Homemade Christmas Gifts

Hi!

Along with home-made presents for the kids, we also do home-made for others.  For the past few years, the kids have given home-made jam to their teachers and bus driver.  However, this is made by my MIL!  She makes great jams.

The kids and I have made wreaths


 and wooden trees,


Along with these, I've made a couple things in the kitchen to go with them-

Crockpot Granola 

and Pecan Praline Sauce.

I've also made a

Coconut Sugar Scrub.

This year we made wooden snowmen from Birch branches that got cut last winter when our power went out.  Here's one that C made.

They turned out to be pretty delicate.  This one is already missing an arm!

N made a crazy one.

Also missing its arms!  We gave the "nicer" ones to my in-laws and N didn't feel like making another one for us to keep!

C also got in on the home-made band wagon and did her first cross stitch!  I glued it on a birch round to make an ornament.

We mailed it down to my dad and step-mom with a picture calendar that we do for the grandparents. I think that kinda counts as home-made too!

:-)

Tasty Monday

Hi!

It's the holidays.  Here's what we've been eating.

• Thurs- Chicken (?)
• Fri- Leftovers
• Sat- Frozen Pizza
• Sun-Chili with Frozen Black Beans, Frozen Hamburger
• Mon-Spaghetti (Frozen), Tomato Sauce
• Tues-Leftovers (Kids gone to in-laws)
• Wed- Christmas Eve Dinner- Cabbage Rolls, Perogies in Bedford, NS

:-)

Christmas Slippers

Hello!

I have a yearly tradition of making home-made gifts for the kids.

In 2012, I made The Owlies for C


and  StacRobots for N

.
Last year, I made Falling Blocks for them both.


This Christmas I made slippers. 

I was inspired by this link.

I had a wool sweater that I bought a couple weeks ago at Value Village that C didn't like. I felted it by washing it in hot water and used it for her slippers.

For N's, I used an old wool sweater of mine that shrank and had been put with the Halloween Stuff to use for a costume.

I had some leftover bench "fabric" that I used for the bottoms.

Both slippers are a bit too big because I didn't measure their feet.  I just used some old shoes to guesstimate the size.  But at least they're not too small!

:-)

Christmas Happenings

Hi!

We had a great Christmas!  We went over to Bedford, NS to spend the holiday with K's aunt and uncle.

The kids had school til Tuesday (!) so K's parents took the kids over on Wednesday morning.  K had to work Wed til noon so we went over after that.  The weather was great for travelling- just a little drizzly.  We had a lovely Christmas Eve dinner of cabbage rolls and perogies.  The kids set out their stockings and went to bed around 9:00

Christmas day we woke around 8:00 to open gifts from Santa.

 The most exciting gift was from K's parents- a WiiU!  Here we are engrossed in Mario Kart.

 Plus, I got a new phone, which should mean my pictures will be a lot better! All the pics in this post were taken with C's camera, except for the one above which was taken by K's phone.

C got some new nail polish from N.  She painted my nails with every color.

K's back had been bothering him since he put heater cords under the front stairs on Sunday, Dec. 14.  The ride over to NS, didn't help, plus sleeping on a different (softer) bed also aggravated it.  He woke Thursday in  a lot of pain.  He spent most of the day in bed, popping pain pills.  K's family eats dinner around 5:00, instead of around 1:00 or 2:00 like we did when I was growing up.  Here's the turkey getting ready to go in the oven.

Finally, right before dinner, K's pain had escalated so much that we had to call 911 and an ambulance came!

They gave him some Toderol (?), which helped almost immediately and took him (and me) to the nearest hospital!  It was quite exciting!  We missed Christmas dinner since we were at the hospital til 8:00.  The doctor diagnosed him with inflammation and prescribed some Tylenol 3's.  But since then, K's back has been better!

On Boxing Day (Dec 26),  N and C had fun playing outside at the park across the street.

We left to come home a little before noon. The kids rode home with the in-laws and K and I followed. We stopped at Taco Bell for lunch- always a treat since there isn't one in PEI.  We were all glad to get home! When we got here, the kids discovered a big sled that Santa had left under the tree.

