Merry Christmas!

For a second year and a row we have had a white Christmas.


I hope each of you had a day filled with joy and special family time. :)

Snowman Fetish?

I finished knitting and putting together this little guy this week. I had started him last winter and ran out of yarn and the store was out too. I think it was May or June before I found the yarn again and needless to say I didn't really feel like making a snowman then. LOL. Anyway, I did get him finished to add to our Christmas Decor this year and I absolutely love him. He is very soft and cozy, just like the pattern says. :D If you love him as much as I do you can get the pattern HERE.

Yesterday we went out and cut down out Christmas tree. Now that I have begun digging out all of our Christmas ornaments and decorations I've discovered something about myself....... I have a real snowman fetish! I think I always have. I love all things snowmen but most especially building them from fresh fallen snow. I don't see that coming in the near future though. I guess I will have to wait patiently and enjoy the snowmen inside my home in the mean time.

So, what is it you love??

Red stretchy footies

I finished these footies on Monday night. Love the yarn--Cascade Fixation--a nice stretchy yarn. This was a fun, fast knit!

Sketchapalooza 2

I can't believe that the Feeling Scrappy Sketchapalooza 2 Sketch class has finished already.  Designers, Jayne Jones, Stacey Lokovic and Amy Bell offered 20 wonderful sketches. As the Guest Designer I was asked to  make examples to show class participants. I was able to complete 16 of the 20 sketches.  It has been a long time since I've completed so many pages in one month. :) I can't wait for Sketchapalooza 3 (coming in March 2009). Be sure to check out all the upcoming Feeling Scrappy classes!

Find more photos like this on Feeling Scrappy Classes

Get'er Done

This weekend I was in the mood to get my scrapbooking back up to date.  I had a bunch of photos from our spring break vacation that I was dreading. Not because it wasn't a great time, but because I had so many photos. So I buckled down and got to work. They aren't the fanciest pages, but I'm happy that they are done. :)

Mommy Brag! :D

Last night was the high school cross country awards banquet....always a lot of fun to see the kids who have worked so hard over the course of the season get recognized for their achievements. Kelsey earned her first varsity letter and Grant got his fourth for Cross Country! :D Not only that, they both came away with special awards too. Kelsey was chosen by her peers as 'Freshman Girl of the Year'! And Grant received the special honor of the 'Coaches Award' for his hard work, support of his teammates, and determination (not giving up when he broke his arm). We are so proud of both of them. 

Teaching Day

It is teaching day over at Feeling Scrappy.  Jayne asked me to teach a lesson on how to make embossed journaling strips. I hope you check it out. :D

Ziggy Socks!

Can you believe these socks were made from ONE skein of yarn? This was such a fun knit. I just had to keep going to see what color was going to appear next. 

The details: Ziggy pattern is available for FREE!  I used one skein of Noro Sock yarn (yum) on size 3 double pointed needles. 

Tagged :)

Since I just started this blog, I'm not sure how many people actually read here so I will give this a try and see how it goes:

The rules:

1. Link to the person who tagged you. (Jayne and Char)

2. Post the rules on your blog (this is what you are now reading).

3. List 6 random things about yourself.

4. Tag 6 people at the end of your post.

5. Let each person know they have been tagged and leave a comment on their blog.

6. Let the tagger know when your entry is up.

Here are six random things about me:

1. I have been a stay-at-home-mom for 21 years.

2. I've never had a cup of coffee.....and I have lived in the Seattle area most of my life. LOL

3. I spend too much time on the computer each day. :)

4. We won't be doing anything for Halloween this year. I do miss having little kids sometimes.

5. The pair of socks I am knitting are almost finished

6. I'm looking forward to the extra hour sleep this weekend with the time change! 

Now I will tag:   Stacey, Denise, Adonica, Suzanne, Rachel and Amy

Ghostly Treats

This is a fun, easy recipe perfect for the little (and not so little) ones in your life. I've made these every Halloween for probably the last ten years. My kids always look forward to them. :)

Ingredients:

1 package of Nutter Butter Cookies

12 oz. Almond Bark

mini chocolate chips

Follow the melting directions on the package of Almond Bark. I use a one-cup Pyrex measuring cup to have something deep to dip the cookies in. 

When the Almond Bark is melted and smooth dip each Nutter Butter in the bark coating about 3/4 of the cookie. 

Set on waxed paper and place two chocolate chips for eyes. Allow to set for approximately 30 minutes. 

Birthday Card

I pulled out my scraps and made this card for my brother who has a birthday on Saturday.  I find making "masculine" cards difficult, but I think this one will work. 

