Sewing for Christmas

Can you guess what I'm making?

Baby Gifts

In the craziness of sewing Halloween costumes last week I decided it would also be a great idea to make a baby gift for a friend who just had twin girls. Completely out of my mind I know, but coming from my family, the opportunity to make cute little girl baby gifts does not happen very often. And twin girls...I could not pass up the opportunity to make little matching outfits. So the afternoon before the shower (of course I need the pressure of an immienent deadline!) I am still finishing the t-shirts. As my sister who called during this sewing madness can attest things were getting a little tight to get it all done and wrapped before naptime was over. In the end the second t-shirt had to be delivered later (it came down to feeding my family dinner or finishing the gift...always a tough call!). But all's well that ends well and I'm really happy with the result. The t-shirts are a modification of MADE's 90-minute shirt tutorial (I added a cuffed and puffed sleeve and use the t-shirt material for the ribbing) and the skirts are following MADE's simple skirt tutorial. The 90-minute shirt tutorial is really good, I have made several for littlest skinner.

Happenings

Just an update for you all on what's been going on at our house. you're all still there, aren't you?

 

Owen is motoring around the house quite well now. He is very good at climbing the stairs, just not down them. It is not unusual to find him perched at the top of the stairs chirping for someone to came rescue him and bring him down stairs.

Isaac LOVES Halloween. Starting Oct 1 he has been making Halloween decorations, planning costumes and our annual Halloween party.

Playing in the beautiful autumn sunshine. Andrew is getting really good at pedalling his tricycle and riding away from the 'monsers' that are lurking in dark places

Finding our first geocache. Now that we have a cellphone that does more than make phone calls, we are enjoying the limitless applications our cellphone has. Grocery check out with crabby kids, check. Fun treasure hunt with the boys, check. If only it could do the dishes and laundry as well...

Attending a really fun Halloween/Birthday party of a good friend. We finally got Isaac to finalize his Halloween costume plans and we managed to pull this outfit together. I had a lot of fun making a really big, dramatic pirate hat for him.

First Day Ever

Hard to believe our Little Skinner is growing up. He started school last week. He loves it and takes it very seriously. Littler Skinner is adapting well to having his big brother away and I think he is basking in his time in the sun.

Three Little Monkeys

I thought I'd better at least post a recent picture of our three little Skinners. They are keeping us very busy and filling our lives with all kinds of fun.

The Home Cook: New Recipe

I just made this last night, it was really quick to prepare and very tasty. Even Isaac, who has been pretty picky lately ate two pieces. we gave it a Yum Factor of 8/10.

Mint Roasted Chicken Tikka Serves 4

450g boneless chicken breasts, cut in half

Marinade

1 tsp Garam Masala

1 Tbs chopped fresh green chilli

1 Tbs freshly ground black pepper

4 Tbs finely chopped fresh mint leaves

1 cup thick yogurt

2 Tbs lemon juice

1-1/2 Tbs ginger and garlic puree

1 Tbs salt

1 Tbs oil

1. Combine yogurt, mint, lemon juice, oil, garam masala, ginger and garlic in a small bowl. Place chicken cubes in a resealable plastic bag and add yogurt/mint mixture to coat chicken. Marinate in the fridge for 4 hours.

2. Heat oven to 450 C. Place marinated chicken on a shallow baking tray and roast for 20 minutes, turning halfway through. Alternatively, broil or grill the chicken for 10-12 minutes, turning once, until cooked through.

The Christmas Pinata

The past couple of Christmas seasons we have started to tradition of smashing a pinata with cousins. Isaac quite likes this tradition and loves helping me pick out the pinata up for smashing every year. The first year we had a pinata he picked out a Nemo pinata. When we took it to Nana's to smash with his cousins, he completely lost it when everyone was going to town on Nemo with a broomstick. He was just two after all... In following years he has really gotten into the spirit of pinata smashing and really gets a kick out of beating the stuffing out of our yearly pinata.

This year when we were talking about what pinata we should get, Isaac asked if we could find a Christmas pinata. I said we probably could and he started listing off the possibilities: a Santa pinata, a Christmas tree pinata, a Snowflake pinata, a Baby Jesus pinata, a star pinata.....wait a minute, A Baby Jesus Pinata? While trying to restrain myself from hysterical laughter I tried to explain to Isaac why a Baby Jesus Pinata was probably not a good idea. There's just something about purposely smashing a baby Jesus that seems...wrong. At least he realizes that Christmas is also about something else then presents and Santa!