As a Christmas present for a member of my family I asked my uncle if he could make prints of a couple of my great grandmother's paintings. He is an artist, an inventor and generally a genius. The prints turned out so beautifully that I thought I would post a picture here! They turned out so perfectly - I actually kept the trial copies, the duds - they look great!
I was about to write that because my next class (Anatomy) doesn't start until the end of the month I had time to catch up on my quilting. The truth is that my dear friend Care is pregnant and I lost track of time (and her due date) and was shocked to learn on Wednesday that her baby shower was on Saturday. I panicked and rushed to the fabric store to buy fabric. I had the monkey squares but nothing else. That night I cut the fabric and pieced the quilt top and the next night I bound and quilted it. That's right. A two day baby quilt that I absolutely love and if I didn't love Care so much would have kept.
After I finished the monkey quilt I figured that since I had my machine out I might as well finish the Christmas quilts that I didn't have time for before Christmas because of that lovely trip to the emergency room. Just in case you think that I am really great or something I should mention that the small wall quilt was supposed to be Amanda's Christmas present LAST year. In truth I am a horrible friend. And Amanda, I mailed it yesterday, Merry Christmas!
It is the New Year and the time for setting new goals. I only have a few this year. I want to get my kids to eat something green by the end of the year. I want to get though the vegetables from my CSA before they rot (I compost a lot of local organic produce, mostly beets). I will also make a bigger effort to remember my reusable bags and not leave them in the car! I have made some progress in reducing the cupboard full of bags in my kitchen but I want them gone!!!
On that subject I have been meaning to do a review of reusable grocery bags for a while. I started buying them last summer and bought a bunch of different kinds. I have been using them and some are better than others. They all cost a dollar each apart from the bigger Trader Joe bag which cost two dollars. So here they are starting with my least favorite.
The Albertson’s bag is made of a fabric-like recycled material (as are the Von’s and Target bags). It seems to be a bit sturdier than the Von’s and Target bags but it is on the small side.
The Vons (Safeway) bag is big and holds a lot but a few of mine have already gotten ripped. It is also on the ugly side. It does have nice long handles that fit over my sholder.
There are two kinds of Target bags. One is very similar to the previous two but the other is really great. It is smaller than the others but it folds down and zippers into a wallet. I really like this because as far as I can tell the biggest problem with all of these bags is remembering to bring them into the store. I keep these little Target bags in my purse.
The Trader Joe’s bags are by far my favorite. They are made out of a much stronger plastic, they are big and they look great. These are the ones I grab first.
So if you have been meaning to buy some of these bags definitely go for the Trader Joe bags!
We had a nice trip to Arizona for Christmas. There was a little bit of snow on the ground and it was very, very cold. We are lucky that the boys are really good travelers and are generally very good in the car. It is so nice to be able to play movies in the car!
It was good to relax and hang out with my family. We finally got a good family picture taken. Last year was really blurry and unusable. Brooks leaves for his mission next week so it is extra good that it worked out!
We had fun Christmas morning, Collin and Peter are finally old enough to understand what is going on and enjoyed opening their presents. Here is Peter with his stocking.
I got to see my friend Christine and her adorable family.
Colin and my mom made the most of the snow on the ground. They built lots of little snowmen and Collin loved it! I think it was below freezing for the entire trip but he didn't seem to mind!
We had a very nice trip and were very happy to get hope to our own beds!
I have been so busy lately! I think that December is the most stressful month of the year. I finished my microbiology class this week. Hopefully I did well, I am just glad it is over. It was the hardest class I have taken so far.
A couple of weeks ago I took Collin in for the developmental evaluation we have been waiting for all year. I was very surprised at how badly he did on the tests. He didn't want to do them and didn't focus. The next week I went back to the psychologist and she gave me the diagnosis. Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PPD-NOS) . It is on the autism spectrum, kind of an autism light. It encompasses the attention problems, the sensory problems, the communication problems and the social problems. It was where we thought he would fit but we are still not sure if it is due to the hearing loss he experienced or if there is more too it. Peter had a hearing test a few days ago and he failed it (he passed six months ago)! I am glad we caught it early so that he can get tubes right away rather than waiting like we did with Collin.
While I was taking my final Wednesday night Des took the boys to the mall. Apparently they were coming out of the elevator in Sears when Collin decided he didn't like the lady who was in the elevator with them and tried to race her out of the elevator and ran strait into a metal bar. He cut and scraped his face around his eye and was so upset he refused to let the paramedics look at him. We spent the evening in the emergency room. They glued his cuts closed and his eye is going to be fine, just a nasty shiner for the Christmas pictures!
I have been doing a little baking. I made a few different kinds of cookies earlier in the month and my biscotti turned out really well. So I decided to make lots more for my friends. It is really easy. Just mix the dough and make it into a log and cook it.
Then cut the log into slices and put it back in the oven to toast on each side.
Then I dipped them in chocolate and sprinkled with nuts. I like to dip them in my hot cocoa.
I got almost all of my biscotti delivered tonight. Now all I have to do is pack for our trip to my parents house tomorrow morning!!
I had a busy weekend. I put up the Christmas tree and did a little decorating. We have a fake tree that Des bought in the after Christmas sales the year before last. He says we have to use it for two years to make it worthwhile. I hate fake trees because they are a pain to put together, they shed plastic needles and they don't smell like Christmas. Last year I got some fresh branches to put around the house to smell piney but it didn't work. They dried out in a few days. This year I am going to buy a really nice expensive candle to produce that Christmas smell (I am a little passive-aggressive). I am looking forward to next year's tree.
I also finished that baby quilt I was working on. It is a good thing too because Jennifer's baby will be here any day! She preferred the green and I thing it turned out really beautifully. I quilted leaves onto the green squares and I like the way it turned out. The green is actually a bit lighter in person. Now that this is done I can get started on my Christmas quilts!!
After we got back from our trip I had to do a lot of laundry. Collin and Peter kept themselves occupied with the baskets for a few short minutes.
I forgot to write about my trip to the dentist. Peter was happy to sit in the lobby and watch TV for most of my appointment but Collin was not. He preferred to sit on my belly throughout the entire visit. While Peter did really well but I don't think I would bring my kids again if I didn't have to.
Here are some Thanksgiving leftovers. This is a video of Peter, Collin and Grandmama building sand castles. The boys get really, really excited each time a new tower is added. There is also a picture of the three littlest kids: Trevor Lizzie and Peter. That bucket of animals was a lifesaver. They played with it all day every day.
See how generous Peter is with his animals. He has gotten really possessive of his things lately. Especially his elephant. That he would not share.
