amazing! I'm even thankful for those of you I don't know yet, I only hope I've inspired or blessed you while reading my blog.
~ my family - even though they are far away (Hi!)
~ a new haircut! I haven't taken a picture that's good enough to share YET. . .
~ my errand day yesterday - I got it all out of the way, before the major storms! And now I can stay home a clean/sew today. The kids are thankful too - all day in the car was a tad much :)


You are welcome to join me in being thankful! I would love to know the blessings in your life - leave a comment and let me know :) Or post your own list.

For the Dolls :)

I managed to get these quilted tonight. Fun and fast little doll quilts, these will be wrapped up and under the tree for our girls. Can you guess which one is for which of the girls? Ella, Emmalie and Sophia have numerous dollies, we even weeded out a few last month, they were happy to pass them on to others that may not have dolls.
If you would like to make your own doll quilts, AmandaJean has a quick tutorial for the dolls! Mine look nothing like hers, but she did inspire me!

Amy

Incidentals

So far this week I've been a little pressed for time to quilt. I did make simple doll quilt tops for my girls, for Christmas - they need to be basted and quilted. I am hoping to do so this evening. . . but I have to wait for them to go to bed :) I did manage to get my little swap quilt off in the mail - I will have to show you later this week

I made a simple Christmas card yesterday - I'm thinking about making 20 or so to send off this week. Not a very good pic - sorry.

Just this morning I switched to Google reader. . . I had been procrastinating this. I had to be all caught up and make a current export of subscriptions, (I had tried before and couldn't make a clean break) I feel more connected now - crazy!

There's a few giveaways I wanted to share:

Bloomin' Workshop

secondsister suaviloquy

Em's scrapbag

Freda's Hive

Each of them are giving away something different and some multiple items - have fun checking them out! I'll be back soon with more :)
Amy

Nativity

I hope that you had a great weekend! Mine was busy as usual, and good family time too.

We set up our tree during the week, my skirt looks just right under it! Yes, we have a fake tree. . . while living in Southern California, we were in campus housing (Joe was working on his MA), and for insurance purposes no real trees were allowed - so we went to the local walmart/kmart (I don't remember which) and got a little tree, for our little apartment, and still use it every year! I've been batting the kids away from the tree since Wednesday - Owen just had to press his luck, and see if he would get into trouble for touching. It's made for a little extra activity on my part, just keeping track of him :) So far it hasn't fallen over! A couple of weeks ago I was given a nativity fabric panel, a friend was cleaning out her stash from when her boys were young. I would guess that the panel was at least 10 if not 15 years old - so I have no idea where she got it or if they even make them any more - sorry. I cut out all the peices in the evening, and got to sewing the next morning - Emmalie was by my side and was glad to help stuff the people. I've sewn plenty of clothing but the curves and wonky shapes were challenging! I added beans to the bottoms instead of cardboard, so they are weighted and stand easily. The kids, especially Em, have had fun playing with the set since I finished up. It's a fun set, and I love how it brings the meaning of Christmas into playtime.

This is another set that we have. We have let them play with it a little, but it's not the same as the soft fabric set. The mini quilt I received last week was the perfect stage for it on our table. I hope that you are blessed today ~
Amy

November Swap - part 2

I was so excited when the mail box had a package for me today! I have been patiently waiting for my mini quiltie from my first swap. Remember this little gem? I mailed it to Lucinda, while she mailed me this
and this! Having grown up in the Northwest - green and brown have been favorite colors for most of my life. And since having baby girls - pink has grown on me a lot! I even wear it now :) She wasn't sure about the first and made a second - then sent both! How sweet!All the little details in this quilt are so fun and whimsical. My girls ooohed and aaaahed over it for a while - I'm putting it out of reach, so I don't loose it to a baby doll. :)
I was not going to participate in December, but as the sign ups continued on during November - I couldn't resist. I'm having fun :) My December swap quiltie just needs a label and it will be in the mail.

More later ~
Amy

Recipe Box Swap

I've watched this swap happen month by month - never really got involved. . . but holiday favorites - they have been on my mind lately! The last 5 or 6 years Jenna and I have spent an entire day baking, or making candy - depending on how adventurous we feel, and how many recipes we want to try. :)

This is a recipe that we found last year and love.

Cran-Crazy Cookies

Image is from bhg.com :)

Super yummy cookies with whole wheat flour - I hope you try them.

Amy

Custom Bracelets

I made these for a birthday girl! After my last post about bracelets, Jennifer requested one for her daughter, but when I showed her my samples, decided to have two made. One will be for Christmas :)
The little box was intended for gift cards, but I'm always looking for a way to present bracelets. I love the box and it was super easy - and I'm not a paper person :) I will definitely use the pattern again.


If you are interested in something like this for yourself - let me know! There are many different styles of letter beads available for a delicate or chunky bracelet - depending on you!

If you haven't been to Sew-Mama-Sew today there is a huge list of giveaways - just in time for Christmas gifts! I would have joined in but spaced it :)

December Already!?

It seems that the months keep flying by! I blame Thanksgiving being late in the month for the surprise of December, and the first being on a Monday doesn't help. Over the long weekend I made a table runner to coordinate with our tree skirt. I had purchased a panel, but after being half finished with the quilting, I decided I hated it, didn't want to use it, and ripped it all out! It was too large a panel for my table. I took off the squares that I had added to it, and cut them a bit to make it more in scale with my table and the size that I wanted.This is what I ended up with - simple and fun!

The day before Thanksgiving I decided to set this aside and make another for our friends that had us over for Thanksgiving. I really liked that one, but of course, I didn't get a picture. Getting everyone out the door, with our food contribution was challenge enough! I think I may make another in similar style soon - but my Christmas fabric is running thin :)

Oh - and the plate is a Christmas platter I bought for myself a couple of years ago. I rarely just purchase that sort of thing - but the "Joy" scroll made me smile, and it was mine. I hope that there's joy in your Christmas season ~ Amy

Plug :)

I spent some time adding bookmarks to my etsy shop last night. I was thinking I would like to offer you, my friends a deal. How about buy 2 get 1 free!? If your interested just let me know that you are a blog reader and I will adjust your invoice!

Etsy Buy Handmade parkcitygirl

Have a great afternoon~
Amy