my family

Christmas cookies

Last Christmas update.  I just thought this too cute to skip.  We made a whole bunch of gingerbread cookies.  Both kids decorated a lot.  Well, India made about half while Ezra ate what he made.

Often our front room gets really warm in the winter, that’s why no shirts.  Even if it is 20 degrees outside, it’s a balmy 70 in our front room.  The rest of the house is a different story.  I love all the sun, especially after living in the north side of our Victorian through Boston’s cold, long winters.  It reminds me of the sliding glass door growing up.  I used to curl up in the sun like a cat and enjoy the rays.  There are no sliding glass doors in old Victorians or Colonials, which we lived in while in Baltimore.

If you’re wondering; the sun does not shine through these windows in the summer and the house often stays nice and cool throughout the hot season.  I believe we use the swamp cooler about 15-20 days out of the year.

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The Christmas Round-up

Christmas in February?  Well, it has taken me awhile to get everything updated since I now have a faster moving computer.  Ironic, I know.

This Christmas we spent at home and had a very special guest of Uncle Noah.  It was great having him around.  The kids love to play with him and it is really convenient having another adult in the house.  I hope he might return in March… but I think he may have missed the cheap ticket prices that were being offered by Frontier Airlines after the Super Bowl.  Some good came from watching those ads.  The in-laws and my mom got tickets for after the baby is born… Um, I’m having a baby in April, for all those of you who do not know.  I guess along with not updating the blog, this announcement has been skipped.  Sorry.

Here is what our day looked like.  Pretty fun morning!collage

Ahoy Mates

There be pirates ahead!
We went all out for Ezra’s 3rd birthday. We sunk a pirate ship with cannon balls, had a treasure hunt, put jewels on personal treasure chests and had a few sword fights here and there. Oh yes, there was cake and ice cream too.
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Our front room had a bit of a makeover.  We needed to turn the house into a ship… this was what we came up with.

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The treasure map, thanks to India’s artistic skills.

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The treasure chests coming together.

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The booty was found inside this treasure chest.

(Plain trunk purchased at craft store.  With a little paint and glitter glue we made a beautiful treasure chest).

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The ship they were to sink with cannon balls.  I think this was an activity to shut the door on and let them have at it.  Whiffle balls were flying!

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Two puffs is all it took.  He’d been practicing.

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Sharing a seat… for a little while anyway.  Once Ezra noticed, he pushed India off.  Brotherly love.

Handmade Christmas

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Now keep in mind, not every gift this year was handmade. No matter how hard I tried I couldn’t make “Little Big Planet” or that double light saber (which Ez had prayed for all year). But I figured we could make gifts for our extended family members. So we did.
I had high hopes of binding a journal or album for my sister in law to help her chronicle their stay in France. But someone took all my time and I couldn’t stitch another stitch. This someone was a little girl made of felt and stuffed with fuzz. We didn’t name her, but India designed her dress and drew her face. We used the tutorial here. Since I was all stitched out, I decided painting on the face was the only way to go. I think she turned out lovely.
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I made these super cute necklaces for two my nieces. I found the how-to here. I couldn’t make the rosettes quite right so left them plain. Still a big hit… with India at least. We’ll see if the girls liked them when we visit in Feb.
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India designed these scarfs and both kids painted them for their teachers.
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There are one or two more gifts that I made. Give me a week or two to make sure they have been received then I’ll post them here.

Aunt T and Uncle Joe

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This trip to California was full of catching up. Not only was I able to photograph my nephew, I photographed my sister Teri and Joe… oh, and their monkey babies.
We headed to the beach since Teri has been a surfer forever. Apparently we went to the dog beach… since Jo loves animals, or animals love him. Whichever. It was amazing to see the dogs come and hang with him for a bit then move on. Really obvious that they like him. Me, I just asked that they didn’t sniff or slobber. I’m a wimp.


The monkeys.