HAPPY HOLIDAY HECTIC TIME!

Wow, did we just have Thanksgiving? It's hard to believe that we are done eating our big, yummy, turkey dinner, scrambled out early for Black Friday morning shopping and are now winding down to the last days of November.
We woke Thanksgiving morning to a phone call from Coleman wishing us a Happy Thanksgiving. That is always a happy was to start our day.
Frank and I enjoyed the company of our daughter, son-in-law, granddaughter, my mom and Mike's mom for our Thanksgiving dinner. We are so thankful to have all of them here to celebrate with us, but were sad that Bre and her family weren't here. We miss them terribly. The kids came over in the early afternoon. Hanna posed for this picture wearing her handmade Indian headband from her preschool Thanksgiving Day feast. Her little crafted turkey had a special place on top of the big white pumpkin in my centerpiece.

I always worry that my turkey won't turn out........but I was pleasantly surprised when I pulled it out of the oven. It browned up perfectly, was moist and tasty and the dressing was delicious. I think the half bottle of white wine I mixed into the dressing was a real help! It sure made my house smell good.

After dinner Frank took Hanna and her new golf bag and clubs up to the golf course to practice her swing. Here she is modeling the new PINK golf bag and PINK clubs that her Farfar (that's Swedish for father's father) bought her last weekend while he was visiting. Pretty snazzy for a
4 yr. old!!
While getting her bag ready to go she asked Papa, "Which club is my pitter?"

I joined the other "crazies" out shopping before sunlight yesterday. I was able to get several more gifts crossed off my shopping list for Christmas. Of course, we also have Bre and Coleman's birthdays in December to shop for. I met up with Jami and her friend, Carolyn (they started an hour and a half before me) and we hit a couple more stores. Frank escaped to the golf course.
About 2:3o pm I arrived home with my haul. I spent the next several hours getting my Christmas tree up, decorating my dining room table, entry chest, and living room tables until Hanna came over to spend the night.
Today I was at Jami's from 10 am to 4:00pm getting her house decorated. I also finished the valance in the nursery. Since I forgot my camera I will post those pictures later. Everyone came back over here tonight to eat leftovers and I am now heading to bed. I'm not ashamed to say that I am "pooped"! It's been a long few days, but happy ones.

PEEK-A-BOO, WE SEE YOU!

Here's a sneak peak at our 31 week old granddaughter, Sofia! Of course we think she's darling, but you can decide for yourself. It was amazing to sit through 20 minutes of watching her move around in Jami's tummy. Love that technology. About half way through the ultrasound Hanna got up by Jami's tummy and started talking and Sofia turned her head toward Hanna and opened her eyes. Unbelievable!! It makes me so excited for her to be born. Couldn't you just kiss all over those pudgy little cheeks? ENJOY!

HURRAY! On The Mend, I think.....

I woke up this morning and my shoulder is finally feeling better. I am hoping this is a sign of good things to come. Spending over a week in pain and unable to create is not a good thing for me. I promised Frank and myself that I will still lay low for the next couple days to give it more time. Poor Jami, she is wanting to finish up Sofia's nursery and I am holding her up. Of course, I would go and leave the valance as the last thing to do. Ugh!
Tonight we are joining 16 other people and going out to Apache Junction to the Arizona Opry for dinner and a show. Should be lots of fun and I am really looking forward to it.
Yesterday Hanna came over to do a "project" I had for her. She knows that when I tell her I have a project for her that it means she is going to make something. Here she is in the process of making a Thanksgiving Turkey.

She did a great job. We decided her turkey needed a little sparkle so she added glitter to the tail and head and then made a big glitter "H" on the stand. Her turkey will have a special place in the centerpiece of my Thanksgiving dinner table.

Can't believe that bird day is SO close. It makes be a little panicky when I realize how few days are left before Christmas. Need to get my shopping done. Bre and her family are spending these two days at Great Wolf Lodge in Chehalis, WA. It is a beautiful, family oriented, indoor water park/lodge. She called last night to tell me how much fun they were having. Guess the boys part of their lodge room is built like a little cabin. It's perfect timing since it is raining up there and this gives the boys some good play time away from the house.
Hope all of you have a great weekend. Hope to get back to my studio early next week to work on some new creations.

Stalled!

Unfortunately I am still laid up with this injured shoulder. Frank and I went to dinner at Jami and Mike's last night (Jami made yummy tacos) and I came home in miserable pain. After loading up on all the painkillers, sleeping pills and icing my shoulder, it still took me an hour to calm down enough to lay still and try to sleep. Today I only left the house to attend a "viewing" of our new granddaughter at Jami's 4-D ultrasound. Sofie finally moved her hands away from her face and we were able to get lots of good looks at her darling little pudgy cheeked face. I will post pics as soon as I get them from Jami. Then it was a rush to Walmart to buy material to make a sling for my arm and then home for more pills and ice. Frank is threatening to take me to Urgent Care, but after all the research on the web we are sure that there isn't much else they can do for me with the exception of taking my money!
So I had to cancel a class I was going to take tonight and one that I was taking this Sat. and will stay home and try to move as little as possible so this shoulder can heal. This is REALLY getting in the way of my creative and social life!! Since typing is even painful I will call it a night until later.

Not a good day!

Woke up this morning with a VERY sore right shoulder. After loading up on the Ibuprofen all day and laying around, I am still in pain. I think I must have hurt it while working out at Curves on Wed. Probably didn't help it by working out again yesterday morning and then going dancing at out block party last night. Anyway, this whole day has been a bust since I wasn't able to do anything except wrap some Christmas presents this morning. Frank has been my nurse all day. Thank goodness for all his help. I wanted to post this updated picture of Jami. I think she looks really great for being over 7 1/2 months pregnant. What do you think?

SHOP, CREATE, ENJOY....

My three favorite things to do!!

I love days like this. Sleeping in late and then waking to the cool, fresh air streaming in through our open bedroom window. I snuggle into my warm hubby's body and listen to the birds singing knowing we don't have to get up soon since I don't have exercise this morning and Frank doesn't golf until noon. Oh, such bliss!! When we do decide to roll out into the new day I mentally take note of the list of things I want to try to accomplish today. After making my morning Mocha, reading my email, scanning the morning paper, giving Frank a haircut and throwing in a load of laundry, I'm off to shop! I have a list of craft items I need to get. As you can see I came home and finished the canvas art I had been working on.
I added blings on the tips of all the light bulbs but I still can't seem to perfect my photography skills enough to capture the pretty glitter that is on the picture. Shoot!!! It make it look so pretty.
This crown picture is pretty in pink. My plan is to make several pictures over this next 10 months and hopefully have a booth in next years holiday boutique at our church.


I finally finished the ribbon rose garland for Sofia's nursery valance today too. I hope to get over to Jami's sometime in the next few days to put up the tulle valance and attach this garland.

The picture makes the roses look more blue then purple, but they really are different shades of purple and lavender. I really am happy with how it turned out. I am anxious to see how it will look when I try to hang it. If it doesn't work I will have to find another way to use it since it is too pretty to toss.

So, back to the SHOP part of this blog....... Since I was right by DSW shoe store and hadn't been into the store in a couple months AND I had a $10 coupon, I decided to swing in since it was right in my path for craft shopping. After quickly glancing at all the new fall shoes in the front of the store I headed to the back sale rack. I always check the sale racks out because I have gotten some really wonderful buys. Well, low and behold, out jumped my favorite, comfy brand of shoes....and marked down to 80 percent off of $60!!! After using my $10 coupon I walked out with these great, orange shoes for ONLY $8.60!!!

Now I am at the ENJOY part!!

Oh, and last night we got to meet our dear friends, Ken and Peggy Hamernik from the Seattle area for dinner. They are down for 5 days with their girls, son-in-laws and one of the son-in-laws parents to vacation and see the WSU vs. ASU game this Sat. It's always a treat for us to spend time with them. They're here enjoying sunny, warm, weather. Since they flew out of horrible, rainy weather they are thrilled.
It's now time for me to get started on another crocheted baby hat. I am also building up my inventory with them for the boutique. As I sit in my comfy chair crocheting and drinking a tall glass of cold cranberry juice I am ready for Grey's Anatomy and an evening of simple ENJOYMENT................

Worn Out!!

This past weekend was our big "Believe ~ A Holiday Boutique" that we put on at the church with about 90 vendors. It was a great success with about 1200 people going through the boutique from Friday night through Sat. until 2:30pm. Seeing all the different talent in one large area is always like "eye candy" for me. I always marvel at the wide range of ideas that people can come up with to create. I bought several items, but I splurged on the above necklace and earrings from my favorite designer/teacher, Aasia. She lives not far from me and I have taken a class from her in her beautiful home studio. She is an incredible artist.

Here is a closer view of these unusual beads. I could have spent $1000 in her booth in 10 minutes, but I want to keep my happy home!!! Please take a moment and check out Aasia's website: www.aasiajewelry.com she has amazing works of art there that YOU can buy!!
Yes, I am still beading, but it is fun to buy something different from someone else.

Ribbons, ribbons, ribbons.........these are eventually going to be the ribbon roses that I will use in Sofia's nursery valance. I plan to make the roses in all different sizes, along with ribbon leaves and bunch them together to hold part of the tulle valance to the side of the window. Now that's what I am seeing in my head. Whether or not I can pull it off is yet to be seen! I went with Jami to her OB appointment this early this morning (always fun...and all is good with baby Sofia) and then we stopped by Z Gallery to window shop. They were in the middle of getting their Christmas merchandise out and OHHHHHhhhhhhhh so wonderful! We did pick up a cute blinged out deep purple plate that we are going to do something with for Sofia's room.

I have finished one of the many, many ribbon roses I will need for that valance. I hope to get a few more done this evening. Oh, and I did another fun thing Sat. evening after the boutique was over. I jumped in the car and drove to Mesa to take a class at Blissful Living Studio on Body Image. Rachel taught the very informative class and I learned a lot of useful tips for dressing correctly. It was so good that I am taking her "Shopping Strategies" class tomorrow night. I think this might lead to some purging of my closet and then some shopping. Oh, shucks!


So I leave you tonight as I'm sitting down to this dinner. Two boiled eggs and a bowl of chicken noodle soup. That was about all I had the energy for tonight. Good thing my husband is so understanding. I am excited that tomorrow will be the first morning out of the last 4 that I will NOT have to get up at 5:30 am. Of course, knowing me I will probably still wake up too early but at least I can snuggle back down and relax as long as I wish............the beauty of retirement!!!

New Decorations......again!!

Took down Halloween and put up Thanksgiving. Gosh, time is flying by. I need to get my turkey while the prices are low. I have no idea how I'm going to get the thing stuffed into my little side freezer.


I could have sworn that I had a matching Pilgrim Girl, but haven't able to find her. I will probably come across her after Thanksgiving when I am digging out Christmas decorations. The Thanksgiving sampler is one that I cross-stitched a few years ago.




This is the latest beeswax picture that I am working on. I still need to add the beeswax, glitter and rhinestones. Sorry, the picture didn't come out very bright.....the green is actually a pretty, soft, muted yellow-green. But you get the idea!

Here are some pictures of some of the things we did with our grandkids while they were here last week. We managed to stay busy the whole time.

Lots of playing in the pool. I think this might have been noodle races. Whoa, Cole, you're going the wrong way!!


No matter how much fun you're having in the pool....there must always be a few "snack" breaks. Gotta keep that energy at 100 percent!


This was Dance Party night. We had all the outside Halloween lights lit, the outside music going, our disco ball blinking and the kids performing for us. Wow, do they have some interesting moves! You should see Coleman do the "robot"! I think our Hanna may be the next Hannah Montana!


Pumpkin pick'n day. After choosing our pumpkins we were serenaded by the owner's little miniature chauhauhau. If you look closely you can see the dogs little mouth pointing out towards us in song!!! So funny!



Everyday Papa made all of us smoothies, yum, yum! This time the kids helped him out.


Papa took our grandkids over to the park at Power Ranch to feed the ducks and play on the outside play equipment. We had to keep reminding Caden that the bread was for the ducks and not for him!!



All this playing was just too much fun for Caden.....had to catch a few Zzzzzz's on the couch out on the patio before getting back in the pool!



My mom hanging out with her great-grandkids after eating dinner at Seville's Pasta Night.

Now I need to get dinner on the table for my golfing husband. It's been another beautiful day in the desert...in the high 70's. So weird to wear capri's after living in shorts for over 6 months. Still walking around in flip-flops though. Suppose to be in the 80's this weekend!! What's really stange is hearing Christmas music on the tv. It just doesn't seem like that time of year in this heat.
Frank and I will be up and at the church by 8am tomorrow to start setting up for the Annual "Believe - A Christmas Boutique" tomorrow night. It will be a long day since the 100+ vendors come in at 3:30 and the boutique runs from 5pm to 9pm. Then back on Sat. morning at 7:45 until 2pm. I am so excited to see all the neat things that these vendors have created and to shop their booths. After we close on Sat. I am running up to Mesa to take a class on Body Image. I hope she can show me how to dress to hide the extra #'s! I'll let you know later..............Have A Great Weekend

Our "SPOOK-TACULAR" HALLOWEEN!!!

Here we are in all our Halloween splendor!!! Richard Simmons was kind enough to come make some suggestions on a healthy "picnic" and how to keep the "bees" away!!

Our three little Trick-or-Treaters all decked out. Tinkerbell, Spiderman and an Incredible. We needed those two super heros to protect our sweet little Tinkerbell as they headed out into the scary, dark, night!!


I think this Incredible needs to eat a few more Wheaties!! The arms look buff but the legs could use some pumping up. No matter, he's excited to get going.

Spiderman was caught without his trusty mask.....YIKES....don't tell anyone, we wouldn't want his real idenity to get out!



Could Tinkerbell get any cutier???? Her little wings kept her fluttering through the neighborhood at top speed.


Here's the proud parents of these super heros, Kyle & Bre. All of us had just finished up a big Chili cook-off with about 18 people at Jami and Mike's house and were on our way out to get the goodies!!


This house had the coolest decorations. But the kids were a little scared to go get their treats.....we had to really coax them in. It didn't help that there was a live ghoulish person in the front of the yard digging a grave! We're nearing the end of the evening here and as you can see our little guy decided that he was getting too hot........


SOOOoooo.....off came his costume!!! Good thing we were back at Jami's driveway. Otherwise, we would have had our first "Trick-or-Streeker"!!!!

Wanted to pop this picture of Hanna and her Auntie Bre in. Bre had just finished doing Hanna's hair for the baby shower. Of course, Hanna thinks her Auntie Bre is the BEST!

One last pose for the camera in her new dress and shoes. All spiffed up and ready to go!

This is the SOFIA banner that I made for Jami's baby shower. I hung it today in the baby's room. We decided that the letters are hard to read so I may be making some adjustments later.


Here are a couple close ups of the banner. My photography skills leave a bit to be desired. But what is a little hard to see is the white feathers behind the silver glittered letter. They add that little extra "girlie-girl" touch.


This one has a few crystals on it. Each single triangle is different from the other. And of course, they are all covered with a light dusting of iridescent glitter! You can tell I love that stuff!!

Since I was working in the nursery today I thought you might like to see a few photos of Sofia's room. I painted the white scalloped edge and then added the glitter for a little extra sparkle. The little crown above the crib is actually a shelf that I painted and blinged out with purple crystals and then added the lavender tulle. We still need to add some writing just above the head of the crib. That's the picture I made on the right.


Here are the paper balls that I covered in MORE glitter and hung with ribbons. They add a fun dimension to the room and fill a large empty space. I made the rabbit and her clothes for Jami years ago and she has kept her. She came in handy!

I still have more to do in the baby's room......like the window valance which I am in the middle of creating now. I never know what anything is going to look like until I finish it so I am always in a state of anticipation and concern. Luckily, I have a daughter who thinks everything I do is wonderful. That certainly makes it much less stressful for me. Little does she know what she might be missing....LOL! I'm off to watch the SNL special........goodnight!