Last Holiday Gig

We are SO close!
So close to making it through the most challenging part of the year.
One more gig on the agenda.

A Holiday gathering with some rad mom's and their critters today at 10a.
We (the ladies) bring six frozen meals, and in return, leave the party with six different meals for their families, to freeze. Pretty clever, eh?

I made Chili.
(x6)

Then, I went on my handy dandy Mac templates, and made a little tag for the tupperware. I first made tags on normal paper to be tied onto the package:

But then I thought I could print the tags off on sticky paper (clever!!)- but after only two printed off, my printer ran out of ink (fail). So I grabbed a sharpie and drew the last two tags.

In the end, I have six chili dinners, with three different wrappings and tags- makes it a bit more charming...and a bit more "Jill".

Teacher Gift Ideas

Put together Quinn's teacher holiday gifts today.
Quinny made the cards, and I packaged the cookies.
For the fabulous lead Teach, I made a pillow for her...she's too rad not to get a pillow!

Quinny's cards turned out stellar:

Packaging the cookies was as simple as grabbing a mason jar from the garage and tying some twine at the top.
A cute, inexpensive cookie holder:

In the end, a gift for a teacher is a way to express your appreciation for all they do for our kids. So, to me, a heartfelt message, written in the homemade card, is the most important part of all.

A-mazing Lemon Cookies

I would consider myself a rather modest individual, but shout it from the heavens- I just made the world's best gfcf lemon cookies!!!
I wanted a cake-ier cookie but could not find a recipe to support such- so I wrote my own!
After baking so damn much I had learned what the more common ratios were for cookies, breads, muffins, cakes etc. So my ratios support a crunchier outside and a fluffy, cake-y inside. And you wouldn't believe it, it actually worked!
Came up with this:

Jilly's Lemon Cookies

2 cups GF AP flour (note: my gf ap has xanthum gum already in it. If your gf ap is missing it, this recipe would call for 1/2 tsp xanthum gum).
1 cup sugar
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
(Mix all this is a bowl, set aside).

1/4 cup rice milk
1/2 cup veg. Oil
2 eggs
(Mix in kitchen aid. Once mixed, add dry ingredients).
Add to mixture:
1/2 tsp lemon extract
2 tbsp lemon juice
Mix for 1 min on medium speed.

I then scooped out balls and rolled them in powered sugar.
Placed the sugared balls on a cookie sheet and pressed down.
Bake for 12 ish minutes at 350.

Literally A-mazing!

Christmas Program: how far we've come

Last week Quinny's preschool held their Christmas Concert.

I was a nervous wreck:
No nap that day.
ALL her Grandma's and Grandpa's- uncles, aunts and cousin.
She barely ate dinner from the pre-game (concert) excitement.

It was super chilly, but dry- so we walked to the high school.
Christmas lights were glowing and Quinny was squawking with glee the entire parade.

She was just a bit hesitant to join her class, before the show- but by the time the kids climbed on stage- she was ready to roll!

(Front and Middle)
On stage she was just like all the other 3/4 year olds- shouting 'hello' to their moms and dads- laughing with their neighbors, forgetting most of the song lyrics while presenting their own rendition louder than their giggle partner's.
Of course Quinny added her own flavor by covering her ears at points and the faces she made of "woah this is loud" were ever so present- but keeping it together all a while.

I could not believe it.

On the way home Quinny was on fire!
"Mom, my play was so fun!"
"Did you see me Daddy? I did it so beautiful!"
The best and most important part:
Quinny loved it.
She had fun.
She felt SO good about herself.


When we got home, and quickly got the wee ones in bed- Jake and I sat back and took in the gift that was the night.
Appreciating how far we're coming as a clan.
How cooking, baking, eating GFCF every day is calming her nervous system down, and allowing her therapies to truly impact her everyday.
Scrubbing her down with her therapy brush and giving her a Qi Gong massage every night is working!
Sensory therapy is working!
IT'S WORKING!!!!

Of course I know we will continue to bounce from left to right, up and down- that not everyday and every activity will be as successful and fabulous as it has been and has been becoming- BUT:
it's working.

To celebrate- hows about some fab family pics from the blessed event?

(So focused he was!)

(Look at that angel, furry vested kid).

(The face of one excited Mama!)

Felt Play House: Recycled

I had a little Kitty Kat remind me of the felt playhouse I made for Quinny, 3 years back. We thought re-posting the pics would be a fun reminder of another thoughtful, inexpensive child's Christmas present.
This house was a labor of love, and true novice execution- but the final product turned out so fun and we still bring it out for weeks of laughter and play (meaning I didn't make to many errors in its stability).

Gift Ideas: on a budget with love

Adding a third to the mix motivates Jake and I to be even more thoughtful with our spending.
It is foolishly challenging to keep my spending under control during the hustle and bustle of Christmas time- BUT this year I kept myself busy by crafting and sewing most of our gifts.
Jake and I have a pretty rad 'kid gift' under way, but for now I wanted to share two of my thrifty holiday gift ideas:
Personalized Mugs
Personalized Pillows

The Mugs:
Mr. Pinterest showed me that if you take a Sharpi and a coffee mug, you can make a thoughtful mug for those coffee/ tea lovers. So that is what I did. Personalized the hell out of these bad boys, popped them in the oven 350 degrees for 30 minutes and BAM:

Made this one for my Grandma- made a couple more for other loved ones. All different. All thoughtful.

The Pillows:
Who doesn't need an extra fancy pillow kickin' it around their house, eh? Coolest bit of this project is that it literally cost me nothing. I used all scrap fabric I had been hoarding from prior projects. I was also able to stuff them with extra filler I had hanging around.

Super excited to complete the kid's Santa gift in the next few days- Quinny has been begging for a Doll House, and with limited time and resources, Jake and I were able to put together a doll house for $3. Yes, $3. Stay tuned.

Christmas Cookie Prep

It's that time of year:
Holiday Baking!
By the looks of my Kitchen Aid this morning, I've got a lot of work ahead of me!
Practicing some new recipes before gifting any of these new concoctions.
For those of you who bake GF style- any fabulous suggestions??
Let the baking begin!