Teachers gifts

You know....just because your gift is not huge or elaborate doesnt mean it cant be special.  This year for Heathers teachers I made small loaves of gingerbread.  Definitely not as much as Id like to do and of course no where NEAR what they deserve, but unfortunately its all we could manage.  But like I said, even a simple gift can be dressed up a bit.  Simple lunch bags, 2 holes punched at the top, with ribbon and a pick.  Its not even a whole pick.  I tore one apart, so it seriously was like pennies on the dollar (right in my price range).

PINTEREST

OK so I have a new addiction that I really must share with you.  I know that 90% of you know what Pinterest is, but I also know a couple of my peeps that have NO IDEA, so let me talk with ya a bit about the best thing since well....evah!!!!  Pinterest is like your own personal bulletin board on line.  You can pin photos or videos or music or whatever else ruffles your fancy.  See a card that you so want to scraplift....pin it!  It saves the link that you got it from and it saves the photo.  So I know that some of you do not facebook and have no desire to start.  But I am begging you----you MUST try pinterest.  I have gotten SOOOO many dang ideas that it is rediculous.  Like this one...

Is that not so stinkin cute???  I cant even begin to tell you the ideas that I have gotten from there.  Lets see if I can sum it up in a nut shell.  If you are surfing the web, find something you like....whether its a photo of tree that you think is amazing, you click on a little button at the top of your screen (you get one when you sign up) and tell it to pin this.  And whala!  There you go.  Its pinned.  Then when you go to your Pinterest board there it is.  I used to save card ideas to a publisher document so that I could print them out and remember them....since pinterest, I dont do that anymore.  I save them to my board and can scan through all of my ideas in a few minutes rather than shuffling thru tons of paper.  I have even considered scanning all of my already on paper ideas so that I could pin them too.  I am telling you---it is amazing.   And the best part is that you can pin other peoples pins.  Like the wreath was NOT my idea, nor my pin.  Someone else had pinned it....I repinned and then did it!  FUN!!! 

It doesnt require any downloads on to your computer.  Simply apply (or email me and I will send you an invite because you go on to a waiting list without the invite...) and save the PIN IT to your favorites bar (just like bookmarking a page) and you are ready to pin!  Let me tell ya, its the greatest thing.  I never did crack, but I am thinkin that it would resemble this--I just cant get enough of the stuff!

A Pinterest Tutorial


Here is a tutorial that gives you photos of the screen shot of what it looks like and also what its all about.  She said it so well that I didnt bother to rewrite it.

Anyways---enjoy your day!  And I hope to see your emails to sign you up!

Peace on Earth

Words cannot explain how much I truly wish we didnt have war.  Not only the war that our friends and family are fighting in other countries.  But the ones that many are fighting right here on our own soil.  Gangs.  Domestic abuse.  Child abuse.  Bullying.  the list goes on and on.  I wonder what the world would be like if for ONE SINGLE DAY we all got along.  Not a bullet was fired, not a disbute was had.  For ONE day?

JOY

When asked the simple question...What brings you joy?  How hard would it be for you to answer?  I mean, what truly makes you happy?  Is it knowing that you are loved?  Hearing your kids or grandkids giggles?  Is it sleeping late or eating chocolate until youre sick?  I have been studying this recently in my Bible Study.  I mean I know that Jesus is my only joy.  He is my everything.  But I have also been searching for the things that make me truly happy.  We all have to take the bad stuff with the good.  I KNOW this.  But my focus of the new year is going to be the good.  I can handle BAD, if it is working TOWARDS something good.  I am hereby declaring the year 2012 the year of pure JOY for me.  I am not going to partake in ANYTHING that does not have the purpose of bringing joy.  I am doing away with relationships that do nothing but cause me strife, I am getting rid of habits that hurt me and dont bring me joy.  Yes, friends....JOY is my new motto.

