christmas dinner

This is the Spiral Omelet from the Old Hen Bed and Breakfast. It is fabulous.

And just my luck- she posted the recipe on her blog on Christmas Eve. We were already planning on having breakfast for dinner on Christmas, and this is so much better than scrambled eggs!

Of course mine did not turn out as pretty as hers. I just made half a recipe since it was just the two of us, so it ended up being thicker and a lot harder to roll. But I rolled it the best I could, and it turned out just fine. Instead of making Hollandaise sauce, and using ham and onions, I made bacon and layered it with cheddar. Mmmm. It was heavenly! I highly recommend making it for yourself asap.

Danny has been craving waffles for months- but I haven't been able to find the powdered buttermilk I usually use. So I hunted down some fresh buttermilk- why is it so hard to find? After the eggs were done, I plugged in our fabulous waffle maker. After 30 minutes of waiting and it didn't heat up- Danny decided we should go to plan P. Pancakes.

So we had fresh orange juice, pancakes, and a cheesy bacon omelet. Apart from the rolling, the omelet was very easy to make. I'm definitely going to be making it more often!

Another recipe that she posted is for her Maple Boys- a variation of her maple bars and they are so effing delicious! She made them when we were there last year for our anniversary and I almost died. I was like "Uhm, how did you know that maple bars are my favorite?" I wanted SO BAD to make them too but I didn't have the Mapleine or the instant mashed potatoes. 

I was thinking just how awesome would it be to stay there for Christmas? So awesome. Except for the part where there is snow. So I will skip that and stay where it doesn't snow.

Next year, I will be ready.

not ever going to be able to top this one

I met Kyle, the very talented artist behind button arcade while I was at Crafty Wonderland in Portland last spring. What I didn't see on her table were her ornaments. Later, when we got home and I was checking out all the cards I had collected at the fair, I saw her ornaments in her etsy shop. And I died. And ordered almost all of them. I wanted to get the whole famdamily one for Christmas.

Then we moved and I forgot. Then december came. And a week before christmas, I remembered when I found the stash of ornaments I had been saving. And I panicked.

But Kyle was kind enough to make 8 new ornaments in 3 days and ship them to me super fast. I was SO thrilled to open the package when it came.

Thanks Kyle!

Are you dying yet? I'm dying all over again.

Danny and I. I laugh every time I see his sweet moustache!

Nan and Mike.

Nick and Stevie. I love the birds!

And Loo-loo...

Hehe. My dad.

My Mom.

Maloree.

Cory.

Danny's sister Chelsea. She is my fav. Everything about her matches her personality to a T.

Danny's sister Linds...

And her GF Sarah. 

I knew I'd forget somebody. I forgot Danny's dad. Oops.

And sorry for the somewhat blurry photos, ever since I got glasses I keep taking blurry photos. Whether I'm wearing my glasses or not. It's very irritating. I need to go in and get my eyes re-checked! And maybe get some contacts, because jamming the camera against my glasses is very uncomfortable.

I really wanted to use pretty snowflakes on my gifts, but after spending a whole evening cutting them out and trying to get them to stick on the gifts, I hated how they looked. It was a total Pinterest fail. Oh well. 

So I dug around in my yarn bin for some red yarn, and made it work. I quite like how they turned out. Then I used my huge alphabet stamps to put first initials on them for a little kick. 

P.S. Kyle makes the most gorgeous and cute little dresses for Blythe dolls. She makes me want to buy a Blythe doll just so I can dress her in button arcade dresses!

Like this one, and this one, and this one, and....

the Ms.

I got this amazing book, (by Hillary Lang of Wee Wonderfuls) and I saw the Katie Kitty pattern and just had to make one for Maloree for Christmas. But first, I had to make a practice one...for me.

Meet Ms. Olive Kat.

I found this soft brown sweater-ish fabric at Hobby Lobby awhile ago and it was perfect for this kitten.

I used the scraps from the Liberty Bibs to make her dress.

I love these shoes- so tiny and adorable.

