I’ve recently come across a wonderful blog called Necessary Room and the author, Se’Lah, is hosting a Secret Postcard exchange. I was just in time to sign up for this. She calls it the *Gift of Jewels* and you can read more about what we are doing here.

I have received my intended’s address and will be creating a special jewel for him/her and mailing it this weekend. I’m not allowed to tell you who’s getting this jewel, just in case he/she is reading this. I’ll post when I receive my jewel and from whom it was sent.

I love Secret Pal stuff, and love meeting new people. This fits in both.

Please take some time and check out the participants. You’ll be glad you did. *Gift of Jewels* Roll Call

Katie officially has two teeth. Poor baby has been cranky the last few days as her first two teeth cut through her gums. Bottom middle two teeth in. Right: Jan 5, Left: Jan 7

I’ve been busy lately, and can actually show what I’ve been up to!

First, I made Katie a Lovey from a thread pattern written by Cylinda Matthews of Crochet Memories. The pattern is called Pineapple Cascade Angel and is also going on top of our Christmas tree this year. I’ve also completed a blue/silver Lovey and am currently working on a burgundy/gold one. I’m making them for all five girls in our family this year (my two daughters and my three nieces).

Here’s 3 month-old Katie with her Lovey, made from vintage Red Heart Baby yarn in Bright Pink.

And now for the lovelies. Because food is lovely and I want you to drool over these as much as my family did!

First, I made a fantastic dinner salad last night. I’ll even tell you how I did it.

I threw into a 6-quart bowl the following (all uncooked):

• baby spinach
• 1 pound green beans
• about 1/3 head red cabbage
• carrots
• shredded cheddar and mozzarella cheeses
• a small yellow onion
• a cucumber
• four small tomatoes

I served it with polska kielbasa cut into small bites, balsamic vinegar and basil dressing, and Parmesan cheese sprinkled on top. We were all quite full after this delightful salad. We even had enough left over to serve with our homemade pizza tonight!

The salad, sans sausage (but full of color and flavor!):

And last, but not least, dessert! After washing the pans from pizza, the kids and I had fun decorating cookie dough before baking. I started the dough for Chocolate Pudding Chocolate Chip Cookies (say THAT three times fast!) last night when my hand mixer died. Just died on me. I called my MIL and asked if I could borrow hers so I could get these cookies done. By the time I drove the five miles to her house in icy, -2 weather and the five miles back home (van complaining the whole trip) it was too late to bake the cookies. Especially since I wanted the kids’ help. I finished mixing the dough and put it in the fridge over night. We set up three stations for decorating the cookies: chocolate chips, coconut, and crushed candy canes.

Once baked, I drizzled melted white chocolate over the cookies. The only thing we didn’t do was to add the chocolate chips to the dough. The kids had more fun placing them on top!

And they taste absolutely delicious! Thanks for the recipe Krista!!

The cat and mouse have put aside their differences in the hopes of receiving stockings full of catnip and cheese.
They anxiously sit, looking out the window into the snowy night; they are Waiting For Santa.

See more at

…in front of the kids, that is.

I started watching last night’s episode of Castle with Nathan Fillion and realized I probably shouldn’t watch it with the kids in the room when a dead guy dropped onto the windshield and hood of a moving car. Yeah. Not a good thing for them to see.

I’m also not showing them The Waters of Mars. Ever.

So I’m just talking about food and not actually posting a recipe or anything. You want yummy recipes? Go to Nicole’s Homemade Treats. Bring a tissue to wipe up the drool!

Sami has a birthday coming up next weekend, and we’ve been up and down the “what kind of cake” roller coaster for the last few months. She finally decided today that she wants a dirt cake, complete with gummi worms, for her celebration.

Hey, your kid only turns 5 once. Might as well have fun with it!

I just received (okay, so I’m not sure when it was actually mailed, but I got it from the post office yesterday) this beautiful paper woven card from Jerise:

“Falling Leaves”