An Improvised Hearth and a Simple New Years Res

The other day I posted a Christmas recap...and among the beautiful and thoughtful gifts both given and received was a lovely Sturbridge Village play set for the kids- from my Mom and Dad. On New Years Eve I was both inspired, and had an unsightly burst of energy (something rare these days due to the too-much-school-work- syndrome I'm still suffering from;),  so I decided to run with it and create a little "hearth" in the playroom to go with their creative play set.

It is not the typical "style" mural I prefer, at least design-wise, but it works well in our basement playroom space for the kids:)

and it gives them options for their cooking style: open hearth or traditional stove top

I had D attach a couple of cast iron hooks to hold the pots, and a 2"x4" above for a little mantle shelf, the kids love it! It kind of feels like a little mini children's museum:)

As for the New Years Resolution:

Last year- I did a whole, lovely New Years post- recapping all of the major events of the year and a list of resolutions for 2011. While some were met- many, were forgotten and overlooked. This year- in keeping with my sole resolution- I'm keeping it simple....

my only resolution is: to be better to myself by taking one day at a time

and in keeping with my resolution- I'm going to bed- early-at least for today!

That's all I got

xo

Christmas Whirwind Recap

It's always a whirlwind around here- but Christmas time takes the cake in the running-around-with-little-ones department. I will say though, that this year was the smoothest so far (I guess it gets easier as the kiddos get older?

Anyhow- this is another quick- mostly photos post since I am currently enrolled in my first on-line class...its an undergrad psych course that I need for my Masters- I signed up for it thinking...I can do it at home- it's 4 weeks long, how bad could it be??? WELL- let me tell you...it's kicking my A**- hardcore! I am really struggling- mostly to find time in my already crazy schedule for the work load. If you ever think if taking a psych class through a CT community college- run it by me first- k?

Back to Christmas: I made some of this for gifts this year

It's a recipe I found online for Stonewall Kitchen's Roasted Garlic Onion Jam (I've posted about it before-it's one of my favorite pizza toppings.) and I will say- this recipe is pretty darn close to the real deal- only issue is, it's not really a jam-thickness, more like a sauce-thickness. I will try making it again and possibly upping the pectin level- when I have the perfect recipe- I'll post it to share:)

Zel also did some crafting of her own.

We had a packed schedule with 3 days straight of semi-local traveling

This gift was beyond fabulous. My uber-creative mother came up with the idea to make the children a "Sturbridge Village in a box"- it's so great she should really market the idea. My parents take the children there periodically and the kids adore it. So- the box includes hand stitched clothes from Shuggie, hand stitched logs for a "fire", kettles, baskets, wooden spoons, vegetables, wooden eggs. SO AMAZING.

Little Sis with Z-Booty in her colonial clothing

Big Sis with Mo-Man (and his new drill that he literally did not put down for 2 days straight)

There was a lot of family time...and it was so nice to see relatives we don't get to see very often.

Baby Ben is now 1!(he's the youngest baby on my mothers side who was only 2 weeks old last Christmas....)

Moses nearly tackled Santa this year-it was priceless.

Christmas morning pre-present excitement.

Oh- and of course- the food was INSANE!!

I've decided that Christmas dinner is my favorite food of the year- hands down!

So Grateful