Not Mustard or Mayonaise

Must be Ketchup.
You know, catch up...because it's been so long since I've blogged.

Over the Christmas holiday the Texas Cedar trees attacked Ava with a vengeance. The combination of congested child/lack of sleep/wheezing/coughing/snot constantly running/sad sick eyes/trips to Urgent Care/hundreds of $$ in medicine and doctor visits/kicking myself for not anticipating the allergies and bringing the breathing machine caused me to not take many pictures. On Christmas Day Ava was the sickest I've ever seen her. Thankfully, she recovered quickly with the help of some miracle elixirs. Hopefully I can get the few pictures snapped by grandmas and aunts to throw on the blog later. For now, this is the best I can do.

Happy in her adorable tutu and headband from Mamaw and Papa.
Have I ever mentioned that orange is Ava's favorite color? Since she could talk she has loved the color orange. Orange is the theme of her 3rd birthday party. Can you guess which tutu she will be wearing at the party?

For Christmas Eve at my parents house I made Beef Bourguigonne (or Beef Burgundy, or Boeuf Bourguignon). Click above for the recipe.

Close-up of the meal

I made a few handmade Christmas gifts.

This is the kitchen towel I made for Judy's red/cherry themed kitchen.

Beene Beene has an odd-shaped end table that was in need of a cover. Sewing for the Beene is like cooking for Martha Stewart. Once (in a very loving way of course) she ripped every seam in an apron I'd just made to show me the right way to do it. It was actually a very valuable learning experience, but oh so humbling. I decided to be brave and make a custom table cloth for her. She loves yo-yos so I went a little crazy with them. I've been commissioned to make another cover just like this for her coffee table. I guess she liked it!

Coach made puny Ava a very special candy cane-shaped cinnamon roll with red-dyed icing and sprinkles.

Josh and I spent a few days with our sweet friends, The Broadduses, in Sugar Land. Three days of great food and board games. I think we spent 70 of the 72 hours in our pajamas playing Settlers of Catan. We miss you guys like crazy.

We returned to Norman after the infamous Oklahoma Blizzard of 2009. There are still mountains of snow everywhere, but the roads are clear. This little Texas family is thrilled to see the white stuff - especially since it isn't inconveniencing us in any way. Hopefully we'll get to see some of it fall soon.

This week we are enjoying our last full week before HLS goes back to the dungeon on January 19th. We hope you all are snuggled and warm during this cold weather. Thanks for reading.