thursday chit chat

 Good morning bloggy pals!   Thankful that the week is winding down.  I have training today at work and also had it yesterday.  Im so behind.. I wish I could just sit at my desk all day.. but cant.. and tomorrow I'll be out in the field doing visits all day.  I may never get caught up!  but it is what it is...   gotta just keep on keeping on ..  right?    

Im dying to make some Valentines...  I did make a couple needlefelted  pieces over the weekend,, but cant show them because they are for some peeps that might stop by here!  lol!  I really want to take a trip to  Buffalo Stamps to see what valentine papers are out and also to the christmas tree store to see what valentiney treasures that might have.. and hobby lobby.....  and I think the weather may cooperate to be able to do that this weekend. 

that is my plan!  just gotta get through two more days.

Michelle Rees has been making the cutest paper valentines and I am very inspired and dying to play!  I do have a ton of bears to work on though.   I have to find a good balance and get started on them.  I have been procrastinating!  

Hasselback Apple
Posted by Tasty on Thursday, October 22, 2015

I made this baked apple recipe last night... and served it with ice cream.. it was very good, though not as pretty as theirs!    you should try it! 

see..  not quite as pretty.. but sure was good!

gotta go..  only about 25 minutes to get ready for work.. 

have a delightful day my bloggy pies!

peek a boo

PEEK A BOO!!  

OMG.. so glad this week is over.  wasn't the best week.  Tuesday I had a tummy bug..  and  a bit of a gallbladder attack..  then yesterday morning I woke up at 3:00 with a cold...  really??  I am so darn susceptible to those darn things.  but other then Tuesday,  I made it through the week.  

Over the weekend I managed to put Christmas away and get valentines out.  Ive been tweaking it a bit here and there through the week.   

Since I really don't feel good, I'm pretty much planning on camping out at home for the next three days..  except for tomorrow.  Tomorrow is Miss Ella pies birthday party..  she is having a dress up tea party!  I'll be sure to take some pictures.    everyone will look so purty I bet!   Well, Little Torry pie said he is going to "dress up" as a ninja turtle!  I don't think he understands the dress up concept.  but I told his mother that she should let him dress up that way.  why not?  It would be fun!

I know a few of you encouraged me to host a valentine swap.  but I'm just not feeling it.    but I would compile a list of names and addresses if anyone wants to send out cards to each other.  and they don't have to be homemade.    If I get at least 8 girls, I'll do it.  its up to you guys.

sweet and simple though.   just a card.  

I did get invited to swap with two old friends.  hoping to work on that this weekend and another friend as well for a little one to one mushroom swap.   I just not feeling the whole organizing thing to set a swap up though... In fact.. if you decide you want to do a card swap..   when you email me, make sure you include your full name and address.  I don't want to have to track anyone down for more info.  lol!  (geesh.. what fun am I?)  

Between this cold and work I'm feeling pretty beat.  I'm dragging my butt and running to catch up  and sometimes its like beating my head against the wall! for real!  all good though.. please don't feel sorry for me..  I'm am fine fine fine!  lol!  just not feeling like doing much extra...  get it?  lol!  so... if you email me your information, be sure to write VALENTINES on the subject line of you email, so I don't miss it.  I get so much junk email I have trouble seeing the "real" ones.   and also please tell me here is you email me so I know to look for you.  If I don't have 8 girls in a couple days, I'll just can the idea.   okeedokie?  

One more thing before I go...   Is this not the cutest darn cupboard?  I saw it pinned on pinterest, the photo belongs to KBO..  It is so cute!  I wish it were in my house!

OK!!  I'm off to blow my nose and get some tea.  have a great weekend! 

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Its that time!.. the mood has struck!

Happy Saturday!  wow!  what I long week I had.  I was on call and lost 25 hours of my home time.  cant go into details.. But, it was a long and sort of bizarre week.  and now... It is behind me!  and next weeks paycheck is going to look pretty good!   

As soon as I finish this cup of tea and eat some toast, I'm going to start dragging down all those empty bins and start packing up Christmas.  I'm ready to move on to Valentines decorations!  hopefully by later this afternoon I'll be dragging down the valentine bins!  

speaking of tea..   check out these stinking adorable teacups that I found at Joann's last night.  Though, I have to say that I was surprised that Joann's didn't have more valentine stuff out.. they have a lot of Easter out already!   I'm wanting to go to hobby lobby  to see what they have out..  but I wont have time today and they aren't open on Sundays.  some maybe some night after work I'll get there.     

OK.. Off I go...  LOTS of work to do..  gotta stay focused and off the computer!  lOl!

happy weekend bloggy pies!

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

oh look!! Im here again!

So, I just need to show you the nativity set that I bought this year.  Ive been looking for one I like for a long time.  I needed one that was just right. Ive seen so many that though I liked them, they just were not for me.   And this year especially I felt the need to have one, because while we play Santa for Christmas, I really want my grandpies to know what Christmas is all about.  And I needed to show that in my home some how  and it needed to be special and have grammies touch on it.  

so, I decided that while Santa is still part of Christmas that even Santa needed to celebrate the true meaning of Christmas.  So I brought Santa to the manger with their messages that Jesus is the reason!  I made the silly banner "Behold, for unto you is born a savior"  and have two of the Santa's holding it up over the manger.

