Not-so-Wordless Wednesday

Here are some pics from our Christmas Eve celebration:

Tech Mom & Papa open their card and ornament.
Meanwhile....

Grandaddy catches on from their response while GranWendy opens their ornament...

This is what they're smiling about!

I was going to wait until crt & computer guy got home to get their mail, caslon & camera man received theirs, and Friday, to tell my brother and sister in person. Somehow Great-Gramma got hers in 2 days. (She said she was thinking it was about time.) My Mom slipped and told my brother last night, so I decided to just share the news with everyone via e-mail and blog and spare the Grandparents-to-be-again the misery of keeping the secret.






For more Wordless Wednesday participants, head over to 5 minutes for Mom or the WW HQ

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

'Twas the day before Christmas, and all through the house,
creatures were stirring, we hope not a mouse.

Tech Mom took over the kitchen and made a grand feast,
while Elf wandering heart assisted with great relief.

Baby Bear played in her room like a good girl,
making Mommy wonder "what in the world?"

GranW and GranDaddy joined in the fun,
arriving in time for the de-licious lunch.

But before they could eat, the parents opened their cards,
while Baby Bear napped, her curls all covered.

After dinner and dessert, a game we played.
Then went to a service to celebrate.

The reason we gather with family and friends,
to remember our Saviour came down for all men.

Now baby bear sleeps way back in her bed,
and hubby waits patiently as I type this mess.

So to all and to all a good night I will say....
"Merry Christmas! May Jesus' love light your heart always!"

Family time is good.

I am blessed to have in laws who don't fit the stereotype of the dreaded in-laws. ;)
Baby Bear will be beside herself with both sets of grandparents to dote on her tomorrow.
Tech Dad is providing entertainment of sorts with his dulcimer and accordion. Not at the same time, in case you wondered.

We played a new game tonight (Apples to Apples). It was fun. Light. Good. It would be boring to play with complete literalists. Thankfully, none of us fit in that category.

The only downside? I doubt we'll have a white Christmas. But I guess that's better than waking up to 40 mph winds, 9+ inches of snow, and 8 degrees, as DH's Gramma and extended relatives are facing up in the Midwest. Pray that Gramma doesn't try to shovel too much snow herself, when there are people with plows and snowblowers who are willing to help. (She cannot stand to be lazy. Wish that would rub off on me to some degree.)

Long-distance cards have been mailed, I guess the local ones might make it by New Year's. I found my address book. On the desk. Under everything else. In case you wondered.

Tech Mom brought me new Christmas lights because DH banished me from buying any more decorations, and then one of the strands died so we had half a tree lit. Only a woman can appreciate the importance of a fully lit Christmas tree.

My computer's battery is almost dead. Good night, sleep tight, don't let the bed-bugs bite.

Oh where is my address book?
Oh, WHERE is my address book?
Oh, where-oh-where-oh-where-oh-where-oh-where.......
is my address book?!?

Works for Me Wednesday: Christmas card display

Well, I haven't been posting as much lately, so I thought I'd share what's working for me and see what you guys do.

I have 2 ways I display my cards. 1 is a 3-4 foot long carboard card holder thingy that I bought from a school fundraiser. It holds the photo cards and horizontal cards. The other is an idea I got from my Mom. She always used to hang the horizontal cards over a fishing wire or dental floss tacked into the dining room wall. Well, I've taken a string of yarn and tied it from one end of the top of the blinds (in my dining room, last year I did it in the living room, I think) to the other, and that's where I am hanging my top-fold cards. I may also start clipping the other cards to it with clothespins.

What works for you, so the cards from loved ones don't get buried on the counter?

our little wren(?) on our porch

bird's nest

chrysalis or caccoon?

Reaching for the sole remaining yellow leaf...

some things just really suck

miscarriages, for one. sudden loss in general. most of us have probably experienced it in some form or another. the things that happen, that are obviously part of God's sovereign plan because He allows them, but we will never understand them. at least, not in this world.

a friend of mine and her husband are mourning the death of their baby boy. on december 4th, baby Mason was admitted to the ICU with meningitis caused by group B strep and MRSA. this past thursday night, he went to be with Jesus.

Suffer the little children to come unto me,
and forbid them not,
for of such is the kingdom of heaven.

