Goodbye 2011!

Ultimo post do ano!!! E que ano! Foi um ano de altos e baixos, mas com muito mais altos do que baixos! Tivemos a bencao de receber o Adam em nosso lar. Nao podia ter pedido por um bebe mais bonzinho e bem humorado! Que alegria que eh ter ele em nossas vidas.

Tambem tivemos a oportunidade de voltar pra Rexburg e refazer algumas metas para o futuro. As coisas deram muito certo pra que isso acontecesse. O Bryan esta com um emprego muito bom e estavel. E por enquanto estou podendo ficar em casa e curtir meus filhotes crescerem.


Mas quando penso em todos esses momentos importantes do ano, nao tenho como nao pensar nos meus pais e sentir uma gratidao enoooorme por eles. Eles fizeram com que tudo isso fosse possivel. Minha mae veio me ajudar por 5 meses (tah, tambem ajudou meu irmao nesse tempo!) Eu estive doente, de repouso, e ela cuidou da minha casa, cuidou da Tiffany para que ela nao se sentisse abondanada, fez de tudo! Meu pai mesmo de longe, tambem foi e tem sido uma graaaande ajuda! Eles estao sempre torcendo por nos e sempre procurando o nosso bem estar. Eh muito bom saber que mesmo de longe eu posso SEMPRE contar com eles!

Christmas 20111

We had a great Christmas this year. We spent most of it by ourselves but we really enjoyed each others company. Our Christmas Eve dinner was Brazilian style, and SO GOOD! Christmas day we got to go to church early in the morning before we even opened gifts and remember the true meaning of it. Tiffany and Adam really enjoyed their gifts and we just had a great time!

 

 

I will finally be able to take better pictures of my kiddos and my projects to post here! YAY!

Caramel Pops

This is my FAVORITE holiday recipe. I ate it for the first time at my in-law's house and was absolutely addicted to it. After a couple of years, my mother-in-law stopped making them so I had to learn how to make it to keep up the tradition! It's pretty easy and makes a lot!
 Ingredients:

1- 8oz bag of Barrel O'Fun Corn Pops (not the cereal) You'll find it in the potato chips section. I actually got the 15 lb and doubled the recipe. (place it in a large roasting pan and preheat oven to 250 degrees.)

Caramel Coating (mix in 2 qt saucepan)

1/2 cup butter or margarine

1/2 cup light corn syrup

1 cup brown sugar

1 tsp. baking soda

While mixing, cook first 3 ingredients for 2 min or until bubbly around the edges, remove from heat. 

Add the 1 tsp of baking soda to cause foaming ( this will allow for proper coating of pops. Pour caramel over corn pops and stir until pops are properly coated.

 Place in oven for approximately 45 min. stirring every 10 min. 

 

Remove from oven and pour onto waxed paper. Break apart before pops can cool to desired size.

 

Para quem quiser tentar essa receita mas mora no Brasil, minha mae usa Cheetos (nao sei qual tipo, vou perguntar) e ela disse que tambem fica muito bom!

Rag Quilt

Here is how I did my first rag quilt. It was my very first big sewing project and I think it turned out pretty good. I can't wait to make another one!

 I used 7x7 squares and did a 6x7 square quilt. I think it's not a traditional size, but I wanted it to just be a snuggle blanket for Tiffany, one that she can just take anywhere.

I chose 4 matching flannels for the front and 1 for the back. For the batting I chose to do just a white flannel cut the same size as the other squares instead of the quilt batting because it was easier to just cut them all the same size but I'll probably try the other kind next time to see if it makes it more soft (I thought it turned out a little stiff.)

 
So I cut enough squares of each of the 4 fabrics to make an even pattern. Then I cut enough squares for the batting and for the back and started putting them together (they call it a sandwich because it's one for the front, one for the middle, and one for the back.)

My next step was to sew an x in the middle of my "sandwiched"squares. After this was done I was able to lay them on the floor and arrange them to my liking. Yes, it took me a while to figure out a pattern I liked. But after that it was easy, I just took one row at a time and sewed the squares wrong side together with a 1/2 in allowance. Then I sewed each row together. Lastly I sewed around the edges with 1/2 allowance as well for the fringes.

The last step was by far the hardest and most tiring. Cutting the fringes. Because it was my first time, I didn't invest in a rag quilt scissor (it became top of the list after this though, because it almost ruined my nice sewing shears and our hands- Bryan's and mine- were sore for a few days after this). Bryan actually did most of it because I would've never been able to finish it, and it took him almost 2 hours! It was hard work!  But after that we put it in the washer and drier to rag the fringes and it was done! ( A couple of notes...I would recommend washing and drying at a laundromat because of the mess, but I was way too anxious to finish it so our next couple of washed ended up full of flannel along with the drier having to be cleaned constantly until it got cleaned out! And second you have to wash it at least a couple of times for the fringes to really look good.

Ho ho ho!

After we got our Christmas tree decorated I realized we didn't quite have enough ornaments on it. So I had to make some changes (add the gold and return the ones I had bought so I could get a bigger set.) Now I'm really happy with it, so here is the final result!

 A couple of weeks ago we took the kids to see Papai Noel (Santa Clause). This was the first year Tiffany didn't freak out but you can tell she was still a little skeptical. She did tell him what she wants for Christmas this year though.

 Adam was totally fine with it. He just sat there like it was no big deal (let's see next year though!). We weren't supposed to take pictures with our own camera, but pay $25? You're kidding, right? I saw lots of other parents doing it so I went ahead and snapped a couple of shots! :P

I have to say this Santa Clause could've had a little less beard, don't you think? You can barely see his face!