advent fun…being crafty…

I made most of my Christmas gift this year. Which doesn’t mean I spent any less money…and certainly not less time…but somehow it was meant more — to me — to give something I had put time into. The hardest part? Finishing a few weeks early and having to WAIT to give it to them. And show people that I learned how to sew!

here’s one set of placemats I made…contrast stitching on one side, print fabric on other…

set #2 — contrast stitching on both sides

set #3…

the cup I made on cafepress.com for Brian…it features something he actually said…and he LOVED it, he even told someone else about it!

the princess crown for my niece

the bag for my sister….of course, I had to test the self-made pattern on one for myself first…

inside the bag…fabric selection made by Jams

advent fun…or something like that…

Sometimes things don’t go quite like you plan. ‘Specially with weather being so out of my control and stuff. ‘Specially when you have kids.

So we’ve spent the week sick, taking turns of course, so it lasts longer. We started on Monday night and, if current trends continue, should finish up Saturday or Sunday. So it’s been tiring and pretty much nothing this week went how I pictured it would. But it wasn’t the worst week of my life, either. That’s always nice. I’m sad I didn’t really get to spend as much time with family as I wanted, but…there’s always next year. (When we’ll come down with another bug…) And Advent was definitely less “meaningful” when you’re getting fevered stares while you’re talking. Or cleaning up puke. Sunday night, after a foiled attempt to attend the candlelight service, we exchanged gifts with each other — well, each person got a little something for someone else — it was pretty fun. The kids really enjoyed getting gifts for each other.

the snow was a fun surprise. mostly fun, anyway. for most of us.

and here is our very own Snow Mountain

Jams preferred sledding on a non-moving sled

Here’s Zabe and Jams takin’ a ride in our backyard

wheee!

Kar does not like snow. But she does like hot cocoa.

Jams got nail polish from Kar. Sick though she was, her happiness was uncontainable.

Kar got markers from Zabe. Which is good since she ate the ones we used to have.

Just as suspected, Jams could not keep secret what she bought for Zabe. She was just too excited to give it to him.

Here’s Zabe w/ Dave ‘n’ Jamie….

And even though she was sick, Kar was weirdly excited to get this tunic dress…

Here’s Jams doing the “Hooray, I found temporary relief from my three day illness thanks to a nice bath” dance.