Crafts 2

Yay! Christmas is over!

I can now share with you my fall craftiness.

In no particular order...

For the sweetest little girl who, coincidentally, was a cherry pie for Halloween.

tutorial here

For a miracle baby. (Really, aren't they all miracles?)

tutorial here

For a bun in the oven.

And for Maia's friends, here's something I'm particularly proud of.

Aleks and I tell Maia stories about her adventures as a pig and I decided to immortalize one of those stories. The plot is Aleks' and the illustrations are mine. I can't take credit for the actual animal figures, but I'm responsible for the rest.

link here

Happy end of 2011 to you all!

Here's to much more craftiness in 2012.

Kansas Christmas

I'm not very good at taking pictures during holidays. I really just want to be a part of things, rather than be on the outside taking pictures. So, you'll have to forgive the quantity and variety of the pics.

We were planning to celebrate Christmas on the 26th, when the entire family would be here.

There was a slight change in plans.

My dad's father, who lives in Oakland, was admitted to the hospital with pneumonia a few days before Christmas. The doctor said that grandpa had about 5 days left.

So, my mom came to Wichita as planned, while my dad flew to California.

He was able to spend several days with his family, sharing memories and comforting each other.

 Yesterday was the fifth day since grandpa's admittance to the hospital.

He's been placed into hospice at the facility where they live and is being made comfortable. Dad says he's very clear minded and is keeping his sense of humor through it all.

Many of the workers at Piedmont Gardens have come to visit him and he knows each person by name. He is well loved in his little community.

We're so happy to have Dad here, and yet are heartbroken that we can't be with grandma and grandpa in this difficult time.

We're appreciating every minute we get to spend together.

We had our Christmas as planned on the 26th, but without Dad.

There were lots of musical instruments for the kids.

Well, actually, Aleks has played Maia's new accordion the most.

Do you know how loud those things are?

We've been to the zoo, eaten lots of good food, done some shopping, and played with the kiddos a ton.

Today we're having a first annual Kyhn Fun Run.

Wish you could be here with us!

Happy Birthday Matthew!

There is so much going on right now I can barely handle it.

The good news: I'm loving every minute of having my brother, SIL, and niece here.

The bad news: This blog is getting dusty!

Matt and I are 20 months apart. My mom tells me that when she came home from the hospital, she was careful to greet me without the new baby so I wouldn't be jealous. Apparently I wasn't interested in a hug, but looked past her and asked "where's the baby?". I've been enamored ever since.

My brother Matt celebrates his birthday on December 17. When your dad is a music minister, there is almost always some sort of Christmas program scheduled on or around the 17th. Matt's been a good sport over the years, but I don't think it's always been easy sharing his birthday with his parent's job.

Since Matt is here for Christmas, Aleks and I wanted to cook him a belated birthday dinner. Aleks cooked braised short ribs, creamy polenta, and salad.

I made a chocolate crepe cake (thank you Martha Stewart).

First you make the crepe batter.

Two hours or so later, you make crepes. These were really thick and spongy. It worked well in this cake context, but as a typical crepe they were an abomination.

This much butter went into the frosting.

The base of the buttercream is an Italian meringue.

The frosting called for hazelnut creme. I couldn't find that, so I used almond paste. It turns out the two are completely different. My frosting had chunks of marzipan throughout. Not what Martha intended, but I liked it.

Then everything is layered.

Finally it's topped with a chocolate glaze.

Happy Birthday Matthew.

I'm so glad you're my brother and that we could celebrate together this year.

I'm so excited for you and all that the year ahead has in store.

And maybe another cousin for my girls....???

Love you.

Happy Holidays!

InstaFriday

It's Friday again! And, I'm done for the semester! 

Juries are over. 

Grades are in. 

And I don't have to go back until Jan. 16. 

Being a professor does have its perks.

Apparently the sun has been sick this week. We had 5 days in a row of clouds. But yesterday and today have been bright and sunny!

Aleks and I love checking in on Maia before we go to bed.

The other night we found this:

TOUCHDOWN!

The girls have been pretty crabby this week. Ruby especially. But, she has good reason. She finally cut a tooth! Like for real.

I'll try to get a picture soon...

Just when I was ready to give both girls away, they redeemed themselves.

Yesterday, when the girls were sitting at the piano, I over heard Maia saying, "Hey, Ruby. We're friends, right? Hey Ruby, we're friends."

And I was able to get this.

On Wednesday these people are coming

and they're bringing her.

I can hardly stand it.

