December 30th

Talking to Aunt Susie on Skype. 

December 26th

December 25th

December 24th

Christmas Eve Brunch 

December 23

My day's labor

December 22

Laura Dress -- Not a fab picture. . but hopefully my model will oblige us. I made a really simple red dress & then a really easy pinafore from a tutorial. The pinafore isn't exactly "pioneer" period, but it was the best I could find on short notice.

December 21

Holiday Butter Cookies, Cranberry Pinwheel Cookies (a new, and tasty one, for me), and Muddy Buddies. 

Christmas Card (December 19th)

Free digital greeting card made with Smilebox

December 20th

A video instead of a photo. . .

Rachel has taken to "singing" & "reading" on her own. The video quality isn't fabulous because it was nighttime and I was a bit far away, trying to stay incognito.

December 18th

And now for something completely different...

"I'm going to a wedding. . .and I wanted to look beautiful"

Kate's Video

December 17th

Blessings Cottage for Kate's birthday lunch.

Model face. :-)

Kate & Emily

December 16th

Not that this is beautiful [picture], but it was our fun activity night before last. Kate was the architect, I was the painter, and Kate was the decorator.

December 15th

Tea Party

Kate's 4th Birthday Celebrations begin. . . .

 Also, I'm cheating -- these pics were taken by Brittny. She hosted our lovely tea party, and everyone had a fabulous time!

December 14th

As if this delicious habit weren't waist-increasing enough, I added some marshmellows tonight!

I had this moment of revelation last winter when I realized I could make my own hot chocolate from scratch with soy milk. That has changed everything. 

December 13th

Projects:

You can't exactly see the scale -- but guess who this is for? My first attempt at freehanding my own pattern. I'm still not sure if the sleeves will work out.

More sleeve trouble on the the next size up. I trusted my eye instead of the pattern and hacked a few well needed inches of of the sleeves on these nightgowns. Doesn't everyone want a short sleeved flannel nightgown? So, I've cut out 4 new sleeves (Yes, I'm making two of two of these cute nightgowns for my two cute bedbugs), and have to seam rip this doublestitched seam tonight. Boo hoo! Mental notes: 1 -- Trust the pattern. 2-- Do a fitting when the sleeve is merely "basted" in. :-)

And my last project -- a Laura dress. I am actually making a "chemise" out of Laura calico. . and then hope to  throw together a pinafore of some sort. Did I mention this may not be done for Christmas?

I have a few finished products that I will try to take pics of tomorrow.

December 12th

Yes. . it's another Christmas decoration picture. :-) I did try to get some pics of the kids tonight, but I must say that photography still objects in low light is much easier than moving objects. I am trying to read 2 photography books at the same time and up my familiarity with my camera and it's capabilities, as well as photography in general. These are my attempts at shooting in Manual Mode.

Something else a bit exciting happened tonight right as I pulled out my tripod to get some shots of the children -- the lights went out. Rachel was in her highchair eating a very late night post-church dinner and let me tell you she did not enjoy the whole time period where she was left in her high chair while mom scrambled to find and collect the various candles, matches, and flashlights that were required. We had a very nice candlelit dinner, full of atmosphere. We were planning what changes we'd have to make to survive the coldest night of the year so far when everything came back on. Somehow, it's sort of fun to think about those what ifs. We thought about starting a fire and all sleeping in the living room. Since we have hardwood floors, and only one couch, this seemed like it might not be the most comfortable option. Then, Josh thought we'd just have to sleep with both of the kids. I have to admit that the premise of sleeping all cozed up to little Rachel (my job) seemed quite dreamy, and I was a bit disappointed with the lights dinged on all of a sudden.

Well, goodnight! Maybe I'll take some pictures during the DAY tomorrow.

Oh, and did I mention we had "snow flurries" here in Georgia? They didn't stick, but they sure looked pretty in the air. I told Kate that they were called snow flurries. She said, "I call them flakes, mom." Oh, I see. :-)

December 11th

Christmas Party

And, not entirely surprising, but you may have noticed (or not) that I skipped a day. :-) Ah well. Not being a slave to the Project, I will not be dismayed, nor cheat & retroactively take a picture. . . we'll just be flexible. :-)

December 9th

Centerpiece

For all you teachers or students out there who end up with lots of notebook chaff floating about. . here's a new use for it. (Decorating by Kate Bailey)

December 8th

Rachel really loves toting around dollies these days. Today she wanted to have her baby in the high chair to share her lunch. And she very systematically fed her everything on the plate before she took her bites. It was so cute.

December 7th

Look who's home! We're so busy we don't get to see that handsome man as often as we'd all like. :-)

December 6th

Look who's potty training at our house.

courtesy of Rachel Bailey. :-)

December 5th

This is what my house smells like right now. 

December 4th

This is what I did today -- pin, cut, repeat. 

Cranberry filling for these bars. 

Update: ehhh. . They were okay, but nothing special. Maybe next time I'll try this recipe. 

Goodnight tree, Goodnight house, Goodnight noises everywhere...

December 3rd

December 2nd

This day was a bit too special for just one photo....

December 1st

Bundling up for playtime outside.
I'm going to attempt to do a blog project DPP (December Photo Project '10).