Kardelen's Birthday Party

I'd promised to let you know how it went--so here goes!

Sofia was so excited, she woke up extra early and got to help Mommy make cinnamon graham squares for the party.

Later, I ran to Wal-Mart for helium balloons at naptime. I bought just a few, but I wanted that celebration-feel that helium balloons bring. Kardelen woke up from her nap just 2 minutes before her guests began to arrive!

When we sang the "Happy Birthday" song as I took the gingerbread house out of hiding, she didn't say anything at first. Then she smiled and said softly, "A gingerbread house!" It turned out very fancy, but it was actually a bit difficult for the kids to eat since the royal icing dried so hard. Maybe next time I'll use regular frosting?


We served snacks along with the sugary gingerbread house and cupcakes. Jacob made my favorite chicken flautas, which I had in Mexico and he recreated for me several years ago. They're rolled-up tortillas with a special chicken filling inside. We also set out crabapple cider, spiced hot chocolate, the cinnamon graham squares, and a veggie tray with hummus and homemade tzatziki sauce. Jacob loves making special food for guests, so he had a lot of fun preparing for the party.

A few more pictures from the party:

Kardelen loves her friend (and her new hula hoop)!

She'd been telling us for months that she wanted a real Jeep Cherokee. (How she decided on this, I don't know--but every time she saw one on the road she'd shout, "A Jeep! I want one for my birthday!") Fortunately, about a month ago she changed her mind and decided she'd rather have jellybeans--much more feasible for Mom and Dad! We wrapped them up and noted that they were from Bia, and she shared them at her party.

Kardelen and her other guest unwrapping a present together:

It was as much fun to unwrap as it is to play with! One was included for Bia, too! And the girls both received lovely crayon bags, as well, which really came in handy at the girls' doctor checkups last week.

I wish I'd had a family picture taken on her birthday, but there's always next year. The party was just right, I think; Kardelen felt like it was her special day and enjoyed the two families who came over. At the same time, it was pretty laid-back as we didn't plan any games, just visited and read books with the kids (at their request). We're thankful for a special day, and incredibly grateful that God has blessed us with Kardelen!


Happy birthday, sweet 3-year-old!

Using Your Hands to Serve

Last Saturday at the baby shower of a good friend, we ladies enjoyed a devotion on about serving others with your hands. It was so good that I asked the speaker if she'd allow me to post an excerpt. It's especially meaningful to me because Jacob and I are in the stage of parenting that is very "hands-on," with a 3-year-old and a 1-year-old--and both are in diapers! Thank, you, Kathie, for letting me share this. I hope this adaptation of Kathie's devotion will be a blessing to you.

Today for the theme of this devotional, I have chosen hands. Hands, we all have them. Some of us have soft-skinned and rather young hands, some older, with veins and spots; some have arthritic hands. Some use nail polish, some don't; most of us have rings to decorate our hands. As little girls we used them to pat the puppy, twirl the jump rope, swish the playdough, and splash in the tub. In grade school we made the bed, stirred the cookie dough, threw snow balls, and dressed our dolls; and as we have grown in knowing God, we have grown in using our hands to bless God by blessing others around us. First of all though, our hands are used to bless our husbands and then our children.

We, as mothers, clean baby bottoms, apply band-aids, wipe tears and dirty noses, hug, push strollers and then swings; we fasten buttons and make prom and wedding dresses (ok, some moms do); there's a cake to frost, a tub to fill, laundry to hang, and a meal to prepare. Our hands are truly marvelous, amazing tools for love, tools of compassion that God gives to moms to bless families, and really communities.

So we care for our hands; we clean them, moisturize them, and at the end of the day, we rest them.

But you know, these hands really have a limited ability to bless our children--a finite amount of lemons to squeeze, clapping at their sports events, hairstyling and cutting. For someday our hands like the rest of our bodies will cease to move, to work, to create and to love. So cherish each opportunity to bless your children with your hands, mothers.

