These are a few of my favorite things...

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens...  ok, maybe those don't make my top 10 list.  Remember watching Oprah and seeing the "Oprah's favorite things" episode WISHING you could be one of those lucky audience members?  Man, I was jealous.  Well a few of my friends have started up their own "Favorite things" party and it was so much fun!  10 of us girls all got together and brought 9 of our favorite things ($20 or under) to share with the group.  We were all given a moment to explain and introduce our favorite thing and why we love it before passing one out to the group.  What a fun night!  We all received everything from some amazing oscillating mascara from Lancome (it has a wand that vibrates as you put it on so it gets between every lash - it's WONDERFUL!), to car emergency kits, texting mittens, to Scentsy plug-in warmers.  Some gave personalized journals, fun drinking cups, and in years past someone even burned a CD mix with songs customized for that person.  I think one of my favorites has been the gravity operated pepper grinder.  Simply tip it upside down and it grinds the pepper for you.  Love that!  The nice thing is you have all year to find what your favorite thing is and chip away at them over the year.

Lipgloss and car kits and warm texting mittens, these are a few of my favorite things!

Santa Pictures

One of my favorite things to display at the holidays is my collection of Santa Pictures with my girls.  It is so fun to take a trip down memory lane and see how much they have grown over the years.  The pictures remind me of not only what I see, but the stories behind the pictures as well.  Making our annual trip to see Santa was not always an easy task.

I had it in my head that the pictures should be taken at the same location every year.  Or if not at the same location, at least by the same company.  When I was little we had our annual Santa pictures taken at Fredrick & Nelson.  When my girls were born, Fredricks was gone, but Nordstrom took over and so Nordstroms it had to be!

Our very first Christmas we planned a very festive trip to Downtown Seattle, dressed our 3 month old baby up in her pretty Christmas Dress and stood in the long line to take a picture with Santa.  After about an hour of waiting in the cold long line, we rounded a corner to where we could actually see Santa.  Once we saw Santa, I decided after seeing him that he didn't look "authentic" enough for our baby's very first Santa picture.

So we marched back to the car, packed her in her carseat, and proceeded North to the next closest Nordstrom.  We went up to find Santa waiting with no line and candycanes ready.  PERFECT!!  We had found our new favorite place to get our Santa pictures!

The next year we went back to that store, went upstairs to find Santa, and found one of Santa's helpers sadly turning folks away.  We asked where Santa was and if he would be returning soon, but unfortunately Santa had just passed away.  Heartbroken over such sad news, we left and visited another store further North.  Santa never returned to that store, and it still saddens me to this day to think of Santa's family losing him over the holidays.

The next year we went back to the alternate Nordstroms, and it seems they had closed that Santa location and were down to just 2 locations in the Seattle area - downtown like we had gone the first year, and another location in Bellevue, just East of Seattle.  We made it to Bellevue, only to be told Santa is off duty.  Now remember, getting 2 girls dressed in their pretty Christmas Dresses, getting Dad off work and everyone together in rush hour traffic to go see Santa is no easy task.

I called Nordstrom and vented about my frustrating experiences with visiting Santa, and was invited to bring the girls in for a VIP Santa visit.  Our names were put at the top of  the waiting list, so when we arrived we would pass everyone else, visit Santa, take the picture and be on our merry way.  I have to say, it sounded like a good idea at the time, but when the time came and we were walking in front of all the tired, crabby children so my little princesses could get their VIP treatment, I felt a little silly.  It was very nice of Nordstrom to accomodate us like they did, but the dose of humble pie that went along with it left a bad taste in my mouth.

I decided the next year that we could branch off and try a new Santa.  I really wanted the brown mats that the photos were placed in to look the same, and fortunately we had collected a few extras over the years, so at this point, where we went really didn't matter (as long as the Santa looked authentic!).  We have gone to private photo studios, Macys and the Santa in the Mall (as long as it wasn't the one in his suspenders and work clothes - he MUST be in his Santa uniform!) Our girls are almost too old to visit Santa anymore.  Soon they will be setting their car keys on the counter next to Santa.  I figure as long as they live here and get presents from Santa, they will continue to keep mom happy by getting their picture taken with the big guy.

Merry Christmas to all~  Ho Ho Ho!!!

It takes a village...

And a Christmas tree, and some stockings hung by the chimney with care, but it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

The bookshelf on the left is still a work in progress, but the mantle is done!

I made the stockings about 5-6 years ago.  They are made from fleece and felt.  There was no pattern, I just started cutting the felt and hoped it all came together in the end.  I think they turned out pretty cute!

The village was a tradition started in our family by my grandmother.  She did ceramics as a hobby, and had a beautiful village displayed in her home each year.  Over the years she made villages for all her grandkids.  I have since supplemented the initial village with a few pieces purchased from the store, but many of the original buildings and people were hand painted by her.

This year I added little rock walkways to the village.

 

My kids look forward to helping put the village together each year.  It's almost as much fun as decorating the tree!

Do you have a Christmas Village your family displays?  Please share it!

Happy decorating everyone!

~Heather

Thanksgiving Tablescape

Happy Thanksgiving!  I've been busy getting the house clean, the table set, the food prepared - now I just need the ice on the driveway to melt so my 18 guests can arrive safely!  I must say, it's been nice to be snowed-in, more gets done that way.  Schools have been cancelled, so the kids have been busy sledding, drinking cocoa and baking sugar cookies.

OK, so the frosting didn't quite turn out like I had hoped.  I was going for Autumn colors - orange, brown and green, but they turned out more of a poopy-brown and pea green.  Funny, none of the kids wanted to eat any or take any home with them.  I'm just not the baker that my sister is.

Moving on...

The tables are all set and look very festive!

The grown-ups are in the formal dining room.

I found some cute little sparkly pinecones at the dollar store and use them to hold the placecards.

The kids table in the kitchen

And the appetizer buffet.  I think we look forward to the appetizers more than the dinner!

I love the Johnson Brother's Friendly Village place settings.  My sister and I got married in the same year and both registered for them for our holiday sets.  We live just a couple of miles from each other so now at the holidays, we merge sets and have enough for our entire brood!

We have since done the same with our everyday settings.  It's so nice to not only have the same taste, but to own the same sets.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Gobble Gobble...

The scent of summer

There's nothing like fresh clean sheets that have been hanging on the line to dry.  I remember when I was a little girl my mom used to hang our sheets out to dry.  I loved how they were so crisp and clean when I climbed into bed and they smelled SO fresh.  It's one of my favorite memories as a child.  I hope to create those same memories for my girls.

To me, fresh sheets off the line is what summer smells like.

I had a little helper join me as I hung the sheets~

This darling humming bird stopped by for a refreshment and a chance to give his little wings a rest.

He was pretty sweet - and didn't seem too afraid of me!

He rested for a minute, then was on his way.

I cherish these last few weeks of summer, while I can take advantage of the sunny fresh air to dry my sheets.

 I love the fall, but fresh sheets off the line are something I look forward to like Christmas!

Swedish Pancake Saturday!

Call them what you wish - Crepe's or Swedish Pancakes, either way they have been a Saturday morning tradition in our family for many years.  I tried to carry on the tradition with my girls, but it took years for them to acquire a taste for Swedish Pancakes.  Finally, when they were about 8 & 10, I tried again one Saturday morning, and much to my surprise I heard "Mom!  These are sooooo good!!  Why haven't you ever made these for us before??"  They were hooked.

It's one of those recipes I know by heart - right up there with chocolate chip cookies and banana bread.

Some people like to put lingonberries in them, others sprinkle powdered sugar over them, we like them with plain ol' butter and syrup.

They take a little time to prepare.  I usually warm the oven to 200* and keep them warm until the entire batch has been made and we can all eat together. 

The trick I have found, is to give a quick swipe of butter to the pan, pour in the batter, and be sure to let them cook long enough on one side to get slightly brown before turning them.  Otherwise they will rip and not roll up like you want them to.

Nothing beats a nice Saturday morning Swedish Pancake breakfast!

Aww, Sweet Pea...

These sweet little delicate flowers can bring me such joy.  Every spring, I buy my packets of sweet peas, soak them in water overnight, plant them, and anxiously await the sweet fragrant little flowers to say hello to me from my kitchen window.

