Smile....

Forgive the blog absence.

My laptop fizzled out, and I had to get a new one.

Not what I wanted to buy 2 weeks before Christmas.

It's been the normal hectic month of December around here! Lots of sewing, hand made crafts, working some new hours at work, and normal mommy duties!

Can't wait to show you all some of the busy work I have been up to! It will have to wait until after Christmas, so I don't ruin any surprises.

Just wanted to leave you with this picture...

There is a funny one in every family!

Happy Holidays!

Minnesota

It's been a crazy last couple of weeks around here! So to 'catch up' I am going to do bullet points with some pictures thrown in.

- We took a long weekend trip to Minnesota at the end of October. Lee's entire family was there. We came from 5 different states to all be together for the Ohio State football game, family pictures and 3 October birthdays!

- The day after we came home, Carter, Hudson and I came down with the flu and fevers... fun times!

- Lee and the boys had a bachelor weekend while I went home to Lincoln. Both of my sisters were there and we celebrated my Mom's birthday! I bought her this not so cute Halloween decor only because she wanted it every time she went to Hancock Fabric store. I found it for $1.99 on clearance!

-I have been having great success at my craft shows! Last weekend in Lincoln I sold 9 dresses! Here are a couple new fabrics I made this week!

Little blue hearts in the fabric...look close!

Love these fun colors!

- Lee is bravely traveling with the boys to Omaha this weekend. I have another show this weekend. Miss my boys already, but excited for them to see both sets of Grandparents and their cousins!

Sewing

I started sewing in August. Well, technically learned to sew when I was tween, but hadn't used a sewing machine in years. After my Mom helped refresh my memory of a few things, it really is easy! I am loving it!

My friend Carrie is so nice and is lending me her machine....but, I needed something to sew! This is the funny part... I started sewing little girls pillowcase dresses. They are so fun to make, I love choosing fun fabrics and honestly its very rare that I get to buy something for little girls (love my boys)!

I named my little company Pink Dreams. I don't have a website yet, but am working on it!

This is a picture of my booth set up at my very first Fall Boutique show. I have several more lined up for the rest of the year.

Here are a couple close ups of the dresses!

Sweet Kennady

Adorable Addie

The dresses are made in sizes 3-8, and can be wore year round. This time of year, add a long sleeve shirt/turtleneck and leggings or tights!

If you are interested, here are the dates of my upcoming shows:

November 6th 9-4

St John's Craft Fair
Lincoln, NE

November 20th 9-3pm
4 Mile PTA Craft Show
Pleasanthill, IA

December 4th 9-3pm
Ashland Ridge Elementary PTA
Ankeny, IA

You can also reach me at my email pinkdreamsofmine@gmail.com

-Jessica

Happy Halloween

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

From Mario and Luigi

Pumpkins

We did some pumpkin carving yesterday.

Carter told me since he is big enough to make his own PB and jelly sandwich, that he should be able to operate a knife and carve his own pumpkin. Yikes!! Fve years old going on twenty.

He did help me out, because we have this awesome kit that my Mom gave us.

Digging out the guts. Carter hates the smell and Hudson dislikes the texture. Great pair for pumpkin carving!

He drew out his idea first (see the little white paper?)

My neighbor helped get these sweet smiles out of my boys!

We had a bunch of fun! Lots planned for the rest of this week including a trip to Minnesota!

I'm Baaaaaaack!

Yes, we are all alive and well!

These two cuties are keeping us busy.

Carter loves Kindergarten and Hudson is doing well in preschool.

I have been sewing like a crazy woman! (More on that later!)

Lee loves doing 'lessons' with the boys each evening.

I hope to start blogging again each week.

The end!

Merry Christmas!

From our family to yours, we wish you a very Merry Christmas and a blessed New Year!!

Family Photos

Over Thanksgiving we had our pictures taken with my family.

Here are a few of my favorites:

I love the boys' expressions on their sweet faces...priceless!

These are the two that would do anything for me and my boys!

Love you, Mom and Dad!!

My sisters Rachel (youngest), Valerie (middle), and me!

All of us! I wish Huddy was smiling in this picture, but he IS saying (in his deep voice) cheeeeesee!

Preschool Party and some really UGLY Sweaters

Carters Christmas party at preschool was Friday afternoon. They sang some cute songs, and Carter mostly hid behind the boy standing next to him. Lee and I weren't really sure why. He is really outgoing and LOUD at home, but in some social situations he is REALLY shy.

