Thanks...and Stuff

Ben and I decided that this would be a good year to start our own Thanksgiving traditions. (With the exception of Noah being at his dad's. We don't want to make that a tradition.) So we spent the day cooking and decorating for Christmas. Ben actually ended up cooking the entire meal, minus the broccoli casserole. This was not my fault however. I fully expected and was prepared to make Thanksgiving dinner. I was even kind of looking forward to it. Ben had other plans...last minute plans.

When we were discussing what/how/where we should spend Thanksgiving, Ben said that he didn't care too much for Thanksgiving and didn't really have any attachments to particular foods for this specific holiday. I got the impression that if it were up to him we would spend it like we did ever other day. I, on the other hand, have many attachments to particular Thanksgiving dishes and wouldn't feel like it was Thanksgiving without them. Mainly turkey and broccoli casserole. I told Ben that we didn't have to make a big deal out of the stuffing, we could just do stove top, and he said, "We'll if we're going to make it, I want to make something fancy." Or something to that affect. Classic Ben. If you are going to do it, do it right the first time and go ALL OUT! So before I knew what was happening he had found recipes for stuffing, green beans, turkey, and bread pudding. So much for spending the day like any other day. :) Poor Ben spent so much time preparing food. I did offer to help many many times, and did when I was allowed. When we sat down to dinner Ben was very disappointed with everything. The stuffing, which I thought was yummy, he said tasted just like stove top. He was very concerned that the turkey was not completely cooked because our thermometer was having problems and he lost his appetite while carving it. I don't think he even finished his plate of food. :( I thought everything was great though.

Here is a picture of Eden's Thanksgiving dinner.



And Hope's.

Oh dear. Yes. That is a cucumber. Which she did not eat. She only chewed it up and spit it in the garbage. I did make a plate for her, but she refused it as she does every night. She was very curious about the turkey all day long and kept asking to see it as it was brining and then cooking. I think she did eat a couple of tiny pieces of it, which I was very surprised at.

Eden only took a few nibbles too. This is uncharacteristic of her. She is usually a good eater, well, compared to her sister. But she had the stomach flu all week so I'm sure her appetite was not as usual.

Here are some pictures of decorating.

Hope helped fluff out the branches and kept sticking small stuffed animals in the tree to decorate it. No, I didn't make Ben decorate AND cook. He got down the tree and put up the base layers and I did some too. Let me just explain something about Ben, because I feel like his perfectness is making me look bad. If something needs to be done, Ben wants to do it himself. Part (if not most) of this is because of what I mentioned about him before. "If you are going to do something, do it right the first time and go ALL OUT."  Perhaps he feels that he is the only one that can do whatever it is right and would rather do it himself to avoid mishaps and having to clean up someone else's mistakes. He will not admit this, but I think it's true. At least that is what I tell myself to make myself feel better when my husband is doing all the work and I am standing around incessantly asking, "What can I do?" Perhaps he IS the only one that could do whatever it is right and the best. He has never disappointed before and I can't imagine that he will ever start.

I am sure that all sounds like I am irritated with this aspect of my husband's personality. That is not the case. I love that he has the attitude of "do something right the first time." Too many people do things half-heartedly and end up with less than ideal results or just big ol' messes. If I am being honest here, I am one of those people. I truly admire this quality of Ben's and want to adopt that quality in my way of thinking too. Although, I do get a little frustrated and offended sometimes when Ben won't let me help with things. I know that another part of the reason he does so much is because of his love for me and his desire to please me. He is certainly a gentleman in the fact that he wants to save me the trouble of doing something so he will do it himself. I will never understand how someone like him could love someone like me the way he does, but I am certainly grateful for the wonderful blessing of having such a man in my life.

Oh...we were talking about decorating.

Middle picture: Eden was playing peek-a-boo by putting a stocking on her head and lifting it up to say "Boo!" She spent most of the decorating time watching Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas, but every once in a while she would come in and oh and ah over the tree and ornaments.

So first just us Thanksgiving didn't go quite as planned, but luckily we have a lifetime of Thanksgivings to figure it out.

Hope Says...

Mom: Did you eat the frosting off that cookie?
Hope: Sure I did. I tried just looking at it. But I wanted it.

*Hope lies on her tummy rests her chin in her hands and sighs.*
Dad: What is that sigh for?
Hope: Nothing. I'm just thinking about grandma. I miss her.

Dad: Are you excited for Thanksgiving?
Hope: You're welcome.
Dad: No, tomorrow is Thanksgiving. We are going to have a big turkey dinner.
Hope: Who will be joining us?
Dad: No one. It's just going to be us.
Hope: Oh. There's going to be a lot of food.

