Recovery

Today, the second day after Christmas and I have nearly given up. Noah went to the dentist today and had to have two baby teeth pulled as he has permanent teeth coming in over them, but they were not coming out. I hate our pediatric dentist. He costs too much and we pay him, then he files for insurance. OUCH. Noah did great though.

My basement is full of bigger kids (11-12) playing Wii and there are several 7 year olds in front of the TV upstairs watching Shrek the Third. I am pretending not to have responsibility for any of them they all know where the food is if they need a sandwich anyway. I look at my stampin stuff and hope for inspiration, but it does not come. I know the new Stampin Up catalog is in, and I long to make a run out of the neighborhood to go get it.

Noah politely asked for juice at the grocery and I got it for him. The problem? He wanted grape juice. Yep. The purple stuff. then he wanted the biggest jug he could get of it. I let him, against all my best thoughts, and I hope I don't pay for this later in spills. So far he is careful, but I feel a sense of impending doom.

I have to make dinner soon. Oh Geez. Didn't I just do that? No, it was leftover night last night. Although we have enough leftovers to do it again, I don't think the family will accept it again. Dangnabit. My motivation is gone, and I need to find it, we leave for a trip on Saturday and I gotta get ready. I have lost control of the house and the laundry and just don't care. I think that's a problem.

Hmmm...

I have no idea why this photo didn't upload like it should have. All I can say is that I want some pie and Nana's soup now. Yummm...

Homemade Christmas

Every year (okay, this is only the scond year we have done his.) my 3 girl friends and I exchange homemade Christmas presents. We went out for Italian food last night and had our gift exchange.
I got a fancy calendar/scrapbook from one friend, a piece of canvas art from another and a stained glass snowflake from my third friend. The canvas art represents the eason of winter, so I am going to make matching canvases for the other three seasons. My friend Rebecca learned stained glass this year, so not only is it a new craft form that none of the rest of us can do, it is beautiful!

I also got some homemade fudge, and some homemade canned Vegetable Soup made by "Nana." The rumor is that Nana makes the best soup ever. I wanted some of her soup last year, but was too late to order any. She makes it each winter and sells it as a way to raise money for the missions work of her church. I have been waiting a year for this soup! Nana is one of those talented ladies that can turn anything she touches to gold. She makes delicious cookies and the best cakes ever. I got two cans of soup and I am going to have some for lunch today as I just can't wait any longer!

I came home to find my husband cooking apple pies. He took the most beautiful of the pies to work, but he left a pie at home and I also took a photo of the soup. Yum. He is the pie king.

Every year I make cake for Christmas, since it is Christ's birthday. But this year we are having pie. I think Jesus won't mind as I can recall no biblical preferences mentioned about His favorite dessert as long as he is remembered on His special day.

Tonight we celebrate Christmas with my parents and brother and his family, (he has the nicest wife ever, Angela.) and tomorrow morning we will open Santa presents. I feel like a kid, I can't wait to see what else I get!

Early Christmas

We went to spend the day with the inlaws who live about 2 hours away and have Christmas with them. This year we met at a rec hall on a local college campus, Indiana Tech. The kids bowled, played ping pong, air hockey, pool....there was a lot to do. Noah got what he had been longing for, a long board. It's just a longer than usual skateboard. We had to order it on the internet and have it shipped to the in laws so they could give it to him. He was delighted! He tries to stand on it and rose on it sitting, but secirity told him he had to put it away.

I am okay with that, as we were inside. He was sad, so I took him outside to ride it. Security came out and told us skateboards are not allowed anywhere on campus and that he needed to carry it, wheels off the ground, and to the car. Good grief! I can see their point, as some kids canbe reckless and endanger themselves and others but the rule should be that you can ride your skateboard if you have close parental supervision. Of course, some parents don't supervise as well as others.

Seth got a caboose for his train set and some more track. We had taken his train set along so he could put it all together and play with it. His caboose arrived broken and Scott needed tools so he could fix it. The tools are at home and we were not. Seth looked pretty pathetic most of the day.


This is an ornament I found at the Dollar Tree. It had a snowflake design that looked like it would come off easily, so i took it off and added Hanna. i stamped her on vellum and cut around her and glued her gently to the ornament. She came with the little fake stryofoam snowballs inside. I added Diamond Dust, but it just sunk to the bottom and didn't mix in.

Since I have all the Hanna Stamps a girl can own, I am dreaming of a Papertrey Christmas. I'll know in a few days if anyone followed my list, or if I get more coffee products that I don't drink.

I don't mean to sound bitter, but 1) I don't drink coffee, or very many hot drinks at all except for the occasional hot chocolate or tea. 2) I would never spend my money at Starbucks as it is such a large chain and is too expensive for my tightwad personality. Never the less, someone always gives me coffee or gift cards for Starbucks to which my husband who loves both coffee and Starbucks says THANK YOU!

