Just a minute of my time...

Decorating for Christmas

I cannot believe I have spent almost this entire weekend and still have not finished decorating my house!  It sure is time consuming and I'm glad to get it done this early so we can enjoy it for the next 30 days or so.  Yet as I type this I cannot believe that Christmas is right around the corner.  This year while my decorating seems like its getting done earlier, my shopping isn't. 

I'm hoping to take this week and complete my cards and my shopping list so that I get moving with this fast approaching holiday.

Here is some of what I completed the past few days...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tomorrow is already December 1st, my does the time fly!

Friday Fill ins

I've seen Jill do these Friday fill ins for quite some time now and always thought they were a cute way to post on Friday. I didn't realize it was an actual site with a following. You can check it out here

1. My stomach is full
2. Stuffing is what I ate the most of on Thursday.
3. The yard is snow covered.
4. Home is where I'd rather be at any given time.
5. The smell of pine reminds me of Christmas.
6. A Peppermint Mocha is what I need right now!
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to going to dinner with family, tomorrow my plans include decorating and Sunday, I want to craft!

December 26 days of ABC's

With Monday already being December 1st, I was thinking this December of doing the 26 days of December in photographs, trying to find something to represent each letter of the alphabet on its corresponding date on the calendar.  Here is a list of the words I thought of in advance to try and make this a bit easier.   Hopefully with this busy time of the year I can keep up?

December 1  - A    Angel, advent, animals

December 2  - B    Bells, baking, bows, believe

December 3  - C    Candle, chimney, cards, coal

December 4  - D    Dinner, donkey, dessert, donations

December 5  - E     Elves, eggnog

December 6  - F     family, friends, fireplace, frosty

December 7  - G     gifts, green, guests, game, grinch

December 8  - H     hugs, ho ho ho

December 9  - I      icicles, ivy, iced cookies

December 10 - J     Joy, Jesus, jingle, jolly

December 11 - K     kissing, keepsake, kids,

December 12 - L     lights, letters to santa, lists

December 13 - M     mistletoe, mice, merry, manger, memories

December 14 - N     Noel, naughty, nice

December 15 - O     ornaments, opening

December 16 - P     presents, parties, popcorn, patience

December 17 - Q     quilts, quiet time

December 18 - R     reindeer, red, ribbons, rudolph

December 19 - S     santa, sleigh, shopping, snowman, snow, star, secrets, stockings

December 20 - T     tree, tinsel, toys, traditions

December 21 - U     unity, utopia,

December 22 - V     vacations, velvet, visitors

December 23 - W     wreath, wrapping paper, waiting

December 24 - X      xmas

December 25 - Y     yarns, yule-tide, yams

December 26 - Z     zooming, zealous, zeal

Elf Yourself

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Happy Thanksgiving

In Memory of Ryan

In February 1993 we lost our 5-year-old son Ryan from encephalitis from and unknown cause. You can read more about Ryan and what happened here.
http://ryzmomplus2.typepad.com/my_weblog/ryans-story.html
In two weeks on December 7th it would be Ryan’s 21st birthday and in memory of his birthday I wanted to do something sweet in a “pay it forward” way.

You see, last year I spent the week of Ryan’s birthday doing random acts of kindness in his memory. It felt good to give to someone else, no matter how small the act was.

What did I do? Several times I left an extra $5 (since he was 5 years old) at Starbucks, (or wherever I was picking up a drink or food) to pay for the next person in line. I’ve heard of people paying the toll for the person behind them, even a smile or holding the door… so many acts of kindness can go a long way for us all. The purpose is not for recognition, but randomly doing something to make someone else’s day a little brighter. (Because that was something Ryan always did)

Back to the reason for this note: I thought how special it would be to take a week, a day or a moment and do something for a random person in memory of this sweet 5-year-old boy.
So why not try it, I guarantee you’ll feel good about it!

Christmas count down...

It's getting close to that Christmas count down... not only for the kids but for our shopping days left and so what better way to get inspired than to work on an advent calendar to count down with.

 

This was actually a Making Memories kit I purchased last year after Christmas on clearance.  I just inked the edges and added embellishments and had it finished in an evening.

I've also been working with my kit from Work in progress.  I got the Christmas kit and have been creating all kinds of projects with it.

One of the things I made I took with me to the Bertram Crop to share.  They are containers made from transparencies, that I filled with Ghirardelli chocolates.  I will be sure to post details once all of my projects are completed for this month.

