I'm spoiled!

At least I admit it. ;) My hubby treats me so well. I received my new 'sled' 10 days before Christmas. And, he still had other fantastic gifts for me under the tree. I love driving around in my new car. It is a diesel (very quiet), keyless start, heated seats, dvds in headrests for the kids, ipod & bluetooth ready and still a lot of room to haul all my 'stuff'. I LOVE IT!! I threw in another photo from our Christmas party. Thought you might like to drool over the yummy chocolate fountains and all the goodies to dunk in them. Believe me when I say this is the easiest dessert to prepare and the quickest to be eaten. People literally passed up the hand carved prime rib and hot crab/artichoke dip to eat their chocolate first. I love the holidays! We are just hanging out tonight watching the Patriots/Giants game and boxing up more decoartions to be stored away for yet another season. Marissa is 'helping' at the moment rearrange my work table. I guess that is a good sign it is time to go and play some more. Lots of hugs. Goodnight.

The day after...

...and all is peaceful and MESSY!! Yep, after all the merriment and festivities of Christmas I will have just enough time to get everything cleaned up for the New Year celebration. Actually, it is not that bad. Just a few loads of dishes, trash piled high in the garage, enough leftovers to feed a small country and lots of new toys, clothes and other goodies to find places for. It was a fabulous day!Anytime I can spend with family and friends is worth it. This is our BIG tree in our front room. It is 12.5 feet tall and 6.5 feet at the base. It takes me 2-3 days to decorate. I have not yet mastered how to photograph the Christmas lights, but I hope you get the idea. The villages are my personal favorite and I think everyone else enjoys looking at them also. ;) Well, I am off to dismantle some of the smaller trees, before Marissa and the cats do it for me. Stay warm. XO

Merry & Bright

At least inside the house. It is 13.8 degrees outside with a northern wind. Brrrr... But, that is 15+ degrees warmer than yesterday, so things are warming up. ;) Cody is spending the next 4 days with his dad's family, here for Christmas day, then off to warmer climates for a much needed winter break. Marissa is still snoozing this morning. She has been a busy little bee lately. She is really starting to talk alot. She will repeat just about anything, tries to sing songs she knows and knows most of her body parts. She has been saying her alphabet, 1-20 and a few other things for about a year, but her vocabulary wasn't building as quickly as 'some' thought it should be. Well, if you know Marissa, you know that she will do what she wants, when she wants and not a moment sooner. :) We are supposed to have neighborhood sleigh rides and festivities this evening, but it may be to bitter cold to endure. We have also been invited to another neighbor's home for their annual holiday party. Tis the season! I am busily and happily putting some last minute touches on gifts that I will be giving this year. The phot I posted is one of the projects I will be working on, it is a winter beverage recipe album. Inspiration instructions for this project are at this link http://tayloredexpressions.blogspot.com/2007_08_01_archive.html . So, on that note I am off to sew, bead, paint, cut, glue, stamp, color.......Happy day!

Crafty Post

I want to be able to do double duty with this blog. So, a little family update and a little craty update. My favorite 'new' technique has been masking with stamps. You take 2 (or more) stamp images and make them look like one. Thanks to Becky for the patience and instruction on this technique. This label for the hot chocolate tins I am making is my first attempt at this and I must say, "I LOVE IT!" The stamps are from Close To My Heart, markers & blending pen: Stampin' up. These cute tins are from JoAnn's. Their entire Debbie Mumm line this year is really cute. :) Enjoy!

Truly Frozen!! Brrrrrrr....

For the past few days the temperature has not seen double. :) Thankfully there has been no wind. Today it is a bit cloudy with something that looks like snow, but not the beautiful flaky type. We have all been staying inside as much as possible. Cody has been studying for finals (today is the last day of school) and completing end of semester projects. We are very proud of him for putting so much effort into his studies, finally!! ;) Marissa is enjoying riding in her new sleigh, oops, I mean new car. I can hardly keep her out of it. We sit in it, in the garage, so she can watch Curious George on the dvd player with the headphones on. Crazy!! And for those of you who didn't know Robert went pheasant/goose hunting at a gorgeous lodge in South Dakota with 3 of his buddies 2 weeks ago. A great time was had by all (except the pheasants/geese) and they are already planning their next visit. I am trying to keep up with it all; the holidays, the kids, the crafting of projects to give, etc. I am looking forward to shopping, wrapping, baking and such this weekend. The house looks amazing and filling it with family and friends is truly the best presents we will recieve. I will leave you with a photo from Robert's trip and wishes for a great day.

What am I commiting myself to now???

A blog! This seems to be the easiest way for me to share 'life' and all of the happenings in it with you! Our famiy and friends. My plan is to blog a bit each day. So, this is the spot where you can check up on what we have been up to. Please feel free to leave your comments here. I will be checking them daily. :) This is very, very new to me so I will be figuring it all out as I go.

As of now it is snowy, branches hanging heavy on the trees. It has been foggy, everything is covered in a fine, glistening mist of white. It is beautiful. This is what I am sure everyone thinks Alaska should look like. We have a few more outdoor lights to string and I have our 12.5 foot tree to decorate and everything will be set for our party saturday. We are hosting Robert's office party here and will have 60+ guests. My biggest concern at this point is what do you do with all those shoes and coats??!! Well I am off to tackle the tree and have my first cup of joe. I will post some photos later of how beautiful and festive the house looks. Thanks for stopping by.