Recapping 2009 in Photos

January- when did I become old?!


February- what a great Valentine's Day gift!


March- Joel is a month old already!


April- His first Easter


May- Maid of Honor in T-2's wedding


June was a bad month for my son's scalp, but he eventually got better!


July- Joel's first trip to the beach. See his little t-shirt? That started out life as a long sleeve shirt but I made it short sleeved since it fit him in the middle of summer.


August- Joel's first vacation (Chattanooga & Lynchburg, TN)


September- Joel's getting to be a big boy!


October- Joel's first trip to the pumpkin patch.
He's wearing a completely thrifted outfit!


November- Hubby turned 30 this year too. I baked him a sweet cake! And I bought him a sweet thrifted birthday sign :)


December- Joel's first Christmas

Quit with the Free Mayo Already

Dear Kroger,

While I am deeply grateful that you send me coupons in the mail, several of which are for completely free items, I do not think I can handle another free jar of mayonnaise. Your past two mailings have included coupons for free jars of Miracle Whip. The problem is, all of your jars of mayo expire in March. I waited. I kept returning to your store to check the expiration dates on your mayo. March 2010. March 2010. March 2010. How do you expect me to use up two large jars of mayo in the next two or three months?

In your next mailing, feel free to include a free coupon on something like cheese or bread. I go through these items quickly. Mayo- not so much. Today, in an effort to use up some of Mayo Jar #1, I whipped up some tuna salad and some tartar sauce. Said tartar sauce went beautifully with the $1.99 tilapia I purchased at your store during my last visit. I also have several jars of pickles from a recent grocery trip when I went a little nutso got excited at your pickles on clearance. Too bad hubby doesn't eat pickles. He also doesn't eat fish or seafood. Looks like I'll be eating lots of tuna salad and tartar sauce while my dear husband starves to death.

Please, for the sake of my marriage, do not send me another Miracle Whip coupon. You know I have a special weakness for all things free and would not be able to turn it down. You know I hate wastefulness and so I would be stuck trying to use up yet another jar of mayo. A girl can only eat so much mayo.

Sincerely,

Sewing-Chick

P.S. It would also be helpful if in your next mailer you were able to include some delicious recipes using said Miracle Whip. It would be even better if those recipes did not involve pickles or seafood so that my husband doesn't wither away to nothing. I have heard about cake recipes that utilize mayo- this I am willing to try (for my husband of course). Also, baconnaise is a new concept to me that I just might have to give a whirl. If you have any outstanding recipes like these, please send them my way. Thank you.

P.P.S. Happy New Year!

Don't Suck on the Toilet Seat

Yeah, the wee tot actually did that. And unfortunately he did it before we cleaned the bathroom. *Sigh*

Remember these magnets?

Speaking of toilets and sighing... we had to have Mr. Rooter come out the other day because we noticed water had been leaking down into the basement closet. Sadly, among several other things, a Columbus Blue Jackets (my husband's beloved hockey team) autographed calendar got ruined from the water damage. As if this wasn't bad enough...

Mr. Rooter then knocks us out with a $1000 repair bill. They said the toilet was leaking (um, raw sewage dripping into the basement?) because the previous homeowner is an ignoramus... half-assed home improvement moron...

The home-improvementally-challenged-previous-homeowner stacked four flanges on top of each other instead of putting in a longer PVC pipe. This apparently was a no-no, and I got to pay to have it fixed the right way. I swear if I ever run into him, I'm giving him a swirlie.

Please Pray

My husband's father's family has suffered two tremendous losses today. Bob, my father-in-law's step-dad and the man who raised him, lost both his grandson Bryan and his wife today, on Christmas Eve. Bryan was my husband's cousin and was our age- early 30s. He went into the hospital a couple weeks ago for what everyone thought would be routine back surgery and never left the hospital. One complication after another, including H1N1, led to his being taken off life support this morning and passing away within 15 minutes. Bryan leaves behind his parents, siblings, a long-time girlfriend and an elementary-school-aged daughter. In an unrelated event, Grandpa Bob's wife passed away about an hour later.

Please pray to ease the pain and suffering of this family. While my husband isn't super-close with his dad's family like he is with his mom's family and therefore I didn't know them very well, I still feel their pain. I cannot imagine losing not one, but two relatives on the day before Christmas. Sometimes it is difficult to understand why God chooses to do what he does, however hopefully they can find comfort in the fact that this was part of God's master plan. They are both at peace in the arms of the Lord.

Everything I Learned, I Learned From Little Women

• "Christmas won't be Christmas without any presents." (Too bad they didn't have the internet at their fingertips. They could have hopped online, downloaded some tutes, and made each other some wonderful handcrafted gifts!)
  
  
• "Housekeeping ain't no joke." (Amen, sister)
  
  
• "Something more than energy and good-will is necessary to make a cook." (Yes, I think it's called a Kitchenaid mixer).
  
  
• "Lounging and larking doesn't pay." (Darn. That's what I was going to do when I grow up).
  
