King of the Little People

I don't who had more fun playing in the snow today. Kev with #1 Son, Diva, Ebony, and Chuckles is behind everyone.

The Dark Side

I feel like I've gone to the dark side. I am being green. I bought a reusable grocery bag - cute. It is perfect for Valentine's Day. I have actually used it. The thing is huge. I have an adverse reaction to the word organic or the phrase "going green". The main redeeming non organic thing about this bag is it was made in CHINA. You know those Chinese are trying to poisonous us to death. I am not calling this going green I am calling this thrifty. The Fred's hear pays you 5cents every time you use it. Hey, I will eventually break even. Everyone knows thrifty is a bad word to those who are in the cult of only organics. They would never be caught dead with this gaudy thrifty bag proudly made in China. Now, I think I will go wash my hands with anit-bacterial soap, too. LOL

Re-Mailing Valentines

It is that time year again. Every year I re-mail valentines from my hometown of Loveland, Colorado. Loveland is known as the Sweetheart City. When you send your valentine, it is hand stamped with the a cache that is different every year and hand canceled. I have been busy making homemade valentines. I usually send out more Valentine's than Christmas cards. Valentines is a special time of year for our family as my parents were also married in Loveland on Valentine's Day, I believe this year is their 38th Anniversary. Here is the 411 on re-mailing valentines from the Sweetheart City. If you would like to have your valentine card stamped with the official Loveland Colorado cache and stamp,Please put your STAMPED addressed valentine INSIDE of a larger envelope and mail it to:

Postmaster

Attention: Valentines

Loveland, CO 80538-9998

Valentines must be received by the 9th of February to get the special cachet and arrive in your special someones mailbox.

Mail

We got a new mail box. The thing looks huge next to the other ones. Thank you, Nonna. It has a lock. We thought it would be a good idea since many children will be walking down the street where our mailbox is. It is just too big of a temptation. We can't even see the row of mailboxes from our house. The neighbors had talked about getting one of those big unit boxes but there is so much red tape between the city and post office. It just didn't seem worth it.

Scrappy

This was the sunrise from yesterday. It is a little chilly out. It is the kind of cold that freezes your face instantly. I wish my dogs could let themselves into their pen by themselves and my assistants are so unreliable.

I finally finished the quilt I have been working on. I used only left over scraps. This is 2nd one I have made like this. I get frustrated. It is hard to learn new things. I've totally got the raggedy quilt thing down but regular quilting is a challenge. I think it turned out ok. I learned a lot. It made me think of this quote and it is so fitting: Never be afraid to try something new. Remember amateurs built the ark; professionals built the Titanic. - unknown

Snow Photography

I think this might be a cry for help. This idea came from Ali Edwards blog and her weekend creative. This was so spur of the moment and kinda got the creative juices going. I'll have to post the other 800 pictures of I took of this concept (just kidding) My sons thought that me taking pictures of the word snow in the snow was strange. I am a little strange though. I wish I had a brighter colored "s" and "w". They kind of blend into the white snow.

R Wall

I think I started this blog with this project as one of my first posts. Finally the "R's" are on the wall. How many months did this take? - you don't want to know. I still have one more "R" to hang. It seems like the cheaper the project the longer takes to complete. This project probably ended up costing about $3. The frames were free. So the only costs were the photo, pearl "R", and black paint.

No Water

This is probably not the way you want to start your Monday. The new school was being hooked up to the main so our water got shut off this morning. Thankfully it got shut off just after I had flushed. While browsing Craig's List last night,I found the perfect accessory for a waterless house. http://bellingham.craigslist.org/for/537662307.html There is actually a used honey pot listed. That just proves you can find anything on Craig's List. Who would of known that a new honey pot retails for $800. I am not so sure I am in the market for a used one. I should of swiped the one that I stared at for months. Maybe there is a black market for these things. (hmmm) As of this afternoon, the water is back on. Praise the Lord!

GOT VIKINGS?

My house has been invaded by vikings. There is a lot of man energy here between the vikings and upcoming football game this afternoon. Doesn't the lil viking wearing Green Bay colors know he is in enemy territory?