If you are a parent, hug your little one(s) more tightly when you tuck them in tonight. And please pray for my friend Cheri and her beloved Seth as they mourn the loss of their son, Mason Garrett. He would have been 2 months old on Monday.

Cut-off

No more Christmas decorations for me. Hubby hung the icicle lights on our front porch. I plugged them in before he hung them, and they seemed ok. Well, apparently there was a short in them, because about 10 of the icicle strands did not light up when we plugged them in after being hung. We checked to see if any bulbs were loose... nope. So down they came, to Kroger I went with my dysfunctional lights and receipt, and I exchanged them for another set. Mr. Snowman is now at home under the soft white glow of icicle lights.

It's official!

MyHeritage: Family tree - Genealogy - Celebrity - Collage - Morph


Hannah looks more like her Daddy!

what to post?

hmmm...

i'm pretty speechless right now. except i am always amazed by the # of people who ask me if i curl baby bear's hair or if it's natural. get real, people. 3 people asked in wal-mart today.

Around 13 months ago...

I think I may have to send out 2 or 3 different Christmas cards.

I am torn between the more formal:

and the very quirky cuddly family shot:


I think the only solution may be to just have some of each printed, and make sure Gramma M. gets the formal one since she specifically said she did not like the whimsical one.

FYI, in case you are wondering, I used the collage feature on shutterfly studio, which is a free download on shutterfly.com. It's capabilities are minimal, but I don't have another program on this computer and my other computer is unreliable.

Wordless Wednesday

Our thanks to Dotson Studios
for their beautiful work!

(click on individual photos to see them more clearly)

This is the closest I'll get to snow anytime soon.

i couldn't resist... we've been elved

80's flashback...

"Oh, hubby, you're so fine...."

(He looks awesome in his new tailored suit. Now I have to give him a haircut to go with it.)

in case you were wondering...

12 feet of 1/8" gold ribbon is the perfect amount needed to hang 20 glass bulb ornaments.

My tree was missing something. Though it did not look bad, there were too many bare spots which kept calling to the ornaments buried in the closet across the room. And those ornaments called back, "save us! We're lonely in here! It's dark! Let there be light!" But the thought of actually hanging ornaments with hooks disturbed me. My toddler is curious. It's part of her spirit, and I am glad. But I felt that by using hooks I would be asking for trouble.

So when I made my trek to Joann's yesterday, I browsed the ribbon... both the holiday display and the standard aisles. Finally, after perusing all my favorite aisles (scrapbooking, floral, yarn, crafts, Christmas and ribbon- in that order), I found the perfect braided thread on a spool in the ribbon aisle. And after we put Bear to bed at the late hour of 9:30 tonight (Daddy came home from being out of town, and naptime was late this afternoon), I decided that since I had to vacuum the dry cereal off the couch and top steps, I might as well see if my ribbon did the trick and be able to vacuum the trimming from the ribbon. I still have 1 box of smaller gold balls, and am undecided. I think some of them would accent the tree nicely, too, but I am out of ribbon for now. At least I found a way to safely adorn my tree. (Unless my daughter pulls down the tree and crushes ornaments in the process, as my friend's DD did last year.)

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

FINALLY!!!
Our 1st Christmas Tree since 2004.

Yes, that's right. Before you call us Scrooges, let me explain.

Baby Bear was born late October, 2005. Hubby left for 7 weeks of training a week later, coming home or meeting us about every other weekend. We were much more interested in spending time together with our new baby when he was home, and by the time he came back for good, there was less than 1 week before Christmas. Last year, we spent the Christmas week at Tech Mom and Dad's. I DID put up my techno-Charlie-brown-counter-top-tree both years. But it just was not the same.

So as we set up the tree tonight after we put our daughter to bed, it was nice. In less than 3 hours, we set the thing up, put on the lights and decorated it. This is not one of those simple 3-piece pre-lit trees. They were brand new and way too expensive when we were tree hunting. Allergies keep me from even considering a natural tree, plus picking one out at the school yard is not the same as choosing one for Dad to chop down at the tree farm as we did prior to, was it my 2nd grade year? They don't exactly thrive in this climate, so by the time we get them, they have well-begun the drying out process, posing a fire hazard. But I digress...

