I love christmas!

 I thought it would be easiest to make a few collages of Christmas pictures..  well, I ended up with 6 of them.  sometimes I worry that my blog page will be slow to open for some people if there are too many pictures on it.  I hope that's not the case and I'm sorry if it is.  

We had a great Christmas.  I stayed home this year and didn't go to my mother in laws for dinner.  It has gotten too hard to have everyone over and then rush them through the morning to send them off and then for us to leave.  It was sooooo nice to take my time and not worry about how fast the cinnamon rolls got done and how fast the we opened presents..  We've been going to my mother in laws every year for probably 39 years.  Tony still took off in the afternoon and went there for a bit.  shes an hour away so he was gone for several hours.  I'm glad he went to see her and I'm glad I stayed home! lol!

 We were all massively spoiled as usual.  I really did try not to go overboard... but I'm a little worried that I'm not capable.  There are 18 of us now.  so I cant go too crazy!  lol!  I love to give them gifts!  I just cant help it!  lol!  I just try to make it as special and magical as I can.  I feel like that's my job.  lol!  Someday when I'm gone.. I just want them to remember these holidays.    Anyways.. I'm don't plan on going anywhere anytime soon.. ;)

 The kids were all sooooooooo stinking adorable and soooooooo good!  the day was just perfect.  I just wallowed in it all day.  And my kids truly spoiled me.  I am blessed with a loving, giving family.. and best of all.. they all love Christmas too!  they get that from me..  lol..  their father just tolerates it!  LOL!

 I fell asleep early Christmas night and slept for 8 hours...   unheard of for me..  and Ive been tired ever since! LOL!    I need a project to get my fire lit again! lol!

 aren't they all adorable?  they melt my heart!  

And then these pictures below..   thank goodness for Bethany and her selfies!  LOL!  shes a nut.. they all are..

I love the one of my 4 kids above.. don't those boys look happy?  there goal is always to make some gnarly face for the camera!  lol!

OK.. I guess I should get ready for work.  Have a wonderful day!

and in case I don't get back here before the weekend..  Happy New Year!

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox

Merry Christmas!!

 Ive been hoping to get here to wish every one a Merry Christmas for the past week!  finally here it is 6:00 am Christmas morning and I am here!  I was up til 1:00 filling 17 stockings, but the gifts have yet to go around the tree.. they are in piles in the living room, craft room and in my bedroom!  I just couldn't do it last night.. was too pooped!  Tony helped me get them all down stairs and then I went to bed.. and woke up far to early for going to bed at 1:00.  

They will all be here around 10:30.. which means 11:00.. (my family is always later then I tell them!  lol!)  And for the first time in probably 40 years, we are staying home all day today!   I think my husband would have liked to go to his  mothers for dinner, but I just really wanted to stay home and enjoy the chaos that will take place here ..   lol! It will be nice not to have to open presents and rush out.  I will miss seeing my mother in law and the rest of my husbands family.  but hopefully we will see her another day this week.  

I'll be making a breakfast casserole in a couple hours and cinnamon rolls and we'll also have some cut up fruit and there will be bagels and cream cheese for anyone who wants them.   Then later we'll be having Beef on weck and cheesy potato's.. as well as a ton of snackys left over from last night.

I think its time to pump in some caffeine! I need some energy to get these gifts arranged!  hubby will sleep a couple more hours..  How does he do  that!?  lol!!

 soo have a blessed Christmas my friends! I hope you all will be enjoying your families and that you all get a special little giftie!   love to you all!

Merry Christmas!!!

xoxoxoxoxoxoxooxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoox

a little quickie post!

 Hello Hello Hello!!  where oh where have I been??   I don't know..  I guess Ive been working and shopping and shopping and working!  and I have been crafting a bit too .  I finished up all of my orders and was suddenly free this weekend to make something that I wanted to make for myself!    

On thanksgiving, I took the pics above of the kids.  it took a lot of bribing.. and possibly rice krispi treats were involved! They really just don't like to have their pics taken.. unless its their idea!  lol!  poor things.. I'm always sticking the camera in their cute little faces. but they are just so cute, I cant help it. 

so, I took the pictures, edited them to black and white, gave them pink cheeks and noses and then took my little savey stick thing to rite aid and made copies of the photos..  came home, cut them out and dressed them up!  this time I painted and cut out their legs and feet.  at first I wasn't super thrilled with them, but by the time they were all finished I was pretty happy with them.   And then...... 

