Pregnancy Update- 19 weeks and.......

More adventure....

More cuteness....

More of this (unfortunately)....

And more protection for their sister and mama!

19 weeks

(taken on Christmas eve)

Everything is going great. Baby boy looks healthy and was very active today. The doctor had a hard time doing his measurements as he squirmed around so much. There was no mistaking his boyness, that is for sure! I will post ultrasound pictures and video clips soon. I am to tired to work on that at the moment.

At any rate, looks like there will be another Hunter boy to carry on the family name. My daughter was of course sad and I was a bit bummed as well. But, I also realize I am blessed to be having a healthy baby and know that God above all knows better than I what I need.

My Sewing Project- Pajamas for Christmas

Another tradition in our house is to give our children a new pair of pajamas on Christmas Eve. After opening their new jammies, they put them on and we load the family up in the van with cups of hot chocolate and drive around town looking at lights. So Fun! Every year my kids look forward to this so much.

This year I decided to sew my children's pajamas. I remember my mom sewing us kids pj's off and on when I was growing up and they were always so special to me. I wanted to give my kids that type of memory. Of course, I am pretty new to sewing and wasn't fully confident in my ability to pull this off. I did it though and finished up just in the nick of time (day before Christmas eve)!!

The only bummer was that I had to let the kids see the pajamas while they were being sewed as I needed to measure them to them. However, despite all this my kids were SO EXCITED when they opened their jammies and finally got to wear them! You can see by the looks on their faces in the pictures below.


I had never sewn a shirt with a collar before so this was a bit of a challenge. In the end they all turned out good.

Cracks me up how happy they were! :-)

I even sewed matching pajamas for I's American Girl doll Ruthie!

Closer look

I found a free pattern for these online, here.

E's response was, "My cowboys!" He and J-boy got cowboy teddy bears riding stick horses on their pajamas.

They also got Toy Story cowboy boot slippers to go with their jammies. You can't see them real well here, but they have Woody and his horse on the side and spurs on the back.

J was a little less enthusiastic.

He wouldn't pose for a picture either.

The whole gang in their new pajamas

Christmas Eve 2011

Here is the pattern that I used for these. You can buy it here, although I got mine on Ebay for a bit cheaper. Overall, it was fairly simple. The collar is the hardest part.

Did you do any sewing over the holidays? What did you make?

Christmas Eve 2011

Every Christmas Eve it is a tradition in our family to take pictures in front of our Christmas tree. Here are this years......

J-Boy

age: 2

( I will have to post the out takes for this one because they are hilarious!)

Little E

age: 3

Miss "I"

age: 9

Mr. "C"

age: 11

Brothers and Best Buds!

Hunter Kids

The whole family!

Excuse our goofy expressions, these pictures are so hard to do.

Wordless Wednesday- Holiday Festivities!

Thought I would share some pictures of the various holiday activities we took part in this season.

Got to see some real reindeer!

The kids thought it was pretty cool!

Really they did! LOL

(This is the first picture I have seen where E and C actually look alike)

Had a baking day with our friend Mady. Here the kids are making Peanut Butter Balls. We also made Peppermint Fudge, and Almond Brittle. Yum!

Little E decorating the tree. Funny story with the tree.... Our living room is so small, we had to take apart our sectional couch just to fit the tree in the house! It didn't look so big at the store.

Ready to hang his blue Ho Ho. :-)

J was put to bed before we decorated. Here is C and E putting up ornaments.

Getting help from Dad to reach the top!

Ta-dah! My proud kiddos!

The finished tree

My two oldest kids made pomander balls.

A closer look

Went for a carriage ride downtown

Me and the littles waiting in line. Don't you love E's hair? Hee Hee!

Look it is Brittney (one of my contributors) with her baby and hubby.

(She was in town over the holidays.)

My friend Lori (Brittney's mom) adoring her grandbaby!

Me and E riding along!

My hubby and the boys snuggled up in the carriage.

I and C looking so excited again! Haha.

Hunter kids with a creepy street Santa.

Happy Wordless Wednesday!

Peppermint Fudge Recipe!

Peppermint Fudge

This Fudge is so yummy, with candy cane bits and white chocolate it is a nice change from your typical chocolate fudge. Give it a try!

You will need:

1-1/2 teaspoons plus 1/4 cup butter, softened, divided

2 cups sugar

1/2 cup sour cream

12 ounces white baking chocolate (I bought white chocolate chips)

1 jar (7 ounces) marshmallow creme

1/2 cup crushed peppermint candy (I crushed mini-candy canes)

1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract

Directions:

1. Line a 9-inch square pan with foil. Grease the foil with 1-1/2 teaspoons butter. Set aside.

2. In a heavy saucepan, combine the sugar, sour cream and remaining butter. Cook and stir over medium heat until sugar is dissolved. Bring to a rapid boil; cook and stir until a candy thermometer reads 234 degrees (soft ball stage), about 5 minutes.

