Crafty Business

Ashley and I had some late night fun a few weeks back. Her friend needed a quaint bouquet and we said we could make one. Ashley went shopping and brought her finds and I dug through cupboards and boxes and added mine to the mix. Then we put our hands and heads together and this is the bouqut we came up with. We love it! And now Ashley is thinking we could sell these!!! So if anyone reading this blog is interested, leave a comment!





We also had some fun with birds and nests. And these I am excited about and have plans for the birth of a few more. I have been dying lace black for my next one. Each bird will be an individual creation with her own story. This first one is entitled " A Bird in the Hand." If I could have my wish, it would be to go into my little room and sit and create, with no interruptions each and every day for at least 6 hours. You know what they say...If wishes were horses.....

Something Wicked

Off to find the yellow brick road! Ashley and Sabra were my companions for the journey and we arrived just in the nick of time. They roped off the door behind us and we took our seats as the lights dimmed. What a wonderful time was had by all of us. The play was fabulous, the costumes magnificient, the music inspiring!I loved the story, the sets, the comedy.It was one of my best times. Thanks to Sabra for wanting to go see Wicked for her Christmas present this year and for Ashley getting the tickets ordered. We had a wonderful couple of days full of laughs, shopping, and of course the highlight, Wicked! I would highly recommend it to all.

Bowling HIGH

Too bad it wasn't for dollars because I would be rich. At least for that one game. I broke my top score, I broke Tom's top score and I bowled 4 strikes in a row. That score board was sweet! First frame was a spare, then my turkey, and then another strike. I was yelling by this point! Then another spare. Finished out with another couple of spares and a strike in the tenth! Holy cow! I was excited! Final Score? A 213 Baby!!! Now my average has been around 125 but since the holidays I have been lucky to break 100 so tonight brought back my confidence. Of course, the game before was pathetic and the one after likewise. But I will always have that One! WhooHoo!

A New Year

Thanksgiving and Christmas came and went in a flurry of fun and here we are a good third of the way into January of 2012. I already have a long list of should have's like should have taken some pictures to post on this blog. But alas, I didn't so am going to just go ahead and post anyway. We had a lovely Thanksgiving with all of the family at Bob and Sabra's. I even Indian wrestled Ashley and won I might add. Check post on Sabe's blog for pictures of that day. We had our usual Christmas festivities, looking at lights with the grandkids. You know I did take pictures that night. (I will have to put them into this computer. I got a laptop that I am still learning how to use.) Anyway, that was a fun but very cold night. Christmas Eve brought the annual party with friends and family. We had a fun time with pinatas, too much food, and the gift exchange. Then Christmas morning....a first for Tom and I in a long time. We woke alone, just the two of us in the house. It was sweet but sad in a way. We got up(later than a usual Christmas morning)and exchanged our gift to each other. I gave him the same wallet he took back last year. Maybe next year he will keep it!!! Then we got ready for church and I love going on a Christmas to hear all of the music that we only hear this time of year. I enjoyed it immensely. Then we all came back and had our annual Christmas breakfast, just had it at lunch time this year. We gave our gifts to the kids and enjoyed each other until the evening. I missed my mother, thinking I needed to call her several times during the day. Then New years blew in and here we are. I didn't write any resolutions down yet but have been pondering on it. I have lots of them on my mind. I am going to have a special day with Strider every Thursday and I am looking forward to getting closer to him. I think we shall have some fun!! I am looking forward to changes that may come this year, hoping they do. Life is good and I hope I can be a source of goodness in the lives of those I love and serve. And I hope I get better at taking pictures and blogging entries in this cyber journal of mine.

Second Annual Halloween Camp Out

The Arrival

Last year, with so many grandchildren having reached the age of invitation to the Halloween parties, I decided it would be best to do two of them, one for the boys and one for the girls. So began the annual Boys Halloweenie Camp Out. I never did get around to posting last years activites so I wanted to make sure I got it done this year. For the boys, Grandpa pitched a tent which we decorated with spiders and webs. This year we all went bowling. Last year we did a movie at the theater. They were more interested in getting back home to hunt for ghosts just like last year. We ate pizza at the bowling alley and consumed enormous amounts of junk once we got home.

