Remember this?

It wasn't all that long ago that I was catching Danna hidden up in some small corner of the house with a guilty expression, a marker/pen, and a  'beard' or "make-up".

Remember these?

Well,

 She has passed the torch. . .

This kid LOVES to draw----everywhere except paper.

gifts

I'm a horrible gift giver.

I always wanted to be the type of person who remembered everyone's birthdays and special times in their lives with card or small gifts.

Or the type of person who felt like making dozens of cookies or candies or treats for their neighbors during the holidays.

Or the person who is prepared with teacher gifts, doctor gifts or coach gifts. 

Or the person who makes a card and sends it to someone who shared a moving talk at church or just because they are an inspiration.

Or even the type of person who gives a phone call and lets someone know they're being thought of.

But, I'm not.

I wish I were.

I have tons of craft supplies from my hoarding station downstairs to make (theoretically easy and quick) gifts, but I never seem to actually make them.

Under my bed I have 3 boxes of gift bags, wrapping paper and ribbons for making some beautiful decoration to a well-planned gift. But, most often, I don't actually prepare a gift to wrap.

See. . . horrible.

But I'm still trying.

With Christmas less than 2 weeks away I'm still trying to finish up presents for my daughters (get excited, it's turning out sooo cute), and of course, for my husband, and mine and Mike's families, and then I thought I should definitely get presents for my visiting teach-ees, oh, and my violin students, and of course the girls who regularly babysit for me, etc. . .

And instead of getting overwhelmed this year, I'm on a roll. 

It feels soooooo good to use up that wrapping paper under my bed.

And of course, it feels extra good that I was able to think about and show a little of my gratitude for these wonderful and helpful people in my life.

I wish these pictures turned out less blurry because they look pretty darn awesome in real life. I decided to make ornaments for all my violin students (and I happened to have all the supplies on hand) 

I printed off those cute violin player silhouettes onto vellum, there's also antiqued sheet music behind it that peeks through. I also personalized each ornament by stamping each student's name and the year. Then there are curls or ribbon thrown in for a bit of color and tied to the top for the ornaments to hang. 

 Not professional by any means but hopefully it'll help them remember their wonderful accomplishments this year.

It's beginning

to look a lot like Christmas. . .

And this is not all, no this is not all. . .

(sorry Janet, I forgot to snap a picture of my front door, but it's not all that exciting anyway)

New Year's Resolution:

   Don't buy any more Christmas decorations.

Do you ever

feel like it's impossible to get things done?

Every year I realize how busy the holidays are going to be and try to prepare for the rush. . .

. . .the rush of getting presents ready, for travel, for setting up decorations, for special musical numbers, for the snow and all it's curses, and of course for having fun as a family.

So, in order to accomplish these I've tried to avoid turning on the computer (one of my main 

'time suckers') and focus on what needs to be done. 

Needless to say, my laundry is still not done, my piano lessons not quite practiced, the dishes still dirty, the garbage still overflowing, and suitcases still half unpacked after our Thanksgiving getaway. 

But, despite my short-term head cold and my inability to prioritize housecleaning, we have had some exceptionally sweet moments in our family.

Thank goodness for daughters, sisters, friends, parents, FAMILY . .

Thank goodness especially for husbands. . .

Thank goodness for delicious food. . .

Thank goodness for kid's naps. . .

Thank goodness for hot chocolate, and heaters. . .

Thank goodness for romance novels. . .

Thank goodness for cameras to capture precious moments in our lives. . .

Thank goodness that laundry, dishes, garbage and vacuuming really can wait. . .

Thank goodness for the joy of the Christmas season and all the fun times that come with it!

havin' a blast beautifying our Christmas tree.

Here's mike dancing with Carina to keep her from pulling all the glass bulbs off the tree. . . cute pair.

Carina fell asleep next to the refrigerator in the girls' little 'fort.' Yes, she fell asleep on that box.

This darling picture speaks for itself. . .

Enjoying hot chocolate with the girls after shoveling snow in the driveway. It took about 40 minutes to get them dressed in all their winter gear just to have them crying of cold within about 10 minutes outside...(7 degrees F) 

See. . . not getting stuff done is totally worth it but please don't come over. . . :)

Welcome

Back to Idaho. . .

Hope everyone had a fantastic Thanksgiving holiday!

A Quarter

I 

am a quarter 

of a Century

today!

See how I've grown:

AGE O:

Awwwwwwww!! This is little baby me after my first bath at home. 

Aren't I sweet!!! (Notice the dark hair)

AGE 5: 

   

. . .And I'm sure I was every bit angelic as this picture makes me look. 

(Whaddaya think? Danna in a few years right?)

AGE 10:

Cheezin'

AGE 15:

wish I still looked as thin as I did here. . . that is, until I dug into that cake. . .

AGE 20:

Dating my soon to be fiance, Mike. Cute couple, no?

