Highlights

I thought I would list some highlights of 2007. This is my favorite photo of the year.

This was taken by #1 son.

Top 5 Highlights of 2007

1.Portland Trip

2. The many adventures with "T" and Family even the broken arm adventure - :)

3. Hanging out with Mars and Mrs Respiratory Therapist

4. Thanksgiving with Pappy and Nonna, too

5. Sewing

Top 5 websites I visit

1. twopeasinabucket

2. bellingham hearld

3. ali edwards

4. wcls (library)

5. cookie madness

Top 5 book reads (hard to narrow down)

1.Eat, Pray, Love

2.Kite Runner

3. Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A year of food life

4. The Glass Castle

5. Kabul Beauty School

Top 5 books to read in 2008

1. Lone Survivor

2. 3 Cups of Tea

3. Fix, Freeze, Feast

4. The Other Boleyn Girl

5. Into the wild-?

Crazy Photos from 2007

Crazy California Driver - see the pvc pipes sticking out the window and open door.

I take the 5th on this one. The giant man child made me do this.

My One Little Word

In 2007, I decided to take Ali Edwards one little word challenge http://www.aliedwards.typepad.com/ . My choice was the word action. I felt I needed to take action in certain parts of my life. I needed to stop talking about it and just do it!. I even taped my resolutions next to my phone. (see pic)

Just like all resolutions some I succeeded at and some fell by the wayside. Want to know my word for 2008 - you'll have to check back on my blog in 2008!

What is it like...

What is it like to kiss an ogre?

Not Bad-

Yesterday, we went to Build a Bear. The kids got gift cards from their Auntie and Grandpa and Grandma. the kids had an awesome time and are enjoying loving on their bears - "Thank You"

The Giant Man Child was smitten with Shrek so he came home with us too. After all everyone needs a ogre.

See the family resemblance?

It is official

I now live behind Cascadia Elementary. The school board has finally decided on a name. The picture above is from the Ferndale Schools Winter 2006-07 newsletter. Right now, it looks like a skeleton of this as it is mainly metal beams.

Dear Santa Helper

Dear Santa Helper (I am pretty sure I know who it is)
Thank you for the wonderful gifts you left on our doorstep. You made our morning! What a surprise! The big elves especially appreciate the chocolate and bucket. The little munchkins were very excited over the gifts and mommy can't wait to take a photo in their sweatshirts.
Thank YOU! Merry Merry Christmas!
H and the wrecking crew and giant man child

Priceless Gifts

List of Priceless Gifts to Give:
To your enemy - forgiveness;
To your opponent - tolerence;
To your friends - your heart;
To your child - a good example;
To your father - deference;
To your mother - conduct that will make her proud;
To yourself - respect;
To all men - charity.

Be thankful - for the friends who have forgiven you,
for the enemies who keep you cautious,
for the difficulties which make you struggle,
for the emergencies which make you think,
for the hardships which make you strong,
for the disappointments which make you try harder.

I was looking at a lot of blogs yesterday and I came across this at lalalime.blogspot.com and I thought I would pass it along.

Christmas Pictures

This image is a couple of years old but still one of my favorites. My kids love playing with the nativity and they always have unusual ideas on how Jesus got to the stable.

Here are some Christmas pictures from this year.

However, our family picture is one of my favorites.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

from our family to yours

Quilts, Quilts, Quilts

My friend T and I need to join Quilters anonymous, seriously. It is a sickness. We need to become JoAnn Fabric employees. Just thought I would share a few pictures of the quilts we have completed the month of December. Here are mine:

This one is Chuckles and the 1st non rag quilt I have ever done. I learned a lot. Don't know if I am cut out for these kind or not. LOL. See Niki our dog's paws sticking out at the bottom.

This one is for Son #1. It is a rag quilt. It is backed in recycled denim from jeans. Many, many jeans were sacrificed for this one. The top is just cotton and flannel. T embroidered his name on the back. It is a really heavy one. Here are some of T's quilts. I am in awe. I can only hope I become as good as quilter as her.

Christmas Program

Last night was Chuckles last preschool Christmas program. Much to my embarrassment, I realize upon arriving at the church Chuckles had on his flame rain boots. The only consolation was that they actually matched his outfit. I didn't realize that a footwear check was in order. The program was very sweet. Chuckles really got into singing "Wish you a Merry Christmas". The turn out was incredible and we possibly had the worst seats in the sanctuary. We were behind the giant Christmas tree. We moved to the floor when it was Chuckles turn to sing.
Here is a picture of the Diva who was there to watch her brother Ebony. And course, Son #1 was there too.