After the short program was over the kids got to make gingerbread houses. Here is Carter's masterpiece. He was so proud...and then Daddy left it at the Science Center. oops!

Last night Lee & I went to a really fun ugly sweater party. This must be a really popular thing, because I went to 4 Salvation Army and Goodwill stores before I found ONE ugly Christmas sweater. When the older lady ringing me up commented, "Oh honey, you got a GOOD one!" I was excited!

Here is my adorable hubby in his 'too tight' Christmas sweater that I embellished for him.

It's hard to tell in this picture, but my sweater had beads, beads and more beads made into snowflakes and bells all over the sweater. The best part was the brand name...wait for it... wait for it.... HO HO HO. Hilarious!

Today I baked and baked and did some more baking. I planned and gorcery shopped for this day for a week, and then my oven acted up all day. UUGGHH!!!! It kept turning it self off at random times. Hoping a day of rest will do it some good, and my feet too :) Carter was an amazing help. I figured out half way into the day that having him help me instead of shooing him away, made it easier. He loves to cook!

Hope everyone has a good weekend!!

Santa Express Train

Twas the night before Saturday

and all through the train station,

little boys dressed in their jammies

the Santa Express our location!

"ALL ABOARD!" The conductor announced

we filled the seats and settled in,

Our destination the North Pole,

You can imagine the grins!

To each boy was given

a beautiful silver bell,

And as quick as he came

Santa bid us farewell.

Singing carols, drinking hot cocoa

Yummy sugar cookies we ate,

Our train adventure we remember,

by the memories we create!

Christmas Wreath

I am frequent "window shopper" to the Mercy Hospital gift shop. When I work I like to stop in and see what neat decorations they have for each holiday. I especially love when something is left after the holiday at a 90% discounted price!

Here is a Christmas wreath that I really liked at the gift shop:

I decided NOT to spend an insane amount of money for that wreath and instead re-created one of my own for 1/3 of the price!

I am pleased with how mine turned out!

Teacher gifts!

We have three teacher gifts to buy or make this year. I found a really fun, cute idea for decorated clipboards! I have been in a really craft mood lately, so I thought I would give them a try. To see where I got the idea and full instructions go HERE.

I found the clipboards at Walmart for 97 cents, the scrapbook paper was on sale at Hobby Lobby for 25 cents, I already had acrylic paint, brushes and ribbon on hand. I did have to buy the Mod Podge, but it is a huge bottle and can do several other projects with it.

Here how mine turned out!

What do you think...Nice gift or a cheap idea???

Back in Business!!!!!!

After six weeks of not having a laptop (mine decided to crash), I finally have a new one!!

So, I will be back to blogging....starting tomorrow!!

I have been up to A LOT of crafty projects, shopping and decorating for Christmas and keeping busy with the boys. I can't wait to post pics of what we've been up to the last month! Thanks to my incredibly smart, computer savvy husband that was able to retrieve ALL my photos off my old computer!!

See ya soon!!

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Yesterday was Lee's 35th Birthday!! We had a great evening! First, we ate at Taki Japanese Steakhouse, then came home to red velvet cupcakes from Carefree Cakes in Valley Junction. The boys were really well-behaved at dinner, and loved the 'show' and food!

All day Hudson thought it was HIS birthday, and would randomly sing 'happy burf-day' to himself. I finally got him to sing (while eating), even though you will hear me sing a little.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!

Fall Party

We had a great time in Kansas City this past weekend. My lovely sister invited us to her work for their Fall Party. She works for a toy distribution company, so that was a perk for the boys.

Here is Rachel's desk and the boys checking everything out!

We ate tons of great food, played in the bounce house, and got spider tattoos, but I do have to say, these two costumed cuties were the highlight of my evening!

Here they are with Aunt Rachel

Me and my baby sister!

The boys went to bed way too late, but we had a blast!

The next afternoon it warmed up so we headed to the park and then did a little bit of shopping.

Rachel's dog Parker

When we got home Lee had swapped the office and the nursery rooms upstairs. Now Hudson has a big boy room complete with a toddler bed! That was on our to-do list this week, so I am so thankful it's done!

Hope everyone had a great weekend. We sure did!!

Costume Frenzy

Last week I was in a frenzy (not really, I just like that word).The boys and I were headed to Kansas City on Friday for a Fall Party. We were invited by my lovely sister as her dates. So, I was on the hunt for costumes for the boys, 4 weeks before Halloween! I found Carters cheeseburger outfit on Craigslist, and then had the idea to make Hudson the fries. Only one problemo... I don't sew, my Mother who does is 3 hours away, and the party is 3 days away. I headed to Hobby Lobby and spent pretty much every free moment without kiddos working on this costume. Here is what a few squares of yellow felt, red foam board a hot glue gun and some sticky velcro will get you!