My trellis is just below my kitchen window, so in the summertime I get to see these beautiful little flowers every day as I stand at the kitchen sink.  It makes doing dishes just a little bit more pleasant.

When I was young, my mom always planted sweet peas and I remember her putting a tiny bouquet by my bed so I would wake up to the smell of sweet peas in the morning.  She did the same with lilacs - nothing smells better than a fresh bouquet of lilacs.

My yard is by no means a professional masterpiece.  When we finished building our home, we put in the grass, cut in the flowerbeds, and then came to a screeching halt.  Over the past 3 years, I have slowly filled the flowerbeds with my favorite flowers - sweet peas, lilacs, iris', hydrangeas, roses, daisies and impatiens.  We could use a few shrubs and trees to look nice year round, but come summertime, one by one all my favorite flowers come into bloom.

This makes me happy.

Berry Pickin'

Homemade jam.  We treasure it like gold in this family, only bringing it out when company is over.  My mom keeps me stocked with jam - I just need to save the jars and get them back to her for future jars filled with heaven.  I remember as a kid we had rows of raspberries, and all summer it was our job to go pick the berries.  Through the spiders and bees, we would make it up and down each aisle looking for the perfect berries.  Not too light, not too dark - they had to pluck off the vine just right.  Eat one, save one, eat one, save one.  There is nothing better than fresh raspberries right off the vine.

My sister is the ultimate Martha Stewart.  She picked up all the "nesting traits" my mom had when we were kids.  She cans, grows her own herbs and veggies, bakes, and creates memories with her own kids with annual trips to the berry farm, Christmas Tree farm and pumpkin patch.  I, on the other hand, have discovered the better pumpkins can often be found right in front of the grocery store, artificial trees look just as pretty once decorated, and Smuckers makes a perfectly good PBJ for a 10 year old.

This year my sister invited me to go with she, her kids and my mom up to the berry farm to pick strawberries and raspberries.  Thinking this was a fun idea that I would not have done otherwise with my kids, I agreed to go with her.  She knew exactly what to do - grab a bin here, wait for the tractor ride there - she was a pro.  The tractor came and took us all to a patch far away from other pickers.  We started picking strawberries which were perfectly ripe and absolutely melted in our mouths.  Both of my girls started filling their bins, and soon we all had 3 full bins of berries.

We moved to the raspberry field and continued picking.  Suddenly it was 1975 and I was in my yard filling my bin with these wonderful perfect berries.  Eat one, save one, eat one, save one.  A little bee started following me to the best berries.  For some reason he wasn't as scary as the ones when I was a kid.  It was almost like he was helping me out~ "Where are we going?  Did you find some good ones over here?  Hey, wait for me, I'm a good helper!"

We filled 3 more bins with raspberries and headed to the checkstand.  They probably should have weighed each of us before and after picking to account for all the berries eaten along the way.  My sister and mom went through the checkout - their average amount spent was around $10.00 each.  I suddenly realized that I had 3 times that amount, since I had 3 very efficient berry pickers.  $37.00 later, I left the checkstand.  I thought to myself, "I could buy a lot of Smuckers for that $30.00".

I shrugged it off as a good day and fun experience and went home with my treasures.  I probably should have thought this through a bit further.  I was leaving the next day for a long weekend away, and the berries would go bad if I didn't do something with them ASAP.  Canning, freezing and jam making really wasn't in my game plan as I was scrambling to get everything done before I left.  It had to get done though.  I went to the store and bought Pectin and came home to begin the process.  I decided to just freeze the raspberries, as I could always decide to do something later with them.  I laid them carefully in Ziplock Freezer bags and set them in the freezer.  One down, one to go.

Now it was strawberry time.  I had also picked up some plastic freezer jam jars so I began preparing the strawberries.  I made 2 batches of jam and froze the rest of the berries.  Finally at 11:00 pm all the berries were done and the kitchen was clean.  In hindsight, I may have skipped the trip to the berry farm.  I should have timed it better and gone another day.  Would I trade the experience?  No.  Did I enjoy the trip back to 1975? Yes.  Now I have several jars of heaven in my freezer and I'm glad I took the time to make them.

I will still buy my Smuckers for those every day PBJ's, but look forward to the good stuff, picked and prepared with love by us.