I have been busy with some layouts too, but they are all for my Guest Designer position at Feeling Scrappy so they are top secret for now......

Boston

I just returned from a lovely 4 days in Boston visiting my oldest son for Parents' Weekend at MIT. 

I arrived Thursday evening and Quinton arranged to meet me at the airport and escort me to my hotel.  He had a meeting he needed to attend so I went off exploring and got some dinner for myself. 

Friday began the 'official' parent activities on campus.  I attended an information lecture for his intended major and then joined him for one of his classes.....a lecture on "Artificial Intelligence" (Computer Science in layman's terms).  I was pleased that I could follow most of the lecture... the technical equations and such were beyond me though. :eyeroll: Immediately following that I went to the Nobel Laureate lunch.  It was a beautiful meal followed by a presentation by a 

professor that received the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1990.  (In all honesty, a lot of his presentation was over my head. LOL )  Following lunch, I was able to take in another lecture and then wander around campus taking in the sites and managed to drop a little money at the bookstore. LOL    Quinton met

me at my hotel and we went to dinner at Fire and Ice in Harvard Square to celebrate his

 birthday. What a fun place! We had a wonderful time chatting and catching up with one another. 

On Saturday, I took in a few more lectures and presentations before heading into downtown Boston to do some sight seeing.  I strolled down Newbury (Rodeo Drive of the East) street and did a little window shopping. :) I ended my afternoon at Boston Common where the leaves were beginning to turn. 

The fraternity that Quinton is a member of hosted a dinner for the parents Saturday night. The young men made dinner for us all since their chef doesn't work on Saturday. They prepared a lovely dinner of Chicken Cordon Bleu, rice and salad with a choice of pumpkin pie or apple pie for dessert.   The night didn't go exactly as planned when some

thing in the kitchen smoked sending off the fire alarm.  Since the house was built in the 1920s it is lacking ventilation and they couldn't get the alarm off. The building was evacuated and the fire department arrived within minutes followed shortly by the campus police.  It is an evening none will soon forget.  I enjoyed meeting so many of Quinton's 'brothers' and their parents. What an amazing and talented group of people. 

Sunday, Quinton met me for breakfast prior to 

sending me off on the "T" to the airport.  

It felt like a whirlwind trip, but well worth it.  :)

21!

Twenty-one years ago today I became a mom for the first time.  I'm of mixed emotions today......so proud of the man he has become and yet sad that he is already an adult and living so far away.  (I do get to see him this coming weekend though! :) ) Here is my precious baby boy as a newborn:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, QUINTON! 

I made this card for him.  The 21 is adhered with pop-dots, but is hard to tell in the photo. 

Feeling Scappy's First Challenge

Feeling Scrappy posted their first challenge this morning. It is a wonderful sketch by Amy Bell. Complete the sketch by Oct. 15th for your chance to win the Sketchapalooza 2 class for FREE! 

First mountain snowfall.....

I absolutely love when the Olympic Mountains get their first snowfall of the season. (They look pretty bare by the end of September.)

This photo was taken at sunrise this morning from my dining room window. Ahhhhh. :)

He's got heart!

Nothing keeps him down for long. Grant's arm was broken a couple weeks ago while playing soccer. He FINALLY got the cast on Tuesday and begged  the doctor to let him run Cross Country again because there are only two weeks left of his senior season.  So here he is on Wednesday running in a race after not running at all for over two weeks.  He was able to finish the 5K (3.1 miles) course but not as fast as he has in the past. The knee brace is from another soccer injury (torn PCL) that occurred about 15 months ago.  He will get to wear that for all sports for the rest of his life.

And because I can't post one child without a photo of the other.... This is Kelsey running in the girls' varsity race at the same meet. She is having a great freshman season. She is a natural runner and works so hard. 

I must say it is a parent's dream to have two children doing the same sport at the same time!  We don't have to try to be two places at once. 

A birthday card

My sister-in-law is celebrating a birthday today. This is the card I sent her.

New format for my favorite place on the web!

Feeling Scrappy has launched its new site today!  

There will be lots of ways to keep us inspired. There will be challenges, scrapper highlights, cooking tid-bits, weekend fun and prizes!  Check it out today to enter a drawing for an awesome Tim Holtz goody package!

I've decided to jump in.....

to the world of blogging. 

I'm not sure what I will find to blog about.  I am sure you will find posts of various things I've created from photography, scrapbook layouts and cards to knitting and quilting. 

We'll see where this takes me. :)