MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Gibbs Family Holiday Highlights...

A visit to Legoland to see the tall Christmas tree made of legos.

Olivia and Aubrey rolling out cookie dough. Frosting and eating all the so good sugar cookies. ;)Enjoying our first read and sing Christmas program at home with family.Connor, Aubrey, and I singing "Baby in a Manger."Rudy reading "The Little Shepherd" by Don Black.

Christmas morning excitementAaron, Connor, and Aubrey puttin' on their awesome hats and shirts from Grandma.Our little princess loving her princess dress-up.

The San Diego Civic Youth Ballet's "The Nutcracker"

I took the boys to go see The Nutcracker on Saturday. We got there just in time and really enjoyed the show. About halfway through the first act, Connor leaned over to me and asked when they were going to start talking. We almost left at the intermission because I thought they did both acts. Clara and the Prince were waving goodbye to the Sugar Plum Fairy at the end of the first part and I thought, well, this must be a short version or something. It wasn't until I was about 20 yards from the theater that I realized no one else was leaving. So we went back and saw the rest of the show. I know...duh, on my part. Well, the second act had lots of neat dances so I'm glad we didn't miss it. I'm looking forward to taking Aubrey next year.

Six days until Christmas...are you calm or stressed?

I feel a mixture of both. I'm calm because I feel at peace with the things that I've done (shopping & trips to the post office) and haven't done (christmas cards) and also because yesterday was the last day of school for the kids and I love not having to be on a schedule. I'm a little stressed because I still have lots of wrapping to do and I haven't finished mom's present and the deadline is today so I'd better get working!

Advice needed: What do you do if one of your kids caught sight of a stocking stuffer?

Look who's riding his bike!

Last year, we took off Connor's training wheels and he rode his bike along North Summit Avenue with some assistance from Mike. Little did we know that it would take a year to get him to try out his bike again. His razor has been his favorite mode of transportation especially on our street which is very steep. A couple weeks ago, a friend and I loaded up the kids and the bikes and Connor's razor and went to the church parking lot to let the kids ride around. I told Mike about it and the following Saturday, he took the boys again but this time instead of the razor, he took Connor's bike. I got a call from Connor a short while later saying that he rode his bike all by himself. So we decided to go again to the church parking lot as a family and ride bikes. Connor was anxious to show me what he could do. He was so proud of himself. It was great!

Stocking stuffers anyone???

My mom introduced me to making beaded bookmarks a few years ago. They're a ton of fun to make and I love to coordinate the beads with the books. These beaded bookmarks pictured below coordinate with my Peter and the Starcatchers series and my Twilight books. My mom sent me one that coordinates perfectly with The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society. I love having a stylish bookmark and I love seeing them dangle from my favorite books on the shelf. Although, they're very easy and fun to make, there are a few trade secrets to making a good beaded bookmark. The key is finding a good cord to work with. We've found that waxed linen is the only way to go. When mom came out for a visit to NJ, we couldn't find waxed linen so I talked her into getting some black waxed cording that looked like waxed linen. She was hesitant but I thought it would work. I also bought some hemp cording. So I bought both of them thinking that they would do just fine. Wrong. Don't settle for imitations, they just don't work as well. Waxed linen has this stiffness that makes it easy to work with, keeps knots perfectly tight, and lies straight unlike most cording on a spool. I found my waxed linen from a website called http://www.fusionbeads.com/. I buy my beads on sale at places like Michael's, Joann, and Wal-mart. If you are interested in jg original, they're $5 a piece. And yes, they make a perfect stocking stuffer!

Card Workshop

These were the cards I made last weekend at a workshop. I made two of each. The snowflake and the reindeer cards are my favorite.

Quilt group...

My mom introduced me into the basics of sewing after I graduated high school. And it wasn't until my parents bought me a sewing machine after I graduated from the Y that I really started making things. I've sort of morphed into this self taught sewer/quilter that has lots to learn. When we moved to San Diego, I was asked to write a little something about myself so that it could be posted in the Relief Society newsletter at church. I expressed that my interests included sewing and quilting. As I was sitting in class the following Sunday, the newsletters were passed out and all of a sudden I heard, "WHO is Jennifer Gibbs?" This darling older woman approached me and told me about her little quilting group and invited me to join. I've really been enjoying myself and I've already learned a few new things. Some of you faithful readers might recall my paper pierced dragonfly. Basically what we do is learn a new technique each month and make a square using that technique and after 12 months, we will have 12 blocks to put together as a quilt...nothing fancy, mind you, just a "what I've learned at quilt group in the last year" quilt. Last night we started cutting out 3" x 3" for a scrappy lap quilt. It's suppose to give us practice doing more of the nine patch squares. We cut and sorted our squares into light, medium, and dark bags. Apparently we need over 300 squares so I'll be doing lots of cutting. I'm hoping to get together with a friend next week and make some cute holiday hotpads using the basic nine patch square. As I make and learn new things, I'm going to try to blog about them more frequently. I love getting and sharing new ideas for crafts whether they be for cards, or quilting, or just fun projects. So let me know what you're up to too!

