As promised.....More Holiday

The children still amaze me every year with their wonder of the holidays. 

The Christmas tree (yeah, the lights make weird shadows on their faces.)

reindeer food

story time

and cookies for Santa.

Hugs.

Organizing

You know that feeling?  When the 20 or so boxes of Christmas decorations have been put away.  Everything looks so clean and uncluttered.....and then you look around and you know you need to organize a few things?  LOL

That is the way it is around here right now.  First, it was the kitchen.  Emptied every drawer and cabinet, cleaned them, got rid of a few things.  Felt so good.  Then, the toys.  Spent some time going thru the Bratz, Barbies, putting them away (not just thrown onto a shelf) in the containers that had been purchased for them.  Then it happened....organizing the scrap stash.

You would think, as much as I love organizing, as much time as I spend cleaning, that keeping the stash tidy would be a cinch.  I have the tools.  I have the technology.  Heck...I went to school for this.  A library is nothing if not organized.  I loved my cataloging classes.  Why, oh why is it so hard for me to organize my hobby?

Well, I got started....Made Phil add in a cute little shelf under my desk to hold punches and alphabet stickers (they are a disease I tell you).  Those Thickers somehow always find their way into my house.

Then Amanda came over to play and this happened.  lol

A shabby cozy for the clip it up.  Still needs some work.  Hitting Michael's for some hot pink ribbon soon to add to the top.  Not sure if it makes the clip it up look more huge than it is, but it definitely makes it less cluttered. 

And next?  Well, I really should do something with the suitcase full of kits.  hee hee

Well, enough about organizing for today.  I promise to be back soon with more tales from the holidays...wait till you see the photos of Ainsley! That child loves the camera. lol

Hugs.

Crazy Holiday!

I can not believe how many times I have sat down in the last two weeks with every intention of blogging, only to become distracted by life and never post an update.  Please, forgive me.

Today tho, life is headed back to it's normal insanity and here I am.  So...over the next few days I will try to catch you up on what has been going on here in my little corner.

First off....cakeballs.  A few people asked me what they ended up looking like and how they were.  Well, they were delicious.  How can red velvet not be?  They weren't hard to make, but they were quite messy. 

We stayed busy all the way through Christmas and beyond with Nutcracker performances.  This year the girls had 7 performances, while Phil had 13.  I went to see it twice.  I only made Brighton go once.  LOL   After the Nutcracker performance we headed over to Christmas in the Park and then out to dinner at Scott's (yum).  My mother came with us and it was such a fun day.

my mom doesn't like being in photos.  lol

Before the holiday, we also found some time to make a few cards and crafts.  I hated just giving gift cards that could be used for whatever.  What fun is that to open.  And how do they know my intent...

A flower garden for my sister

A couple of cards for friends.

Well, duty calls.  I promise to come back with more updates in the coming days.

Hugs.

More About Balls

So, along with all the fun goings on yesterday, I forgot to mention a few, not so successful things. lol Because, contrary to what many people think of me....I am not perfect. My life is not perfect. I have my fair share of trials and tribulations every day.

For instance. Did you know that if you wait till 10 days before Christmas to put up your exterior Christmas lights and find that 1/2 of the ones you own no longer work, you will not be able to find them in stores? Seems you can purchase Christmas lights in August now, but not in December. This has been a hard realization this year for Phil. He doesn't believe that all holiday shopping needs to be completed by Thanksgiving weekend or everyone will be sold out. Sorry honey.

Also, did you know that you can't make toffee when it is humid? Yep, the butter will come out of suspension and get really yucky looking. Did you know that if that happens, you can add hot water, bring the toffee back to temperature and it will mix back in? Yep, but it will just separate again if it is humid. lol

Oh, and last but not least....have I told you how much I hate ants? Yep, I do...and that if you find one trail leading from your neighbors yard into your house and you spray it, you shouldn't stop there? Cause there may be another trail from somewhere else?


All in all...a very mixed day. lol

To leave on a lighter note....here is a card I made with my cricut. I love my cricut. hee hee


Hugs

Nancy

Oh My Goodness....

Time is just flying by these last few days. The weekend was a blur of ballet. The Ballet SJ Nutcracker opened on Thursday. So far there have been 7 performances. The girls have been in 3, Phil has been in 4. And it's not done yet! lol Add to that cookies, fudge, toffee, handmade gifts...life is a little insane. Oh, and did I mention that somehow, thru all of this...we still need to find time to homeschool?


Ainsley is terribly excited as she just completed the third grade math curriculum. She is feeling very proud of herself knowing that after the holidays she gets to start fourth grade.

Mackenzie is also doing very well with her classes, while spending more and more time pursuing her artistic bent. She is trying to do some work with blue screens (impromptu table cloth hung from curtain rod). While she hasn't been totally successful, she is having so much fun trying. And what is she trying? Well, she has composed a song, both music and lyrics and is recording what looks to be twins of herself singing. I am always amazed with her talent. Of course this means her computer drawings have fallen to the way side for now, but I am sure when she begins her next class that interest will be sparked once again.

Brighton? Brighton too is doing well. He has finally gotten the hang of a classroom, even if it is only virtual, and is doing quite well in his courses. Swimming remains his main focus.

So, what else? Finally got my plans together for CHA. Can't wait to go! I am taking three courses while there and am looking forward to meeting some of the manufacturers and designers I have gotten to "know" online. I have a layout that is drying on my desk and am hoping to make a Christmas house out of patterned paper in the next few days.
And today? Today I played with balls! Yeah...balls. Family wanted spaghetti and meatballs for dinner. And for years, I have wanted to make cake balls. So balls it was. hee hee
Did I mention that Mackenzie helped? Those are red velvet with cream cheese frosting. Yummy. We are dunking in white and milk chocolate. (Brighton wanted milk)

Hugs.

Crafting with the Kids

What possessed me to decide today to craft with the kids? Could it be that they have been asking to play with paper, die cuts, glitter?

So, after dinner we sat down in the craft room to make some things. Snowflakes, snowmen, tags, trees, cards...whatever they wanted. Ainsley and I made this for her ballet teacher with the cricut.


Yeah, that lasted about 10 minutes. They decided they would much rather watch Enchanted on the laptop. Oh well....we did get a few things made. Mackenzie made these with the Cricut. Then added some glitter. So sparkly.


I made a tree after they ran off. I had seen the idea on the Prima blog a while back. They used a lolipop flower, a hat pin and some pearl centers. I didn't have any of those things! lol So I used some beautiful Prima paper cut with my sizzix, embossing powder, lots of zip dry glue and some old bling flourishes. I think it came out really well.
Maybe we will try again tomorrow. Everything is finally cleaned up and put away! lol

Hugs.

N

Drool Worthy Goodies

Why, oh why...when I have absolutely no time whatsoever to do anything other than Christmas....when I am scrambling as fast as I can to get presents made, purchased, wrapped and shipped do I come across such gorgeous things to make and do? Or buy for myself! LOL

Have you seen these goodies at Prima? prima.typepad.com


Or how about some vintage Basic Grey at Embellish online? This one is for you Amanda! lol www.embellishonline.com


Or maybe some beautiful cards from Cheryl? http://cheryljunegirl.blogspot.com/


Yeah.....well...maybe if I start right now? lol

hugs.