A quick email from Kevin . . .

. . . said we will stay with another of his friends in Brazil and to please bring another hostess gift.  So I pulled out my sewing machine and fabric and whipped up another pillow cover.  I corrected the mistakes I made on the first two and I'm really delighted with this one.

I used a darker color for one of the reds plus the small square in the middle and I like it.  Now I'm wishing I had used a more muted white and . . . and . . . and.  I know this will be gratefully accepted with the good wishes and gratitude I feel toward the families who have been so kind to Kevin.

Here are all three pillows:

Hostess gifts completed!

I have a busy first-of-the-week coming this week, then a few days of downtime (big holiday in Korea).  I was actually planning to make the pillows during those few days, but decided to just get going on them.

I did my favorite get-going mental game which was to do things in little steps.  Eating an elephant a bite at a time, you might say.  First I had to get down the box of fabric.  Then I had to look for a pattern.  Then I had to choose fabrics.  Then I had to just cut out the pieces, etc, etc. Everything I did was only one thing and then I could quit and do something else for awhile.  If I wanted to continue to the next step, that was fine too.  I do this all the time when I have a project I'd rather procrastinate doing.

However . . . I'm very happy with the outcome because they are d-o-n-e done!

They are 14" square and have an envelope opening in the back of the cover so they can be easily removed and washed.  In addition, I'm going to have Kevin write a note to each of his families inside on the back of the quilted part with a Sharpie.  That way they'll have a little special something from him, but it won't be open for just anyone to see.

If plans change and we don't give away both of the pillows I won't mind keeping one . . . . :-)

Making a couple of hostess gifts

When we go to Brazil we'll stay with a couple of Kevin's friends.  I want to bring gifts to the families and I know hostess gifts often reflect the native area of the giver.

I mentioned cactus jelly earlier, along with some quilting, and settled on the quilting.  Here is a hint of the pillow covers I'm making:

Red, white, and blue figure prominently as well, so you may guess I changed the colors from the directions I'm following.

Both quilt blocks are underway and I'll post more when I have more to show.

Oh, and Kevin requested I bring jars of peanut butter along.  I guess certain Brazilians appreciate ambrosia as much as my family does.

Hostess gifts

When we travel later this month we're going to stay with friends of Kevin's in a couple of towns.  I want to bring them something that is kind of native to the United States and maybe to our area specifically. 

We live in the desert, so I've thought about bringing something like cactus jelly.

However, although I'm sure it wouldn't be hard to find something like this, I'm thinking about making a pieced and quilted pillow cover for each family, and perhaps using a red-white-and-blue color theme as I did in this quilt I made last year:

That quilt is on my bed right now and I like it more with each passing day.  Anyway, I think the red-white-and-blueness of it is subtle enough to not shout UNITED STATES, yet is still American, don't you think?  I'm thinking I might make each cover the same as one of the five blocks with the small pieces, although I have to see what size pillow forms are to make it the right size.  Or I might use a different pattern.  I think I can buy the pillow forms here, then cram them into my luggage.  That will leave room when I come back for all the souvenirs, right?

Christmas is finally over

For Christmas we gave the boy next door an "activity" instead of a wrapped present.

 He's an only child and well-doted upon by his parents and extended family.  We really like him a lot.

 We didn't see a particular need for a tangible gift, so we gave him a gift certificate for an outing instead.

 We went to a miniature golf place near our neighborhood.  It was probably built in the 1960s and it's meticulously maintained.

 After playing golf we went on the bumper boats.  We all got very wet because each boat had a squirting function that worked VERY well.

We stopped off for ice cream sundaes on the way home.  Merry Christmas!

The Kindle is getting full!

This is my picture for the day.  Elizabeth's Kindle has been a huge hit.  And my email account is taking a big hit too.  Every time she downloads another free game or app, I get an email.  I have probably deleted 35 such emails.  I hope she slows down because she can only play so many games!

Being the good mother that I am, I downloaded the Bible, Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, and the words to the LDS hymns and children's songs.  In addition, I got all of the Friend magazine articles from 2012 for her.  I also downloaded the Primary teacher's manual so she can follow along with the lessons and tap to read the scriptures as they go.  I hope the teacher appreciates that. ;-)

Elizabeth was delighted with her gift

. . . and I'll bet you didn't think this is what she would be delighted about:

She has been a Spiderman fan(atic) for years and this year she asked for a Spiderman action figure and I figured I'd better give in before she's too old.  So my ten year old daughter received a Spiderman action figure.  It talks and shoots things too.  In addition to other gifts, she also received two Spiderman comic books/graphic novels.

The children received more books, things to make, and outdoor items than in the past.  They were pretty happy with the gifts they opened.

My favorite intangible gift was a two hour chat with Kevin who is on his mission in Brazil.  He looked great and had a little trouble with his English. :-)

Our dinner was delicious:

Salad of Winter Fruits with Raspberry Walnut Vinaigrette

Slow Cooked Ham

Buttered Mashed Potatoes

Gravy

Warm Cinnamon Apples

  Fluffy Raspberry Fruit Salad

Hot Rolls

Butter

 

Cherry Pie

Dutch Apple Pie

Whipped Cream

Activity Day for Girls

Today's activity is the only one we'll have in December, so of course we had a Christmas theme.

 

We started off with Mr. Kreuger's Christmas which I have on the DVD pictured below.

 

I didn't know if the girls would "get it" or not, but I explained things as we went and they really liked it.  I sure do love that movie.

 

Next we made necklaces from little kits.

 

 I told the girls they could either keep it for themselves or give it to someone as a gift if they needed/wanted a gift for someone.

We finished off the activity with a cake.

 

 

See's candy

If you received this in the mail . . .

. . . would you share it or would the rest of the family be blissfully unaware it was even in the house?

My mother is so sweet that after dinner she pulled out the box she had just received as a gift and passed it around not once, but twice, including to the children.  I don't think I can live up to that example.

Almost like trying on a bathing suit

Yes, trying on jeans, even the ones that are supposed to fit and flatter and slim every woman.[ahem...baloney...cough]

Dear Niece got a nice pair of Gloria Vanderbilt jeans at Costco and I liked them, so I went looking for some today.  In addition I needed to buy a pair for someone whose name was on the "Angel Tree" at church, same size as mine, so pretty easy.  Oh yeah, except all the jeans like dn's were sold out and all Costco had were big woman sizes and colored jeans.  Won't work for me this time.

My next stop was Walmart because I wanted to try on some Lee jeans that are advertised to flatter.  One pair was far from flattering, and in fact highlighted all my worst flaws.  Another pair the same size from Levi's I was barely able to get up my legs and the thought of zipping them was laughable.  Gotta love women's sizing in the USA.

I went back to the display again and found a pair of Lee Classic jeans.  I had thoughts of Mom Jeans, but the waist wasn't THAT high and the legs weren't tapered. ;-)  They gave me a good-enough fit, so I bought them.  Since the Angel Tree recipient is 15 years old, I got the first pair that didn't flatter me, because the cut was a more youthful cut and I figured she'd rather have that style.  Plus I don't know who she is and so I don't know what her figure shape is.

So two stores and three try-ons and I have a new pair of jeans.  It will probably be at least two years before I have to do that again.

A package from Australia!

I think the stamps are really pretty.  No postmark, so I don't know how long this package was in transit.  My experience says less than a week.

Next I pulled out a Christmas card, picture, and letter.  Trust me, no one else will send me a Christmas card with a summer kangaroo on it this year!  And LOOK at those girls--aren't they lovely?  I've "known" them since shortly after the younger ones (twins) were born and I can't believe how grown up they are.

And then look what I found inside the package: herbal tea.  Lots of it.

Twinings, Lipton, Tetley.  There is not a single flavor here I have ever tried in herbal tea, so you can bet when I'm up early (early!) at work in my home office, I'm going to have a cup of herbal tea in my hand.  And unlike in Australia, it's cold here this time of year and I get up about an hour and a half before the heat kicks on.

I want to mention one other thing.  When I was going through a very difficult time about four years ago, the same friend sent me several packages with numerous packets of herbal tea to comfort me.  I really appreciated it then and it gives me warm memories now.

Thank you, L!!

And I'm off to a fast start!

That is my wrapping box under the table next to my desk.  There is enough room on top of the table for wrapping small to medium gifts.  Bigger than that, I might have to clear off the table. ;-)

I filled out some of the gift list I posted about yesterday and ordered gifts for two family members and got the details on ordering for a third.  I gathered the pieces I needed for a gift ofr one of the girls. 

This feels good.

Getting organized for Christmas

A few years ago I was following The FLY Lady and she proposed a brilliant idea: Cruising through the holidays.  You pretend you'll be going on a cruise, leaving December 1 and returning right before Christmas.  Of course you'll need to have everything ready for Christmas before you leave, since you won't have time when you return. 

Naturally, I don't get to go on a cruise (LOL--don't I wish?!), but my plan is to be ready for Christmas by December 1 this year.  The past two years I have NOT been ready until about December 23 and I didn't enjoy that at all.  I'm determined to have a better Christmas this year.

The most pressing thing is gifts.  My budget this year is small, so that will help simplify things nicely.

Here is a link to the list above you can download for free: https://docs.google.com/file/d/1WEqBgrTSFeBj3KPWORNCEd3kzRHCTuMdx92Q7puAai5hJwxW6AEWBuDQFS8l/edit?pli=1&hl=en_US

Here is a link to other gift lists on the same page:
http://organizingmadefun.blogspot.com/2011/11/having-organized-christmas-and-your.html

For a number of years I've had a wrapping station and followed FLY Lady's rule that as soon as a gift comes in the house, I have to wrap it.  However, my wrapping station is not in a convenient location, so this year I'm moving it.

That's my start.  Next will come Christmas cards so they can go into the mail on December 1.

Happy Father's Day!

Bill got the day off today!  The girls made lunch, he bbq'd the ribs while I did everything else for the dinner, and he received calls from all of his children and one of mine.

After dinner we took a walk around the neighborhood with the children, then came back for blackberry cobbler and ice cream.

 Dh got some goodies made by Caroline and some shorts and shirts for summer.

Bill is a wonderful father, and in fact, it was his excellent father-ness that made me decide I wanted more children after we married.  That turned out to be one of the best decisions we ever made.

A surprise in my mailbox!

A couple of weeks ago I clicked on a Facebook link for the Abuelita brand from Nestle and I thought I might have "won" a gift basket, but the way the website was set up, I wasn't sure.

Look what arrived today:

It wasn't exactly a basket, but I'm not complaining! Inside was

a bag of chocolate granules to make hot chocolate with my milk
a box of chocolate almond disks to melt in hot milk to make hot chocolate
a traditional Mexican spoon to stir the chocolate and milk as they melt together
a sliced pecan pound cake
a can of dulce de leche (condensed milk, I think)
a packet of decorated note cards

It was the nicest free gift I've received since the time in college I complained that Payday candy bars said they had a fudge center coated with peanuts and instead it was a caramel center. They wrote back and said caramel could be fudge too, it didn't have to be chocolate to be fudge (hmmm . . . okay), and sent me a large assortment of their company's candy bars. See? I still remember after all these years.

A little treat for my visiting teaching ladies . . . and my hubby

Yesterday I made ganache and today I made truffles from it. Then I packaged the truffles up with some dark chocolate-covered almonds and played Cupid, delivering them to some of my visiting teaching ladies. Last stop was dh's office and he was quite pleased. :-)

A delicious day

I got up early for work as I always do and while I was working fielded a couple of calls from Kevin who is flying here on standby with Delta. We ironed out a couple of problems, but he wasn't sure if he was going to make it here today. I told him to call me later and tell me how things were looking.

Then I went back to bed.

He woke me up with his next call . . . at 10:00 am!! It was good sleep too, no crazy dreams like I have sometimes when I go back to sleep like that. Anyway, Kevin'll try a couple of flights tomorrow.

The girls wanted to have Camp Laffalotta this week while they're out of school. That made me feel good because we did that off and on this past summer and they must have enjoyed it. They decided they wanted to learn about chickens. Might have something to do with the four little friends in the coop in the backyard, huh? First stop was the library, of course, although I was disappointed with what I was able to find. I "sorted" the card catalog results to show me chickens->children's materials->at our library branch->on the shelf and still was able to find only about 1:3 items. I picked up a couple of nonfiction children's chicken books and a couple of picture books anyway.

Grandma treated us to lunch at the nearby McDonald's and since they have a play area, she brought her crossword puzzle and I brought my iTouch and caught up on email while the girls played.

Came home to find the mail lady had brought me a package all the way from Australia.
Soft and squashy . . . what can it be?

Tearing the paper off . . . .

. . . and found two very lovely hand-knitted face cloths!

Don't worry about the light area--that was my mom shining a flashlight on the design, trying to get it to show up better for the picture. Thank you, my dear friend L. They are lovely and I appreciate them and you.

Tonight for Family Home Evening we are writing thank you notes for the gifts we received for Christmas. I know lots of people don't write thank yous anymore, but I want my children to know that's the proper thing to do.

As I said, a delicious day.

Annual Ritual

I was taught to write thank you notes and I have taught my children to do the same. Tonight for our Family Home Evening activity we sat down and wrote thank yous to the grandparents and to my aunt for the Christmas gifts they sent.
We really appreciate others who think of us at this time of year and we know it's not always easy to put together gift packages, but they were warmly received and enjoyed. Pictures soon of the quilts my aunt made for the girls . . . .

Teacher gifts

Last night I put together gifts for the girls to take to their teachers on this, the last day of school before Christmas. I don't think gifts are a necessity, but considering how my girls wear their teachers out, I think it's a good idea.Each large bottle contains a small can of Nexxus mousse, a bottle of lotion, a Burt's Bees lip balm, a highly scented candle with a box of refills, and candy. I hope the teachers like them!

Finished a Christmas project

My neighbor is always so nice to my girls and me that I wanted to make something for her 6 y/o ds with whom my girls love to play. I picked up the flannel fabric for this on the day after Thanksgiving and cut and sewed it over a week's time. I love how it turned out.