2009 blog recap

a select recap of 2009, the blog version:

i scrapped at least once a month, just like i said i would :)

hosted an auction, and raised a lot of money for a special family.

lilly graduated from the best preshool ever.

we went to the beach. and. LOVED. it. a lot.
i made a few sugar cookies ;)

we bought this.someone started kindergarten.
we continued to adore this little man.

i started the My Life People series. (look for more soon!)

i began my Gnome obsession.

and also began my love of GLEE.

LBE grew. with thanks to many of you :)

hosted my first Open House.

enjoyed the holidays.

Looking back, 2009 was a pretty good year.
I am hoping that 2010 brings even more goodness.

As for the blog...
i plan on sharing more recipes, more My Life People...
more craftiness, more adventures...
more giveaways...
more stories, more pictures.

Thank you for joining me :)

Christmas 2009

Christmas this year, was a 3 day long event.
We had Christmas at our house, then my parents came down for lunch, the next day... to Dave's parents, and another celebration on Sunday.

It was enjoyable, but I am glad to be able to rest.

Christmas morning started out looking like this...

cohen's gift from lilly.
hockey glove ornaments :)lilly opening her gift from cohen.
(a barbie)
(which cohen told her about daily for the past 3 weeks)a new very wanted gift for the little lady :)i love the look on lilly's face in this next picture when she realizes what Santa had given her.

Nugget. Her very own Zhu Zhu pet.
(she tells people that it smells like a chicken nugget. yum.)

cohen got one too... scoodles.
but he is not working properly, so we have another one on the way in the mail!

loving his light up block that i had custom made.
a perfect addition to his bedroom. playing on the Leapster. she already has a few new games on her wish list ;)the little hockey nut.
we set cohen down with the box to his hockey men.
we looked over a few minutes later, and he had set up this whole thing all by himself.
the goalies were in their nets.
there looks to be some sense of forwards and defensemen going on. even looks like a play is in action.
he takes all the players off for the zamboni to clean the ice.
he's not even 3 yet.
hilarious.

then today, i hear cohen saying... "ho ho ho. i santa."
i look around the corner to see this...
i hope the wonder of Christmas lasts all through the year :)

the night before Christmas

*the presents are wrapped
*the fridge is stocked

*the cookies have been shared

(and 3 more batches have been made)

*Santa has been visited

(enjoyed by one, not so much the other)

*visited with a number of friends

*Early gifts have been enjoyed

(thanks erin! VERY fun puzzle!)

*Galleon has found new hiding spaces
*the kids are waiting
(lilly is waiting as patiently as she knows how)(not very)
*the music has been listened to
*the cards mailed
(and many received!)
*LBE wishes sent
*camera charged and ready for new pictures
*eagerly awaiting Christmas Eve service tonight
*new pajamas are waiting to be worn
*then tomorrow morning, the real fun begins*

Merry Christmas everyone!

the weekend before Christmas!

my kind of weekend.

-sleeping in till 7:30 (yes, that's right, 7:30 is sleeping in around here)
-homemade pancakes
-a bit of shopping for the last of the gifts
-baking (all new cookie recipes this year!)
-delivering these goodies to friends and neighbors
-getting Christmas cards in the mail
-lots of Christmas music
-embroidering gifts
-working on LBE orders
-tasting all those cookies
-eating bean dip, drinking cream soda and watching The OC with my forever boyfriend ;) (that's dave, and our date night)
-snow (ok... so dave and the kids like that more than me)
-a quiet house. for this one moment. (that doesnt happen hardly ever...)

meet the new guy in the front yard.
lilly calls him 'frosty'. how original.
i recommended 'sporty'.
but i dont think she approved.

Merry Christmas to each and every one of you!
I wish you everything that makes you smile.
Inside and out.
*last name has been changed to protect the innocent. Can you tell who came up with that name?

**i may take a week or so off of blogging. or not. see you soon!

elf.advent.craftiness.

Galleon.
He’s a sneaky little elf.
He’s pretty good at thinking up new places to hide.Except for that one night when he forgot to move.
Oops.
Not quite sure why he forgot to fly to Santa with his report on the kids then fly back to our house and find a new hiding spot before the kids woke up.

{Other than the fact that I am sure that elf must be extremely exhausted.}

He did redeem himself the following morning by hanging out in Lilly's stocking. (Since he upset her the most by not reporting to Santa.) We were lucky and found An Elf on the Shelf early this season. We heard about him last year a bit too late, when he was nowhere to be found in the stores.This is our first Christmas with our new advent house.
We filled it with our mini-ornaments, and decorate the mini tree night by night.
I also put a scripture in each door. A reminder of the reason we celebrate Christmas in our home.now on to the craftiness.

i had an order to embroider 8 snuggies.
it was snuggie central around here.i made dave model them before and after for the placement of the name. (not just to make him feel incredibly uncomfortable.)
'snuggie sarah' had me put some very fun names on her snuggies ;)
i warned her that she may get several of her own next year.

who dey? that's dave. er, i mean... big show dave.then on to the cozies.
these were so much fun to make.
a great little craft therapy.
these are all spoken for.
but once the holiday craziness is over, i feel a drawing coming on.and some embellished clothes for the little lady i watch.
inspired by these.
(see, i told you nothing is really my own idea.)so that is the 1st round of christmas making and giving.
and the reason why we have tons of laundry to do.
and the pots, pans and cookie sheets were dirty for at least 3 days.

happy weekend ;)

Night Light NYC app

a bit cool.
dontcha think?

(besides that the video is a wee bit chopped off on the right. sorry people. i can only do so much in the tech world.)

wanna know something even cooler?
it's my sister and her boyfriend's app!

(as in... they dreamed it up, and designed it.)

let alone how cool that ad is. (and joe... you are AMAZING!!) (i sang that in my head... btw)

dave had the free version downloaded before I could even tell him about it. guess he already knew :) and then he had downloaded the true ad-free version by dinner time.

it is such a pretty app to look at, and even more fun to see what colors the empire state building is wearing... all the way in the middle of Ohio.

Try it out! For FREE!!

here is the link to the FREE version... for all you ipod/itouch savvy people.

and if you love it (and how can you not?) a non-ad supported version is also waiting for you :)

I am so excited for you Miss and Joe!! I can't wait to see what else you two come up with :)

(and speaking of my sister... only a few days left to win some really cool prizes through her fundraising raffle!)

cornhole, corndog casserole and teacher's gift

just answering a few questions from a loooooong time ago.......

corn hole.

this is a game we never heard of until we moved to the middle of ohio.

the corn hole boards are set a certain amount apart. you take turns throwing the 'corn bags' (like little bean bags, but filled with corn, dried corn) in attempt to get them in the hole.

here's a link to a cornhole site, if you want more info

(i can't believe there is an american cornhole association.)

i am so not that into it.

in fact...

im not so good at this game.

unless im holding a kid on my hip.

then i have better balance.

or something.

here is one of dave's homemade boards.

(kindly modeled after a friend's set) and cohen's mock cornhole game.

back in august.

(which is when rorie asked me what cornhole was)

corndog casserole.

an easy fun recipe that the kids like.

i do too.

Pour one large can of Bush's baked beans in an 8x8 pan.

Cut up some hotdogs (you decide how many...) and mix them up in the beans.

In a separate bowl, mix a box of cornbread as directed on the package.

Add some cheddar cheese (you choose how much...) to the cornbread mix.

Spread the cornbread mix over the beans and hotdogs.

Bake in oven as stated on the cornbread box, or until cornbread is baked through.

(I brought that to this party back in september... when rorie asked what corndog casserole was)

teacher's gifts.

this year, lilly only has 1 teacher.

(the past 2 years we had 3 teachers!)

(and i don't think her teacher reads here... so i can share.)

but.. if you are reading, Mrs. H... please stop here :)

I already made up a medium monogrammed tote.

With her favorite color.

green.

(I've also made a handful of these for customers to gift to their kids' teachers. It's fun to fill them up with goodies!)

I am also planning to make another one of these cozies (this one was for my friend Ali's bday)....

...displayed on a cup and filled up with a small giftcard to Starbucks and some candy.

if there is any candy left in this house.

I normally do monogrammed handtowels and bath & body works soap.

but im not sure if that goes well with the whole coffee idea.

I do love the LBE totes, because they make such nice re-usable bags!!

and im not just saying that ;)

i do love them.

(hope that helps denise! even though christmas is just days away now....)

p.s. I will try to be much more prompt in answering my reader questions from here on.

christmas decor 09

so here it is!
the 2009 christmas decor post :)
im excited to share!

here is our main tree.
with all those hallmark ornaments i collected while working there in college ;)

a closer up of the mantle.

with stockings handmade by my grandma.

the print and framing are everyday decor.

but worth sharing for sure :)

they are done by a great friend of dave's.

of course, we are a tad in love with the whole gnome idea right now :) we found a Santa gnome for $2.00.

and those awesome trees?

the dollar tree.

love it.meet our 'elf on the shelf'.

his name is Galleon.

he's a sneaky little elf, and he may just be getting his own blog post before Christmas is here. this is our new advent calendar.

90% off at Target last year, and look how cute!

this may get it's own blog posting as well.

this is what ive been wanting to share the most!!

wall art.

guess what they are??

boxes!

i got the idea here :)

oh my.

i am so in love with simple. cute. cheap. decorating!!

(and i won those huge snowman a few years back.)

the return of our gnome.

i think this will always be displayed somewhere in our home.

just makes me smile :)

daddy's decorated tree :)

it's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas...