A Visit with Santa

We took the kids to see Santa last Friday night and they had a ton of fun. We've been going to the same Santa for a few years and I have to say that he (and Mrs. Claus) are the best! Every year, their present to each other is to play Santa and Mrs. Claus to all of the kids in their neighborhood. They have tons of lights and decorations, and he decks out his garage and all of the front windows to look like Santa's Workshop; his beard is even real! This year they weren't too busy when we showed up, so after trying to take a picture of the kids with Santa while Margaret screamed, he walked around with Margaret for a long time showing her all of his toys and decorations until she finally warmed up to him. I think she even gave him a smile towards the end. And Steven! So cute; he had his wish list written down on a piece of paper and he ran right up to Santa and stuck it in his hands. This is the first year that he hasn't been scared of Santa and I know it's because he's getting so into the children's christmas spirit. It's so sweet to hear him talk about Santa and Rudolph as if they were so real! :) But I've also been constantly stressing the importance of the Savior during this season and I love hearing him talk about Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus whenever he sees a nativity. I didn't think my Christmas memories could get any better than last year, but I'm glad to be proven wrong. This year has been so fun! Merry Christmas, everyone!

Well, at least Steven was having a good time

Here he is going over his list with Santa and insisting that he has been a good boy

She really was smiling just before the camera took this picture

Merry Christmas from the Sabins!

Margaret's Piano Debut

Here's the video of my little Margaret playing on the piano. It's a little long, but if you can make it to the end you get to see a perfect depiction of how she goes from calm to crazy in .7 seconds. My favorite part of the whole video is at the beginning when she turns around to look at John and, while still looking at him, starts to move just her fingers and play some more. You'll see what I'm talking about!

Don't you just love when she has so much energy and she doesn't know what to do with it so she starts swinging her arms everywhere? That's my little girl! Did you see what I was talking about at the beginning? It's too funny!

Cute Kids

I just wanted to share some cute pics of the kids decorating the tree and enjoying the piano that we just got from John's parents. Happy December!

By the time Steven was done, that one spot on the Christmas tree was covered in ornaments while everywhere else was bare. Classic!

If you can't tell, the kids didn't really want to take this pick; they just wanted to get back to eating their candy canes.

Our mini-Chopin right there!

She can be Clara Schumann; I love her pose!

Thanksgiving Projects

I know, I know... it's been a while since I've posted anything new. Is anyone else feeling the way I feel about blogging lately; that it's more of a pain than its worth sometimes? If not, then just ignore that comment and pretend that I LOVE TO BLOG!

I just wanted to share some of the crafts that I worked on last month to celebrate Thanksgiving/Fall. I got the idea from a friend a few years back to make a Thankful Turkey and list blessings that we are thankful for on the feathers. In the past they've always been 2-D on our fridge, but since I'm not very good at drawing I decided that I wanted to try a 3-D one this year. This is what I came up with:

I used two different sizes of styrofoam balls and wrapped them with two different colors of yarn (that part took FOREVER). Then I connected the two balls with a craft stick, added a face made of felt, cut out feathers, glued them to craft sticks and poked them into the large ball (body). The kids loved it and it was alot of fun to make together! Here's where I got the idea.

My other major accomplishment for November was sewing eight Fall patchwork placemats for our table. I've never been able to sew to save my life but I've been attending a sewing club each month through our Relief Society and learning lots of great skills. Thanks to alot of help from a great friend, Angel, I was able to finish them in time for Thanksgiving. Thanks Angel!

I had alot of fun putting these together, though it was a challenge for me (since I have zero sewing skills.) The tedious part was cutting the different fall fabrics into tons of little strips and then sewing them together to make the long strip that goes across the bottom. Once that part was done, the rest of the project flew. For this project, I got my idea here.

I have lots of fun ideas in my head ready for this month: a purse/diaper bag, crayon rolls, a christmas tablerunner, and christmas placemats. Now I just need the courage! ^_^