 And then I have another Santa kneeling before baby Jesus with a sign.. "oh Holy night"

And then another with his "believe" sign  These are all Santa's that I made years ago.  I haven't made one in a long time.  I do have one that I started several years ago and need to finish someday...  

So anyways..  this is what I did with my manger scene.  I was afraid that there would be people that would be offended by it.. but then I thought well, its not in their house and I think the message its sending it good.    Even Santa celebrates our savior!

So the nativity scene,   I was talking to a dear friend on face book (whom Ive never met in person) about his huge nativity collection and was saying that I needed to find one.  then on a whim  I thought to check craigslist, popped over to it, typed in nativity sets and this was the first one to pop up.. for 25.00!  I emailed the guy, he called me back immediately, we found out he was just in Greece, only about 50 minutes from us and my hubby was going that way at that time.  So he went and picked it up and I had it here only a couple hours later!  

Isn't it lovely, isn't it perfect?  Its a fontanini set from Italy and its quite old.  I LOVE it.  and my friend who collects them said I shouldn't have been able to touch that set for less then 100.00.  pretty good deal then for 25.00.  but I don't care about the cost.. only that I absolutely love it.  

OK.. just thought Id share that.  

soo with that, have a lovely day my friends!

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo!

Im a bad bloggy friend.. bad bad bloggy friend!!

But here I am..  I don't know what happen to me over Christmas.. I just did not have the whatever it takes to make myself blog.  I think I was just too busy.. bear orders galore and family time.  I finally shut down the "bear shop" about 10 days before Christmas as I needed to enjoy the holiday.  which I did.  I had the house decorated the weekend after thanksgiving and spent most of December puttering, shopping, playing with my grands and working on bears.  

   

Do you remember when I talked about my secret Christmas mission?  Well this is what it was!  I dressed all my grandpies up as a nativity scene and had their pictures taken.   It all came together very quickly.  I had to enlist the help of daughter Jennifer so that she could bring her step children Ella and Carson and I needed help with all the kids anyways.. so she was in on it from the start.

   (Ella)

I had a gift cert for a photo shoot that I had been saving for the whole family but figured I would just use it for the kids and once this idea came into my head I was totally OBSESSED.     Unfortunately the photographer did not have any openings.  So I called a woman from church who also takes pictures and she agreed.  We were able to pull it together for Veterans day when the kids didn't have school.

(Lillianna)

We were going to do it here which my husbands barn as the back ground but it had rained and the ground was pretty wet.  so I have a good friend with a 200 year old cabin in her yard with a little porch on it that worked out perfectly!

(Scarlet)

I got the crazy idea to have a live Donkey.. and since I live in the country.. there are plenty around.. I called about 5 or 6 different people with donkeys but it didn't work out.. some were willing but had no trailer,  one was out of town.. and the weird old man down the street was willing if I brought the kids down there.. but he is pretty strange and I thought Not!  so we had no live donkey!  lol!  but I sure did try.  just ask the girls I work with..  I was obsessed with the idea!  lol!

(Carson)

I borrowed the nativity costumes from the church with the exception of the lambs.  I made their costumes in about an hour one night!  seriously simple!  basically traced around a size 2 outfit cut it out and sewed it together.  Then I cut a slit down the back so we could put them on them.   The hats were a little more involved but still really simple.    And they turned out sooo stinking cute!  lol!

(Marla)

So that morning Jen and I collected up all the kids.  We told their mother I was working on a secret surprise for Christmas and off we went!   I took a pack and play with us to put babies in while we set up..  that was probably the smartest thing we did that day! lol!!  We threw straw around the porch  put the kids in place.  and within about 45 minutes we were done!

(Torry)

And the end result was just magical!   they all cooperated... perfectly!  amazingly!  beautifully!  awesome little kids!

(violet)

Stephanie, the photographer took about 60 or more shots and gave them all to me on a CD.  so hard to pic my favorites!    WE told the kids to keep the Christmas surprise a secret, but soon after returning them all home Tiffany texted me to tell me that Marla had spilled the beans about the virgin Mary!  LOL!    Bethany said that Torry tried to tell her about it a couple times but she would stop him and tell him not to tell her.

so for Christmas I had the pictures mounted and gave them to the parents  from the kids and I.  I think even though they had some ideas,,  they really didn't know what to expect!  I also had my friends dad make these little shelves out of barn wood and I bought little lambs and a donkey to put on the shelves under the pictures!  soooo stinking cute I tell ya!

here's what they look like all together!  I have and extra lamb and a camel for my grouping.. also I didn't give then all the extra pics of each of the kids, just the ones of their own.  But I of course have them all! lol!  they can order the others if they decide they want them.  I love that I had them mounted and that they aren't framed.    I couldn't hang mine until Christmas morning before they came.. which was killing me because I wanted then up soooo bad!  so I hung them in the morning and then covered them with a sheet of wrapping paper until they had all opened theirs.   Needless to say that they all loved them.    

OK.. sooo anyways..   I'm sorry Ive been missing. .  I'm going to be back more.. now that the holidays are behind us and I'm not obsessing about that.  I feel like I can take on blogging again!   I still love all my bloggy friends!  And if you are wanting to see all my Christmas decorations..   just go to my flickr.. this years pics are there.  Ive been posting on instagram and on facebook.. just not here.... :( see... bad bloggy friend is what I am!   but Im back!  have a great day!

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo