All I want for Christmas is a CHAINSAW

We just got back from spending the week at Mike's parents' home in Southern Utah. As you can see, Blake got the gift he has been begging for, a chainsaw. He has insisted on carrying it around with him 24/7 since he opened it. (yes that means it goes to bed with him too.)

Now, let's talk about the weather in Utah. I wanted to DIE it was so cold. It was 4 degrees this morning before we left. I really am a cold wimp. What happened to the girl who spent 5 years as a teenager in freezing cold Michigan, and then 4 more years in what I thought at the time was not so cold Utah while I attended BYU? It was pretty much below 20 degrees most of our trip so our snow playing excursions were very short. Even though it was cold, it was also an absolutely breathtakingly beautiful white Christmas. Mike is from a gorgeous area.

We enjoyed a wonderful breakfast of sourdough pancakes that big Grandpa made for us. They were delicious. He even made the sourdough starter himself. We will try the recipe at home.

And Mike didn't even complain about being "matchy matchy" in the pajamas that I actually was able to finish before we left for Utah. (wonder of wonders)
Don't you wish you had this yummy box of treats that Little Grandma made for us to take home? She makes the most wonderful penuche I have ever tasted.
And of course we can't forget the 12 hour car ride home today. This choice picture was taken while both of them were crying. Thankfully they were pretty good most of the trip. (what would we do without the DVD player?)
I hope everyone had a merry Christmas. And a big thank you to Mike's parents and grandparents for such a great time.

Santa's Sweatshop

Take a peak at Santa's sweatshop, or should I say Mrs. Claus' sweatshop. What are the chances that 4 sets of pajamas and a Christmas dress for JuJu will be sewn by Friday morning when we leave? I give it about a 10% chance. The real question is, what are the chances that I will be taking my good old Pfaff on vacation with us, and spending all Christmas eve day sewing. Wish me luck.

Humpty Dumpty

It all started several months ago when my pregnant friend Rebecca asked if I had ever sewn a car seat cover. I told her no and that it seemed really scary and hard, but I was up for the challenge if she found some material she liked. You see, baby Nathan could not come home in a PINK car seat, so a new cover was necessary.

Honestly this was the most intimidating and SCARY sewing project I have ever undertaken. No pattern, no instructions.....good luck!!! Now this little project would be no big deal for Carol (my oldest sis) who has magical sewing powers and the ability to whip anything up under the sun, but you see I was not blessed with the same talent. I am the type that needs a pattern to tell me what to do and then I can do it.

I had to basically take apart the cover and sun shade thingy piece by piece to form my own pattern and then figure out how to sew it all back together again. Hence Humpty Dumpty. There were many moments (hours) when I wondered if it would just end up looking cheesy and ridiculous.

20 hours later........a new car seat emerged. Now baby Nathan is allowed to be born. I feel like that was some sort of final exam and I think I passed. I'm actually pleased by the way it turned out. Now I can say that I have conquered my biggest sewing fear. I hope Nathan likes it!

Jerusalem Cricket

Even grosser than the fact that I almost stepped on this bug as I walked into my front door yesterday is the fact that my friend (who shall remain anonymous) actually scooped it up to take home to show her children, and even grosser than that is the fact that when we were at this friend's house, we could HEAR this very loud and ugly bug making a horrible scratching/clicking noise in its bug habitat cage thing. Moral of the story, Moms deal with scary bugs and gross things to brighten their children's day.
p.s. Doesn't it kind of look like a bee on steroids and without wings?

I just can't do it

A few months ago I inherited a whole bunch of baby food from a friend. There were several "meat" dinners in the lot. I really hate wasting things because I am the most frugal person in the world, but I just can't bring myself to feed Julia any of these processed meat concoctions. I know I know, I have "meat" issues!! Something about it is just so repulsive to me. So, if anyone wants them, I've got several jars.
And while we are on the subject of feeding, Julia is beginning to demand our food. How does a 10 month old know that pureed squash and prunes are inferior to the food on MY plate. She'll throw her hands into the air and shake them wildly while shutting her mouth to her baby food. The minute I give her something from my plate, she puts down the arms and opens up the hatchet.
Oh, and I finally bought a small food processor, and I couldn't be happier. I pretty much just grind up whatever we are eating and then feed it to her.....off my plate of course. And yes it is repulsive to me to grind up meat, but at least I know what that meat is as opposed to what Gerber's is.