Ice Skate Christmas Ornaments

November and December highlights will be coming at a later date. In the meantime I had to share these skate ornaments I made with my Harrington sisters and Kari (my mom-in-law). We had such a great time putting these together!

The background: We needed ice skate ornaments for the children at church to help them remember a story my father-in-law will be reading to them on Christmas Eve.

The problem: We couldn't find them anywhere!

The solution: Make our own!!

We found the basic idea on the following website, but tweaked it to our liking

http://www.bhg.com/holidays/christmas/ornaments/make-a-felt-mitten-and-ice-skate-ornament/?page=2

Here's what you need:

• felt
• large paper clips
• tissues/ cotton balls (to use as stuffing)
• needle and thread
• silver cord string (or any thick thread you'd like to use for the laces)
• ribbon (for hanging the ornament)
• fancy ribbon (for the top of the skate)

Step 1: Use the stencil on the website above to cut out the felt skate.

Step 2: Begin sewing the skate closed starting from the lower left corner of the skate pictured above. When you get to the top, loop the "fancy ribbon" around the top of the boot and place the ends in between the two pieces of felt. Also place the two ends of the "hanging ribbon" in between the two pieces of felt. Sew the top shut.

Step 3: Stuff the skate with tissue (or any other stuffing of your choice), then sew the skate shut.

Step 4: Slide a paper clip in the bottom of the skate, then finish closing up the skate. Be sure to secure the paper clip in place with a stitch or two.

Almost done!!

Step 5: Use the silver cord string to stitch laces.

"Ta da!!" A Skate ornament! Aren't they lovely???

Highlights from October 2009

Since the downfall of our computer keyboard, blogging has been a little more time consuming. (For those of you who don't know, our "n" and "b" keys no longer work because Mark spit up on the keyboard. A skype catastrophe. So... we have to copy and paste all n's and b's. It's actually quite comical--- at times.) The point is I'm behind in documenting our lives. I guess for the vast majority of you this is not a big deal (or even a deal at all). However, I'm having a hard time with the thought of skipping over these fun tid bits of our lives in order to catch up, so I won't. Here they are.

Chris gets his grill. (a birthday present from pretty much every family member) His first meal: pork chops. YUM! :-)

We had a pumpkin carving party with the 8th grade girls from youth group. What a blast! They are so much fun to be around!

Mark's Great Poppie (my grandfather) and Loie came to visit and see our new home for the first time. Great Poppie made the dinner--He's my favorite cook :-) It was a real treat!

My cute Purdue fans :-)

Mark's 7 month picture

Mark's favorite pastime...hoodie strings!

In October I surprised my family with a trip to new Jersey. We had an awesome time! Here are some pictures to document the festivities...

All the Hanlon women & Mark

3 generations

Finally, at the very end of October (halloween), we spent the day with 2 of my roommates from college and their husbands. It was a blast!!

Mark's First Food...Yum!!

Sept 24th, 2009- Mark eats his first bite of food at 6 months old (well, aside from rice cereal). What was it??? I know, the suspense it killing you... it was CARROTS Here's the video. Enjoy :-)

Our First House!!

Getting the Keys... Sept 15th, 2009

A week and a half after we got back from Japan, we signed the papers for our first home!! We had youth group the night we got the keys, so after youth group a group of us leaders went to our new home. Chris carried me over the threshold and we had a photo shoot in the kitchen with all our friends. The following evening we brought over some chairs, pizza and a couple of pack and plays and played Settlers of Catan with the Grays. I couldn't imagine a better way to celebrate the purchase of our first home!

Moving In... Sept 19th, 2009

We were so blessed when it came to the process of moving. Our wonderful friends and family watched Mark while we packed, lent us boxes, made us meals, and gave up a beautiful Saturday morning to move us. Thank you everyone for all your help!!!

All of our stuff fit in one truck...one very large truck!!

Mark and his uncle ben get some much needed rest after a busy day

Day 15: Yukatas & saying goodbye

Day 15: Sunday

We got to worship with the Japanese believers and missionaries one last time before we headed home. It was a fantastic way to finish our trip. To make this day even more special, many of the ladies (and little girls) wore their yukatas! Some of the little boys even wore their jembays!!

Saying goodbye....

It was a tearful goodbye, but we left with may wonderful memories and the anticipation of seeing them again in February. Thank you Pfeils for an unforgettable visit! We love you and miss you!!

Day 14: Family Time

Day 14: Saturday

Playtime with cousins....

Cute Japanese pastries...

Origami....

Pfeil family photo shoot....

Day 13: Library & much more

Day 13: Friday

Friday morning we walked to the library for story time. On the way, Chris stopped to photograph a Japanese cemetery...

Library time...

above: A kindergarten class we saw on the way

Jusco...

Harrington family photo shoot...

Meeting a member of the college life group...

Mark takes a bath in the sink... so cute :-) He fits perfectly!

Day 12: Special Building phase & Shopping!!

Day 12: Thursday

So we moms (Sarah & I) were quite spoiled this day. In the AM the guys watched all the kids while we went shopping. During our shopping excursion, the rest of the fam had a "special building phase"....(which meant they were allowed to use any and all materials in the toy room to make the biggest and best creation. They had a blast!!

In the evening, Sarah, Jon, Chris, Mark, and I went out for a lovely dinner and Sarah and I concluded the day with a wonderful visit to the onsen. What a day!!! :-)

Day 11: Beach & Longest Slide

Day 11: Wed

Beach:

Mark's 1st experience at the ocean was in Japan in the Pacific Ocean!! It was a cold and very windy day, but we managed to stay a good 45 min :-)

Mark's cute toes

Longest Slide:

Japan's parks are definitely way-cooler than America's parks. I can't even describe how long this slide was, but I know I'll probably never experience a longer one!!

the top of the slide