What a shame it is to have such brilliantly witty children and not write down every word that comes out of their mouths. So much has been said that I'm sure I have forgotten, that I swore in the moment I would remember forever. From now on I will do my best to document those beautiful words on this blog to keep for my children and to share with you.

Homemade Playdough

When I was in the second or third grade I had a science project due at school. Probably my first one ever and if I remember correctly, I waited until the night before it was due to even start. (It is amazing how parts of your personality like procrastination start at such a young age and stubbornly stick with you until you realize that the only way it will get unstuck is if YOU unstick it.) Anyway, the project was that I had to create one of those little boxes that you look into and the environment was colored all over the sides of the box and the subject was somewhere in there. I spent a few minutes trying to google what this was called, but no luck. It is driving me insane now. I'm sure Ben will know (he knows everything) when he gets home. I kind of got off track there...DINOSAURS. We had to mold our favorite dinosaur out of playdoh or clay and create the environment in which it lived in this little box. Well, because I waited until the last minute I had no clay or playdoh. Mommy dearest saved the day. She said she could make some homemade playdoh and that it would work just fine. I don't remember if I expressed my disappointment or not, but I was thinking, "Homemade playdoh? This is going to suck." She went off into the kitchen and a short while later I had a lump of play dough! I was pleasantly surprised because A) it didn't smell nearly as horrific as store bought playdoh B) it was a shade of blue, which was my favorite color and finally C) it had an awesome sandy texture which I have always loved. Needless to say I finished my project and mom gave me a memory that I have recalled on many many accounts thus far in my life. Every time I have thought about playing playdoh with my kids, or I am squishing that sick smelling stuff through my fingers I think about that night and how mom had made playdoh that was so much better than any store bought stuff.

Today, probably close to 25 years later I decided to give it a try myself. I found a recipe online and to my surprise already had all the ingredients on hand. My mom suggested that I let the kids help make it and I did just that. Well, Hope anyway. Noah is with his dad, and here is what Eden was doing...

...eating a cookie.

Hope was snacking too, on a pringle. In the middle picture you can see her putting salt in the pot with one hand and holding her chip in the other. :) That's my girl. I asked her what color she would like the play dough to be, although I already knew what she would say. Purple! It is her favorite color, and luckily we had some purple food coloring, so purple play dough it would be. I gave them some cookie cutters and Hope was very proud of herself for making the shapes, check out the bottom right picture.

Mom- be sure to click on the collage to make it bigger, Hope is making some pretty priceless expressions you will want a close up of! In the top right picture she was really get into it and stood up on her chair to find the most efficient way to smoosh her playdough.

Eden did as expected. She was excited but didn't know what to do with it. I tried showing her a couple of things and finally she was content with tearing it into pieces and throwing it on the floor after unsuccessfully trying to slather it in her hair.

Eden played about 10 minutes total and Hope about 15. Short-lived, but at least it stores in the fridge for a while. Or so I'm told.

***DIORAMA!!! Ben told me. :)***

An Amateur's Crayon Roll

First item of business is to give credit to the blog that I used to accomplish this project.

Thank you Skip To My Lou! If you want to make a crayon roll I would highly reccommend using that site instead of mine, but just for fun...read on! :)
Secondly, I have to tell you that this is my second crayon roll. I made one a few months ago that is too embarrassing to post a pic of. Straight lines are not easy to sew for EVERYONE okay? I want to make these cute little crayon rolls/colored pencil rolls for stocking stuffers this year, so yesterday I made another for practice. Every time I make one I learn something different to do next time. That is what practice is all about right?

You lucky duck. This time I took pictures of most of my steps so that I could document this sewing project on this here blog. I figure if I am going to learn how to do something why not take family and friends along on the ride so they will have further proof that I am not the perfect person they imagine me to be. *hahaha* In any case it will be fun to see my progress (assuming I make some) with sewing.

Here goes...

Step one: Pick out fabric. Simple enough right? I needed two pieces that were 5 x 16 1/2 inches, and one corresponding pattern/color that was 6 x 16 1/2. The website I used said to use 5 x16 1/2 fusible interfacing, but I didn't have any on hand, so I just used an extra piece of fabric cut to those dimensions. I also needed 30 inches of ribbon and crayons for the finished product.

**A tidbit I learned: Choose a pattern that is better at keeping track of your sewing lines (like stripes) for the 6 x 16 1/2 piece, unless you want to spend a ridiculous amount of time marking lines.***

Here are my three pieces of 5 x 16 1/2.

Step Two: Fold in half and press the 6 x 16 1/2 fabric. This will be the pocket for the crayons. Place it on the right side of the piece of 5 x 16 1/2 fabric that will be the inside of your roll. The edge pockets will be 1 1/4 inches. All other pockets will be one inch. There will be a total of 16 pockets. Adding 1/4 inch sew the first pocket and proceed with the other pockets measuring out an inch for each. Leave an additional1/4 inch for the last pocket.  At this point the bottom of the pocket is still raw.