God's word says in Proverbs 24:3, 4: Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord? And who may stand in His Holy Place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart. Our hands and a pure heart go together, so take time to keep your heart pure and hands clean before the Lord. Bring those hands in a posture of dedication, longing, and prayer.

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Next time you find yourself doing dishes, putting jammies on the kids, or writing an encouraging note to someone, thank God for the opportunity to serve Him with your hands. How have you used your hands to serve the Lord today?

Nursing Shawl Winner!

Thank you, ladies, for entering the nursing shawl giveaway, and for sharing what you are thankful for! It is encouraging to read how the Lord has blessed you. I hope this gratitude will mark our lives this Thanksgiving season, and that we'll share it with our children, as well.

Nanci has a reason to be thankful, too--she won a blue paisley nursing shawl made by Heidi. Congratulations! Nanci, I've left a comment on your blog asking you which specific fabric you like--I realized that several blue fabrics were similar. I've learned for next time to be more specific with fabric descriptions. :)

But wait, there's more: Heidi would like to offer readers of Bless Your Family a special 20% discount on everything in her store. That's right--everything! Even if you buy multiple items. So if you've been longing for a nursing shawl of your own, or have your eye on one of her amazing crayon bags, now's the time to get a great deal. You'll be purchasing a lovingly-made work of art and also supporting a wonderful Christian mom.

How it works: Simply go to her site and click on "contact sweetbaboodesigns" from the column on the right. Tell Heidi which product you'd like to buy, where to send it, and be sure to mention Bless Your Family to get the 20% discount. This offer is good through November 30, 2008, and does not include custom orders. (Note: you'll have to join Etsy to buy from Heidi--this is required in order to purchase something from any Etsy seller--but all you'll have to do is choose a password and username. That's it.)

Thank you all for making this a meaningful and fun contest. Happy Thanksgiving!

New Sweet Baboo Designs Giveaway

Are you ready for another fun giveaway from Heidi? First, let me share a comment left by a reader during her last giveaway, because I think it describes Heidi's work so well:

Where to begin??? I either own or have given as gifts several of Heidi's creative creations. She sent as a gift to me a swaddling blanket and burp cloth combo. When I first received the blanket in the mail, I thought it was just another blanket to put the drawer with my newborn daughter's other blankets. I quickly discovered how wrong I was!! That blanket was a lifesaver that first night as my daughter was able to sleep for 4 1/2 hours straight in her own bed. I could never get her to sleep if I wasn't right by her, prior to using that blanket. Now, for every baby I know being born, I buy a blanket. So far I have bought blankets for 4 babies and will keep buying them. They were a tremendous blessing to me, and I hope they bless other mothers with wonderful sleep and a happy baby as well. I guess because of my personal story with those blankets, they would be my favorite.

I also love, though, the taggie blankets. Such beautiful work!! Each bow I can tell was chosen carefully to coordinate with the 2 fabrics used on the blanket. My daughter loves hers, and take it with us everywhere.

I recently ordered a custom rag quilt as well. Heidi goes out of her way to make her items special. She made a special trip to the fabric store to take pictures of fabrics so that I could give input on exactly what I was looking for. This is a Christmas gift to my daughter and I cannot wait to see the finished product!

Anyone who purchases something from Heidi will be more than pleased, no matter what the item. They are ALL wonderful!

Thank you, Kristen! That's one of the reasons I love hosting Heidi's giveaways. Not only is she a close friend, I can brag endlessly about the works of her hands! We were blessed to receive two of them at Kardelen's birthday party on Sunday, as she made crayon bags for both our girls:



Kardelen's crayon bag is full-size, and she made Sofia's (Bia's) a special little one so the little sister wouldn't feel left out. (Wasn't that sweet?) Here's the other side of Kardelen's bag.


