Sew-sweet

I've been on a sewing kick lately, as I've perfected my ruffling technique on my machine...(wowza, that sounds so dorky!)  Here are some photos of my adorable baby latest masterpiece. Don't mind the droopy eyes and runny nose, a cold bug attacked our household last week.

Christmas catch-up

With the craziness of the holidays, I'm just getting around to a "holdiays" post! We are extremely blessed with friends and family that love us dearly, and this holiday season was a true blessing. Claire had fun (mainly with the wrapping paper and chasing her cousins around) at all of our Christmas celebrations, and we had some great quality family time with SJ having the whole week between Christmas and New Years off. We made progress on the bathroom...only a minor plumbing mishap that required some professional expertise, but we are now well on our way to a February 1st completion date!

The Mishel Dental crew

It's gonna be a big one...

Renovation, that is. The biggest we've tackled, thus far. We've successfully DE-structed the master bathroom, and now begins the process of putting it all back together. Here are a few "before" and "blank slate" photos to get us started.

Here's a {crappy} photo of before the "before," during our final walk-through before purchasing the house. We've done a few cosmetic updates (painting, hardware, framing the mirror and a light-fixture) since then...

Actually doesn't look half-bad from this shot....why did we do this again??

Oh, that's right....the infamous shell-shaped sink and almond-colored bathtub.

And the tiny, stinky, white-grout-turns-orange-when-it's-wet shower.

Let the destruction  begin....

I have to say, I was pretty handy with a hammer and chisel. I pretty much tore out all of the bathtub and shower tile myself...SJ was left to the plumbing, carrying down loads of debris, and tearing out floor tiles that took much more man (and brain) power!

Wow, that's a little scary, right? I think we might need a keg to go in that bucket after all of this is finished...

15 mONtHs

I'm fifteen months old!

I went for my check-up (and don't forget the three shots!) last week...Dr. Freeman says I look great and was so surprised at how calm and happy I was throughout the entire exam. I'm 21 lbs (19%) and 31 1/4 inches long (80%). Mom is worried that I'm too tiny, but Dr. Freeman assured her that I look healthy and great, and may just be going through a picky eating phase...plus I'm so tall that my weight can't keep up! I'm walking, running, climbing, chatting, getting four new teeth, and learning how to manipulate! I can say 8-10 words, make 6 animal sounds, point to most body parts and blow bubbles in the bathtub....Uncle Adam, I'll be doing the breaststroke in no time! 

(Best fake-cry face ever??)

Pinterest Braided Infinity Scarf

Here's {just} one of the projects I recently completed, inspired by a post on Pinterest. I used four old
T-shirts (they were mine so smaller) instead of two from the pin, but I think it turned out pretty darn adorable. Here's the link to the blog with a video that shows exactly how to braid your pieces, since I was unsuccessful at taking photos and braiding at the same time. I guess I need to work on my multi-taskig skills. {http://www.putapuredukes.com/2011/09/braided-scarf-tutorial.html}

Here's a quick play-by-play for anyone who would like to attempt it...

Cut the neck and sleeves off of four old t-shirts (or 2 XL t-shirts), then cut off one of the side seams so you have a long strip, with a seam in the middle...



 Sew two of the shirts together, along the short seams. It will look like you have four pieces sewed together.

Then sew the pieces long-ways, right sides together. Then turn the pieces inside out, so that you end up with a long tube. Repeat on second two pieces.

You'll end up with two very long tubes, like this:

Here's where you may want to refer to the blog above..it shows a detailed video of how to braid your pieces (it's basically a square-knot).

After you've braided your two pieces, you'll need to sew your tubes together at the ends...it can get tricky trying to keep your right sides together so have a little patience!

Drum roll please...

Happy Pinteresting!

I told you so....

On this particular day, I had told CE twenty seven times that if she kept climbing on the stroller, she might fall or get hurt. Clearly, she's fourteen months old and persistent. What started with sheer pride, turned ugly pretty quickly. And I promise, she only wailed for about ten seconds before I put down the camera and rescued her. Is it terrible that I secretly wanted to say "I told you so"??

{What We're Eating}

This recipe actually comes from my mom's recipe collection....it looks pretty and fancy but is oh so simple! Great for a holiday party appetizer.

Creamy Dill Dip
1 block cream cheese
1/2 cup fresh dill (cut from the stems)
1 can crescent rolls
1 beaten egg yolk

Keep cream cheese refrigerated until ready to use. On a plate, spread dill out to cover the entire plate surface. Unwrap cream cheese and place on top of dill, then roll block until covered in dill. On a greased cookie sheet, spread crescent rolls out without tearing perforations. Gently pinch together the perforations then place the block of cheese on top of roll "rectangle". Wrap the block so that all surfaces are covering the cream cheese, pinching at the side seams. Brush egg yolk on top and bake at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes (I just bake according to the crescent roll instructions), until slightly brown on top. Top with a couple sprigs of dill and serve with crackers or pita chips. Enjoy!

Hoooo whoooooo?

Pretty sure Claire was the cutest owl, ever, for Halloween this year. I made her costume (shocking, I know), but I swear, it was about the easiest project I've ever tackled. A brown hoodie, some felt cut into feathers, and fabric glue was all it took. Thanks to my friend Sarah R. for the awesome owl hat to match!
She even had the "hooooo, hooooo" down pretty well by the time trick- or- treating (aka: a wagon-ride around the neighborhood, once) came along.

Guarding the goodies in her "nest"

Happy Halloween!!