Linking up Jeannett:

DIshwasher

As I was loading the dishwasher the other day I suddenly had a thought:

"One day I will be able to do this without having to constantly tell someone to 'please stay out of the dishwasher' or 'please put that back' or 'Ruby, that's yucky, please take that knife out of your mouth'."

Which led me to think of the other things that will happen one day.

Such as being able to go to the gym whenever I want, not having to wait for Aleks to get home.

Or putting the digital meat thermometer in the drawer and knowing that it will remain in the drawer until I use it again.

Or being able to go to the bathroom without someone joining me.

Or eating my breakfast without someone signing "more, more, MORE, please."

And going through a day without hearing anyone cry.

But, I know the day will also come when I come home from work and my girls won't greet me by running to the door with lots of hugs exclaiming "mommy's home!"

Or my funny faces won't make anyone laugh.

And I won't hear funny things like (my favorite from today), "Mommy, your vagina smells sweet" (for the record, my clothes were on and no one was smelling my bathing suit area).

And I'm sure that one day the hugs and kisses and "mommy I love you"s won't come as easily or frequently.

So, I guess I'll take it all and muddle through the hard parts because the good stuff is pretty awesome.

InstaFriday: It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas edition

There are a couple of things that make it seem like the holidays are here.

One is cold weather.

Check.

Another is homemade marshmallows. (Peppermint this time!)

Check.

Christmas decorations.

Check.

And in other news, Ruby has had a big week. She's walking about 75% of the time and is in the process of cutting 2 teeth!

The other day when I got out of the shower I found her stuck under the sink.

(I should probably move the cleaning supplies to another place or put a child lock on the cabinet.)

Finally, I've broken my 5k mark and ran 4 miles the other day. When I first began running I really enjoyed using the treadmill so that I could easily see how fast and far I had gone. Now that I'm running longer distances, I wish it was warm enough to run outside. Oh well, I'll just get caught up on my Real Housewives episodes this winter...

I hope your house is full of holiday cheer!

Linking up with Jeannett:

Crafty

So I've been more crafty since moving to Wichita than I have ever been before.

It's gotten to the point that I feel lost if my hands aren't busy sewing or gluing or cutting while I'm watching T.V.

Unfortunately, lots of the crafts I've been doing are Christmas gifts so I can't share them with you just yet.

But, here are a couple that I can show you.

I made a banner for Thanksgiving and hung it on our mantle.

There's a bacon ornament tutorial that's been floating around the internet.

If you know my husband at all, you know that he loves him some pig.

So, of course I had to make him an early Hanukkah present.

I think I'm going to make our family as bacon ornaments.

I'll post pictures if that happens.

I quilted my mother-in-law a table runner for Christmas.

She told me her favorite color was orange, so I tried to base it around that color.

I can't wait to share with you the other cute things I've been making!

InstaFriday: Home Stretch Edition

After today there will be a week of classes left and then one glorious month of freedom.

As I write this at 9 am, the practice rooms are buzzing with the sounds of practicing.

Keep in mind, it's usually dead silent this early.

Nothing like the pressure of juries to drive the students into practice rooms.

Thanksgiving was great. No marshmallow topped yams for us, but I have a serious love for the marshmallow.

I could eat this entire bag in one sitting.

Don't worry, I didn't.

The girls have been in fighting form this week. 

Not necessarily with each other, just generally crabby and demanding.

But when they're not being difficult, they are so sweet.

With me and with each other.

It's December now! I took a trip to World Market and despite wanting to buy everything in the store, I came away with this for Maia. (I would have bought one for Ruby, but still no teeth!)

My grandparents used to buy us these each year when we were little. I don't think you ever get too old for a chocolate advent calendar!

I also decided to put the tree up.

In all honesty, this is as far as the decorating got, but it makes me smile every time I see the tree lights.

And the smell of our fake tree transports me back to The Living Christmas Tree every time.

At the grocery store I put Ruby in the "race car" with Maia for the first time.

It actually made my shopping experience markedly better.

Ruby wasn't grabbing at my list or pulling all the cards out of my wallet.

Those carts are great for little kids, but they are a bit hard to steer.

For those of you who have the luxury of doing your grocery shopping without kids, be patient with us who have to maneuver an extra 4 feet of cart while making sure our kids aren't grabbing jars of sauerkraut off the shelves.

We're doing our best.

(I don't think Maia was thrilled to share her "race car."

Have a wonderful weekend!

Linking up with Jeanett:

It's that time of year again...

Christmas Cards.

It is getting increasingly more difficult as the years go by to get a decent picture of the entire family.

Here's a preview of this year's photo shoot:

Thankfully, we got some good ones for the card.