We finally did it!

Yes!  After 3 years of living in Pasadena…………we finally went to the Rose Parade!  It was a last minute thing, we live fairly close so we decided to go for it.  We only lasted and hour , but it was loads of fun.

 

 

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! Best wishes to everyone!

Jailbird

I decided to repurpose this old t-shirt and try and make some pants for Doodle.  Everything I have been making him lately is getting too short!  The remade t-shirt works with my kid because he is so small and this was a large t-shirt. I saved on fabric by using the hem of the shirt for the hem of the pant .  This also eliminates hemming!

before- long sleeve men's shirt

Because they are light grey and dark grey they do look a bit like prison pants ,hmmm.  I added pockets and used the neck ribbing for the edging on the pockets. Hopefully this will cut down on the jailbird look.  Good thing I didn’t make a matching top.

After- comfy pant size 4T extra slim

I need to tweak my pocket pattern.  Only very small hands can get into these pockets.  Maybe that’s all they need?

My model is not cooperating this evening.  Alas, how can I work this way?

Our Visitor

 

 

Sapphire the Betta fish came to visit us for Christmas break.  He/She was a hit with Doodle for a minute.  Around day two and three he made me feed it because he didn’t want to wash  his hands afterwards (too busy).  Of course when we got the fish packed up to go back he was all tears and sentiment of his love for Sapphire.  It’s snow day at school today ( they truck it in )  so he got over Sapphire pretty darn quick!

Weird Science!

We have lots of science going on around here!  Thanks for the Christmas presents!  Doodle and his Dad have been hard at work putting together many little kits.

The apple clock

 

This was great fun.  It was supposed to be a potato but we didn’t have one and Doodle just had to make it RIGHT NOW!

 

Crystal Tree

 

My only complaint would be that although the kits give you directions they don’t explain how the science is happening.  You have to search out explainations on the internet for baking powder submarines and baking soda volcanos.  I have no idea what is happening with this tree- but the pink is quite shocking!

 

Baking Powder Submarine

 

This one is pretty great- the sub keeps diving and surfacing on Baking Powder power!

The old baking soda and vinegar trick! But so nicely packaged.

 

There is one other that is a tornado but it involves two 2litre bottles which is not something we have normally.  We are trying to make our way through a bottle of Coke, but it is slow going!

Of course if I just let the kid drink it he would be half way to his experiment by now!

 

 

Happy Glogg!

Miele made this delicious concoction called Glogg.  Its a Scandinavian mulled wine of sorts.  He steeped Aquavite, Port, and Red Wine with raisins, sugar, cardomom, cloves and cinnamon sticks.  Very festive for a Christmas eve get together!

I finally lit the candles I had been saving since last year.  Thanks for the candle sticks Marmee !  I think they look pretty good.  The gingerbread house is Doodles creation and I keep finding crumbs around it from where he has been tasting things.  At least I hope it is him and not mice or the Borrowers.  The Borrowers have been responsible for a lot of things that disappear here lately.

I am having trouble cropping photos.  Our tree is already out of the house.  It dried right up.  The poor thing never seemed to take water.  I kept checking the water level and it was always the same!  Oh well, we needed space for the Plarail anyway!

We are currently set up as a double decker with 2 trains going!  Thanks for the freight train Great Grandma. He hasn’t  left this thing alone since we set it up.  We had a fantastic holiday .  Yesterday we went out a bit and it was something like 70 degrees.  A little hard to believe its Christmas time.

Student Gifts

Well, Doodle insisted we buy the gifts for his class this year.  We had been making cookies and he decided this was no good this year!  Hmmm.  So he picked out these Russell Stover (hometown favorite!)  Marshmallow Santas and good old fashioned candy canes and I went for it.

Then we had to pack them up.  I already had the wax paper bags and tags so we used them.  Now if I could just get him to write his name on all 25 of them.  I think we are up to 8. Ugh.

Racing Stripes

Just made these crazy red sweatpants.  Doodle thinks they are great to wear for running around the house. 

These were made of the American Apparel Karate Pant pattern I knocked off.  I added front pockets and the side stripes.  The fabric is french terry and super cozy.  It is so cold here in the mornings he likes to bundle up.

I zig zagged the pockets on since I don’t have a serger.  It seems to keep things tidier.

Teacher Gifts

It’s that time of year when I struggle to think of an appropriate and affordable gift for Doodle’s teachers.  This year we went simple with the good old Target gift card. Because he is in the Owl class we decided to make some owl ornaments to go with the gifts.  I looked around online and found some ideas.  The sock owl looked easy and successful. I made a few changes to make it our own.

finished product