Decorating our tree was... like Christmas. I opted to leave off the glass balls. With a 2-year old, hooks and the risk of shattering scare me. We have no hooks on our tree this year, so I don't have to worry about Bear chewing on one. DH and I worked together to put all the branches in place and drape the strands of lights around the tree. (Note to self: buy some replacement bulbs, and perhaps another strand for next year at the year-end sales.) As I dug through boxes, I uncovered lost treasures. You see, our ornaments may not all match or coordinate, or fit one theme. Instead, they reflect bits and pieces of who we are and where we've been. That's how my family's tree was growing up, and I'm following suit. Making their debut on our family tree this season: Baby Bear's "Baby's 1st Christmas" Pooh ornament, which was given to us by one of hubby's buddies from Police Academy. The crystal-cut plastic bear that my Dad brought back from Grandma's house after she died. I added a white ribbon to it and it is so charming. A pottery ornament which my parents bought while on Cape Cod for my cousin's wedding in 2005. A mirrored angel ornament from a neighbor, also given to us to commemorate Baby Bear's birth. A hand-colored wooden ornament which our "niece" gave to us. And last, but not least, a star with 3 bears on it and our family name and the year written on it. Hubby and I picked it out while we were on our last pre-parenthood vacation together.... the one where I hiked 2 miles to see a waterfall in the Smokies at 26 weeks of pregnancy. Oh, there are many more ornaments which remind us of friends and family, and there are also some I picked out just because they were pretty and in my price range. I may pick up some shatterproof ornaments to fill in some of the bare spots, or I may not.

I can't wait to see Baby Bear's reaction to the tree when she sees it tomorrow.

Now to get some lights up outside and decorate downstairs...

I bought a larger crochet hook... size K/10 1/2-6.50 MM.

I think it's working better for me already. I might actually complete a Christmas gift that is acceptable to give.

Wordless Wednesday:
We ate THAT?

A very special friend is a new mommy

9 1/4 years ago, a friend invited my college roommates and I down for a going away party for our mutual friend and her roommate. Later on that evening, after the man who is now my husband and I had hit it off, she gave me a slip of paper with his phone # on it and asked it he could have mine. So silly, but so sweet. I kept that slip of paper in my wallet for the longest time. I never had to use it, though. He e-mailed me 2 days later, then began calling me, and the rest is history.

Well, our friend Summer is now a mommy. She was married a little over a year ago, and yesterday she gave birth to a bundle of joy in a big baby boy's package. I don't know all the stats yet, but pray that she and baby recover well (so far so good, I think- she had a c-section).

If there is hope for me to learn crochet,
there is hope for anyone!!!

1st attempts:

Tackled over Thanksgiving weekend:

Why am I posting this when there are several obvious flaws in my first hotpad?
1) To encourage others to try and not be afraid of the struggle.
2) To encourage myself somewhere down the road, when I am working on a real project like an afghan for a friend's baby... I will be able to see how far I have come.

Crochet is one of many lost handcrafted forms of artwork in our society. Well, almost lost. But there is something special about a handmade blanket, whether it's crocheted, knitted, or sewn. My goal is to be able to make blankets that are worthy of being given as gifts.... eventually.
I know, I will have to actually count my stitches and make them looser. And learn prettier stitch combos. But you have to start somewhere.

Tackling a hobby...
Teaching myself to crochet.

This week I have actually made some progress toward learning to crochet. My stitches are still too tight, but at least my wrist and fingers aren't hurting anymore. I will post pictures soon...

Start Date: Immediately
End Date: December 31, 2007

"This is the time of the year when the tempting foods abound and, if you are like me, you start promising yourself that you'll commit to healthier eating when the New Year arrives. Don't Wait!! That's what this challenge is all about! If you start now, you'll get a head start on the New Year and you'll feel great.

For this challenge, set one goal for yourself that you want to accomplish before January 1st. It might be to just lose 5 pounds before that day. You might want to commit to adding one extra day of exercise to your routine (if you're not exercising, how about adding 1 day?). You might want to cut out sodas till that day or add an extra 8 oz of water to your routine. Get the picture? Set a goal!!!"
******

My friend Becky, from Women @ Home, proposed this challenge, and I accept. Here are my goals:

1) Exercise 30 minutes, once or twice a week.
2) Drink at least 4 glasses of plain ole' water daily, plus other juices and liquids.
3) Do 25 sit-ups at least 3 times a week.

