Christmas Eve

One of our traditions is to have my side of the family over on Christmas Eve. This year, rather than having a brunch earlier in the day, we did it in the evening. My parents, brother, sister and her family, and my Aunt and her kids all come. Here are a few pictures.

Brandon (my nephew) and Jessica. He gives the sweetest kisses!

These 3-D paper poinsettias were made by Jessica as part of our decorations. She and Kaitie, my niece, made more of them. They ARE very cute and cool!

A picture of Jessica and I. Aw! Aren't we all cute and coordinated?! =)

My brother, Danny and Jessica with the gift her gave her...a set of books. She later confided to me that this was her FAVORITE gift. Sorry everyone else! She's just into books lately. What can I say?!

Brandon and Mommy opening a gift. "It's cars!" he said. "It's cars!"

It was a very nice evening and it's also nice that we do it on Christmas Eve. Christmas Day is usually very quiet for us, with just the 3 of us opening a few gifts. Although, this year, my friend Marla is coming to visit in the afternoon and she and I will probably go out to dinner and go for a walk or something.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Christmas Tradition

One of the things Jessie and I do every year is go to the Millie's Hallmark parking lot in Ahwatukee to watch Santa arrive by helicopter the day after Thanksgiving. She knows that THIS Santa is the real deal because he's always the same every year. Not to mention the fact that he knows her by name. This year she did have questions about the authenticity of his beard, though.
I normally get the BEST pictures here but since my camera died a few months ago, I had to settle for the $5 memory card photo they sold. (And thank goodness they did THAT this year...normally they just provide a free polaroid.)

Jessie this year. She's getting so tall.

Jessie last year. Look at that round face!

Look at her round tummy and baby face! She looks so young! I can't believe how fast she's growing up. I'm not sure whether to laugh or cry about it!

Jessie the Gymnast

Jessica is in the Aerials and Jets classes at The Little Gym. Her favorite routine is the bar routine and she is just beginning to use the high bar; an amazing feat for a kid who tends to be risk averse! Check her out up there! She spends most of her recesses on the bars at school, practicing.

Jessica's Christmas Project

Jessica and I made the cutest gifts for her to give to family this year. (So if that's you, no peeking!) I've been told this craft is on the Family Fun website but I've never looked it up.

Step 1 (not shown): use Elmer's blue gel glue to draw a simple design on a rectangle of muslin. Allow glue to dry. (Elmer's blue gel glue: $1.99; muslin: $1.99/yard)

Step 2 (not shown): Get glued muslin thoroughly damp. Lay out on a flat surface. Using a large foam brush, paint the entire surface of the fabric (right over the glue, too) with watered down acrylic paint (the small bottles from the tole painting aisle work fine). Use just 2 or 3 colors. Dark colors over the glue areas work best. Allow to dry flat.

Step 3: Soak dried, painted fabric in hot water until glue begins to dissolve. Use fingers or a spoon to scrape off excess glue. Rinse and wring out excess water.


Step 4: Hang to dry. This picture shows the 30+ small projects that I helped her class do to make gifts for their own parents.

Close up of the results after removing the glue.

Step 5: Use hem tape to create hemmed edges and to make a loop at the top to run a dowel through it for hanging. Add ribbon and ball ends on dowel to finish. This shows the finished project. I *think* you can click on it to see it closer --it looks just like batik when it's done.

This is another version we did. The snowflakes were much easier and fool proof since they are simple geometric designs.