Monday, December 26, 2011

Crochet Christmas

Now that everyone has opened their Christmas presents I can share pics of what I made for everyone.  So here is my Crochet Christmas collection! 
Hat for my sister
Scarf for my sister
Floor-sized Checkers set for my niece (complete with checkers and carrying bag)
Purse for my niece (apparently it's perfectly Kindle-shaped!)
Afghan for Rodger and Kathie
Shawl for my sis-in-law
matching placemats for my mother-in-law (I made 4 of these)
"Lacey" fingerless gloves for my niece (used crochet thread here - first and possibly LAST time!)
 
The only Christmas present I didn’t get a picture of was the legwarmers I made for my mom.  So Mom: you have to take a picture of you wearing them and send it to me! 
I also thought I would post some pics of a few other baby hats I made during this time too.  I can’t remember it I have posted these already, so if I have you get to see them again. 

Baby Charley in her zebra hat
Hat for Samuel
Hat for Brett
 
I finished most items in the week I allotted myself (or less).  The afghan, placemats and gloves took the longest.  It was nice to cluster them together - I did a lot of the smaller projects back to back, and then took a break.  I don’t think I’ll be doing an entirely crocheted Christmas again.  It was a lot of work. I will most likely continue to make SOME of the gifts I give, just because I enjoy the task and giving something personalized.  Of course, I guess I could start now on next year’s gifts . . .  ;)

Merry Christmas to all!

 Merry Christmas Everyone!  Hope you had a fun and safe holiday celebrating the birth of our Savior!!  We had a great time!  Here's some pics from our Christmas Weekend:


Sledding with Daddy on Friday

Jayce didn't like it too much

But Riley couldn't get enough

Our sad attempt at Cookies for Santa . . . FYI you can't substitute gummi bears for gum drops - It just doesn't work!!

Opened a present on Christmas Eve - Riley got Monster Slippers

Jayce just wanted to play with his balloon from Chili's at dinner that night

Christmas Morning after stockings . . . Jayce still with the balloon!

Pirate Ship from Santa

Jayce's toolbench from Santa

Rockstar!!

This is how he spent most of Christmas Morning!!

Building the pirate ship

Playing with the toolbench

Riley playing the new Wii from Santa

Cuddling watching Cars 2

Playing Wii again, this time in his new legwarmers (Daddy hates these)

Thursday, December 22, 2011

Almost Christmas!

Hey all!  Sorry for the delay in posts, we've had a crazy couple weeks.  On Jayce's actual birthday last week we headed to the Denver Museum of Nature and Science.  They have "Sue" the famous T-Rex and a T-Rex Exhibit right now and I really thought the boys (or at least Riley) would enjoy it.  So we went.  It was the perfect day to go.  The T-Rex deal wasn't as huge as I thought it would be, I was a little disappointed.  They had Sue and a couple of other "big" robotic dinosaurs, but that was about it!  So we went through pretty quick and headed out to the rest of the museum.  We did get our picture taken with a T-Rex though! 

The boys enjoyed the regular fossil section more than the special dino exhibit so we spent quite a bit of time there looking at things.  Last year they were doing some construction in Snowmass CO and found a huge Mammoth skeleton.  So we got to see that.  It was there with people still working to unearth it. 

I also took a couple of comparison photos.  Here's one of Riley when he was about 9 months old:

And Jayce in the same place! 

This one is just Riley, at 9 mo and then at 4 1/2 years. 

I wish I would have been able to get one of Jayce with the ears too, but as a Mom by myself it's hard to get some pictures. 

The next day we went to see Santa!  The elementary school in our neighborhood (the one Riley will go to next year for Kindergarten) had a community night and invited everyone for chili and cookies to see Santa.  We've never actually taken Riley to see Santa, I was never brave enough to fight the lines at the mall (or the nurseries - that's the big place to do it around here) or the screaming child that might be scared of Santa.  but with this free event with just the neighborhood (did I mention I like living in the boonies at times like this!!) I figured this was the best time to do it!  So it was Jayce's first time sitting on Santa's lap, but it was also Riley's First Time!  haha  Does that make me a bad mother!  lol

Then the sicknesses came.  We think we picked it up at the museum.  Jayce's started Saturday with a little bit of the "big D", and I didn't really think much of it.  You know kids, with out a fever they still act and play normal so it's hard to tell.  Sunday we drove up to Cheyenne to visit our good friends the Cazee's who were passing through on their way to Salt Lake.  We hung out at McDonalds and Jayce didn't eat much of anything.  After our visit we went to Sierra Trading Post Outlet and saved a BUNDLE on some hiking boots.  Jayce still not eating much and not needing a diaper change either.  Thinking he was just dehydrated from the diarrhea the day before we tried to get him to drink some juice and didn't think much of it.  Then the next morning I woke up feeling a little puny.  Went to get Jayce to discover he had thrown up sometime in the night and rolled and slept in it!  Yummy!  After cleaning that up, I was exhausted and thinking it was because I hadn't eaten breakfast yet started to get some ready.  My stomach let me know right away that wasn't the issue!!  Jayce seemed better at taht point though and I hesitated on whether or not to take him to the dr.  I called and made the appointment anyways.  But now I had to get him there.  Time to call Daddy!!  Cuz Mommy wasn't getting off the couch anytime soon!  FAB DAD to the rescue!!  Cam took off work at lunch to take Jayce to the doc, took Riley with him, and ran some errands for me - including getting sprite and pedialyte for the sickies!  He was a champ . . . until around 4:00 that afternoon when he walked in the room and told me his stomach wasn't feeling too hot!  Oh no!!  Now we have a 4 year old who feels perfect, a 1 year old on the mend and two parents who are completely under the weather!  Needless to say, no one got much for dinner that night.  Poor kiddos!  Cam stayed home from work the next day too, but by that evening we were both feeling much better.  I thought Riley was starting to get it too yesterday when he "poo-d in his pants" but I think that was just from all the oranges he's been eating lately, cuz nothing since!  So I'm happy to report that we are all back to normal!!  Although I think Jayce has cought on the the whole refusing food thing to get what he wants.  We're gonna have to nip that one! 

Well, not much else to talk about now.  I did finish one last Crochet Christmas project that wasn't on the original list.  I didn't get Jayce a stocking last year, and just realized recently that I still hadn't gotten him one this year.  So I made one for him. 

I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out.  I am still trying to decide if I want to put a J on it.  And if I want to make a matching one for Riley (so Jayce isn't the odd man out since the 3 of us have matching ones).  Maybe next year.  Well, Cam has the rest of the week off for the holiday, and with all the fresh snow we got today maybe we'll go sledding or something tomorrow.

Have a Merry Christmas Everyone!! 

Monday, December 12, 2011

Jayce Turns 1!!

Happy Birthday Jayce!  Well, almost!  His actual birthday isn't until Wednesday, but we celebrated a little early so that Grandma and Grandpa could celebrate with us.  Mommy made a Monkey Cake for Jayce, and Monkey Cupcakes for everyone else.  They turned out so CUTE!!!  Then we also had fruit (because Monkeys like fruit) banana splits and animal crackers.  Party Favors were Monkeys in a Barrel, and I'll say - They were a HUGE Hit!!  Jayce got a new truck from G&G, some books from Tanner and Jackson, a toy Camera from Ryder, and a new swing for the play set from Mommy and Daddy.  He wasn't really into unwrapping the gifts, but all the older boys took care of that for him!  We didn't really do anything special, but it was a lot of fun anyways!  Here's some pictures from his Birthday Party.











Then that night we did an early Christmas with Grandma and Grandpa - it was a present filled day!  Grandma made Pillow Mats for the boys, and they turned out super cute!!!  Riley's is a "Space" theme which he thinks is awesome (he slept on it last night!!) and Jayce's is a cars and trucks theme.  They already love bouncing and falling into their piles of pillows!  These will be truly loved!  And Mommy got some new Pots and Pans!!!  YAY!!  Daddy has been bugging her for a while since we have about used up our skillets beyond the point of usefulness!  So now we have some! 

Now that our trip is over and Jayce's birthday party we just have a few more things to get underway before Christmas.  I will say it's been crazy up to this point, but it's almost nice to get it all out of the way.  I really feel like I can just relax until Christmas.  I did finish all my Crochet Christmas gifts!  I'll have to wait to post pics until after Christmas, but I will do that!  I must say I was very happy with the way they all turned out.  Hopefully everyone enjoys them as much as I enjoyed picking out the patterns and making them!

One more thing.  Please Pray for my Mom again!  This week she made another trip to the hospital for some DANGEROUSLY low blood pressure, and the decision (from everyone, including her) was that she needs round the clock nursing care.  So she has moved from her home to Manor Care Nursing Facility.  This is not an easy transition, but one that everyone knew was coming and was already in the works.  So pray for her peace, her caretakers healing touch and watchful eye, and comfort for those that this is the right choice.  She seems to really like it at Manor Care (after being at the waters for a month) so that is a positive note!  I'm hoping to travel to Indy sometime in the coming months to help get all the remaining affairs in order, so prayers that that goes smoothly as well (especially since I will most likely be traveling with 2 small children on my own!)  If you have the chance to please take the time to visit my mom, it has to be lonely and unnerving being in that situation.  I can give you contact info if you need it, just email or FB me.  Thanks everyone!

Have a Happy Holiday season!