Alfredo Sauce

I made an Alfredo Sauce last week that was really quite good. I have not ever attempted alfredo sauce before. I found several recipes and just made my own using what I actually had on hand. Here is the recipe:
Alfredo Sauce

1/4 cup butter
1 cup cream
1 garlic clove
1 cup grated parmesan
1/2 cup grated romano
1/2 cup grated mozarella

Melt butter in saucepan over med low heat.
Add cream and garlic.
Simmer 5 minutes.
Add grated cheese and stir till melted.

Pour over cooked pasta.
Wake up sleeping child and watch them enjoy!

Pretty Pink Dresses and Posting 101

This is officially my 101st post!
Here is a picture of Alona in her "pretty pink dress.
"

Its done.

I finished most of my sewing- well all that needed to be done by Christmas. I still have a few projects that I cut out and didn't get to yet. But Alona wore her "pretty pink dress" all day yesterday- and loved it. We had Jeff's family over for dinner along with Louis and Bridget and baby Saya. It was wonderful to have everyone together! After everyone left, I sat down in front of the sewing machine and finished a few more things! It never ends. Then, at about 9 pm (Jeff was playing a game on the PS3) I went to Celina's house to give her a present. They got Rock Band for Christmas and coerced me to play with them for a bit. I showed them how to calibrate it, how to unlock songs, create characters, and start a band. It was a wonderful day, and we sure are blessed to have such wonderful friends and family!

Merry Christmas!

Wow! Opening presents took about 15 minutes. The kids weren't messing around.
Ashley got the Felicity doll- thanks to Aunt Aurelia! The kids got a camera and Disney's Sing It for the PS3. And lots of movies. Like 10. Or more. Jeff got a Fender strat and amp set and shaving supplies (via The Art of Shaving). I got iTunes gift cards. Yay, more music! I always love that. Thanks to the ice/snow in Portland, I guess I still have a gift coming.
We are hosting Christmas "dunch" at our house. It's like brunch, but later (dinner+lunch=dunch). We just got a dining table and are so excited to have people over for meals now. We were just using the kitchen counter to eat at for quite some time. We don't have all of our chairs yet, but we do have plenty of folding chairs.
Merry Christmas!

Christmas Rush

The masses are out shopping, but me? I am at home. I have too much to sew. The dress I am working on has to be done by Friday. It is for the sister of the groom and the wedding is Saturday. I thought I was almost done, but then she tried it on and the dress was just huge in the shoulders. So last night I picked out the seam on the sleeves. I had to remove them completely to rework the shoulders. Hopefully I can have it finished today. Then I can start on the fun stuff. I have several bags I am working on for Christmas presents. And then, there is a dress for Alona that she has been begging for since before her birthday in August. And I wanted to make some skirts for all three of the girls. sigh. There just isn't enough time....

Sisters

Ashley and Alona were sitting at the counter eating pudding this morning. Ashley was telling us that she was going to take care of animals when she grows up. Alona looked at her and asked her if they would still be friends when they are grown up. I told her of course, that's what it means to be sisters. Sisters = friends forever. Ashley said, "We will be friends even if we don't want to."
I know that for me, I feel sometimes my sisters don't consider me a friend. This makes me very sad. I hope for my daughters to never experience this. I want them to always be friends because, to me, that is what a sister should always be. You will never have another friend who is connected to you the way a sister is. There may be friends who come very close, but I have never been as hurt by a friend as I have by a sister. And I must add that I value friendships very dearly. It is harder than most would think for me to lose a friend.
I felt the need to write this down when I heard the girls talking about it because relationships, especially with family, are very important and are one of the most important things we take with us when we leave this life.

Goodies In The Mail

Last week I ordered two patterns and some Trash Ties (for hair) from the Heather Bailey website. They came today! I am so excited! I love reading her blog. It has so many great pictures and some free patterns and tutorials. I was going to make the La Fleur Debris pattern to put on the presents we gave to the girls' teachers, but since today might be the only day of school this week we decided to give the presents to them today. I am excited to try the Trash Ties in the kids' hair. I want to try them out and then maybe get them in more colors. The pincushion pattern looks fun. I can't decide if I should make the apple, the pear, or the strawberry. Maybe one of each?

ICE!!!!!!

This is our second day of no school. It is supposed to reach a whopping 16 degrees today! We got a little more snow and the partly melted snow from yesterday is completely frozen, so we are under a sheet of ice as well. The rest of the week isn't looking much better. This is the last week of school before the winter break and I wanted the kids in school. They fight more when there is no school, and I was preparing myself for two weeks. Now it looks as though it will be 3 weeks. Not to mention I can't get in any last minute Christmas shopping. It's a good thing I already have everything that really counts...except candy canes! I can always walk to Fred Meyer because it is right across the street. Much closer that Dillons was to Dad's house. I'm thinking I need to escape to the south soon. Arizona? Florida? Hmmmm....

SNOW!!!!!!!

