still crafting...

I know my days are numbered in the crafting realm... today my mom and I finished making our christmas yo yo garlands and while I napped my mom made peanut butter kiss cookies.  I woke up to a chocolate peanut butter breath Isabelle whispering in my ear "we made cookies and they are delicious!"...

carefully unwrapping all the kisses 

(this is about when I slipped into the living room for a quick nap)

deliciousness

(what a wonderful thing to wake to right?!)

yo yo's

holiday cheer brought to the kitchen

lots of fun means lots of tired snuggles at the end of a good day

I suppose I can't say it enough but it has been wonderful having my mom around this week, even though we anticipated she would be here to help with the baby and Isabelle's adjustment to becoming a big sister, we have thoroughly enjoyed her company this week....she has been a perfect distraction - cooking, cleaning, and attending to both Isabelle and myself... I think we are both equally needy right now:).

I'm still feeling really well...I think last week the anticipation of a "due date" really did me in...now I'm just relaxing and enjoying the ride.  Hope you all have a fantastic weekend!

glitter me crazy

Two posts in one day...I am really trying to kill time...

Today we spent much of the day crafting up a storm...  Nana had given Isabelle some glitter glue pens and paint along with some ornaments for decorating that we decided to break out and grammy and I got our fabric yo-yo skills on...:)!  We also collected some greens and pine cones and bedazzled them with glitter too.... why not right... glitter is sooo much fun!

glitter!

busy hands

glittered pine cones

glittered ornaments

a crafty table

fabric yo yos...destined to another holiday garland...yay!

if the baby holds out one more day we get to go to JoAnnes Fabric with coupons in hand tomorrow...

is it wrong to hope for this?

the late cake

Well, now we are three days past my "guess date" (formerly known as due date) - a term I will thank Melissa for... you are right...it is totally an estimation and not something to get caught up in...or so I am trying not to get caught up in.  And what better way to pass the time is to bake a cake.  Yesterday we thumbed through my mothers ancient Hershey's Chocolate Factory baking book.  A book that is falling apart, pages stuck together, notes scribbled on the side...and you know just by the texture of the page and the stains which are the best..tried and true recipes.  She brought it up because I had been craving peanut butter kiss cookies but hey...why not make a cake too...

you can hardly make out the scribbled but it says "double"...

(as in they are devoured within a day) 

Instead of doing a tried a true recipe, the chocolate marble chiffon cake caught my eye...I'm not too sure why.  Anyways we made it and unfortunately my 2 days late preggo brain forgot the salt...waah waah waah.  It is ok... but not as good as it would be with that tsp of salt that was forgotten.

known forever more as "the late cake"

Thanks again for all of your thoughts and keep them coming 

- baby will have to come out sooner or later!  

patience

December 5th has come and still no baby...there are still a few hours but I think it is safe to say baby won't be coming today.  But he or she is coming... my body is feeling the weight, the irregular contraction like rushes, and the fatigue that I think go along with being 40 weeks pregnant.  So, now... now we just will patiently wait until this baby decides to make its grand entrance.  And I hope you will be patient with me and my lack of posts!

Keep sending those positive thoughts... we are feeling them all 

and will let you know when it is time to light your candle

dear turkey,

Thank you.

the last of the turkey...yum

~turkey pot pie~

the pinkish hugh is from leftover roasted veggies (including beets...)

a list of needs

Today started with a lot of needs... from both Isabelle and Mommy.  Isabelle needed to play blocks with me immediately this morning... so instead of dropping the morning routine I decided that we should make a list of what we each "needed" to do.  I wanted to acknowledge Isabelle's needs but not address them immediately...I was still drinking my morning tea...

our morning lists of "needs"

And this is what we came up with and we talked about how each of the needs on both list are equally important (some advice shared with me by my friend Rebekka... try to identify and meet needs).  It seemed to help the urgency she had for needing me to play and am thinking this tactic could come in handy in the near future.  

One of my favorite items on the list was putting up christmas/winter ornaments and decorations.  We decided this year that we would wait until baby arrives to pick out a Christmas tree this year...usually it is the weekend after Thanksgiving or soon after...  I am a sucker for holiday cheer... the music, lights, the piney smell, etc.  And since we have to wait for the tree and I am getting the itch of holiday seasons today we decided to take down the fall garlands and decorations and break out our winter ones.

The garlands are something Isabelle and I made together last year, both the fall and winter ones, by wet felting balls and stars and then stringing them onto yarn with bells and other fun things.  The fall garlands were made with felt balls, dried cinnamon and applesauce cookies (that still smell so good), and old beads and buttons.  We also put up the felt christmas tree banner we made yesterday...

I absolutely love taking the time to make something with Isabelle I know I will take out every year and know that I will cherish these items for many many years.  Each garland or banner reminds me of time spent with Isabelle or the friends we spent time with while making them.

_________________

Oh and here is a picture of my granola bars from yesterday...they came out PERFECT!

granola bars

Happy December 1st!  I have recently had 2 people remind me to post our granola bar recipe and have finally got the energy to make and post them...So the original recipe can be found here....but my version is the following:

2 1/2 cups rolled oats
2 cups rice puff cereal (or rice crispies)
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1 stick of butter
1/2 cup of honey
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups of goodness...ours usually consists of 1 cup chocolate chips, 1/2 cup craisens & 1/2 cup of nuts (chopped walnuts and/or peanuts)
  *I have also used coconut, flax seeds, sunflower seeds, dried cherry, raisens, etc...the sky is really the limit


Assembly of these ingredients is crucial to the outcome....

Preheat your oven to 325.  Combine all dry ingrediants and mix well.  Melt butter and add to honey and vanilla, mix well.

(yes that is my belly hanging over the counter)

Pour wet into dry and mix well, you don't want anything to look dry.

Pour ingredients into a greased 9x13 pan, I usually use a glass dish but it is currently being occupied by a big frozen lasagna for post baby times...

Crucial: really cram the ingredients down evenly throughout the pan, I find using a metal spatula to press down hard on the mixture works best.  Put into oven and bake for 20 minutes.  I also usually take mine out midway through the baking process and re-press the mixture with my spatula.  Do not over bake...it will intensify the crumble!  Take out and allow to cool for 10 minutes.

At ten minutes (and not a minute late...just kidding!) cut or score 16 bars with a sharp knife.  I don't worry if it isn't perfect and don't try to fix anything if it crumbles a little.  Now the hard part...WALK AWAY!  Don't touch these puppies until they are completely cool - you can even throw them in the fridge to speed this up once the pan has cooled but do not be tempted to remove from pan until they are completely cool.... SO I suggest finding something to preoccupy yourself with...

In our case, Isabelle and I crafted up a new holiday garland.  And since they are still cooling I don't have the final product to show.  Patience is key!  Once cooled I remove them from the pan using a metal spatula, if there are any spots that didn't get cut perfectly by the knife you can use the spatula or a knife to cut through again.  I put mine in an airtight container and they stay in the fridge.  I hear they freeze very well ....but ours never make it.  Hope you enjoy!

** In the past I have also substituted the brown sugar for 1/2 cup of apple sauce...you will lose the crunch in the cereal from a little too much wetness...however slightly more healthy - your choice...either way they are delicious!