Baked Potstickers with Sweet Asian Dipping Sauce
I had a few people ask me about what I was doing for Sam's teacher gift. I usually just give a gift card to Barnes & Noble, but about a week before Christmas, I found an even BETTER idea on a website my friend Kristi shared with me. 
It is an online vinyl store called Once Upon A Design. I loved these ladies' original designs. I applied the vinyl to a biscuit jar and filled it with individually wrapped biscottis. Then I tied a Starbucks gift card on with pretty ribbon. Sam made the cutest card out of his hand print (shaped like a reindeer) and we were good to go! So cute. A GREAT idea to tuck away for next year, or for the end of school.
I also made a "Santa's Cookies" plate with another of their designs. It looks adorable on red.
And in other news, I FINALLY bit the bullet and got my hair cut. I always have a hard time finding someone to cut my hair in a new place after we move, and I finally got desperate enough yesterday (after too many months to mention) that I went with Megan and Mom and got a perky new do. I feel like a new woman. I'm the one in black:-)
These ideas may not work for everyone, but I wanted to share what works for toy organization at our house, especially trying to incorporate the new toys that Santa brought.
I am a huge believer in storage bins. Not only does it keep tiny pieces together, it also gives everything a place and limits the toys that get brought out. Now mind you, they don't always get put right away...I usually don't get this organized except maybe once a week. They are kids, after all. It also makes moving a cinch because the movers just pack the bins, and I unpack them at our new home, right onto their shelf.
I also label each bin with the name of what's in it as well as a picture, if possible. That way, my daughter who can't read yet knows what goes in what bin.
For smaller toys, and favorites as well, I make fabric bags with drawstrings. I try and match the fabric to what's inside so that they stay organized that way. It also makes packing for trips or church a breeze because I can just grab the particular bags out of the basket they want, and we're on our way. I also keep a basket for Josh's baby toys as well as a catch-all basket in the basement for those in-between organizing times so it can look tidy in a snap.
Reading the Christmas Story from Luke 2, The Tale of the Three Trees, singing Christmas songs while Anna rang jingle bells, and saying family prayer before heading off to bed.
Putting our homemade cookies and eggnog out for Santa. The big guy's gotta have eggnog. And carrots all in a row for the reindeer. AND he's obviously a Nebraska fan.
By the way, Sam's note to Santa says, "Dear Santa, I know your reindeer's names. I have been good. Love, Sam." We decided it sounds a bit like a threat:-)
Perfect day. Surrounded by people I love, sunshine, shopping and snow. AND it's Christmas Eve. May we all feel the love of our Savior, this season as well as throughout the coming year. Merry Christmas everyone, from our home to yours!
Yesterday, Josh and I spent the morning in Syracuse with Kristi. We had a WONDERFUL time exploring the cute shops in downtown Syracuse, and found a few treasures...a sugared spruce soy candle and this beautiful new nativity by Deb Hrabik. She designs for Demdaco (the company that makes Willow Tree) and actually lives in Syracuse. Not bad for a city of less than 1500 people!
The First Grade's Winter Concert was tonight. Despite the complete lack of any actual CHRISTmas songs, I was actually pretty impressed. It was too late for Josh, so Megan and I took Sam while Tony stayed home with the little ones. I don't get much alone time with my Sam. Usually, when the division between parents is made, I get the baby and Anna, and Tony takes his "little buddy." So I waxed a little nostalgic tonight. My Sam. Can't believe that it was 7 years ago that I was anticipating the birth of this wonderful little person. He is loving. He is creative. He is tender. All the very sweetest parts of Tony and I ended up in this little guy. And, no matter how the years may change us both, he will always be my Sam.
Just a quick idea today...I'm sure we're all feeling the crunch of the Holiday rush. While blog-jumping this week, I came across a post by Monica at The Homespun Heart. She had a GREAT idea for decorating with the antique children's blocks that I obsessively collect. She spells out festive words with the blocks and places them around her home. I love how funky they look here in my entry with all sorts of blocks in different sizes and lettering. I have purchased most of mine at antique stores and flea markets...they are easy to find and still relatively inexpensive.
