Monday, December 27, 2010

tHiS iS wHaT i LiKe (post 169)

...and now a very special tHiS iS wHaT i LiKe post because apparently what "I like" is to drive myself insane!! ;0)

                            *What I Made for Christmas*
I painted 3 pictures in all (I just mailed two of them away neglecting to snap pictures of them, oops!)

I sewed fleece travel pillow covers for my sons, and appliqued their names on them as well

I appliqued and sewed 3 pillows with my the hand prints of my children

My daughter and I made our own wrapping paper with brown parcel wrap and potato stamps

I made 5 pretty skirts in all, my daughter LOVED hers!
Including the stockings and the tree ornaments and many different kinds of goodies, I was one very busy Mommy this Christmas season! See the rest of the madness here and here. It was so much fun though, having Christmas on the cheap. We felt bad that the kids weren't as spoiled as usual, but honestly everything they got, was something they really wanted! They had a great time! As for the Christmas goodies here's one of the recipes I used:
Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Cookies (gluten-free)
Ingredients
1 cup shortening
2 cups white sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract (not imitation)
1 15 ounce can pumpkin puree
4 cups Bob's Red Mill All Purpose Gluten-free flour
1 1/2 teaspoons Baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons Baking Powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1 bag semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Grease cookie sheets.
In a large bowl, cream together the shortening and the sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time. Stir in the vanilla and the pumpkin until well blended.
Combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves; stir into the pumpkin mixture. Mix in the chocolate chips. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto greased cookie sheets.
Bake for 12 to 15 minutes in the preheated oven, until edges begin to brown. Allow to cool for a few minutes on the cookie sheets before removing to wire racks to cool completely.

I know what you're thinking, aren't your recipes dairy-free as well? I know that chocolate chips generally aren't, but I found some great gluten-free, dairy-free chocolate chips from Enjoy Life, that are both safe for my allergy-ridden eater and taste identical to the real thing, SCORE!
I hope that all of my readers had a wonderful Christmas with their families as I know I did, especially now that it's done! Now if I could only get my house back in order we'll be all set! ;0)

Saturday, December 25, 2010

Merry Christmas 2010

None of that wordy-stuff that generally plasters itself over the pages of my blog, just our Christmas card pic and the warmest wishes from our family to yours! ;0)

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

The happenings of the season 2010

I took a break from my "Not so Average" blog this week, just because I had many other things that I wanted to accomplish instead. I did this and then realized that I haven't updated my family blog, shame on me! We've been busy here Among the Lambsfold (as always) and I haven't had the chance to share what everyone's been up to! So, here's an update:
Mom (me).
Other than acting as taxi, maid, cook, and all the other Mom-duties, I have been to interviews (with no result, poo.) sewed many, many Christmas presents and painted a few too and I'm in the process today of making goodies for everyone else. Oh, and breaking up fights today too, since the kids are on Christmas break. Yay me! ;0P
Lee.
Has been working constantly to maintain sanity and quality of life I suppose and has lost his downtown renters. He decided to start (another) business and is going to run it out of his downtown building. Busy as always...but, I wouldn't know what to do with him otherwise! (I'm kidding of course!)
Drake.
Is maintaining all A's and one B in school, walks home on his own daily, plays the violin and loves it and is still obsessed with Pokemon and Lego's. I have talked him into reading some works of fiction (yay for being well rounded!) and he completes his school and homework assignments without any help or reminding from me! He loves 6th grade and has adjusted wonderfully! ;0)
Adree.
This girl is not happy unless she is surrounded by friends at school or is participating in at least three things at once. She sings in the DSE (school) choir, plays bass xylophone in "Orffestra", and plays violin, taking extra lessons on Fridays. She also participates in the school Safety Patrol, just like Drake did last year. She gets up early and to school at 8, 3 days a week and is just as super helpful and willing to help (haha) as always! ;0)
Seth.
My little monkey turns 8 on the 27th and is getting baptized on Jan. 1st! He is super excited of course as well. He and his best buddy Teaghan take turns coming over here or going to his house on Fridays too. Teghan's Mom and family have issues with Celiacs too and I love to share gluten-free goodies and recipes with them and Teaghan's mom doesn't have to worry I'll poison him either! Which is a good thing!

I posted a couple of videos from Drake and Adree's Christmas concerts, enjoy! ;0)

Monday, December 6, 2010

'Tis the Season

My pretty house all lit up for the holidays!
Love the entry! Oh, and the glowing blob by the door would be Rudolf!

The tree is up and ornament laden as well!
 Ah, as you can see we have been busy here among the lambsfold! Busily decorating and preparing for the impending holiday. Do you know what's really fun about having a house? Putting up lights! Yep, it was so much fun standing in the blistering cold and rain and wind doing it too! Do you sense my sarcasm yet? Haha, seriously though the lights look great and they are a great way to bring on the cheer.;0)
A couple of weeks ago, Lee recruited me to help in hanging the lights from the eaves. He gave himself a great sore back and neck from standing on the ladder, I froze below holding the lights and the ladder. The high pitch above the garage was was a little scary to do. Lee has a hugely tall ladder that there is no way to stand on level ground on our slanted driveway to reach. It was a little unnerving standing up so high and he recruited me to brace myself (all my weight) against the bottom of the ladder as he leaned it against the house. I imagine we provided the passing neighbors with a fair amount of comic relief as well!;0) I'm glad we did it though and I'm glad Lee loves Christmas so much because try as I might, I still feel far more overwhelmed by it than enjoy it. Thank you Baby for all of your radiant positive thinking, you are my sunshine in a dark world.;0)
With not very much money to go around this year, I had to get pretty creative for tree decorations this year. This means I sat and hand sewed for hours this last week to get them all done, but as you can see the tree turned out gorgeous! (Click here if you want to see what I made) 'Tis the season for sure and I hope to make it as "merry and bright" as possible! ;0)