look- i sew!

back during the 1st week of December i hosted a Handmade Holiday Christmas Party. last year for Christmas i attempted to make all of my friends handmade gifts, and well.... got burnt out. all of us are learning new skills in creating, and i had this idea to have all of us make one gift and then have a white elephant type party and exchange our creations.

well- the party definitely had a couple of hitches. first of all, it was supposed to be co-hosted with my friend Jana, at my friend Jana's house. 2 days before the party, she and her kids got pretty dang sick with the stomach flu (this is the flu that i later got on my birthday just 5 days later). so 2 days before the party, no location. so i called my mother-in-law who has let me use their home in the past for these things, and she happily agreed. of course, the second hitch was that she was supposed to watch my kids at her house while i went to the party. so instead, she and Paul (my father-in-law) came to my house and watched my kids (and sadly, mason got sick while i was gone, so she signed on for vomit as well).

another small hitch? i had left an open invite on facebook. well, the open invite got kind of crazy. i think we had over 20 women there. and several ladies i didn't really know.

but- it was a fantastic time! we had amazing food. in fact, my friend Becky made the most amazing flour less chocolate cake with espresso chocolate glaze that i had ever eaten. in fact Becky, i'm pregnant, and you did promise me a cake.... i think i need to collect on that. soon.

i was surprised that there were only 2 sewing gifts exchanged. there was a lot of jewelry, TONS of sweet treats, several Christmas ornaments....

this is what i made:

this is the "i'll take one of everything" bag from Anna Maria Horner's Seams to Me book. i didn't construct the sides correctly, and i actually made 2 more of these bags as Christmas gifts, and each one went together a little differently. i think i will try one more, see if i can do it a tad better.

so see, i do sew!

the party was so much fun, i can't wait till next Christmas.

oh my, i will have a brand new baby then. oh my.

still cleaning house.

well, cleaning pictures that is.

can't believe i haven't posted about these beauties!

this are based on Little Debbie Oatmeal Pie cookies that Sam just loves.

**there is a chance i have blogged about this, but i have pregnancy brain. my apologies.

i used a really great oatmeal cookie recipe that i found on the weight watchers website. then i made a wonderful frosting. yummy.

Oatmeal Cookies:

1 large egg white

s¼ cup sugar

¾ cup brown sugar

½ cup butter

¼ tsp cloves

½ tsp ginger

1 tsp cinnamon

¼ salt

½ tsp baking soda

1 ½ cup quick oats

¾ cup whole wheat pastry flour

Preheat over to 350

Mix together the dry ingredients

Beat butter in the mixer

Add egg white to the butter

Add dry ingredients

Bake for 11-14 minutes

try and make them the same size.

Frosting:

1 cup of powdered sugar, 2 T butter, a little bit of marshmallow creme, a little bit of milk. i actually put all of this in my little food processor to get a thicker paste.

these cookies really are awesome. hopefully i will have some more interesting posts- meaning posts not only about food. however, right now, food is all i have on my mind.

my helper.

i just love my baby on fabric, he is such a help. and he brings a huge smile to my face.

another something old.

i'm cleaning out my pictures. digitally speaking that is. i had this grand idea to put everything in one folder marked "upload" and then i would navigate pictures to appropriate folders (pictures for gifts, kid pictures to blog, pictures of the kids going in appropriate folders with their names, and my project pictures) and somehow i got to have almost 2000 pictures in this folder without moving any of them.

yeah. it is so much fun. well, it kind of is, but really it's just one more project. although, i am having a real good internal laugh right now. literally, this is one of the most disorganized aspects of my life- yet NO ONE can see it, and my computer can conveniently be closed and hid. my dirty dishes, my overflowing garbage, my ghastly sewing area, my crazy children, toys, toys, toys. you get it.

but, i can do this while sitting on the couch, and it makes me feel like i have done something.

anyways.

i found the following pictures of my favorite- and the best- pumpkin chocolate chip bread. so, if you are having holiday withdrawals- enjoy!

this recipe comes from my Godmother Carol, who continues to bless my life with her love and her amazing recipes!

oven- 350

and the recipe:

2 cubes butter

2 cups of sugar

-beat those together until light and fluffy

3 eggs

1 1lb can pumpkin

1 tsp vanilla

-add these to the butter/sugar and mix well

in a separate bowl:

3 c. pastry flour

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp soda

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp cloves

1/2 tsp nutmeg

add the dry ingredients to your wet ingredients

then add, 1 cup of chocolate chips

(or you could add 1 cup of raisins, or 1 cup of nuts)

this makes 12 large muffins- which you would bake for 15-20 minutes

or 2 8 by 5 loaves- which bake for 50 minutes.

the baking makes your whole house smell amazing.

let me know if you try them!

an old picture

but i remember it well.

awhile back (say October) when i was busy sewing (most likely a gift for a friend) at my kitchen table, this is what i was busy looking at.

hmm- i can recongnize the project in the machine- it was October, and it was a gift for a friend.

so as i was busy sewing my fabric cards, i turn to check on little Henry who was playing on his mat. only as you can see below- no Henry.

why look across the room when instead you can look right down behind you? the brown in the picture is my chair he's reaching for.

what's the nastiness all over the carpet? oh nothing, that was my carpet. nasty, i know. however when i was up in Oregon after Christmas my wonderful husband (with the help of his parents) steamed cleaned the carpet.

now i just need to get my vacuum back- it's been lent to a friend. would have come in handy tonight, when mason knocked my glass with her blanket to the floor and it shattered over the carpet.

oh well. i think i got it all up.

why i'm not a blogging machine.

because i am not quite sure anyone is interested in the truly exciting life i am leading these days. my energy is completely zapped, and my house has been a constant mess. and my children are challenging me in ways that i wish they weren't. and i have zero motivation to do anything other than survive the daily tasks (diaper changes, dressing my kids, and giving them something to eat).

see- who's interested in this?

sadly, the biggest thing on my mind is watching the scale. because it's creeping up. it's worse watching it on the wii. the wii wants to know why you are gaining weight. there isn't a pregnancy option. however, i really should just select the overeating option- because that is what i am doing.

see- who is really interested in this at all?

and my kids are getting sick, again. it makes me want to scream. we all have runny noses, and i am hearing coughing.

so, the rain continues to fall, the mess continues to grow more mess, the inspiration for life continues to be non-existent, and the kids continue to be sick.

but.

there is something going on. new little life is growing. a new person to contribute to the mess, and potentially share in runny noses, and chaos.

this is just a season. it is a kind of suckfest of a season, but it won't last forever.

and i will survive.

what's a month?

i mean seriously, what's a month of absolute blog silence? sheesh. i sit here on my couch in the middle of the afternoon and i haven't even showered yet. i kept myself running on fumes for the past few days as i was preparing for another baby shower (which during the preps i met with Sam's cousin to start planning out her baby shower) and it is brought to my attention that i might have a small addiction to party planning.
perhaps some day it could be a business. but i doubt it. anything that these last few months have taught me is that doing things i love in an attempt to earn money hasn't really worked for my moral. maybe someday.
my life if full of maybes.
and anyways.
anyways, i am breaking my blogging silence to say i am tentatively home and back. Christmas is over (so relieved am i) and just yesterday i actually finished 3 little girl dresses for a shower gift. my friend is having another little girl and she loves to dress the girls alike, so i made 3 identical dresses set to wear in a year from now. it was immensely fun and rewarding to get back on my sewing machine and made me realize that i cannot remember the last time i made something for myself, and how it might be even more fun to do that.
hmmmmm...... maybe.
anyways.
i didn't take any pictures of the dresses mainly because i was literally trimming thread as i dropped them into the gift box. and i realized with all the pictures of things i have made and haven't shared clogging my picture albums, well, i didn't want to add one more thing.
january, how are you here already. and how is it 11 months till Christmas.
oh yes, i just said that. because really my only new years resolution is to not get into the same mess i did this last Christmas.
what a nightmare.
anyways, i am back. with tons of excitement. my sister got me martha's cookie book for christmas (and a weight watcher's cookbook, but i think posts on cookies will be way more entertaining) and after Sam and i get through our month long ban on cookie making, maybe i will bake a new cookie every week? maybe.
i also have 4 new sewing books to keep me busy. jess, my sister-in-law, got me this and this, and i got myself this one and that.
super excited.
so i am back. maybe not super consistent. but back. i might forget any old label of past and start brand new, who knows (not me if you were wondering)
what else, what else.
oh yes. i am pregnant. thought i'd just throw that in, for anyone not really reading.
yup. january is here.