We woke up this morning to see the snow they have been saying would be here for a couple of days now. Here are pictures. We don't get snow very often, only once or twice a season. And it usually melts very quickly. It is supposed to stay cold till Friday. I hope it doesn't melt during the day and freeze at night!

These pictures are from our back yard.

The Apple Tree

The Maple Tree

New blog for half marathon progress

I have a new blog to track our progress in training for the Half Marathon. Check it out! I will do occasional updates on this blog, but for more regular posts, check the other one.

Our Christmas Picture

This year we decided to do something a little different for our Christmas picture. So I called Marianne for some advice. Being so very artistic, she thought about and got back to me with an idea. I think Jeff was not sure about it when I first told him about it, but he is always a good sport and goes along with me on these things. So here it is! I'm pretty sure everyone has gotten their card in the mail, so it won't ruin the surprise. There are 15 little girls, 1 Mommy, and 1 Daddy. Can you find them all?

Barbie video

Just a warning: this video has disturbing images (or music). Barbie will be singing Bad Reputation by Joan Jett. Jeff and Josh thought it was hilarious and made me do it.

Half Marathon-what?! I must be crazy!

Yesterday, I was looking at an old high school friend's blog. She is a hardcore athlete. It got me thinking. I have been thinking it would be such an awesome goal to run a marathon. Now that is quite a stretch for me at this point. I think it would take quite a bit to get there. So I looked up training for a marathon on google. I found a website that gives instruction/advice for training. It has a week by week training schedule for 5k, 10k, half marathon, and marathon training. When Jeff got home I asked him if he would either do the 5k or half marathon with me. He said the 5k sounded good. Until Josh reminded him it was only a little over 3 miles. That's too easy for Jeff, so he agreed to the half marathon. So training is 20 weeks and it is in 21 weeks. Guess we are starting! This is quite the challenge for me, so I'm going to have to work hard. I have some foot problems, so I am hoping they won't make it impossible. I can handle a little pain anyway, right?
So now you can pick your jaws up off the floor (cause I know it is quite the shock that I am planning to run any length at all being the only family member who didn't run track in public school) and get behind me. I'm gonna need lots of encouragement and support! It will be at the beginning of May and I am planning to keep track of my progress here on the blog! So stay tuned! My only goal for this half marathon is to finish. I will work on time goals for any future runs I do.
Wish me luck!

Will Wonders Never Cease?

It is a strange day in Oregon. The sun was shining and it felt like it was 60 degrees. It might have only been 56 degrees, but it was gorgeous. Jeff got rid of all the wood from the old shed floor and even managed to get rid of the piano remains, old paint cans, and debris on the other side of the house! I am so happy to have a clean yard for a change! The biggest shock yet was that I mailed all but 2 of the Christmas cards today!!!!! Can you believe it?!! I think last year(technically this year) I was 2 months late with the cards. The two I haven't mailed are due to lack of an address and the post office being closed on Saturday and one of them is going to Brazil. I am proud of myself for actually getting stuff done this year:) I even managed to fit in a Dove Chocolate tasting party this evening- yummy!

How it's been.....

Obviously from the Thanksgiving pictures Charles was here. He got in around 1 pm on Thanksgiving. We sat down to eat about an hour later. The turkey was very juicy. They company was very pleasant. And, of course, dessert was yummy! We had dessert at my In-Law's house. Then we came back and ate more turkey, followed by a looong soak in the hot tub. Charles and I discussed our childhood. He remembers vividly the way I would get so annoyed with all the noise- in a family with 11 children there is a bit of noise. I was quite the loud mouth, always yelling at everyone. Not much has changed, hehehehe. We got a little Rock Band 2 in on Friday with Charles and pretty much did nothing all day. Actually, Jeff helped Josh work on the stereo system to his new car. Charles did the dishes! He is good at that. It is so nice to have a clean kitchen. Saturday, we took Charles out to Hole In The Wall BBQ for lunch. The kids went to a friends house, so it was just the adults. Then Charles left. Apparently my house is not conducive to studying. I was sad to see him go, but not until I burned him a couple Christmas CDs to listen to in the car. Then I took Ashley to Barnes and Noble where her ballet school was having a book fair/fundraising event. She got to see four girls perform. And she got the set of Felicity books from the American Girl collections. She is really getting into that now.
I have plenty of sewing projects for Christmas presents to keep me busy for the next couple weeks, so I am off to get started!

Thanksgiving Spread

This is our Thanksgiving Feast! We also have rolls and an Emerald Salad, but they are not pictured.
Our Turkey turned out sooooooo moist! It was delicious.

If you double click on the picture it will enlarge and you'll be able to see how moist it is!


Candied Yams.


Charles pretending to carve the Turkey-it was my job.


The non carved half of the Turkey. Isn't it beautiful?


The line-up.


Cranberry Orange Apple Relish


Stuffing.


Mashed Potatoes by Jeff.

We are all full and sleepy and watching WALL-E.
Happy Thanksgiving!

Family Pictures

Marianne came over and photographed the family last night! Here are a few of the 90 pictures we got! We are doing a fun picture this year, but you have to wait to see that one! We just love the pillow fight pics!

