Pages

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Cupcakepalooza

Monday, December 21, 2009

2009 Christmas Home Tour


Just a snippet of our home at Christmas time.  Decor changes year to year, but we consistently stay with red and apple green.  We put up our massive 12 ft artificial tree and long story short....I started having some freaky symptons (same as last year at this time), googled artificial tree off-gassing, freaked out again, took the fake tree down, went to Home Depot to buy a real tree, put new tree up, donated 12ft fake tree and symptoms are gone.  We are now a real tree @ Christmas family.  The photo shown below is of our fake tree (will post real tree soon).  My kitchen table decor is simply 3 Dollar Tree placemats (in apple green) stiched togther, two candles and a poinsettia in a spray painted tin.  Easy and cheap.

My happy flying Santa with my vintage aircraft sign in my newly painted hutch!  Love it! Family room. 
Sandy even got a Christmas pillow.

Our kitchen with mod valence made from Dollar Tree garland on a spring rod.  Our "Celebrate" painted red for Christmas!

And, the real reason we celebrate Christmas....Jesus!  Our nativity takes such a small space in our house, but is huge in our life. 
Wishing you all a very
Merry Christmas! 
May you know the
love and peace of Jesus!

Friday, December 18, 2009

My Chickens Are Coming Home...

....to roost for the next two weeks.  Yippee, no school, no lunch making, no early morning grumpiness!  Lots of baseball, basketball, last minute shopping, gift wrapping, Girl Scout bake sales, cupcake contest family dinner and most importantly, remembering that this season is all about Jesus!  Here's one of my freckled chickens...

Thursday, December 17, 2009

Remember December is Moving Along!


My December Daily book is moving along.  Cover is done, internal pages are cut and ready to roll, photos printed (thank you Costco), notes taken and embellishments ready for adhesive.

Joy!


He will yet fill your mouth with laughing, and your lips with rejoicing.  Job 8:21

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Some December Happiness!

Thursday, December 3, 2009

Remember December 2009...Warning...Long Post!

I was going to post these last, but Blogger is not my friend right now, so here goes. These mice bride and groom ornaments were given to Eric and me 17 years ago (1992) by my mom as a pre-wedding gift. They have always had a special place on our tree. Fast forward to 2007 with Emilie and my mom on their yearly craft fair adventures. They found some cute mice ornaments at a local craft fair in a senior mobile home park. When the mice arrived home and were put on the tree, we noticed a similar "build" between the 1992 mice and the 2007 mice. In 2008 when my mom and Emilie were touring Christmas craft fairs, they found the mice again at the same mobile home park. This time, they spoke to Thelma, the lady responsible for the cute mice, and sure enough, she was making mice way back in 1992. What a thrill. This year, I was not able to go to her craft fair, so I called her and asked if I could have a private "mouse" showing. Thelma invited us over that afternoon, but warned me that her house was a mess and the mice were just in a box. In turn I warned her that I had 3 kids with me, but that did not bother her. We arrived to find all her mice carefully standing on her coffee table and her house was immaculate. Emilie and Nicolas were with me as well as Kiley, Emilie's friend from school. She invited the kids to sit on the couch so that they could see all her creations. She sat across from the kids so that she could see their response to her mice. Such a sweet, humble and creative lady. Next year, I will get a photo of her with her mice. And, she sells her mice for $5 each. We left happy with 8 mice in our car! Here are ar few that we have collected.Last year was the first year that I documented our 25 Days of Christmas. My inspiration last year was Ali Edwards. This year, my inspiration is Stephanie of Homegrown Hospitality. Accountability is wonderful!
Here is the completed project from last year which sits on our coffee table. This morning during Eric's quiet time (I have to add that he turned on the Christmas tree lights too) he picked it up and read it from cover to cover. He was thrilled and I was thrilled that my "not so mushy-gushy" husband enjoyed it.
I am behind the "Christmas documenting" curve, but I am documenting our days with words and photos. I purchased all my supplies some time ago and spent under $20 for everything. Got to love Walmart clearance, Big Lots, Ross and the Dollar Tree. Here's my loot...check out Sandy's nose. She's always looking to get into a photo or to eat some chipboard!Here is our Christmas tree (photo from last year), our 12' tree that I purchase on super clearance at OSH almost 3 years ago for the price of $20. It was originally a $400 tree. It is a pain in the patootie to put up and I fuss that the only thing I like about it is the price tag until....it is decorated. It is a lovely once it is all dressed.Here is my "not so mushy-gushy" husband helping with the assembly and finding the dead bulbs. He has grown to love the Christmas preparations. Thank God for that!
This is a shot I got at Walmart. $65 for a cut tree that is 5' shorter than mine. Ha!Our very own Nativity scene. Nicolas as Joseph, Emilie as Mary and a leftover doll as Jesus! Happy Day! Canine shot. She loves the red Christmas rug! Me in the Walmart parking lot.

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

My Favorite Advent Calendar!

I made this advent calendar a few years ago and it remains my favorite. I write notes to my kids add a favorite scripture and little toys or candies. The kids love it! I just entered this into the Handmade Holidays contest on the Michael's website. I'd love to win the grand prize which is a trip to see Martha Stewart, but the $100 wouldn't be too shabby either. Please visit here and vote! Vote by selecting the snowmen on the bottom left of the image. Thank you!

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Ugly Duckling!

Here is my ugly duckling that I bought at a thrift store for $24. It has been hiding in my garage for 9 months and I finally turned it into a beautiful piece. A few cans of primer, spray paint, new moulding at the top, new fineals, and new door hardware and ta da... Love it! Can't wait to decorate it for Christmas!!!

Sunday, November 8, 2009

October Fun!

Crazy fun at the pumpkin patch up Highway 1. The kids used the wagons to ride (and crash) down the hill as well as big corrigated pipes to roll in. And, Mr. Nicolas in a new disguise.

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

In Honor of Our Veterans!

O happy day...It's another blog hop hosted by Operation Write Home to honor our Veteran's! Operation Write Home is a great organization that supports our nation’s armed forces by sending blank greeting cards to write home on, as well as cards of gratitude to encourage them. It's a great way to bless our service personnel for serving so selflessly for us.
Here's the link to the beginning of the hop in case you missed it. Have fun!
Now, continue on with the hop and check out the great cards by Celeste!

My youngest "Any Hero" card maker showing his lovely creations. Funny how kids are so happy with a glue stick and paper!

In addition to "hopping" today, I wanted to document one of my heroes...my dad. My dad served in the Army Air Corp for just 3 years in Las Vegas, NV. He never saw "action", but he is still a hero in my book. My dad passed away in 1997. He was a courageous and strong man with a huge amount of perseverance. Honoring you, dad, on Veteran's day!