the 365 of 2010

1. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?

Here are my resolutions from last year. Our year turned out not quite like we had pictured and I let a lot of those goals fell by the wayside pretty quick. Some I did well on; I did walk regularly with a friend for several months in the spring and I did get better about blogging the last couple of months, but other things like taking pictures, housekeeping and any other structured stuff went right out the window for most of the year.
I have one goal for this year: find a new (and better) normal and get our family and home running right as we really settle into our new life here.
Which I think boils down to most importantly...

Choosing how our time is spent.

Stepping back from the things that don't work for our family.

Stepping toward things that do.

2. What did you do in 2010 that you’d never done before?

Moved from Missouri to Tennessee (Wait. I live in Tennessee?? that's still weird to me.)

3. What was the best thing that happened this past year?
Hmmm.... I guess maybe the way God allowed the selling and buying our houses (finally) in just such the right timing and getting the kids started in school easily.

4. What was the most challenging thing that happened?
Um, moving. The whole thing in general... the six months up to it waiting, the time we spent in limbo, the unknowns, the actual relocation and the few months after. So basically the whole year.

5. What was an unexpected joy this past year?
watching the kids both dive right into new schools with new friends and completely blossom and LOVE it. I love how much we love their schools.

6. What was an unexpected obstacle?
See #4

7. Did anyone close to you give birth?

Two new nephews and a few favorite friends. We got to meet Tate, Calvin and Ryder back home this fall, as well as Lydia this summer.

8. Did anyone close to you die?

A good friend from way back in middle school and high school... I hadn't seen her in 16 years, but she was a young mom and the news of her death hit me hard. She was an amazing person and I was blessed to have been a part of her world for a handful of years.

9. What states/countries did you visit?

Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, Oregon and Washington

10. What dates from 2010 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
March 8th- Ryan started working (and interstate commuting) at Vandy.
Sept 3rd- closed on our new house

11. What would you like to have in 2011 that you lacked in 2010?

new friends, a church family, a normal routine

12. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
I don't think of it necessarily as an achievement as I know for so many people it's just life, but I'm happy that we made it through the long six months of living separately in two states, single parenting it (with an infant during the day) most of the time with a house on the market. It was a loooong six plus months. And we all came out relatively unscathed.

13. What was your biggest failure?
Living in limbo for so long this year, I let A LOT of things slide... engaging the kids, meal planning, pretty much all the mom jobs. We all probably picked up a lot of bad habits that haven't completely been eradicated yet.

14. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Nope

15. What was the best thing you bought?
Our new(er) vehicle. I feel so grateful and honestly spoiled every single time I drive it. I feel silly loving a tangible thing so much, but I'm truly so thankful that we are fortunate enough to have such a nice, comfortable and dependable vehicle.

16. Who's behavior merited celebration?
My husband... such a trooper for living away from us for so long. I know he really missed the kids and was worried about us and the house situation, yet he started this whole new job with a new group and new projects and did an amazing job at juggling it all for so long.

17. Who's behavior made you appalled or depressed?
A few divorces this year (or before this year that were just confirmed to me this year) that were ugly circumstances with not pretty results. It's always so sad to me.

18. Where did most of your money go?
Double living expenses and traveling between STL and Nashville all year, losing some money on our house sale and buying a (unfortunately, more expensive) house.

19. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Craigslist finds, making them into something pretty!

20. Compared to this time last year, are you:
a) happier or sadder? I have to say a little sadder (is sadder even a word??) It's been a stressful, long and lonely year.
b) thinner or fatter? fatter. stress apparently equals more eating for me.
c) richer or poorer? poorer

21. What do you wish you’d done more of?
taking pictures, listening to music, reading, praying

22. What do you wish you’d done less of?
complaining, eating, driving, waiting

23. What was your biggest personal challenge in 2010?
Pretending to be a mostly single parent living without my husband for six months. I realized I'm not a very good single parent. Or single spouse.