 

Today I have a few quiet hours left to work on some projects, so I better get back to them.

Kreative Blogger Award

 

I came home from my weekend crop to find this award from Toni and I was thrilled... although just before this crop I hadn't been feeling too creative, however since returning I feel like I'm back in the groove with my creativity... 

Maybe its because of the holidays which are approaching quickly, or maybe its just I'm finally finding some time to play - either way I'll take it, along with the award and I will pass it on to some of my favorite creative blogs.

 

 

1.  One of my favorite blogs to keep up with is Jill's.  She always has something to spark your creativity and give you ideas on a new project.

2.  And Sarah never fails to boost your creative spirit.  Whether she posts cards, layouts or even shares her generous templates, there's always something fun going on here!

3.  One of my favorites on the Work in Progress design team with me is Jana.  She is a constant source of inspiration!

4.  Another one that always comes up with the cutest ideas and mini's (which you know I love!) is Laina, who is also on The work in progress design team.

5.  And while I haven't gotten there a lot lately - every time I stop by she never fails with the inspiration and that is my friend Shirley

Things I've done

 

I found this on Sarah's blog . If you want to play along, just copy the list and highlight all the things you've done.

1. Started your own blog

2. Slept under the stars

3. Played in a band

4. Visited Hawaii

5. Watched a meteor shower

6. Given more than you can afford to charity

7. Been to Disneyland/world

8. Climbed a mountain

9. Held a praying mantis

10. Sang a solo

11. Bungee jumped

12. Visited Paris

13. Watched a lightning storm at sea

14. Taught yourself an art from scratch

15. Adopted a child

16. Had food poisoning

17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty

18. Grown your own vegetables

19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France

20. Slept on an overnight train

21. Had a pillow fight

22. Hitch hiked

23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill

24. Built a snow fort

25. Held a lamb

26. Gone skinny dipping

27. Run a Marathon

28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice

29. Seen a total eclipse

30. Watched a sunrise or sunset

31. Hit a home run

32. Been on a cruise

33. Seen Niagara Falls in person

34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors

35. Seen an Amish community

36. Taught yourself a new language

37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied

38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person

39. Gone rock climbing

40. Seen Michelangelo’s David

41. Sung karaoke

42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt

43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant

44. Visited Africa

45. Walked on a beach by moonlight

46. Been transported in an ambulance

47. Had your portrait painted

48. Gone deep sea fishing

49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person

50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris

51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling

52. Kissed in the rain

53. Played in the mud

54. Gone to a drive-in theater

55. Been in a movie

56. Visited the Great Wall of China

57. Started a business

58. Taken a martial arts class

59. Visited Russia

60. Served at a soup kitchen

61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies

62. Gone whale watching

63. Got flowers for no reason

64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma

65. Gone sky diving

66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp

67. Bounced a check

68. Flown in a helicopter

69. Saved a favorite childhood toy

70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial

71. Eaten Caviar

72. Pieced a quilt

73. Stood in Times Square

74. Toured the Everglades

75. Been fired from a job

76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London

77. Broken a bone

78. Been on a speeding motorcycle

79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person

80. Published a book

81. Visited the Vatican

82. Bought a brand new car

83. Walked in Jerusalem

84. Had your picture in the newspaper

85. Read the entire Bible

86. Visited the White House

87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating

88. Had chickenpox

89. Saved someone’s life

90. Sat on a jury

91. Met someone famous

92. Joined a book club

93. Lost a loved one

94. Had a baby

95. Seen the Alamo in person

96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake

97. Been involved in a law suit

98. Owned a cell phone

99. Been stung by a bee

Last band performance for the season

Tonight was the last home game for Kent State and the last time the band would perform, which we planned to attend months ago with Deb, Gordon and the kids.  After a drive that took 1 1/2 hours (which is usually 45 minutes) the horrible conditions, roads closed detouring us around, cars off the road everywhere we looked, we finally made it to the game.

Once we arrived safely to the game we were able to relax, at least until we had to head back home.  I couldn't believe how heavy the snow was coming down!

 

Throughout the entire game the snow never let up and we figured we were going to have a long drive home so we headed back shortly after half time.  Luckily the farther we got away from Kent the less snow there was and the better the road conditions.

All in all it was a fun night out!