Bad Poetry

Twas the night before nothing and all through the house, a creature was stirring...

A dirty little rat.

That Sam I Am was packing for Fort Bragg,

He gave his Mum a hug, took his duffle and bag,

Though he slipped into the night,

for a long, tedious flight,

He had planned his Mum's fright.

For though I forget,

every. single. time.

That Sam I Am leaves a hidden mouse,

Between the sheets, in a fruit bowl, sometimes on the floor.

My scream makes my throat sore,

'Tis a scary little mouse.

every. single. time.

but I still

miss That Sam I Am

every. single. time.

Christmas Time

We had dinner with friends on Christmas Eve eve at our house.  Max and Hubby helped me cook and clean, Shelly brought appetizers and Karen brought dessert.  Dan and Jess washed a mountain of dishes.

We had our annual party at Grandpa and Grandpa's house where there were some funny gift moments.

Alex and his new t-shirt.  Wait, which one is Alex?

Danny really loved the wool sweater from Grandpa and Grandma.  In fact, he loved it so much that he had bought it for himself this fall and wore it to the party.  

Katie's puppy ear warmers were a hit too.   Aren't they cute?

 Winner, winner, chicken dinner!

A fun game of Left, Center Right! with a large family makes for a profitable game for Levi, our lucky winner.

 We also played Bingo with some fantastic prizes, from Dollar Tree, had a yummy dinner and a good visit.

Christmas Eve day and eve were so much fun.  Everyone one was home all day just hanging out together. 

We watched the Seahawks, played banana gram, gin rummy and some ongoing words with friends.

Hubby grilled flank steak and mushrooms for dinner.  I made cheesey potatoes, green beans and snow salad with berries.

 Hawley opening his gifts is always fun.

 Christmas morning we went to church as a family, had brunch and then drove Danny and Jess to Seattle.

It's been a great week with our kids home.  Today I'm having a pajama day and then changing into flannel pants and a fleece for the evening.  Totally lounging today.  My goal is to do as little as possible.  All. Day.

It's all fun 'til Mama gets tired.

Christmas 2011

Merry Christmas to All!

A Day on the Mountain

Yesterday we went up to Mt. Baker for the day.  There was a skiff of new snow and a gorgeous clear blue sky, two snowshoers, two skiers and two boarders and a tail gate lunch.  

It was a perfect storm as Hubby likes to say.

 We met for the tailgate lunch in the White Salmon Lodge parking lot where Hubby grilled cheeseburgers for a hungry crew.

Danny and Jess enjoyed some of my magic hot cocoa with Christmas marshmallows and a Hot Cocoa Cookie.  Those cookies were meant to be eaten while enjoying the snow.

 After lunch Hubby and I went out on the snowshoes again and trekked up to the base of chair 8 where we could watch the skiers and catch our breath.  And along came our guys.   After chatting they took off for more skiing and boarding and we went back down.  We sat at the base and watched the skiers and the beginners on the bunny hill for a bit. Jess joined us for coffee before meeting up with the guys again.

Back at home it was hot tub time, pizza for dinner and bed by nine.

This Weekend

I dipped and sprinkled.

 I baked and decorated.

 I finished a canvas project for the guest room.

 I made notecards for the guest room.

 I roasted a turkey.

 I had a sweet visitor who came wearing black velvet leggings and a gorgeous Calvin Klein jacket.

 I went to a neighborhood party... pictures coming soon.

I went to my church's Christmas program to see a special angel.

 I went to a family Christmas party with my Mom's family.

 I ate too much.

I also did laundry, got groceries, went Christmas shopping, wrapped gifts, cleaned the house, made four batches of Chex party mix, made a double batch of hot chicken salad and a partridge in a pear tree.  Kidding.  About the partridge.  Nothing else.  The rest is true.  I am ready for the week and can hardly wait, tomorrow everyone flies into SeaTac and that makes this Mama very, very happy.

She Just Needs a Name

One of the projects I made last night is a handy dandy wrapping cart.  The most difficult part was finding the cart.  I went to many shops and asked, "do you have one of those market carts, the ones you see little old ladies pulling down the street?"  

"Like a bag lady?"

"Uhmm, yes."