24. Any new loves in 2010?
I fell in love with my not-so-little boy's passion for games, with my girl's bedtime notes, with our new car, with the color gray, and with pretzel M&M's.

25. With whom were your most valuable relationships?
My little family. Wherever we are together, that is home.

26. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?
Some dislikes were strongly reinforced.

27. What did you really want in 2010 and get?
a Toyota Sequoia

28. What did you really want in 2010 and not get?
a job in STL or Portland

29. What was the most enjoyable area of managing your home?
Having a clean slate, decorating a new home.

30. What was your most challenging area of home management?
Having a clean slate, decorating a new home.

31. What was your single biggest time waster in your life this past year?
So. Many. House. Showings.

32. What was the best way you used your time this past year?
Making all of our Christmas gifts.

33. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
adding to our family

34. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2007?
Same old. I feel like there were actually lots and lots of days of not really getting dressed once we moved and I spent so much time painting and unpacking.

35. What kept you sane?
Facebook; keeping in touch with friends, hearing encouragement when I needed it, seeing old familiar faces, watching kids grow across the miles and miscellaneous statuses that made me smile. The internet is a marvelous thing.

36. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
Jimmy Fallon. He kept me company many a late nights alone this past year and I have to admit I've developed a little crush. He always makes me laugh outloud.

37. What political issue stirred you the most?
Nada. I was probably a little self absorbed this year.

38. Who did you really miss?
>Sarah. I miss the amazing, albeit mostly fantasized, friendship we could have had if we had met earlier or not moved away from each other. We have crazy tons in common and seem awfully soul-mate like. Makes me sad we can't be everyday real life hang out and have drinks friends.
>Kasey. I really missed seeing her and her family this year... I felt like we were able to hang out a good amount considering we lived 90 miles apart but 2010 seemed to make them a ton busier and less flexible and our Laughlin time was greatly diminished. And then we went and moved 400 miles away...
>Caleb. Got to love on him every day for almost a year and now haven't seen him in almost 6 months and I'm sure he's like a whole 'nother kid at that age. 18 months old... crazy!

39. Who was the best new person you met?
The Daniels family. It's been absolutely invaluable having one family to go through the whole process this year with... relocating from St Louis, house hunting, getting settled here, having at least someone we know here. They've been a godsend.

40. A valuable life lesson you learned in 2010.
I got dished quite a few life lessons this year... don't even know where to start.

41. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
Ryan played hooky from work and we had the day to ourselves, no kids. We went out for donuts and ran errands and did some Christmas shopping and after we picked the kids up from school we had dinner at Red Robin. I turned 35.

42. How did you spend Christmas?
Here at home, with my parents, in our jammies all day

43. How did you ring in the New Year?
We had dinner with the Daniels and played games before heading home by 10. The kids went to bed and Ryan and I stayed up, prepping some dishes for our New Years Dinner the next day. At midnight we were making fortune cookies (with resolutions instead of fortunes!) and watching the ball drop on tv.

44. What was the best book you read?
Is it odd that the book question has the same answer as last year? Well, it's a fabulous book and I can't get enough of it... Hold On To Your Kids by Dr. Gordon Neufeld. Amazing.

45. What was your greatest musical discovery?
Savannah enjoying piano lessons :)

46. What was your favorite TV program this year?
Big Love, How I Met Your Mother, Modern Family,

47. What were the best movies you saw this year?
I really liked The Book of Eli and Temple Grandin

48. What song will always remind you of 2010?
uh......

49. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year:
Today is not a good day
Stranded in the heartache
Watching all the world race
And pass me by

Like a wave on the ocean
Comes a flood of emotion
And it can’t go unspoken
No it can’t go unspoken one more time

We fall apart just to come alive
A broken heart can renew all our lives
A brand new start and a goodbye
We fall apart just to come alive

Yeah but this is still a good life
Standing in the sunlight
Scattering the long line
Of fear and pain

Cause underneath the surface
There’s Your heart and Your purpose
And I swear that it’s worth it
Yeah I swear that it’s worth it, it’s not in vain

You save me, You save me
I’m alive, I’m alive
Cause You save me

and one that landed right on my heart and stuck with me every time I heard it on the radio...

