{caramel apple cider}

each winter time - & maybe even summer time, we treat ourselves to starbucks caramel apple cider.

then i watched them make it one day & realised that we could totally do it at home!

we've been making them for the last month & a half on an almost nightly basis. {& we are again tonight while we watch white christmas. surprise surprise}

i decided to make our syrups rather than buying them. the recipes make quite a bit & they really don't take long. but you could get the cinnamon dolce at starbucks this time of year, as well i believe.

you will need: {per 12oz. cup}

1.5 tablespoons of this caramel sauce

2 tablespoons of cinnamon dolce syrup

apple juice or cider

{honestly, though. i eyeball all of these things & taste & add & taste. that doesn't help for a recipe, though, but i think these amounts are just about what we use for our cider. maybe just a pinch more…}

optional: {for a more christmas-y cider}

cinnamon sticks

lemon slices {one per cup}

a pinch of nutmeg

{happy winter}

our christmas card in digital form. a few days late.

we hope you all are having the most happy of holiday seasons.
i can hardly believe 2012 is days away, now.

this blog has been such a blessing for our family. the encouragement from you all has been incredible. i feel like i know a lot of you in a funny sort of way. even just from seeing the same names commenting every so often - so thank you all!

{lavender hot cocoa}

one of my favourite things about winter time is all of the hot drinks we've been making.
& even daniel liked this lavender hot cocoa.

i know. i was a bit surprised, too.
all it does is add a bit of a warmer taste that you can feel down in your belly. its quite nice.
& to make it extra fun, we used dark chocolate instead of a cocoa mix - but you can really do either.

it only take a few extra minutes, & is worth a try at least once this winter!

you will need:
2 cups of milk
3 ounces of dark chocolate
1/4 tsp of dried lavender buds
1 tsp of vanilla

heat milk + lavender over medium heat until milk is beginning to steam. then set aside for 5-10 minutes & let the lavender seep into the milk a bit. then strain the lavender.
i opted to skip this step to make things go quicker, but you really don't want a lot of lavender buds in your cocoa. really. the texture is a bit weird. you could even pour your milk into a french press & strain if you don't have cheesecloth, which is probably what i'll do next time around...
now put your milk back on the stove & add chocolate & vanilla. stir until combined & top with a dollop of whipped cream & go watch yourself something festive. like white christmas.

{a fun song by us + heartbreaker photos of baby isaac}

no updates on our little man in awhile because we really haven't had any new news. & no news is very good news for us.

a normal day for me & isaac lately has been christmas movies & snuggles all morning & then i'll let him nap some in the afternoon & tackle bills or cleaning followed by dinner & more family time. other days are full of doctor visits< which at least get us out of the house. we've been little hermits over here & probably will be until flu season is over. hopefully by then isaac will be big & strong & ready to meet the world!

he is smiling more. & once or twice we have caught it on camera. he melts my heart every time.

also, big news…

we are going to have TWO redheaded colemans! isaac has a little mullet that is coming in auburn. i couldn't be more proud :)

in unrelated news - daniel threw together a little slideshow of some pictures of us over the past two years. it was actually really fun for me to watch. it makes me remember all of the fun things we did - just us two before our wonderful, but life changing little boy.

daniel may or may not have something to do with the song ;)

{diy tree skirt}

this kind of post may seem familiar. its how a lot of them used to be before little man stole the show ;)
in between naps & feedings & doctors these past few weeks i've squeezed in little bits of time to work on a few projects.

we've been in need of a little tree skirt redo.
& theres been a lot of tutorials for no-sew ones floating around, so i did the same thing - folded over pleats to make lots of ruffles, only i ended up sewing mine after all. it just felt more secure. hot glue doesn't love sticking for me that well. & i actually think it ended up saving me a good bit of time - so if you HAVE a sewing machine - i like how it turned out quite well :)

you will need:

4-5 yards of fabric

a rotary cutter & board

a sewing machine & thread

an existing tree skirt

-wash & dry fabric & cut into strips. i did 4 inch strips & it took me about 5 hours to make this. i think if you did 5 inch strips, it would speed things up a bit, though…

-fold over fabric & pin onto your tree skirt so you are making ruffles - you'll want to start on the outside & work your way to the middle, so your last row will be the smallest. after you finish each row, sew & repeat - covering 1/2 to 1 inch of the previous row each time.

& a few christmas movies later, you're done!

its a bit late in the season to be making tree skirts, so sorry for my tardiness. let me know if you try it!