"No."

 The Santa hat is for fun, just in case the wrapper is feeling festive.

 I used curtain clips left over from another project to attach tape, scissors, a bag of tags and more ribbon.  Most of the ribbon can be rolled out from the front ribbon bar.  The sharpies are attached too.  Inside the cart are rolls of paper, mailing boxes, packing tape and gift bags.

 Isn't she pretty?  I feel as though she needs a name.  Ideas?

 I added the battery pack snowflake lights for fun however; thank goodness I did.  They came in very handy when Sheryl and I blew the breaker while using the Cricut last night.  It would have been just like one or both us to trip in the dark and go sprawling.
After I finish wrapping I can leave the cart in the hall upstairs.  The guys can roll it into their rooms and take care of their wrapping.  After Christmas I'll either make a general wrapping station or go and get my groceries.  It's all good.

Three Parties

Three parties in one day.  Yep, I'm just a party girl.  My Thursday morning started at the museum.  Since I knew I had Leslie and Marjean as docents I decided to have a last minute random sale.  I sent all my email customers a quick note that everything in the store would be 25% off for three hours.  I texted friends and family and it turned into a party.  Holly stopped by to do some shopping and brought me some shiney brites.  

Party number two was at four o'clock when Emily picked me up.  First stop was Starbucks, then on to our pedicure appointments at Phaze II.  The Christmas pedicure tradition started three years ago and it's one of my favorites.  It's a totally relaxing time during the rush of the holidays, I get to catch up with Em and my toes look and feel great.  

Emily does December Daily on her blog and I do an album so I wasn't surprised to get her text, 'pedicure is my dec daily, so look cute Missy!'  That's a little pressure.  I took my camera too.  One of the girls at Phaze II gets finished with another customer and so Em asks if she would take our picture.  Sweet girl agrees, keep in mind she speaks little or no English, and I point out my camera and try to explain.  It's a point and shoot.  Much gesturing, giggling and explaining in a loud voice because as everyone knows it really helps to raise your voice if you're talking to someone that doesn't speak English.  Right?

So she goes to take the picture and uhmm, points it the wrong way, nostril shot, the girls giving us our pedicures are giggling hysterically and I am about to pee my pants.  The salon is in an uproar.  Finally she turns the camera around, goes to take the pic and she turns it off.  Do over.  Okay here we go one more time, oops my camera turns off if you take too long to get the shot...

After we finished our pedicures Em ran into Costco, wearing the spa supplied flip flops.  She forgot her own at home.  Now everyone knows that one should wear armor to shop at Costco in Bellingham but Em runs in wearing paper shoes.  This can only end badly.  But Little Miss Sunshine come hopping out of Costco all kinds of excited.  Apparently there is a new guy working at the photo counter and he's gorgeous.

Then on to Micheal's for something cute with owls for me.  I'll explain later.  I have an idea.  I lose Emily and by the time I find her she has made a new friend.  Bekah, the amazing clerk, who totally gets us and gives amazing customer service.  She agrees that Micheal's will soon be called Bekah's.  She learned all about december daily, and plans to have an aisle just for december daily.  She comped me a coupon, opened a till to check us out which allowed us to skip the snaking line.  Bekah is my new BFF.

And I coined a new phase, instead of there's an app for that... how about, there's an aisle for that?

Hubby had a board meeting at our house so my plan was to keep a low profile in the master suite.  I told Em, I just going to "make things".  Really?  oh yes...  

Sheryl stops by and the third partay begins.  She was just going to drop off some goodies and run but I had an open bottle of wine so she texted her hubby and he went home for two hours and then came back for her.  

I made things and since Sheryl was trapped in the back bedroom I gave her jobs and she made things too.  I set her up with a paint station in the bathroom.  A work party so to speak.  We had so much going on that we blew a breaker, it was the cricut and all the Christmas lights.  It's hard to craft in the dark.  So at the risk of interrupting the board meeting I went to switch some breakers.  Lots of giggling at this point.

Later today I'll post some of the projects Sheryl got roped into helping me with while trapped in my bathroom.  It may not sound like a lot of fun but it was.

The theme of all of three parties was good friends and lots of laughs.