Merry Christmas!!

Another day of Christmas prep: Cookies for Santa

Hayden and I have been hard at work making cookies for The Big Guy today.

When I was a kid, it was a Christmas tradition for my cousin, my brothers and I to make and decorate sugar cookies with my Granny. 

In retrospect, I see that it meant we would show up, make and enormous mess and leave my poor Granny to clean it up!  But, like the sewing projects I mentioned last week (which now that I think of it had the same "show up, make mess, best be hittin' the dusty trail" routine! Poor Granny!) the days we spent together making cookies to leave out for Santa's midnight snack were some of the best days I spent with my dear Granny. :-)

So I decided to share that with my girls.   This was Hayden's first time making cookies, and as I discovered when it was over, I got paid back for the huge mess we left at my Granny's all those times. LOL  But she did really good - and we had so much fun.  Santa is going to have quite a cookie feast come Saturday night!!!

This started at 7:30 this morning, when Hayden crawled into bed with me and said, "Hey, Mom.  MOM.  Wake up.  Haydie make cookies."  (Note to self: Don't tell Hayden anything the night be fore unless you want to be accosted with up before you have had appropriate amounts of caffeine.)

Finally, it was time to begin,  She was bursting at the seams.

Thankfully, remembering back to the days of making cookies with Granny, I thought ahead and made the dough yesterday while she napped.  Waiting for it to chill would have been torture for her - just like it was for me!

We sprinkled powdered sugar and rolled and cut.... and snuck a taste or two in between.

And we baked and sprinkled and decorated.

And got very messy in the process!

Carly even joined us when she woke up from her little morning cat-nap.

And of course we sampled the fruits of our labor.

They got the HootOwl Seal of Approval.

They may not look like Martha Stewart made 'em, but we are pretty proud!  Hope Santa shows up here hungry, because my little Hoot made him a sleigh-load of goodies!

last ditch effort

Okay, so I tried again.

And my dream of a simple picture of my kids in front of the Christmas tree?

Well, I think this is as close as we are gonna get.  LOL

So there you go.  Merry Christmas to Mommy!!!

In case you are wondering why you didn't get a Christmas card from us....

The reason is simple.

I cannot take a picture of my kids to save my life.

Here is the results of this morning's photo shoot...  it was a total disaster.


Carly looks cute, Hoot looks like a goofball.

Carly smiles, Hoot looks like I am torturing her.

the issue here is pretty obvious... LOL

Eyes closed.

Telling a story.

Sassy look on Hoot's face, Carly's multiple chins are showcased.

I told Hayden, "Hold on to Sis so she doesn't fall out of the chair."  Hayden heard "Squeeze your sister 'til she cries."

Why not watch a little TV?

"Hey, Mom?  Are we done yet?"

Meltdown eminent.

This was the end... because Hoot got in trouble for nearly pushing the baby out of the chair.

"My sister ditched me to go cry in the kitchen."

So now you see that I can't even take their picture in front of the stinking Christmas tree and get one for my own archives much less one that is suitable for a Christmas card!! LOL  What a mess!!  I may try again, but I am not making any promises.  So, please remember that it isn't because we don't love our friends and family - it is because I don't thing any of them want one of these pictures on their mantle!!!! Hahaha!

Getting ready for christmas...

The shopping is done.

The presents are wrapped.

The food is planned.

The stockings are hung.

The house is decorated.

And visions of sugarplums are dancing in these little girl's heads.

(Please pay no mind to the Scary Mary hair that Hootie is sporting.  I just took out her piggy-tails for bed whe we decided to have an impromptu taping. I do comb my kid's hair, honest. LOL)

Craft Therapy

We all have ways of "dealing" with things.

Some people drink, some people eat.

Me?  When I am down, I displace my sadness with some time spent in my craft room. 

Last week, when my P-Weenie girl passed away, I needed something to keep my hands busy.  I am happiest when my hands and mind are busy creating something. 

My inspiration was this:

This is our Baby Stella and as you can see by her grayish coloring, Hoot loves her.  She goes all over with us.  She is soft and cuddly and sweet.