Grown up Santa Letter

My sister sent me this link http://www.wtv-zone.com/LadyBoheme/dearsanta.html for a grown-up mad lib of a Santa letter. Here are my results

Dear Santa,
I have been a good girl.
It really wasn't my fault what happened at Mrs Respiratory Therapist's Christmas party. It was Mars who spiked the punch with too much rum. I can't help it if I drank 13 glasses. It was so good---smelled and tasted just like cow dung.
I thought it was funny when I put Mrs Respiratory Therapist's shirt on my head and danced the chicken on the couch while singing `lost that loving feeling'. I didn't mean to break Mrs Respiratory Therapsit's cell phone and don't know why Mrs Respiratory Therapist would sue me for shop lifting.
I don't remember calling Dirky's wife a funny sheep---even though she looked like one with purple eye shadow and pink lipstick!
And when I threw up on T's husband's arm, it was only because I ate too much of that cracker.
After all that fun, I admit I was a little tired. So I fell asleep on my way home and drove my mustang through my neighbor's bedroom. I don't think that was any reason for my neighbor to call me a silly chipmunk and have me arrested for jay walking!
So, Santa...here I sit in my jail cell on Christmas Eve, all furious and feisty. And I'm really not to blame for any of this flirty stuff. Please bring me what I want the most---bail money!
Sincerely and suspiciously yours, The Matriarch (Really a nice girl!)
P.S. It's only 75 bucks!

Quilting Gone Bad

There is a reason you shouldn't quilt late at night. I decided that Chuckles needed a quilt too. I wanted noted on my permanent record that I had assistance from my buddy reaching this decision. I am trying a new type of quilt too. Well, I had it last night so I decided to wrap myself in the scraps.

This has been the week of rushing around shopping and mailing. I need to complete some baking today and work on that darn quilt. Did I mention also that the logo contest for the Bellingham Hearld ends today. I found 23 out of the 26 logos. That was really hard. I am going to submit what I have this afternoon. That was challenge. Wish me luck.

Welcome to my Herd,

my herd of reindeer of course. Here is the ongoing art project, we have going on at my house.

So, there is a little holiday art for your Friday.

What do elves learn in school?

The elvephbet - joke courtesy of son #1

I feeling less than festive this morning. I was letting the little things bother me and trust me they were all little (as under the age of 10).

"People tend to think that happiness is a stroke of luck, something that will descend like fine weather if you're fortunate. BUT HAPPINESS IS THE RESULT OF PERSONAL EFFORT. You fight for it, strive for it, insist upon it, and sometimes even travel around the world looking for it. You have to participate relentlessly." From Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert (quote featured in Prevention Magazine Nov 2007)

Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert is one of the books I read this fall. I can really relate to so much of it. I especially like how she talks about her inner voice never shutting up. My inner voice does that too. She was interviewed by Oprah on one of her shows. I am not a big Oprah fan but it was fascinating to hear Elizabeth Gilbert. I am proud to say I discovered Gilbert's book before Oprah. LOL

Smile

This little message from hubby made my day, yesterday. Thought I would pass it on. Trying to type this fast before the wrecking crew is awake and the Diva arrives. I did a little sewing yesterday. I am working on a Christmas gift for Son #1. I will post the finished product, later. It is a community project as part of fabric has been gleaned from various sources - Thanks T. A lot of jeans have given their life for this project. I am also a little obsessed with the logo contest the Bellingham Hearld is running. I so far have 18 out of 26. I think they found most obscure logos possible. The entries are due the 19th so I have a few days to work on this one.

Holiday Happenings

It has been a long week. We ended our week with the Giant Man Child hanging the lights. It was finally nice enough to do so even though it was freezing out. However, it was not raining, snowing, or windy. We finally caved into the pressure to hang the lights as we were one of the last houses on our street to hang ours. It is our neighbor's across the street fault. LOL We also went to the Port of Bellingham Holiday Port Festival. They had a gingerbread house competition. It was very impressive some of the creations. I have posted some of our favorites.

The wrecking crew loved the snoopy one. I liked the Cinderella one. It was a great way to round out our Saturday.

Gingerbread House

Today, Chuckles and his preschool class went to make gingerbread houses. 5th graders at a local elementary school helped their preschool buddies glue on the candy. The graham crackers were already attached to the milk carton. This is Chuckle's 3rd time doing this with preschool. I am always amazed at how helpful and patient their elementary school buddies are. It something that Chuckles really looks forward to.

Change of Plans

Time stands still best in moments that look suspiciously like ordinary life - Brian Andreas

Had to throw out the plan today. Son #1 took a bunch a pictures today so I thought I would share. The one directly below is of Chuckles.