I am not skilled to understand
What God has willed, what God has planned
I only know at His right hand
Stands one who is my Savior

Such a reminder that that's all I need to know.

50. Pick three words that describe 2010 for you:
Long
Lonely
New

christmas

I'm still pretending Christmas isn't over yet.
My parents are still here, we've all been home, Ryan's only worked two short mornings, we've still been watching lots of movies, letting the kids have too many snacks and playing too many Wii games.

It's always a little hard for me to get back to real life after Christmas. I'm especially wondering how it'll be this year since I really have no idea what a "normal" real life here in our new home/city/state is yet.

********
I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas!
Ours was very calm and cozy.
Peaceful and simple and so, so good.
We didn't get dressed for what feels like days.
We opened presents, played games, watched movies, went for walks, and lived off of leftovers, christmas donuts and stocking goodies (which included apples and oranges, so it wasn't ALL bad) for most of the long weekend.
Lots of family time.

A few highlights in pictures:

~Making cookies on Christmas Eve with Gramma and Grampa.
(hmm... for some reason I can't find my pictures of this?!)

~Christmas morning.














The kids were stoked about their stocking substance this year... they had lots of great little goodies, and I was beginning to think we would just be saving all our presents for next year because they were just content with the treasures in there. Who knew Super Mario Brothers trading cards and wooden tic tac toe games would steal the show?

Our house is pretty sound travel resistant and I can't hear when the kids get up and go downstairs in the mornings so the plan was for Ryan and I to get up early, before the kids, and camp out (and fall back asleep) on the big couch in the family room in front of the tree so we could see the kids' first reaction to the Christmas Morning Magic.
That was my hands down favorite part of the whole holiday... Ryan and I snuggled on the couch under our favorite comforter, watching our kids unpack in excitement their stockings. It was still quiet, it was still dark, the full tree was blinking and twinkling and everyone was so sleepy smiley.
Perfect.

~Santa brought new bikes.


Bittersweet to me. These are real legitimate Big Kid Bikes, people. Like huge. Like they won't need new bikes for most of the rest of their childhood. How did these kids get so big?!?














And of course we get new bikes on the one in 20 years it snows here on Christmas morning.
It maaaay warm up enough today to bundle up and actually try out these gifts outside.

Which brings us to one of my favorite highlights of the weekend...
~A White Christmas...







It snowed all day. It didn't amount to all that much, but it sure made it feel Christmassy. LOVE.


~Our donut tradition.








Too. Many. Donuts. This. Year.







~Ryan in a pink princess Snuggie.
















~Gumball machines, cowgirl boots, hexbugs and guitars.


















~Games, games and more games.
~Food, food and more food.
~Having family here, Skyping with other family and hearing cousins on the phone.

It was just an all around perfectly pleasant Christmas.

The Hardest Thing

Due to Heather's headache you will get to read the musing of a guest author: Ryan

What is the hardest thing about moving to a different city or different state or even a different region? I would think that most people would say that it is making new friends or finding their way around, but I have a list that is compiled over the past three interstate moves. See if you agree.

• Finding new doctors and dentists
  Why do these people that I just met want to see my private parts?
• Finding a new church
  You only get one shot a week a this...don't mess it up!
• Finding an automobile mechanic you can trust
  Where is David Puddy when you need him?
• Figuring out what the new "state specific" traffic rules are
  In OR: people just drive slow and they can't drive in the snow
  In MI: people just drive fast and they can't drive in the rain
  In MO: a yellow light means at least 4 more cars may proceed thru the intersection
  In TN: when turning right, make sure you slow down to ~3 mph so that you slow up the whole road, and they can't drive in the rain or the snow
• Figuring out the grocery stores layouts
  Why aren't all the dairy sections near the beer sections? (aka: keep the necessities close together)
  
• Figuring out what is recyclable
  In OR: everything is recyclable
  In MI: your soft drinks cans and bottles are worth more here than anywhere, but everything else is only recyclable if you are willing to drive it somewhere
  In MO: everything is recyclable, but it is more fun to just throw it away
  In TN: what is recycling?
• Figuring out how people are going to pronounce "Or-y-gun"
  It isn't that hard people!
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  And maybe the hardest one of all:
• Finding a new favorite Chinese restaurant
  Because your General Tso's Chicken isn't better than my last place's General Tso's Chicken

wish you the merriest

We wish you the merriest, the merriest, the merriest, yes the merriest,

We wish you the merriest, the merriest, the merriest yule cheer;
We wish you the happiest, the happiest, the happiest, yes the happiest,
We wish you the happiest, the happiest, the happiest new year.

(I have for some reason had this song stuck in my head for most of this
Christmas season so it's only right that I share!)

necessity is the mother of invention

My parents are arriving this evening.

Now, my parents are... how shall we say... big eaters. Not like obscenely big eaters; but my dad is a big guy and they just are used to bit more food than what is the usual for us.
My little family rarely does big breakfasts around here... toast and cereal -oatmeal if you're lucky. And lunch is typically kind of a scrape together whatever, graze a little here and there non-event. My kids are picky eaters and Ryan and I don't eat all that much and dinner is the only thing I normally worry about and "plan" for. (and planning could be a loose term these days as well)
However, when my mom and dad are here, I need things a little bit more together and actually have food and plans for not only dinners, but real substantially sized breakfasts and lunches.
So I did my homework and have meals all planned out and a rather large shopping list.
What I didn't do, however, is make it to the store this week.
And because I'm not brave enough to drag my two kids along on a mondo grocery shopping trip with the moods we're all in today, and being pretty much out of food around here, -luckily, I have Costco take and bake pizzas ready to go for dinner tonight- I was at a loss for a breakfast tomorrow before I am able to get groceries.

Enter Cake-Mix Muffins!

I had heard of these "two ingredient" pumpkin muffins before, but had never tried them.
I've done well as of late getting more and more away from processed foods, opting for homemade, if-not-healthier-than-at-least-I-know-what's-in-them baked goods, dinners and such. But I was desperate for a substantial breakfast item tomorrow and I was desperate for NOT experiencing the grocery store with the kids today, so I tried it.

Easy Pumpkin Muffins:
1 box spice cake mix (or yellow + pumpkin spice or nutmeg, cinnamon, etc)
1 15oz can pumpkin puree

That's it. Really. No eggs, no oil, no nothing else.
Mix together (it will be thick) and bake at 350° for 20 min. (less for mini muffins, more for jumbo muffins) Makes 12 regular muffins.
I sprinkled some brown sugar on the tops before baking.

I did jumbos.

And you guys...
they are so moist and yummy!
And at least seem healthier with a whole can of pumpkin in just six muffins!!




And then I went out on a limb and tried making up another version...
Easy Peach Muffins:
1 box white cake mix
1 can sliced peaches (light syrup)(and I cut the slices into chunks.)

That's it.
I poured a little bit of melted butter on the tops and sprinkled these with cinnamon and some raw cane sugar before baking.














If I'm being honest here, the peach ones turned out a little too moist. I dumped in the whole can of peaches, juice and all. I think they'd do well with most of the juice reserved, just adding a bit to moisten rather than the whole can. They sure taste great though, even if they're not as pretty as could be!

These big yummy Coscto-wannabe muffins along with some fresh fruit (maybe some bacon from somewhere in the back of the freezer?) will be a great filling breakfast tomorrow!

So there you go.
A super quick and easy -and yummy!- recipe if you're looking for one with the busyness of the holidays!

brown paper packages tied up with string

These are a few of my favorite things!









As part of our effort to stick with a Simpler Christmas this year, I used just one roll of the brown craft/shipping paper to wrap everything.








And tied each gift up with twine.... With a simple red or green cutesy little polka dot tag.


























