So tired... must sleep...

It's been a rough couple of nights. Kaed has been sick and Brayer has been hungry. Last night our wonderful sweet little toddler did not sleep at all. Literally. He finally went to sleep at 5:30am and at 8:00am we had to wake him up because Brayer had an immunization appointment at 9:00am. What a day this is shaping up to be. I am crossing my fingers they nap together!


Here's what I made the other day... and can I say how much I love it? He's so cute! Kaed has named him "Otis" but he's for my nephew so we'll what he decides to call him. The first one I made is a bit of a choking hazzard due to the taggies not staying on very well, but Kaed loves him and won't let him out of his sight. He would prefer Otis, but knowing him and his ability to spill on everything, he's put away until I wrap him and put him under my nephews tree. Now I just have to hope that my sister in law Rosie doesn't read this post before she helps Michael open the present.


Here he is! Otis the taggie monster.

If you want to make your own Taggie Monster there is a pattern here at Craft Schmaft

Nearly There

We have been busy trying to get all our christmas presents made and wrapped and ready for Christmas and I think we are nearly there!

I sewed up some mini aprons for my friend Nicole's little girls and they turned out so cute! There's really nothing cuter than a little girl wearing an apron is there? I did one with a pink heart and one with a brown, just in case they decided later on they wanted to each have their own. I wanted to embroider the first initial of their names onto the hearts but I have yet to learn how to do that!

I finished up a couple more presents for the family but you'll have to wait till after Christmas to see those pictures. I just have one more present to finish up and then think of something for Travis yet. Why is it that the one person you know the best is often the hardest to find a present a for? If I could just go out and buy something for him it might be easier, but I want to honestly say that I've made every single one of the presents this year so that's not an option!

Maybe I should get this picture blown up and framed for his office... that would be a real hit! (for those of you out there who don't know Travis, he would NEVER, I repeat NEVER put a framed picture in his office). Now that I think about it though, it would be a good gag gift.

I Want Fudge.

I've been browsing around trying to find a good fudge recipe to try this christmas. I've never made fudge before but seeing as I'm a die hard chocolate fan I really want to try. I know fudge is terrible for you, so I was so excited to see that Heidi Swanson came up with a slightly healthier version of it. I'm dying to give it a try. You can find her recipe for Fantasy-ish Fudge here.

If you've ever made fudge, what's your recipe? What's your all time favorite holiday item?

The Best Chocolate Sauce

I made David Lebovitz' "The Best Chocolate Sauce" today. He certainly wasn't lying when he titled it that either, it is incredible. I have literally been going back to the fridge to eat spoonfulls of it all day long. It's a nice dark chocolate sauce which I am beginning to appreciate more and more. I was once a milk chocolate only kind of gal, but I am learning to appreciate the darker side of chocolate. You can get the recipe for this sauce here. I plan to take this recipe to Saskatchewan for Christmas this year, I think it will be a great addition to well, everything! I added this to some steamed milk and espresso this morning for a fabulous mocha. I've also put it on crepes with whipped cream, bananas, and strawberries... I'm pretty sure you could try it on just about anything!

"New" Sewing Machine!

Oh wow did I find a find yesterday! I was at Value Village with the boys and my sister in law and nephew, just browsing around when I saw what appeared to be a sewing machine case. I thought, "oh perfect, I really need a case for my machine!". Upon closer inspection I saw that there was a BEAUTIFUL machine inside! I got the thing for a whopping $25 and it works! Can you say steal of a deal??

It's just so pretty I could stare at it all day, now if only I had the space to actually keep it out all the time! I have yet to figure out how to thread it, I've tried a couple times and can't seem to get it just right, so I am hoping to have some time this weekend to give it a good once over. I cleaned her till she shined yesterday so now to figure out how she works!

I can't seem to find any information about the brand, year, or anything online, so I'm not sure where I will be able to figure that out from, but here's to hoping! Isn't she beautiful?

Purees, Bags, and Vampires??

I recently decided to give Jessica Seinfeld's book Deliciously Deceptive a try so I took the book out of the library, read it all, and made my shopping list. Then I tackled the job of making a whack load of purees. I haven't decided if it was a mistake or not. I'm sure I'll be thankful I did it, but believe me, 5 and half hours of chopping, steaming, blending, cooling, and portioning is not fun any day, nevermind on a day when you have a toddler ripping around begging to "help" and an infant crying to be fed every hour! I honestly never expected it to take so long, but I didn't want to only do a tiny bit and have to make some more up in a couple days again. Plus I figured if we didn't like any of the recipes I would just feed the purees to Brayer when he starts eating food in a couple months.
I ended up making beets, carrots, cauliflower, broccoli, spinach, and butternut squash. I now have a freezer full of purees for meals and baking, as well as a bunch of jars of baby food made. I suppose it was worth it...

I got a couple more bags started today. It's amazing how much faster a sewing project, or any project for that matter is once you've made a couple. Now I just have to restrain myself from trying to make them without looking at the instructions, I guarantee I would mess up if I did that but the temptation is still there.
Here's a couple of christmas cards I've been working on... still have to get the letter written, envelopes addressed, pictures added, etc.

On a totally different note... have any of you gone to see Twilight yet? I went on opening weekend with my two sisters and can I just say that it fullfilled everything my once teenage heart loved? I really did enjoy all four books in the Twilight series, and I was a little sceptical about the movie after seeing the trailer the first couple of times, but I actually really enjoyed it once I saw it! In the books I'm a huge fan of Jacob, but the movie made me really appreciate Edward more. Could that have anything to do with Robert Pattinson? I think maybe....