things to do.

i have a bunch of things to do, as usual.

blogging is not one of them.

but, im too excited to share my newest crafting, so here i am typing away!!

This blanket.

I made it :)

i've been wanting to share it since the minute it was complete... but I had to wait till it was given to the birthday boy. it took a long time to make, but was very much worth it.

here is the start to another in progress... a surprise for a very special birthday girl who claims she wants "just one more blanket. but with girl patterens." (even though she already has a billion blankets.) The blanket is actually done, just needs to hit the washer and dryer! I'll share a finished picture after the bday girl receives her gift.

I never really thought I'd be a 'sewer'. But guess what. I think I am a sewer now. Just one more thing to do won't hurt, right?!?

Fabric is fun. Fabric is dangerous.

Just like scrapbook paper :)

Speaking of scrapping, I get to scrap this weekend, and I am so looking forward to it!!

Maybe I'll be posting some new layouts next time around :)

blizzard.

we got a bunch of snow.
at least 12 inches. maybe even more.

lilly and dave are loving it. so am i.
cohen's not too fond of the idea.

these pictures were taken in the morning.
before the rest of the snow and wind came.

10 things.

sometimes you just need a reminder of the things that make you smile.

to be perfectly honest, i know i will always be able to come up with 10 things that make me smile :) that in itself makes me smile.

here are a few... in the moment.

10 things that make me smile.

1. return address labels
2. fun checks (makes the bill paying fun!)
3. real mail in the mailbox (real, as in, not junkmail)
4. baby giggles
5. orders (from here and here)
6. coupons
7. phone calls from people who love you
8. Samoas
9. LOST
10. our Odyssey (and the fact that I'm no longer ashamed that I own a mini-van)
...and a picture, because I know that's what you really want to see :)

have a wonderful weekend! enjoy the snow :)

607

six hundred and seven.

that's how many pictures were on the new digi camera when it said "memory is full".

i am happy to report that pictures are saved up through FEB 08, and the FEB 08 pics are being downloaded for printing as i type this. yay!

enjoy some recent photos...

cohen @ 10 months.

cohen modeling mommy's new hobby :)

lilly coming home from 'crazy hair day' at school :)

climbing on the neighbor's man-made hill in the cal-de-sac.

and here is the 'recipe' for the layered red velvet cake that i posted here. a few of you asked for it... thanks for waiting patiently!

it's pretty much a made up recipe from a recipe that i used once, but even then didnt follow them as i should have. and i'm not so hot at writing out recipes that i make up, but i tried! hope it makes enough sense for you to try to recreate it :) Not sure that anyone would hire me to write recipes!

Jen's made-up Layered Red Velvet Cake :)

Bake a store bought mix of Red Velvet cake as directed on the box. This year I used a bundt cake pan, then sliced the cake in half. (I’ve done 2- 9” rounds cakes in the past as well.)

Cream cheese mixture… one block of cream cheese softened, about 1/4 to 1/3 cup of sugar, and a dash of vanilla. Mix together and spread over bottom half of split bundt cake.

On top of the cream cheese, spoon out cherries from a cherry filling can onto the cream cheese mixture. I usually use about ¾ of the can, and I try not to use all the extra ‘goop’.

Place the top half of the bundt cake on the cream cheese mix and cherries.

Cover the entire cake with heaps of whipped topping.

Top with something fun… this year I colored sugar and sprinkled it on top. I’ve also used the rest of the cherry filling, and chocolate shavings in the past.

Enjoy :)

sing and dance-a-long

this video gets a post of it's own.
this is why i love my 'job' :)

and now, for your viewing pleasure...
a brady and lilly sing and dance-a-long



A few sidenotes :)

-I told the kids I'd put my thumb up so they'd know when to start singing... hence the thumbs up throughout the song :)
-They are watching themselves in the reflection of the TV :) (which they do a lot)
-I've watched this so many times, and it still cracks me up every time I watch it. I always have to watch it 2 times through... once to watch Brady, the next to watch Lilly. My sides hurt from laughing. When Brady watches it he tells me... "Jen, I'm hilarious." Yes, Brady. You are :)
-We listen to 'Ring of Fire' and 'Boondocks' (by Little Big Town... one of my favorites) almost everyday on the way to and from school.
-Mr A. (the pre-school custodian) plays music when the kids are getting picked up, and 'Who Let the Dogs Out' is one of his many selections.