No rolls and rolls of coordinating paper, no uncurlable curling ribbon, no smooshed bows... just simple.
And I love it.













p.s. on the gift wrapping...
I saw Linda posted today that she opted for the same wrapping! I love her stickers and stamps and simple ribbons and pretties in lieu of tags... may have to remember that for next year!



Okay, so I know I promised the deets on my gifts like, oh, weeks and weeks ago, but you probably all know me and my blog by now. When things get promised here, you best not believe this here Liar McLiarpants.

'Cuz look- surprise, surprise, here I am, just four days 'til Christmas, finally getting around to posting about the presents. Only I'm NOT REALLY. Because Ryan told me I can't ruin the surprises for everyone now that there's only four days until they open their gifts. He doesn't believe that a "no family allowed" post will work...

Mostly the reason I wanted to post about all these gifts is to let you know that homemade/handmade gifts don't have to be cheesy and cheap looking and can still be quite simple to make and while they can be a tad time consuming (mostly only for me because I make it up/figure things out as I go and really have no idea what I'm doing until I'm done) they really are a great way to spend less money (seriously- way less) and yet be more intentional in giving.
I have had so much fun this year thinking of ideas family will like and spending the time on things specially for them.

And you guys!
The biggest thing I've learned this year in having 95% of our gifts come from scratch is the huge difference it makes in the whole attitude of giving. Not just for me, but especially for my kids.
While we were busy not wandering around stores or scouring the internet with a list of people to grab things for and cross off the list, I have been able to watch my kids have the greatest experience with Christmas gifting this year. They have experienced creativity, flexibility, thoughtfulness, resourcefulness, patience and just a different kind of generosity. They are genuinely excited for recipients to get their gifts. So much so that really, their own list of wants... has gone pretty much entirely unmentioned this year. They have been so focused on the giving... everything from making treats for the mailman to decorating keepsakes for teachers to creating games for their cousins, that the usual somewhat greedy expectations of children have not (at least outloud) surfaced. In fact, the only thing Savannah could come up with for the Santa we visited last night was "well, I guess I need a new soccer ball".

And the brainstorming and creating of all the gifts has spilled over to the few things we did buy retail... they both were itching to get out and pick out a gift for their dad and for each other (yes, I got lazy when it came to our simple immediate family and didn't go totally homemade).

Anyway. All that to say, I knew I wanted to try a [mostly] homemade Christmas, just because I love making things like this so much.... but little did I know it would so change the way I feel about giving, about the simplicity of gifts, about my kids views on gifting, that really- I want to do things this way every year!
Although I'm not sure how possible it is to keep up for years on end... unless I throw in some favorite repeats here and there... because I have a limited supply of ideas! Especially when it comes to the guys in the bunch. :/

So after Christmas I"ll have a parade of presents of sorts for y'all, just to show you how cheap and easy and fun making gifts can be and that way if you see any ideas you like, for birthdays or Christmas or whatnot, you can file them away for next year!

light bright night

We wrapped up the kitchen work this evening just in time for a little Christmas time fun time. We made the kids get baths and pajamas early (like immediately following an already very early dinner) and then when they were just getting ready to enter full on it's too early for bed complaining mode, we said hurry get your coats and shoes and get out to the car.

We piled in and headed over to this neighborhood where one guy has erected a twinkling winter wonderland in his yard
(yes, this is his front yard!)













and several houses around him have joined in the fun over the years.
















It was a great treat to see and to walk thru and even Santa was there for the kids to say hello to and offer up their short wish lists.





















































































We've made it sort of a tradition the last several years to find local choreographed christmas light displays, so from the Sunnyside neighborhood we headed over to see this house and sat watching the show of lights set to music for awhile before moving on to this one as well.



And then whad'ya know, we ended up right down the street from Krispy Kreme so we of course stopped in and got some donuts and yummy hot chocolate.























































It was a fun little outing... it can't be Christmas until you do a Christmas light drive!








And snowmen donuts don't hurt either.

cuz what else would we do the weekend before christmas?

A quick two day kitchen backsplash tile job of course!