3. Remove from heat;stir in white chocolate and marshmallow creme until melted. Fold in peppermint candy and extract. Pour into prepared pan. Chill until firm.

4. Using foil, lift fudge out of pan. Gently peel off foil;cut fudge into 1 in. squares. Store in refrigerator. Yield: 2 pounds

Get Organized with Rubbermaid's New Bento Boxes! Review & Giveaway!!

With the new year right around the corner, I know many of you are setting goals to get organized. Can I let you in on a little secret? Rubbermaid has come up with the most amazing storage boxes that not only organize your life, but help give your home a bit of style in the process.

Let me introduce you to the new Rubbermaid Bento Organization Boxes! These sturdy storage boxes come in a wide variety of sizes to me your needs. Each container contains internal flex dividers for a variety of organization options. Need to utilize the entire box space? Simply fold down the flex dividers for ample storage space! Even better these Bento boxes stack on top of each other when full and inside each other when empty. No worries about added bulk around the house. Also, the lids can be turned upside down and used as trays for added storage. So many uses for these great boxes! Every organized home needs a set of these!

Watch this video to see the Bento Boxes in action:

How did I use my Bento Boxes to get organized?

I organized my sewing supplies!

The Bentos stack neatly to the side of my sewing desk. Before I had these there was a small mountain of fabric laying to the side of my desk. This is much nicer!

In the x-large size Bento I am storing my cloth diaper making fabrics. I do have all four of the flex dividers up, but you can't really see them here.

In the large Bento box I folded all the flex dividers down and am storing my "ready to sew" projects. This is everything that is already cut out and ready to go!

In the medium Bento I am storing some miscellaneous sewing tools. My regular sewing box was so full and becoming a mess. This storage box has helped keep the clutter down . Love it!

Last but not least, the small Bento holds all my plastic snaps and my snap press. This size box does not contain a lid and so sits on top of my sewing desk away from curious toddlers. I also love having it handy when I am ready to add snaps to my sewing projects.

I am thoroughly impressed by the Rubbermaid Bento storage boxes. I love how they have a wide variety of uses, have a nice fabric cover, handles for easy transport and are built to last! My kids sat on these boxes with the lids on and they held up to the weight no problem. I can't wait to get more of these Bentos for my home!

WIN IT!

These will be awesome to store away all those holiday decorations!

BUY IT- You too can get organized with the Rubbermaid Bento Boxes! To purchase, visit Rubbermaid online here or shop at any of their retailers. Click here.

WIN IT- Rubbermaid has generously offered to give one lucky Happily Domestic reader a set of these boxes! (Same set as I received) $113.00 Value!!

After you have completed your first entry you are eligible for additional entries. *See my giveaway instructions here for more information. * *Remember to leave a separate comment for each additional entry and include your e-mail address.*
Extra Entries: (1 each unless specified, leave a separate comment for each thing you do)

• First Mandatory entry: Visit Rubbermaid and tell me your favorite organizational product they offer(besides the Bento Boxes).

• Follow Happily Domestic blog publicly through Google friend connect (can be found at my right sidebar.) - current follows count too!

• Subscribe to Happily Domestic's blog emails via Feedburner. Sign up box on right sidebar. Counts for 3 entries.

• Blog about THIS giveaway between December 19th and January 5th and gain TWOentries!!! link back to Happily Domestic- leave the URL where you blogged. Please leave separate comments for each entry. Example "I blogged about your Rubbermaid giveaway@ #1" then "I blogged about your Rubermaid giveaway@ #2".

• Grab the Happily Domestic button! (found at right sidebar)- Leave the URL where it is posted.

• Follow Happily Domestic on Twitter and tweet about this giveaway (counts as 1 entry)- after this you may "tweet" daily and gain an extra entry each day that you tweet-limit one per day.Leave your tweet status.

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Giveaway ends January 7th , 2011 at 8:00 p.m.(MST). Winner will be drawn by the random number generator at Random.org and will be notified by email. Winner will also be announced on this blog. Winner will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be drawn.

*This giveaway is open to USA and Canadian residents ONLY.
Must be 18 years old or older to win.*

Thank you to Rubbermaid who provided me with the set of Bento Boxes free of charge for the purpose of this review. All opinions are my own and no other compensation was received to conduct this review and giveaway.