December 30

Thought I'd pop in today and give those who care to know a little briefing on how we spent our Christmas holiday. 

We kicked the week off by taking Melissa and her two kids to a brunch and Santa visit at John's golf club.

I don't think one ever outgrows the pleasure of picking and choosing the bits for one's own plate, do you?

Caleb had said, "I hope you don't think I'm going to sit on his lap!" and then the second Santa lifted a welcoming arm the boy plopped right down. :-)

This year I said it and I meant it--gifts for the little guys only. I made 3 out of the 4 and felt good about having done that. For the girls I made ballet/dance bags. Kadence is already enrolled and Madison will be starting in January. I had fun shopping for the stuff to go inside, too.

The two coordinating fabrics are Japanese imports and the scallop pink trim is a vintage find. L.O.V.E. it. 

The pindot letters are actually a deep brown to match the bag. The handles were found at Superbuzzy. Madison's is the second one I made and it wasn't until then that I realized I needed to quilt a batting to it as an inside layer which helps keep it's shape better.

I do like it a lot better than without quilting but it does add a couple three hours to the job. I also like to put a piece of 7 squares to the inch plastic cross stitch sheeting in the bottom. The girls seemed pleased. Their moms--even more so. :-)

Caleb and I headed down south to visit family for most of the week leading up to Christmas. We were in Walgreen's when he saw the Snuggys and realized he still had ten bucks left. I don't know which makes him dorkier--how excited he got about being able to buy one or the fact that he calls it a 'Snoogie'--(or why he thinks this pose is cool) but we love him just the same. 

Christmas weekend was about as lowkey as I can ever remember it being, but it was perfect just the way it was. Our two older girls didn't come up so it was just the two younger girls who live local with our four grandkids.

Kate brought Jaxson and Kadence over for a few hours on Christmas Eve. Here's 'the boys' clowning around.

"DO THE ROAR!!"

This is what I made for Jaxson, who turned one earlier this month.

You may remember when I posted this one almost three years ago. I was so in love with the wooden cars and planes that I'd found at Daiso in the bay area, I'd have sworn I bought enough vehicles and fabric panels for two more. Turned out I had the vehicles but could only find one panel! Ack. I searched and searched for it online but it was from 2007 and I just couldn't find another. I thought I was 'settling' for this one but it turns out I kinda like it even more!

Pretty cute, huh? And they're still available. I got mine here.

My mother, God bless her, stitched the binding for me on this one plus a Christmas comforter I made for a friend while we were there visiting. I hate that part! She is a quilter extraordinaire and was so impressed with my elementary machine stitching! I think it looks quite childish, but I guess with the whimsical nature of the print and the fact that I stitched the bejeeezus out of it (took about three days off and on) it turned out okay.

The girls seemed to get into the play aspect of it more than little Jaxson did--seen here proving why they say "For ages 3+" on little toys with parts. :-)

So where were we....Oh, Christmas Eve. Here's a cute series of shots of the two siblings who like each other and are always nice to each other; Jaxson and Kadence.

Their mom Kate said, "Kadence...open your eyes!" so then I got this shot

Which made us all laugh

So cute. I love it when they start developing a sense of humor.

The next morning Melissa invited us over to her place for breakfast and the opening of presents. Was kind of weird, not to be at our house, but was kind of cool too--being able to pop in, enjoy the warmth and merriment, (and yummy breakfast Melissa cooked) and then pop back home!

Oh--here's a fun side story. A couple weeks ago I accompanied Melissa to her work Christmas Party. She works for Blue Lake Casino and Hotel and they probably employee over 300 people. She had been voted Employee of the Month earlier this year. I just had the funniest feeling that she'd be announced as employee of the year. And she was! Such an exciting moment...so proud of her. Then after dinner they were drawing names for all sorts of cool door prizes and she won an xbox w/kinect! YAY! She was definitely the star of the night. :-)

The first thing she said when she opened it was, "My son is going to be so happy!" I personally didn't agree that it should be HIS gift...I thought better to call it a family gift so he's better at sharing with lil sis but who listens to me? 

So flash forward--Caleb is pretty sure he's going to get a 'tablet' (a cheaper version of an i-Pad) and sure enough, that's what his two sets of grandparents had pitched in and got him. Gave it to him on Christmas Eve and he was quite happy about it but for all he knew, the good part was over. Yet there was this largish, quite heavy box under the tree at mom's house with his name on it. hmmm. His mom about had him convinced it was a box of bricks with underwear. John said it was probably a bowling ball. 

I honestly don't think he's ever been that surprised.

And his mom was SO happy to be the source of his happiness that she just stood there in tears. It was cool.

At my insistence, Caleb used half of his allowance saved from the last few months to buy gifts for other people this year. The 'other people' ended up being his papa and his mom, but that's a start. ;-)

The rest of the morning was spent trying to be nice AND quiet while papa set up the xbox

and giving a little fashion/dance show in the new leotards (those are cow mittens on her feet).

And that brings us to present. Getting ready to say goodbye to 2011. 2010 was hard because I lost my dad and my sister. This year John lost his dad and his brother. Fingers and toes are crossed that everyone we know and love stays healthy and alive this year! (so glad you're home and on a path toward outliving us all, Mom. LOVE you).

xo, jen

Comments

[pam]

Love catching up with you. Everyone looks happy and healthy! And the kids are growing up so fast. Congrats to your daughter, that's really great, Employee of the Year! Hope this year is nothing but happiness and good health! xo

[nanette]

The post and photos made me smile. Love hearing about your family and the holidays. Caleb and the snuggie was my favorite. Last year my son got one as one of our bingo prizes (my kids bring crazy things) and he uses it all the time. Caleb reminds me of him in the photo. Fun stuff Jen. Love seeing what happened at your house.