Gift in a Can

This is the part where you decide for yourself if I have lost my mind. I used my safety can opener to take the lid off a can of chicken and then I cleaned it and made it into a gift holder. Am I crafty? A good recycler? Just plain cheap? The choice is yours, and you don't have to share your decision on this issue as some things are best kept to yourself.

I have a couple of friends who have kicked their lousy husbands to the curb this year and I am determined that they not have an empty Christmas tree. I am sure they have shopped for their kids and others but have not gotten themsmelves anything. So, I knit scarves, found matching gloves at a discount store, got some cute new kitchen towels and bath stuff for them. Nothing exciting, but everyday stuff they can use. This gift is a little something for one of them. I plan to deliver presents on Christmas Eve morning so they can wake up the next day and have a little something to open from Santa.

The can is only two inches high and I used some SU paper left over from last year. I made a little belly band that is 3/4 of an inch and covered the seam with a scalloped oval punch from Marvy Uchida. I added bling, and any Christmas stamp you would have would work well in place of the reindeer. Easy and cute!

Hanna Christmas

For today's viewing enjoyment I bring you Hanna tags and a card. The card is from the "Perfect Package" set but for the tags I used alittle of this and a little of that which culminated in using three of the four Hanna sets available. I love how they all mix and match so well. I used some old SU paper and some Bazzill. It was a great way to use up some scraps.

Note to self: Do not hoard paper. Use it before you forget the name of the set it came from!"

I ran frantically all day and have now decided that it was just a big dog, not a coyote. The tail gives it away for sure. I was hoping it was heavy from the fur, but I am afraid not. My goal to be the first neighbor with photographic proof of nearby coyotes is dashed to the wind. Dagnabit!

Unidentified Local Animal

Tell me if you can identify this animal. I saw it this morning as I left the neighborhood and had to grab my camera. I suspect it is a coyote, as they are known to be in the area, but none of us have photographic proof. Just stories like "so and so saw a coyote walking down the middle of her cul de sac last night." And then we'll get a helpful message from the neighborhood e mail list keeper/communicator who say she talked to the Dept. Of Natural Resources who confirms there are coyotes in the area," but they don't attack unless you smell like food so don't send your kid out with a bologna sandwich."

I have seen coyotes running but they look leaner than this. Maybe this one has his winter fur. So, anyone know if this is a coyote or not? It ran of when it saw me and camoflauged into the tree row in the background.

It must be a day for wildlife as I saw a deer jump right out in front of my car and across the road. It was moving too fast for a photo op. But I did have to brake to avoid hitting it.

Scarves

I made some scarves for friends that go to painting class with me. I used Bohemian yarn from Paton's, found at Michaels. The basic recipe is that you pick an odd number, like 15 for the number of stitches across that you want. You Knit 2, Purl 2 all the way across, remembering to end with a purl at each row. I am the World's Slowest Knitter, so even though the yarn is big and the instructions easy, it still seems to take me a while to knit them up.

I gave them away this morning and everyone pretended that a scarf was just what they always wanted. They are posed here on my patio furniture in snow. I do think it is best to give scarves away in cold snowy weather so the recipients can properly enjoy their bounty.

Frenzy

Another self portrait through stamp art. This is me just before the holidays. I've lost my head and don't know where I left it! I am frenzied. I have finished shopping and have gifts hidden throughout the house. I did not do a good job this year keeping track of which kid has what. I just wrapped stuff and put their names on the presents and hid them. And much of the time I cannot remember where I hid things. I just want Christmas to be over. Right. Now.

I put Hanna's head (from the Pretty Package set) in the box as it looked better than just laying on the floor or completely missing. This is a little book made out of coasters so I can write down what's left of my memories. You know, so and so has such and such gift tucked here and I still need to make this thing for that person.....

Help! I have lost my brain and don't know where to find it!

Oh Boy....

We got more snow last night, I don't know how much, but enough to have a Winter Weather Warning issued, whatever that is. For us it meant staying in bed and not getting up at the crack of dawn to go to church, as we go to the "early service" at 8:30 AM. Why so early? partly force of habit. We have Sunday School at 9:45 and when we leave church we can head to lunch at 11:00. Gotta beat the Baptists to the buffet!

We slept in a bit and the boys went out to play. Actually they went in and out and in and out and....Well, the wind chill was about 0 degrees, so who can blame them. I did not step one foot outside until the boys could take no more, and I could not stand to hear them beg for "Alvin and the Chipmunks" one more time. I got the short straw and had to take them. It was okay. Not as bad as I expected but not good either. Then we all met up and ate at Don Pablos.

