In four days, my mom and dad arrive for a half-month long stay with us for the holidays. We are all extremely excited and I know I probably won't have time to blog while they are here. So, here are some warm photos, not in any particular order. The photo below was taken two days ago, while the boys decorated the tree. I didn't think the excitement of putting up the tree would start so young but it surely did. I had been bugged for a week and that was fine because it turned out that they were excellent little helpers.
In late November, I got the itch to make things. So, I dug into the closet to see what I could find. In 2006, my husband and I knitted scarves for everyone we knew; it was a fairly inexpensive way to give gifts as we were just about to put a house on the foundation we'd built and were saving money. We personalized them with 'Handcrafted by ...." tags. In 2008, I begged him to make me a scarf because we didn't have any leftover and he did but it sat only half finished until last month when he taught me how to do his knit and I finished the second half of it. So, if you see me sporting a bright green scarf, that is it, the scarf of many memories.
Because we had knitted so many scarves we had remnants of many different yarns. I didn't know what to do with them, so during christmas of 2006 I think it was in Minnesota I knitted all of them into squares. This is also when my cousin Jennie learned to knit :) Anyway, the squares sat in my closet until I recently fashioned them into neck warmers ... and then I converted them into purses because they were too flashy for neck warmers, which my son calls "warm neckers."
Apparently, they also make good hats! And I love that even though this was taken half a month ago, they're wearing the same shirts they wore above when they decorated the tree. And my son, who prefers to be called Puss in Boots, has a sword in his belt in both photos as well.
I have such really great friends here. One friend organized a party that was held at my house. She spoiled us with the best food we've all had in a long, long time with the theme "Tapas," which is basically spanish bar food. Everyone exchanged cookies and gifts and dressed up in pretty and ugly sweaters. We've been to some fantastic white elephant gift exchanges in the past few years but this was new to me because it was all women and all close friends.
Let's not forget our annual kids' party with our son's oldest friends. Last hear they made gingerbread houses and this year gingerbread people and of course exchanged gifts, got into fights (not my son), and ate. Some things never change.
This week at preschool there is a gift exchange where my son will exchange a book with the kid with the glasses; this kid has all of the same interests as our son does: dragons, knights, lions, dinosaurs, etc characters with an element of danger. Another day there will be a visit from Santa and a party where I will help with games and sit down to eat with the kids. This is the 6th time in 4 months we've had the opportunity as parents to participate in the preschool events or fieldtrips so that is pretty neat.
Today, I am going to a friends place to make swords and shields for the boys and in a couple of days I am going to print dragon drawings onto shirts for them. This blog in some sense provided those dragons as they're from my talented friend in England, who traded me the drawings for the photos I posted for the high bush cranberry triptych. All my son wants for christmas is skis and ice skates and the other is too young and too content to ask for anything, but it'll be fun to make some things for them too. I think I'll stop there because I know they're going to be spoiled by two sets of grandparents.