Trying to get every last bit of the kitchen completely crossed off our to-do list before my parents get here and we get into Christmas and New Years...

the longest week ever

But in a good way.
I'm feeling really good about this week! We have gotten so much done and yet have not felt the least bit overwhelmed or worn out or even busy. It's kind of strange.
But I'm not complaining!
I'm just having a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that it's only Wednesday... I think I feel like we've gotten so much accomplished (and have spent so much together time) this week that my head keeps saying it must be about Friday by now!
But no... only Wednesday.

Monday the kids were home from school with the snow and I got all our presents wrapped and most of our packages ready to go.
Washed Savannah's hair and put it up in twists to make great curls/waves for the next day... she loves that!










We also made Christmas cookies...

(in our pajamas!).













We used this recipe again (nice and quick and easy and SO yummy! I LOVE the smidge of orange flavor in them!!) and painted them with the glaze paint. I love these cookies and how simple they are. I think we'll make another batch later next week when my parents are here. I'm happy 'cuz last time we made these, letting the kids go to town on the cookies turned out some rather, um, interesting designs. This year they actually painted and decorated things appropriately (ie, green trees with sprinkles, brown gingerbread boys with buttons, yellow stars, etc.) rather than mixing every color on every cookie with every kind of sprinkle! They actually look as good as they taste this time around!!






























































Tuesday Sawyer had preschool (a late start) but Savannah still didn't (yes, they're in different districts... and yes, it's annoying!), so after we dropped him off we did a little girl's day doing her Christmas shopping and lunch. I also spent the rest of the day putting laundry away, unpacking boxes that were still in our bedroom and then rearranged the furniture. It looks like a completely different room!
We finished up teacher gifts last night as well. Sawyer made glitter initial ornaments for his teachers and we did our good ol' standby of an apple for the teacher; homemade "gourmet" caramel apples* for Savannah's Mrs. K.



















Ryan and I finished off the rest of the caramel last night with our own apple slices while watching tv... YUM.

Today school was back in session, but only for a half day since we're expecting freezing rain early this afternoon. So for the few hours Savannah was gone, Sawyer and I got out to finish up a tad more shopping. We were only out for two hours and we were SO successful I almost couldn't believe my luck. Sawyer found his gifts for his sister and his dad AND I found a new tie for Ryan, a wrap, the perfect new shoes and the perfect jewelry all for a Vanderbilt Christmas dinner party we have this weekend! I've had the dress for a couple of months (found a fabulous cocktail dress for a steal at Ross --$17--) and have been fruitless in finding just the right shoes and accessories... until now! I kept thinking it was a good thing I got the dress for so cheap because it looked like I was going to have to spend a lot on the rest of the outfit, not finding what I wanted anywhere. The best part was not only that we found exactly what I was looking for so quickly today, but that the necklace was on sale for $10 and the shoes for $20!!! Score!

Anyway, we got home before lunch and met Savannah off the bus and now the kids are busy with more crafting of their own accord... making millions of Christmas ornaments out of popsicle sticks apparently.
I think Ryan's planning on being home before too long to be off the roads before the ice storm gets here.
We finally got our kitchen tile in so maybe we'll think about starting that job this afternoon. Or maybe paint the dining room. Nothing like a house in shambles the week before Christmas right?? All I know is I feel like I'm on a roll this week so why not keep it going?

Coming up:
handmade present parade, pics of the tree, santa-hatted kids, and more holiday goodies!