Current weight: ????
Last weigh-in: 139, before Thanksgiving.
Goal: 135

Who wants to join us?
Notice you can set just ONE goal, and it can be small.

home again

We had a wonderful weekend with hubby's side of the family, and on our way home today we met my brother and sister in law for lunch. I haven't checked, but I seriously doubt I am still just 4 lbs. over my goal weight. That's okay, though.

Germs were shared, and I dug out my stash of guafinasen when I got home. Thankfully it seems to be working already, and my congestion is not bothering me quite as much as it was. Nothing like a 1200 mg horse pill to dry you up.

no deep thoughts here.. i'm beat. But I am thankful for the blessing of family and safe car rides home. Please pray that Gramma and Computer Guy's flights go smoothly tomorrow and Tech Mom and Dad have a safe drive home.

deep thought of the day

"oh, please... everything causes something."-me, in response to someone's comment that eating microwave popcorn causes that mysterious popcorn lung illness.

Happy Thanksgiving
from our family to yours!


We're having a wonderful time with hubby's side of the family. Great Gramma even flew down to spend time with us,
so we have the whole gang here.

We have so much to be thankful for... safe travels (8+ hours for some), good conversation, relaxation, and a terrific turkey dinner with lots of sides and delectable desserts . The girls are playing well together and drawing those who are willing into their tickle-fest.

I am thankful for these wonderful people who God used to change my life forever.

I am also grateful for you, my blogging and real-life buddies who humor me by reading my ramblings and participating in conversation, no matter how simple.

May God bless you and may you know the love of the Saviour
as we enter this holiday season.

Thanksgiving Travel Preparations

It's been a while since I posted my to-do list as a tackle. Today I have to make up for the hours I've spent procrastinating earlier in the week. Will I ever learn?

Anyway, green means it has been completed, yellow means in process.

• Make gift labels and finish wrapping gifts(we're celebrating Thanksgiving and Christmas with DH's family since we'll all be together.)
  
• Finish washing dirty laundry and folding/putting away Mt. Laundry
• Sweep/Mop kitchen floor
• Clean off kitchen counter.
• Empty dishwasher & reload
  
• Remove science projects from fridge
• clean bathrooms
• wash and change sheets
• Pack baby bear's clothes, diapers, etc...
• Pack casserole ingredients
• pack ingredients for peppermint bark
  

Still to do tonight:

• Pack my bags and toiletries (and make sure hubby puts them in the car.)

Thankfully dinner has already been made... I made 2 chicken pot pies last night because it's just as easy to make two as it is to make one, so we're having leftovers. I'll just throw it in the oven to heat.

If I took pictures I would be procrastinating further, so no photos today.

What
are
YOU
tackling
today?

I heard about this on the radio, and then found a link on another blog.

Expand your vocabulary and give rice to the poor... just by clicking!!!

hubby took this photo of me trying to teach myself to crochet after baby bear went to sleep one night this weekend...


...not exactly my favorite, but it's real. Plus, I don't think I have shared any pics of my "new" glasses since I bought them a few months ago.

I dare you to post a photo of yourself without makeup.

Guilty pleasure or addiction?

I've been to Starbucks twice this week. Once to get the peppermint mocha. It was good. Well, today I decided to ask for a door prize donation for a monthly meeting, and get more grounds because I forgot to ask for the donation earlier in the week, and I just could not resist the temptation. I also got a cookie, the most expensive but very yummy chocolate chunk and m & m cookie I will ever buy. Anyway, one of my garden pots is now full again... thanks to the big 'ol bag of grounds I took off their handstoday. (I depleted a lot of my soil supply when I extended my flower bed and planted bulbs. Why pay for potting soil when you can "make" your own?) There are also some banana peels and egg shells buried in there, I am hoping they turn into compost over the winter. Anyway, the backyard smells good (if you like the smell of coffee).

Today's favorite experience was the white chocolate peppermint mocha.. My new favorite splurge. Followed closely by hearing Bear ask "stroller?" when we pulled into the parking space. Apparently she remembers our strolls to Starbucks and back. She cracked me up. They seem so long ago to me...

"Blessed are those who mourn,
for they shall be comforted...."

