BRRrrrrrr....Baby It's Cold Outside!

Yep, it does get cold in Arizona! We woke up to cold, rainy, windy weather this morning. It made going to exercise at 5:30 am "not fun". Luckily, the sun came out later in the day. Unlike our daughter Bre in WA who woke up to several inches of snow and still snowing! We are keeping our fingers crossed that they can make it to the airport tomorrow morning to get down here.

I have inserted pictures of some of the Christmas decorating I did at my mom's house. This is a little display that I did on her dinning room table. I love these darling little houses and all the glitter. It's fun to decorate in all the pretty white and pastels.

Here are some close-ups of the little houses.




These white feather topiaries are so pretty. Behind them is a little peek of her silver sequin Christmas tree.

Later this morning Frank, my mom and I joined Jami and Mike at Hanna's preschool Christmas program. The kids sang about 6 songs all with hand motions and some with jingle bells ringing and also recited two Bible verses.

We were amazed at how well they did. Hanna knew the words and motions to every song and wasn't shy about singing out. We were so proud of the great job she did.


After they were done the teachers had set up tables for them to frost an upside down ice cream cone and then decorate it with M & M's to look like a Christmas tree. Hanna barely finished decorating hers and it was in her mouth. She has a terrible sweet tooth like her Gigi. I managed to lick the remainder of the green frosting out of the bowl!! Yummmmm!!
We have less then 24 hours before our family arrives and we are really excited. I need to run to the grocery store in the morning to stock up and hopefully have time to bake another batch of cookies. Bre had to go to the Dr. yesterday and found out she has broncitis. So she is on an antibiotic. Now Cole is sick but due to all the snow they were not able to get him into the Dr. So we will take him to Urgent Care down here when they arrive. We need to get them feeling better before Sunday when we take off for the Polar Express. At some point I really need to think about getting some Christmas cards and sending them....I think they are going to be late this year. I do have my Christmas letter written though.
Well, I'm off to get ready for bed. Not sure when the next post will be since we will have a house full here. What fun!!!!!

CHRISTMAS PARTY TIME!!

This last Saturday we participated in our 2nd Annual Christmas Progressive Appetizer Party. What a blast! We stopped at 5 homes for drinks and appetizers. Everyone dressed up, supplied appetizers and brought our own drinks. Each house looked so nice all decorated for Christmas. A fun time was had by all (as you can tell by the pictures). We feel so fortunate to have such awesome friends to enjoy all these activities with.
Last weeks classes on Digital Scrapbooking went great. I learned a lot and also was able to take a blogging class. I hope to be able to create my own banner for my blog in the near future. I still have a lot of practice in from of me for the scrapbooking.
Today I am pulling out my soldering to try to get caught up on that. I was able to crochet another baby hat the other night. So my inventory is slowly growing for next year's booth at the Believe boutique.
We are so excited for our kids and the grandsons to arrive this Thursday. It will truly seem like Christmas then.
Well, I'm off to solder. Enjoy the picture album.

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

HAPPY 6TH BIRTHDAY, COLEMAN!!!!!

We are celebrating this eventful day in honor of our grandson, Coleman's 6th birthday!! Where have the past 6 years gone? Our first grandchild has gone from this sweet, tiny little newborn....

to this darling little toddler....

to this incredibly kind, soft-hearted, handsome 6 year old!!

We are so proud of all of his accomplishments:
learning new things at school
his incredible memory
all the great songs he sings
his kindness to others
his great dance moves
his sensitive heart
all the pictures he colors
how high he can jump
how fast he rides his bike
our phone conversations with him
what a great helper he is
how high he can count
how he shares
learning to pump on a swing
how fast he can run
his knock-knock jokes
how he's learning to read
making his bed
how loving he is
and so much more

Gigi and Papa love you Cole and send you tons of hugs and kisses on your special day!
See you on December 18th.

This morning I made my morning mocha, loaded up my computer and drove off for my digital class in Mesa at my favorite creative place, Blissful Living Studio. Tangie spent the next couple hours teaching us about the basics and will continue with the next level when we return on Thursday. I learned so much new information and am increasingly amazed at all the talent that is out there. It is overwhelming! The best part about today is that I had forgotten that I had signed up in November to take Tangie's blogging class right after the scrapbooking class. So I got a double dose of info today. I will try to incorporate some of the new things I learned about blogging in this blog. Wow, there is a ton of new techie info out there. I don't know how any can keep up with all of it. Good thing Frank went golfing at a course that is 40 minutes away today. I didn't have to worry about being gone all day. Tonight I plan on practicing some of what I learned today.
I need to get some dinner started. Tomorrow is my Scrapbooking Club's Christmas Brunch and I need to get a breakfast potatoe dish put together for it. So need to head to the kitchen. Tomorrow night is pasta night at Seville....YIPPEE!!!