Cooking Blogs

I have a little addiction to cooking blogs. There are some really good ones out there. My current favorites are:
Cookie Madness www.cookiemadness.net
Cooking is Medicine www.cookiedoc.blogspot.com (great snicker doodle recipe)
Cook.Craft.Enjoy www.polarbee.typepad.com (pepperoni rolls -found under breads)
Coconut and Lime www.coconutlime.blogspot.com (poppy seed cornbread)
Jaden's Steamy Kitchen www.steamykitchen.com/blog/ (love her writing style -very funny)

Sometimes, my family doesn't approve of my culinary adventures but I get bored easily. I have had some real flops. That is what Micky D's or Papa's is for, right.

Grandma

My Grandma Bettie passed away this morning. She had been suffering. My Grandma was an incredible woman. She was independent and feisty. She loved to read. She read lots of romance novels and loved the entertainment rags. She was a talented doll maker. Growing up, I had the most incredible dolls and the most over the top Barbie clothes.

Above is a picture of some dolls she made my sister and I one Christmas. The cabbage patch dolls were made from a kit. All the clothes were handmade. She was creative and opinionated. She was deeply in love with my Grandfather who passed away way too soon. She was thrifty and was a saver. I wish we had a closer relationship but I know she loved me and understood me better than most. I am sad and incredibly sad for my Dad and Aunt.

Snow

We finally got the long awaited promised snow. This was taken about 2 pm yesterday. Now our whole street is covered in snow. It won't last as the snow showers are expected to turn into rain. We spent some of the afternoon watching Shrek 3. I sewed a little in the morning and got taught a $5 lesson. I tired to make a scalloped baby blanket that was a huge failure. So it is back to the drawing board. I think I will cut it up and make it into something else. Learn something new every day, right.

Kids, Tree, and NO supervision

I came across this blog called http://www.indexed.blogspot.com/ (Mrs Respiratory Therapist check this out). This morning and I thought I would do my own version to describe and understand a last night event. We were putting up our tree last night and I put our old charlie brown tree up in the upstairs hallway and I decided to let the kids decorate it. I was working on the tree downstairs and when I went up stairs this is what I found. I had no part in the decoration except adding a angel topper which is not shown in the photo below. I think they did pretty good but I have no idea how we are going to untangle that beaded garland. Good thing I didn't let them put the lights on. LOL

School Names

The name suggestions are in for the new school. Our local paper had some of the suggested names. I guess there were a total of 278 submissions with Bakerview being the top submission. That is no surprise as the school is being built to take advantage of the view of Mt Baker. Who cares about the academics or the facilities? I did like the submission of "Pinnacle" as a name. Some of the others such as "Top of the World', "Cloud's Peak", and "Galaxy" just seemed a little out there. Of course, my previous suggestions were not included in the list. As you can tell from the picture, it is finally starting to look like something. It probably the tallest building around here.

Sometimes

Sometimes, you just got to go swimming in the middle of the day. Who cares if it is in your own tub. Sometimes, I forget to be spontaneous with my kids. Everything doesn't need to be a planned activity. So with nothing better to do this afternoon, Chuckles decided that it was time to go swimming.

The quote below was found on Ali Edwards blog and is worth reposting.

Earl Nightingale : Learn to enjoy every minute of your life. Be happy now. Don't wait for something outside of yourself to make you happy in the future. Think how really precious is the time you have to spend, whether it's at work or with your family. Every minute should be enjoyed and savored.

Never too old

This is pappy enjoying his first drive through coffee or in his case - Hot Chocolate. We had a great visit with Pappy and Nonna. Ignore the giant man child sticking out his tongue. No respect, I tell you. When I grow up, I hope I am never too old for an adventure. Now it is time to get back to our routine. Is there such a thing?

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving from from our turkey's to your turkey's. We feel so blessed this year to host Thanksgiving at our house with Pappy and Nonna. Above is #1 son and Nonna showing off a Turkey that they put together. Here are some more turkey's for your viewing enjoyment.

