Etsy shop relaunch

So I have finally gotten my act together (well sort of) and am in the process of adding things to relaunch my etsy shop. If you are so inclined to take a look please click the link below

http://www.etsy.com/shop/Homemadewithheart

In honor of my relaunch on etsy I am giving a 10% discount on everything that I have available. Just use coupon code RELAUNCH10.

Thanks so much!!

Sushi and Spring Rolls

About a year ago a friend of mine in my mom's group hosted a cooking night and she was teaching us how to make sushi. I was so excited that I got to attend. It is a bit time consuming but so EASY!! Then, one evening when I was teaching my sisters how to do it they taught me how to make spring rolls. Well about 2 weeks ago I had a hankering for both sushi and spring rolls so that is what I made for dinner.

Here is the proof that I made it myself.

My completed spring rolls in the fridge

My rolled up california rolls

My completed dinner

It turned out so yummy. I have to admit that I was quite proud of myself. I am always willing to do this again so if anyone wants a lesson, call me! heehee :)

Christmas 2010

Christmas 2010

What an amazing and lazy day we had (just as Christmas day should be). Here is our set up from Santa

That morning Mason came all the way down to our room and didnt even realize all the presents were under the tree. haha Poor kid must have still been a bit woozy from just waking up :) So Derrek and I got up and took him back upstairs to wait for Samantha to wake up. Once she was up and her diaper was changed Mamie (Derrek's mom) go this picture of the kids realizing that Santa had come

So we made our way down the stairs with the two of them (Yes, Samantha has a bow in her hair)

Here are the kids about to enter the den. Dont you love their matching girl/boy santa jammies?

Samantha was so funny b/c she walked right up to the tricycle and just knew it was for her

Here we all are looking at the stash and Samantha is ready to get started

No patience for Mason he was ready to go

Samantha getting into her goodies

Both Kids checking out Mason's new woody doll

And Mason trying out the fit on his new bike helmet

Woody or My little Pony?? Such difficult decisions haha

Here is where things got interesting for us.

Derrek is opening Mason's new Leapster Explorer (by far his most favorite gift from Santa). Once it was set up and ready to play we had to stop opening presents for about 15 minutes for this

Notice Samantha in the background checking out her new ride.So while brother was playing his new game Samantha checked out her favorite present from Santa

Doesn't she look so excited? She loves her new trike! Bonus of all Bonus it is also a rocker

So we tried that out too. While Mason was still playing his game everyone else decided to jump into our stockings and see what other little goodies we had gotten from Santa

Me and Derrek (side note about our stockings, they are all except Samantha's which is under construction needle pointed by my mother in law and they are BEAUTIFUL)

Wesley (derrek's brother)

Samantha

Once we (everyone but Mason) got through our stocking he decided that he was willing to open some more presents

After all the gifts were open we moved on to our big breakfast (this is a tradition from when I was little and I LOVE LOVE LOVE big christmas morning breakfast). We had sausage, bacon, egg, monkey bread, sopapilla cheesecake, milk and eggnog. We then proceeded to stay in jammies and play with toys all day. It really was a great day and the kids had a blast. I hope everyone had an amazing Christmas 2010!

Christmas Eve and Cookies for Santa

Christmas Eve started out as pretty regular feeling day until about 2pm. While the kids were napping Derrek and I started to get ready for church. We were headed to the 4pm children's service at our church. This service is great because it is of course kid friendly and doesn't last nearly as long as a regular service. They even had cake at the end of it in honor of Jesus's Birthday! It was a great service and the kids did a good job staying close and relatively quiet :)

When we got home Derrek's mom and brother had been busy cooking dinner. I have a thing about dressing up for Christmas Eve and everyone was nice enough to humor me. We also ate in the dining room on my Spode China. We dont get fancy very often but it really is so much fun when we do. After eating our fabulous dinner of prime rib (YUM!!) I changed the kids into their jammies and they got to open all their presents from their Aunts, Uncles, Grandparents etc... We do these gifts on Christmas Eve so that we can keep them separate from Santa gifts on Christmas Day. Everyone was also nice enough to humor me with a photo shoot too :)

My gorgeous girl (this dress was so cute b/c it had a little bell attached to the bottom inside and every time she moved it jingled)

Me and my babies

My little family

Derrek, Mason and Wesley (Derrek's brother)

Not sure why I have no pictures of them opening their gifts that night but oh well. After all was said and done and Samantha was in bed, Mason and I got to work on making cookies for Santa.

Here we are on the kitchen floor getting it all set up

Separating our cookies (they were actually brownie bites) heehee

Mason was in bed by the time they came out of the oven so I put them on my Spode Cookies for Santa plate and left them out for the big guy. We had a great Christmas Eve with family and hope eveyones was just as good.

Boot Camp Christmas Party and a Train ride in Manvel

Here I am again running WAY behind on my blogging. Ah well :) This past summer (aka summer 2010) I was invited by my friend Amanda to start working out with some mommies she had met at a playgroup at Womens Hospital. They call it boot camp (and for good reason heehee) and it is done in the garage of one of the mommies. First of all let me just say that I LOVE this group of ladies!! They are so sweet, so easy to get along with and just all around FUN! Since school started I have not been able to attend boot camp very much b/c they start at 8am and Mason has to be at school by 8:30am. However, since I am still considered part of the group I still get invited to all the extra things that they do, thus our Boot Camp Christmas Party. Amanda graciously hosted and even recruited her brother to play Santa. All the kids in this group are Samantha's age so we knew that having Santa in the house was risky but I have to admit it turned out to be the most hilarious moment of the entire party (you will see why in a bit). We even had gifts for Santa to hand out and they still were not having it. Anywho, we had great food, great company and a great party all around.

The favorite toy of the night was the purple ball

Our attempt at trying to get a picture of just the kids haha

All the Boot Camp mommies and their babies. I am the only one with 2 kids but hopefully by the end of 2011 that will no longer be the case :)

Samantha's ruffle butt bloomers are so cute I had to post a picture

Mason with Santa

Samantha with Santa HAHAHAHA!!! This is basically what ALL the kids looked like when they were up there with him. All we (the parents) could do was laugh uncontrollably. I hope we haven't damaged them for life :)

The next day I took the kids out to the Manvel Library b/c they were doing a Polar Express Day. First we went to story time where they read The Polar Express and then they had a little train for the kids to ride out in the parking lot. Our good friends the Smith's met us out there to ride the train and fun was had by all. Well almost all!

Here they all are waiting for their turn

Here is what the little train looked like. I think its pretty cute.

Mason and Samantha in the Caboose of the train. See how Samantha is trying to make a get away? She is the "almost all" in the above fun statement.

Taking their 1st ride

Barrett and Mason taking ride #2.

A big thanks to my moms group for letting us know about this cute little event. We had so many fun things going on this holiday season. It was nice to stay busy and have the month pass quickly to get us to the big day :)