new years eve!

cheers to a happier, healthier and brighter 2021!!!

fun finds

no, i don't need anymore lapis festaware, but i can't turn down a good deal.  i found a local (in maple valley!!!) marketplace find for $100 for 5 place settings, a chip and dip platter, 2 x salsa bowls, 1 mug and 4 medium sized bistro bowls. i will most likely keep the chip and dip platter (it is the biggest fiesta bowl i have seen and could be used for salad or pasta) and the salsa and bistro bowls, but will resell the place settings as i already have enough.

another great deal i couldn't pass up was 8 sets of teacups (4 cobalt and 4 peacock).  i usually don't buy teacups because they are tough to resell, but all 8 sets were $7 and the seller lived less than 10 minutes away.  she used them for her daughters alice in wonderland birthday party several years back and they had been sitting ever since.  peacock is a retired and coveted color, so i will try to resell these as well to my fiesta group.

soap making

today we became "soapers" and made our own soap!  it was a fun and easy process of melting, dying and pouring glycerine cubes from a kiwi co. kit.  we enjoyed it so much so that we ordered more glycerine to make more soap. 

lite bright

i am very nostalgic over this gift, as i fondly remember playing with it often at my grandparents house.  bowie and i completed our first design!

christmas book

every year i find a new favorite holiday book.  and this year we got this one from the library and it was so good i had to have our own copy.  it is called "this is christmas" by tom booth and it is simple, sweet and has a nice holiday message.  if you have young ones, this is a great holiday book to add to the collection.  i just got this copy on sale from amazon for about $11

dig kits

i love a good hands on activity, dig kits for both of the kids!  ryder got a dino themed one and bowie got a gemstone one.  it is a large block of hardened dirt with tools to dig up the treasures.  we did them on cookie sheets to contain the mess.  ryder's was a smaller set and had three things to find.  bowie had 15 gemstones to excavate and took us several hours.  a fun activity for us all!

pedro

my parents got me the cutest gift, pedro the protector.  according to collectors, he is supposed to watch over and protect your fiestaware.  i have him on my new hutch and love him so much!

holiday spread

since we are not with family this year, it felt extra important to me to make all of the traditional holiday dishes.  there is so many that i am having to spread them out over christmas eve, christmas morning, christmas dinner and of course new years.  

for thanksgiving this year we did a big finger food spread and the kids loved it and requested it for christmas as well.  so jarad is in charge of getting the snacks and i also made pigs in a blanket (which were a huge hit with ryder) red and green pepper pin wheels.  

for christmas breakfast, it wouldn't be the same without my moms chili cheese thing.  and my family particularly loves cinnamon rolls and of course bacon from the milkman, which is loved by ALL of our family and expected when they visit.

and for dinner, i really wanted to make a pot roast.  but i also had to make my dads potato pancakes which are EVERYONE'S favorite, usually we eat those for christmas breakfast, but this will do and now i feel fat and happy.

happy holidays!!!

christmas morning

it was a weird holiday, but a great one none the less.  i can't count the times through out the day that bowie said "it was the best christmas ever!"  thank you to all our family who made it extra special, hopefully we will be together again next year. (i wish i had more pics of ryder, but he was such a busy body playing with everything that every pic is blurry)

santa has come!

ready for the big day tomorrow!