This year instead of ghosts, we had a pumpkin hunt amongst the trees in the back yard.


They loved it all. They ran and yelled and jumped and rolled!





And when they began to wear down, we lit the fire and roasted marshmallows.



They were ready to lie down by ten and entered the tent. The weather was still so warm, even though it was the 12th of October. The wind was whistling and the humidity was dense. By 2am Tiny wanted to sleep in the house. He was followed by Buddy sometime later and around 5 Dawson came staggering in. I slept in the recliner once the first one gave it up. Grandpa stayed all night on the patio in his cot. Lino woke up sometime before the sun came up and took my place in the lounge chair next to Granpa. All of the boys were no worse for the wear come morning and all left to go to other activities by seven except for Lino. He hung out with me until around two in the afternoon and we had a great time, playing games and watching a movie. Even though they had to leave early, I think all had a lot of fun and they are already thinking of next year.

Somewhere Over The Rainbow

And Down the Yellow Brick Road, we had the 5th Annual Girl's Halloweenie Sleepover on the 28th of October. And I had the best time, planning and hosting all of my beautiful girls, excepting little Lexie who isn't old enough yet. This year however, she realized she didn't get to stay and cried, breaking my heart. I am sure she will be ready to attend next time around. Our festivities began in the Emerald City with a buffet of scrumptious tacos, rice, and all of the favorites of my girls. At the table they found their annual sock all wrapped up like cupcakes with a rainbow sucker for a topper. (Thanks to Brenda Hall who always has the best ideas.)


Grandpa made a perfect hourglass for the table. This is a story in and of itself! Suffice it to say, he made a special trip to the store after he broke the first hour glass the night before the party and I was of course a little upset! As always, he saved the day! He called to say they had an orange one but no, that wasn't good enough! After all, the whole color scheme of the table was red and black. I am so bad!! So he called Ashley and bless her little heart; she dropped everything and scooted over the the El Centro Marshalls and found a red one. So now we have an extra orange hour glass for the next occasion I need one! (I should be and am a little ashamed!! Poor Tom!!After all I had green plates as we were in the Emerald City and originally I was doing the whole table in green! And he actually chooses to live with Me? I should have been sent to my room!)


Tied to each of their chairs was a broom that they later used to play a game I called The Flying Monkey.(I could barely walk by Sat. afternoon as I was the flying monkey gone bad!) They each put their broom on one end of the yard by the witch. I, the monkey, stood in the middle and they were at the other end of the yard. The object of the game was to retrieve their broom before the monkey tagged them. If they were tagged before they got back to the Emerald City with the broom, they fell asleep in the spot they were tagged. Then someone who had a broom and made it back had to come rescue them by tagging them with their broom. It was the best tag game I ever played. I had more fun than a "barrel of flying monkeys"


I usually do a ghost hunt but wanted to mix it up this year. Last year we had a treasure hunt in addition to the Ghost hunt and it was a favorite. So this year we we hunted for the Ruby Slippers. I went to Goodwill and found the perfect pair of heels to turn into a pair of Ruby Slippers. They were part of the centerpiece for the table when we began but ended up hidden in the haunted forest, filled with a crystal heart for each of my "pretties". The hearts were wrapped in damask sacks and later each girl made hers into a necklace. While I was out hunting for the perfect shoes to turn into the slippers for the table, I hit the dollar store and found 5 pairs of little gold slippers that were meant to decorate a tree. There the idea for my treasure hunt was born. Although I searched every dollar tree from here to El Centro, I could not find 2 more pairs. We made do. I turned all said shoes ruby red with a little paint and glitter. Then each was tied with a line or two of a poem that contained clues. They had to find all of the little slippers and put the poem together to figure out the clues.
It was a little harder for them than I expected but with a little help they soon figured it out. The first place they were sent was through the field where poppies cannot grow, up the vertical mountain, though the long dark tunnel where the witch was melting on the castle floor. They made it to the playhouse out back where they found a pile of witch's clothes on the floor. Under her cape they found another clue with a magic wand that lit up. They had to light their wands and then find another clue that was hidden somewhere on the castle walls. This led them into the haunted forest where the Ruby Slippers lay hidden amongst snakes and spiders,(all plastic of course.) It was great fun to watch them figure it all out.