Half way done!

Finished!

Are you making your kids' costumes???

Caramel Apple Crisp

Carter had a preschool potluck last night and I signed up to bring a dessert. I must have dreamt about Carmel Apple Crisp, because when I went to find the recipe, I couldn't find it!
So, I searched the Internet and this is the yummy recipe I found!

Caramel Apple Crisp

8 to 10 cups apples, sliced
cinnamon and sugar ( i just sprinkled a little of both over the apples)
1 Tbsp. lemon juice

Topping:
2 C. oatmeal
1 C. Butter
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. backing soda
1 3/4 cup flour
1 C. brown sugar, packed
3/4 tsp. salt
Dash of nutmeg (optional)

15 caramels
2 Tbsp. water

Mix apples with lemon juice, cinnamon and sugar. Combine topping, put on top of apples and bake in 9 x 13 inch pan at 375 degrees for 30 minutes or until apples are done. Melt caramels in microwave with the water and still well until mixed. Pour over apple crisp.


I am really a horrible baker, but I have to say this recipe was easy and it was really good! Next time, though I will be smart and instead of unwrapping 15 caramels I will just buy caramel topping!!

Friend

Apparently, Carter has a new friend at preschool.

I get a text from Lee after he dropped Carter off at preschool this morning.

It read:

"Jayden's Dad said she talked about Carter all night last night."

My first thought was he can't possibly be talking about my Carter (there are two in his class this year). Sure enough, he was! Lee described the small, short-haired blond girl with glasses to me. I remembered seeing the bubbly little girl one afternoon after class.

When I pulled up to school this afternoon for pick up, the class was on the playground. Guess who was chasing after my Carter...little blond haired Jayden.

I asked Carter about his new friend and his response: "She follows me EVERYWHERE!"

This is just a cute little story after a rough start to the week for him. Monday he didn't want to go and I spent 20 minutes wiping tears and calming fears before he would walk into class.

Teaser

So, I am horribly behind on posting pictures from our trip. I promise to get some more up Monday or Tuesday!!

Here are just a few for now:

Last week was spent trying to get back to some kind of normal.... if there is such a thing!

Carter loved the first two days of preschool. He is fascinated with how much they get to eat at school! Carter absolutely HATES and will not touch bananas. When I picked him up Friday, the first thing out of his mouth was that they had hamburgers and bananas for lunch. He says "GUESS WHAT Mom?" I ATE the banana!!" I was proud of him that he tried something that normally he wouldn't eat. This week they are learning the letter L and about wheels. All day preschool also means earlier bedtimes. Both boys have been asleep by 8:30!! This is so much better than the 10pm summer bedtimes!!

With Carter now in preschool, Hudson and I have lots of time together and I think he is still a little upset we left him. Every other word out of his mouth is "no!" or "hearing aid out"! I just have to laugh at him sometimes, because he is saying 3 or 4 word sentences, and some are sooooo cute. "I want canneee (candy) NOW!", "NO touch my shirt!", and my favorite "I wuv you too mommy!" His teacher has me working on 'I want' phrases with him. So, instead of him crying, pointing or getting frustrated I come to his level and say "I want" and he will respond by telling me or forgetting what the fuss was about in the first place. We have to keep a watchful eye on this little independent man! Today he got mad because I turned off the water outside that he and Carter were playing in. I turned around to go inside to change Carter's soaking wet clothes, made eye contact with Lee who was weed eating in the yard, so he could keep an eye on Huddy. Next thing I know, Lee is hobbling down the street (he broke his pinky toe in Mexico). I run outside and Hudson running down the side walk as fast as he can, already about 4 houses away! Lee told me that Hudson was upset that I turned off the water and took off down the street. Ahhh.... the terrible two's!!!

Hope everyone has a great week!

2009 First Day of Preschool

Today was a big day for Carter! He started preschool!! He will be going 3 days a week, all day long. He was pretty nervous this morning, but once we got there, everything was just fine! It was kind of weird around the house without him, and Hudson even came crying to me asking where Carter was. When I picked him up this afternoon, he was non-stop talk and said he couldn't wait to go back Friday. His favorite part was "that I got to eat THREE snacks today!!" He is eating lunch there, and I have to say I am a little envious! Today they had cheese manicotti...yum!