On My Own

I have sewn a few things in my life, but I am constantly getting help from more experienced sewers. Thank goodness Brynna only lives a few blocks away and is willing to come to my rescue when I'm in between a rock and a hard place.

I also only got a zipper foot for my sewing machine this past Christmas. It was a gift from my aunt and grandma. I am grateful to have it, especially since it was thrown away in the wrapping process. Thank goodness Michele noticed and dug it out of the trash!

For my first project I decided to make a dress for Kaylee since I'm pregnant anyway. I was very pleased with how it turned out. It fits, she can move, & she likes it. Triple success! I even made a matching bow for her hair assuming she lets me fix it.
I did all the sewing myself and only broke down twice to call Brynna. It was helpful to walk through the directions with a translator.

I must've flipped on some crazy switch because I have 6 more dresses lined up for Kaylee and Lydia.

The first real snowstorm this winter

Kaylee and I got the chance to play outside in the snow this morning!!  Lydia wanted to come play, but we don't have snow apparel for her.  Plus, last time she came out in the snow while I was scooping the driveway, she kept taking off her gloves to eat the snow which caused her to cry because of her little frozen hands.  So, sorry Lydia, no snow for you this winter.

We live in a neighborhood with a lot of trees and there were some casualties from the heavy snow.  Nowhere near as bad as October 1997, but more than a normal snow storm.

This is a branch down in our backyard.

This is a larger branch from the same tree that is sitting on the fence.
It just barely missed our neighbor's shed.

A closer look at the same branch in the neighbor's yard.

The same neighbor's had another large branch fall on their other fence.

 

It always amazes me now much snow can cling to the branches.
All of our trees were sagging several feet lower than normal.

The neighbor to the back of us had a lot of bendy trees,
luckily no broken ones.  They were all hovering over the power lines.

The tree in the middle usually stands as tall as the ones on either side.

More of the back neighbor.

After assessing the damage, Kaylee and I played in the snow.  We even made a Snow man and a Snow Angel!
It was excellent packing snow.

She took a break from eating snow to smile for the camera.

Crawling like a baby in the snow.

She's stuck

Just hanging out

Kaylee's Snow Angel

Our AWESOME Snowman.  This is the first one Kaylee and I made together!

It's hard to believe that just 2 days ago we were at the park!

'Tis Nebraska for you!

Delusions

When Kaylee wakes up from a nap she is either happy, crabby, or disoriented.  The other day she woke up more out of it than normal.  I was sitting at the kitchen table when Kaylee came running out of her room after her nap.  She headed straight for the trash can and opened the lid.  Her legs and bum were shaking a little as she struggled to pull down her underwear.

Confused, I asked, "Kaylee, what are you doing?"

After a few "uh!"s she replied, "I have to go potty!!!"

Click!

"Not in there, you're not!!!" I shouted as I grabbed her and darted to the bathroom.  It was a close call and one of the weirdest things she has ever done.  If she had succeeded in her delusion, it would have been pretty nasty.

"It Don't Want to Have Died"

We were playing around outside and Grandpa pointed out a dead mouse in the driveway. Kaylee of course reached right down to pick it up when Grandpa and I shouted "NO!!" at her.  The way Robin Williams and Bonnie Hunt did in Jumanji when Peter and Judy's parents said they were thinking of going on a ski trip.  I don't really want her to get in the habit of picking up dead animals.

I grabbed a pair of pliers, picked up the mouse by the tail and headed for the garbage.  Kaylee of course was there to meet me, blocking the trash can telling me I couldn't throw it away.  I explained to her yet again the mouse had died and we had to throw it away.  Her only response was, "It don't want to have died."



Kaylee, acting like Jordan's daughter and the 3 year old that she is, looked up at the sky and exclaimed, "AIRPLANE!" I turned around to see a contrail and used this as my opportunity to throw the mouse away.  She still hasn't asked me what happened to the mouse.

Chocolate Meringue Pie

My grandma has made Chocolate Meringue Pie for Thanksgiving  for as long as I can remember. This year I requested it but through all of the confusion it was forgotten.  So I decided top takes matters onto my own hands since I was still craving it on Monday.  So I found a recipe online and set to work. It's even called Grandma's Chocolate Meringue Pie.

Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:
3/4 cup sugar
5 T baking cocoa
3 T cornstarch
1/4 tsp salt
2 c. milk
3 egg yolks, beaten
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 pie shell (9 inches), baked

MERINGUE:
3 egg whites
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
6 T sugar

Directions:
In a saucepan, mix sugar, cocoa, cornstarch and salt; gradually add milk. Cook and stir over medium-high heat until thickened and bubbly. Reduce heat; cook and stir 2 minutes more. Remove from heat. Stir about 1 cup of the hot filling into the egg yolks. Return to saucepan and bring to a gentle boil. Cook and stir 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in vanilla. Pour hot filling into pie crust. For meringue, immediately beat egg whites with cream of tartar until soft peaks form. Gradually add sugar and continue to beat until stiff and glossy. Spread evenly over hot filling, sealing meringue to pie crust. Bake at 350° for 12-15 minutes or until golden. Yield: 8 servings.

Side note: you need to use electric bearers for making the meringue unless you want your arm to fall off. And "peaks" means when you lift up the beaters they stand up stiff.

After it cooled a bit I sprinkled chocolate sprinkles on it just like my Grandma does. Later I found out Kaylee had been picking the sprinkles and eating the while it was cooling.  Needless to say it was wonderful, everything I had hoped it would be.

Lydia may have loved it the most...

Little Fix-it Girl

Grandpa Seating came over and worked on our Toyota the other day and Kaylee has begun to be our little fix-it Girl. She found a couple tools and went to work on her toy sroller. (Which by the way, I made the seat since she sat in the other one so many times it ripped off & was beyond worth trying to repair.)  Then it was her beds. She has also worked on our bed and the crib.

Christmas Gifts

Since Jordan and I are poor, we decided it would be best other were resourceful for Christmas this year.  Since this gift is for Lydia I can post pictures of it now without spoiling anyone's gift.  Well, anyone who cares.

When Lydia was born,since it was the middle of winter, I bought various kinds of fleece fabric and made several little receiving blankets that were warmer than the paper thin ones they sell in the store.  An added bonus was I could pick out patterns I liked.

Well, Lydia is now 9 months and she doesn't have much use for several warm blankets that cover half her body.  Enter resourcefulness!  I cut the blankets in to 9" squares and sewed them onto a large blanket!  I also didn't want to have to deal with raw edges (and I thought it would be cute) I clipped the edges.  So one side is neatly put together and the other is cute and fun!  Go saving money!

I have plans to post my other gifts after Christmas.