While Kardelen loves to color on the notebook included inside, Sofia just likes taking all the crayons out of the pockets. :)

Okay--now I'm ready to tell you about this week's giveaway! It's going to be a little different than last time. The gift that one lucky winner will receive is a nursing shawl from Sweet Baboo Designs. These trendy cover-ups are perfect for modestly nursing in public, and a wonderful baby shower gift. The top seam curves outward and allows you to see the baby as she nurses, and gives her air flow so she doesn't overheat.


Heidi has three of these listed on her Etsy site, but is also offering you a choice of these fabrics as well:


To enter to win, I'd like you to look at the nursing shawls on Heidi's site and the picture above and choose your favorite fabric. (Make sure to go to her site--there are shawls made from two fabrics that aren't pictured here!) Then come back here and leave a comment sharing two things:

1. your favorite fabric for a nursing shawl
2. something for which you're thankful

Since it's nearly Thanksgiving, I thought it would be nice to add a seasonal touch to the contest. Please make sure to give me a way to contact you if you win (e-mail address, etc.). The contest will close on Saturday at midnight; I'll post the winner on Sunday. As before, this post will stay at the top of Bless Your Family this week, so be sure to scroll down for new posts!

So there you go--head on over to Heidi's shop! I'm looking forward to reading all your comments!

Update on Nov. 23, 2008: Nanci won a blue paisley nursing shawl! Congratulations!

Favorite Book Friday: Your Christmas Books

This week for Favorite Book Friday, I'd like to ask you to recommend some good Christmas books. We're starting to request our favorites from the library (more about those in future posts) and would love to find some new ones. Are there books or stories your family reads year after year, or one from your childhood that is especially memorable? I may even feature these in future Favorite Book Friday posts in the weeks before Christmas!

So please, do tell!

Fancy Notebooks

A few weeks ago I came across this idea from Grace Violet for jazzing up notebooks and was excited to share it with you for this week's Christmas Blessings. I had several small composition books that were nearly free at Walgreen's and started with those.

A utilitarian notebook becomes a fancy little journal by decoupaging scrapbook paper on the cover, then adding a decorative brad in front, and elastic secured by an eyelet in the back. It was fun to learn to put in the eyelets; I love learning new crafts! I had trouble finding very narrow elastic, so I used ribbon (a little trickier to close the journal, but it works). The notebooks really came together quickly and turned out so cute! I'm planning to make our new guest book the same way.

A little decorated journal would make a nice stocking stuffer. This is also great gift to bring out when you need a a little birthday surprise for a girlfriend, a housewarming present, or a gift for hard-to-buy-for teenagers (add some glam!).

You might like to personalize the cover by writing the recipient's name in stickers or adding a special photo. And no one said you have to leave the inside blank: check out Lindsey's 60 Reasons We Love Kathy book here.

It's so much fun to make gifts for people you love!

Thankful Things

Ladies, it's been wonderful to read what you are thankful for. The Lord is so good to have blessed us so richly!

Kardelen and Sofia were thankful for a surprise they found this morning:


Were they ever excited! Sofia excitedly played with it for half an hour and was totally immersed--I don't even think she noticed there were other people in the room! Thanks to Grandma Lynda and Grandpa Ken for this birthday-Christmas gift to the girls. I'm excited to take out my vintage fabrics and see what I can make to coordinate with the 50's vintage style.

Great Giveaway

Stay tuned today and tomorrow for the beginning of another fabulous giveaway from the creative and lovely Heidi! I'll give you all the details soon.

Countdown to a Birthday Party

Kardelen had her third birthday party today! When I asked her what she thought of it, she said, "I thinked it was a beautiful day." I'll post pictures soon, but first I thought I'd give you a peek into the last few days of our party preparations. Taking the whole week to prepare was intense, but I found that it made our day today relaxed and enjoyable. I'll share the last two days now, and save the party for a future post.

