Holy Cow.... only one week til Christmas!

I can't believe that Christmas is only 1 week away...eek!... and that December 1st is when this bitty girl was trimming the tree with her brothers...

The to-do list seems to be just as long as it was months ago! Still need to finish crocheting 5 winter hats for Christmas presents... the nice thing is they take no time at all... it's just finding the time between feeding children, bathing children, playing with children, getting children to and from school...to and from hockey...making lunches....etc, etc, etc... you know how it goes. And the wrapping of the presents will likely take place the night before Christmas... as usual.

I'm exhausted just thinking about it all....phew!

On a brighter note... I am extremely excited for the kids... hammy girl will enjoy this Christmas much more than last... mommy and daddy will be much less tired than we were last Christmas... and the boys will be super-duper pumped when they see what mommy and daddy got them.... ooooh, I can't wait!

Snowflake Play Dough

It's the first day of December (yay!!!!) and we woke up to snow, finally! It lasted on the ground for about an hour before the sun came up and melted it all. But just seeing it put me in the mood for decorating... my husband finally gave in to putting our tree up last night... he is strictly a December-tree-putter-upper. It's all decked out in lights so tonight when the boys get home from school we'll throw on some Christmas tunes and decorate the thing.

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE getting up early in the morning before anyone else, before the sun comes up, making myself a nice cup of tea, turning on just the Christmas tree lights and sitting sipping my tea in silence - in the light of the tree lights - in silence.... SHHHHH. Even if it is just for a moment before someone starts calling, "ma-ma-ma-ma", or "Can I tell you about the transformer I'm going to build", or "I'm so-so hungry"..... just a little-teensy-weensy-minuscule moment all for me.

But, on another note.... my middle big man's teacher sent home a note requesting Snowflake Play Dough - in the spirit of winter. So here's the recipe (which I'm sure everyone already knows, but here it is anyway...)


SNOWFLAKE PLAY DOUGH

In a large bowl combine:
2 cups white flour
1 cup table salt
2 tablespoons cream of tartar (what else do you use this strange stuff for????)
1 tube of white, pink or light blue opalescent glitter (I used about a 1/4 of a cup, but certainly use your own discretion for this part)

In another bowl/measuring cup/or some sort of liquid holding vessel, combine:
2 cups boiling water
1 tablespoon of oil

Add liquid to dry ingredients and mix well. Depending on what it feels like after all of your ingredients are mixed, you may need to add more flour if too smushy or more oil of too dry. Once it has cooled enough to hold, kneed it together until it feels smooth. Then package it in freezer bags or wrap it in plastic wrap. VOILA! Pretty sparkly "Snowflake" Play Dough.

Alternatively; you can omit the glitter(or not) and add liquid food colouring (with the liquids, of course), or two packages of kool-aid (for colour) to the dry ingredients. I use neon liquid food colouring and it makes very vibrant coloured play dough (and hands while making it)... the kool-aid makes nice pastelly colours with a great smell. For very intense colours, you can try sourcing out powdered food colouring. If there is a cake decorator in your area, they may be able to hook you up with powdered/paste food colouring sources.

The picture doesn't really show just how pretty my sparkles were, but you get the idea.

Thank-you to Mrs. N. for the recipe.

GIVEAWAYS!

I just found two wonderful fabric giveaways; one here at Retromummy, and the other here at Flea Market Fancy Freaks. Make sure you leave a comment or create a link on your own blog so you don't miss out! I've posted a link for FMFF Giveaway on my sidebar.

Retromummy was the first crafty blog I discovered a year ago when I had my third baby, and I have been reading it ever since. It is because of this blog that I have started reading SOOOOO many others. Although in saying that, Retromummy is the first blog I open up everyday. Corrie at RM has so many inspiring projects; I look forward to being inspired everyday! Thanks Corrie!

The birthday skirt and crown...

I quickly whipped up this cute little corduroy skirt and mary janes for Hammy (mary janes not pictured because the pattern I made needs some tweaking... LOTS of tweaking), the skirt; however, turned out exactly as I had envisioned. The inspiration came from somewhere in blogland... I really wish I had made better note of it because there was a little plaid shirt that was pictured with it, I wanted to make something similar.... anyway, thanks for the inspiration whoever and wherever you are.

I was so busy trying to get things done yesterday... get the boys up and to hockey for 8am ice time (hubby at work so you can imagine trying to get 3 kids up and ready to get to the arena... boo-hoo-hoo, I know, I know), bake cupcakes, ice the cupcakes, sew the skirt and shoes, feed the monkeys (I mean kids), play with the kids, get to the grocery store, get dinner ready (oh, wait, hubby made burgers when he got home... LOVE IT!), get everyone ready to get to Great-Gran'n'Gramps... hold the phone, hold the phone!!!! I forgot to make the birthday crown! Whip up the quickest adjustable crown in 20 minutes! Phew! Get to the little party, relax with a nice glass of vino-verde... thanks honey, I needed that.

Hammy had a fun time, of course she had no idea what was going on, but it was so fun to watch her show off her new walking skills to everyone.

Tomorrow: Daddy's birthday... and we're all going to be home, it's a P.D. day at school, yay! Daddy wants us all to go play hockey... yippee! Hope I don't break my neck, or take a puck to the chops ;)

HaPpY BiRThDaY, Hammy-Girl...

One year old, and growing so fast... remember when your feet were this little??? I'll take a moment... sniff, sniff...

We love you so, so much ;)

A stylish new look....

So I found this wonderful blogger who creates these beautiful headers and backgrounds... I'm pretty sure I can create my own (in time), but, why when there is someone generous enough to do it for you... and for free! She also creates custom headers for a small fee. If you're interested in a peek at what she does, click the button in the top left corner... enjoy!

Baby steps....

My little Hammy girl is turning one in a five short days.... in the last week she's started taking her first steps. I am so proud, excited, happy, and sad all at the same time. Why do they have to grow up so fast, and why can't we remember every second of it?

I crocheted her a new hat today, expecting to wrap it up for her birthday... I have little to no patience when it comes to gift giving for my children. I tried it on her and decided she should have it now. I guess I'll have to come up with something else for her birthday... maybe a really cool crown.

And since I made something for Hammy, I had to make two somethings for my boys... Big-oldest brother is going to wake up to a really cool, sleepy-eyed monster finger puppet and Big-skinny-mini brother is going to find a little grey mouse waiting at the end of his bed.

Hope they like them... who doesn't like waking up to little presents made especially for them?

So many things... so little time....

My to-do list is a million miles long.... there are never enough hours in the day.... it seems the laundry hampers are never empty and there are always dishes to be done.... but at the end of the day, I sit back and smile about the funny things that happened at school for my big boys and try not to tear up over the new things that my beautiful hammy-girl is discovering.

Time flies by so fast and before you know it what seemed to happen just yesterday, has been 19 years of happy-happy times; and has turned 6 and 5 and turning 1 in only 8 short days.

Note to self... try not to blink, you don't want to miss a second.