 I did this!  I was trying to decide what to do with them..  They were a little too big to be ornaments on the tree, so I hung them on a garland instead!  And this, I love! I'll be adding two more little elves this week..  I need Ella and Carson elves to go with them!  I have other plans with these photos as well, but I cant say what.. just in case one of my family members reads this..  I don't think they do.. but you never know!

So what do you think of this?  this is a picture of Torry that was taken and posted on the Orleans Hub.. an online Newspaper for our county.   Isn't this just awesome?  doesn't it look like a little boy in awe of the christmas trees?  Our town has a little park with about 60 trees that people and agencies decorate.  Anyways, Bethany took Torry to see them and the photographer  caught this pose!  So then Bethany tells me the truth behind the photo.  She said that she was actually on the other side of the tree telling him to get over there and he wasn't listening to her.  He was getting in trouble!  lol! She didn't know someone was taking the photo until it was posted and people were asking her if that was him! lol!  anyways.. the back story just makes it funny I think.  but I love the photo.    he looks like a little boy in contemplation of the beauty of Christmas! LOL!!  

speaking of Torry, we had his little birthday party here last night!

here's a little collage of pics from last night.. taken with my phone.. not very good photos.. but it is what it is!  

oyvey.. I am sooo tired tonight!  I just keep waking up so darn early.  today was at 3:45.  I stayed in bed til 5:00.. but I was not comfortable.  I need to stay up til 11:00 so I sleep until 5:00.. but when I wake up that early.. I'm ready to fall asleep at about 9:30!

Okeedokie..  Ive got to run.  I need to do some blog reading!  see you there!  Have a great night my friends!

xxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

you will love this! (well I do anyways!)

For your christmas pleasure!  this is so stinking cute!  just had to quick share this with you all!

Have a great day bloggy pies!

xoxoxoxoxoxoxo

early morning chit chat..

Well, we had a great thanksgiving.  Most everyone was here.  We ate a lot..  a few of them actually go somewhere else to eat before they come here and eat again!  lol!  I dont know how they do that.  I was so stuffed.  There was a lot of food and everyone went home with left overs.   I really dont think any of the little kids ate...  accept for marshmellow rice krispis that I made for them, because I was pretty sure they wouldnt eat pie!  lol!

Now that thanksgiving is past, Christmas is On!  I've been working on christmas projects for a while really, but finally this weekend I started decorating.  The Kitchen and bathroom are done and the living room is almost done.  The tree went up last night, but I'll work on decorating it later.  Garlands still need to go up, maybe later today.    As for the outside..  I'll do it when the mood strikes me.   There is still a lot of stuff upstairs that I'm not going to use this year..  I have too much stuff!  well at least I say that.  If I could get my bedroom and craftroom cleaned up some of it might get used..  we'll see..   lol! 

So I thought Id show you these photos.   Ive been busy the past couple months making christmas elves.  A friend of mine has been hosting a big christmas open house in her barn for the last 20 years with a bunch of artists and she has been bugging me for years to make elves for it. So this year I finally did!  I made about 25 elves altogether and sold everyone.  the few that didnt sell there, other friends bought.  and I actually have to make two more.   A nice way to make some extra money and I like making them.  But like anything else.. after  you sit and make a bunch.. you do sort of get a little tired of them. But they really are so cute!

 

Ive been making elves for longer then Ive been making bears.  I would guess about 25 years.   maybe longer.  They started out as ugly little woodsmen.    Its funny, because some people absolutely love them and some really dont!  You should see them when I make a bunch of heads and body parts and have them all in a pie plate to go in the oven!  lol!   We always joke about me "cooking body parts again"!  lol!

 There are elves all around my house for christmas.  I think I'm going to make myself a couple more though.  I LOVE the reindeer fabric on the one aboves apron and I need to have one like that! A friend just made me a rag quilt using that fabric in it.  I'll have to post a picture of it next time.  sooo cute!

   So for today.. I think I'm taking Marla birthday shopping.  Her party is next sunday.  Can you believe she is going to be 5 on 12/28?  and Torry will be 6!   Tiff is celebrating Marlas birthday early this year.  a great idea i think.   Torrys birthday is on the 8th and  Bethanys is the 6th.  Im trying to start a tradition to take each one of my pies out shopping to pick out their birthday presents. 

OK.. Ive blabbed on enough here.  I guess I should go work on bears or elves....    I want to have everything finished this week and in the mail!  5 bears to go!   

Have a great Sunday!

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

early morning thanksgiving crafting!

More turkeys! lol!!

Happy Thanksgiving to all my bloggy buddies! 

 lillianna

 marlaina

 Scarlett

 Seraphina

 Torry

Violet

I'm thankful for so many things.. for just about everything..  my list would be so very long.    so I shall just say I'm grateful for each day and all it brings.  

don't eat to much!  

yeah, right..

