Sewing, and Painting, and Baking...Oh My!

We have had a very busy December! I made almost all the gifts that we gave this year, and like an idiot, I waited till last minute to make everything. I'm the world's worst procrastinator. Anyway, for Daniel's family I made braclets for all the gals, casserole cozys for Daniel's sisters, 3 matching make-up bags, a camera cozy, and travel bagies to carry splenda packets, tea bags, & on the go juice drink packets. For his dad we bought a nice shirt that I had found on clearance for $1.00! Shhh- don't tell! For his grandma I made a corkboard organizer with pocket.
For my family: I made a purse & matching wallet for my mom, and heat therapy bags for her hands (she has Raynaud's Disease). For dad I made two different sized heat therapy bags, for my mammaw Bryant I bought a skirt for a couple of dollars from Sears!
Everything turned out really well, but for next years gifts I'm going to start on gifts way in advance so I can actually enjoy the Christmas season.
For some of my friends I made placemats, coasters, and goody bags. Here's a picture of a good friend of ours opening the gift I made for him: this was special! I painted a portrait of his mom's old farm house. Needless to say... He LOVED it!!!
This man and his wife took us with them to the train display in downtown Cincinnati. The kids had a blast and one of the best parts: it was all free fun! Here are some pics.
We also made a ton of homemade cookies and visited all the elderly widow ladies in our church. They love the kids and I'm sure they enjoyed the cookies, too!

I hope you all had a Christ-filled Christmas, after all, Jesus really is the reason for the season!

Shock Family Holidays

Our trip to Alabama went really well! It was so good to see everyone and enjoy some family time! We hadn't seen some of them for three years. Rachel, Daniel's sister, has been in Germany for the past three years (her husband is in the Navy), and last year Ben, Daniel's brother, couldn't come to Alabama because he was serving over seas (he's in the Air Force). Thankfully everyone was able to be there with the exception of David, Daniel's other brother. Here are some family pics.

daniel, sophia, & noahthe kids are playing with learning laptops thier great-grandma got for them. getting ready to open gifts!

Fun & Joyful Memories!

The busy and fun-filled season started off with Sophia's 4th birthday! She loves all things princess, so this was the theme for her birthday party.

Mammaw & Pappaw Moore got this cute little princess costume for her-- she wore it for a whole 5 minutes! She said it was too itchy; she's so particular...sounds like someone else I know- hmmm, I wonder who it could be?!Here's a picture of the cake I made for Sophie. She said she wanted a cinderella castle cake, so this was as good as I could get it. The towers lean a little bit- but, hey, she was thrilled with it! two peas in a pod! I love my little ones!