July Fourth Fun

After Hannah's spring dance recital, I decided I needed to start posting pictures on the blog again.  So that night, I diligently sat down and put up the pictures of the recital.  That night, our hard drive crashed, and all of our pictures from January to the end of June are gone.  It makes me so sad!  I've learned two things: BACK UP EVERYTHING!!!!  And to spend less time taking pictures and more time making memories.  I rely on my pictures to be my memories, and I need to imprint our lives more on my mind than in pixels.

All that said, as part of my obsessive back up plan (along with our new computer, we got one of those external hard drives that automatically backs up every time a new file is added), I've rededicated myself to posting pictures on the blog.  It took me a few weeks to be able to take new pictures, and then a few more weeks to download them from my camera. 

And now, at last, here are some for you to see.  These are from July 4th, when we went to the Chicago suburbs to visit Jonathan's family.  Hannah and Lydia were very excited to spend the holiday with their cousin Brady.  We might be a little girly for him, but I think he had fun too.

After the parade, we went back to Jonathan's parents' house, where the kids spent a happy afternoon playing with a bubble gun.  Have you seen those?  It's like a water gun, but it sprays out bubbles, powered by a motor.  Even Lydia could produce amazing amounts of bubbles.  Serious fun!

 

 

I tried to get the kids to pose.  After about 30 shots with variations of this...

...I finally got one where they looked like this.

 

 

And then, this one.  Aren't they the cutest ever?

 

That night, we saw the fireworks...the first time for both girls.  I'm not sure that they loved the whole thing, but it was definitely memorable.

Also over the holiday, after a night of camping in the yard with Opa and Grandma, everyone had a blast in the kiddie pool.

 I gave the kids ice cream and told them to sit still for (yet another) picture.  Guess who said he doesn't like ice cream, but I convinced him to hold one anyway?  "You don't have to eat it, Brady, just hold it for a minute while I take your picture."  Turns out, he's the only one not stuffing his face...oh well!

Getting Ready for Valentine's Day

Not much to say, except we're excited about Valentine's Day coming up (in spite of the fact that I vowed never to celebrate it!). 

At the fabric store last week, I spotted this hearts-and-cupcakes fabric in the remnants bin. There was a little less than a yard, and I just knew that it was destined to become some quick little skirts. So I literally whipped these up in about an hour, and here they are!  Mostly I just wanted so share these cute little girls with you.

Can you tell Lydia is saying "cheese?"  Hannah has already taught her the art of the phony picture taking smile.

Happy 4th of July!

Happy 4th!  We got a little crafty and made some ribbon and ric-rac shirts for the girls, and fun paper garland for our mantle.   Then we had an impromptu photo shoot.  I love how Hannah hammed it up!

Crafter's Night Before Christmas

Twas the night before Christmas

And all through the house

Not a present was finished

Not even my blouse.

The stockings were hung

By the fire with care

Hoping that someday

All the names would be there.

  

And even more hopeful,

That on Christmas morn

Some presents would fill them

Or some ornaments adorn.

The children were sleeping

Quiet unaware

That while they lay dreaming

Mama was in despair.

For you see, good old Mama

(a.k.a. Old Saint Nick)

Was locked in her sewing room…

And herself she could kick

Because piles of presents

Planned with such care

For a fun, homemade Christmas

Lay everywhere.

A scarf to be knitted

Is not long enough

And some scrappy stuffed animals

Still need to be stuffed.

A lap quilt for Grandma

Is still only a top

And that sweater for Daddy

Should have come from a shop.

And a present so lovely

On mom’s brand-new machine

(That she can’t quite use yet)

Is still only a dream.

“I’m keeping it simple,”

Mom had announced,

With a vow that this Christmas

The stress she’d renounce.

“But that’s how Christmas

Should be,” Mama sighed.

“I want everyone to have

A hand-made surprise.”

Daylight’s in four hours.

It can’t all get done!

Good thing that my presents

Aren’t the only ones.

But amid all the panic

And last minute sewing

I can take a deep breath because

There’s one thing I’m knowing:

Even though my gift list’s

Ambitious without reason

I remember that presents

Aren’t the point of this season.

For this day that is dawning,

This new Christmas morn,

Is to celebrate Jesus

The Messiah is born.

The Nutcracker: Peg Doll Style

Intrigued?  You should be.  This is really cool.  But you need just a little back story first, so hang in there...

After Hannah's ballet recital, our house has officially been hit with Nutcracker fever.  We recorded the PBS special of The Nutcracker Ballet on Live from Lincoln Center last week, and our three year old child has watched the whole thing (including the intermission interview done by Chelsea Clinton) literally as many times a day as we will allow.  I never imagined she would sit through a full-blown theatrical production, but kids are full of surprises, aren't they?

