Made It ...

First of all, we must all agree that "make it" is a very broad term and is taken very loosely.  If we can all agree on that, then you may continue to read ...

This is an arts and craft (or whatever) apron for Lynnette.  Bought the apron at Michael's and ironed on the design.  All the artwork are copies of pieces that Lynnette has done.  The Make-it part was creating the iron-on and then ironing it on. 

Apron #2.  Again, bought the apron at Michaels and ironed everything else on.  Except for the bows which I tied and sewed on.  Make-it was cutting, ironing, and sewing.  The apron tied in nicely with the kitchen she also received.   Hat courtesy of cousins Morgan and Madison via Mae-Mae.

Lindley got a treasure chest full of Jake stuff.  Some of that stuff was a Jake outfit.  The boots, white t-shirt, and blue sweat pants were manufactured elsewhere.  The red head scarf and blue vest with yellow piping was made by LaLa.  Who probably should have used a pattern.  There is no picture because - well, have you ever tried to get a 3-almost-4 year old into an outfit for the sole purpose of taking a picture?  Especially at Christmas where there are an infinite number of presents left to open and play with?  There will be a picture.  One day ...  Actually the fact that there's no picture is not my fault.  When I remembered that there was no picture, I texted Lynnette to take one.  She refused to wake up Lindley, get her out of bed (so maybe it was like 9 or 10 pm), get her dressed in said outfit, and make sure she was joyous in the picture ...  However, I did get a picture via Sam of Lindley opening the chest-o-Jake-crap.  If you look closely, you can see the vest just above the Lego box.  You're welcome.

Molly got a "utilities" bag made from all the different lanyards from the Disney cruise ships (she's been on enough to have earned all the lanyards).  Again, I probably should have used a pattern.  Also, it looked slightly better in person than in this picture.  The lining is Minnie Mouse polka-dots.  It's adorbs ...

Mathieu's frame from Michaels.  Pictures were printed, cut, and glued on.  And ribbon was glued around the sides.  And yes, this was probably a project done by 5th graders in Vacation Bible School. 

Sam's was "made" by the bobblehead people.  So to keep it legal, I made him some chocolate oatmeal cookies.  Steve got homemade fudge and Maribeth got homemade poppy seed bread.  Some years are better than others ...
 

 

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Today was a great day because:  I no longer have to worry about Christmas presents; Everley time; veggie soup for lunch; oranges from Ken and Jeanne

Merry Doikmas!

On the 19th Day of December, it was our Doikmas Day (feel free to sing that part).  And here's how it all went down ...

The Meal:  The theme was food on sticks.  Roughly 50% of the family remembered this part and participated. 

Sam and Mathieu were busy packing boxes for Batch Nashville, but remembered at the last minute (perhaps due to some last-minute texting wanting to know when they were going to arrive) and brought some locally manufactured dipped marshmallows (which might have been likker flavored).  Anyhoo, Sam shoved some toothpicks into them and voila! - a dish was born.

The main dish (by luck of the draw) was grape jelly/chili sauce meatballs in the crockpot.  My crockpot and Molly's recipe.  Which were then stabbed with toothpicks and put in a dish (after crock-potting for several hours).


Why bother with cutlery when you have your own toothpick?

There were more meatballs - plenty more - leftovers more ...

Maribeth ordered an Edible Arrangement - which conveniently comes on sticks, so no stabbing was necessary.  Our only potential issue was when it was going to be delivered - which it was just before we ate.


Quite festive with the sleigh and reindeer ...

We also had a cheese tray - cubes of Kraft (which came pre-cubed in a package) and - you guessed it - stabbed with toothpicks.

Our final dish was "salad on a stick."  Can you figure this out?  Okay, I'll give you the recipe.  First, get out the toothpicks and then stab a grape tomato, a carrot, and a stick of broccoli or cauliflower.  Serve with an individual ranch dressing container.


Okay, so the presentation leaves something to be desired - like a lot to be desired.  But at this point, we were just trying to figure out if we were going to have any food at all ...

Dessert was provided by Lynnette and Molly - popsicles.  Which came with their own sticks.  Of course, Molly had her own idea of dessert.  Which possibly should have started before the meal ...

By the way, that IS Disney champagne.  Disney Christmas champagne.