*ETA caramel apple how-to:
(I just typed eat instead of eta... can you tell I'm hungry??)
(and sorry this might be so wordy, but I've done this the right way, and I've done this the wrong way, so I thought I'd try to help someone else avoid the wrongs with details. I've learned this can be a touchy process!)
I pick the biggest prettiest apples I can find for these "gourmet" caramel apples. And you need a couple of big popsicle sticks, a bag of caramels (as soft as you can find; they'll melt easier)(I buy Kraft 14oz), melting chocolate (both semi-sweet and white if you want for drizzling) and sprinkles, crushed candy bars, nuts, etc if desired.
First, make sure your apples are room temp. You don't want the caramel to set too quickly, you'll want time to cover well and smooth out.
-Melt the caramels on the stove (I've tried microwave-- does not work!) with 2 tbsp of water, stirring often while they start to melt and almost constantly the more melty they get. (directions for caramel apples should be on the bag)
-Once the caramels are melted and smooth, remove from heat and pour into a bowl that's as close to the same size as your apple as you can find.
Let the caramel cool and thicken slightly so as not to run off of the apple.
-Remove the stem of your apple and insert a large popsicle stick well into the apple from the top.
-Once the caramel has thickened a tad, dip your apple, rolling it and tilting the bowl to cover as best you can. I don't like to cover much past the "hump" of the top of the apple so you can still see the red/green beauty under there!
When you're satisfied with your coverage, place apple(s) on a greased plate or tray. Caramel will stick to wax paper, so if you want to use wax paper you still need to grease/spray it.
-Refrigerate caramel covered apple for about 30 minutes.
-Melt 8 oz chocolate in microwave... use baking/coating chocolate, not chocolate chips. I've tried both and chocolate chips just do not set as well. Go for the good stuff. Again, melting instructions should be on package.
-Again, once the chocolate is melted and smooth, let it sit for a few minutes to thicken just a bit. You don't want it to run right off your apple. The apple will be cold from the fridge, so once you dip you need to work a little quicker than the caramel. I dip to just under the top of the caramel line... I think it makes for prettier presentation to see that there's caramel under the chocolate.
-Again, place in fridge, just for 5-10 minutes this time. You can use regular wax paper now.
-While chocolate coat is setting, melt 1-2 oz (per apple) of white chocolate in small bowl.
When chocolate is just set, drizzle with white chocolate. You can be as messy or pretty as you want.
-Sprinkle with nuts, crushed candy, sprinkles, whatever you desire!

I always do these the night before I want to gift them and keep them in the fridge overnight.
Then wrap in cellophane, bunching together and tying around the stick with either curling ribbon or a nice fabric ribbon and they look oh so fancy!
Enjoy!!

best snow day ever

We spent the day in pj's, wrapped all our presents, washed hair and put it up in twists for curls later (us girls), watched Christmas movies, had mac and cheese for lunch, baked and decorated Christmas sugar cookies, played in the snow, drank hot chocolate and indulged in our sugar cookies, wrote letters to Santa, worked on teacher gifts, snuggled in front of the fire and waited for daddy to get home.

No fighting, no bickering, just lots of relaxing and Christmas music and saying 'what should we do next??'

It was a great day.
Great. Day.

We have another snow day on tap tomorrow.
What are the chances it will be just as enjoyable as today?
And what are the chances we'll all be pulling our hair out driving each other crazy??

snow day

Goodness, the weekend got away from me this time around. Really-- how is it possible it's over already??

It's been snowing all day.
Love it.
Love it, love it, love it.
School canceled tomorrow already. We only have about four inches on the ground but it rained all day yesterday and before the snow and now it's about 16° so it sounds like it's pretty slick out there.
We had friends over for lunch after church and watched the snow come down all day. The kids went out to play late afternoon and by the time they went to bed all their sled tracks we covered up already. We spent some time looking out at the yard in their upstairs bedroom windows before we said goodnight... the roof of the sunroom below comes right up to their windows and the light up there made the snow outside their windows sparkle... and with the snow still falling and the quiet yard stretching out and the view down the hill... it was just so pretty.

Backing up a bit, Friday was my birthday.
My favorite thing about my birthday -the kids' birthdays too- is that Ryan always takes the day off. This year the stars were aligned and both kids had school all day... meaning Ryan and I got to hang out all day together, just us. Wish every Friday were like that!
After we dropped Sawyer off, we stopped for donuts and then -oh excitement!- spent the morning getting our cars emission tests, registered and new license plates. We were going to get our TN driver's license too, but got impatient. We went out to lunch and then did a little bit of extra Christmas shopping for the kids done before we went back to pick up Sawyer and head home for Savannah. It was just a fun, laid-back day and I loved spending it with my favorite people!