Going to see New Moon tonight...

This will be a first for me...seeing a midnight showing of a movie, that is. I read all the books several months back so I'm hoping I won't be disappointed with how the plot plays out on the big screen. And yes, I'm freakin' excited! Don't worry, I'll be taking a healthy dose of Ibuprofin this evening! Hopefully I can sneak a little nap while Aubrey's napping tomorrow. Sorry for the playgirl shot of Edward, it was the only good New Moon pic I could find...for real. :)

November Card Exchange

We exchanged thirteen cards, all but one was Christmas themed...yes mine was the lone autumn card. Oh well. The theme of the cards seemed to be poinsettas and snowflakes. We visited for a bit, enjoyed a nice dinner and then exchanged our cards. It made for a really fun ladies night out.

In Honor of Veteran's Day...

The first grade presented a special program in honor of Veteran's day next week. To start off, the school and parents sang the National Anthem and then said the pledge of allegiance. I don't know why, but I get a little choked up over these things. With all that our nation is facing these days, sometimes I feel like our country's patriotism is hanging by a thread. It was nice having the opportunity to voice my patriotism and to be reminded to honor those that protect and have protected our freedom. Here's to our future leaders. I just love the expressions on their faces and especially that last one of Connor. He looks so proud to be American!

How sweet is the sound of pretend play!

wansum pagetti mommy?

Taking back my craft desk

This sort of thing only happens when I'm up against a deadline and it just so happens that I'm participating in a card exchange next week. As I was pulling things out this morning and trying to get organized, I was piling everything up on the ironing board.I looked over at my desk and wondered why I wasn't using my desk instead? You can see the reason below.

So I decided to take back my craft desk and recommit myself to staying organized so that I can have a nice space to create.

Halloween Night

Unfortunately, these pictures didn't turn out so good. We are having technical difficulties with media lately and these pictures were taken from Mike's blackberry which normally takes pretty decent pictures but for some reason these didn't turn out so well. But you can clearly see two jedis with a fairy princess and little red riding hood. For those of you that have known us over the years, I once again adorned the little gingham milkmaid costume. This is one of the bonuses about moving around so much. You get lots of use out of costumes! I made a red cloak to go with it this year and carried a little basket filled with candy. (Yes, I was trying to get rid of it as fast as we were getting it.) But, I was instantly recognized and it was a lot of fun to get into the spirit of Halloween with the kids. It loved hearing Aubrey's excitment at each door. She was too cute yelling out "trick-o-treat" and then "I got candy!"

Ready for some serious trick-or-treating!

Alex, Max, Connor, Teagan, and Aubrey ready to head out the door. We invited some friends over for taco salad and mummy dogs for dinner and then headed out into the neighborhood.

Little House on the Lane...

and, fortunately not on the praire.

Aubrey is in love with this little dress and it has been her dress of choice lately. She ditched her Halloween duds at the boys party last Friday evening and put on this dress. Mike said it reminded him of Little House on the Prairie. Now if only I could have her running down a hillside. I have to admit, she's pretty darn cute in it.

It had to be washed after the party and still hasn't been ironed but she caught sight of it in her closet this morning and just had to put it on.

classic Aubrey look

admiring her dress

Connor's skeleton creation

Now before you jump to any conclusions,

Connor explained that the skeleton's third leg is a rocket booster!

Happy Halloween!

The force is with us...

It's Jedi Knights for Halloween this year...

This picture is my guide for the boys costumes. I found this awesome website called http://www.padawanguide.com/ that has some great advice and instruction for jedi costumes. I'm going to try following Simplicity 5840 for the tunics. I'm using fake leather to do boot coverings and the belt. We'll see how it turns out. My one concern is the costumes being too warm so I'm trying to make it as breathable as possible. Trying to stick with cottons can be a challenge but I think I'm going to cheat on the inner tunic and just make a dickey or something. Any advice from my talented cousins? Have you made these for your boys in the past? I'm so excited and can't wait to post final pictures. I'm going to enter the boys in the costume contest at Legoland on the 24th. Wish us luck!