weekly Wrap up 1-6-17

Happy New Year!! I hope everyone had a wonderful start to the New Year!  We had a nice relaxing week.  Each of the us just chilling and doing our own thing:)  My husband watched football and worked on a few chores he has been meaning to get around too.  My children spent their time unwinding and playing with their new Christmas presents.  My daughter had to work on a little school over the break but it wasn't too much.   I spent some time in my stain glass studio, and experimenting with my new kitchen appliance...the instant pot:)

We took the kids to see the Christmas train at the botanical gardens-- we go every year 

MarioFan and a friend took a picture inside a snow globe -- here they are posing in a silly way

I spent several day working in my glass studio-- here is a lamp that I am making.  I still need to do a little more work before it is finished.  I will post a picture when it is finished

I made a cardinal sun catcher which I will be giving to family when we see them next month.

Here is the finished piece!

Here is another piece I am working on.  I finished one and am still working on getting the other matching one done and then it will be hung in my dining room as accents to the entrance of the room.  I will post a picture when it is completed.

Lastly I am working on my largest glass project to date.  This piece is 40 by 30 inches and will hang in my bathroom window.  I spent time working on the pattern and making changes, deciding on colors and then bought some glass.  The cost of glass is getting very pricey from when I first began:(  

Got the kids outside to finally rake the leaves up in the front yard.  Not sure why or how but all the neighbors leaves end up in our yard.  The wind seems to circle around our front yard:(  

I have joined the instant pot craze that is going around and bought myself a Christmas present.  I have never used one before but have heard amazing things about this appliance so I wanted to give it a try 

The first meal I tried was pork loin and it turned out yummy!  My skeptical husband was quite impressed with the process.  

Usually to get pork loin this tender I use the slow cooker for 8 hours.  But the instant pot only took 25 minutes.
I also used it to boil eggs and peeling the egg shells have never been easier.  So far this thing is living up to my expectations and may very well be my new favorite kitchen appliance!

So we have started back to our coop schedule and home school schedule this week and I will post more about what we are working on next week as we are just getting started after several weeks off.