preparing

my big fat Greek dinner party

Hors d'oeuvres:
garlic hummus & red pepper hummus (χούμους)
with warm pita triangles (πίτα)
olive tapinade (ελιάς)
dolmadas (ντολμάδες)
mozzarella cheese balls for the kids

crudité (λαχανικά)

Entrée
Caesar Salad (Σαλάτα Caeser)
Lentil Soup (φακές σούπα)
Spanokopita (σπανακόπιτα)

Dessert:
Greek butter cookies (μπισκότα βουτύρου)
Greek lemon cake (κέικ λεμονιού)- yes in the bundt pan have to pay tribute to the flick somehow.... now how to fix the hole????



it's the family of an old student of DH that we've grown accustomed to/fond of


Hope Santa was good to you.. I'm still recovering!

Merry Christmas

to all!

and to those that don't celebrate, have a wonderful time with family and friends.

I plan on visiting with MANY friends..... organizing a bit..... baking... playing.... knitting.... planning... it will be a VERY packed 10 day break from school..

I pray that the new year brings peace to all....


Just a few quick pics to put you in the spirit
DD's new stocking. She picked out the sweaters that she wanted included. The lining is a cute Christmas flannel print that is red green and white and has Christmas balls on it and says from me to you... maybe I'll get a picture of it later.















Greeting you at the front door of my house
To your left














In front of you






To your right
The windows have wreaths and candles but were in a shadow when I shot these pictures and there are icicle lights hanging from the roof of the porch and a pointsettia flag. It looks simple but nice!


The Girl Scout leader got a smaller version of the wreath on the door.


I'm making something for mom and my SILs as I type... felting in the washer. It's a very small but useful gift.

Gotta run and clean....

Happiness and Joy to all of you!

3 days

left and a broken toe.... smacked the foot on the privacy panel in the bathroom and broke the second to last toe on my right foot.. man does that smart!

the stocking will be finished tonight and the girl scout wreath as well... maybe DS2s hat.

but now.. to put the kiddos to bed.

4

and so much left to do...

on the docket for tonight... DDs Christmas stocking while DH wraps. Good news is that DS2's big gift will arrive in time to go under the tree... I was really sweating it out, especially when I got an e-mail today that they still didn't have it and did I want to cancel my order (that I placed 12 days ago....and they charged my CC for 10 days ago) It's sold out everywhere so I was desperate.

Cookies left to bake and some craft projects left to do... it really NEVER ends does it???

5

the number of fingers on one hand
the number of toes on one foot
the number of people in our family

how many days left until Christmas.... ACK!!!!!!!!

What a great weekend... Friday night was the MoCo dinner dance.. the theme was China. Culinary mix of Chinese and American food. Entertainment was Chinese dancers. DH gimped on the dance floor with me for a bit.. what a trooper.

Saturday brought playing Santa... finishing up the last minute shopping. I must be crazy. Next year, I swear it will ALL be done online!!!!!!!

Although I found a nice JCrew sweater at the thrift store and it was the right color tag so it was 75% off.. bulky 100% wool.. should yield some nice stuff :) and a set of Crate and Barrel 7" discontinued Christmas plates new in the box for $5. I may gift them... very cute. There's a set on ebay for $30.

Saturday night brought the Boksan's party. Thanks to our awesome friend Heather we were able to go. She had the kids over to her house.... our 3 and her 2 to play for a few hours. The hostess at the party gave out wine this year as a gift.. and her sister made little cute cozies for each bottle. caps and capes some bags, som with caps and scarves, one had a santa suit on. All knitted. VERY cute!

Sunday, ah the day of rest. Not quite! DH left for church early and I got up shortly thereafter. I ordered more gifts online, made chocolate pretzels with the kids, peanut butter kiss cookies, wrapped teacher gifts, made a gift for the GS leader, helped decorate the tree, and made this Eucalyptus wreath for my mom to give my SIL.

I hope she likes it. She didn't want mom to spend a lot... I understand now why they're $50 and up... never again!


