handmade Christmas 2014

 My list of handmade Christmas presents this year has several that still need to be crossed off.  I just couldn't find the time to sneak and make this year.

But my favorite gift was these ninja peg people for Diego.

There are red belts and black belts and their little expressions are each different no matter how hard I tried to make them all the same.  I peeked in on Diego at one point Christmas afternoon, and he was playing away with them.  

He loves this snow mask I made for him.  I believe he feels like a ninja in it.  The pattern is very simple and can be found at Make It-Love It, if you'd like to give it a try.

Joaquin made his brother a bean bag toss game and Isabela made him some slime.  We all think Diego is the easiest to make gifts for because he just loves everything!

Isabela's gift wasn't made by me, but by a creative mom on Etsy.  Two bracelets...one says Divergent and the other says Dauntless...what she'd like to be if she was in the Divergent series.

Joaquin and Juan Pablo got some t-shirts I freezer paper stenciled.  I told the kids about the idea to make JP one that said COACH.  He's been Diego's coach at soccer for several seasons, and he's been helping Joaquin's travel team in the off-season by holding weekly trainings.  The kids came up with Joaquin's shirt after that.  Joaquin said, "I want one that says PLAYER!"  And I'm thinking, 'he doesn't even know what the word player means, and what kind of mom would I be if I made him a shirt like that'?

It turns out, I didn't know what the word 'player' means: soccer player, of course!

Juan Pablo really helped me out with these shirts.  I don't have a craft knife and was simply using scissors to cut the freezer paper.  He came along with a box cutter and patiently finished cutting out the design.  That's why they turned out so good.  Then I told him about the Silhouette machine that can cut all kinds of designs for you.  (Good gift idea for me!)  And later, we got caught up looking at screen printing t-shirt videos on youtube.  People are so creative!

And this was the first gift I started this year and never finished.  We have a wooden train track that never gets played with, and I thought if I fancied it up, who could resist?  It didn't work.  Still no one plays with it.

Carmen just kept pulling the tracks apart.

I may still finish it and give it away.

Sweet Isabela made her own pattern for a stuffed animal for Carmen, and sewed it all herself.  Carmen was a little scared of it, but I think it's growing on her.  

She also made a puff ball bookmark for Joaquin and gave it to him with the new Wimpy Kid book.  Great choice for this book lover!

I still have a long list of gifts to make...a stuffed whale for Diego, pj pants for Carmen and Isabela, a rag doll for Carmen....maybe by next Christmas.  Joaquin finally got his totem pole pillow I'd been promising him since last Christmas.  He opened it on Christmas Eve and LOVED it!

And so the tradition continues.

Christmas Eve

I always picture Christmas Eve as a night filled with appetizers and karaoke singing.  I guess because as a kid, I arrived at my grandma's house at night and that's just how it went.

But Christmas Eve is actually an entire day of anticipation.

So with Juan Pablo at work and four excited kids, I decided to take them to Bass Pro Shops' Santa Land.  It's always been fun in the past.

Isabela in her new grown-up coat.  Thank you, Aunt Maggie!

Santa Land was like a broke-down Santa Land this year, but that didn't deter the kids.  These trucks worked well, but you can only crash them into the bar so many times.

Carmen was content to sit in the cart (whew!) and definitely likes to smile for the camera.

The kids decided these would be great Christmas gifts.

The slot cars would not work well, but they kept trying.

We tried our luck with the free shooting range.

There weren't long lines, but the kids weren't that interested in it this year.

So we quickly headed off to see the giant bear....

...and some fish.  I'm glad I had $3 in my pocket.  They had the most fun at the .50 cent shooting range, but then we quickly left for home wondering why so many people go there in the first place.

Time to make some cookies!

Little poser.

I think I have a picture of me making this same face!

Isabela headed up the baking.

But Joaquin said he didn't like gingerbread so he chose a complicated sugar cookie recipe.

Does Santa always eat cookies at your house?  This year he left some on the plate.  In the morning, Diego and I finished them off.  The kids were disgusted that I bit off the same cookie that Santa did.

Carmen was a little angel at the church service.  I have no idea where that halo appeared from!

And a huge fog rolled in just as it was getting dark.  Rudolph would definitely be needed this night.

Some of the kids enjoyed a cardboard box...

...it's a bus, it's a drum....

...it's broken!

And Daddy finally made it home, so we decided to go see some Christmas lights.  We have NEVER gone to look at lights on Christmas Eve, but we are five minutes from a house that won a national award for their lights, and said why not?  You should have seen the line of cars!  We waited thirty minutes, then decided to park and walk.  It was a great decision.  Plenty of time to enjoy the lights and fresh air for the night.

Carmen was amazed.  We all were.

Off to bed now, kids.  Christmas is coming!

a family Christmas

Family Christmas party!!  

The decorations were hung by the 'used-to-be' chimney with care.  They're supposed to look like a string of Christmas lights, but after a while of staring at them, they just look like cups with balloons stuck in them.



The cookies were burnt.  I think we ate all the good ones before they arrived.

My cousin Kate and her mom!  Such pretty smiles!

Aunt Maggie couldn't give this coat away.  She ordered it all the way from China.  Size XL, but we could barely get our arms in it.   I think Kate's face says it about right.

These two are probably discussing the wonderful drive down 95 to our house.

OK. So maybe the decorations were hung a little low.

We had just sold a table the day before that had been stagnant on craigslist for months ....just in time to  receive my grandmother's beautiful dining room table.  

Everyone hung out around the food for awhile.  I made a vegetable lasagna, thinking we were all filling up on cookies and sweets, and a chicken pot pie that missed out on the salt.

Carmen liked the lasagna...

...and I'm happy to see Joaquin ate some veggies, too.

Diego entertained a bit with his imaginative stories, but soon it was time to open presents.

We played a short round of steal this gift...I think we all left pretty happy.  I chose and kept my own gift...not sure that's allowed.

This year's handmade gifts were patchwork pillows.  I guess I should have taken a picture after they opened them.  Pillows seem to be my go-to handmade gift.  Last year, I made pillow cases.  What's up with that?  I remember when my grandma Sarah used to give me slippers every year for Christmas.  I thought she might be going a little senile, not remembering that she gave me those the year before.  Guess it's my turn now.

And this means the party's almost over....

I know it wasn't like grandma's house, but it was so fun to laugh and catch up....I loved Dan's story of his dog beating him up (hey, there's no picture of Dan!).   We even got to sit around grandma and grandpa's old table.

Merry Christmas everyone!