Happy Holidays! :-)

Falling Blocks

Hi!

Each Christmas, I like to make a home-made gift for the kids.  In 2012, I made StacRobots for N

 and Owlies for C.

Last Christmas, 2013, I made Falling Blocks for them both.

I was able to use up some extra 1x4's which I cut on the mitre saw.

I got the idea from this link.

I also made some knotted friendship bracelets for C

and I gave N an Owlie that I had made the year before (made from an old pair of his shorts!).

Merry Christmas! :-)

TGIF- Continuing Front Room Progress

Hi!

We didn't make much progress in the front room this week.  I had moved the wooden doors for the coat closet out of the "master bathroom" and cleared the closet so we could put up the plywood on the back wall.  However, this never got done, so I had to move the stuff back over to the closet so we could bring in the drywall for the window wall.

 K picked up the drywall on Tuesday (first dry day in a while!).  I trimmed it outside and brought it in to the front room to wait to be put up.

It's still waiting....

Today is the Christmas Concert at School.

Enjoy the last weekend before Christmas! :-)

Christmas Decorations

Hi!

Last Saturday was a beautiful day, so the kids and I went out and cut a tree from the woods behind our house.

We decorated it Sunday afternoon.

Here are a few more pics of the decorations we (I) put out.

C has even decorated (and re-arranged her room)! Including a festive "Keep Out" sign.

(This One Direction Poster is on the ceiling!)

Have a great day! :-)

Tasty Thursday

Hi!

Another busy week and only 7 more days til Christmas!

Here's what we ate last week.

• Thurs- Vegetable Soup- from a can with a few additions- basically what we had last Sunday, but N wasn't here so it was "new" to him
• Fri- Frozen Pizza- C had friend over.
• Sat- Dominoes Pizza (kids gone)
• Sun- Gumbo from mix with Sausage, Rice
• Mon- Chicken Fajitas, from a chicken roasted that afternoon.
• Tues-Frozen Tuscan Beans, Leftover Rice, Steamed Sugar Snap Peas, Raw Carrots & Raw Sugar Snap Peas with Ranch dressing
• Wed- Macaroni & Cheese, Peas

Enjoy the rest of your week! :-)

TGIF- More Front Room Progress

Hi!

Gooness, it has been a busy week!  I tutored Monday thru Wednesday. Thursday and today there was no school because of roads and bridges being closed due to flooding. On Wednesday and Thursday we got 7 inches of rain in a 36 hour period which is more than twice the amount we usually get in the whole month!

However, even with this, we still got some work done on the front room.  Here are some pics.

The ceiling is drywalled!

 The ceiling and little side parts are drywalled!

More ceiling and side parts (are drywalled)!

This wall separating the front room from the master bathroom is drywalled.  The pic kinda looks like the wall is at an angle, but it's not...

Also, all the walls are taped and ready to be drywalled.  We're just waiting for a dry day to pick up the drywall.  It's supposed to be raining all weekend plus K has to work tonight, tomorrow and maybe Sunday. :-(

Have a great weekend!

:-)

Tasty Friday

Hi!

Here's what we ate last week.

• Thurs- Kale Super Mix Oriental Stirfry, Quinoa (?)
• Fri- Out for dinner for my in-laws' anniversary
• Sat- Roast Chicken, Leftover potatoes, Black Beans, Raw Sugar Snap Peas & Carrots
• Sun- Veggie Soup- started from canned soup with extra carrots, onions, canned tomatoes, frozen peas, green beans, chicken broth
• Mon- Tamale Pie (More Easy Beans, pg 97), Salad with Sugar Snap Peas and Carrots, Chips and Salsa
• Tues- Frittata Muffins with Frozen Spinach, Toast
• Wed- Frozen 4 Cheese Raviolis, Tomato Sauce for the kids, Green Olive Pesto for the Adults

:-) 

TGIF- Front Room Progress

Hi!