AGE 25:

here I am 1 husband and 2 kids later 

(Carina refused to be in the shot)

Don't think of it as getting older, think of it as becoming a classic!

Happy birthday to me and all those of you who've had birthdays this year!

In a Muck!

This is the 3rd day this week that I have not changed out of my pj's.

Oh the glamourous life of a mom/homemaker.

Have a good one!

itchin'

You'd think after going a bit overboard on my Halloween decorations that I might want to take a bit of a break. 

Nope.

I'm already itching to put up all the fun and adorable Christmas stuff I've accumulated downstairs. 

And I want to make more.

Thus far I'm holding back but I don't know how much longer I can last.

Seriously, look at these adorable ideas (that I sooooo want to copy). . .

The only problem is, do I even have enough shelf space to put these, or time, or money. . .?

(found this at http://granvillehouse.blogspot.com/)

(found at http://notsoidlehands.blogspot.com)

(found at http://theidearoom.blogspot.com)

(found at http://thriftydecorchick.blogspot.com/)

(found this at http://kari-youcanmakeit.blogspot.com/)

(found this at http://kari-youcanmakeit.blogspot.com/)

(found this at http://granvillehouse.blogspot.com/)

(found this at http://kari-youcanmakeit.blogspot.com/)

just a couple more weeks. . .

and since I don't actually need any of this stuff, you may want to be expecting random gifts from yours truly. . .

Thankful Countdown

Love this idea. . .

wish I came up with it. . .

But instead I stole the idea from someone who's creative.

I found it on a blog called UCreate that I like to read quite often. She links you to here for a printable version of this awesome activity.

The turkey and de-lish food and the time playing with my family is always a fantastic time but how great might Thanksgiving be this year if I made an effort to DO things to show how thankful I am for the blessings in my life. 

And then I can enjoy that turkey even more.

Enter if you Dare!

So a few posts ago I told you about my random obsession with Halloween this year. I don't know what came over me but I wanted it to be super fun and to throw a huge bash and have amazingly fantastic costumes, etc.  Excited enough that I couldn't sleep once my mind got rolling. So, we built a spook alley (kid friendly) in our basement. Here are some of the ideas I came up with and, with the help of some friends (THANK YOU-THANK YOU-THANK YOU), was able to put together.

The tour:

(insert scary music and noises here)

First, we descend down the creepy dark stairwell (not so dark in this photo) with a flickering candle and apprehension of what might possibly be on the other side of the door. DUN DUN DUN. . .

these pictures didn't turn out without the flash so none of them look dark but keep in mind it was dark, and creeeeeppyy. . .  :)

We round the corner and come upon who?

An evil looking mad scientist looming over his latest victim. Who could it be?

He urges you to reach under the sheet and feel what you can--oogly eye balls, sticky guts, spongy brains, bones and altogether ickyness.  Bleck!

Next, we shuffle through a dark doorway and come across Count Dracula in his cave full of creepy bats. Don't get too close, he "VANTS TO SUCK YOUR BLOOD" (said in dracula accent)

(Here's one of him in the dark with our red light--it gives you a general idea of how cool it really looked)

You must peek under some dark plastic to see our next ghastly sight. Hovering and floating and looking for someone to haunt are 5 frightning ghosts. 

(They were literally flying around with fans underneath--soo fun)

A creepy cackle takes us into our next corner. A witch with a gleam in her eye is brewing up some special potions in her cauldron. Eye of newt, unicorn hairs, bat's blood. . . Better stay away before she needs some part of you in her concoction!

picture dry ice smoke coming from the pots and swirling and smoking. . .

Sliding through another dark doorway is a passageway filled with stringy spider webs with eight-legged creatures in every nook and cranny. Be careful where you step and keep a hand on your hat!  Ew Ew Ew!

Super creepy huge spider ready to grab you as you duck under his web. Don't get stuck

(we actually had a black light in this hallway making all those stretchy, stringy webs light up. They were EVERYWHERE!  ICK!)

Around another corner and you see an ominous graveyard filled with creepy (and funny) headstones, a dead tree with sinister crows, and a full moon. Watch out!  Looks like someone's come back to life! 

(See the fog from the borrowed fog machine--totally put it all together)

Caution tape and a skeleton with creepy bugs crawling all through it makes my skin crawl. Anyone dare to crawl through the pit full of creepy crawlies! I DON'T THINK SO!

(it was actually a blow up pool filled with googly toys, balloons and weird hairy/feathery things. You couldn't tell in the dark, you just knew it felt really disgusting.)

There you Go!

Everyone who went through got a special prize! 

We sure had a good time putting it up and I'm pretty sure everyone liked to go through. 

We had a good turn out for our party and some wonderful food and good times talking and laughing. Thanks everyone who helped out and came trick-or-treating to our house. It was fun.

Now, I'm loving the relaxation of the whole darn thing being over!

Who wants to come to our house next year on Halloween?