Holiday Re-Cap

This is a photo heavy post...be forewarned!

The holidays are still with us here at IHAN....if you can believe that.  We were hoping to get our holiday decorations down tonight, not happening!   Too much going on...still...so it will have to wait until later in the week.  I don't feel too bad because I see plenty of neighbors who are still turning on their outdoor lights :)

This photo hasn't been posted yet....hate to be so late in wishing everyone a Happy New Year from the Flamingos, it just happens sometimes :)

(Monday morning now and I'm finishing this post.  You may be shocked to know we no longer have a Christmas tree in our living room....giggles.

Back to the Re-Cap

Wait until you see what "the girls" gave their grandparents for Christmas.  Keep in mind Maddy has less than 3 hours of sewing time under her belt and Krista has none...zero...up until they decided they wanted to give their grandparents matching aprons. 

They purchased some aprons and came with these designs all on their own....using only what I had in my stash.

 Here they are Christmas morning surprising Grandma and Grandpa (they call one another "Hun" and "Babe").

This is their "daytime" aprons.  Grandpa's tie is put on by velcro so it can be changed out for his "evening" apron.  The bottom of Grandma's apron is buttoned on so it is interchangeable.

All Grandpa had to do was unsnap his apron to unveil his "evening" look and Grandma just buttons on her matching evening wear....complete with crystal bling across the top...look closely.

The pride I felt watching those two girls go to work on those aprons made my heart swell.  They did a great job, don't you think?

This is one of the gifts I received from all three girls (yes, we have three grown daughters for those of you who are new to the IHAN blog).  My own sewing tool belt.  They went to the internet and took images of the notions I have and printed color photos and taped them into the tool belt.....they are just tooo clever!  I think I'll wear this and use it to hold my phone too!

A few other very noteworthy gifts I received:

Fleece socks from LLBean.  I have made several pair of fleece socks for myself because I love fleece socks in the winter.  When I saw these in the LLBean catalog, I made sure to point them out to Mr. McSteamy!  I am crazy about these socks.

These PJ's, given to me by my mother, really tickled me too.

Fun frogs really make me smile and boy was I surprised when I opened a package and found these frogs looking back at me.  Yep, I'm a frog lover....and elephants too.  No clue as to what this says about me....but I'm sure it reveals something...lol.

Five days before Christmas my mother moved to a seniors apartment.  It was 40 years to the day that she had moved into my childhood home.  I knew her space was going to be smaller so I bought these small canvases, probably 3 x 3, and let the boys create some "apartment art" for grandma.  Who could help but laugh when you see what they boys drew....too funny.  They were a big hit, grandma loves them and they fit perfectly in her new apartment.

Mr. McSteamy has a snow globe collection so I thought it would be fun for the boys to make him some snow globes for Christmas.  I Googled "hand made snow globes" and came up with several methods of making snow globes.  The biggest challenge was finding glass jars with wide openings that would still look good.  I found some fun things at a rummage sale and at the Salvation Army to decorate the inside.   I found this tiny jar and Zach found a way to get this tiny house into the tiny jar.  He was very proud.

Not all hand made gifts turn out as planned......

These carolers look more like pickled people then a snow globe....oops....stuff happens :)

Just a few more fun pix....

Christmas eve the boys put their cookies, carrots and glass of milk by the fireplace and went to bed.  The girls were up late helping wrap gifts and Maddy decided she should be Santa this year.  After all, someone has to take bites out of those cookies, right?  In true Jackson style....she went full measure with her new job....

As you can see, we don't have much fun around here.

Last week, Maddy returned to pick up a few things including the sewing machine I had given her (by way of MJ :) and some sewing notions to inspire her creativity.  She had just finished a 2 day road trip from FL and her car was stuffed.  I was told the sewing things wouldn't fit.....you'd think she'd know me by now!

 I was able to fit a sewing machine, fabric and some rulers into her already full trunk.  She was traveling with her two dogs as well so I had to plan accordingly.

A large cutting mat fit perfectly against the back seats.

What fun would all those notions be without some beautiful fabric? 

Yep, we had a wonderful holiday season and I'm sooooo glad it is over and all that food is out of the house!

Smiles,
Kelly