PHR Certification -- Goal achieved!

That's right, I passed!

Ok, I admit, I spent a little too much time making Christmas ornaments, sewing handmade gifts, and shopping for/wrapping presents, and not enough time studying.

If not for the munchkin, I may not have studied at all!  Ryan has had to go in at night to work, so it was just me and Ella for a handful of nights.  She's in the phase where she is very attached and very needy.  She wants someone to sit with her until she falls asleep.  There's not much I could do besides read (there was Family Feud for the iPad, but I limited myself to Fast Money rounds and up to 3 full games a night).  Plus, all the overtime helped solidify my understanding of labor laws and the Fair Labor Standards Act.  Woohoo!  Yes, I realize how dorky that sounded.

Anyway, I'm in overdrive as I'm trying to "wrap up" everything before Christmas -- in less than 2 weeks!  Hopefully, I'll find some downtime to snap a few shots and get some posts scheduled :)

Decorating the tree

Last year, Ella was only half a year old for her First Christmas.  It was fun, but now that she's a little older and a little more vocal, we can't wait to celebrate with her.  She loves the holiday decorations at the mall.  Everytime she sees Santa or any likeness she shouts, "Sanna!  Sanna!"  The loaded toy aisles every where we go, and the stash of presents we've already picked out make her so excited.  I wanted to do something fun for our tree.  So I started making felt ornaments that she and the other cousins can enjoy.

Yoooooooooo Gabba Gabba!!

MUNO!  He's tall and friendly:

FOOFA!  She's pink and happy:

BROBEE! The little green one:

TOODEE!  She likes to have fun:

PLEX! A magic robot:

They were super easy to make.  I printed out the pages from www.nickjr.com and used my lightbox to trace out the facial features and create a template.  I cut out the felt using the template and used tacky glue to piece it all together.  There's a layer of report cover plastic in each head with a hole punch, where I tied the ribbon.  That way it prevents the ribbon from detaching and adds reinforcement to the whole ornament.

It's also easier to use a pair of embroidery scissors to cut out the pieces.  Initially I used a pair of 7" 3M shears.  That wasn't a safe idea.  For my fingers or my face.  Haha, it's detail work, you definitely want a pair of detail cutters.

I have a feeling they'll be very short lived.  They're too much of a distraction and she just stands, points, and screams.  Hopefully she'll get used to them and we can leave them up.