And naked.  Really really naked.

She came with an outfit, of course.  And Hayden loves taking it on and off  having me take it on and off for her.  But the outfit is starting to look pretty ratty and i thought that she might like some variety.  The clothes that are made for her are pretty pricey, but as I browsed Pinterest (FOLLOW ME) I came across this.

When I was a little girl, I learned to sew by making heaps of doll clothes with my Granny.  We whiled away many many summer hours together in her sewing room - she taught me and provided me with scraps and snacks.  Those are some of my happiest memories.  And a girl's doll can never have too many clothes, right?


So, with a little tweaking to the patterns in the link above, Stella (and her other dolly friends) will be receiving a new wardrobe under the Christmas tree.

Here is the first round of clothes:

And diapers:

And some particularly cute pajamas:

Can you guess why I loved this fabric?

And I have more plans in the pipes.

A little sundress? Some shorts? Little blouses? The possibilities are endless......  what a lucky little baby doll.  :-)

goodbye, best friend.

Piper Penelope

6/5/2005-12/7/2011

Night before last, I said goodbye to my sweet little Granny Pug.  She finally let go.  She hasn't really been "herself" for a long time, so her passing away is very bittersweet.  She isn't hurting or confused anymore, but I miss her so much.

On Wednesday night when she died, Garrett was boarding a plane for Las Vegas and my parents were bringing dinner over  to my house.  Piper was having another "episode" and I had decided long before now that we were done taking heroic measures to keep her going.  She was kind of a shell of the dog she was before Carly was born 14 weeks ago, but I spent the last 14 weeks taking care of her and loving her unconditionally - just like she had loved me for the last 6 1/2 years.

I will miss everything about her.  As I have told you before, she didn't always have the best behavior.  She never came when called unless you had a snack. She was the picture of disobedience.  She had secret thumbs and could break into any container, cupboard, room, whatever.  Like a tiny ninja.

She also had a heart of gold.  She had many adventures.  If someone didn't like her, she would force herself upon them until they did.  The other night when i posted about her dying on Facebook, I got around 50 comments -and many of them included a memory about my sweet girl.  She was pretty unforgettable.

Piper taught me a lot about myself.  She taught me to be a mom, to put someone else first.  She taught me patience (you need a lot of that with a dog like Piper in your house) and she taught me kindness.  In her last months with me, she taught me that sometimes things are hard, sometimes you have to watch someone you love have seizures, get lost in the backyard, forget where she is. Sometimes you have to see things you don't want to see your friend go through - but you do because that is what it means to be a friend. 

When Hayden was born, everyone told me that i would love Piper less.  That never happened for me.  I loved her like she was one of my children.  She was more than just a pet.

Wednesday night when Piper wasn't doing well and my husband was out of town and my parents  were on the way, I held my baby dog and told her that it was okay for her to let go. I will be okay again someday, not to worry about me.  I told her that I loved her so much and that I always would. I stepped out of the room to nurse the baby and call my mom and Piper listened to me for the first time in her life.  She just let go.

My heart is pretty much in a million pieces.

Garrett isn't  home yet, so my dad buried her in a sunny spot in the backyard. 

Hayden keeps asking me where Weenie-Pug is.  She wants to let her in, to feed her, to kiss her.  I told her that Piper is in Heaven and not coming back.  My heart breaks a little more every time she asks because I want to do those things, too.

All of this has me asking myself why we do this to ourselves - why do we let someone like a dog into our lives, knowing that we will out live them and that we will have to feel this crushing grief.  The only answer that I can think of is that it is Piper teaching me one last thing.  She is showing me that I am strong, that I can open my heart and love someone with everything i have knowing that the outcome will someday hurt.  She is teaching me that it is worth it.  She is showing me that loss and grief are not the end.

I miss you so much, PiperDoggie.  You are in my heart forever.  Rest with love, sweet girl.  I love you.  I hope you are somewhere great, running with other dogs, being your old bossy self.  Daddy and I will  never forget you.  You will always be our first baby.  <3