Double the fun

Another busy (but yummy) week. With different Christmas get-togethers going on, I baked 15 dozen cookies, 2 dozen cupcakes, and made two trifles. And I have two more Cookie parties this coming week!
I sewed this little skirt for Ava. More info here.
I took pictures of these cute people:
Our wonderful friends Lyndsey and Brandon spread Christmas cheer our way on Saturday and watched the kids all night while we saw Australia. I really enjoyed it. Casey thought it was "good". It's very long (3 hours). But Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman work well together, there's drama, comedy, and action (something for everybody), it was cool to see Baz Luhrman do something a little different than Moulin Rouge and Romeo and Juliette, and bascially, all the shots are beautiful and amazing like this:
On Sunday we had a double birthday party for Owen and his sweet cousin Ava, who share the same birthday. Since Owen turned Uno, we went with the classic card game theme for the party. I made him this fun shirt and pants. More info here.
Camille decorated the table with colorful balloons, bright fabric and UNO cards:
For dessert, UNO cupcakes:
and a Wow Wow Wubbzy cake. Laura did a great job decorating and Ava loved it:
The kids were real funny with the presents and mostly enjoyed the bags and tissue paper that the gifts came in. And of course Lucy thought everything was for her. She's really going to enjoy Christmas this year.
Ava got a coloring book from Aunt Karen and the two girls sat on the table to try it out:We sang Happy Birthday to the two kiddos and gave Owen a whirl with a cupcake. He was NOT interested:
The whole group:The girls discovered Gram's Christmas village and had fun for a 1/2 hour. Thankfully nothing was broken:And of course we finished the night with a round of Speed Uno. Yes, Meredith has pink hair. And yes, Bryan and Dad are making the same face.Fun night and busy week! The Christmas fun has only just begun...

You know those days?

...when no one in the house wants to take a nap,
except for you.
Yep. That's today.
What I would give for one hour to myself.
Having children gets easier, right? Maybe?

RECIPE: Chocolate Trifle (EASY and very rewarding)

This is one of my favorite desserts to make because:
A. It's super easy
B. It's super yummy
C. Everyone is super impressed when you make it

Become everyone's friend by making this recipe!

CHOCOLATE TRIFLE

A trifle is an English dessert composed of layers of sponge cake doused with jam, custard, and whipped cream. This distinctly American version is much easier to make, lighter, and very chocolaty. Presentation is best in a large clear glass bowl, so you can see all the yummy layers.

2 small packages instant Chocolate Pudding (can be sugar-free if you like)
Milk (for pudding)
2 small, 8-oz? Tubs of Cool Whip (thawed)
1 Box Brownie Mix
(You can use lower-fat versions. Krusteaz has a good one)
2-3 Heath or Skor Bar Candy Bars

• Prepare Brownies in a 9x13 pan according to directions on box. Let them cool completely. Cut into very small bite-size squares.
• Prepare 2 boxes of chocolate pudding according to directions on box. Refridgerate till ready for trifle assembly.
• Break and crumble both candy bars with fingers while still in the wrapper. (less messy that way)
• Fold one container of cool-whip into the pudding. Do not mix completely. You want to see swirls of brown and white. (you don’t have to do this step. Some prefer the pudding left alone)
• You’re ready for assembly! Get your glass bowl, pudding, cool whip, brownie bites, and candybar crumbles together. Here we go!
• First layer brownie bites on the bottom of your bowl. Sprinkle a small amount of Skor Bar in with them. Next, do a layer of the pudding/cool-whip mix. Next layer just the cool-whip (from 2nd container). Then start the process over with the brownies.
• You should make it through 2 cycles of layering. Make sure you save enough cool-whip for the very top/last layer and sprinkle a few Skor bar crumbles over the top for décor (you can also use crumbles of brownie pieces from your brownie pan. Whatever you want)
• Refridgerate till ready to eat! It tastes best when very cold and has sat for about an hour or more. This gives the brownies time to soak up some of the liquid. After a couple of days, however, you’ll notice the dessert gets slightly watery. This is likely from the pudding.