The weeks are so busy!  K & I had a lovely time at the Johnson Shore Inn last Friday night.  It was a combined birthday gift for K and me for our birthdays in October.  We finally got to go before they close for the season Jan. 6. We went to Charlottetown before and got some "fun" shopping done.  K got a new jacket and I found some ramekins. I had Wednesday off work, but I had to go to town for a job interview (!) and then I did my shopping.  I got a lot of Christmas stuff done, so that's good.  In the afternoon, it was my turn to drive to dance class so I had to go back to town.  I also had to drop the cats off to get spayed.  Thursday, C was supposed to see our family doctor about her hearing, but the public health nurse who did her hearing test at school, got her an appointment in town to have another hearing test.  She has decreased hearing in both ears, probably because of fluid build-up behind the ear drum. She has another appointment with the family doctor next week. Today there's no school. We have to pick up the cats this morning and then go back to town for dinner to celebrate my in-law's anniversary. We also plan on getting a few Christmas decorations up today!

Have we made any progress in the front room this week?  Well, a little!

Notice there's a piece of drywall up to the left of the door (with a hole cut our for the plug) and the top 2x4 for the closet wall on the ceiling.

  

This side is plastic-ed, taped and ready for drywall.  Except, the plug needs to be moved :-(.  Where it is now, it ends up being right under the end of the bench.  It needs to be a bit further from the door.  I guess it's good I noticed before we drywalled, but I wish I'd noticed before I taped all the plastic!

  

Here is the wall to the bathroom framed up.

So, we are slowly getting there!

Have a lovely weekend!

:-)

Tasty Thursday

Hello!

Here's what we ate last week.

• Thurs- Pork chops with scalloped potatoes. I got this "recipe" from N's teacher.  It's just thinly sliced potatoes in a baking dish covered with a can of cream of mushroom soup, then more potatoes and another can of soup  Place pan-seared pork chops on top and bake at 350 for 45 min or so.  
• Fri- Out- K and I got to go to Johnson Shore Inn for the night (a combined birthday gift to K and me from my in-laws) where we had a delicious dinner of pan-fried haddock, potatoes and baby bok choy.
• Sat- Frozen Pizza
• Sun- K's Mac & Cheese (N had a friend over for dinner.)
• Mon- Frozen Enchilada Casserole
• Tues- Baked Lemon Sole, Frozen Spinach, Whipped Potatoes
• Wed- Quesadillas, Raw Carrots

I heard on the news that the average family of four in the maritimes spends $900/month on groceries.  We spend less than that, so I feel better about my food budget now.  K heard from his co-workers that meat prices have increased a lot, so serving a lot of vegetarian meals must help with keeping our prices down.  The news also said that food prices have increased 35% since 2004 and are going to keep rising in the next year!

:-)

TGIF

Hi!

Happy American Thanksgiving (a day late)!  Yesterday was a snow day for us, so school was cancelled.  We got about a foot of snow (30cm).

Can you see C under the tree?

Here's a closer pic. C's building a fort under the spruce tree.

N has the snow saucer out.

Here's the pond this morning.

So, we've been slowly working on the front room.  Everyday we do something.  It doesn't look that much different from last week, but we got a lot of little things done.

The styrofoam is framed off by 2x2's. This wall is ready to be plastic-ed and then drywalled! There's a vertical 2x4 behind some plastic that shows where the closet wall will come out from the front wall. 

This part of the wall just needs the light switch box installed (and the pink insulation put back in the bottom) and then we're ready for the styrofoam. 

We hadn't planned on putting the 2x2's on the wall, but at the top of the wall is a 2x6 and it sticks out over the rest of the 2x4 wall.  So, we added the extra 2 x2's and styrofoam so there wouldn't be a bump out.  

The ceiling has been vented and insulated and a lot of extra drywall backers have been put in so the ends of the drywall will have something to screw into.  The wiring is also done.

Here we actually have drywall (and extra lumber) to put up! 

Blah!  Here's where I moved most of the stuff from the other side of the room.

And here's the hallway, where the other stuff went.

We are almost ready to put the drywall up!  This is an exciting step, but I'm always wondering, "Is there anything else we need to do before we close up the walls?"

Have a great weekend! :-)