In the past 2 weeks, one acquaintance's husband was killed in a car accident, and I have learned that two friends had miscarriages... one kept fairly quiet about her most recent loss for a month, the other went to her check-up yesterday and the baby did not have a heartbeat. Both women have had multiple miscarriages (4+). Please pray for the Lord's comfort for these friends.

Scrapback... 11th page completed

Yesterday's tackle motivated me to scrap a page tonight. I was hoping to do more than one, but it took me longer than I had planned just to do this. You would think I took the time to measure my margins by how long it took, but I just eyeballed them. My adhesive tape runner is basically worthless, and since it's over a year old and I'm sure even hubby doesn't have that receipt, I can't take it back for an exchange. Thankfully I have other adhesives to work with, but still... "Money down the drain, Max," as Ruby would say. At this rate, I'll be done with Bear's 1st year scrapbook before she gets married. Maybe. Let's see... 11 pages in 2 years.... maybe not.

New poll: online wish lists

Be honest, what do you think about wish lists? I have one for Bear and one for me. Do I expect people to buy off them? Not really, they are really more of a central location for ideas, so I don't have to repeat myself over and over and over. And then there's the "I saw something I thought was neat but forgot what it was" syndrome. (Don't tell me I'm to young for that, cause it's struck more than once.) And whether or not anyone buys a gift from it at all is irrelevant. Although amazon would disagree.

Anyway, this discussion was brought up on a message board, and I thought I'd see what you, my blogging buddies, think about the debate.

Wordless Wednesday:
Mommy & Daughter
(age 3 & age 2)

Today's Tackle:
The desk and surrounding area

Baby Bear is down for her nap. I am tempted to take one myself, but I refuse. I'll post pictures when I'm done, as if I try to upload them now I will distract myself and never even start the task. This desk has been a disaster area for quite some time. The passive part of me is now being overtaken by the aggressive side, and I WILL make this area usable again. When I post the pics, I will take suggestions for how to make the area even more usable and less prone to clutter. I'd like to set up a scrapping area, but I have to be careful about making it too accessible to my little one. Anyway, I'm rambling... I'll be back when it's done, with pics.

I also hope to get to the meme's I've been tagged in. I just haven't been that motivated to do memes for some reason.... but the desk will come first.

Before:

After:

(trash)

Whaddya know? There is a desk after all!!

It's not perfect by any stretch of the imagination. But I got rid of lots of old paperwork I will never need and I uncluttered the desk. I know where my scrapbook embellishments and papers are hiding, though they are not nearly organized enough. I need one of those cubbie drawer thingies designed to fit 12x12 papers. And a long table to go along the wall for workspace would be nice. Oh, and I definitely need to organize what photos I have, figure out what pages I can make with them, and go ahead and DO some layouts with the supplies I have on hand before I buy anything else.

logging off/grounding myself from the computer : 1:25 p.m.

tackle completed: 2:45 p.m. /
post updated 3:15 p.m.

667th post....

(do the fact that my last post was the 666th and it was about a so-called "evil" business entity have anything to do with eachother? just a thought...)

I LOVE $4 prescriptions. The big evil superstore is doing something right in that department.

I really, really, really really wish I had itunes right now. But I don't even have an ipod.

Someone I knew in college, well, two someones if you count one of his musicians in the band, too, have their first release....

The Daniel Doss Band

The album doesn't come out until Feb. I need to get their independent albumbefore then. I supposed I could join this century and download the EP, too.

I ground and brewed coffee for myself this morning. 2nd time in a week. My in-laws are sucking me in to their addiction. And they aren't even here.

Wordless Wednesday: Autumn Stroll

November 2005, about 2 1/2 weeks old

Today:

For others' WW posts, visit 5 minutes for mom or the WW HQ.

Food for thought....

CK Lewis has a recently published book. Go to her blog and see if it's something that interests you.

"bloggin'" buds reunite!

Guess who just left my house?

ZANN!!!

She was visiting friends and family for the weekend, and my house is kinda sorta on the way back to her home, hubby and dog. She brought me a set of sheets that she had bought and been unable to return after realizing they were too small for her bed, and she brought baby bear a meowing kitty cat, a little purse, and a necklace.

We ate lunch together, had a cup of coffee each (not bear, she had milk),
and then she headed out.