Also have some knitting to show:

Pattern: Maggies Mitts
Needle: US3
Yarn: Recycled Abercrombie and Fitch and 100Purewool
Colors: Smokey Black and meloncoton (think Flyers)
Recipient: Mr. Beaman

This is DS2's classroom teacher's gift. Also from recycled sweaters. I bought the little red balls at Target in a container that looks like a round ornament. There were plenty in the container for the GS leader's wreath and a larger one for us to hang here at home (just need to get the balls on it and a bow!)

Now to address the Christmas cards.. I've had them for a week. DH sent his to Argentina and did no more :-/

And I have a few more things to make... some things for the girls. They're on their way, just need some extra time... and more cookies of course!

cusp

the hour is bridging the cusp of two birthdates of very important people in my life.
December 6, my grammy.... I hope that someday I can be like her. I miss you grams.

And my dad. Not a day passes that you aren't in my thoughts... miss you too! You both impacted my life in ways you may have never realized.... thanks.......hasta la vista!

just an old bag

well I have 3 bags to show you actually

the latest is for DS1s teacher... this one she'll be getting as a gift ;-)


Pattern: Bag it Up! by Vicki Mikulak Holiday Mystery Gifts 2009
Yarn: Recycled Abercrombie and Fitch sweater 80 wool/20 nylon
Color: Oatmeal
Needle: US 10.5
Lining: Cotton Flannel from stash
Recipient: Mrs. Austin

The sweater cost me $4. As you can see, the yarn felted up very nicely... and this yarn is really soft. And I have 3 full skeins left. So for $2 worth of yarn I have this bag. I wanted to line it to put a couple of pockets in and stiffen up the bottom, but I had nothing to stiffen the bottom with. So I cut out the fabric to line it and lo and behold in among the toys laying around from DS2 was this piece of plastic packaging from an over the door wreath holder that the boy had taken out of the Christmas box to play around with, and left it lie (as is his usual MO) I took it as manna from heaven and checked and low and behold with about 1.5" cut off the length would be the perfect size for the bottom of the bag. Thank you very much :) Before I added the lining I cut letters from a navy felted sweater and appliqued them on the bag (the teacher's initials) as per DS1's request.


This WAS the purse she was going to get... I don't like the shape so I don't know what will become of it! It's too wide and not tall enough... lesson learned from Paton's chestnut merino.. so sad.

This little bag fits in my möbius purse to put whatever in that I don't want to lose!
Also Paton's merino in chestnut brown with worn denim trim

It's from the Bordhi book. I learned to make it from the bottom up so I can use that technique for toe up socks someday.

Speaking of socks. I finally spent a gift certificate DH and the kids got me eons ago at yarn market for a set of Lantern Moon onyx sox stix and a skein of noro kureyon sock yarn. I'll make DH a pair of socks.. Doubtful they'll be finished in time for Christmas. I still have DD's teacher's gift and some AG stuff for her to make. But maybe by 3 Kings day.. if I'm lucky.

OK... off to do some school work. I graded all my papers, now I need to plan for the week. I'm off Friday to go to my own children's parent/teacher/student conferences. These 4 days can't go by quickly enough My concert is Thursday night.. I'll be so happy when it's over!!!!!!

today

I think I really should go tmrw.... we were at a birthday party today so we couldn't make it. But it looks like fun!

yesterday

The living advent sponsored by Wildflower Cafe, specializing in vegetarian cuisine.... sounds like my kind of restaurant!


I served candles at Moravian College Vespers last night. It was a first time for me. His women's chorus did an outstanding job. So proud of him!

My chorus had their dress rehearsal in the HS auditorium yesterday. I don't know about them, but it makes me a little nervous.. They have some work to do before the performance on Thursday.

i live under a rock

apparently

for the 3rd year running my town has a live advent calendar. If it weren't for the posts from the city on facebook, I'd still not know about it. I want to take my kids now.. it's only about .75 miles from the house..sounds like a good early evening walk!

here's yesterdays



and todays (sorry I missed it... )



I LOVE this idea. Get to know local businesses and learn fun history about the Christmas holiday... I love my town!