SNOWMEN

SNOW MUCH FUN!!!!  I love snowmen!  Cute ones, fluffy ones, fat ones, skinny ones.  They are one thing that look good no matter how they are shaped.  I can't believe we are down to the count down of Christmas.  Tonight the girls and I are off to see a friend in a play in Nashville and then tomorrow morning Heather will be visiting a new Dr. at Vanderbilt.  No worries, everything is fine.  We are just changing doctors and looking for better control of her diabetes.  But we are going tonight, hopefully to see some fabulous Christmas lights and of course to have some awesome SLUMBER PARTY times with Amy and Lori.  I am sooo excited to get to hang with my peeps.

Cute Snowman!

Every year I say the SAME thing.  That I am NOT going to save my Christmas cards for last minute.  And well, here I am again this year, making that SAME promise.  Only because I have spent every spare moment I have had assembling cards, only to find out I am still about 25 short.  WHAT?!?!  UGH!  Yes, so I still gotta do 2 dozen more and that IS with cutting my list back to slim pickins this year.  I figure I send out about 100 cards.  With local peeps and church and so on.  Its a tradition that I DONT want to give up.  I know that postage is high and that it takes time and effort.  But I LOVE getting cards from friends and family.  I LOVE hanging them up and looking at them through out the season.  And since I kind of base MY list on ones that I receive, Id hate to be cut from someones list just cause I didnt send them one. 

Someone once told me....

Someone once told me that my babies would grow up fast.  But they didn't warn me of just HOW fast.  Heather went to her first Military Ball a couple of weeks ago.  Was she not simply STUNNING??

Before I know it, she is gonna be off.  Seeking her own dreams and living her own ways. 

Cant I just rewind it a bit....live it all over again?

A little bit of love, a whole lot of sugar!

I am not a huge fan of gingerbread, but let me tell you what.  My house smells AMAZING!!!  We of course carried on our tradition of decorating the sugar coated masterpieces. 

Someone MUST remind me to make the royal icing a little less royal next year.  Holy snot the stuff was tough to work with.  Had to call in the big muscles.

We are certainly NOT professionals.  But it was fun.  And did I mention my house smells good??

Advent.....tree

Usually I purchase an Advent Calendar for each of the girls.  Its a tradition that I started when they were itty bitty girls and now I think Id be disowned if I decided not to do it.  Which this year, I changed it up a bit.  Remembering how much Hannah really like the one I got her one year that had Pet Shops in it (it came that way)....I decided to step it up a notch.  I made an Advent Tree!!!

 Each girl has a series of boxes 1 through 25.  One with green numbers and the other with red numbers.  They are mixed up all over the tree.

This year I chose to do the Japanese puzzle erasers as the gift.  So each little box has a different eraser in them.  They can play with them, trade em or do whatever.  Its really fun to see what they get in each one.  I thought that we could change it each year...maybe do jewelery or some other trinket...whatever they are in to for the year.   

Each morning I have no problem with them getting up and being completely ready to go.  They cant wait to open their special little gifts.  Yes.  It is only erasers and yes they are corney...but both of them LOVE it.

I just got a $10 tree at Family Dollar.  No lights and nothing real fancy.  I did later string some popcorn and cranberries on it and we added a package of candy canes.  I wanted this to be just a simple tree where the focus was the boxes. 

The boxes are just a simple paper 2x2 box.  Then I strung a ribbon from the bottom up the thru the lid.  I needed a way to keep the lid on the box no matter how much weight was placed in it.  This seemed to work the best.

Once they open their morning boxes I have a bag pinned up on the side of the freezer that they stow them in, so we can play again next year.

I love this idea, cause really....it doesnt matter how silly the gift inside is, its the gift that makes someone feel special.  I think this tradition will go on all the way through the girls and hopefully down to the grandkids. 

OK...I will quit with the Halloween stuff....

