Catching up...

Happy New Year. It is off to a frigid start in my neck of the woods. The below zero temps are a bit difficult to deal with. On the plus side, I have heard that when it gets that cold, clouds can't form so we have had many sunny days!

Clear

-8°F Feels Like -25°F

Christmas was kind of a bust for us this year. First of all, neither of my sisters were able to join us for the holiday, which was the first time in years, so that was a bit of a bummer. Then in the days leading up to Christmas, my grandmother got very sick and actually passed away on Christmas day. However, we tried to make a great Christmas for the girls and they really seemed to enjoy themselves, so that was a good thing.

I love this picture of my grandmother and Chloe checking each other out. I will miss you Mom mom.

Once again, I was overly ambitious with the Christmas projects and didn't get everything completed (I am still finishing up my sisters' gifts). I did however, make a lot of things, but like a dope didn't take any pictures! Doh! Anyone out there that I made something for (Mom, JoAnne, Lindsay, Kelley, Amy) can you take a picture and send it to me? Pretty please.

Here is a list of things I made that hopefully will have accompanying pics someday:

• The annual Christmas PJs using a self drafted pattern for the bottoms and this tutorial for the kimono style top. I even made pants for the hubs and I, but like a dope (see above) didn't get a pic of all of us in them.

• A paint smock from Amy Karol's book, Bend the Rules Sewing for my 2 year old niece. This was such an easy, fun project.
• A patchwork crocodile for my baby nephew from the book Toys to Sew.
• Market bags for my Mother-in-law and sister-in-law from my new favorite pattern by Sandi Henderson available here. She also makes the most gorgeous fabrics.
• A lunch bag for my friend from a free tutorial from Jcarolinecreative.com. This is a smaller version of the pattern I used for my beach bag.
• Oven mitts for my mom using some fabric she gave me and a pattern in Lotta Jansdotter's Simple Sewing.
  
• I made some shoulder bags for my girls with my own pattern. I used scraps of an outfit my mom made Lily to make Chloe's bag and a great bicycle print for Lily's bag.
• My newest discovery was making some super fast potholders for last minute gifts. They are useful and fun and amazingly easy.
• The piece de resistance of my efforts, however, was a quilt (my first pieced quilt) that I made for the hubs. I used some t-shirts the girls had made with their handprints over the years and also some pictures of the girls and their daddy. I was tearing up making it, so I know he loved it. I must confess, that I only finished the top by Christmas morn, but I hope to finish it soon, so he can use it.

Wow! I got more done than I thought I did. I need to make these kinds of lists more often.

In other news, we discovered over the Christmas break (and had it confirmed last week) that my oldest daughter is allergic to peanuts and tree nuts, as well as every grass, weed, and tree out there. The seasonal allergies were not a surprise, but I sort of feel blindsided by the nuts. She is 7, I thought we were in the clear. It really doesn't change what we eat a whole lot and many places are now nut-free, the difficulty is making sure that everywhere she goes people are aware of her allergy. I am grateful that this came out later because she is pretty aware of what she can and can't have, I can't imagine trying to monitor everything a toddler puts in her mouth!

I will leave you with a fun picture of us sledding over the winter break, before the temps got so frigid.