Holiday Baking...

I heard a rumor that not every family has the tradition of insane holiday baking like mine does. I found this hilarious! and absurd! What good is Christmas without stuffing your face with 9 kinds of cookies/treats?! I ask you!

Now, I'm not as ambitious as my mother was/is (still, mom?) She'd make delightful treats like:
Applets & Cotlets (aka Turkish Delight)
Brown Sugar Lollipop Cookies
Sugar Cookies (I loathe them.)
Peanut Brittle
Orange Peel Candy
and about 4 others that I just don't care for.

My holiday baking list includes:
Glazed Almonds (I have 14 cups of blanched almonds to use... better get cracking!)
Muddy Buddies
Meltaways (also called Russian Tea Cakes)
Fudge
Raspberry Thumbprint Cookies

That's about it. Do I give them away to friends? Um. No? Does that make me a bad person?

Perhaps just a fat person...

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Top Secret Mom Gift #1

I've been furiously stitching after the kids are in bed...
Some very lucky (Anna) girl is getting this one.

I used the pattern from Wee Wonderfuls. And tomorrow, I'm gonna start Abbie's doll. Also, please ignore my horrendous embroidery. I'm seriously clueless when it comes to making it pretty.

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Here we go!

And we're off. The season for the feverish and hurried crafting of gifts, etc begins! Hooray!

I have made the kids handmade ornaments every year since I started having kids... then when they get married/etc, I'll have a bunch of ornaments to give them. This year, I am making stuffed trees a la Little Birds.

I altered her pattern a little. My tree measures about 4 inches tall. It is completely hand-stitched. I did it last night while watching the Biggest Loser. Then I stitched on these seed beads... it was actually extremely therapeutic. I have two more to make... then I'm gonna make a set of three larger ones (the tallest being 8 inches) to put on top of something for decoration.

It's not quite done. It needs a loop for hanging on the tree and a star... which I think I'm gonna make out of some yellow felt. I used wool felt for the green, but I think I'll just use craft felt for the star. If you haven't used wool felt... you should. It's amazing to work with.

I also have plans to make the girls each a doll or all three kids a softie. I'm also making Miles a superhero cape as the only capes we currently have are pink and Matt hates it when he wears them.

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So desperate for Fall...

That we travel 2 days by car, only to discover it's actually already winter in Pennsylvania.

IT WAS FLIPPING COLD. It did get mildly warm on Wednesday... which made the trip worth it. If only for these pictures:

Meet Tab. My sister's impossibly cute kid who didn't think much of me.Sheesh... I miss fall. Again, Winter... not so much.
It had rained for like 2 days before this and those leaves were wet and COLD. Needless to say, the kids got VERY DIRTY.
Abbie's getting to this weird age where she doesn't really want me to take her picture, and if she does, it's this lame girly posing. I love this shot, because it shows the kid she still is.
You can kinda get a feel for what a stinker Miles is...
And how much freaking fun they were having.

I have tons more pictures, but I'm gonna stop here. Save some for later, maybe.

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Definitely. Most Assuredly. Undoubtedly.

A boy.

We're thrilled beyond belief. And for the first time, my gut was right. I really believed it was a boy!

On to the hardest part.... no, not labor. Name negotiations.

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They're Ba-Ack...

You loyal blog readers will recall a harrowing day a couple of months ago, when Abbie nearly died at my hand.

Well, have a looksee-The "curlies" have returned. Need more illustration?
I dunno about you, but we're having a PAR-TAY!

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An offer!

So, every year, I somehow acquire some great templates for Christmas cards (I honestly seek them out, I'm addicted).

And I really enjoy sharing them. For 3 years now, I've done it for free. Believe me, I learned my lesson last year when I was inundated with requests. This year, I'm just asking you to make a donation. Whatever you feel it's worth to you? I guess if that means, nothing, then well... what can I do?

What do you do? You email me using the link in my profile. You send me the picture or in some cases, pictures that you would like me to insert into the template (please only send pictures that YOU TOOK, or that you have a copyright release for). You let me know which Sample number you'd like me to use along with any pertinent information (name, alternate message, etc) that you'd like me to include. I can make your pictures black & white, reduce red eye, etc. Be sure to let me know if you'd like 4x6 of 5x7 file dimensions. Then, out of the kindness of your heart, you send a donation (pretty please, but not required) to the same email address.

What do I do? Using my magical photoshop abilities, I do what you ask and make you all look like supermodels (kidding!) I create your file. I send it to you. I put a tiny amount of money into my children's Christmas fund (hopefully?). I'll send the file along with directions and recommendations for consumer print labs that do a great job!

Anyway, here are the templates I'm offering:

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This last card has slots for 5 pictures, but we could do less.

Also, ignore the dates on some of the templates. Easily changed.

Finally, if you're a client and would like to order a picture from a session that I took for you in a template, simply email me for rates!

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