Bathing Beauty

I finally found the box of "Misc. Newborn" items in the basement last weekend. Wouldn't you know it? We've missed our chance to use most of it, but I had to squeeze her in this cute robe at least once. It looks so cute hanging from the bathroom door.

Two of Ten

I finished my second refashioning project this weekend. This scarf started as two of Gavin's t-shirts that never get worn. Thanks honey. I followed this tutorial with just a few changes to simplify. Next time I would machine sew the two layers together since hand sewing takes me forever. I do like the look of the embroidery around the cutouts, so that's worth the time. Fun, free, and cozy. Enjoy!

Beef Bourguignon

We had some time at home Saturday, so it was the perfect opportunity for Gavin to try Beef Bourguignon. He's been wanting to try it after seeing Julie and Julia. Who am I to stop him?

He's a firm believer in proper mis en place.



You know you're a teetotaling family when... you can't find a corkscrew anywhere. :) We've found alcohol-free wines at the grocery store that add, as far as we can tell, the right flavor without worrying about cooking out all the alcohol, feeding it to the kids, etc.


And, whalah, just a short 5 hours later we're enjoying Julia's Beef Bourguignon. It was so delicious. However, with 3 hours of active cooking time and two more in the oven, I doubt we'll be having this often.



Katie was loving it! I would have a picture of Eleanor enjoying it, but she didn't.

After we put the kids to bed, we dipped tuxedo strawberries for our date. So, the day was basically all about food. Next weekend we'll have to go snowshoeing or something.

One of Ten

2010 is going to be a year of 10's for us. Our tenth anniversary is coming up. We'll have lived in Colorado for ten years. My birthday this year will be 10/10/10 - how cool is that?!

So, to go along with our year of 10's we've made several resolutions. First, we'd like to visit 10 states this year. Not new ones, necessarily. We've got 3 down already. The rest will be a little more out of our norm.

One of my resolutions for this year is to try 10 refashioning projects. I dabbled a little bit with it last year and found it really fun, rewarding, and cheap! This will also help me in my resolution to buy only 10 items of clothing for myself this year. Whew, now I've said it... you'll have to hold me to it.

So, here is my first refashioning project for the year. It was easy-peasy. I've been sitting on the supplies for a year and when I finally sat down to it, it took all of 3 minutes. Sorry no before picture, but I started with a fun pair of knee high women's socks. Cut them off right above the ankle. Cut the rectangle section between the heel and toes. Fold it over and serge or zig-zag it to make the band at the bottom of the "sleeve."


Now we have these fun arm warmers that extend the summer wardrobe into the winter. This is the same method to make Baby Legs which are all the rage. How often can you sew something your baby and six year old can both wear? Now that's efficient.

I'll definitely be making more of these in the future. Fun and quick. Go ahead and try it!

Flowers and Fairies

I've been patiently waiting for Katie to fit into this sweet hat she was given. Finally, we had our photo shoot with it yesterday. Love it.

We also had a visit from the Tooth Fairy last night. Eleanor lost her 2nd tooth. She was so excited to find a note and a picture from the Tooth Fairy this morning telling her congratulations. She didn't even hear her come! What with the pom-poms and other booby-traps on the floor, that is quite the amazing fairy. :)

Lil Aggie

We were so glad we made it up to Logan during our recent trip to Utah. It's actually been a few years. We had a great time vising friends, old (I mean past) roommates, mission presidents, and my brother and his wife.

But what makes our heart skip a beat is the food. Shameful, I know. But, I haven't had real Aggie Ice Cream in 3 years and I couldn't stop oohing and ahhing over that yumminess. Pralines and Cream - so good! Had to scoop up this little Aggie onesie for Katie while we were there.




Now, more about the food. I know, I should stop, but there is no where else in the world where we've been able to find Tiny Spicy Chicken. This fabulous Chinese food that added so much to our college experience. Good thing I lived on the 4th floor for awhile - or it would have added more! After all these years it is still just as good.

So glad we got to visit everyone and show Eleanor the cute little park where we had our first date. Hopefully it won't be long before we go again.

Fair and Accurate Reporting

In the interest of being fair and accurate (after all I do have a degree in Journalism), we don't just get occasional snakes in our backyard. We have a plethora of bunnies that live here year-round. Oh yes, I would say we have a plethora of bunnies.


This guy came out to play in the snow this week. They're not very afraid of us, so with a long lens I can get pretty close. They're also not very afraid of us when it comes to eating our lettuce and strawberries. Uh, oh... now I might be guilty of libel. Maybe it was his 2nd cousin.

Hazel?

It's still a mystery to us what color Katie's eyes are going to be. Check this out, what color would you say this is?



On a side note, Katie has just been mastering the art of picking up food. So cute!

She is so pleased with herself every time she gets something to her mouth. She bounces and waves her hands around to celebrate. Love it!

Handmade Holidays

I love to give handmade gifts for Christmas. Maybe it's because creating things puts me in a merry mood or it's my own pushback against materialism. I like that it tells your loved ones that you truly put some time and thought into their gift.

Here's a few things I made this year. A dress for Eleanor and a matching skirt/shirt for Katie. I even made a matchy babydoll dress for Katie's baby. Yikes, handsewing is not my finest skill, but she's pretty forgiving.

I made matching aprons for my newlywed sister and her husband. Whipped up a little I-spy bag for my niece. And finally, made some new stockings for Katie and Eleanor. Not a great picture, but they have soft velvet and cute buttons.

I was encouraging Eleanor to make something for Katie insteading of buying a gift (with our money). So, she drew up this design for a bib and embroidered the whole thing herself! So proud, sniff...sniff. I just taught her a simple backstitch and she went to town. She's so pleased with it she wants Katie to wear it every time she eats!

Gavin even got into the fun and made the biggest bow I've ever seen to go on our new leather couch. Thanks honey!

Ice Castles

My father-in-law always comes through on the best local events to check out. This year he found a jewel - or, more appropriately, a crystal. An artist is creating these incredible Ice Castles at a resort in Midway, UT. He works on it all winter long adding about 10 tons of ice every night with sprinklers. They glow an incredible blue color. These are about 20 feet tall, but they'll be about 3 stories high when they're complete. I'd love to go back in March to see the masterpiece! If you're in Utah, check it out.