Oh the Weather Outside is Frightful!

Really!  In Phoenix… in December… it snowed only 25 miles from our house!  We had rain … but we are not used to harsh conditions where we need closed-toed shoes… and a jacket!  I can imagine the sympathy in your heart for us!  haha.

December brought out Christmas decorations with a vengeance… lights, wreaths, trees, snowmen, etc.  First year EVER… I got the fake tree up with all the silver, blue and white ornaments… on December 1st!  A week later, we are still waiting to go buy a tree for all the non-blue ornaments.  A few years back, I came to the realization that red is not my favorite color.  In fact in the ROYGBIV list… I’m basically loving the rainbow in reverse order.  I’m a violet, indigo and blue gal from the boots up.  SO…. I went blue Christmas shopping and the blue tree was born.  I love it more each year… as the ornaments accumulate.  There are a few homemade preschool ornaments that made the cut… we have a popsicle stick Star of David with blue glitter…. and a dough star painted royal blue.  Yes, they are on the back, but they did make the cut for MY tree.

I love these stained glass snow flakes.  Rick and I bought these in Mexico two years ago at Christmas time.  Love them!

This stained glass trio was purchased last Christmas in Bogota, Colombia.  Yes, it’s supposed to by Mary, Joseph and the Babe Jesus, but I also like to think of it as Rick, me and our little colombian princess who joined us last Christmas!

Nora has loved the thought of Christmas since her first days in the USA.  She arrived to her forever home on December 22nd and it was one big blur of Christmas bliss her first week home!  Her eyes sparkled when she saw Grandma’s house all decorated in every corner!  A village with ice skaters and lights in the windows… a sleigh full of teddy bears… brass reindeer with ribbons… embroidered Santa pillows…. snowmen that play the piano and sing…. little Christmas mice climbing candles… matching wreaths on the front doors… and Santa himself waving the lantern from the top of the tree…Spendid!  All year long she has repeated that Christmas is her favorite!  We have stressed over and over that it is our favorite too, because Jesus was born then and THAT is the reason we celebrate.

We are doing the Jesse Advent Tree devotional with the kids.  We bought a little tree for the kitchen table that looks pretty lame right now with only five ornaments, but it looks a little better each day as we add to the story of Jesus!  We review every night and Nora basically gets it so far…. just a bit off on a few stories!  It is a bit alarming that of the first five stories, death is talked about three times!  (Adam and Eve’s disobedience, Noah’s neighbors and Abraham starting to sacrifice Isaac!)  I never thought of it before, but it’s all part of the story of our salvation!

So thankful for a relaxed Christmas month to share with our little girl!

TaHoe cRafTiNg

Those who know me well, know that I love crafts and crafting and being crafty…. and craftsy.  Trying new projects brings joy to my soul.  So, my current new-to-me idea is soldered charms/ornaments.  A friend of mine shared a link to her friend’s etsy.com site where she sells these darling handmade trinkets.  See more at:  www.MyMelodieDesigns.com.

Not knowing how to create these little gems, I did what all craft-direction-needing minds do… I went to YouTube.  Yes, I found many instructional videos and made my shopping list.  Today, I’m off to JoAnn’s to get the booty… with coupons, of course.  For the first time ever, I’m glad I saved my glittery scrapbooking paper scraps from my Christmas albums.  Sweet!  I knew I’d eventually find a reason to use them!  It has presented itself, much to my liking.

This week I’m getting together with my highschool bosom friend, Connie.  We are known for trying new and uncharted waters when it comes to crafting.  In March we covered the antique chair with vintage quilts and green piping.  I can’t remember if I blogged about that, so here is the finished product:

I also can’t remember if I ever showed a pictures of our Macramé beach bags???  I made mine about 1/2 a day ahead of Connie and figured out that I should have made the flowers all smaller.  So her bag has tidy, neat flowers in little rows and doesn’t look as spread out as mine does.  Here’s mine:

In a few weeks I’ll post our finished product pictures!  Please stay tuned!