I made my sister's out of a silky black fabric- I am obsessed with making animals out of silky fabrics, they are so much more cuddly than just cotton or felt and also a little fancier.

Ms. Eleanor Kat and Maloree.

I made her some shoes too- but they kept slipping off. Duh.

I still think she is fancy without them.

family christmas party #1 (my side)

This year, we added the Ornament game to the usual traditions- soup & salad for dinner, peppermint ice cream and gingerbread sugar cookies for dessert.

Yes, I did indeed steal this lovely ornament from my cousin's husband.

Gingerbread house that Loo-loo decorated at her friend Shelly's house.

The best frosting ever lined up and ready to go...

Lil Maddie is already a pro at frosting these delicious little cookies!

Loo-loo adds some finishing touches.

Even Gramps got into it!

Lil Jessie made this cute guy just for me!

Auntie Connie.

Stevie, Nick & Mal.

Danny smiles only after he has eaten a cookie.

And we forgot about the ice cream until the frosting was long gone and half the family had left.

Dang. I guess we'll just have to have that for my birthday...

all ready for christmas...

This tree makes my front room smell soooo delicious!

This is Tilda's favorite ornament- I have to keep it at the bottom of the tree so she can snuggle it without batting it off the tree.

I fell in love with this garland last year at Basket Loft- this year it was 70% off, so I bought the lot!

I love the sugary texture of candy ornaments- my brother has one that "santa" gave him when he was teeny- it's a candy train, and the gumdrops are so realistic, it's magical. To this day I am still a little jealous that it's his and not mine.

I got these frosty hearts at Ikea last year.

Sweet little bird...

All wrapped and under the tree...

I love the little red glitter balls, also at Ikea last year.

Danny's is hiding in the back...

Can't wait to give them all away!

christmas goodies

We had an amazing Christmas this year! Here are some highlights...

Our tree, with mostly new ornaments, and all of my ornaments from my childhood.

I made the skirt, I think it needs some improvements- for next year at least.

Our cute presents under the tree.

On Christmas Eve, we went to Danny's grandma's for dinner, stories, and our annual ornament exchange.

Story time.

Amber played a violin solo, and the other kids played piano solos.

The ornament exchange. I finally got a good one this year! And I had #2- I just hid mine under my chair so nobody would steal it.

After dessert, (my famous gingerbread men and christmas tree cookies) we went to Danny's dad's house and had our present exchange. The girls (his sisters) loved the kitty pillows that I made for them, and Danny loved the HUGE jar of pistachios that he got!

Then we went home, and Danny opened his gifts from me. They were all boring- just clothes and socks, except for this one...

Space Invaders ice cube tray. It's pretty awesome.

After waking up very late, we went to my parents for Christmas brunch and of course, more presents! (I don't have any pics of us, my dad took them with his camera so I don't have copies quite yet)

But I do have this one of Loo-loo in her apron. I made her hold a gingerbread cookie and it was her idea to add the rolling pin- isn't she adorable!

Here are a few of the gifts that I got...

The new Zelda game for the DS (Actually, I got this one from the New Years Eve Panda*)

This really cool frosting decorating set...

..and these awesome cake decorating tools.

A Gorilla Pod for my camera...

...and this is what it does! It looks really strange, but it is so freakin cool!

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas holiday season! And I do believe 2010 will be a great year!

*the new year's panda is an idea from the book Be Prepared. It's for parents or spouses or whomever that can't quite get all the presents that they needed for their loved ones by Christmas. They can go to the after christmas sales or just go shopping with a chance to not wait in crazy lines or have the possibility of being trampled while shopping for the perfect gift. So if your kid wants that certain unattainable toy that is going for hundreds of dollars over retail on ebay, you can tell them on Christmas morning to their cute little disappointed faces that the New Year's panda will bring it to them instead.

And that is how I got the new Zelda game. Danny went to Best Buy today and picked it up for me. No lines, no craziness. He also got gifts for his sisters today. Better late than never, right?