In honor of the upcoming football game I thought I would make beer bread. If you can't beat them join them, right! I did not have enough self -rising flour so I am trying the Honey Oat Beer Bread recipe found at www.allrecipes.com Here is my tried and true recipe:

Beer Bread
3 cups self-rising flour
1/2 cup sugar
12 ounces of beer (don't go too cheap or it is bitter)- or any carbonated beverage
2 tablespoons melted butter

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F
Butter a loaf pan and set aside. In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar and beer and mix well. The mixture should be sticky. Pour into the loaf pan and bake for 55 minutes. At the last 3 minutes of baking remove form oven, brush the top of the loaf with butter and return to oven.

Imitation

Chuckles has been intimating the giant man child. He is sitting here with his laptop. I guess imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

This has been the year of food experimentation. So far, I have tried microwave peanut brittle, crepes, homemade dinner rolls, and honey glazed chicken thighs. The best part is that everything turned out. What's next? (hopefully something low fat- LOL)

Snow 08'

Here are just a few little pictures of our first snow of 2008. It wasn't much only enough to delay school by a hour.

Of course, some of us enjoy snow more than others. This is Chuck and his truck.

When I saw this in the Diva's backpack, I just wanted to let Barbie out. I know, weird. I mean is this any way to treat Barbie. The girl needs to breathe. I have issues. At least, she isn't locked in the dark.

Totems

A week or so ago we went to our new riverfront park. There have been three new totem installed there. These are a few pictures that #1 son took of the largest totem. It is called "Log Jam". This totem is 26 feet tall. For some reason, I am fascinated about Totems because I didn't grow up around them. This one depicts the Europeans in the canoe and how the tribes assisted with the first settlers transport in Ferndale. Ferndale use to be known as Jam because of the the log jam that was upstream from the mouth of the Nooksack river. I believe there are a total of 6 totems in our downtown area. This certainly one the tallest.

The Buzz

This is a baby picture of Buzz. His official name is Buzz Lightyear. His mom after all was Ariel. We had to keep with the whole Disney theme, right. Isn't he adorable. He is nine years old, now. He is my big black dog. I swear he thinks he is human.

There has been a lot talk on some local blogs about digital scrapbooking. It is getting a lot buzz. I have been doing this for a while. I like digital photo chopping(that is what I call it)because I don't consider myself a traditional scrapbooker. I am never going to scrapbook every photo. I want to tell the important stories. I don't take perfect photos and I like to move my stuff around a lot so photoshop works for me. It gives me a lot flexibility. I am using photoshop elements 3. Yes, I am in the dark ages as far as photoshop is considered. I hope to move up to 6 this year sometime but right now it works for me. I print my pages as 8 x10's through Walgreen's. Why Walgreen's, because they are in my town and I don't live close to COSTCO.

There has been a lot of Buzz on various message boards about Pioneer Woman. You have to check out this website http://www.thepioneerwomancooks.com/ Keep scrolling down past the pot roast and check out the apple pie. She is pretty entertaining and cooks lots and lots of fattening good food. I gain 5 pounds just looking at her food. Her cinnamon rolls look especially evil. She also has another blog where where she talks about her man and life on a cattle ranch. It is very entertaining.

The start of things

You should be very afraid when your youngest son runs around saying you are the chip leader or you are the rookie. Evidently Giant Man Child has been watching too much poker on TV and now is trying to teach the children how to play poker. Be very afraid especially if the dogs are better poker players than any of you.

I have started several projects for the New Year. One is a scrap baby blanket. I have had these strips cut out for a while and finally decided to take the plunge to create something. I hope to post a pic later. I have also been thinking about valentine's and created some felt hearts I need to post a pic of . It is a start.

Seek

I created this lovely layout of my one little word but for whatever reason when I put into blogger it looks like you know what. You'll just have to trust me that my one little word is SEEK and I have a lovely layout for that word.

Seek out more resources
Seek out more JOY
Seek out more income
Seek out more margins

There was an article today in the Bellingham Hearld that said that in University of Scranton Study showed that the success rate for adults making resolutions is 10 times higher than the those desiring to change but not making a resolution. I am going to give it my best shot. I have a list of 15 things I want to work on which I am not going to post here but right next to phone on my desk. Hopefully, it will spur me into action. LOL You will notice I chose the word margin. I was re-reading a book MOPS sends out to their members - "Breathe" and this quote hit me.
"Margin is the amount allowed beyond that which is needed. It is something held in reserve for contingencies or unanticipated situations. Margin is the gap between rest and exhaustion, the space between ourselves and our limits." - Richard A. Swenson, MD
So many things that were totally beyond my control happened this year, it forced me to live in my margins. I want to breathe this year. I want to find my margins.