AND the WINNER is…… (the envelope please)

I apologise for my tardy posting of today’s winner of my fantastic book Laughing in the Midst of Marriage.  Of course you have the privilege of hearing some entertaining stories before I announce the winner.

On the way home from California yesterday, the highway was closed for several hours due to an accident and the 100 mile detour was not very tempting.  So we after getting off the cruise ship at 9:00 am, we arrived home at 10:00 pm.  It’s only supposed to take 6 hours.   Bhhaaaaa!  Anyway, glad to be home and that’s why I didn’t post yesterday.

Today’s plans were to put up the real live Christmas tree in the family room for all of the precious handmade adornments that my children have crafted with their talented little hands over the past 16 years.  Well, to make a long and agonizing story very short, we HAVE put up the $5 real live tree…. several times now.  (It pays to wait until Dec. 19th!!!! It’s a nice tree!)  Currently, however, it is leaning at a 40 degree angle and is propped up between the wall and the entertainment center.  We have also picked up all the ornaments several times, shop-vacced the water out of the carpet and thrown away several glass ornaments that didn’t take well to being smashed to smithereens when connecting rapidly and repeatedly with the floor.  This is so FUN!  I can’t wait to do it again and again until we get it right.  I’m ready to hammer an ugly nail into the wall and tie the tree up with a bright orange bungee cord.

So, there was a slight delay in getting the names cut and folded for secrecy for the drawing of the winning name.  We also needed eggs, milk, bread, bananas and cheese…..  but I digress.  Child #2 hand wrote all the names. Child #1 verified that he did indeed copy all of them correctly.  I folded them all to improve the random choice.  And child #3 chose the winning name.  I bet you’re wondering who it was, aren’t you??? 

First one last bit of unimportant trivia from my day…. in the midst of the $5 Christmas tree fiasco (which is still not concluded) Besides the Christmas tree I also purchased petunias, lobelia, pansies and alyssum for my naked flower pots.  Keeve and I yanked out all the summer vinca and he asked if he could transplant his peas to bigger pots or a plot on the ground.  “Yes, of course, my little gardener.”  We readied a huge cement pot with new dirt and moved some empty pots of his that didn’t sprout.  Keeve sadly said, “A seed is not a promise!”  as he moved the dirt filled pots.  I previously read the story A Seed is a Promise to him.  So cute! (and depressing when seeds don’t grow!) Well, the peas were planted in peat moss pots and the pea’s roots grew through the pots and down into the soil of my raised flower bed.  BIG roots.  Deep roots.  So instead of transplanting, he just filled in the area with dirt and the peas will stay where they have put down roots.  (I told you it was unimportant!) And the winner is Valeera, aka Gram.  Congratulations.  Please send me your address via email and I’ll send out the book. 

Please come back for more scintillating Christmas tree stories and heart-filled holiday trivia from our home to yours with love.

Time Flies when You’re having FUN!

I just figured out that I’m getting old.  Last week, I figured it out.  All by myself.  Yep.  Old.

The KID that wore the pharmacist badge in the drug store couldn’t have been more than 13 years old.  He didn’t even shave yet.  Isn’t pharmacy school the long version of college?  I’m not getting old.  He was probably homeschooled.  Graduated highschool at 9 years old.  Yep.

The nine-inch zipper on the front of my jeans… is quite lovely.  I can’t imagine a two-inch zipper!?!  What’s the point?  And the back!  Gaaawww.  Say “NO!” to crack!  “Moms will love the nine-inch zipper” is TRUE even if it was on SNL.  We love it for everyone.

Where did these four boxes of Christmas ornaments come from?  We just got married… just a while ago…  seems like last year…. could it really be 23 Christmases ago?  We’ve celebrated baby Jesus’ birthday 23 times as married folk?  That means I was 13 when we got married, if I remember right.  I must still be in my 30’s.  Right?…. Anyone?….

Forty-something-year-olds are almost 50.  That’s half a century.  Old.  That’s the middle ages.  Ouch.

And when did they start letting pre-teens work at the post office?  I thought for government jobs you had to be 18?  I think the postal worker was wearing root beer glossy lip gloss and a training bra.  Goodness.