Friday
At 9:30 we had running water again--yay! We spent time together as a family, reading and playing; then Jacob played with the girls while I cleaned the bathroom. Then our chairs arrived (our landlords are lending us some, and they match our color scheme perfectly). They're former restaurant chairs and very sturdy, but in need of a good cleaning. I brought out the dress-up bin for the girls to play with while I began. Pretty soon, two ballerinas were helping me clean, and were cleaning more than chairs:

After lunch and the girls' nap, we went outside to "catch snowflakes," which Kardelen wants to do every time she's seen snow this season. How sweet!

The evening was cupcake-baking time. I asked Kardelen whether she wanted chocolate, chocolate-chip, or yellow cupcakes. Her response? "Lello! 'Cause that's my favorite color!" Once the cupcakes were in the oven, Kardelen and I mixed up buttercream frosting in yellow, pink, and blue while Sofia "cooked" with muffin tins and played peek-a-boo in the corner cupboard.

Kardelen volunteered to be the taste-tester and decided the frosting was yummy!


Saturday
The girls and I decorated the cupcakes in the morning, and my parents pitched in when they arrived, too. Jacob had surprised Kardelen with yellow dusting sugar (her favorite color!) and an assortment of Christmas sprinkles, so we had lots of messy and creative fun.

Sugar rush, anyone?! (Cupcake decor courtesy of the birthday girl.)

Mom and Dad took us to Jo-Ann Fabrics so the girls could pick out fleece for scarves. While Bia and I chose puppies on a pink background for her, Kardelen chose red and black fleece with a car print from the movie Cars. (We've never even seen the movie!) I was surprised and realized that I had hoped she'd choose something girly and pink. But it was part of her birthday present from "Nana" and "Papa," so we let her get it! Ladies don't always need to wear pink, do they?

In the afternoon we had a little birthday party for Kardelen with my parents (since they can't come to the party on Sunday), with a special little cake they'd brought. It was the highlight of her day. And after we sang "Happy Birthday" to her, she grabbed the whole cake and took a bite! It's her birthday cake, right?

We had a wonderful visit with my parents, and the girls got piles of kisses and cuddles.

Evening: everything was coming together and we were basically ready for Kardelen's birthday party the next day. I finished decorating the gingerbread house (pictures are in yesterday's post), swept and mopped the floors, and Jacob worked his magic on Kardelen's birthday movie. I'd given up hoping it would be finished for the party, but he worked hard on it through the evening and it was nearly finished.

I have to say, I was looking forward to getting more sleep after the celebration was finished! There have been many things to do (most of them very fun) that I'd stayed up late all week. But I was very excited for Kardelen's party, and couldn't wait to see the birthday girl enjoy her special day!

Ready at Last

More details to follow. . .

Two More Ribbony Gifts

For this week's Christmas Blessings post, I'd like to show you two more gifts you can make with ribbons. (Yes, I am crazy about ribbons!)

Hair Bows
I made these hair bows using Monica's tutorial and had so much fun!


I like that each one is unique. It's fun to experiment with different styles of bows, too. My friend Tasha taught me how to make the little ribbon curlicues (thanks, Tasha!).

Kardelen chose two bows to put in her birthday party goody bags, and the rest will be part of a Christmas package for an orphanage in India which my sister's family helped to found. Kardelen likes to wear them, too--I'll have to make some for her stocking this Christmas!

Ribbon Sticks
Another Christmas gift easy to make for kids is a set of ribbon sticks. Kardelen and Sofia dance to praise music with these, and sometimes we bring them to church, too. We made this set for a birthday gift for Kardelen's friend:

And this pair will be for our niece for Christmas.

You can get so creative with different colors and types of ribbon and rickrack!

For the handles, buy a dowel from Wal-Mart or Home Depot and cut it into 12" sections. (They come in 3-foot lengths, so if you don't want any left over, you could buy 2 dowels and make 3 sets of ribbon sticks from them.) Sand lightly and paint if you like. We used leftover sage green paint from a previous project.

