Is she really mine???  Becuase I think I am absolutely in LOVE with her!!!!

What a cutie!!!  She was in good spirits this day, despite 8 days of fever, a pink eye, and a bad ear infection!  I love my girlies soooo much!!

This is the last night before Christmas Eve.  I am excited.  Excited to see the girls faces as they unwrap presents in awe and wonderment from the so called "Santa" and "Baby Jesus" (to whom bring presents to the children of Venezuela and our home too).  When they leave the plate of cookies for Santa and the reindeer, and in the morning awake to a tree full of presents, and the magic of Christmas.  Little do they know in their 4 year old and 2 year old minds, that we have been experiancing the magic of Christmas all month long.  The excitement, the preparing,  the giving to others, and the sharing with friends and family. 

There are many things I am excited to give this season, but there are two things extra special.  One is a little white teddy bear for each of the girls that was bought for St. Jude's Childrens Hospital for childhood cancer's.  Although the girls don't understand, and we will never know the the families, the children, or the faces behind our donation, the most important thing of the holiday is giving.  We can never forget or turn or head from those in need. 

The second gift that I am most excited about is something personal for our family.  This summer I went to visit Grandpa in July.  After Grandma passed in March, I decided that one of the things I would like to have is Grandma's recipes.  Grandpa had no problem with this, and while thumbing through her recipes I came across a recipe for pizelle's.  I had forgotten all about how Grandma used to make these Italian cookies. It brought back a nice memory for me, and I decided that I would like a pizelle iron so I could also make these cookies for our family.  My hope had been to make them for my Dad for Christmas since Grandma was his mother.  The iron is backordered so it won't come till January.  So, I will still give a poem to my Dad that I had originally hoped to attach to the cookie box, and a rain check for some Italian cookies in January.  I look forward to giving this simple, but meaningful gift tommorrow. 

From a long time back the memories will come

As soon as you try one

Memories of a time gone by

To which we look back on and sigh

Of a person that was close to your heart

And with you from the very start

Our memories we will always hold dear

And close to our heart she will always be near

~BACC

I look forward to updating you all in January how my adventure in pizelle making goes.  I hope my Dad is touched. 

Happy Holidays from our home to yours.  Wishing you all a peaceful, healthy, and happy holiday.

~Betsy

Earlier this fall I enjoyed a wonderful crafternoon with my good friends Sara (Gigi) and Jean (Jellybean).  Along time ago, in a place far away, the three of us worked together at Girl Scout camp, hence the nicknames which were camp names at the time. We had stumbled upon a DIY on reusable snack bags, and we all know that kids consume lots of snacks.  I fell in love with the idea of not having to use any plastic and not having any waste.  Here is the tutorial on how to make them:

http://thecottagehome.blogspot.com/2010/09/embroidered-reusable-snack-bag-tutorial.html

And here is how they came out, I was very pleased!!!

I made 5 of them, the butterfly's were for Paula and I, the Sesame Street for Sara, and the brown one for Miguel (special thanks to Jean for giving me fabric that was more gender nuetral!!!).  I chuckled at the thought of Miguel showing up to work with a butterfly bag!

The Outside

The Inside (a non bleached and no color fabric)

I was pleased with how they came out.  They are great for bringing snacks in the car or for a lunch to go.  I would not recommend them for a sandwich becuase the bread gets a little stale, especially after prolonged time.  I have also used them to carry the baby silverware so they don't get dirty in the bag.  Another cute way to use them would be toothbrush and toothpaste for a sleepover at Grandma's or in a more adult design as a make up bag. 

Happy Crafting ~Mama Bets

I looked at my girls today and I wondered, would these days really fade???

Crys

Temper Tantrums

Play Time Ended by Childhood Sisterly Fights

Ballerina Tutu's for her Outfit Day after Day

Footed Pj's

Slippers to Match Mama's

Cuddly Fair Isle Pj's

Baby Jumps Followed by Diaper Crinkles

Our Fridge Packed with Childhood Art

Grins

Smiles and Giggles

Sisterly Hugs

Play Time with the Kids

I know they will grow as all children do, but please don't let it happen to fast.  For today, let them be my babies!

~Mama Bets

Well here we have it!!!  The post we've all been waiting for........soy milk making Monday and soy milk drinking Tuesday:)

We began thinking about buying this machine in early summer but the price made us keeping pushing back the idea.  Currently we were spending 75.00 per month in soy milk and the machine cost ~120.00.  We were so excited to get the machine as a Christmas gift from my parents.  We bought a 25 lb bag of organic soy beans for 38.00 at Whole Foods, and it takes 1/2 cup of beans each time you make it.  Here is our fancy dancy soy milk makin' machine!!

The Outside

The Inside

The 25 lb'er of beans

Next you have to put the soybeans to soak in water on the counter top for 8 hours. They grow 3 times their original size as a dry bean.

Here are the dry beans in the bowl before the water was added.

And here are the beans after they soaked for 8 hours.

Next you rinse and drain the beans from the water.  Inside of the soy milk machine is a water fill line.  You fill the bottom of the machine with fresh water and then poar the rinsed soy beans into the machine.  Here is what the clean water and rinsed soy bean looks like:

Next you put the top on the machine, turn it on the soy bean setting and 16 minutes later you have warm soy milk.  The machine is very quiet the majority of the 16 minutes.  I would say for about 1 minute it sounds as though it is grinding the bean.  After the 16 minutes you have to pour the soy milk in the pitcher with a strainer on top of the pitcher (it came with the machine) and the strainer collects the soy bean shells.

Here it is being poured directly from the machine.

This is the left over of the bean shells to which we are able to compost.

The end result!

It is very warm becuase it has been heated to approximately 180 degrees, so it needs to be cooled down, and some sort of sweetner added (honey, brown rice syrup, vanilla).  The soy milk that you buy at the store even when it is "original" has a lot of sugar!  The taste directly out of the machine is different.

Ready  to be enjoyed:)

We are still playing around with the flavoring, but as of now it is going to be soy milk making, money saving, and more environmentally friendly becuase we will have no waste from the store bought soy milk carton!!!  I do believe our new adventure can be deemed a success!!!

~Mama Betsy

Today was my family Christmas.  We hosted this year and enjoyed having all of the family over to our house.  We started out by making rudolph cookies and cut out cookies with frosting.  Afterwards we opened presents from all of the Aunts and Uncles and cousins, followed by Grandma and Grandpa coming with dinner.  Grandma gets the trooper award for having rotar cuff surgery on Friday morning and making it to a family party on Sunday.  She is clearly not feeling herself yet, but we were impressed she made it. 

It gave Aunt Betsy and Uncle Migue a lot of happiness to see the nieces unwrap their presents.  Izzy and Lily (our oldest and youngest nieces) got the prettiest princess purses, lip gloss, nail polish, and princess high heel shoes.  They couldn't have looked prettier in their new attire and I enjoyed watching them get around in those heels.  Izzy looked like a natural and poor Lily....if they were a tad smaller she would have been walking that run way with the best of them.

Madelyn, who is just weeks older then Sara got the most adorable Madeline doll from us.  I am sure the connection in the name is a little vague now at 2, but when she gets a little older I am sure she will treasure it.  We also gave her lip gloss and nail polish!  We hope she has fun playing pretty princess with them!!  All three of them just steal our hearts!

All 5 of the girls got some beautiful clothes from Grandma and Grandpa.  Paula was psyched with her toys and her as seen on tv sparkly light up sketcher shoes, and I think Sara's thrill was some pretty pink ballet flat shoes from Grandma and Grandpa.  We took them on and off and rebuckled them probably at least 10 times.  She flounced around in those like the happiest camper in the bunch!  They all got pretty silk PJ's from Great Grandma and Great Grandpa and some pretty clothes from Great Aunt Beth and Great Uncle Andy.

Sara's new pretty pink ballet flats! I will post Paula's sparkly twinkle toes later!!

Our new outfit from Aunt Beth and Uncle Andy!!!  ...and wild, unbrushed, and unmaintained hair!  I think they have more of Miguel's volume:))

Notice the outfit wasn't complete with out a ballet leotard underneath the clothing!  She also loved the ballerina ornament she recieved.  It has been played with alredy so much that the string fell off.  She LOVES it!

Here she is hoarding the ballerina ornament!

Rudolph cookies that all of the girls made together!

Mama Bets and Miguel were thrilled with our soy milk machine:)).....it's gonna be soy milk makin' heaven in our little corner of the world!!!

Thank you to all for sharing such a wonderful holiday with us.  We are blessed to have you all in our life and look forward to a happy, healthy, and peaceful New Year, shared with you all!

Love from Mama Bets:)

P.S. My personal joy today was Uncle Dee's enjoyment of my blog....I had no idea that Dee (my brother) was such a blogger.  Per special request, more information about our hippie colony future will follow.

Today was Miss Paula's holiday sing along at preschool.  She was excited to sing the songs with her class and ring the "jingle bells".  The sing along was followed by goodies in her classroom and a free play time with her school friends.  The girls were extra excited becuase I told them we could bring Dunkin Donuts for the treat.  With Sara's food allergies....donuts was something that we have always steered clear from.  Now that she can have egg, they happily agreed to DONUTS!!!!

Paula originally wanted to wear her favorite t-shirt (Daddy's Little Cupcake) but it wasn't clean so agreed to one of her other favorite t-shirts and jeans!!!  She is a true blue type of girl, not even Christmas is going to change her mind on a dress!  But I have to admit, she looked the most comfortable out of any of the kiddos there!!! Sara on the other end, decided on a full out holiday gown with purple ballerina slippers from her Halloween costume.  Paula told her before we went "Sara, this isn't a Halloween party, this is Christmas, you can't wear those".  I looked down, saw them on, and knew there was not one inch of room for arguing, so red velvet holiday dress with bright velvet purple ballet slippers from her Halloween costume it was!  This picture was taken minutes after they walked into the room, and immediately following my camera battery died.  So this is all for now, but another Mom said she would email me some pictures of my girl:)

Our Santa Claus countdown to Christmas activity reminds us that Christmas is creeping closer and closer each day!!! 8 more days till Christmas!!

~Mama Betsy

Today is a play day for the girls.  This is one of their favorite dress up activities.  They like to play ballerina, of course Paula is the teacher and Sara is a ballerina in training:)  Today we were missing one of Paula's ballet shoes so she has one ballet shoe and one flower girl ballet slipper.  Sara has been in a mood where she only wants to wear purple and use purple things, purple is her favorite color.  Paula's favorite color is blue...so here they are with their true colors shining through.

"I see your true colors

Shining through

I see your true colors

And thats why I love you

So don't be afraid to let them show

Your true colors

True colors

Are beautiful like a rainbow"

~Cyndi Lauper

Earlier this fall I made the easiest dress for Sara.  A little halter dress where all I had to do was sew up a straight line on the back.  I had planned on making little ribbon straps for it, but I already thought she was too rounded (she's really been enjoying the holiday cookies and candy, I think we are officially over our legal consumption of sugar for 2 and 4 year olds) to fit into it.  So today I thought I would try it on her and if it didn't fit I wanted my niece Lily to have it.  It fit and she was so proud of herself wearing her "tora and poots" dress:)  Super easy project, and looked nice.  I think I will make one for Paula in a different print  for her to wear as a shirt!

Notice the drama that only she can show:)

Love from the trenches~Mama Betsy

The girls (Mama Bets, Paula, and Sara) had another exciting day getting ready for the holidays.  First Santa visited Paula at school, followed by Paula getting invited to her first birthday party with a school friend.  Her excitement over this was beyond words.  Luckily the invitation said parents were more then welcome to accompany their child, so she will be able to go.  It is a pajama/slumber party theme!

After school we headed to Grandma's school and the girls made gingerbread houses.  They had a great time and finished off their outing by eating almost the entire gingerbread house when we got home. 

Paula had a design in her head for the gingerbread house and was very into creating it.  Sara could have cared less about the appearnce of her gingerbread and was excited to just LICK it!!

When we got home we finished off our holiday day, by making over 70 sunbutter blossoms.

3 dozen cut out cookies and 2 dozen chocolate cupcakes! 

We are looking forward to celebrating Christmas with the family this weekend!!! 

Until then....we are on to a new adventure tommorrow:)))) 10 more days till Christmas!