Each girl had her picture taken in the Ruby Slippers and and Rainbow Tshirt. (Kaylie and Syd had pink spider shirts. It's hard to find 7 of anything when you need it!!)











We also had our annual crafting session and it was heard that it was the best craft we ever did. They each painted a board that Grandpa cut in their color of choice and decoupaged the letters HOME in rainbow colors of paper. Then they applied lime green vinyl words that said "there's no place like" over the top. A hook went into the bottom and a pair of Ruby Slippers used in the hunt were threaded with ribbon and hung. Very Cute!! And thank you to my good buddy Renae for cutting all of those letters and vinyl on your trusty Cricket before you left! What would I do without you??) Small problem encountered was the fact that we were short two pairs of slippers so Grandpa, who is always there to lend a hand, said he would hand carve each pair for the two oldest guests. So they are still waiting patiently for their slippers.

While crafting we had a surprise guest that illicited a round of screams and much chaos. He remained all night and in the morning we escorted him from the garage, back into the wild from whence he came. Isn't he a lovely green? And he had the biggest eyes!


There are always unplanned activities that come up and this year was no different. Kaylie and I were talking about costumes and she was wearing a headband in the manner of the 70"s so I told her she should wear a red velvet dress I had that was pure 1968 vintage and in beautiful condition. I had it in a box in the closet. So out came the box, which also contained my wedding dress. The velvet dress fit her perfectly and for some reason I didn't get a picture of that. But one thing led to another and all of the girls began to try on my wedding dress and that led to all of Ashley's prom dresses and they modeled and laughed and we had the best time.






We ate and played and painted until we were all worn out and ready for our movie which of course was.....The Wizard of Oz! Most of the party goers were asleep before Dorothy made it to the Emerald City but Brooke and I saw her wake up safe and sound back in Kansas. In the morning, we finished up our craft, ate pancakes of course, with scrambled eggs, always the favorite. Then Kaylie and Syd played on the computer and cleaned the kitchen, (bless their little hearts) and the other girls played in the yard, dressing up and making believe, my favorite thing to watch them do. Sydney did join them and I finally coaxed Kaylie out for a picture.


They all went home by one, I mopped the floor, took a pain reliever and slept on the couch! I LOVE HALLOWEEN SLEEPOVERS!!! And a most excellent and heart-felt THANK YOU to my wonderful and beautiful daughter Ashley who made this all happen. If she had not been with me every step of the way, from planning to cooking to crafting, none of it would have happened! Thank you sweetheart! I love you!

Still Here

I am sitting in my favorite chair, wasting time, or should I say catching up by visiting blogs and facebook. It never ceases to amaze me how quickly life moves for everyone. It would take me a month to send out congratulations to everyone on the wonderful events in their lives from weddings to new jobs, babies, and accomplishments. That's what happens when you stay away from the computer world. So let me just say it here. Congratulations to each and every one of my beloved family and friends on your life events. I thrill for each of you when I read of your accomplishments and good fortunes. I wish nothing but the best for you. We are still in the house and supposing we may never sell in this market. But way to busy to worry much about it. I have been planning activities for kids, and Relief Society, and having fun doing it. We had our second annual Halloweenie Campout with our little boys. Four of them came this year. I will post pictures soon. I am on my nook at the moment and haven't loaded any photos on here. I should do that I suppose. It would be so techie of me! Anyway, we had fun and when I do get the pictures up, I will tell all about it. I am afraid the pictures will be horrible and not exactly self explanatory as usual. I took a bunch of pictures on our bike trip to Yosemite in Sept. So will have to post a few of those also. This week is the fifth annual Girls Halloweenie sleepover and I have much to do for that yet. I think I am running out of energy just planning these events but I can't seem to stop! Well, it's time for church so will post this for now, call it my journal entry for the year, and be back with pictures another time. I never even got around to posting last years Halloween festivites and here we are again. How is that possible? Or maybe I just don't remember posting about it. I will have to check on that.