I'm in LOVE!

I am in Love with my new MacBook Pro!! Can I just say THE best laptop ever. And with the Migration Assistant and firewire it took 30 minutes to transfer all my files and programs. Effortless. Apple you are pure genius!! Love the backlight keyboard too. My poor Powerbook had a broken hinge and the display wouldn't work anymore.



My friend Amy spun me a skein of beautiful sock yarn for Christmas! I can't wait to knit it up. She is so crafty and talented! Perfect colors for me!



Super cute knitting measuring tape from Village Yarn and Tea.



Happy New Year!!!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas! A picture of our living room and Christmas tree. Well, this is the second Christmas tree as the first one turned into O' Cactus Tree. Not a pretty sight, especially when Christmas is at our house.


First some knitting gift I can post about now.



This is the Fake Isle Skull and Crossbone hat. Knitted with Noro Silk Garden Lite and Cascade 220 white. It was a fun knit. I had to knit it a second time because there was too much space between the skulls and the floats were buckling the hat. Always something to learn!



I am testing the hat out. Need to be careful because I was enjoying it a bit too much! It is Zannie's gift, it is Zannie's gift...!



Chai is modeling the Monkey sock knitted in Socks that Rock lightweight in the color Farmhouse. I love knitting the Monkey socks! You lose a little bit of the beauty of the sock using varigated yarn. A little hard to see the pattern. I think it could be my favorite sock pattern. This was a gift for my MIL.



This is the start of my Siamese kitty sock with the Lucy pattern in Socks that Rock color Lucy. It has little paw prints going up the leg. Very cute.



Christmas table. Look at the new chairs for my Great-Grandmothers dining room table. It was hard finding just the right chair. These chairs are so comfortable and the legs match the legs of my table. Thanks to my FIL for putting the chairs together and staining them! You are a star!



Here is Grandpa getting a tattoo from tattoo artist NB!



NB in her Belle dress from Auntie Jodi. May have been one of her most favorite presents! In that dress, she reminded me of Wendy from Peter Pan.



Colin looking really cute at the able.



Look at the cookies my SIL Maurine made. She is a true cookie artiste! The sugar cookies look like they have little paintings painted on them. They look way too good to eat! Jodi recognize my tiered cookie dish?

More Snow Pictures

No, this isn't a ski house, it's the city of Seattle! Here is our house now, well last night. There might be even more snow today! It is supposed to snow today and tomorrow!!



Colin in our front yard! Having a great time in the snow. Poor boy lost his shoe and didn't even say anything or cry that his foot was in the snow.



Ian and Colin sledding down our hill! Aren't they a cute pair!



Kids sledding down our main street. We have turned into a winter wonderland. It was a fun day of spending the day with neighbors, sledding, drinking hot chocolate. In the season of of shopping, running around and just being crazy it's nice to slow down and just be.

Snow, Snow, Snow

We are having a huge winter blast this week! This afternoon they were expecting a big storm and for once the weathermen got it right. It is so beautiful and peaceful out there. We love the snow, because we don't see it that often. The downside is it does wreck havoc on Seattle and all of it's hills.



This is my main street, which sometimes can get pretty busy. Tonight the only people seen are some sleds and a snowboarder!



Our street in the other direction.

Santa Clause Lane

Today we went to Nordstrom Santa Clause Lane. Since school was cancelled for the BIG snow day when there is NO snow, we went to see Santa. Hoping to beat the crowds, well I was a bit off on that one. We had to wait three hours to see Santa. The kids were all very patient and well-behaved.

Colin doesn't like to sit on Santa's lap, so he had to do a chair next to Santa. It all worked out!



Look at how debonair Colin looks! He was the big hit in his adorable tuxedo!



Katie and Colin make the cutest couple. They even had matching colored outfits.



We went with our friends Julie, Alex and Katie. It was nice for the kids to have each other to distract them from the wait and the moms' too!



What a talented family we are! Check out the video.

Busy December Weekend!

What a crazy, busy weekend! It always seems like the December weekends go so fast and always so much to do. Saturday started with NB school renting out the Seattle Center Ice Skating Rink. It was nice to have an ice skating time with your school. She did really well.



Some Dad and daughter bonding time! After ice skating we went to see her ballet company, Dance Fremont!, production of the Steadfast Tin Soldier. Very well done production and kid friendly. No pictures of that.



On Sunday, we had tea at the Queen Mary with Shelley and Eva. It was a wonderful time and the girls had the Children's Afternoon tea with tiaras and all!





How cute are they? Two princesses.



They started off with hot chocolate in beautiful vintage teacups and then three petit scoops of sorbet and a cookie.




Then the two tiered dish with peanut butter and jelly, crustless of course, fruit and a shortbread crown shaped cookie!




A close up of the beautiful fruit! They have the best presentation.




Me trying to wrangle the two princesses for a picture.




Look at this adorable mug with knitting cables from my friend Amy! Thanks Amy. I had my Harrods tea in it this morning. Amy had a wonderful holiday party and of course everything was perfectly decorated and a lot of treats to eat and drink.




Chai laying by my knocked over Bunnies by the Bay Ice Skating Christmas bunny! He was looking a bit on the guilty side.





Then I noticed the tell-tale sign of glitter on his nose...hmmmm. You can't get yourself out of that one.

Love a Gingerbread House!

We made a very cute Gingerbread House. The kit was from Target and included everything and the frosting comes in a bag already mixed! You can't ask for more than that. The tricky part was keeping Colin away from the cookies and candy. There was one casualty--one headless Christmas tree. Oh well..



Really, does anything bring a smile on your face more than a sock monkey....shhh it's one of Colin's Christmas presents. A sneak peek.

Plenty of Art

I just finished the layout of another poetry book! It's a wonderful book and would make a great Christmas present! I have worked with David on five books now. You can go to Rose Alley Press for more information. It really is a beautiful book inside and out. Plus there are two Misha poems!



Art from my little Picasso! Is it me or is she talented?! She draws, paints and colors more than any kid I have ever seen.



Chai was looking pretty cute sleeping in NB drawer. Cats just love a nice, warm drawer. Why is it that I spent money on a cat bed when a drawer is the preferred sleeping space?

Many pictures of Chai! He is saying, "please STOP and that flash is really annoying me!".

Party Day

We had the party for my girl's birthday! A little late because of the stomach flu. Check out these SUPER cute pom-pom flowers from the Martha Stewart line at Walmart...yes Walmart. Only Martha could get me to go to Walmart!! There are cute craft puppets to make with the kids, too.



During my childhood we made a lot of trips to Solvang, California, the cutest Danish-European like town. I loved it there and I loved eating Ebelskivers. I used to go to the walk-up bakery and have the Ebelskivers hot out of the pan! They are round little pancakes that have jam in the center. You can put many other ingredients in, but traditionally jam is used. You can now get your own pan at William Sonoma and other kitchen stores. I have to say there wasn't one left, all the kids loved them!



I am not usually a cake baker, but this year I gave it a try, mainly because someone wanted a heart and my bakery doesn't do special requests. The cake turned out great, but I could use some of my Mother's great cake decorating skills!. The recipe is Martha's Strawberry Cupcakes And I used the strawberry swiss meringue as a filling and the frosting is white chocolate buttercream.



Look at the heart in the middle of the cake. The pan really confused me on how exactly I would get a heart, but it worked great. Really an easy pan to work with! Everyone was amazed that there was a heart in the middle and I have to admit I was too!



Look at these cute Heelys NB got from her Aunties'! So cute. Heely where are the adult sizes in these?? I so want a pair, but may have to wait until I can walk without a walking boot.



I am in love with the pink bow on the skull and crossbones!