Next week I'll share more easy gifts you can make for Christmas. And I promise they won't use ribbons. :) (Although I'm sure you could incorporate them somehow. . .)

How is your Christmas crafting going? Are you in the middle of any fun projects? I'd love to hear!

A More Relaxed Day

Since the last few days have been pretty intense, fitting in gingerbread house activities during every naptime and evening, I wanted to have a more relaxed day today. In the morning the girls played with their fashion plate girl (thanks, Kari, for this!):

The top lifts up so you can "dress" the girl with the fun fabrics included. Kardelen and Sofia love this! (It was one of our best travel activities on the drive to Montana this summer, too.) The girls also had fun with play-dough and alphabet magnets while I tackled the dishes. Although there's still some clutter on the ledges, it feels so good to have the kitchen counters clean again!

We also caught up on laundry. Kardelen even started a load herself! I was in the laundry room taking clothes out of the dryer when Kardelen came in and said, "I want to wash all the dirty things!" So I opened the washer lid for her and she threw them all in! Wow--I hope she'll keep doing this! Pretty soon we'll have our own little laundress!

After lunch the girls "helped" me vacuum. They like to use two of the vacuum's attachments to "vacuum" the floor next to me. I get such a good feeling when the house is vacuumed--it seems so clean and fresh!

I just remembered I called this a "relaxed" day, then I see I've listed all the work we did! I really only hoped to finish dishes, and then see what other activities I might be able to fit in, depending on how the girls were doing. They played together (and by themselves at times) really well this morning, and enjoyed helping me too, so I was able to accomplish quite a bit.

Naptime didn't really exist today. Usually Sofia will sleep 1 1/2 to 2 hours while Kardelen has at least 30 minutes of "reading rest time." Today, for some reason, Kardelen fought it from the very beginning, so I ended up bringing her into the living room with me so she wouldn't wake up Sofia. Sofia woke up not too long after that, so I just prayed that God would give me strength and a good attitude through the rest of the day with my probably-cranky children. (He did!)

In the afternoon Jacob came home from school and the girls played with him before he had to go to work. Then it was off to the doctor (again! it seems we've spent so much time there this fall!) to see if Kardelen has an eye infection, too. Good news--she doesn't! Let's hope it stays that way so we can still have her little birthday bash on Sunday!

After a quick errand and coming home for dinner, I put the girls to bed and got out all our gingerbread house decorating supplies. Yay--here we go! This is what I've done for tonight:

I had to make another double batch of icing to cover the roof with shingles, but it stirs together quickly, so it only took a few minutes. There's some left over for adding more decorations, too, which I plan to do tomorrow and Saturday.

I admit, after seeing how the house is turning out, a part of me is whispering, "Isn't this a little over-the-top for a 3-year-old's birthday?" But I know Kardelen will love it, as she's enjoyed gingerbread books so much lately, and I'm having SO much fun making it! So I'm not going to worry. :)

The gingerbread house has filled the guest room with a wonderful aroma throughout the day. Mom and Dad will feel like they're sleeping in a gingerbread house when they come tomorrow or Saturday!

The well pump went out tonight around 6:00, which means we have no water, so I may change my plans for tomorrow that included scrubbing and cleaning the bathroom. The girls and I should still be able to make cupcakes for the party, though. I promised Kardelen she could decorate them with lots of sprinkles!

Party Progress

What fun this week has been already! And lots of work. (Though I made one a few years ago for a friend, I forgot how much effort goes into making a gingerbread house from scratch!) Kardelen's party is my main focus this week, and I'm pretty happy with how well we're coming along.

Monday
My plan was to make gingerbread dough and bake the pieces, using the recipe from my favorite cookie cookbook. I started stirring together ingredients during the girls' naptime, and soon realized that I should have put "make grocery list for the week" on my to-do list before "make gingerbread dough," because I was short on two ingredients! My neighbor Julie came to the rescue when I needed vegetable oil, but we were both out of molasses. Her husband picked up jars of molasses for both of us on his way home, so that night after the girls went to bed, I finished making the dough and baked half of the pieces.