Saturday we did a few little projects around the house and then I spent the rest of the day finishing up all my handmade gifts. I think we are officially set for Christmas now. I'll get things wrapped and to the post office this week and we'll be good to go!

I can't believe the kids only have this week of school left before Christmas break is here already! And not even a full week-- Savannah just has a half day Thursday and then Friday starts break. That is crazy!
I'm sure this week will go at warp speed as well.
How does all this stuff just keep going faster and faster??

card me

[I think I need to insert a permanent disclaimer here: please excuse any dark unedited pics. They make me cringe sometimes, and I hate not resizing, but I'm without photoshop these days and I live in a minimally naturally lit house and I just have to get over it]

Remember the Thanksgiving frame I put on this blank cabinet in our kitchen?
















Enter: December














I wrote about Christmas card displays last year, and as much as I love that little tree I've used for years, it was way too small for the amount of cards we get these days and I didn't have a great spot to put it in a new house this year that could catch the overflow on the walls like I've done before. But I did find a great narrow spot in our entryway that fits the silver tree itself nicely. Sans cards.
So I had to come up with a new idea for cards and decided to just try changing up the frame I had up for Thanksgiving.














I cut a scroll-ey shape out of shimmery blue glitter paper, added a couple of strips of green polka dot paper (I didn't even back them on anything- just taped them right to the frame) and got to spelling with some glitter letters I had on hand. I was trying to think of a word or phrase fitting for picts and cards from friends and settled on "it's the most wonderful time of the year".



-I don't think you can tell in these pictures, but the letters are all just a little bit glittery. Just the right amount of sparkle!-




















I changed out the mini-clothespins I used in the fall for some round swirly clips I had in my stash, added a tiny sparkly candy cane sticker (and a beaded candy cane Sawyer added from school) and whalah... we're ready for Christmas cards!



(yes, this is my own card up here... I couldn't stand a completely blank frame staring at me.)







I'll clip or hang the cards over the twine and just stick overflow and most of the flat photo cards directly on the cabinet above and below.
Bring on the Christmas cards people!

on a roll

Goodness today was a good day of accomplishment!
We did a tiny bit of Christmas shopping this morning (yes, the mall on a Saturday... what were we thinking??) and then spent the rest of the day watching football, playing video games and making the rest of our Christmas presents.
I'll leave it to you to guess who did what.

I am so excited about our Christmas presents this year!
I had originally planned on a totally homemade gift list this year, but as my good laptop is still out of commission, I don't have the list I tediously compiled from way back last year. Planning ahead never really works out for me... when will I learn that?! Anyway, with our house and life still feeling pretty crazy since moving, I wasn't sure if I had the motivation or resources to pull it off, especially without my master list. I don't even remember most of what was on it because I just bookmarked it all way back around last Christmas and left it at that, not thinking of it again until this fall when I couldn't access it. But over the last few weeks I've casually been compiling things I could think of, new ideas, and new experiments and amazingly my homemade list kept growing and growing.

I tallied it up today and we are about 98% done shopping for our families -our three sets of parents, nine siblings (and sibling-in-laws) and six nieces and nephews. Out of all of those we have purchased only five gifts from retailers, one of them being a handmade Etsy buy and one of them being from this website which I feel good about because it's giving back to a good cause.
Otherwise we've made/are making the rest of our gifts here. And with mostly supplies I already had on hand. Two growth charts, a canvas print, tu-tus, picture frames, memory games, coasters, jars of flavored coffee creamers, drink mixes and a cocktail recipe book, jewelry and a collection of wooden photo boards. I feel like I'm forgetting something. Oh, I also made myself a new tree skirt!
Did I mention we've been busy today??
I LOVE this stuff!

I'm waiting for daylight to take pictures of some of the goodies tomorrow and then I'll show them off. There's still time if you're looking for handmade ideas to swipe!!