i am in a creativity stall zone. during christmas there was so much i was making, and so much i wanted to be making. and then i was done with gifts. and then somehow 4 some weeks passed and i haven't done anything outside of a little bit of embroidery and making some yo-yo's.
i feel like a chunk of my brain was removed, and i cannot find it. i had all these ideas of things i was going to be making, my christmas/birthday present list for others was all but complete in my brain.
and now? absolutely forgotten. and the worst part is that it kind of physically hurts my head right now. because i know the information is in there, and i just can't get it out.
i would really like to be spending a little bit of time crafting, but it is just taking so much time to figure out where to start, what to do....
and every time i flip through one of my many sewing books it usually calls for a type of fabric- ok, corduroy (which i love) and i never have that, and i just can't justify buying anymore fabric.
and there are gifts i could be making, but i kind of just want to make something for myself....
how bad is that?
i hope to free of this crafty brain block soon enough. for now, i think i will grab some scraps and make some yo-yo's. not sure what for, but something i guess.
if i mentioned an idea to you, please remind me.
thanks.

new years resolutions.

i have purposely not mentioned my new years resolutions. and why? it was inspired by a truly silly reason but one that later made sense to me. i received a fortune from a cookie awhile back and it said something to this affect:

speak less of your plans and they will be accomplished.

and it just resonated with me. instead of taking all the time to name off all the things i hope to do, i should just spend the time doing them. not that new years resolutions listed off are a bad thing, but i think i would rather mention them as they are accomplished.
or when they are stupidly messed up.
i had wanted to follow a "take a picture every day" kind of thing, and 16 days in and i have already missed. i unexpectedly stayed later at sam's parents yesterday than planned, and i completely forgot until about 5 am this morning that i hadn't taken a picture.
i'm a little bummed. okay, a lot bummed. but there might be a chance that sam took a picture sometime yesterday. if not, i may be asking around for a picture.
it would be a long post, but perhaps i will put up some of the pictures every month, and then link the rest to a flickr account? the picture at the top, my 1-4-11 picture. be prepared, most of these pictures will be of my kids. or food. or random things in my house that make me happy.
i don't get out a lot. and getting our more, is not one of my resolutions.
there are more resolutions. and more that i continue to make up and add. when they are accomplished, i will let you know.
as for now, my computer is running painfully slow (i have about a zillion to many pictures on it) and tomorrow i've got a gal coming to watch the kids while i learn how to defend myself. and to help her defend herself against the kids, i should at least attempt to have it clean in here.
right?

moments in the kitchen.

while in the kitchen this afternoon two things happened. a moment of genius followed by the realization that i am quite stupid. and a quick moment of second thinking.
how does genius turn to stupid so quick? i love hummus. there is a trader joe's version of hummus that i find quite wonderful. but our trader joe's is 45 minutes away. not practical for a quick jaunt down to pick some up. i have a recipe for hummus, and even though sam says its "great" i truly despise it. why? two reasons: its always soooooooo runny, not thick. and the sesame seeds that the recipe calls for never puree all the way.
that kind of rhymed.
when i was at grocery outlet yesterday i picked up a couple of bags of pretzel thins for 99 cents. great deal. but i really wanted hummus for them. i have to be really careful about the hummus we buy cause of MSG. so i opted to not buy some and resolved to make some again.
well, as i was prepping my ingredients i had this moment of genius:

i can change what i hate about my hummus!

i don't have to put sesame seeds in the hummus, and i can reduce the amount of liquid and add it slowly to get my desired consistency.
genius!
and then:
stupid! why haven't you been doing this all along you silly twit?
i am often way to chained to a recipe and believe i cannot deviate at all.
anyways, the hummus turned out very well. and while i still like trader joe's better, it is a fine substitute (and probably cheaper and healthier).
and now for my quick moment of thinking:
i was getting henry's lunch ready and had sat his bowl down onto of my toaster. i then proceeded to start pouring applesauce into the bowl and quickly stopped, thinking, "how on earth will i clean applesauce out of the toaster if it misses the bowl?"
catastrophe averted.
for now.

a little bit from the past.

i've got a bad combo going on right now. restless boredom when there are a zillion things i could be working on. and a desire to eat when i don't really think i am hungry. but that late night mental notion of i want to simply veg and snack. i think that might be the worst combo.
not like cookies and milk (which i want) or frozen yogurt with cheesecake chunks (which i also want).
so, while i wait for my water to boil so i can have a cup of my favorite tea and try to convince myself i don't need to eat (wait a sec, was that a hunger pain?) i thought i'd pop on and try to share a post and get out of my posting every other month habit.
so we returned from our great adventure up north and came home to a mad whirlwind of events. hosting Bible study at our house (the next day after driving 13 odd hours) then other obligations out of the house (which i now can't remember) and then my big event of december: my handmade holiday party.
this was my second year throwing this shin-dig, and it is a lot of fun. basically i invite all the women i know- and tell them to invite all the women they know, and everyone is supposed to bring a handmade gift (and an appetizer or dessert because eating is a lot of fun). then we exchange white elephant style. i decided to throw this type of party because i just love to give gifts and realized i couldn't give a handmade gift to everyone i love. so i thought that by throwing this party we could all celebrate together.
now obviously because i host this party i had my handmade gift prepared weeks before the night.
wait. no.
but i had a fun idea, and i knew it "wouldn't" take to long.


this was my Christmas wreath. i actually made 2. the first one (which after scrolling through all my pictures) i didn't take a picture of. i kept the first one. because i really loved the colors i used, and i wanted it. i'm sorry, but its the truth.
the greatest thing about making this wreath (which wasn't nearly as amazing as some of the other gifts exchanged) was that as i was creating the wreath i had a special helper.
my little mason. she wanted to help hold the fabric while i ripped it, wanted to talk about the fabric, and when i gave her her own pile of fabric she would throw it up in the air and shout, "it's Christmas!". she then declared her pile of fabric as her "decorations" and kept herself busy for hours "decorating" our house. i foresee many years of Christmas creating with her, and am happy to see her sewing/creating juices starting to flow.
since i am toting around a nursing baby, who was also celebrating his first Christmas, i felt it was only natural to try and quickly whip something up for him to wear.

he's happy, really. i just appliqued a quick little tree on a onesie. i have more onesies... i should do more applique.
i love to applique and embroider. love it.
and i love that little man in the picture. to spice things up for Christmas i added a "1" since it was his first Christmas.
oh my goodness, how cute is he? last year on Christmas i was really surprised that i tested "negative" on my pregnancy test. but a few days later i found out i was expecting him. it really puts the year 2010 in perspective for me. maybe not perspective, but it makes it feel more impacting. or crazy. or wonderful.
i'm not sure. but my tea is probably ready to sip now. and i have projects i can be working on.
or i might see if sam wants popcorn.

i do still exist.

sure, 2 months between posts is completely adequate. i have not fallen off the planet. i made it through the made rush of Christmas and presents and baking and cleaning- and well, everything that comes along with that holiday. i also traveled up north with all the kids to spend thanksgiving with my family (and see my first ever football game with my sister and brother-in-law- BEST PRESENT EVER!)
really, my thanksgiving vacation deserves it's own post. so why not flashback in time to 2010?
the Friday before thanksgiving my dad flew down from seattle to help drive me and the kids up. help is kind of a loose word. he did ALL the driving. although, when you have 4 kids in one van it is much much much better to be the driver. because the co-pi has to do all the backseat work.
the plan was to go to portland and spend the weekend with just the little babe and my wonderful sister. that's right, 2 whole days and nights to myself.
it was amazing.
my sis and i stayed at my parents condo and we basically shopped, and shopped, and shopped, and ate. actually, we might have eaten more than we shopped.
we got to see my most favorite crafty blogger in the world, meeting up at a fun restaurant, where we were served awesome appetizers by the oddest waiter. really, he should have been welcoming guests onto disney's tower of terror, not serving delicious food.
now something rather odd happened during our weekend. we were stuck in portland due to the snow. however, there was no snow in portland. basically everywhere else in the world was hit by a snowstorm, except for us. so we couldn't travel to my parents and the kids (they were up by mt. hood) and we couldn't travel north (puyallup) where we would be spending thanksgiving, and with my parents condo's now being rented for thanksgiving, ashley and i were forced to rent a hotel.
really. it was just dreadful. what with hgtv, and more time for shopping.

our hotel room.

the bathroom
i haven't had this much time without my kids in 4 years. the weekend was amazing, but the whole week was fantastic too, because my parents really took over and watched all the kids. it was one of the most refreshing times i have had. i cannot wait till i can do it again.

ashley and i made it home, and the rest of my kids and family made it back to us later that night. i assisted ashley as she made our entire thanksgiving meal. ok, i did help. i ate a lot of sugar cookies and a lot of pie. although i did make my first ever stuffing (thank you pioneer woman) and i was responsible for the baked brie.

hot cocoa break.

decorating sugar cookies.

could there be a cuter picture?

ashley and the best apple pie in the world.

ashley and her beautiful turkey.

with thanksgiving under our belt (and stretching our belts) i took my sister out for her very first black friday event. now we didn't get up at 4 am or anything, instead we started our day at 8 am. we came home around 10 pm. i do not believe i have ever shopped so much in my life.
it was awesome.

steven and i prepping for black friday

the very next day sam flew up to seattle and we went (with the kids) to see some of our very best friends (they have 2 boys Campbell and Henry's ages) in the world. we spent the day with them. i love how when you get back together with old friends nothing really skips a beat, you just jump back into things.
and then, the game. chiefs vs. seahawks. it doesn't always happen, that the team sam and i LOVE and the team my sister and steven LOVE play each other. in seattle (otherwise a flight out to kansas city would be a little unrealistic) of all places.


ash and steven totally spoiled us by getting really amazing seats, and it was absolutely awesome that for the first game we had ever been to that WE WON!
sorry seahawks, but thanks for allowing us to see a victory in person.
and that was the last half of my november. my december was pretty amazing/rushed/busy/fun/stressful. so it really deserves it's own post.