I also had a small flashback from four years ago when I made the other gingerbread house: wax paper is not a substitute for parchment paper. Unless you want to spend five minutes peeling it from the back of each cookie after it's baked. Parchment paper goes on the grocery list.

Monday evening we realized that Sofia had an eye infection, so we set up a doctor appointment for the morning. Poor little girl.

Tuesday
I woke up early and got two house pieces cut out baked by breakfast time. Then Bia saw the doctor with Daddy, while Kardelen and I volunteered at the preschool where I used to teach.

In the afternoon, I called all over town looking for pasteurized eggs, since the royal icing that holds the house together uses raw egg whites. I called every store. No one has them, but one store could get them by Friday. Hmm. . .time to think of another plan. Jacob found me this recipe to use instead. It's from The Joy of Cooking and calls for microwaving the egg-sugar mixture till it reaches a safe temperature. Super-husband!

Kardelen and Bia paint little trucks for the goody bag of a machine-lover who is coming to the party. (We bought the unfinished vehicles from Wal-Mart for 88 cents apiece.) They loved this activity! Kardelen kept painting and painting. We'll definitely do this again!

When the girls went to bed, I finished baking the gingerbread house pieces and added stained glass windows using a method in another recipe from the same cookbook.

Wednesday
I called the chocolate shop downtown and learned that they sell Necco wafers. (We'd been looking in stores for the past week, but couldn't find them. I really wanted to use them to "shingle" the roof of the gingerbread house.) Jacob will pick them up on the way to school today.

Kardelen and Sofia decorated the goody bags with the children's names and stickers, and stuffed them with a few small gifts. Each child's bag is a little different, but they include stickers, trucks, hair bows, and beaded bracelets. (We began making bracelets for the girls last week, and still have one to finish. I also need to find another gift for a little animal-lover.)

During the girls' naptime, I put together the frame of the house (except the roof). I'm thankful for the excellent instructions in Baggett's book--she really gives me every little detail I need to know to construct the house. Now I'm glad we have a guest room to hide the gingerbread house so Kardelen won't see it!

Since the construction went much more quickly than I'd expected, I started looking through pictures to make Kardelen's 3-year video. We started this tradition on her first birthday; Jacob and I worked together to make her a slideshow of pictures and videos from her first year set to music. (We use Windows Movie Maker--it's quite simple.) I'm not sure if we'll have time to finish it before the party, but I'm hoping to. Kardelen woke up while I was working on this, and loved looking at the pictures and videos of when she was younger.

After the girls were tucked in for the night, I put the roof on the gingerbread house.

Now it has to sit at least 8 hours before decorating--ach! I'm so excited to shingle the roof with Necco wafers, I wish I could start right now! Since I can't, I amuse myself laying out the wafers on the roof pattern piece to see if we have enough to cover the roof of the gingerbread house. Looks like Jacob will make another stop at the chocolate shop tomorrow! (Hmmm. . .maybe he'll buy me more almond bear claws like he did today! He spoils me.)

Also tonight, Jacob and I planned the goodies we'll serve at Kardelen's party. Jacob loves to cook, and he's excellent at it, so I can't wait to taste what he'll make!

Now I'm deciding whether to tackle the kitchen, or go to bed and save it for the morning. I've been doing so much mixing, baking, and other party prep these last few days that the dishes seem to be continually piled up. (I decided to go to bed.)

Tomorrow I'm hoping to begin house-cleaning and try to think through the party again to make sure there's nothing I'm forgetting. And decorate the gingerbread house!

An Exciting Week

This week we're preparing for Kardelen's third birthday party, which will be on Sunday. The girls and I are making a few crafts for the goodie bags for her guests; and my big project is making a gingerbread house for Kardelen instead of a birthday cake (shhh, it's a surprise!). I'm hoping to tidy up the house a bit, too, before the company comes. My upcoming posts this week will share our progress on our birthday party preparations. (Since we have plenty to do, Favorite Book Friday is taking the week off.) I still plan to share another Christmas Blessings post, though. It will be a busy week, but lots of fun!

