Merry Christmas!! 2017

Merry Christmas!!

It looks like Santa has arrived!! Look at all the goodies he delivered!!

My favorite part of Christmas is getting to see how excited my children are by all their surprises. Which is why that one Christmas that they woke up early and opened EVERYTHING without me was such a bummer of a year, but that's another story.

Look at Baby O's face!! He was so excited to see that giant triceratops!! When we pulled it out he climbed on and took a ride. I think he kind of likes the big fuzzy guy.

For R's 7th birthday he got a Nintendo DS2 or some such thing. All I know is that my kids yell at me every time I call it a "Game Boy" which I may or may not do on purpose now that I know how much it irritates them. This awesome find of Skylanders Giants for the DS made R super excited. Though, I'm pretty sure he is faking his excitement for this picture, not that he doesn't constantly play his DS and loves the Skylander games more then any other game, EVER. He was pretty excited to get this game and others, but I think he likes posing for pictures even more.

Somehow we missed getting pictures of Miss K opening up her MP3 player, alarm clock, or any of her many other gifts. I'm not sure if she just wasn't jumping for joy excited about things this year or if the boys were just more showy with their excitement. But Coby did manage to catch this sweet moment between Miss K and Baby O comparing their crochet kitties from Grandma Red. All three got one, and I got the cutest cow!

All in all I think we had a pretty awesome Christmas! We played games, ate left over ham and rolls and enjoyed Mammie and Papa when they stopped by to play. This Christmas was definitely one to remember!

Merry Christmas!!

From our family to yours!

Merry Christmas Projects

Every Christmas since Miss K was born I stay up late many many nights drafting, sewing and creating matching (or at least coordinating) family pajamas. I rarely get enough sleep and am lucky if I get jammies completed before bedtime Christmas Eve. And this year was different. 

Instead of drafting my own jammie patterns (you know, kids grown every year and I had to redraft EVERY year) I decided to save a ton of time and just use a pattern. Well, back in early October Patterns for Pirates rolled out a FREE pattern for pajama pants for the whole family. I was lucky enough to take part in their giant Next Top Tester competition and test these pjs out before they were available to the general public. It was so much fun! But I was absolutely not even close to being competition for these amazing women. It was a great experience! Anyway, I used the Walk the Plank PJ Bottoms-Adult Unisex and Walk the Plank PJ Bottoms-Youth Unisex for our Christmas jammies. The pattern is simple and the instructions are easy to understand and have great pictures to help with the construction. I will totally be using this pattern ALL THE TIME, especially when Christmas comes around. My life was made so much easier!! 

I don't know about you, but plaid, fleece and jammies are all must haves for Christmas. This adorable red plaid anti-pill fleece from Joann's was so perfect! These WTP Pj's are drafted for a woven fabric, so these jammies are super extra comfy having being made from a knit. 

The kids are all wearing Jolly Roger Raglans, also from Patterns for Pirates with their sleeves lengthened so I could hem instead of adding cuffs.

I am wearing a Patterns for Pirates' Slim Fit Raglan graded out for my mama tummy. I forgot to add length to my sleeves. I didn't think I would need it. I'm so short I kind of figured they would be a tad long even with the hem. I was wrong and am kicking myself for it, but the shirt is still super comfy!

Coby is wearing a Cole's Creations Jerry's Raglan and I couldn't be more pleased with the fit! I did need to grade out one size for his daddy's gut, but it was easy to do and looks so good.

Ho! Ho! Ho! Don't forget the belly shake that goes with the giggle! My big kids were proudly teaching Baby O all about this classic Santa gesture while feeling up their super soft shirts! This fabric was my first purchase of DBP or double-brushed poly from So Sew English Fabrics, and we were so pleased with it. I have had several requests for more of these super soft shirts! I guess we will see what the future brings!

I sure hope your family has a beautiful Christmas and gets to enjoy some of the wonderful traditions that come along with the holiday and the celebration of the birth of Christ.

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good and snuggle-y night!