The phone rang last week.  Caller ID read “Telemarketer.”  Total no-brainer.  Don’t answer.  Well, I knew I needed to clean the whole kitchen and I thought the mental distraction would be proactive on my part.  Plus, with caller ID, who do these poor telemarketers talk to anymore?  The decision was made in a nanosecond. I would take a survey.  I would be the nice person.  I would make Mr. Telemarketer’s entire evening by being cheerful and peppy with my answers.  Come to find out, it was about jams, jellies and preserves!  I love jams, jellies, and preserves!  This would be more fun than I originally thought!  Well, question #3 was “What age group do you fit into?”  I’m always in the third group, I thought patiently, waiting for the age groups.  His monotone voice began, “Group 1: ages 18 – 21, Group 2: ages 22 – 25, Group 3: ages 26 – 29, Group 4: ages 30 – 34, Group 5: ages 35 – 39, Group 6: ages 40 – 44, Group 7: ages 45 – 49, Group 8…..”  I hung up.

The stupid jam guy said I was old.  Group SIX!  Nearing Group SEVEN!  That’s how I figured it out.

It’s the Holiday Season

After all the pictures of my messy house in pre-home visit haphazardness, I decided to let you see a glimpse of our Christmas house decor now that things are put straight and purty.

Jesus and his posse are on the piano this year.  There is far more room in the stable now, because there was no room in the inn.

My favorite part of getting ready for Jesus’ birthday is getting out all of our ornaments and reminiscing of those who gave them to us, or where we purchased them.  When we go on vacations, we try to remember to buy and ornament for the tree.  This is our first year where we’ll have two trees, but the real one that will inevitably drop pine needles in my shag carpet is not being purchased until Dec. 19th, the day after Rick and I get home.  So the fake Jenny Craig blue and silver tree is up and shining, but the remainder of the not blue and silver ornaments are still in their boxes.

My second favorite part of getting ready is finding the on-sale decorations that I bought last year.  I never remember them!  It’s like opening surprise Christmas presents to myself.  This year was no exception.  I found these silver balls and pinecones in their packages… all ready for the silver snowman basket.  So cute… and there’s mirrored disco balls too.  Perfect for the Crosby Christmas Dance-Off.

Because the Nativity scene took over the piano top, the Christmas village moved to the entry table… and of course, any pilot’s Christmas village has a hangar and an airplane or two.  Duh!

Here’s the love birds that are sitting behind the lit archway… it’s so cute.  He’s playing his accordion and singing to her…. probably “All I Want for Christmas is You.”

All we need is a roaring fireplace, some hot cocoa with marshmallows and some snow outside.  Well, one out of three ain’t bad.

NOW it feels like Christmas… fa la la la la!

The goal upon eyes opening this morning was to get the Christmas decor set straight and the boxes thrown in the garage.  With three children instructed to complete the task given and report back for the next task, all was done in only two hours.  Marvelous!  Here is a peak at winter in Arizona… holding the prominent location at the entry table, Mary, Jo and the baby Jesus…. along with various animals, angels and others.  Precious Moments nativity pieces are the only thing I really collect… and with the entry table full and some angels still hiding in their boxes, I don’t know if I really need the lighted inn, the palm trees or the wisemen on camels.

The table is set and the snowmen are smiling.  So am I.  The cheesy plastic snowmen placemats are for every day use to protect the table cloth.  All was lovely and bright and in place for approximately 13 minutes before four blobs of Crunchy Taco Hamburger Helper missed the cheesy plastic snowman and hit the bright and clean table cloth. {{{sigh}}}  (Yes, votive candles are on my shopping list for the little snowflakes… and nuts and candy for the empty squares.)

With no snow in sight, we do what we can.

Without warning, I was overcome with emotion when I pulled three Precious Moments Baby’s First Christmas ornaments from the box, knowing that one is missing from the tree.  The minute I discover Zaza’s birth year, I’m on eBay finding her ornament to complete the set.

Yes, my Christmas tree is blue.  I love blue.  It makes me feel cool under our clear blue skies of December.  Merry Christmas!