It was so nice to see her again! It's been at least 3 years since we've seen each other in person. She's actually the one who introduced me to blogger and got me reacquainted with some other old friends. We met over 10 years ago (or is it 15 now?... that makes me feel really old, let's just say 10) and she even came to our wedding.

I'm so glad you were able to come meet Baby Bear, Zann! Drive home carefully!

playing with (and recycling) flowers

The mums and sedum are from my flowerbed.
The baby's breath and asparagus fern are from the flowers hubby brought baby bear for her birthday.

My Dad gave me one of those glass flower holder thingies that happens to fit perfectly in my cute glass bowl. I decided to try my hand at making an arrangement of mums using that glass thingy. It was my grandma's, so I really hope I don't break it.

My mums are not quite as full outside, but now I have a few arrangements to enjoy inside. I even put one in the bathroom, but forget to get a picture of it.

I am addicted to planting bulbs.... there is no cure.

It's not the actual planting that I love, it is the hope of the end result. Maybe it's because my parents have always loved gardening and had fresh-picked flowers available in their yard. Perhaps I got bit by some bug when we visited the Tulip Festival in Holland, MI when I was a girl. I can barely remember it, but I'm sure there were thousands of beautiful bulbs. Perhaps I get some satisfaction from changing the soil in an area, transforming what was full of gravel, rock and chunks of brick from when our house was built into a fertile area. I have to confess I like chucking the rocks down the hill to no-man's-land beyond where the sidewalk ends. At least I remembered to wear my gardening gloves. My hands were very thankful. Baby Bear LOVED dropping the bulbs into the holes. You could see her face glow with pride as she threw them in, whether I was ready for them or not. She also helped me remove rocks from the soil. As long as she did not permanently damage the bulbs as she played with them, and the rodents don't dig them up, we should have a decent little display of various daffodils in the new part of my flower bed.

I took soil out of the cantaloupe pot and added it to the existing "dirt". The cantaloupe plants had died.... whithered away to practically nothing. So that left lots of "extra" dirt/coffee grounds mix for me to put in the ground with the bulbs, hopefully improving their chance to thrive.



I will be very, very disappointed if my tulips and daffodils don't come up in a few months. And hubby will be bitter because why buy bulbs if they don't bloom? Certainly not to feed rodents.

At least the grass seed is coming in, and here's to spring! (Not that I'm in a rush, I just don't want to wake up in March wishing I had planted more bulbs. Been there, done that.)

my new 'do

New looks all over the place...

maybe I'll get hubby to take a picture of my new hairdo. Farm Wife and her brave soul inspired me to get a trim, though mine's not nearly as drastic as hers. It's way shorter than it was in the back, about the same in the front, and blended together. I got it done at the place I get my brows and lip waxed. I really like the girl, and I think she'll get the hang of working with my paintbrush/horse-hair pretty quickly. I wasn't happy with how the last cut was growing out. Anyway, my mustache and unibrow are gone, and my mane is styled, so I feel like a new woman.

I feel pretty, oh so pretty!

oops...

When I switched templates, I lost a lot of links. Please don't take it personally if it takes me a while to track your blog down. I may just leave links in my personal bookmarks and keep the blog "cleaned-up".

I really like my blog's new look. Hope you do, too!

Wordless Wednesday: Child's Play

Halloween Happenings

* On the way to the Kids Karnival at First Evan:
Bear: "Roll, roll, roll your dope."
It's a very good thing she didn't realize what she was singing. With a little coaching, her pronunciation improved and she sang the correct lyrics.

* The main area was a little overwhelming for her. The big bounce house was too noisy for her taste. She liked the bean-bag toss, and digging through fake leaves. She also liked putting swim rings around cones. But her favorite part was Toddler Town, a room where the
A/C actually worked and the kids were her size or smaller. The bounce house in the Toddler Town was smaller and quieter, too. She had fun sliding down the Little Tikes slide, and slideing blow-up animals down the slide. Tech Mom, hubby and I were glad there were chairs set up for the parents. I had to remove her costume in order to change her diaper, and by the time we got home, Bear did not want to put it back on, so no trick-or-treating for us. She did get candy at the Kids Karnival. And she had fun giving the kids that came to Tech Mom's door their treats... except when one particular boy with a fake-bloody mask leaned over so she could put the candy in. Maybe next year....