Pertussis, Anyone

I have learned more about Pertussis (whooping cough) in the last few days than I care to know. Do you realize there is actually a website http://www.pertussis.com/. #1 one son was sent home on Thursday because he coughed so hard he threw up. This was a one time occurrence. On Wednesday, he had been to the doctor and the doctor listened to him cough and proclaimed it was a common cold virus. Basically, took my co-pay and sent me on my merry way. When I picked up my son at school on Thursday, I was greeted by the principal who wanted me to know about pertussis and that there had been a child 2 weeks ago who had whooping cough and suggested I call my doctor. I called the doctor and they reassured me that my son probably didn't have it but rather this nasty cough virus that was going around. Today, I got a call from the school nurse asking me about Cody and explaining Whooping cough and telling me again to speak to my doctor. At 5:30 tonight I got a call from the Public Health Nurse explaining whooping cough to me and going through the checklist of symptoms. The Public Health Nurse explained in great deal what Whooping Cough was and we agreed after two calls he probably doesn't have whooping cough. After all this , the main gist is we don't really know. To determine whether a child has whooping cough is inexact science but evidently you need one doctor to say no, a principal, and two nurses to say yes.

New Day

This the beginning of a new day.

You have been given this day to use as you will.

You can waste it or use it for good.

What you do today is important because

you are exchanging a day of your life for it.

When tomorrow comes this day will be gone forever,

in its place is something that you left behind ....

let it be something good.

Amby Nic Montage

I saw this quote on sandlian.blogspot.com and thought it was worth passing on again.

Sunrise

It was a long night. Son #1 spent most of the night trying to donate a lung. Somehow, this picture doesn't really do the sunrise justice. It was much more pink. I haven't master the art of the sunrise picture. On a more random note, I don't know if you have seen the haunted gas station video. It is very strange. There is a link on www.dscshow.com.

Happy Birthday to Me!

It has been a most excellent day so far. The sun is out for right now which is a welcome sight after those 62 mph winds and rain. I thought I would show off my most recent completed rag quilt in honor of my Birthday. It is very purple. It is me hiding behind the quilt.

Thank You

On this Veteran's Day, I want to say "Thank You" to all those who are serving and all of those who have served. To all the special veterans in my life thank you - Hubby, Dad, Pappy, Bud Graham, Spermy, and Handsome Dick. A special shout out to our dear friend, SFC James Trent who is still serving and Shannon A and her hubby and the Stilwell family. Stay safe my friends. The picture above is of Pappy my hubby's grandfather who served in the Army Corp of Engineers.
This is me as a highly trained killer typist. This was taken during a large field exercise called Reforger in the early 90's. I was assigned to 32nd AADCOM which at the time was located in Germany. I worked in their headquarters in the mail and distribution section. Don't let the get up above fool you. Most of my time was spent making copies and delivering mail in Germany.

Feeling Crafty

I can't help feeling crafty. I fell off the cleaning horse. The first step is admitting you have a problem, right. Today is a new day . I assure you that some kind of cleaning will happen today. Hope springs eternal. This is the result of my creative burst of energy. This is my version of the letter art craze. The frames are a kid project that they give out free at Home Depot. My kids were no longer interested in them once they were completed. The pearl "R" is from M's. It was in the $1 bin. The stencil "R" is not glued down yet. Sorry, I know it is crooked and not centered. The giant man child didn't care for that one. I thought it was artsy. What do you think? It all part of my vision for a wall upstairs.

Early Birthday Present

I received an early birthday present. I got a sewing and cutting cart. My sewing machine has been various places in my house. It was stored upstairs but I always sew downstairs. Now, my cart has a shelf for it. I can wheel this cart to where I want to sew and I will have everything at my fingertips. Best of all this cart can be moved into my coat closet when I am not sewing. There is a large fold out cutting surface and drawers on 1 side and shelves on another. I have been having a tremendous burst of creativity energy but my focus is on getting my house in tip top shape for Thanksgiving. It is going to be extremely hard not sit down and sew. I so excited. The giant man child spent a couple hours putting this together. Thanks :)

Did you Vote?

Have you voted yet? It is election day. We are a vote by mail state so technically I voted a couple weeks ago. The picture above was taken during our summer vacation. As you can see our Governor had the same problem as I did a unsightly honey bucket. I know she probably could only have seen it from her 2ND story guest bedroom but still inappropriate honey bucket placement is a problem even for those with political power.

Back to deeper politics, our local race for city council is clearly a race between those that have been in local politics for a long time and the newbies. It will be a vote for new ideas or to stay the course. It will be interesting to see how things turn out. May the best man or woman win!

Art

We are having lots of art this morning at my house. We have artists at different levels in their careers. I love how each approach it differently. #1 son is heavy into tracing and cartoon like characters. Chuckles is into early stick figures and uses lots and lots of marker. Sometimes he has more on himself than the drawing. The diva is the most advance but what most impresses me today it is it isn't a princess. She is definitely branching out. I have no artistic drawing ability. My sister, mom, and grandmother are excellent at drawing. I am in awe of those that can draw. My vision never matches my ability. That sums up so much.