A jacket for Little N

I am still playing catch-up on posts, and this one is no exception. The coat was finished on September 13th.

Last spring, I made Big N a fleece coat with Clifford on it. Little N also wanted a coat, with princesses on it. I made the same size for both kids, so I wanted to finish Big N's first, to make sure it was done before it was too small. Little N was very patient, waiting for her princess coat. It also helped that we didn't wear coats for a few months.

The finished product is super soft and I think my sewing skills improved between the two coats.

Little N is in heaven when she is covered in princesses. If I could change one thing, I would have placed a different princess on her left arm to balance out the images a little better, but overall, I'm very happy with the outcome.

Baby K's sweater

I recently had the pleasure of going to a baby shower for my friend M. In honor of her soon-to-be-born baby K, I knit a very fast sweater. This is one of my go-to patterns and it seems to be a hit for all the new moms.

I also knit the buttons into the sweater. It is safer than sewing them on as far as I am concerned. The only way the buttons will come off is if the sweater completely falls apart.

For baby K

Sugar Cookies

Both the Ns and I made cookies on Saturday. The kids had wanted to do a rolled sugar cookie using cutters. I decided to try the recipe on the back of the last bag of sugar. I haven't found a sugar cookie recipe I really like, so this one appeared to be as good as any other.

There was a slight problem in that the dough was a drop cookie dough, not a rolled cookie dough. The kids were having no part of a drop cookie. They both wanted to roll out their dough and use the cookie cutters.

Little N hasn't quite grasped the concept of not overworking the dough, but she had a blast doing so. If it meant we didn't eat (or in this case, bake) half the cookies, she didn't seem to notice. Big N wasn't a fan of the sticky dough, but he was a fan of the edible cookies. As a compromise, we pulled out all the play dough while the cookies baked and all was right with the world.

I was quite happy with the flavor and texture of the cookies, so I will have to share the recipe before I toss out the empty bag.

Old-Time Soft Sugar cookies
Courtesy of the Fred Meyer bag of sugar

1/2 cup shortening 1/2 cup granulated sugar 1/2 cup light brown sugar 1 egg 3/4 cup buttermilk 1 teaspoon vanilla	2 Cups all-purpose flour 1/2 tspn baking soda 1/2 tspn salt
Cream together shortening and sugars. Mix in egg, followed by the buttermilk and vanilla. Combine the dry ingredients in a separate bowl and stir into the wet mixture. Chill dough for about an hour. Drop by rounded teaspoon 2 inches apart onto a parchment covered baking sheet. Sprinkle sugar with cinnamon (or colored sugar) on top of the cookie. Bake at 400ºF for 7-9 minutes or until set.

NOTE
I do not keep buttermilk on hand. The best substitution I've found is to pour your milk into a glass cup measure and add a tablespoon of white vinegar. Let it sit for a few minutes, and you have a great alternative to running to the store for buttermilk.

Love letters

Shhh.... don't tell the office manager where I work, but I gave my son a pad of post-it notes out of my desk.

He is making great use of them, leaving love post-its all over the house.

I didn't know how much I could appreciate a pad of post-it notes.

Big N and the violin

Big N has been taking the preparatory strings program at CWU and he's really enjoying it. He seems to find issue with the holding still part, but hopefully he will grow out of that at some point. He really loves listening to violins play, but prefers the music that also has someone singing.


Practice this evening

Happy Thanksgiving!

We had a great time with all our guests. Happy Thanksgiving!

Snow-snow-snow!

It snowed over the weekend and continued through Monday. Tuesday morning, we woke to 4+ inches. It has been an excellent week to take a few days off. While Big N was at school, Little N and I took the opportunity to play in the back yard. Little N is officially an excellent snow angel artist.