Link Roundup - Happy Birthday Hubs Edition

I began this post while sitting in my big brother's living room, surrounded by family and having spent the day watching Goose interact with her cousins. She had a ball! My poor sister-in-law had a stomach bug and I'm sad that she missed out on the chaos, but she rallied to come out and watch the Huskers with us. And I do mean that I spent the whole day watching Goose with her cousins - little dickens refused to take a nap. This week, Goose has come down with a cold and is an unappetizing ball of snot.

Today is my sweet baboo's birthday. I *think* I salvaged the coffee cake I made for him - apparently you aren't supposed to mix it up and store in the fridge overnight like I thought. I'm guessing the texture might be a bit, uh, interesting. Today is also a "meet-the-baby" event for my 10 month old nephew, who is visiting on his first trip from Alaska. I took a load of stuff over last night and have secured Hubs to be home while she naps and we have the hen party. There will be a seven-week-old baby there that I don't want her giving germs to! And, she really, really needs the nap - she napped five and a half hours on Thursday and three yesterday.

Of course, I have two full weeks worth of links for you. I'm thinking I'll try to do another link roundup midweek sometime so it's not so overwhelming for both of us. :>) Some cute and fun stuff this week!

MAKE
These 5-minute ribbon belts from Small Notebook have SO MANY possibilities.

A Bible Study acquaintance makes felted purses, and I think I'll see if I can get any leftover scraps from her to make these felt wreath ornaments at Alpha Mom.

Anna Maria Horner has a pdf pattern for a very cute felt owl.

This is an oldie but I think a very cute goodie - fabric wrapped initials from Goody-Goody Handmade.

Jane and the Ducks put together some very cute fabric wrapped ornaments. And heaven knows I love fabric scraps.

Speaking of scraps, they'd work great for these Nordic House Ornaments at Orange Flower Patterns.

Another oldie but new-found goodie - Robin's Egg Blue has neat tips on Embroidery for homemade Christmas.

Valerie at Frugal Family Fun Blog gets a thumbs up for repurposing in this Penguin Playset Tutorial - bonus points for the fish! :>)

I thought this new year's craft post at No Time for Flashcards was very sweet - a wishing tree.

I eyed these crepe paper flowers at Tipnut as decorations for our "hen party" today (Hubs's words for any gathering of women), but ended up going with these paper flowers that I found at Creature Comforts. I used some bigger pieces of paper as well as little ones, and I basically just rounded the corners of a rectangle and then cut the spiral (no lines are really needed). I was very pleased with the way they turned out.

EAT
I love me some potatoes, and this sheet on Tipnut with cooking potatoes tips should help in my endeavors.

For the "hen party" today, I'm making this crack aka bean dip. I'll admit I'm a bit nervous as I've not made it before, but I'm hoping the glowing reviews here are spot on. Her pan must be quite a bit larger than a 9x13 because mine is FULL and I haven't even put on the second jar of salsa (home-canned!) and cheese yet. (I'm also making Strawberry Cider and a ham and cheese dip that I got from my cousin - I'll have to share that recipe later 'cause it's DELISH!)

This is going to become an oft-referenced post for me - Sarah's Definitive Guide to Sourdough at Sarah's Musings. (confidential to Sarah: my starter is still being rather neglected. Good thing this stuff is hardy!)

Mercy sakes, I want to make this RIGHT NOW: creamy macaroni and cheese from Tammy's Recipes.

DO
Maybe once Goose gets a bit older, these New Year's Eve Countdown Goodie Bags from Hoosier Homemade will be a fun way to celebrate the holiday. (Though *I* don't even stay up until midnight most years . . . but I'm thinking with the bags, you don't have to! Let's hear it for pretending!)

As a proofreader, one of my pet peeves is seeing spelling and grammar errors everywhere! Though I know I make my share of mistakes . . . feel free to (gently!) point them out to me in the comments, regular readers. :>) Anyway, here is an amusing (warning: PG-13!) post on the 10 words you need to stop misspelling.

A more lighthearted post, Valerie at Frugal Family Fun Blog demonstrates indoor "ice" skating and surprisingly, she says there's no static involved.

Something I've been meaning to do is learn how to cut hair - lots of ideas there on Tipnut.

Katie at Kitchen Stewardship has a great list on how to store and freeze fresh produce, grains, and more.

PRAY & PONDER
I could hardly believe it when I read of the "Christmas Miracle" - a mother and baby revived after "dying" in labor. The doctor who rushed to the aid said that she "cannot explain the mother’s cardiac arrest" - but others believe they can explain it. A post at Science and Sensibility includes a portion of the transcription of the interview with the couple and the doctor. This post contends that the story is the "classic sequence that follows what anesthesiologists term an `unexpectedly high blockade,' meaning the anesthesiologist injected the epidural anesthetic into the wrong space and it migrated upward, paralyzing breathing muscles and in some cases, stopping the heart." Please, mothers, know the risks of interventions!

Faith & Family Live has a lovely article called Just One More which is subtitled "Real Life Meets Open to Life". I have been praying for the daughter of a friend of mine who is undergoing her fifth miscarriage. Although she probably doesn't realize it, her openness to life is quite a testament to her faith.

I'd not heard of the "Churching of Women" as described at Shower of Roses, but I'm intrigued!

Though I'm still pondering my resolutions, I really liked this piece at Faith & Family connecting Self-Improvement and the Sacraments.

TO BRIGHTEN YOUR DAY
Top Ten Posts of 2009 at Cute Overload. I'm still giggling.

Another cause of the giggles: Ode to Joy by Beaker from the Muppets. If you listen and aren't "meep"ing all day, I'll be shocked!