Our week

Last week was a hodge-podge of fun outings and busy projects. We spent a couple days at the park. Lucy and Hannah were so cute in this large swing and just kept saying "uuuuuuup and dowwwwwn" over and over. Fun little friends:
Sammy patiently waited for his turn on the red swing:
And Camdyn enjoyed the other swing for a good half hour:
I spent my nights and nap-time working on hairclips for another boutique in Arizona. More cupcakes:
When clips were finished, we dropped them off to Grandma Linda (she runs the boutique) and had fun playing with her dollhouse:
We went to school and the kids put on puppet shows for each other. Lucy, of course, kept calling it a TV. "Can I watch the TV?" she'd ask. Poor kid. She's one that could sit in front of the tube for hours if I let her (which does come in handy when you need it).We played at home. These pictures turned are way too blurry but the kids were being cute together. Lucy kept trying to pick Owen up:
We made pizza and drank rootbeer:
We went to our friend Ally's 2 year birthday party:
As a gift we brought hairclips. For more info, see my sewing blog here.
The invite said to bring your bike or trike to ride around the backyard. Ally got this awesome bike for her birthday but of course, you want the other kid's toys, right? So she opted for Lucy's ghetto Walmart bike:
Lucy didn't mind, she rode around on Allyn's cool wheels:
Lucy sat at Ally's little desk inside their adorably decorated house. Krista has great taste:The kids played with playdough:
and just had fun together:
I love these girls:
And I couldn't get over the beautiful sky:
Happy Birthday Allyn!To celebrate Owen's birthday we went to the Light Festival at Griffith Park. This tunnel is the best part:
And it's even cooler if you twist your camera around:
The kids were perfectly content the entire time riding in the stroller and looking at the lights:
It was a happy family outing.
Back home we sang Happy Birthday and opened a gift from Grandma and Grandpa Willard:
Cool! Spiky blocks! Fun for everyone. Happy Birthday Owen!
And to top off the week, I decided to make A, B, C ornaments for our little tree:
O for Owen, L for Lucy, M for Mom, D for Dad, W for Willard, and a Star to go on top. I keep looking at the "D", thinking it stands for Dana...but it's for Dad. Casey said I should think of my audience. To the kids we are, Mom and Dad. So there you go. For more info see my sewing blog here.
As for this week....more projects are already in the works! This is a busy time of year but I love it.

It's finally looking like Christmas

Last night I pulled out the Christmas decor. And guess what, we only used 5 items! See if you can find them....
1 tiny tree, 1 (fake) poinsettia, 2 stockings (made by my sister out of fabric from my wedding reception. so cool), and 1 mini nativity scene:
In a small living space, with far too many craft projects lying around, adding a slew of decorations feels way too chaotic and cluttered. So I kept it simple. And it still feels like Christmas!

Owen is ONE!

Our little Owen celebrated his first birthday yesterday. I know they say it goes faster with the 2nd child and yep, it sure does! I won't lie, it's been a challenging year at times, but what a cutie. This little face makes it all worth it.
We don't get his stats till Friday at his Dr. appt. But in the mean time, the big news is....HE WALKS!
He started taking a few steps on his on own on Saturday and continued to do a few yesterday also. Unfortunately he has a cold so he's been a little clingy and whiny and hasn't had much walking energy. But hooray! He's a cute little weeble wabble and can take 6 steps, so far.

Other stuff he's up to:
He likes to be wherever I am. Shocker. If I'm in the kitchen for 2 seconds, he finds me. So I pull out my bag of kitchen tricks for him to play with (um, tupperware, measuring cups, wire whisk). Today it was: snacks to eat. He sat, leaned against the trashcan and was totally chill like this for 15 min. It was adorable:
He loves to smile and has the cutest little face. But he can also be a fabulous whiner. This picture makes me laugh:
He loves to be wherever Lucy is and his face lights up when he sees her. She's learning how to share with him and is getting better at it. I predict a lifetime of Owen playing with dollhouses and being dressed up in little girl clothes:
He's such a fun little boy already. He has a great laugh and smile.
He likes to play peek-a-boo with his rag (yes, he has a rag too). He's become a better sleeper and takes good naps. He loves to be held but explores on his own too (hallelujah). He likes to climb. He can go down the little slide at the mall by himself (on his stomach of course). And well, he's just adorable!
We love you Owen! Happy first Birthday!

Happy Birthday Owen

Today Owen turned ONE!
But after a busy Sunday, I'm too tired to blog about it. So more to come tomorrow.

Ouch

Lucy is almost 3 years old.....and I think she's getting more teeth.
I noticed months ago that not all her molars were in but didn't think any more of it. Last night while watching one of her favorite shows she started to whine. I couldn't figure it out. And then she started bawling saying that something hurt. I couldn't understand what she was saying through all the tears. Finally I asked, "your cheek hurts?" "Ooooookay!" she responded, and added, "my face hurts!" Poor thing.
We got her calmed down and in bed and she woke up two more times bawling, just as an infant would when cutting new teeth. Hooray for tylenol! She (thankfully) downed her dosage mixed with milk and we all slept soundly the rest of the night.

Cutting teeth hurts. I'm glad I don't remember it.

Big

Last year, I looked like this:
I can't believe Owen's almost 1 year old!