Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Christmas Morning

The best part of Christmas morning...
relaxing in your pjs with the family and playing with all the new toys.

Saturday, December 25, 2010

Merry Christmas 2010


Sending out love, joy and best wishes to you all.
We hope everyone enjoys this special day with the ones they love!

Friday, December 24, 2010

What we're eating - Gingerbread House

I picked up this great gingerbread house kit for the girls to build on their day off (I did not have the will to make my own gingerbread (plus this had everything in it candy, icing, etc.) They loved building it, licking their fingers all the way. They did such a good job!

Amelia's face is so cute in the second photo, some days she gets shy about having her photo taken, this was one of those days.

Thursday, December 23, 2010

Corners of my home - Rudolph

Our Rudolph toy collection sits on top of the tv cabinet.
It took us several years to collect all of them.
They are so cute and makes us all smile!

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

What we're eating - Chocolate Chip Cookies

Brian and the girls made cookies from scratch this weekend, I'm not sure what the scissors were for. Brian never cooks so who knows. I think this is the first time he ever made cookies from scratch. It looks like they had fun and the cookies were good, but there were a few square cookies. I asked him why they were square and he said he had to trimmed off the burn edges on one batch... classic Brian.

Friday, December 17, 2010

Off to the post office again!

Since November 1st I have sold 43 items in my etsy shop! That is a record for me. I usually average about 1-2 items a week, but with the holidays that skyrocketed! Anna and I made weekly trips to the post office with stacks of boxes like these, the post office staff knows us for sure. It's been really nice to make keepsake items that people want to send to their loved ones for the holidays.

In November and December I made:
- 14 Scrabble Pillows
- 5 Bride's Tree Ornament Sets
- 7 Prints 5 x 7
- 10 various plushy toys
- 1 Headband
- 6 cup cozies

Now I need to finish up all the goodies I am making for my own family... 9 more days!

Thursday, December 16, 2010

Our Elf... Elfie


Elfie made himself up a cozy bed last night while we were all sleeping, the girls got such a kick out of this. Amelia added a nightstand, a thimble of water and a mini cookie for him. Of course I had to take a small nibble out of the cookie. When they got home from school they checked on him and they just loved that he eaten some of his cookie. They are so into this... it's really fun!

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Sneaking Candy


Since Halloween I have caught Anna sneaking candy a few times. The other week she came into my office and gave me a big hug and said "I love you Mama". During that sweet hug I could smelled the sweet aroma of chocolate on her breath. I asked if she was sneaking candy again. She gave me a sheepish smile and hid her face in my leg. I told her if she was hungry to let me know and we would get a good snack for her.

Later that night Brian was getting the girls ready for bed and called me into their room. He showed me the pile of Hersey Kiss wrappers that filled the barbie car. I had a small candy dish of kisses in the living room and she had eaten them ALL! We figured there must have been at least twenty kisses in that bowl that she had eaten all at once! I was shocked she was not sick that night.

Needless to say... there are no more bowls of kisses in this house.

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Lists for Santa


Amelia's list (the girl who wants everything she sees)





Anna's list (the girl who never asks for much, just two items)

Monday, December 13, 2010

Memory Monday - Religion Part 1


Amelia is taking PRS (Parish School of Religion). She really enjoys going to the class and is interested in the books. Last week I pulled out the giant bible my Aunt had given to us when Brian and I got married. This book is huge, Amelia marveled at the size and the golden edges of the book. She showed Anna... "look at the edges they are gold"! This bible has some illustrations in it and she was fascinated with the stations of the cross, she just stared at it, studying every illustration. I asked her if she knew what it was about and she shook her head no. I gave her a very brief and delicate description of each picture. I did not want to scare her. The next day she was studying the pictures again and then drew this picture.

I remember being scare of God & Jesus as a kid, I went to Catholic grade school until the 5th grade and I remember the day of my first confession. I sat in church with my family and cried through most of the service so anxious about having to go into that little room and confess to the priest, telling him all the bad things I have done.

The time came for me to confess... with sweaty palms I opened the door and entered the dark wooden box. The priest said he had seen me crying during mass and asked me why. That's all I remember, I think my mind must have went on autopilot because I don't know what I said, I don't know what else he said. I just remember how scared I was.

I am really torn about being catholic at this time in my life, I have some conflicting views from the church's views. I want my girls to have some sort of religious background but I don't want to scare them into being good people. I just want them to be good people.

Friday, December 10, 2010

Plushy for Odin

My neighbor is a fan of my plushies and asked me if I would make her something for her baby boy Odin. Odin had a onsie that was her favorite but a snap on it broke, plus he was about to out grow it. She gave me free rein to make anything I wanted out of it.

I wanted to make something totally new, so that first cut was a bit hard to make. I just did not want to mess it up, it's not like I had a lot of fabric to work with. Luckily it all worked out and I was very happy with how this little monster turned out. I might have to make a few more for my etsy shop.

Thursday, December 9, 2010

Product Review - Tube Fee TP

I have not purchased this yet... but I will.
I love this idea!!!!
I read an article that says 85% of people do not recycle the TP tubes (this is shocking to me, how hard is it to recycle these???) Removing all the tubes from TP would save over 160 million pounds of waste from being added to landfills nationwide!

I will write a review once I have tested it out. If you can't wait please give it a try yourself and let me know how it goes.

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Feedback


It makes me so happy to receive emails like this from my etsy clients:

Hi Tracy.

The Bridal Tree Ornaments arrived. I love them! They are for my only nephew's wedding and they are just the sentiment I wanted to give him and his bride. Something to keep for years...

Thank you for creating such a beautiful gift for me to give. The box, the ornaments, the personalized label...all perfect.

May the season be filled with joy for you and yours.

Mary

Monday, December 6, 2010

Amelia-isms - Santa's Elf

Scene: My office/studio

Amelia: Mama are you an elf?
Me: What... why do you ask?
Amelia: Because you are always making toys.
Me: Maybe I am.

Friday, December 3, 2010

December Wallpaper

Here is a little calendar cuteness I created. I plan to make one each month, so check back for January's image. You can use this for your computer wallpaper, print one out for the office, your craft room or fridge. Double click the image for the high res file.

All images are Copyrighted by Tracy Dorsey, 2010. Free download for personal use only. Not for resale.

Thursday, December 2, 2010

Family Thanksgiving

The night started like this... sweet little kids quietly coloring turkeys at a table.


The end of the night was this... crazy cousin Bobby chasing 9 screaming kids (age 7 and under) around the house. They all had so much fun playing keep away and pile on Bobby! The older adults needed some Tylenol for their headaches, but the kids had fun!

I remember my Uncle Johnny chasing us little kids around and Grandma yelling at him to stop getting us all riled up!

So, it's not my fault the kids were crazy and loud... I blame it on BOB!

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!


The tree is up, the stocking are hung,
and the girls are ready for Christmas!
24 more days!