PIG OUT TIME!!  

gobble gobble!

xoxooxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoox 

omg.. just shut me up already.. bla bla bla! lol!

 Good morning on the thanksgiving eve day! lol!  I just have to make a big deal out of every day.. don't I?  I have to say.. I love my life and I do like to celebrate everyday in some way.   And isn't each new day a gift for us?  And aren't gifts special?  and special things should be treated as special??  and shouldn't we be thankful for all the gifts we receive?  well I am.  I can honestly say that I look forward to each new day and am always grateful to get up in the morning and find something to do that makes me happy.   Some of that is because I'm selfish.. and a little self serving.  sometimes I have to remind myself that life isn't just all about me.. lol.. though in my world most of the time it is.  though I do like to do things for the people I love..  but is it about them or about me?  because it makes me happy to do things for the people I love.  well, usually.   sometimes I do things that I don't want to do for someone else..  and then its not really about me.  or is it?  because if I didn't do it, I would not be happy with myself..  hmmmm....  so does that make it about me in the end?   yikes..    

Oh.. what ever!  

here.. here is a collage of some turkeys that Ive made in the past couple years.  the pine cone turkeys were this years little obsession..  but I'm over that now.   note the pine cone turkey in the center of the collage.. that one I did not make, that was made by my dear friend Kelly...  one of my favorite thanksgiving treasures!

I think I'm ready to eat some turkey and stuffing and then pack up all these little turkeys and move on to decorate for Christmas! lol!  (Friday!)

I have a lot of cooking to do today.  In fact I should not be sitting here! but I didn't want to miss the chance to wish all my bloggy buddies a very happy Thanksgiving.   I am thankful for soooo many things.  So many blessings come my way over and over and over again.  God is so good to me..  to us.

OK.. off to the kitchen for me..    I am looking forward to the smells that will be soon created in there!  

happy thanksgiving my friends!    I am thankful for all you that come to visit me and I hope you all have a wonderful day!

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Finally Friday!

finally Friday!  I have just been trudging along this week.   not functioning at my highest level, probably because my brain is clogged with holiday stuff.    Thanksgiving.. Christmas...  shopping, planning.. you know all that stressfully fun stuff.

Tonight we have a birthday gathering for my son at his house.  Then tomorrow morning I plan on a major grocery shopping trip.   gotta get the turkey and all the other thanksgiving goodies!  And then the rest of the weekend I need to focus on getting some major stuff done around here.  I have a whole bedroom set on my front porch which needs to come in... but so much needs to happen before that can happen.  Major stuff really.  

I have Wednesday off this next week and will do a lot of precooking before Thursday, but there's a lot of house work that needs to happen before then.  Seriously have considered paying someone to help me move stuff and sort.  I think I need a dumpster.  for real.   well whatever..

I'll get it all done eventually!

I'm looking forward to the holidays.  I enjoy all the hubbub and cooking and fussing over stuff and of course I Love my family all together.   Even though it can be a little overwhelming with everyone here.. there is not a lot of room. but we persevere.  the kids will be cute even though there will inevitably be some little fights.  They are little still and want whatever the other has! Including me sometimes!  

( I am well loved by those little cuties!)

well anyways.. just wanted to pop in and say Happy Weekend before Thanksgiving!  hey.. do you love this turkey garland above?  OMG!  I do!  I got it from Kris Hurst.. she rocks..

 I love love love it!

aww!  look at the little pinecone turkey I just made this morning!   hes sooo cute!  see.. gotta have a little play time before going to work.. its what keeps me sane.. or maybe its what makes me insane!  I dont know!  
Have a great Friday! 

xooxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxooxoxoxoxoxoxo

turkey talk

gobble gobble gobble!  have you been to TArget and did you see the cute thanksgiving plates?  well if you did, in the set up around them you may have seen the little packet of turkey heads and feathers that are meant to make place cards.  I original bought a pack for my grandpies to make the place cards, but then realized there were only enough for 10 in a pack.  And there are way more of us then that.  so I bought something else for the kids to make and I made these little turkeys instead!

I painted small styrofoam balls brown and poked the feathers into the back of the balls then glued the heads on with hot glue.  Then I added pipe cleaner hooks to hang them by and tied them onto a little orange tinsel garland with some twine.   I think they turned out really cute!  they are pretty simple-ish.. nothing fancy.  but I think they are just right.  I would have liked to come up with a different way to attach them to the garland. but I was doing this at 4:30 this morning! lol!  (I know.. nuts.. right?)