Have a great week!

embroidery things

here are several pics of some things ive made over the last few months. most are gifts that i gave out, some are 'special orders' from friends and family.

i know people are going to ask... "when do you have the time?"
ah..... i find time. (i have to. crafting is my therapy.) it's usually when the kids are in bed, and/or on the weekends dave usually gives me some free mommy hours :)

and... i set up another (yes, another) blog as a little 'shop'.
there are more pictures there too! baby stuff and totes.

here it is... Jen Stitches

thanks for viewing!

food and pics

lilly had a snow day last week, and we attempted a little outing.

cohen wasnt too impressed with the snow in his face, though he liked crawling in the snow. the little suit he is wearing is a hand me down that we are borrowing from my aunt. it is the best little thing ever. easy to put on, and keeps the little man toasty. we get so many compliments on it, and it makes me less nervous to take him out in the cold weather.

as most of you know, i love to cook. i would cook something special every night if that were possible. recently, ive taken to photographing the foods that i am especially happy about having made. it's fun, and dave hasn't rolled his eyes at me yet :) plus, food always has a story with it, and i love having stories to share.

i've started the tradition of special valentine's meal and dessert...
i believe this is the 3rd year... maybe the 4th?

i made lemon chicken, and eggrolls.

...and a red velvet layered cake for dessert. the cake is the real tradition. one year i found a box on clearance, probably for 50 cents or something, so i created something fun and now it's become part of our valentine tradtion!
i told dave not to get me anything for valentine's, but he didn't listen. like normal :)

he got me purple tulips, and huge box of my favorite chocolates, and a mix CD of songs from The OC. he is a sweet boy.

so, the next day... cupid got him season one and two of The OC, since they were on sale at Target :) i figured since our little man is named from a character on the show, that it would be perfectly acceptable for me to buy them. i will be on the lookout for seasons 3 and 4 to be on sale :)

here is a pic of the little monkeys this morning...

have a great week everyone!

happy heart day!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Lilly (with not much help from mommy) made her school Valentines using a Mandarin Pixie stamp.

She's been working very hard on writing her name... and learning how to write 'Y' has proven to be very frustrating (for all of us), but she is getting the hang of it!

We were all doing a happy dance when she wrote this one all by herself!




and looky here... we figured out how to record and post videos!!!
very exciting :) you know you'll be seeing more of these!
(don't mind the little bit of spit up that cohen swallows... hehhe. oh my, i just love these little people.)

a bazillion photos.

im not much for making resolutions. but....

i am more than 6 months behind on pictures. (as in organzing them.)
there are over 400 pictures on the new camera...
i am about a year behind in scrapping. (that is another story.)

starting this year, i have given myself a challenge.

the 1st of every month... i will transfer, sort, save and print the previous month's photos.

im not off to a bad start... i at least got all of december and january's pics off the camera.

i have jotted down all the pictures that i want printed from june 2007-january 2008.
i need to download them online, and have them printed.

from there i hope to get them into photo albums, and whenever i am caught up on the photos that have already been printed to scrap, i will print new ones to scrap.

sounds like a plan to me.

and now, in honor of the kajillion photos that i would like printed, here are a bunch of pictures.

from our runny nose and coughing house to yours... have a great weekend!

hello.

i'm still here.

we survived the holidays, i havent blogged since then!

dave is recovering well from his surprise apendectomy.

we got a new camera, and i still take tons of pics though my scrapping is pretty much non-existant these days.

ive been busy with all the kids, and been having fun stitching in all my enormous amounts of 'free' time.

below are some recent pics, but i may backtrack a bit in upcoming posts so that you can see christmas pics too.

lilly requested mashed potatoes as her snack for pre-school a few weeks back. never thought i'd be making mashed pototes at 7:30 in the morning, but we were making mashed potatoes before the sun came up!

here is the little man posing for his 9 month picture :)

and miss lilly looking for a little limelight.

cohen loves his sippy and this is how he always drinks from it. goof.

ok.. that is it for now, but i am hoping to blog much more often.

we will see if life agrees with that idea :)

have a great week everyone!

holiday hello

Not too much longer till another Christmas is here.
My 'to-do' list is a mile long.
Thought I'd squeeze in a quick post while my machine is stitching out some Christmas gifts :)

The kids in matching PJs :)
On the couch, which is in front of the tree for baby-proofing purposes.

Dave and Lilly made gingerbread cookies.
Not sure who had more fun, Lilly or Daddy :)

A sample from our annual Christmas card photo shoot.

This pic was from the 1st of 3 sessions.

It gets more challenging every year.

Happy Holidays to you all!

Not to be out done.

Well, Lilly doesn't like being out of the spotlight.

She wanted a post of her own, so she gave me something to blog about.

So, she went and got her finger stuck. For real.

I don't think it really hurt, I think she was just scared (and mad cause I took pictures instead of helping her get unstuck.)

It lasted just long enough for me to get some pictures :)

If you couldn't tell already, click here to see what her finger is stuck in.

The best is when she said... "Mom, if that was a real kitty I might have poop on my finger." To which I replied... "If that was a real cat, you wouldn't be putting your finger in it's rear end!"

Oh, I do love this girl :)
I haven't laughed that hard in a long time.

Have a good week everyone!!