  
• "Work is wholesome and there is plenty for everyone; it keeps us from ennui and mischief, is good for health and spirits and gives us a sense of power and independence better than money or fashion." (I'm not so sure about this one).
  
  
• "Have regular hours for work and play; make each day both useful and pleasant, and prove that you understand the worth of time by employing it well. Then youth will be delightful, old age will bring few regrets, and life becomes a beautiful success, in spite of poverty." (Well said, mama!)
  
  
• "Why mind the fashion? Wear a big hat, and be comfortable!" (Just do me a favor, and don't go out in public in your Snuggie. No, not even to a sporting event).
  
  
• "He [Grandfather] wants me to be an India merchant, as he was, and I'd rather be shot." (I guess even back then children were rebelling against their caregivers!)
  
  
• "Are you going to deliver lectures all the way home?" he asked presently... "Because if you are, I'll take a bus; if you are not, I'd like to walk with you." (And even back then, men hated being nagged by the women in their lives!)
  
  
• "Mother likes to have us out of doors as much as possible." (Some things never change. 150 years later, parents are still shooing their children outside to get some peace and quiet).
  
  
• "We go grubbing along day after day, without a bit of change, and very little fun. We might as well be in a treadmill." (Exercise sucked back then too.)

Upcycling Baby Food Jars into Christmas Decor

*Hums Klondike Bar commercial jingle*
What can I do-oo-oo, with a baby food jar?

Over at Prudent Baby, Jaime came up with and posted several ingenious projects to use up those Glass Jars. My personal fav is to turn it into a pin cushion. Ca-UTE! (Ok, my real personal fav is the jello shot idea! Can you believe I'm almost 31, and I've never tried a jello shot? That should be my new year's resolution this year. Forget about losing weight, actually menu planning for more than two weeks, and blogging regularly... let's make my resolution one that I can actually keep!)

At first I was thinking that the baby food jars could be turned into a cute little tea set. I quickly scratched that idea when I realized that I wouldn't even trust some of my junior high students with glass, let alone toddlers.

My brain raced to think of something else. What about those clear glass ornaments that I've seen all over bloggyland, where the crafty mama swirls paint on the inside and makes a cool ornament for the tree? This would be cute made with baby food jars instead of round ornaments. I could put a little piece of fabric on the top and secure with a piece of wire wrapped around the edge. The wire could double as a hanger. Nice idea, but I'm too lazy to do it.

And then I remembered this. Yes, my friends, this is the most bomb-diggetiest idea. Place a photo in the glass jar! You can do what designsponge does and sit a grouping of glass jars of various sizes on your mantel, or you could make them into ornaments by adding fabric and wire.

You could cut out pictures from Christmas cards (like I did here) and put them inside the jars for a nice holiday display, or you could make a whole nativity scene with the jars! You could line up a bunch of baby food jars and put a letter in each one to spell out the word "Believe." The possibilities are endless! (Sorry my photo is so generic. I didn't have many glass jars lying around because we emptied the recycling bin the other day).

Things I Almost Did this Holiday Season

Put up the Christmas tree? Check. Buy gifts for everyone on the list? Check. Take Joel to see Santa and pray he doesn't get H1N1? Check. Send out Christmas cards? Crap, I knew I forgot something. Hang outdoor Christmas lights? Crap. Bake delicious Christmas cookies like the good Betty Crocker wife that I am? Crap.

Christmas sweet treats I almost baked:

Aren't these Candy Corn Cookies the bees knees? Just make the cookies red, white, and green or perhaps red, white, and pink and voila you've got Christmas Candy Corn Cookies. It would look really cute with a bowl of actual Christmas candy corn nearby so people know what the cookies are supposed to be. Otherwise they might look like some demented Christmas trees or something.

Frugal Gift Idea: Cookies in a jar! Didn't quite get around to it though.

Anyone care for some Peppermint Kiss Cookies? Too bad. Just drool over the photo. That's what I'm doing too. Less calories that way.

Check out these knock-out-drop-dead-gorgeous cupcakes from Bakerella. Confession: teensy weensy lie here. I did not almost make them. I really wasn't planning on ever making them. They look way too involved for me. (Fondant? I. Don't. Think. So.) But if you've got the time (Time? It could happen- you do have 2 days), then these look A.D.O.R.A.B.L.E.

In the realm of sewing, I thought about appliquing a onesie today. The wee tot has a fairly nondescript white onesie that I figured I could spruce up with a Christmas tree applique (Get it? Spruce?). Then I changed my mind and decided to go the stocking route. I went so far as to gather up the fabric I'd use for the applique. I dug out a red print and even the white faux fur I would have used on the top part. Then I laughed at myself and decided no, I am not dragging out the sewing machine beast. I just put it away today. Sewing makes a mess. I'm having company in a couple days. Let it go. And with that, I put the fabric back away.

So is there anyone else who has been a slacker this holiday season?