Wednesday, November 30, 2011

getting ready

I start decorating for Christmas the weekend after Thanksgiving.

While I was working away, someone realized there was a new Christmas story that had been overlooked in last year's frenzy. Nothing screams "read me!" like a new book.

Dean and Matt decided that "Crackhead Santa" and "Pipe Smoking Rudy" were beyond saving.

I mean, that antler pretty much says it all!

I bought it for 3 dollars 10 years ago. I can safely say I got my money's worth.

We suffered just one casualty...but it was a vintage ornament from my parent's tree....really made me sad. I'm not even going to throw it away...maybe I can do "something" with it????


Decorating is hard work....at least for some of us.....others were.....



asleep!

Monday, November 28, 2011

Beep and Boop

two more gifts done.......



I over-stuffed their little robot arms on purpose, I know that with use they'll get bendy fairly quickly!

Saturday, November 26, 2011

Everywhere I go I see people using the Kindle or the Nook........but I'm not ready to give up actual books. I love the feel of them, the smell of them. I love everything about them. I love to swap them, to put them on my shelf and pull them down to reread later...

Besides, if I didn't have an actual book, I wouldn't need to make these:



I can't resist a pretty bookmark....especially one that has been handmade.

Thursday, November 24, 2011


Happy Thanksgiving!


Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Ironcraft and Dessert of the Month

This week's challenge at ironcraft was to make something for the table...as in the Thanksgiving or other holiday table.
I combined that with Dean's dessert of the month. He had wanted me to make some dumplings he saw in a Williams-Sonoma catalog.


So...I got the recipe and made them:

They are called Pennsylvania Dutch Apple Dumplings and are wonderful! If you want to try them out yourself, here is the link to the recipe.

We all thought they were a bit too salty so I'm am cutting the salt in half when I make them for Christmas dinner....but oh my gosh they are good..especially with the whipped cream and caramel sauce on top!

Monday, November 21, 2011

crayon rolls....

I have been doing an enormous amount of crafting of late and one of the things I've made are these crayon rolls....but I can only show you one.


I found this tutorial at the pleated poppy and made 7 of these little rolls.



Even thought there is a lot of prep work, they whip up quickly.
I did have trouble sewing the elastic band down. My machine did NOT like it, so I hand stitched it down first. Once the elastic was hidden between the layers of fabric it was fine.



I saw another tutorial at Prudent Baby and she uses ribbon...I may try that for the girls and use buttons for the boys.

Have happy Monday!

Friday, November 18, 2011

the angry gnome....

With all the crafting I've been doing of late, I haven't been paying enough attention to Gunter.

Sooooo, he tried to take a walk the other day while no one was around. Once I realized he was gone, I went looking for him.

I searched everywhere and finally found him like this....in the backyard.



Before I could help him get up, he had pushed himself over and boy was he mad!

He yelled at me saying that the LEAST I could have done was given him a decent pair of legs!


to top it off, he got a boo-boo and needed a band-aid...


Poor Gunter...

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

photo op...

Kaela's favorite past time is to rough house with Dean.
She will pester him over and over again until he.....oh wait....I've got that wrong.

Dean's favorite past time is to rough house with Kaela. He will pester her over and over again until she can't stand it anymore.




Dean almost taking a foot to the face....



The two of them go at it....sometimes for over an hour. The dogs chase them, the cats run from them.
Matt and I try to go on as normal.....with me taking photos and Matt attempting to eat...

It usually ends up with them running through the house, knocking over chairs, slinging doors open and shut....until Dean turns and terrorizes the dogs!

Tonight, Matt is just happy it ISN'T him!

Monday, November 14, 2011

Turkey Bowl!!!!!

This past weekend was a mixed bag.
First, both Matt and Kaela had a bad stomach flu. Matt had his Friday night....followed by Kaela on Saturday. I spent both days playing Nurse Nightingale to my two sweet kids.
Needless to say, I was looking forward to a good night sleep by Sunday.


Luckily both of them were well for the church's annual Turkey Bowl.
It is a tradition that started the year after Katrina. This was our first game and we were not disappointed!


Bruce, the youth director reminding everyone what the rules are...

Matt and Kaela were on opposing teams...
but were really good sports about it...although a bit tired at this point!
His team came in first while her team came in second. Did I mention our kids are REALLY competitive?
Matt was a quarterback....
While Kaela was a receiver...she made 2 touchdowns for her team...