Let's move on to Christmas huh?  No, wait, I think I should first tell you that we celebrated our first Thanksgiving holiday at home.....ever.  I cooked my first turkey......ever.  I have to admit, we had an amazing meal.  It all turned out perfectly.  GREAT!  A wonderfully blessed day.  Of course that was the weekend that I chose to a) paint the basement.  b) move Heather to the basement (she's been wanting her own room since we moved in here)  c) move Hannah to our room d) move us to the girls room and d) decorate for Christmas.  Yeah ok, so I dont claim to be real smart when it comes to timing things!!

I have to admit it all went very smoothly.  I will share more on our new rooms as we get more parts in place.  For now, we have simply just moved everything.  Well, yeah we painted.  But thats it. 

Our Christmas decorations ARE up tho.  I loooooove my traditional tree.  I was so stoked that I found the old fashioned tinsel that I usually use at the Habitat store for $.25 each pack.  Of course I recycle mine each year, but it was getting straggly.  I know the stuff is the vacuum's worst nightmare and it sticks beautifully to staticky socks and cats just find it fascinating.  But I love it.  It is what I grew up with and well...I guess it is just something that MAKES the tree finished.  I also love each one of my ornaments.  Each one has a story.  Awww...this is baby's first Christmas.  Or look....there is the Mardi Gras Mask that we got in New Orleans.  Each one has memories and opening the ornament box is like opening up a scrapbook.  Which has spurred on another idea of mine...but more on that later.

 

The Christmas season is well under way.  I am loving it this year.  I love the decorations and the parties and the over all joy we have this year.  No, we dont have presents oozing out of every corner.  We probably wont come Christmas morning either.  But we have a sense of family and togetherness.  We are happy.  Sure, we still have stupid hiccups, but we have grown leaps and bounds in the past year and it is amazing at all the things that have changed.  Brother Charlie preached on something this past Sunday....

Are you smelling the rain, or are you ready to smell the roses after the rain??  We have certainly had our share of thunderstorms this last couple of years.  Some, self inflicted.  Others just happened.  But let me tell ya....the smell of the sweet rose and all of the blessings that have come out of our trials is amazing.  I wont give you gorey details, but one recently, made me love my husband more than I ever thought was possible.  The rainstorm before that revalation was nothing short of hell.  Feelings were hurt, pride was shattered and my faith was all but destroyed.  But I would go through it all again knowing that that is what it would take to cross that bridge in my marriage.  A bridge that, until we got there, we werent aware needed crossing.

I guess what I am really rambling on about...is dont give up.   Keep on keeping on.  I promise you will not be disappointed when you get to the flowers on the other side.

Day of the Dead

For Spanish Heather's assignment was to make a card to give to a teacher in celebration of the Day of the Dead.  She drew this awesome skull and we shrunk it down so she could put in on the card.

On the inside it has the story of the Day of the Dead in both Spanish and English.  She did a try fold card so that it could fit all of that on there plus allow her to sign it as the assignment called for.

She of course ACED the project.  I thought it looked pretty awesome!

Trunk - Or -Treat 2011

This was also our church's first year for Trunk-R-Treat.  We had so much fun!  We had a family competition as well as the one at church.  Hannah and dad were the pig and farmer with the barn.

And Heather and I were the bathing person and Rubber Duck in a bathtub.  We of course being awesome that we are---won first place!  :)

The City of Cookeville also did a food drive/zombie walk this year too.  Heather and her friends had a great time with that!

Did I mention that I love Halloween.  We have so much fun every year.

Catching up.

You'd think after several years of blogging I'd have it mastered.  No, all I have is the guilt that I never update it.  I do, however want to get better.  As I do with lots of things.  But one, step at a time though right?  Anyways....lets go on back to Halloween.  Here's this years punkins.  We had so much fun--- as usual. 

Dad's "Simple"

The family

Hannah's "Scared Squared"

Heather's Jack Sparrow

Mom's "Sexy Squash"

I hope that we are able to throw the great Halloween party that we want to have sometime soon.  We have such uber excellent ideas!  We'll get there, I am certain.