2011 Goal Review

Below were my goals for 2011.  Although I didn't meet every goal, I think we made some good progress in the right direction.  

1. Each Sunday plan meals for week and stock up.  Completed most weeks. 

2. Each weeknight pack lunch for next day during supper to minimize stress in morning.  Routine was established, spent less lunch money from previous year. 

3. Make Christmas gifts though out the year.  Could have been improved, Although I knew what I was making from early on for each gift, it was down to crunch time in November and December. My wrists and elbows were sore for 2 weeks after Christmas from all the sewing.  

4. Make 2 quilts. Completed!  I made a baby quilt for my 4 month old Niece, and a Tshirt Quilt for my husband. 

5. Pay ourselves first: continue vacation fund, and continue to save 20 percent each month.  We did better this year, but def. need to revise and improve. 

6. Make an interesting treat each month.  Completed for the most part.  With the CSA membership, that forced us to try new recipes, cook with different food we normally didn't buy. Our favorite new recipes included stuffed egg plant, roasted vegi's, quiche.  

7.  Go on a date with Jon twice a month. We def. improved this and prioritized "our time" more this year. We had a lot of "running" dates, we did a lot of cooking together, trivia nights, movie nights, etc.  

8. Give back, donate to 2 worthy causes.  We sponsored a family during Xmas and purchased gifts for the children.  We also donated to CHAD.  

9. Expand the garden and landscaping. We put in a new driveway and sidewalks.  Mulched and planted "charlie" an asian maple wood tree. We nicknamed him charlie, because he's a little small right now:) 

10. Join a Community Supported Agriculture to support local farmers and increase our fruit and vegetable intake (Farmer Dave's).  Joining the CSA def. improved our meals and forced us to eat healthier.  We did utilize the food for the most part, and preserved a few things I knew we wouldn't eat in time.  Our thanksgiving meal was one of the best because of the CSA.  This year, I plan to improve and waste less.  Our new purchase of the Vitamix will hopefully help us minimize waste and help us preserve more, eat more things we normally wouldn't.  

11. Connect with friends weekly.  I think a little better, but as always this could improve. 

12. Finish the wedding scrapbook. This will go on the priority list for next year! didn't even touch it! but hopefully will be completed by our 5th year anniversary:) 

13. Declutter the basement and keep it that way! (In progress) Not enough to check off.  This is also the priority for the next year.  

14. Go on a vacation with Jon and Brady.  We spent a week at the beach in July, also went to Quebec City, Savannah, and Iowa. 

15. Make homemade bread.  This will move to next years list as well. 

16. Get Brady pet therapy certified. I realized early on this would be a huge undertaking.

17. Read two books a month. Failed. I read a total of 6 books last year:( So hopefully this year I will at least double. 

18. Explore the Freedom Trail in it's entirety. partly completed. 

19. Simplify our home so there aren’t any random homeless items and everything looks neat and tidy. Some improvement. See Gaols for 2012 for plan of action. 

20. Play the Piano.  Not so much. Played 2-3 times.  Would like to take some lessons again. 

Overall I think I had too many goals, and not enough time.  

Doll Clothes

For my very special niece, I decided to make a few outfits for her American Girl Doll for Christmas.  I scored some 18 inch doll patterns at Joann's, 5 for $5 and got to work. I also had been collecting bargain fabric, remnants at Joann's throughout the year for this specific project.   I decided I should make Alexa a matching dress as well.  I love the pillow case dress for little girls, and it's so easy to make. I also used my Serger Machine for the hems, which worked great.  Hopefully as my sewing skills get better I can move along to more complicated patterns.  

Here are the patterns I used for the dresses and apron:

Pillow Case Dress, Size 6: Simplicity2391

18inch Doll Dress: Simplicity 7083 **

18 inch Doll Dress, Pillow Case: Simplicity 2302

18 inch Apron: Simplicity 2761

** This dress took some time, so allow accordingly and plan to "step away" to destress!  

I think she enjoyed them! What do you think?   

Thanksgiving Summary

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I hope you and your family did as well.  Our turkey was delicious and the the desserts to die for!  It was worth all the calories.  We did Thanksgiving Trivia this year for dinner conversation and it turned out great! Everyone enjoyed the interesting facts...something I may have to do again next year.

I really feel like this year's thanksgiving was a year of collecting food. Throughout the spring, summer, and fall I had been preserving fruits and vegi's from our CSA.  It turned out great. Everything we made was from our local farm....Carrots, green beans, apples, potatoes, squash.....

Here are the recipes for the desserts I made this year.  Absolutely Amazing!

Mom's Apple Pie

6-7 thinly sliced apples
1 1/2 c sugar
3 T flour (I used 4 T flour, apples were frozen)
1 t cinnamon
1/8 t nutmeg

Mix together. Put in 9" unbaked pie shell.  Put pat of butter on top. Then top with top crust.  Brush with a little milk and sprinkle sugar on top of crust.  Bake at 350 for 75 min.  Watch the crust and place tin foil around perimeter if starting to brown.


Pumpkin Pecan Pie

3 eggs, slightly beaten
1 can pumpkin
1 c. sugar
1 c. dark corn syrup
1 t vanilla
1/2 t cinnamon
1/4 t salt
2 T melted butter
1 c chopped pecans (for topping)
9" unbaked pie shell

Mix all ingredients well, except nuts. Pour into pie shell and top with nuts.  Bake at 350 for 40 minutes, or until knife inserted comes out clean.


Pumpkin Whoopie Pies with Cream-Cheese Filling


This delicious recipe is from Martha Stewart...you can find it here

The only change I would make is to decrease both the ginger and cloves in the recipe from 1 T to 2 tsp.

Car Seat Baby Wrap

You can see here, I posted my first project with my serger machine, I winter wrap for my new little niece Reese. My Sister in Law was so kind to take some pictures with the car seat and Reece. I love how this little project turned out and it's mother approved:) I hope this makes the winter a little bit easier:)

Super-kid Capes

I have 4 nieces and 1 nephew, and I love to make them little gifts for xmas. This year, with the inspiration from my cousin Shannon (you can see her blog post here) I decided to make some fun and super cute capes for the kids. This is a very easy and fun project. Each cape took approx. 15-20 min to make. It also helped me work on my applique skills. I can't wait to see the kids play with the capes:)

I apologize for the positioning of the image! For some reason my compute is being stubborn....ugghhh!

Brady just loves being a model for mommy!! :) he's a true sport!

a cute little dress, so simple!

This summer, I visited my SIL and kids while the boys where having a man weekend in CO. We had a lot of fun together, I love family visits.

While we were shopping around Hobby Lobby, my niece Addison and I picked out some cute polka dot fabric together, with the promise I would make her a dress. Well, I held my word and made a pillow case dress with the fabric. It turned out super cute. And as you can see here, she is adorable. Watch out mom and dad!!

wonky log cabin table runner

Fall is one of my favorite seasons. New England has one of the best falls around, the colors are so vivid and beautiful. It definetly is sad to see it go! To celebrate fall this year, I decided to add some color to my dinning room table. I had purchased "The Modern Quilting Bee Block Party" and decided to do a few wonky log cabin blocks. I think it turned out great! To complete the back, I added a little twist by joining left over strips. I love the way it came together.