Getting Organized

No pictures to post today since I have spent the past two days getting my studio cleaned up and organized. My grandsons will be here on the 18th so thought I better start putting all my little colorful treasures away before little hands get a hold of them. It's hard to have to put everything away since I still feel like I really want to create, but I will be taking three digital scrapbooking classes over these next 9 days and probably will be busy with homework. I wrestled around with those Christmas netting lights this afternoon trying to get them centered on my outside bushes. I can't figure out why they make them 6' x 4' when most bushes are round. It looks so stupid to have two sides completely covered and two sides not. Must have been men that designed them! After I got them all done I couldn't get my extension cord plugged into the light string that is around my front door.....again, must have been a man designing all those different sized prongs on the end of lights. It makes way too much sense that all plugs prongs should be the same size. Looks like another trip to Home Depot to try to find an adapter that will work.
Frank is still coughing and sniffing.....his cold has gone on for over a week. Luckily I am cold-free. Poor Jami has a sinus infection and little Hanna has strep throat and both ears are infected. Thank goodness for antibiotics.
Had a very enjoyable afternoon at the play in Scottsdale yesterday. It was hysterical and three of our group of 15 were called on by "Sister" to participate on stage. One was a Wiseman, one was the Ox and the other was the Ass. Their impromptu costumes were made from thrift store finds such as a lampshade for a Wiseman's hat, a section of drapery for a cape, a bath mat for fur and a toilet seat cover for a fur head piece. They had rubber noses and ears for the Ox and Ass. The title of the play is, "Late Night Catechism Christmas Story, Who Stole the Gold". It is a one woman show and well worth the money if you ever have a chance to see it.
Time to take my shower. I am excited to be heading to Mesa in the morning for my digital class. Afterwards I will still have time to peek into a few of their neat shops.

Finished The Nursery!!!!!!!!

FINALLY!!! Today I glued on the last of the ribbon roses in my granddaughters nursery. What a relief! And just in time for Jami's Christmas Bunco party tomorrow night. The rose garland I made actually attached to the valance easily, so I was happy about that. The nursery is looking good. Still has a couple wall spaces that need to be filled and we will be on the look out for just the right thing.

The valance is made from about 15 yards of shiny lavender tulle. I had to keep running back to Joann's to buy more. The third and final trip I ended up buying all that they had left.

Here's picture of the 5 roses I glued on today. They really jazz up the white baskets and bring more color into the room.


These next few pictures are of the rest of the room. I still want to find a cute lamp base and then decorate a lampshade for it to put on the dresser. But I am putting that on hold for a while so I can finish my Christmas tasks.




I was able to go over to my mom's this afternoon and get all her Christmas decoration up. So she is all set now. I ran home to finish making my homemade turkey soup for Frank's dinner along with some cornbread muffins. He came home from golf feeling crummy. Sore throat and achey....so I think he is coming down with a cold. Yuck! I got some more outside lights put up and just have a couple more strings to put up this week and then I'm calling it quits on the decorations! Tomorrow I get to go to scrapbooking club and work on my digi scrapping. Then from 3 to 5pm Xyron is coming to our club meeting and we get to play with all their new products and go home with freebies. I can hardly wait. I also need to get back into my studio and work on some more pictures and jewelry. My poor hands are so dry and cracked from this past weeks worth of working that they sting. So tonight I will soak them and slather them with cream in hopes that by tomorrow morning they will not be so unsightly as they are tonight!! Nor so sore.
Last night we joined some friends up at the club for a drink and then we were invited over to one of the couples house for pizza. It was such a beautiful night that we sat out on their patio and ate. They had all their Christmas lights up in their backyard so it was so pretty. And did you notice the two huge stars next to the moon last night? They are actually Jupiter and Venus and they will not be aligned and this visible again until 11/18/2052. They were so bright we thought they were airplanes at first. Hope you got to see them. Speaking of stars.......they are all shining brightly right now, which means it's time for me to hit the hay. Byeeeeeeee

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas...

....at the Hunter house! I put the last few touches on the inside decorations today. Decorating the tree is always my favorite part. I just love the Christmas season....all the glitter, music, red, glitter, decorations, cards, glitter, glitter, glitter. I guess you could call me the glitter queen. If it doesn't sparkle it probably won't be found in my house.

Even my sweet angel sparkles. Her wings glitter with iridescent lighting so it looks like they are moving...very cool!! LOL

This big "ole" snowman makes his presence known in my entry. He's a jolly soul and carries a cone full of red and silver glittery goodies.


Doesn't he just make you want to smile!

This Santa spreads his cheer on my living room end table. His legs and arms are terribly skinny, but his tummy is round and jolly. Ho Ho Ho


As usual, I have the big display on my dining room table. I chose all silver, white and red this year. Gee, do you think it's glittery enough???? This table just makes me run to the radio and turn on Christmas music. It's such a happy sound that I have to turn on our outside speakers too so that all my neighbors can get in the spirit along with me!! I've even heard a couple of them whistling along to the songs.
I decided to put glass balls and other glittery objects in the jars this year instead of candy. Only because I am a candyaholic and can't keep my hands out of the jars!! Not to mention my grandkids hands.
I have had my Thanksgiving turkey carcass simmering on my stove top all day today. I had hoped to get some turkey noodle soup made, but didn't quite get it finished. So looks like we will be eating out tonight and have soup tomorrow. It sure smells good here. Tonight I will make the final five ribbon flowers for the nursery baskets at Jami's and will go over tomorrow to place them and get some pictures.
I'm off to meet up with Frank and two other couples for pizza. Have a great evening!

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................