just in time

One of my favorite things about Christmas growing up was the awesome stockings our mom made us.  I decided I needed to pass the tradition along to Sadie, so I started sewing her a stocking last December, and I just finished it last night.

Overall, I'm pretty happy with how it turned out, considering: 1.) I have never sewed a sequin onto anything in my life, and 2.) Cash came out looking just a little bit like Mr. Hanky the Christmas Poo from Southpark.

Still, When I asked Sadie, "Who's that?" and pointed to the dog, she said, "Tash!" So if its good enough for her, its good enough for me.

Hopefully this stocking will be just the beginning of many fun and happy holiday traditions our family celebrates together in the future!

homemade/handmade...goodies/treasures

Just finished up making a batch of this peppermint bark that many of the blogs I follow rave about. I have to say, it's good.  And pretty.

And I couldn't resist sharing these sweet little ornaments my mom made us.

Aren't they awesome? She made them with felted thrift store wool. Sadie loves these.  And its okay for her to love on these ornaments, because they are very unbreakable. 

Also, check out the coffee cup cozies she made out of up-cycled wool sweaters:

Add these to your list of great things you can do with wool from the thrift store!  Thanks for the Christmas treasures mom!

joy!

Just got back from a fun and exciting trip to southeast, then south-central Alaska where we got to:

Catch up with old friends

Meet some new ones!

See trees again!

See my amazing and hard-working sister graduate from her nursing program. *so proud*

Catch up on a year's worth of hugs to my family

See most of Loren's family (we see them more, so not quite so many hugs to catch up on)

Eat lots of yummy food

usher in a period of intense separation anxiety with Sadie, who refuses be more than 3cm away from my person at any given moment now.

And now it is time to snuggle into our own nest for a while.  It was good to come home to a house smelling of Christmas tree and the wagging tails of the pups.  I am also excited to test out my new Christmas pressie from Loren:

I grew up with this book, and I totally guessed what was in package because I recognized the unique hollow sound it makes when you thump on it.  It has a familiar feel, like a favorite pair of jeans. 

(and by the time you're done cooking your way through this bad boy, your favorite pair of jeans probably won't fit anymore!)

I don't know how I've made it so far in my adult life with out this book on my shelf.  Probably because I always just call mom and ask her to look up the recipes for me.  Don't worry mom, I'll still call you!

Thanks for the awesome gift Loren (and Loren's shopping elves:)

it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.

 

Okay, the spooky ice fog rolling in this afternoon isn't really Christmassy, per se, but it is transforming the Bering Sea into yet another amazing martian landscape. And the weather has felt downright balmy and humid by Nome standards, and that is just fine by me.

AND we got a Christmas tree today! YAY!

Just in time for us to fly out tomorrow to the land of many, many trees. Again, YAY!

 Even though this isn't Sadie's first Christmas, it is her first Christmas tree, and she took her decorating duties very seriously, I assure you.

Look at that game face.  

Reason #2435 why kids are awesome:

They put all the magic back into the holidays.

newbie.

This week my friend Bridgett volunteered to let me take pictures of her almost two-week-old son Timber.  I have been wanting to try and photograph a newborn, and let me tell you...I have a whole new respect for people who do this for a job.  Timber is a very good baby too--but no one wants to be messed with that much!  It was a fun learning experience for me though...and a challenge with the very short, indirect daylight and me trying to shoot without flash. I thought I would post a few of the pictures, just to remind you all how sweet the littlest little ones are.  I love the one of mama and baby snuggling.  Almost makes me want another one ;) Congratulations to Timber and his mom and dad!