Christmas week re-cap

Hello~ I hope everyone's had a happy and health holiday season so far. I haven't been good about posting lately, so I thought I'd just do a re-cap of last week.

Of course there was more and more snow. It didn't seem to end and I really liked it. I would have liked it better if I'd been able to stay home from work, but oh well, gotta pay the bills!

As each day brought more snow, we became obsessed with how much snow we were getting and both Chico and I kept taking pictures. Sorry if these are boring, but we just don't remember having this much snow in a long time.

12/21/08
Chico shoveling snow off the back deck. I needed a model to give some perspective on how deep the snow was. Look how excited Chico is to be my model.























12/22/08
Here the boys are getting ready to take me to work. We were down to using the Excursion for all of our driving because my car was burried (behind Chico's burried work van). So, I had to be chaufered to work each day, so Chico and the boys could run around.





This was an updated picture of our front yard.


Did you notice my neighbor's VW Bug in the background?




Can you see my car behind Chico's van?


12/24/08 - Christmas Eve Day!!
It's still snowing...


Aren't these icicles cool? A little dangerous near our front door, but cool nonetheless.


Chico decided he'd better get some of the snow off of his car. I was inside in the nice warm house taking pictures thru the window. Snow's pretty deep!


Jaxon & Mateo decided to go out and try making a snowman. They did a pretty good job for their first time.





























OK, I'm sorry. Enough of the snow already!! Let's get on with Christmas day... Yes those are wooden trees in the background. We didn't ever make it out to cut a tree this year, so Chico dug out our old wooden tree that he made years ago. I didn't even get all of my Christmas decorations out this year, just the stockings.

The little trees were made by Chico and the boys the weekend that I was doing the holiday bazaar. Aren't they cute? Mateo actually cut the trees out with a jig saw! I told them they should make some more for our "Crafty Ladies" sale next fall.





Some of this year's hits...






I didn't do a good job of taking photos of anyone else Christmas morning. Granny & Uncle Lee came over to watch the boys open thier presents and Granny make a nice breakfast for us.

It snowed some more in the morning, but by the time we were ready to go to Nona & Papa's, it was beautiful outside.


Nona made a great ham lunch. We did Christmas after that. The boys got stockings there, too. They also got some nice presents from Nona & Papa, but my camera battery was dead, so I didn't get pictures of that part. At least we got a couple photos of when we first arrived.





After a good lunch, opening presents and playing the Wii for a bit, we were getting tired, so we headed home. Soon after we got home our electricity went out. It wasn't out very long, but the boys found their "head-lights" that they had just gotten in their stockings from Nona & Papa. They wore them the rest of the eveing "just in case".




Well, I think this post is LONG enough!!! I'd better run. Come back soon!

Happy Birthday Linda!!

You still look 18. Do you still feel 18?



Have a wonderful day my bella friend!!

Snow, snow and more snow

The snow has finally stopped today. Now it's turned to freezing rain! Crazy weather for this part of Oregon!! Here's a little re-cap of the last few days...

12/16/08

12/19/08

12/21/08

It's hard to show exactly how much snow we have in the photos, but thought I'd give it a try anyway. Chico and I dropped the boys off at Granny's and went out shopping most of the day yesterday and it was dark by the time we got home. I measured how much snow we had on the railing.


We have about a foot on the ground. We even have icicles on our house and our car. I'm not sure if we've ever had that happen to us before, at least not in recent years.





I took a little video of Lucy trying to go outside in the backyard this morning. She didn't get around too well with the layer of ice on the snow.


Here are a few more random shots:

The main road near our house. Not so smart people walking in the middle of the road!


This happened in the last few days and it spread all the way across the windshield both ways. We watched it move several inches on the driver's side yesterday morning as we were driving. How frustrating!


Last night in the driveway.


It's not supposed to warm up today, so not sure how the commute will be for everyone tomorrow? I'm hoping to not have to go in to work, but we'll have to wait to see. In the mean time, we do need to get out and go to Hillsboro today to pick up the boys. Granny's probably getting a little cabin fever with them since yesterday and I'm sure they're anxious to get home and play!! Wish us luck!

Rudolf the Red Nosed... Candy Cane??

Remember these? I saw these on another blog awhile back and it jarred my memory of when I made these with my mom when I was younger. I had to run out and buy googly eyes, tiny red pom-poms and brown pipe cleaners so the boys and I could give this a try.

After the boys played outside in the snow on Sunday, I surprised them with this project and thought we'd make enough for them to take to each of their classmates and teachers. Here they are crafting away.









Now we've got 45 Candy Cane Reindeer waiting for new homes, but no way to get there because school's been closed all week because of the snow & ice.