Dean was a referee while I ran around taking photos for the church's FB page.
After the game, we all went back to the church for the award ceremony and a full Thanksgiving feast.

There isn't much that can make me miss a Saints game.....but this was well worth it. Not only did we have a great time, but we enjoyed spending the day with the kids.

Saturday, November 12, 2011

craftiness

I have been doing lots of crafty things lately....but I can't share them yet because most are gifts.

I can share these though!!!

Henrietta Hen pincushion.....


a fun martini apron...


a baby rattle and hat for a new baby girl...




a couple of swans for my YOE tree...



and a 1 inch glitter house for my YOE tree.

This last one was sort of a trial effort to see if I want to make some actual Putz style glitter houses.

I ADORE Putz houses. If you've not seen any, here is a photo of some I found here.
I would love to get some actual ones...just to save me the effort of making them....paper crafting is not my forte!!!!

Friday, November 11, 2011

November's toy drop

I made this happy little acorn for this month's toy society drop



and then Kaela dropped it at a Starbuck's newspaper rack while we waiting for our drinks.

We pretended to drop our receipt and Kaela hung it while I blocked everyone's view...such fun doing nice things together.

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

The tree

Our neighborhood backs up to a golf course and this tree is in the middle of one of the greens.
Every day I pass it on my way out of the neighborhood. Every evening I pass it on my way back in....and I always take a moment to look at it.





To most people, this tree is is not pretty. The branches grow unevenly and sparsely. There seems to be more moss that actual tree.
But there is just
something about it that I love.

Some mornings, the fog wraps around the base of the trunk. Other mornings, the frost glistens on the moss and ground.
Even in the faintest of breezes, the Spanish moss waves.
And in the evening, right after dusk, it can look
really creepy. It would be a great Halloween tree!

I keep thinking that I'll get out of my car, walk up and take a decent picture of it but I never do.
I look forward to actually doing just that one day but until then, this will have to do...taken by my daughter hanging out the window while I was rolling by.

Monday, November 7, 2011

on being thankful

At the beginning of October, a friend of mine lost her husband. He was a friend of ours too and we were stunned. He was so young and left behind a wife and 2 very young boys.....it was all just so sudden.

That Sunday, the sermon was "Being Thankful."


When our pastor started speaking, I had to leave.
I basically crashed into a woman as the two of us tried to walk into the bathroom at the same time.
...both while crying.
We exchanged stories and stood out in the hall for a few minutes just talking. When we were finished crying and wiping tears, we hugged and said goodbye.

When I went back in to listen to the sermon I was so glad I was composed.
Our pastor was talking about how hard the economy had hit people he knew and how the suicide rate was sky rocketing everywhere and was alarmingly high in our own parish.
Then he talked about a recent remembrance event held at our church for people who had lost children.
At the event, the guest speaker was a local pastor who had recently lost his 3 year old grandson. He spoke of how hard it is not to question God. He chose instead to be thankful for the 3 wonderful years he got to spend with his grandson.

Our pastor continued on, adding details and spinning his sermon while everyone sat listening.
I've never heard such a quiet sanctuary...in the end, his message was simple:

Whether you believe in God or not, life is fragile, we do not know what the future holds. We need to be more thankful, and not take so much for granted.


Back then I decided I would write a thankful post daily during November...but in the end, I just decided to be more thankful each day and to show it.

I hope you all have a wonderful November.....and remember to be thankful for even the little things!

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

What a month!

October simply FLEW by.....I don't know what happened.....it just went by so fast, I didn't even make my famous Frank's fingers cookies! (I may have to slip them in this week.)

I worked a Trunk or Treat at work last Thursday .....finished my outfit just in time........



Then Sunday, the three of us went to work at a Trunk or Treat at church. Dean opted out...he had work to do.


Remember Frankie?
I had fully planned on giving him away as this month's toy drop but Matt wouldn't let me...so I had to whip up something fast.

Gunter was very happy that Matt took his side. As for Frankie, he doesn't eat much....he's already stuffed!

Here is a black cat I made instead:


When the witching hour finally arrived, Matt took off to help a friend scare people....




and Kaela took over candy duty...


Each year we have a number of people take photos of their children on the bench with our headless horseman....this year we had the most ever!







when all the ghosts and goblins were gone, Dorothy came in for some yummy hot cocoa....well deserved!




As for our pumpkin carving contest.....I won with my Jack from "The Nightmare before Christmas." Kaela came in right behind me with the cat.

The winner who gets a spooky cell phone cover is:

Courtney!!!!!!
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