Christmas projects

2013 was a pretty great year!  I always feel a little bit nostalgic and sad when a year comes to a close - where did all of that time go, and how did it end so quickly?

I never did really recap that last little hustle and bustle of the last couple of weeks before Christmas.  Boy was it great!  The very thing that makes Christmas great to me, makes it horrible to Shawn.  The magical thing to me is projects.  A couple of years ago, Shawn and I made furniture for all of the kids rooms for their Christmas presents.  I enjoyed every second of it.  We would put the kids to bed every night and then we would lock ourselves into Shawn's office, AKA Santa's workshop, and he would build while I painted and we talked and talked and watched Perry Mason re-runs.  All day long, every day, I would look forward to the evening when all that excitement could start all over again!

The next year, I asked Shawn what projects we could do for Christmas this year?!!  He groaned and said, "let's just have a normal Christmas. Projects are so stressful!!"  I stood there in a daze, replaying the magical moments in my mind and wondering how in the world we could have viewed such a wonderful thing with such different eyes! Ha!

Since that time, I have tried to find projects that I can do on my own - which is a bit trickier since Shawn can make some really cool ones.  I also get the kids going on them because that always equals a lot of excitement for all of us.

Here are the projects this year-(I was a little worried that I wouldn't be able to get to any projects at all because Pace wouldn't be put down for any amount of time, but two weeks before Christmas he went from being one of our very hardest babies to one of our very best!!!  He sleeps by himself now, and, if he didn't have a cold I think he might even sleep all night long! I am excited for Christmas to be over, because now that I'm not trying to fit in extra projects and events in my spare time, maybe I will be able to keep up with my family and house again!)

Amy:
 Sewed Kami's Christmas formal
crocheted two scarves for my niece Abby and her missionary companion
sewed pajama pants for all the kids

Kami:
Sewed pajama pants for Abby

Caden:
Made tons and tons of homemade candy: homemade Snicker's Bars, Almond Roca, toffee, caramels, taffy, salt water taffee, truffles, orange sticks...I think I've got them all.  He knew that was a gift his dad would really like!

Maddie:
Sewed pajama pants for her friends
made various duct tape projects

Isabelle:
cooked up some "flubber" as a present for her little brothers