Step Three: If using fusible interfacing press it to the wrong side of the piece of 5 x 16 1/2 fabric that will be the outside of the roll. If using felt or other material pin it to the wrong side of the fabric.

***A tid-bit I learned: This part is very tedious but if you are an amateur like me you will want to take the time to measure and mark each pocket line, making sure that they are an inch apart (with the exception of the end pockets which will be 1 1/4 inches wide). If available use a water soluble pencil OR mark it on the wrong side of the fabric so that your marks won't show on the final product. Also, back stitch at the beginning and end of each line you sew. That may be obvious to seasoned seamstresses, but this post is titled "amateur" for a reason.***

The outside of the roll is on the left and the inside with the pocket on the right.

Step Four: Fold the ribbon in half and pin the ends to the right side of either piece of fabric. Place the right side of the remaining piece of fabric (the piece with the pocket) on top of the ribbon and the right side of the piece of fabric it is pinned to. Now you will be looking at the wrong side of the fabric. Pin it.

***A tid-bit I learned: Make sure that the majority of the ribbon is hanging out on the inside of the fabric. Not on the outside of the fabric. Duh.***

Step Five: Sew 1/4 inch seam along all the edges, but leave about 3 1/2 inches on one of the ends so that you can turn the roll right side out. Remember to back stitch at the beginning and end of each line. Trim the edges.

***A tid-bit I learned: This is a very important step. You may want to place a reminder pin so you will give yourself enough room for turning. Also, if you think anything less than 3 inches is enough room for turning you would be mistaken....or very talented if you pull it off.***

Sewn and trimmed.

Step Six: Using a chopstick or wooden spoon handle, or anything else that would work, :) Turn the fabric right side out.

Step Seven: The website I used says to blanket stitch the opening that you left for turning. I don't know what this means, so being an amateur, I simply sewed it shut. Why not? If you have cool options on your sewing machine you could do a cool stitch to make it look like part of the design. Trim the edges that you just finished. And press the crayon roll.

 

Step Eight:  Fill with crayons!

 



Then roll and tie the ribbon.

 

 

TA-DA!!!

 

If you were actually able to accomplish anything by using my instructions I must congratulate you because as I reread this post I realized that giving directions IS NOT one of my strong points. And there you have more proof of my imperfection. Sillies.

S.U.G.A.R.

Sugar is no stranger to my children. It's not something I am proud of, but if I am being honest, it is a part of their daily diet. Right now I am sure that you are imagining me shoveling spoonfuls of sugar into my children's mouths cackling like the witch in Hansel & Gretel. You would be wrong. You would be right however, if you picture me shoveling "smarties" into my own mouth as I type out this post. :) In all seriousness, what I mean is that my girls would rather have apple juice than water, and Hope would rather have a cookie than what is for dinner. Noah does pretty well, but he is older so it is easier to reason with him and explain to him that what he is about to eat will inevitably cause him tummy troubles.

Usually Hope can hold her sugar pretty well. I am sure it is because they are good friends. Yesterday was different. After trick-or-treating at dad's work she experienced her first MAJOR sugar crash and sprawled out on the couch watching t.v. until it was time to go out for yet MORE candy. Poor thing, she had the low, but not really the high. Usually my kids don't bounce off the walls from their sugar intake.

Last night Eden did though. Ben took her home early from trick-or-treating so they could hand candy out to the kids and be warm in the house. When Hope and I finally made our way home Eden was pretty hyper. Chocolate smeared on her face and her hands sticky with sugary goodness; hyper was a new reaction for Eden. Needless to say, she didn't go to be until almost two hours after her usual bed time.

Hope was SO excited for trick-or-treating! She ran from house to house and Ben and I had to call to her to slow down and wait for us. It is too bad that Noah wasn't here, I am sure he would've appreciated her enthusiasm. Thank goodness it was somewhat warm outside too. It was actually kind of cold, but warmer than usual for a Utah Halloween night. Because of this Hope and I got to go to more houses than in years past and she kept telling me that she wanted to fill her bag all the way to the top with candy. She would knock on the door, hold her bag open in anticipation of the candy soon to be dropped in and shout "Trick-or-Treat!" when the people came to the door.

She was an excellent trick-or-treator and very proud of her soft kitty tail, which was a black feather boa I tied around her waist.

This picture was taken on our way to daddy's work for trick-or-treating.

Eden caught on very quickly about taking candy and putting it in her bag. She wasn't scared at all of the scary costumes.

Hanging out in dad's office.

 

Can't believe it is already over. On to Thanksgiving!