And just to give you a sneak-peek, next week Heidi is doing another giveaway here! I'll share the details on Monday.

Great Decorating Deal

Now that we've moved to an apartment, we have a few more things to do to finish our bedroom decorating project. In our old bedroom, we painted the closet doors black to accent the brown walls, and they looked great. But here, we have no closet doors, so I'd planned to make a curtain.
After several weeks of searching in thrift stores and in my parents' stash of sheets and linens (thanks, Mom and Dad!) I still hadn't found anything that would work with the theme of our room. I walked through the home dec fabrics at Jo-Ann one day last week and found a few I like, figuring we might be able to get one if there's a great sale.

And there was! This week home dec fabric is 50% off at Jo-Ann. Add a coupon for 15% off my total purchase (which was only good through yesterday) and I saved $19.98 on our fabric! Of course, I never would have bought it at the full price ($34.75 for 2.5 yards, including tax), so I'm thankful for such a great sale.

Go ahead and call me crazy, but I think I'm in love with this fabric. It's shimmery, it's satiny, it's elegant and gorgeous. And it's almost ready to hang in our room. I'm looking forward to putting it up to conceal the few remaining unpacked boxes which ended up in our bedroom. (Not good, I know--but I'm working on it!)

Now I'm off to spend some quality time with my fabric, ironing board, and pincushion, getting the hems ready to sew. I feel happy just thinking about it! Anyone else enjoy "fabric therapy" at the end of the day?

Favorite Book Friday: Christmas Tapestry

It hasn't snowed here yet, but that doesn't stop me from thinking about Christmas. Favorite Book Friday is getting in the holiday spirit this week with our first Christmas book, Christmas Tapestry by Patricia Polacco.

In the story, a Michigan blizzard dampens the spirits of Jonathan and his family, who recently relocated to Detroit so his father could pastor a church there. The church building they have worked so hard to repair is badly damaged in the storm. Jonathan and his father buy a lovely tapestry to cover the damage in time for the Christmas Eve service. But the hand-stitched tapestry turns out to be more than a decoration. On Christmas Eve, it reunites a Jewish couple who, before the Holocaust, had used it as their wedding canopy (adapted from School Library Journal).

This is an amazing story, and I get teary every time I read it. It's based on a true story told to the author by two ministers, and I think your family would be touched by it this Christmas. There's quite a lot of text on each page, so it's best for ages four and above.

The author, Patricia Polacco, is a fascinating woman. Her family heritage is woven throughout much of her work, being Russian-Ukranian on her mother's side and Irish on her father's side. In nearly all of her books you'll find the theme of a younger person interacting with an elderly person. This comes from strong relationships with her grandparents when she was growing up. (Her parents divorced when she was three, and both her mother and father went to live with their parents.)

As a child, Patricia was always gifted in art but couldn't read till she was 14, when a teacher paid out of his own pocket for a specialist to work with her, and they realized she had dyslexia. She caught up to her classmates quickly and went on to college, eventually earning a Ph.D. in Art History. Patricia began her writing career at the age of 41 and has written numerous books, including another favorite of mine, The Bee Tree.

Enjoy the amazing story of the Christmas Tapestry with your family!

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What books do you look forward to reading with your family this Christmas?

Apple Tips

Our neighbor invited us over one afternoon to share her apples. We came home with a large bag of apples from her trees, and a few days ago she gave us another one! My friend Julie gave me a great tip for putting up apples that has worked very well for her family and for ours, so I thought I'd share it with any fellow apple-lovers out there.

Simply rinse and slice the apples, then freeze the wedges in quart-size ziploc bags. (Don't even peel them!)