The holidays are coming up so fast now aren't they?   Thanksgiving is only like 11 days away, And Christmas is about 42 sleeps away!  I don't really count weeks, or days.. I really count paydays.. and there are 3 of them! lol!   We also have 5 birthdays before Christmas.  Well Marlaina's is technically right after Christmas, but we are doing it a few weeks before.  which is a good idea.  Both big Torry and little Torry have birthdays coming up, Robert just had one, but his "party" is this Friday.  and Bethany's is in a couple weeks.  Hopefully, I'm not forgetting anyone! lol!!

So whats everyones plans for Thanksgiving?  whose cooking, whose having company, and whats everyone making?    dinners here at 4:00 on thanksgiving.  and I'm cooking the works.  I could go for a turkey dinner right now! lol!  I should probably go buy a turkey soon..  I want to make sure I get a huge one.  and I suppose I should clean out the freezer a bit to make room for one!

Okeedokie bloggy pies...  I think I'm going to run to wally world..   I need a few things.  its finally late enough for me to go.. I got up at 4:13 this morning..    and its 7:08 right now, so I think I shall throw some clothes on, comb my hair, brush my teeth and run!    have a great day! 

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxooxxooxoxoxoxoxoxooxoxo  

trick or treat!

Happy Halloween!!

 These two pics were taken by friends who spied my boney and betty in my car in the parking lot today! 

such fun!

Hope you get lots of candy!!

have fun!

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

my little Halloween cottage!

 Happy Saturday!  Halloween Weekend!  woohoo!  I love decorating for holidays.. I just do.  I cant help myself.  I actually think my decorations are quite tame in comparison to some! lol! well, I just dont do anything creepy.. because I get creeped out by scary stuff.  I cant even watch a scary movie... especially if its like evil...

my house is tiny, so I have a lot of stuff packed into it!  I have to use a lot of self control not to get to carried away.  lol! 

 ONly two more days, and Betty BoneCracker will get to ride around in my car for the day.  Im actually considering taking Boney and Bonita too.   Do you think people will think Im ridiculous?  well some will.   but really, I dont care what anyone thinks.. they just dont know how to have fun.. Right?

today I have to do a little shopping to get some stuff for my grandpies.. just little halloween trinkety stuff.. you know stuff that will end up thrown out or lost at the end of the week. but they'll have fun with it for a little while.    

Marla and Lillianna are coming over this morning while Sister Sera goes to the doctor.   I think we might make cookies.  And then later Scarlet, Violet and torry are coming over while their mommies go somewhere.  and I think we are going to make cupcakes.. so those will be their halloween eaty treats.  Not giving them candy..   well, I dont think I am anyways!  lol! who knows when I get to the store. 

Just thought I would post some pics from around the house instead of the close ups that I always post.  my bathroom is decorated too.  and the bears in my bedroom are wearing witches hats.. but not worth posting pics of.   Dont look too closely at my dumpy little house!

 I need to take another picture of the porch because I put Boney Neroni standing in the window now too.     Skeletons have gotten very popular lately havent they?  I see them all over the place in people yards and windows this year.  some people are very creative and have a lot more then I do.  I did consider buying a new skelly this year.. but I have enough...  but if I went in the store and found one at half price on tuesday morning..  I would buy it! lol!

ok.. i need to go get myself together before the girls get here.  have a great day and a great weekend!

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo 

a very quick good morning to you!

ohh.. blogland.. how I love you!   its all love and sunshine over here.  and when there are issues we deal with them sweetly among us don't we?  oh but then there is face book.  I had to run from there this morning.   tooo. much. political. bull. 

I'm so glad we keep that out of here.  or at least where I visit, there is none.   And I wont bring it here today. .  just saying that I'm grateful for my bloggy friends that keep it sweet and drama free!   xoxox!

Of course I'm over here surrounded by Halloween stuff.  lots and lots of it.  was thinking about what makes it all so special.  Most of my collection is handmade by myself or friends.   I do have a bunch of Bethany Lowe  and Lori Mitchel store bought stuff and some other trinkety store bought pieces.. but most of this crazy collection you cant find anywhere else.  I like that. 

Its the same for all my holiday collections of STUFF!  

speaking of other holidays...   there are only 9 weeks til Christmas!  5 paydays for me...  66 days!  but I'm not really thinking about that yet...     lol!  not until after Halloween.. then its full steam ahead!  lol!  OK.. just a quick stop in.. I have to get ready for work.  

have a happy happy day lovies! 
ps... thanksgiving..  cant forget about thanksgiving!  thats only 35 days from now.. just so you know.  heehee!

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo