handmade for family

I vaguely remember when I first had this brainstorm, pajamas for 11 shouldn't be too hard, right? Hmmmm. Drawing by sister-in-law Betsy, check. Colored in and printed on iron-on material, check. Pick fabric, check. Obtain measurements, cut out each pair and sew, check. Now 9 cousins and my 2 sons will all have matching pajamas!

The Christmas deadline was made (probably since I started in November) and with the help of an elf named 'Mom' whom ironed on all the shirts (after all, what is an iron?) I even had enough fabric to sew pajama pants for Damian, myself, teddy (Ambrose's friend) and baby (Blaise's friend) a pair. Now we are all matching. . . . ahhhh. It seems cute until your doorbell rings and their is a neighborhood group of carolers and there you are standing in your (you guessed it) matching pajama pants. Funny, they sang and then were shouting something as they left; no it wasn't "Merry Christmas", it was "hey, nice pants". Hey, I even impressed the neighbors!

fun day

It was declared today (only at noon) that it was a 'fun' day.

One part decorating gingerbread house:
One part sledding down a 'huge' hill:

And the fun is just beginning! Mass tonight followed by our traditional Wigilia dinner, snacks for Santa and hopefully 2 kids sleeping so Santa can come!

Gingerbread Houses

We went to the George Eastman House to check out the annual Gingerbread House display. After checking out coats . . .

and a quick picture in front of the 'huge' tree . . .

we preceded to check out all of the creations. Each one was greeted with 'what's this?' from Ambrose, a point from Blaise and a description by Mom & Dad. The houses were made by families, businesses and whomever was interested in creating one. We drooled over gumdrops, candy chips, candy canes, frosting and more! Lastly, here is my favorite: Geva Theatre.

the message was delivered

jingle bells,

ho ho ho,

a very determined young boy

eager to tell Santa what would put a sparkle in his eye . . .

for Mom one quick shot,

for Dad a smile from ear to ear,

for Ambrose the message was delivered,

for Blaise . . . . a little finger pointing at Santa!

Ambrose requesting . . . well we will have to wait until Christmas to see if Santa brings it . . .

thanksgiving weekend

Taking to nature and hiking in Corbetts Glen (5 minutes from our house) was how we started off our Thanksgiving day. Why not make room for all of that turkey, stuffing, pie . . .? Did I mention this was after our power went out at home as we were watching the Macy's Day parade?

We arrived back home and thankfully had power restored (good thing since I was in charge of the turkey!) The turkey was done in time for our family and some extended to enjoy.

Corbett's Glen, Penfield, NY

View from our hotel room

Later that weekend, Damian surprised me for our 7th anniversary and we went to Niagara Falls (thanks to grandma and grandpa for watching the boys!) We enjoyed an awesome dinner, a ride on the Sky Wheel (an enclosed Ferris wheel), made a few bucks at the casino and enjoyed some great wine in Niagara on the Lake.

Inniskillin Winery