I'm teaching myself to sew!

Even though we didn't do a bunch of gifts for Christmas, I decided to give each of the kids one gift. I knew Laine's little purses were falling apart, and purchasing them was out of the question. Instead, I found a video on youtube on how to make purses. After watching it a few times, I made my own pattern and tried it out. It worked!! Here are the two purses I made for her:

My first attempt...it turned out well, despite having to rip and resew
a few areas. This is the one Laine likes the best.

This is my second attempt. I made this one taller and added the black band at the top.
This is the one I like the best. :)

Stake Choir Festival

Today, my son asked me what my second favorite thing about Christmas was. I thought that was an interesting question because it presupposed that he knew what my first favorite thing about Christmas was. I asked him what he thought I loved best about Christmas. As it turned out, he nailed it...the Christmas lights! Christmas lights are a visual reminder of the light of Christ, and having all the bright lights around just cheers my spirits. When we put away the Christmas lights in January, I spend the next month feeling depressed because it's suddenly so dark in our home. I can live without Christmas presents. I can live without a fancy Christmas dinner. But lights are mandatory!

Of course, I can hear those who know me well chuckling, because they know how I feel about Christmas in general. Not about Christ's birth, but about the way our society celebrates Christmas now.

Anyway, my second favorite thing about Christmas? The music, of course! I spent a great evening enjoying the musical presentations from choirs in our stake. It was so beautiful! I was lucky enough to be in the Stake Choir in addition to participating in our ward choir. The Van Ness Ward Choir sang "On Christmas Day." The Stake Choir sang "O, Holy Night" and "Was I There." I loved, loved, loved "Was I There." Then we sang a joint piece with the Stake Children's choir called "What Shall we Give?"

I had the opportunity to bring a new non-member friend, Pat. She really enjoyed the music, too! I met her a few weeks ago when Elder and Sister Brinley invited me over for Thanksgiving dinner. I always like making new friends!

The Pizza Tree

I
had not
allowed money in
our Christmas budget for a
Christmas tree this year because
I was planning on using our little four foot
plastic tree. The kids complained that it didn't feel
like Christmas without a real Christmas tree, so I asked them
what they were willing to do about it. They said they would give up their
Friday pizza nights. And so it was. No break from cooking for mom on Friday nights,
but we all get to enjoy the beauty and aroma
of a REAL
Christmas Tree.

Writing Adventures

I've been doing a little creative writing recently, and I thought I'd put a few excerpts online for my readers to comment on from time to time. Here's the link:

Adventures in Writing