Quilts, Quilts and more Quilts!

Whoa - I just finished a month of making A LOT of quilts.

I am most proud of this one, this was my mom's Christmas present.  She wanted one with red in it so I thought Rouenneries by French General for Moda would be perfect.  I love this fabric!  The back is completely red but I am embarassed to show it - lots of snaggies, my foot broke halfway through quilting this one so I had to wing it.  Oh well, it was made with love and the top looks good!

These little cuties were my other big Christmas time project.  The husband's aunt wanted small quilts for her 5 granddaughter's American Girls.  I had just ordered the Moda Bake Shop sampler and those little squares were perfect for these quilts.  Each quilts has their initials on the back and is done with a specific color in mind.

Off they went to New York!  I really hope those girlies love them and keep their little American Girlies warm.

I think I am going to take a small break from quilting ~ at least until my new foot gets here!

Until then, I will be spending quality time with my new Cricut that my parents got me for Christmas.  Back to the scrapbooking. 

So many craft projects, so little time!

Oh yeah and we are off to the slopes soon!  I cannot wait to see me some snow!!

                                                                     

Our Christmas

This is the story of our Christmas...

Our story begins on the morning of Christmas Eve - we started the day off right with lots of sugar cookie dough, sprinkles and baking. 

All in the name of Santa! 

These cookies were made just for him by these two little guys.

Then after an afternoon at home and a bubble bath with Christmas carols playing in the background, it was time for church.

Before church when everyone was awake.

After church when the little one just woke up from a nap on daddy's lap.

Then it was on to Grandma's for dinner and some presents.

Then home to our new Santa jammies and some goofing around.

Now back to business people, putting the Santa key on the mat (we do not have a fireplace so we leave a key for St. Nick).  And some carrots for the reindeer too.  Santa's cookies are inside for him.

We began a new tradition this year.  Daddy read the story of when Jesus was born and mommy read 'Twas the Night Before Christmas just before bedtime.

While our sweet boys slept, Santa came!

And we played...

and played....

and played.

The End.

My Ornament Has Arrived from the Netherlands!

How exciting to go to the mailbox this afternoon to find among the bills an envelope from The Netherlands!

Marielle was my ornament exchange partner, visit her blog MADesign,  for The Benner Daily Ornament Exchange.

This is the sweet little card she sent to me.

And she was nice enough to send me 2 of each of these beautiful ornaments!

Love them!  I cannot wait to participate again next year. 

Thank you so much Marielle!  They are so sweet.

Our Family Pictures

The proofs of our family pictures are in!  So exciting!

Amy Smith of Amy Smith Photography took our pictures 2 weekends ago and she did a great job.  These are a couple of the ones she sent over to me. 

Check out her blog here.

This one was taken on the steps to the church at Rollins College in Winter Park, FL - this is where the husband and I were married.

Thanks Amy!

More handmade ornaments

These are my last handmade ornaments of the year. I finally had to stop, my tree is filled!

(even with our puppy dog, Sadie the Lady, eating several of our ornaments)

I got the idea for this little sled from Linds @ That's so Cuegly during my 12 Days of Handmade Ornaments - her ornament tutorial is here. I looked all over Joann's for a plain wood sled and finally found one in their Christmas ornaments - they were 60% off so I bought 2! The winner of my ornament giveaway has the other one (or she will have it soon):D

I am loving the sled because it will always remind me of our upcoming family vacation to go skiing in NC.

Then I found these sweet little angels that I thought I could easily dress up a bit with some mod podge, scrapbook paper, paint and of course glitter.

I am going to miss Christmas time, I got lots of great crafting ideas.
I hate to put everything away.

Merry Christmas Everyone!

3 Little Babies

Trees that is.

My trees from the Arbor Day Foundation finally arrived.

Today was a beautiful day and my boys are home so we planted our little trees today.

I got a red maple for each of my little guys and a sugar maple for mommy & daddy.

I decided to plant them in pots until the "winter" is over in case we have a freeze I can just bring them in the garage overnight.

Big J getting ready to put his footprint on this tree pot,

he said it tickled to paint his piggies ;D

And my sweet Lil J getting ready to put his handprint on his tree pot.

Talk to the hand mommy!

I don't know how long we will live here in this house, maybe a little while longer, maybe these kiddos will go through high school here.

But it would be so sweet to see these trees grow with them.

Just a little fun before the big day.

Are you all ready for Christmas?

I'm not - I have lots of wrapping to do, but at least the shopping is done.

It is all up to the USPS and UPS and FedEx men to come through now...

And of course the greatest delivery man of them all!

SANTA

waiting and waiting

'Twas the Night Before Christmas

These sweet little guys are loving this book before bedtime right now...wonder why!

This is my view watching them as I read to them tonight - just out of the bathtub, so clean and cozy in their jammies.

Love them!

Winter is arriving soon - finally!

Could it be?

Could it finally be?

Winter is here?

The cold front is on its way and we will have 4 straight days of cold. I am so excited. Maybe it will even last through Christmas. Wanna bet?

I love dressing the kiddos up snuggly and warm in hats and mittens.

I really don't think the kids care much. They are just waiting on this guy to arrive soon.

Poor Big J has been telling me EVERY day that it is SOOOOOO hard to wait for Christmas.

I know baby, it will be here soon - I promise.

Not too sure what he is smirking about in this picture, makes me worry what he told Santa.

I am excited for Christmas but even more excited for our

family vacation to go see snow soon.

SNOW!!!!

Snowmen, sleds, snowball fights!

Now maybe you all think I am CRAZY but I am from Florida - born and raised - so these things are really exciting to me.

Now to live in the snow is another story, ya'll have fun with that one.

Showin' & Tellin'

Happy Wednesday all!I am showing off a little something I made yesterday. And a little something my 4 year old made at preschool today.
My creation is this little Christmas tree made from small silver and blue ball ornaments and a cone shaped piece of styrofoam. I bought a clay pot and spray painted it red and tied the bow around it. I cannot tied a fancy bow but this one will do. If anyone would like to show me how to make a proper bow, I would love to know.

And this is a creation made from my 4 year old Big J. I was patiently waiting for him in the car line and immediately after he popped in the car he handed me a brown bag with a red bow on it. This was a present for me. He made Mary, Joseph and Baby Jesus.


Aren't they sweet. I love them.