When Sam was 18 months old, we spent the summer in Alaska living with my family while Tony did his first internship at the Elmendorf AFB legal office. It was then that my dad introduced Sam to maple & brown sugar instant oatmeal. Every morning, my dad would get a little bowl of oatmeal ready for Sam when he got his breakfast so that it would be cool when Sam was ready to eat it. In fact, Sam got to love his morning oatmeal so much that "brown nummies" were often his first words in the morning. He is almost 7 now, and just about every morning of his life, he has eaten 2 packets of maple & brown sugar oatmeal. Anna usually eats it, too. Needless to say, we go through so much oatmeal at our house! Anyway, Tony decided he wanted to broaden the kids' horizons and has been making them different flavors of instant oatmeal in the mornings. It hasn't been popular. Now, each morning, the kids ask if they are getting "true oatmeal", meaning maple & brown sugar. So cute.
French Onion Soup
Gateau a la Creme
I think I've eluded to this before, but my husband is a bit of a Grinch. Oh, he enjoys Christmas as much as the next guy, but he doesn't really get into the decorations, music, ambiance like I do. So, imagine my surprise when he came home from work yesterday and told me he felt a little like Scrooge because he didn't have any Christmas decorations in his office (besides the Christmas candies I bought him for his candy bowl...). And what, you ask, did he want me to help him make? A red nose. For his antelope mount in his office. Oh, yeah, that'll convince everyone that he's festive. Grinch.
And on a lighter note, I made up some magnets today. They are actually "Daily Dose" cards from My Mind's Eye and made to be used on scrapbook pages. I decided that they might actually be cuter as magnets. So I laminated them, rounded the corners and picked up a couple of wet erase markers. Made one for Tony's office, and one for home. Because sometimes, the guy just needs a little warning before coming through the door at the end of the day.
Holy Yumminess! This is another pass-along recipe from the fabulous Jeni Harmon...I've had it tucked away for a couple of weeks and finally made up a batch to try it out today. So easy and delish!
Every year, I try to make up a bunch of cards so that I can write out our family's "thank you"s while we watch our new movies the few days following Christmas. I took some time today to finish up the ones I created for this year. I'm oh so proud of myself that I didn't buy anything new for these...I had all the stuff on hand. The stamp is one of the Studio G stamps that are in the $1 bins at Michaels and Jo-Anns.
If you are like me, one of the best parts of the Holiday season is the sending and receiving of Christmas cards. But with every move, our list gets longer and longer, and in our new home, there isn't a practical way to display the cards and photos of our friends that come with their holiday greetings. So I came up with a plan this year. I bought a medium sized hurricane jar at Target and placed it on the table in my entry. I can see all the cards in there, but they are orderly and contained.
The weatherman was actually right this time! He has been predicting a major ice storm to blow through the Midwest late this week and last night, we got hit hard! All during the night, we could hear the rain pelting the roof and could only imagine how icy the roads were going to be covered in black ice with a feathery powdering of snow on top. 
Luckily, they cancelled school, Tony was told to stay home, and we got a lovely reprieve...right in the middle of the busiest time of the year...and couldn't go anywhere!
As for Giveaway #2, which starts now and goes through WEDNESDAY, I will be giving away a handmade Card Catcher and Cinnamon Stick Angel Ornament. The Card Catcher is a quilted wallhanging that holds your collection of Christmas cards in the pockets created by the tree boughs. Leave a comment to enter, and good luck!
I've done these for several years now...my kids' little friends LOVE them and I have even given them as teacher gifts. They are from Martha Stewart's Kids Magazine from Winter 2003. They don't sell MS Kids anymore (sigh) and this particular pattern isn't archived, so I am linking a copy of my pattern in Adobe (Scribbit taught me how in her post from Monday...HOORAY for Michelle!)
The pattern is already enlarged for your convenience and the dotted lines are guides for slits through which the ears and the candy cane tail go through. I used regular tacky glue for the inner ears and the pom-pom nose. You can use any color felt, but I like the traditional gray with pink ears. You can also use pom-poms for the eyes as well as for the nose, but I just used a pinhead dipped in black paint for this particular batch. They go together in a snap!
There is FINALLY some progress being made on our basement!! Yesterday, they got the egress window cut from the foundation and installed. The inspector also came and signed off on all the electrical and plumbing so we are set to have drywall and flooring installed. We look forward to having that area usable and having a lovely suite for guests...hint..hint...
Since we have finished the craft show, I have been finally able to devote some time to clearing my work area in the family room. Having this space clear again after what seemed like months of chaos has given me a little shot of inspiration and I actually did a few scrapbook pages last night. This blog has been such a blessing because all my journaling is caught up and easily accessible when I want to actually work with the hard copy pictures. Sorry about the pictures instead of scans...new scanner is still not installed. Happy December...
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