Julie likes to use them for apple crisp, and she also simmers the apple slices on low on the stovetop to make homemade applesauce. I like to add cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cardamom; it makes the house smell wonderful! (Every once in a while, use a potato masher to break up the apples.)

This easy way to quickly put up apples also makes wonderful overnight applesauce. I used this recipe in my CrockPot on low for about 7 1/2 hours. (The recipe says 8 to 10 hours, but what mom gets a full 8 hours of sleep anyways?!). I used two quart-sized bags of frozen slices. In the morning the apples were tender and turned into a wonderful applesauce with a little help again from the potato masher. When it cooled, I blended it to make it even more smooth.

Anyone else have an apple abundance this fall? What are your favorite ways to use apples?

How to Make Ribbon Socks

I've been very inspired by Monica's Homespun Christmas series. She got me thinking about Christmas gifts months before I usually start (around November, most years!). Seeing her lovely creations has sparked me to start working on Christmas gifts, too. I'd love to share them with you in a series called Christmas Blessings, and I'll post my favorite first. (Thanks to Monica for proofing it for me!)

Ribbon socks are fun to make for little girls, and they're easy to personalize. Kardelen has worn her princess ribbon socks so much, the words have washed off the ribbons! (The Dora socks haven't fared much better.) And you can make a pair of them in a few minutes. I love them because they take something utilitarian (a pair of socks) and make them beautifully fun.

I've never seen anyone else make these (though I'm sure some have); I just figured them out myself. So, since this is the first pattern I've written, I'd welcome any constructive criticism and will gladly explain things further if needed! Here goes. . .

To make ribbon socks, you'll need ribbon and girls' bobbie socks, the kind that have a fold-down cuff.

A note about ribbon: I prefer 5/8" thick ribbon but have used up to 1.5" thickness (as shown in the pictures below). The length you'll need for each sock depends on the sock size you're using. Infant socks will need much less ribbon than girls' socks. On a 2T size sock, I use about 15 inches per sock, so have 1 yard on hand for a pair of small ribbon socks.

1. Begin working with one sock by turning it inside out. Then, with the sock folded flat, place a pin in the sock where the back of the child's ankle will be. Later you'll sew together the ends of the ribbon here, so you won't end up with a seam at the front of the sock.

2. Pin the ribbon to the sock wrong side up at the place where you pinned. Leave a tail of about 2 inches as shown.

3. With your hand, stretch the sock across your sewing machine, and begin sewing the ribbon to the sock. Stitch as close to the edge as possible.

Some of the friends I've taught to make ribbon socks prefer to wrap the sock around their machine's free arm so they don't have to manually stretch it. You can do this if you like.


4. Continue to sew around the sock, stretching as you go. If you're not stretching it around your machine's free arm, you'll need to frequently stop and adjust your hand to stretch the piece you're about to sew.

(You'll notice that once you've begun sewing, the presser foot holds down one part of the sock.) The more you stretch, the more "ruffled" the ribbon will look. However, do make sure to stretch it enough. Otherwise the sewn-on ribbon will not allow the little girl to stretch the cuff enough to put it on. I speak from experience. :)

5. As you near the end, pause to work with the tail that you left at the beginning of your stitching. Fold it over on itself, as shown in the picture.

6. Now go back to the other section of ribbon again, and continue sewing it to the sock. When it gets close to the tail, overlap it on top of the tail and sew till you reach the end of the tail.

7. Now it's time to sew the two sections of ribbons together. Pin well (especially if you're using satin ribbon) and sew a straight seam from the outside of the ribbon to where it meets the sock. You can choose to seal the raw edges of the ribbon by placing them near a flame (do be careful!) or you can simply let them fray to the stitch line. Turn the sock right side out. You did it!

8. Repeat the process to make a pair.

I hope you enjoy making these! I'd love to see your pictures.

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I thought you'd enjoy the note my husband added after reading this:
No Latin American Nickelodeon characters were harmed in the making of these calcetines.