So there you have it.  Considering some of our previous Doikmas meals, this one was possibly our healthiest.  We had fruit, vegetables, turkey meatballs, and cheese.  What more could one ask for?  Especially since we had one baby running a fever and clearly not into anything remotely related to Christmas and eating and presents.  And an adult who was overcome by the respiratory plague and had to go to bed.  Maybe we should have had Robitussin shots for Happy Hour ..

Oh, and if Molly will send me a picture of her "make it" gift, I shall report on those tomorrow.  They are almost as special as this meal was!!

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Today was a great day because:  all the ordered gifts came in; no one was harmed in the celebration of Doikmas; lots of fun gifts; it was Doikmas!!

'Twas The Night Before Doikmas ...

'Twas the night before Doikmas* when all through the place,

Presents were being finished at a lazy snail's pace.

Some gifts were wrapped with paper and some tape;

Others were covered with a Kroger sack cape.

The door was watched carefully for a Fed Ex delivery dude;

He should probably have been tipped, but procrastinators are rude.

Menus were researched for dishes that were quite easy;

It really didn't matter if it was fried and quite greasy.

Plans were hatched for a great family treat;

Too bad it was the family who lived down the street.

Expectations weren't high since Davidson history proves this -

We shoot for the stars and usually wildly miss.

But this we know for sure and forever -

Each Doikmas is different and will be repeated quite never!

 

See you tomorrow!

 

*Doikmas - penned this year by somebody.  Springdoik is the name of our house,

therefore our family Christmas celebration, held before different family members

head to different celebrations, is now called Doikmas.  Catchy, huh?

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Today was a great day because:  almost all gifts are present and accounted for; phone chat with Marilyn; picking up Everley at school; Molly bringing dinner; stocking the stockings and putting presents under the tree; installing shelf by desk; planning February cruise

 



Done! Well, Mostly ...

Today I finished the last of my "make it" gifts.  You will have to wait a few days before I tell you what they turned out to be.  Some of them are real "winners."  Anyhoo, I pretty much finished up and also finished my other Christmas shopping - that is if the ones I ordered arrive on time.

Now all I have to do is figure out my contribution to our family meal - this year it's "food on sticks."  I'm going to see what I can stab in my refrigerator ...

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Today was a great day because:  finished my Christmas gift-making-getting; transporting Sam around town; visit with Maribeth during toy drop-off; chatting with neighbor; beautiful sunny day; sweet Christmas cards from Jeanne, Emily, and KB

Science - Part Deux

Since my last science experiment was not completed, today I decided on another one.  I now wish I hadn't gone through with it ...

Here's the backstory:  Some of you may know of my love/hate relationship with Little Debbie and her Christmas Tree Cakes.  This year the little pusher came out with a new variety - red velvet.  Of course, as any addict would, the moment I saw them I had to purchase them.  Along with a box of the traditional white and chocolate variety.  I hate Little Debbie ...


Anyhoo, the other day when the family was over, Mathieu asked me if I really liked the cakes.  To which I replied that nobody really likes them - we just buy them and inhale them because we are weak minded.

So here's where today's science experiment came into play.  After days of consuming at least one of each of the cakes, I started to wonder if (a) they really had any taste at all, and (b) if blindfolded, could I really tell the difference between the three.  Obviously I had too much time on my hands ...

So this afternoon I performed my great experiment.  I put all three on a plate, closed my eyes, turned the plate around a few times, and proceeded to eat a bite of each one.  The only one that was discernable was the chocolate one, possibly because of the faint taste of chocolate that it held.  I actually thought the white cake was the red velvet.    Since I did not add a fourth taster of whipped cream in-between two pieces of bread, I cannot tell you if that would have been distinguishable from the others.

At any rate, all the cakes are now gone from my house (we shall not discuss who ate what and when they were eaten).  My 2013 Christmas Tree Cake experience is over - and hopefully not to return for another 12 months, when I'm sure Little Debbie will have a new atrocious variety to tempt me.

However, my stomach would like to say that it would rather have by butt torn up by Maggie The Cat than subject itself to another Little Debbie Debacle.  I knew I was never meant to be a scientist ...

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Today was a great day because:  beautiful sunny winter day; almost finished my Christmas shopping and projects; lady helping me with ideas at store