Christmas is done.

I know it seems really late, but I'm finally putting away the last remnant bits of Christmas. Am I the only one? I thought I'd share one of my favorite Christmas pieces. I found this in the thrift store a couple of years ago, and I haven't been able to identify the maker or find any pictures of others or anything.

George Washington- 1st US President

A little back story first. My children, husband and I were watching Jeopardy a few weeks back. There was a fairly easy category on the Presidents of the US. My children didn't really know any of the answers. I was shocked. My husband was shocked. We decided that the boys need to know more about the presidents, and in all honesty, so should we. So we decided to dedicate 2010 as the year of the presidents. Each week we will be talking about a different president and hope the boys gather and retain some information on people who have formed our lives. Now anyone who knows me knows I always have great intentions, but my follow through isn't always the greatest. I am hoping with 52 weeks in a year and 44 presidents that will give me some room for error.

George Washington is our first week pres. We are planning on doing them in order. The White House website has a nice compilation on the presidents, so I'm sure we'll be referring to that weekly. If I find anymore sites or references I will be sure to share them.

Do any of you plan things like this?

Pictures

Some pictures from the last few months in no particular order.


Lore working his abs on the beach on Amelia Island FL


Amelia Island Florida. Levi and Liam looking for shells and Shark's teeth

The boys' favorite "Cookie" Peppermint Kisses. Recipe here

Advent calendar. Inspired by this post on Allsorts we fill it with activities. We did really great this year. We accomplished all of our tasks but one. We didn't get to gaze at the stars the night we wanted to because of clouds.

Chubby Hubby Bars (Inspired by Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream Flavor which is my hubby's favorite.) Recipe here

For Thanksgiving this year, we made a Thankful Tree. And we added to it all of November.

Veterans day skydiver at the school!

Making fresh pasta with my boys was way too much fun! This is Liam and his gloppy mess.

Here's Levi's mess before he got a nice ball going.

Sugar cookies are always fun.

My niece Clover's doll in progress. She has super curly blond hair and bright blue eyes, just like Clover does!

Happy 2010!!

Ok, I have only one resolution this year. I was looking back at some of my older blog posts and saw a big theme. I appologize for not blogging way too much! =)
So my resolution is to not appologize for having a life outside of the internet. I love all of you who follow me and check back to see how I'm doing or what I'm up to. I really appreciate the emails and messages from people wondering about me, and I don't mean to worry anyone when I disapear for stretches of time. But, I'm not as consistant of a blogger as many are.

So, what have I been up to?? Well... my last post was in October.... I have celebrated Lore, Levi, Tim, and many of my nieces birthdays. I celebrated my anniversary. We went to Amelia Island FL for an amazing vacation! We had so much fun with our Advent Activities again this year. We celebrated our crazy Christmas time. Lots of baking! We went really low key on gifts this year. I missed crafting as much, but enjoyed not stressing about it as much too.

So have I been crafting?? Well, yes, I have thanks for asking. I have 4 baby quilts in the works right now for recently born babies in our family. They are pinwheel in style. I am just working out layout now.

I have also been making some Waldorf style dolls for 2 of my nieces. I have found I love making the dolls, but don't love making the clothes as much.

I am loading some pictures from my camera as we speak, so I will add some pictures on a recap post later today.

Have a great day!