For My Molly Monkey

I am running out of time to get all the projects done and the ribbons tied and the last few things bought! But at least I got this adorable bit of cute all done....

I can't wait to give her to my little Molly Monkey. Don't you just love those shoes?! 

I love this pattern. This was seriously one of the easiest stuffies I've made. To make your own, check out the tutorial and pattern at MmmCrafts. And that is one smart chickadee over there. After making this monkey, I want to buy some of her patterns and whip out some more (check out her cute Little Red Ridinghood....so stinkin' cute.)

Going on a Tree Hunt

We love getting our own Christmas tree. None of that tree farm nonsense for us. Nope. The Shakespears just need a tree tag, a vehicle with 4-wheel drive (and actually this isn't even necessary. We've made a van work for this activity in a pinch) and an ax and we're good to go.  Throw in some snow and we're a happy bunch....

I have the hardest time getting a natural smile out of this one!

Ack! How did this happen? How is it possible that this good looking young man is my son?

He could not resist throwing the snow in the air. "Mom! Take a picture!" he yelled.

These boys are so good to each other. Yes. They bicker. But for the most part, they are

each other's best friends. They love to gather up all their legos, head to the basement and create

a whole world to inhabit. Zoe has even started to join them. She is asking for pink legos

for Christmas. Shhhhh! Don't tell, but I found a pink lego (off-brand) set which makes 

a princess carriage and horse. It is so stinkin' cute. I can't wait to give it to her!

My goodness. That is one handsome cowboy. 

That little one was having the best time out in all that snow. 

And yes. Those are socks on her hands. I couldn't find her mittens.

'

We stumbled across an icy road and the kids (and their parents) had

loads of fun slipping down it on their shoes. 

 Oh, why can't I just freeze her? For a few years? And then I promise...I'll let her grow up. 

But, not yet. Please, Time? Could you slow down?

We found two good trees and had a vote.  The kids voted all voted for tree #2. It was bigger. 

So, my handsome cowboy chopped it down, threw it on top of the Suburban and we headed for home 

singing Christmas carols and laughing and chatting. I love Christmas. Especially when I take the time to 

simply be with my family without worrying about the baking, the shopping, the buying or the running around. 

We took the tree home, got it into the house and had a grand time putting all our handmade ornaments all over it. Yes. We have a hodgy-podgy tree. And I love it. Hopefully I'll get a chance to share pictures! But for now I need to pop the wee ones into bed (yes, they're up late tonight!) and get some sewing done. Molly's monkey doll is just a bunch of body parts at this point. I can't wait to get it all together!

Christmas Chaos

(ahhhhh!) I can't get my pics where I want them! okay...moving on....)

So, because we're slightly nuts, we decided to do a mostly handmade Christmas. Here are some of the highlights...

That first pic of Sam and his super cool monster beanbag game that Weston had a blast making for him!

And then there's Zoe holding the funky mouse I made for her. I had such fun making it! But she's hardly played with it since she opened it. So sad!

I made Ryan a magnetic scrabble board so we can always be playing a game together!

Weston has been playing with us, too. It's really fun.

I had really been wanting something to help organize my dangly earrings, so Ryan came up with this cool thing. It's just what I wanted (he left it unfinished because he wasn't sure if I wanted it stained or painted. I think I'll paint it black and hang it in my bathroom)....

Ryan also spoiled me with a gift card to Jo-Ann's and a pasta machine! Okay. That sounds strange, eh? Well, I really wanted the pasta machine so I could try a new craft....polymer clay pendants! Hmmmm....they're much cooler than they sound.

That "handy" board there in the corner is a wood hot pad that Ryan helped Sam make. Now Sam will always be holding my pots! (He's our little helper...he LOVES to help us)

Weston helped Ryan make me a wood knife holder to sit on the kitchen counter. Very cool! When Ryan asked Emmett what he wanted to make for me, he said, "A notebook!" :) Ryan got a binder and Emmett filled it with paper. Then he drew a picture for the front of the binder and wrote a sweet letter for the back. Unfortunatly I misplaced it! I wanted to share his letter....I'll have to edit this when I find it.

One of the best gifts our family recieved was from my mom. She made us this gorgeous flannel quilt. It's so soft and perfect for snuggling up with the family and watching Spongebob (that was how we first used it anyways!)....

Sam, our little hero, was happy to open this gift that I whipped up for him just a couple days before Christmas...

Weston LOVES playing chess and he's in a chess club at school. So, I stenciled him a chess shirt. He LOVED LOVED LOVED it! I was so surprised at the reaction it got. He promptly put it on and proclaimed he would wear it every Wednesday to school since that is chess club day. This made me quite happy.

Also, for one of his gifts, I put together a beginning sewing kit for him in a manly tool box. I put in supplies (scissors, measuring tape, pins, felt, etc.) and a beginning sewing project book. Christmas day he made a little felt mouse. He's so good!

Emmett had been wishing for a dinosaur shirt. This is what I came up with....

Emmett modge podged this board for Weston to hang in his bedroom. He picked out photos he thought Weston would like, like shots from his baptism, a silly pic of him and his cousin, Natassha and other fun pictures.....

The boys helped make this bow holder for Zoe...

And then here's the whole gang proudly displaying some of our favorite gifts (I was so concerned with getting all the kids situated that I didn't think about holding up MY favorite gifts, but if I had remembered to grab them, I would have been holding the earring board Ryan gave me and the quilt from my mom)...

Zoe got that sweet little rocking chair from Santa. She loves it. When she finds Sam sitting in it, she screams and pushes him until he gets up. Ryan is wearing his wicked cool tye-dyed shirt that Sam made for him (Weston and Emmett tye-dyed him some socks to match :). Oh, and I also stenciled him a couple of funny shirts. One said, "Never trust a man with a mustache." And the other was a picture of a man with furry arms and it simply said "The Second Amendment" ha!

Originally we were all wearing the jammies with monster snowmen on the front that I made for us, but Ryan and the boys put their new shirts on. Oh, and Zoe is sporting the little corduroy coat she got with a new outfit. She loves that coat and insists on wearing it with many many outfits that don't possibly match! Like...red velvet! ha!

Oh! One of the best things we ever bought was our gift to the whole family. We bought a 9-in-1 game table. It has pool, foosball, air hockey, baseball, chess....and many others. WE'VE LOVED IT! It's been such a great thing for our family.

We had a really great Christmas! The boys many other gifts, but I was so happy to see their joy over the handmade gifts. And they loved making them for each other even more.

We had such a great Christmas break. We went sledding and played games and laughed and ate too much. We read books and watched home videos and drank hot cocoa and had candlelit dinners. I was sad to see the boys go back to school and Ryan go back to work, but very grateful for the wonderful memories we made.

OH, and I must say....we opened so many great gifts that I couldn't mention them all, so, thank you to our friends and family for spoiling us. You all always do too much....

especially the cheese grater from my brother. ha!

(okay...actually he gave us a COMPUTER he built. Can you believe it?? He gave us a COMPUTER! very cool. BUT he wrapped up a fancy shmancy cheese grater for us since the last time he was in our kitchen he saw that our's was woefully inadequate.)