Pilgrims at Oak Ridge

We have a habit in our family of calling each other when we are in the midst of doing things that we all would enjoy. My dad frequently calls me when I am at work and he is out on the lake, boating. When my parents went to Chicago to spend time with my brother and his family, they called us at the Cubs game, you know, just to let us know. I finally had a chance to call him yesterday as we were skiing in beautiful weather in Colorado. Something he would really love doing. Instead, I decided that a picture is worth a thousand words. And emailed him. I figured he would get the drift..... I felt a little bad when I realized that I had also texted one of these photos to my brother who was having a minor medical procedure yesterday. Oops.

For Our newest nephew, Ian Joseph. I made another elephant like Judah's although I think this one turned out better. As in, it looks less like a mouse with a long nose and more like an actual elephant. I also made him a name pillow. I had been wanting to make one of these for a while, and since I didn't have anything else planned for sweet baby Ian, I thought he would be the first to get one. I suspect if you are less than 5 and related to me, you will probably be getting one of these sometime in the next year. I know projects like this float around the internet, but my inspiration for this was actually a pillow my kindergarten teacher made me 25 (!!) years ago. Every year, she made a pillow like this for each of her students. (You can see that I had one of the awesomest kindergarten teachers of all time.) We kept it at school, but then at the end of the year it was ours to keep. I love my pillow and still have it. Here it is in the nursery, before Judah was born. I'm hop...

I had lots of fun making Christmas gifts this year. I get so excited about things I'm sewing its hard not to blog about it at Christmas time. But finally, finally, all the gifts have been sent out and received and I can finally show some pictures! Nothing warms this aunt's heart more than seeing her gifts being enjoyed. Sam, Caleb, and Ashlyn all got superhero capes and masks. This was such a fast, easy project, but one that seems to be a big hit. To make these, I just took a yard of two different fabrics, folded them in half longways, and cut out a cape-like shape. Using scraps I appliqued each with an initial on one side and a shape on the other (A lightning bolt for Sam, a star for Caleb, and a crown for Ashlyn). With right sides facing, I sewed around the two sides and the bottom, then turned them right side out. I just used some double-fold bias tape to make the ties. Ashlyn's I also embellished with some lace and sparkly dress trim to make it super girly. The masks ar...

Even though the DPP is officially over, I took a bunch of photos today that I'll slowly be posting over the next few days. Here is the first batch:

So maybe I'm a little biased, but this is the cutest kid ever.

Merry Christmas! "...No more let sins and sorrows grow, Nor thorns infest the ground; He comes to make His blessings flow Far as the curse is found, Far as the curse is found, Far as, far as, the curse is found...."

Cousins!

I got to go for a run this morning. It was one of the most beautiful runs I've been on in a long time. There was frost on all the trees, the snow flurries were drifting down a little, and I was listening to Andrew Peterson's Behold the Lamb of God on my iPod. Yes, it was cold, and yes, the altitude about did me in (we're at 7,000 ft. here, well above the 700 we live at), but it was glorious. And just what I needed to put me fully in the Christmas spirit. (The homemade oreos I made today didn't hurt either.) Someone else clearly is having a good time, too. For more DPP, go here .

I don't know if I've ever been so thankful for Judah waking up at 2:30 screaming as I was last night. After nursing him and getting him settled, I peeked out at the nearly completely eclipsed moon. It was beautiful. Then I went right back to sleep...., Sent from my iPhone

Liberty Springs Christmas Party! We love our Church Family. We will miss them a whole lot. The party was a hit! Good soup, good cookies, and a fun year-end video of photos from the last year, set to music. And now our vacation really starts.....

I got a few that I loved today... My new favorite Christmas decoration, a gift from my wonderful parents who brought it all the way back from Germany for us! Judah and his Papa Stan. Saturday night is always bath night.

Ahhh. The beginning of my Christmas vacation. These last 6 weeks have felt very busy; it feels wonderful to finally be done. I made breakfast for us this morning, our favorite Baked Oatmeal. I've blogged the recipe before , but since then I've done some tweaking and I think the new way I make it is much tastier. Aubrey's Baked Oatmeal In a mixing bowl, put the following: 1 stick butter, softened 1/2 c. applesauce 1/4 c. plain yogurt 3/4 c. sugar (white or brown, your preference) 2 eggs 2 tsp. baking powder 1 tsp. salt Mix together with mixer until smooth. Then add: 4 c. oatmeal 1 1/4 c. milk Stir with spoon until all the oatmeal is well incorporated. Put in a 9X13 baking dish (I use this oval one). Thinly slice pears or apples and put on top then sprinkle with cinnamon. (I actually use Penzey 's baking spice mix because I have it.) Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes, until it's not jiggly. Then Eat up!! I also got to open my first Christmas present from Jeff. Isn't ...

So apparently I wanted my December 15 photos to be a very, very sneaky sneak peek. Seeing as I was rather busy today, I just noticed a few minutes ago. I was using picasa to blog them and when I did it initially it looked like it worked. Clearly, it didn't. So, here they are, my december 15 photos.

All you people who live where it's really cold won't be impressed, but we're in a bit of a cold snap. With lows that are even below freezing. It's like it's winter or something.

Hmmm.... what could it be? I always want to post what I've been working on, but these will have to wait...

Working on the homemade gifts for some of the office staff: Chocolate caramel crackers a la Smitten Kitchen. (These are really, really easy and very delicious. I need them out of my house asap because I cannot stop eating them.) Sugar scrub a la Martha Stewart. Some of mine is grapefruit scented, and some is vanilla orange. This was another quick project - and if I can find the ingredients in Greenwood, then I guarantee you can find them in whatever city you live in. The essential oils and almond oil I found at our GNC. Everything else was from our regular grocery store. So pretty! Speaking of homemade projects, I'd really like to try some of Martha Stewart's homemade lip balm . Maybe after Christmas....

From the chart of a patient who was seen by one of the consulting physicians yesterday: "...I suspect she has high salt intake. Actually when I went into the room to examine her, she was eating a bag of pork rinds that had 3200 mg sodium in the bag. She was nearly done with it by the time I came in and saw her..." Busted.

A few of my recent iPhone favorites.... Sometimes, being a doctor looks like this: Notice the very large coffee (it was early), the chart, and the computer. I don't think I realized how much work I would do sitting in front of a computer, but I'm always having to look up patient results or other info. You can also sort of see my pen - I'm very particular about my pens. It makes me sad when I have to write in a chart without it. I also decided to make my yearly trek up to the roof. I only stayed for a minute because it was cold and windy, but the sun was beautiful from up there....

Judah has definitely gotten to an age where he seems to listen more as we read to him. We've been reading to him for a long time, but now he seems to enjoy books more. He especially loves board books because he likes to help turn the pages. Which he does with just his cute little index finger.