Maybe I should take them to work or to the neighbors? I guess they can wait and go to school after the new year. I suppose it would still be a nice treat after the holidays and these candy canes are yummy because they're Hershey's Chocolate Mint flavored. Yum!

What kinds of holiday crafts do you remember doing when you were younger?

First Snow of the Season

Well the weather people predicted it and it turned out they were correct, on Sunday we got our first snowfall of the season. The boys were so excited!! We weren't sure how much snow we would get. It was exciting when it started to stick and by about noon we had almost an inch.

The boys were begging to go outside, so they suited up and headed out.

They played outside for over an hour while Chico and I stayed inside the warm house. I just wasn't up for getting out of my pajamas and going out to the cold. Yes, I was still in my pajamas at noon. I did manage to take a couple steps out onto the front porch to capture a little video of Mateo sledding down our hill in our front yard. Jaxon was busy building something at the top of the hill and didn't want to sled.



We ended up with about 2 inches of snow at our house and it stayed around for Monday and it's still here and so far schools have been closed this week. It supposed to snow again tomorrow, so I think it's likely that there won't be any school for the rest of the week. I know the kids are excited, but it's also kind of a bummer because there were a lot of fun activities planned at school for the last week before Christmas vacation. The Winter Program was supposed to be Thursday, so hopefully they'll reschedule it after the 1st of the new year.

Well, I'm off for now, but will be posting more stuff in the next few days. I've got a few things that I've been meaning to post. Stay tuned.

Handmade gifts for everyone this year!

My dear friends,

Somewhat embarrassing to admit, but Christmas is tight this year.
I will be making bedroom slippers for you all as gifts. Please let me know your sizes. You'll most likely agree that it's a splendid idea, and should you wish to do the same, I've included the instructions below.

How to make bedroom slippers out of maxi pads:

You need four maxi pads to make a pair.
Two of them get laid out flat, for the foot part.
The other two wrap around the toe area to form the top.
Tape or glue each side of the top pieces to the bottom of the foot part.

Decorate the tops with whatever you desire, silk flowers (this is most
aesthetically appealing), etc.

These slippers are:
* Soft and Hygienic
* Non-slip grip strips on the soles
* Built in deodorant feature keeps feet smelling fresh
* No more bending over to mop up spills
* Disposable and biodegradable
* Environmentally safe
* Three convenient sizes: (1.) Regular, (2.) Light and (3.) Get out the Sand Bags.

I've attached a photo of the first pair I made so that you can see the
nifty slippers for yourself....

Awaiting your response. It's crucial that I get the right size for each
one of you.

Inch worm, inch worm...

Remember this song?

Inch worm, inch worm
Measuring the marigolds
Could it be, stop and see
How beautiful they are

(Chorus:)
Two and two are four
Four and four are eight
Eight and eight are sixteen
Sixteen and sixteen are thirty-two

Inchworm, inchworm
Measuring the marigolds
You and your arithmetic
You'll probably go far

(Repeat Chorus)

Inchworm, inchworm
Measuring the marigolds
Seems to me you'd stop and see
How beautiful they are


I know it was originally performed by Danny Kaye in Hans Christian Andersen, but I remember it when Danny Kaye performed it on The Muppet Show. I was a Muppet Show fanatic when I was younger! When Jaxon showed me what he'd found in the yard one day, that song immediately came to mind.

Here is Jaxon with his little friend.




After I made this post this morning I found a YouTube video of Danny Kaye. It almost makes me cry, it's so sweet. I miss Danny Kaye.

Let's go shopping!

I'm very excited to have been invited to be a vendor at the Holiday Marketplace on December 5th & 6th!! (Thank you Jocelyn!) I will be participating along with about 30 other vendors, two of which are my great friends Linda & Alicia.

I didn't attend this event last year, but I hear it's fabulous! Here's the postcard with the details. Isn't it cute!!





So, if you need some fun, handmade gifts for the holidays (or just a treat for yourself) and you're in the area on December 5th & 6th, please come by and shop. Part of the proceeds of the Holiday Marketplace benefit Orphans Overseas.

Hope to see you there!! Now, I'd better get to crafting!!

Christmas is in the air

I had my November Card Workshop on Sunday and I went with all Holiday themed cards. It was a lot of fun. I love Christmas and wish I could decorate already, but I'll wait until after Thanksgiving. I don't have many holiday decorations for holidays other than Christmas, but I have about 12 totes full of Christmas decor - Yikes!!

Anyway, here are the cards we did this time.

A fun Gift Card holder:

























A simple Gift Card Holder:

























A Shaker Card (has small beads inside that move around when you shake the card):
























A super cute snowman card (I just love snowmen!):
























Pretty Noel Card:


Doesn't this get you in the mood for the holidays?