350/366: Shopping

I am officially done shopping. 

It feels really good.

Unfortunately, it isn't party time over here.  I have five commissioned purses to finish.

Three for trimming and zippers, one for the washer, and one to make.  Yup.  One to make.

And when that is complete, hopefully by Thursday, I can start on a quilt for a Christmas gift. 

Yup, last minute Lucy.

Except that I never sat around idle. 

Is that Last Minute Larry?

I send my "gift completion" vibes to you...

349/366: Gluten Free Baking

Tonight, I hosted the first annual Gluten Free Cookie Exchange.

It was fun. In another, I'll show you some pictures of our table.

But first, the prep.

Gluten free baking is tough. I have cried many times over cookies that didn't work. I distinctly remember one year, my third batch of cut out cookies (and third failure), throwing all the cookies in the trash along with the cookie sheet.

It's tough. The Christmas cookie without gluten is a whole other beast. They often require more flour, but how much? They require more chilling, but how long? They require Xanthan gum, or is it Guar Gum that is more effective?

And if that isn't enough to create a massive headache, spilling half of the largest jar of sprinkles all over the kitchen, is enough to grab a cocktail.

348/366: Hang Your Stockings

(Second stocking from left)

Does anything look familiar?

Anything peek your interest?

On Monday, I received a call for the Life and Style editor of the Buffalo News, asking if she could include a stocking of mine in the Sunday edition of the Buffalo News.

I think it looks super cool. I love color newsprint.

This makes me happy.

And proud.



347/366: Ding Dong Ditch

I believe my boys may be 'ding dong ditch(ing)' the neighbor boy.  They say they aren't, but the neighbor boy is doing it right back to us.  Three times. I can see him run away...he isn't that svelte.

After the third time I asked him to come near so that I could kindly ask him to stop ringing my bell.

He denied it.  That's fine.

But he was hiding behind trees and being all commando.

As he walked away, I got a horrible pit in my stomach.

He was dressed in dark colors.  He carried a long wooden branch that had a built in handle. 

And in his shirt back...a plastic sword.

I've seen this boy in similar 'dress up' and it always bothered me. 

Today, it terrifies me.

A "toy gun" search today, on just the first page, show 90% of the results not looking like any toy I've seen. 

Maybe we could start here.

346/366: Hijacked

My iPad was hijacked. This is how I know:

345/366: Today

I'm sitting with my elementary aged boys.

Holding them tightly.

Grateful they are in my life and praying quietly for all those families that have lost the loves of their lives today.

We need to help these young adults find a different path, not one splattered in innocent blood.

344/366: Our Tree

As these boys get older, the token Christmas photo gets more challenging (see Monday post!).

This was another 'not-quite-right' shot.  I guess you can never repeat the shot of years past and get the same feeling in your gut.  This is cute, but doesn't really tell a story, except that I'm behind the camera shouting commands and rules.  They don't follow my directions very much.  I think they are tired of my camera.

Today I'll dine with the ladies of Tom's family.  It's a nice bunch of women and I'm enjoying all the different places we eat.  Been lucky this year, I've found gluten free options every place we've been.

I hope you are able to take an afternoon to connect with family and friends.  It truly is special.

343/366: Token Christmas Picture

Tom and I decided to make the Christmas Tree hunt a family fun event.  We were all together, doing something fun.  Picking out and cutting down our very own tree.  We did this one other time with better results than yesterday, but still not favorable reactions from the boys.

This all started when I asked the boys to get their boots, protecting their new sneakers from mud.

Well, Big Boy's boots no longer fit.  Not surprisingly, either.  He was upset and wouldn't wear his old sneakers.  I didn't want to reward him for complaining, but I knew that he did need bigger and in my mind, new boots, new attitude.

All four of us clogged into Target to the boot section.  It was not good.  Big Boy is very picky, just like his mom.  There were only three styles to choose from.  One didn't have a size we needed.  The second were too big around the leg.  The third were too hard to put on.  Yup.  Good times.  Eventually, with assistance and reassurance that the boots will become easier to close, we found a pair of boots.  He walked to the register in them and into the car. 

Deep breath.  Kid is coming back.  He was still upset, but we were both trying to make it better.

I'm not sure if this is an ADHD thing, or just my boy's thing.  I'd like to blame it on ADHD, but it doesn't really fit that cookie cutter.  So, we talk, we reassure, we repeat and then repeat again.

Other than having fun and getting a tree, I really wanted to capture the Christmas card photo.  When we first arrived, Santa was there.  There was a cute bench-super easy and quick. 

And then, this happened:

Little Man found Santa to be "creepy".  I kind of don't blame him.  However, it kind of sucked.  Two seconds on the bench.  Nope.  He wouldn't have it.  He would, however, take a candy cane from Creepy Santa.  Little Man's not too creeped out for candy.

Moving on...

We looked.  We were chilly.  The boys were cold.  You'd think they were hiking through the tundra in minus 10 degrees with no boots on.

And then Big Boy got blisters from the new boots.  Good stuff, right?

We found a tree.  Notice I didn't say THE tree.  It was just a tree.  It's a perfectly nice tree, but after all the drama, we just picked one that was upright and not dead in the center.

While Tom cut it down, I attempted the Token Christmas Photo.

 "Big Boy, look up.  No, not you Little Man.  Look at me, not in the sky."

"You told me to look up, I'm looking up."

"Fine, we won't open our eyes."

Yup.  It was a bust.

Making family memories, one day at a time.



342/366: Cheesecake

I made my first real cheesecake yesterday.

And since I made it, it's perfectly acceptable as a Sunday morning breakfast.

341/366: Not So Sorbet

I've been Pinteresting.

My favorite pin was for a Margarita, using lime sorbet, with tequila poured atop.

Have you noticed the size of containers that are filled with lime sorbet? They are tiny. So opposite of sherbet containers.

So, I decided to make my own. Sugar, water, lime juice and lime zest. Super easy.

Until the blending part.

Nothing is happening. Just spinning round and round.

Bummer.

Maybe taking half portion out and spinning faster...if you see me at the grocery store tonight, you'll know it didn't work.

340/366: Happy St. Nicholas Day

Hope you all find something sweet by your door today. Maybe even a candy cane or twelve.

339/366: St. Nick

See these sweet looking boys? This was taken on a day other than today.

Today, they acted more like Chuckie.

That was unfortunate, as tonight is the night in which St. Nicholas visits our home. Apparently, he doesn't come when boys are misbehaving.

The activities happening right now are quite comical. They are doing as much as they can to ensure a visit from the Saint.

Apology letter, pictures, a quarter, an eraser and now, paper airplanes.

This should be interesting to hear if St. Nick has any words for these boys.

Oh, the opportunity.

338/366: Lights

Nothing says Christmas like tiny white lights.

We kept these trees in their box last year. It makes them so much better this year. So, as you can see, we decorated this afternoon. Once homework was done, the boxes came out. I left the huge monster box in the basement an te boys were absolutely fine running up and down the stairs. Each time they summited the stairs, "Mom, where does this go?"

After the fourth time, from each boy, I said what I didn't really mean. "You don't have to put them in the same place every year." Although I stand by that statement, what I didn't foresee was the 'tree section', the 'Santa section', the 'snowman section'. It's cute, I know. I'm glad they had fun. But all the trees together? They don't GO together.

I've been warned, too: "mom, we worked really hard with the sections, please don't change a thing."

Hmmm.