Stamping

The girls were stamping today, can you tell?

Hooded towels

Today I decided to organize my dining/temporary sewing room. I figured the best way to do this is to use up some of the fabric and supplies that are just sitting there. I opted to start with the hooded towels I started many, many years ago. It was probably 4-5 years ago! It took me all of 15 minutes to sew 4 of them! For instructions click here. All you need is one bath towel and one hand towel. One hand towel will make 2 hoods, so you may as well get another bath towel and make two. Here is one of the towels:


Both pictures are of the same towel- not sure why the color is so different! I put the hood on a little different than how it is in the instructions. I made two this way, and two the way in the instructions.

The Faces of Natalie

Here is Natalie's slideshow!

Ashley's many faces

If I make a slideshow of Alona, of course I have to do one for Ashley and Natalie as well. So here is Ashley's!

Christmas gift ideas.......

I am looking for ideas for Christmas gifts that I can make. Anyone have any suggestions?
I would like them to be fairly quick and easy, yet classy and well received!
Thanks!
Oh, yes, and they would be for friends and family (adults- both male and female)!

This is how we make lunch fun!

We found these cute sandwich cutters at Fred Meyer. We have 3 different kinds- 2 dinosaurs, 2 dolphins with a heart in between, and 2 hearts. Today was dino day. And the kids insisted on cups with lids and a straw! What is it about straws that make drinks so enticing?

Alona's dinos and drink


Natalie was eating one dino, and took the head off the other!

Following my blog

They added a new gadget for the sidebar! People who regularly read blogs can now become Followers. It sounds a bit silly! But it is pretty neat. I will be able to see how many people are reading my blog! Add yourself if you read my blog! I want to be popular! (just kidding) But please, add yourself so I have an idea of how many people out there like my blog!
Thanks

The Thousand Faces of Alona (well, maybe only 86....)

There are a lot of pictures in this slide show, but it gets pretty funny! Well worth watching- at least in my biased opinion!

Nothin' Much

We haven't had a whole lot out of the norm going on around our house. Jeff got the hot tub up and running about 2 weeks ago. I've been in once. He took Ashley and Alona out for a soak yesterday. They loved it. Jeff has also fixed a few things around the house. The kitchen sink was having real problems draining. It would get backed up and when you turned on the garbage disposal water and junk would come out in the other drain. He went to the home improvement store and found a drain pipe with a baffle plate that blocks anything from going back up the other side. Now it drains perfectly and I don't have to turn my garbage disposal off and on for a second over and over again. Yipppeeeee!
Jeff got asked to help with the scouts. I think he would be an assistant scout master? Not sure though. He said he is going to mull it over for a bit before he decides.
I am actually thinking ahead this year and am planning our family picture for this Wednesday. My friend Marianne has agreed to take the pictures and her husband will help her scout out a cool architectural place at the U of O to take them. I might get the Christmas cards out before Christmas this year! Sure beats February- like last year (or this year, technically). Be on the lookout- I will post pictures after the shoot!

Stamps and Art Tutorials

My friend, Marianne, is the most talented artist I have met. She has been working on some stamps found here. She also has a blog that is pretty much an art tutorial. It is very informative. She is incredibly intelligent and oh so talented! If you like to do anything creative you should check it out!

Funny Face

Jeff must have gotten the camera out while I was gone one day this summer. I just found this picture of Alona in iPhoto when I was looking for pictures of Natalie. It was too cute!


Alona has always had the best expressions I have ever seen. This one is by far the funniest. She is very expressive facially. She makes faces for every mood and emotion. I will have to try to compile a slide show of her different faces.

Some Lil Tiny Bags For M' Natalie

Natalie refers to her things a m'Natalie's (mine Natalie's). She also thinks anything she owns is lil tiny, because she is the little one in the family. So she took over a tote bag I made for Jessica and was so excited about it. She carried it around the house until we left to take it to Jessica. Jessica wasn't there, so we left it on the door. Natalie cried because she didn't get to see her, but more importantly, because we were leaving the bag. I promised to make her a bag. I finally got it done. (finally being a week or so later- which is actually pretty good, for me)
Of course, if I make one for Natalie then I must make one for Ashley and Alona as well. So off to the fabric store we went one day. Ashley was at school, so it was Alona, Natalie, and myself as Ashley had picked a fabric a while back. They each picked out two fabrics for a reversible bag.
I cut down the Amy Butler Swing Bag pattern I used previously for gifts. It is the perfect bag for the kids to take their coloring supplies to church. The pattern is quick and easy. I got each one done in less than 1 hour. Only took a little under 3 hours of my Saturday evening. The kids absolutely love them!


Ashley's is the lavender paisley bag. Alona picked out the ladybugs on green. Natalie liked the dots!


Alona wanted a picture in her new hat and scarf!


Ashley did, too! She put the hat on backwards!


Of course, Natalie insisted on a picture, too. Its like she's giving herself a hug! Awww!