On a seemingly unrelated note, I saw these Princess Peg Dolls on Pinterest, and I immediately knew that I needed  to make them.  Now.  For Christmas.  Or better yet, to put in the last week of the Advent Calendar.  (Yeah...that's the way my mind works.  And I wonder why nothing ever gets done.)  So on Saturday, I went to Hobby Lobby and bought some peg dolls and a little box. 

Then on Sunday, driving home from church, conversation turned, as it so often does, to Hannah's new favorite thing, her Nutcracker doll from Grandma.  Hannah was wishing that she could play with the doll.  As it is, it's reserved for looking at only, or occasional gentle handling. 

And a 10,000 watt light bulb went off!  Who needs princess peg dolls?  I could make NUTCRACKER PEG DOLLS!!!!  After a thorough Internet search, I found no examples to use for reference.  So I collected Hannah's Nutcracker story book for inspiration and got to sketching.  Using this helpful tutorial, I started painting the peg dolls last night, and finished them this morning.  Now they're all in a row, waiting for their appropriate Advent Calendar day to make their curtain call.

But since Hannah doesn't read my blog, I'll share them with you now.  And I figured, what better way to enjoy Nutcracker characters than through the story.  So at long last, here it goes:



Marie and Fritz were so excited about Christmas!  Their parents had decorated the tree, and it looked magical!

During the Christmas party, Godfather Drosselmeyer arrived with gifts for all the children. 

He brought Marie a special gift: a nutcracker doll.  Marie loved her new doll.

But naughty Fritz chased Marie, and tried to take it from her.

Late that night, after everyone had gone to bed, Marie crept downstairs to see her Nutcracker doll under the tree. But the tree grew, and the doll came to life!

Soon, a band of mice had invaded the house, and the Nutcracker was fighting with the Mouse King.

Afraid that the Nutcracker would lose the battle, Marie threw her shoe at the Mouse King

This distracted him while the Nutcracker gave the fatal blow.

The Nutcracker became a prince, and he took Marie to a magical land of snow.

They were greeted by the Sugar Plum Fairy.

She and her friends welcomed Marie and the Prince.

Each person performed a special dance, inspired by something good to eat or drink. 
First was the Dance of Tea.

Next was the Dance of Coffee.  This dancer was an acrobat, doing flips and twirls.

Then was the Candy Cane Dance.

And finally came Mother Ginger, with a band of gingerbread children in her skirt.

When it was time for Marie to return home, everyone said goodbye.

Marie awoke under the Christmas tree, and looked at her Nutcracker doll.  She wondered if it had all been a dream...

Like it?  I guess Hannah's not the only one obsessed, is she?  So I had this box to put the dolls in, and I started wondering how I could paint it.  I mean, I did okay on the peg dolls (with the exception of Fritz's lazy eye), but I'm no painted. 

Then I remembered that I just got a brand spanking new Silhouette machine.  So look what I whipped up next!

A firm believer that everyone should have stuff with their name on it (this comes from being named Siobhan, where very little exists with my name on it), I added this label. 

Now I have another reason to be excited about Christmas.  I can't wait to dole out the rest of the dolls!

A Row of Holiday Houses

I love Christmas.  This is why I've been making myself scarce in blogland during December: I'm too busy doing Christmas to write about it!  (Maybe I'll do a major recap in January...)  So I volunteered to host our play group's Christmas party.  I was all about low-key, low-stress.  I even volunteered to make mac and cheese for the potluck supper.  Easy, right?

Then the December issue of Family Fun magazine came in the mail.  And all that went down the tube.  I didn't even read the magazine.  I just saw the pictures of the gingerbread house decorating party, and went into overdrive.  The result?  Mass-produced graham cracker houses (at least I didn't make real gingerbread, right?).  Add eight kids, three babies, and bags and bags of candy and icing, and this is what you get.

Some kids let their moms help with the icing.

Some are quite independent.  (Wonder where that comes from?)

And some very symmetrical.

For some, there's no holding back!

A little icing was eaten along the way...

This was too cute: her head is barely above the table!

Long after everyone else finished, Hannah was still putting "just one more candy" on hers.  Or at this moment, dousing the thing with sprinkles.

"What kind of sugary goodness did you put on yours?"

And then there was shameless snitching of the candy.

And I mean shameless!

In the end, they all came out beautiful, and good enough to eat.

After all this creativity, we settled down to supper.  Stuffed full of marshmallows and gummy bears, most of the kids couldn't care less about their supper.  (But take a look at all those sippy cups...so funny!)

I have to say, a good time was had by all.  As the Facebook updates rolled in after the party, it seemed like most of the kids had the appropriate post-sugar crash just in time for bed.