At home we got a message that the schools are on a two hour delay tomorrow. That means I am on a two hour delay to get to my local Michaels (less that 2 miles from home!). I have collected all the neighbors coupons and have some shopping to do. Actually, I wouldn't go out to collect them, I asked them all to bring them to the bus stop in the morning. I am both thrifty and good at time saving.

I hope you are all warm and toasty and I am still dreaming about getting back in my nice warm bed tonight.

Self Portrait

It's a shame this doesn't photograph better, I swear the colors look a bit less patriotic and richer in real life. Hanna is even colored in around the bottom, here she looks like she is floating in space. I assure you, she is not.

This is what I look like for those of you who don't know me, scantily clad, shoeless and drunk. It reminds me of the song "Tequila makes her clothes fall off". Oh, I am just joking. I don't have shoes that look like that!

For those of you who may wonder if I know how to write in paragraphs, I do! Blogger just doean't always accept the paragraphs I make on my blog. Some days they show up, some days they don't. They must be lazy paragraphs. Since the use of blogger is free, all I can tell ya is that you get what you pay for.

I had lunch with a friend today and have done some more Christmas shopping at my least favorite discount store. That means I need to wrap presents too.

This Hanna set is newly available today and all the accessory stamps except for the bottle are from Hanna Stamps! I love how they all fit together so well.

Boob A Licious Hanna

Here is my new Hanna Sneak Peek. The new set will be released tomorrow and it is a gift giving set. I am loving it! If you think I am paid in free stamps to claim that, you are right. But, I wouldn't say it if it was not true. This is so great for all my cards for girlfriends' birthdays and maybe even for gifts I give to some of the men in my life. It is a versatile set and that is my favorite thing. Usually I would have been posting sneak peeks so much earlier, but the mail man did not deliver my set in a timely fashion. Shame on him. Does he not know what treasures are in my mail?

The hard thing about being on a design team is that there are so many talented women on the team and we are all trying to out do each other. So, I colored Hanna a bit differently. You see, this Hanna has the ability to wear a cropped top, so I took full advantage of drawing in lines and making her clothes skimpy. She is a wee bit sexy, yes?

I paper pieced the box, added some bling and used the new sentiments set that Hanna Stamps! has just released. I am loving the sentiments! A stamper can never have enough fun with word stamps. They are as important as the images themselves. I tell ya, I am a happy woman! I hope you like this Hanna and that you have an "uplifting" day as well. (Get it, a boob a licious joke?)

Trim the Tree

These ornaments are a little like soup, theres a whole lot of little bits and pieces of things that make up the whole finished object. I started with diamond shaped paper ornaments. I painted them pink and added Crystal Glitter to make them shine. I colored my Hanna images from the Rainy Days set and punched them out with a circle punch. then I put the scalloped punch behind them. I used flowers from the SU set, Natural Beauty and covered them with Crystal Effects and put brads in the middle of them. I used velvet ribbon on thee dges and siver string for the holder.


There is really only one ornament, it is the front and back views as the two triangles were glued together.


There will be a new Hanna Stamps set available on Friday, called "Gift Giving." It will be a great set for any gift giving occasion. I should have a sneak peek available for posting very soon. (Okay, maybe tomorrow, nt within the hour.)

It was grey and overcast and rainy all day. Driving was like being in a cloud, bad visibility and damp. I just don't understand people who don't use their head lights in poor weather. It may not be completely dark, but the head and tail lights are there so we can see each other. They are included with the purchase of your car and you should use them!

Seth

Here is Seth spelling his name out of Cheetos. Who would have thought to do this? He is so creative, I tell ya.

My friend Steph says that if you sit still at my house I'll cover you with paper. Seth fell asleep and I put a sock on him that I had knit. He was unwilling to pose properly when he was awake, so I bent his will to mine as soon as the opportunity presented itself.

So, if I don't cover you in paper, you may be covered in yarn! Seth wanted me to knit him some socks, like the crazy colorful ones I have knit for myself, but he does not wear them often. I make him wear them if we get invited to someones home and I know we'll be taking our shoes off as soon as we step in the door. Otherwise he is oten found in dirty looking formerly white slouchy stinky boy socks, which he and his brother seem to have bonded with a little too much.

Hmmmm....

I don't know, it feels like I should make another post but I don't have a picture handy. I almost always post a photo. But, alas, the camera is upstairs and I am downstairs and not feeling so motivated to go get it and post my newest Hanna creation. Maybe I'll find my motivation soon.


We are having a quiet day. The boys are home as the staff are having Staff Development Day. We got another few inches of snow last night and the boys went out to play for hours in it this morning. We had fast food for lunch and Noah fell asleep. It seems like a great idea, I think I'll go nap, too.

Snow

Well, yes, indeed we got snow! Only about 3 inches but it was enough to delay school for 2 hours while the roads got cleared. I wanted to sleep in, but Noah was awake and still needed driven to school. My friend Odette stopped over to pick up some stamping supplies and it was a bit of a frenzy getting everyone packed up and out the door at various times this morning.

The top photo is a photo of my home and the next photo is of my front door. The WELCOME is fromUpperCase Living, which I just can't tell you how much I love! Yes, that is my shadow in the door.

I am making chili spaghetti for dinner and plan to stay dry and cozy tonight. I hope all is well in your world as well.

Oh, the sign in my front yard? Our community is having a bit of a discussion about whether or not to build a bigger library and the sign shows my opinion on this issue. I am against the new library. How can anyone be against a new library you ask? Well, the current library is fairly new, it is within walking distance of most of the community, is near the three schools for the older kids and can be added onto in its present location. In fact, it was built to be added onto, as a second floor could be added easily.

People who want the library to move want a larger fancier library on more land. The school system wants the land that the current library is on and has offereed the library ten free acres of land in exchange for their current location. The land is three miles outside of town, however, and within walking distance for almost no one and not close to any present schools or other ammenities.

Just Ducky

It is hard for me to cover up a photo of Javan, and post something on top of him, but here it is anyway. I made these earrings to match a bracelet I previously made and posted here. I stamped with Stazon and colored with Sharpies and punched out the shape with the SU Scalloped punch. I am a jewelry designer so I had the jewelry components on hand. The Swarovski crystal colors are Light Sapphire and Citrine.


I took lunch to Seth at school today. We had Taco Bell yet again. I have got to learn to say No to that child, but he makes my heart weak. Noah got Burger King on the way home from school, as he eats lunch at 10:40 and getting to his school at that time with a warm meal would be near impossible.


We are supposed to get snow tonight or tomorrow. i love the first snow of the year. After that, it is ugly and I am done for it. But the first snow is beautiful and I want to enjoy it from inside my home with a cup of tea in my hands.

Oh Dear God

I have been tagged, and Oh Dear God, people just don't know how very unskilled I am when it comes to technology. I am supposed to post rules, and tag others abd do other things I have no idea how to do and no time today to learn about. I can tell you 7 random things though. And, yes, they are all true.

1) I have twice marched in Washington D.C. for various causes. If I name them here, I may loose all three of my regular readers. Suffice it to say I am opinionated about controversial issues.

2) I believe the FBI has a file with my name on it. I really hope it makes for a good read, otherwise my life has not been worth living.

3) I only have 6 songs on my ipod. Put there by my husband at my request. Remember the part about how I am not techno savvy?

4) I LOVE to celebrate my birthday. I also love presents wrapped in boxes, not bags. Everyday I am breathing is a great day.

5) I never miss the show Nip/Tuck and I even rent shows from other seasons just because I love it so. I also like LOST a lot, but not as much as Nip/Tuck.

6) I have been to Africa 5 x and have been to many different African countries.

7) I have a Kenyan boyfriend. My last trip was to Kenya in April 2007 where I met the above pictured hottie. He is the driver for my friend, Sarah Ellen. His name is Javan and he is the reigning body building champion "Mr. Kenya." He is married and is one of the nicest men you will ever meet. Sarah Ellen started a shelter for abused women and one of the women at the shelter had a baby last week and named the baby Javan in honor of him! (No, he is not the father!) My friends from the trip all ask about my Kenyan boyfriend and my husband is aware of our friendship. We e mail weekly.

Lazy Monday

Well, you just have to imagine that the Hanna yous e above is really much richer in color in person. The paper is from K and Co. with bazzill bling paper as well. Hanna is colored with copics and her unbrella was cut out and glued on for the plaid effect. I had to add the little wormie, he's just so cute!

Chicago wore me out! It snowed, which was pretty, then turned to sleet. The snow/sleet stuck to my coat and melted whenever I went inside, so I then felt wet. My pants were wet from slogging through puddles, but miraculously my toes stayed warm and dry. There was an accident on the interstate on the way home, so we took a detour, and what should have been a three to three and half hour drive took six hours! I did get some cute gifts for the boys though at various museum shops. I only spent about $40.00, too, which was great.

Yesterday Scott took Seth to see High School Musical on Ice and then we had an appointment to get family photos taken. Whew...it was a whirlwind weekend and I spent several hours this morning helping Noah's teacher. All I want to do is nap, but I have too many people who want things from me today so that won't be happening. What I really want is an electric blanket with dual controls so I can be warm in bed. My husband doesn't like electric blankets, so dual controls on a King size blanket, please Santa!