Monarch Post

blessed day

Today was the best day.

It was wonderful to have a day at home ALL day in my studio.

But last weekend was not so wonderful.

Sophey had the stomach flu all Friday night, so major sleep deprivation on my end.

Oh, and a giant snowstorm with Corbyn driving home in it from the other end of Utah.

(Just to throw in a little extra excitement for me.)

And Mike has been in Europe the last two weeks...

so it's been me pulling all the shifts around here for quite awhile.

But today... no sick kids... no Dr appts... no drama...

until homework time, but that's another story.

AND I slept nine hours straight last night!

Hoorah!

 

I had  TIME

a fresh mind

and fabric

and candles

and quiet

and new scissors,

cutting crisply.

Happy heart day.

I've almost finished seven hanging hearts for Valentine's sales.

When I found this paisley at Hobby Lobby last week I was so excited to use it.

LOVE IT!

So far I've made hearts, a sock monkey skirt, and dress with it.

And then I made another dress.

They are looking very cute (if I do say so myself :)

I looked at the quote I have glued on my sewing machine today,

and I thought ya... I am so there today.

I sewed a lot of seams

but the day felt seamless

and lovely

and can I dare say holy?

It really was somehow...

It really was.

XOK.

uh...stuff

Hey! I'm here... with yarn...

and uh... January excitement :)

The last two weeks I've been cleaning and organizing the house

and dropping off loads of stuff to the thrift store...

and... then going into the thrift store to see what "needs"  to be taken home...

'cause that's what I do :)

 

The yarn is for an afghan I AM going to make this year for THIS HOUSE.

I never finished the last one I started, didn't like it.

I decided a good way to stay organized would be to tape a piece

of  yarn to the labels so that I would know the brand if I need more

since I'm making up my own pattern.

I'm thinking of something like this one here.

 

I spent one nine hour day cleaning my craft room.

It was  scary in there...

I should have taken a picture of the before,

but I was too embarrassed,

and I didn't want to scare you. ha ha.

It's nothing fancy and I won't be in the pages of Where Women Create anytime soon...

but this is a happy place for me.

and it feels SO GOOD to be in here when it's really clean.

Not perfect, but much better.

Cute new red wicker baskets courtesy of  Michaels after Christmas sale.

(What is that fabric doing hanging down the back...hmmm.)

And cute new fabrics to round out my stash... heaven.

I've started making complete sock monkey outfits.

This is one basket of materials gathered to make a monkey and designer outfit. :)

(I'll show you the finished outfits pretty soon... getting there.)

tabletop inspiration.

shelf top inspiration.

I started prayer art journaling in the mornings too...

I'll tell you more about that later.

Clarity.

I like that.

In other news,

our warm, snowless winter finally ended.

It is FREEZING COLD today!

Soup has been on the menu around here lately.

White chicken chili from a mix last week.

I've never made white chicken chili, so I played it safe with the mix.

It was good.

Too spicy for the kids, but not me.

I like it hot.

And I've been stopping for lunch lately at my favorite fast-food Mexican place.

Heat right now in any form is good.

Lizard art, hot pink cacti, and purple booths:

It is the tackiest, craziest looking place you've ever seen-

and exactly why I like it...

 that, and the great add-on bar full of jalapenos, salsas, and killer chipotle salad dressing.

I picked Winston and Greta up from the groomers one day after lunch at the crazy Mexican diner.

And no, he did not have Mexican leftovers- this is his normal,"whoo-hoo I'm going for a ride!" look.

I was so happy when I saw their fur/color coordinatedpolka dot bandanas...

Probably weirdly happy over that.

I hope that's just the designer in me...

Or it's just the weird in me :) 

And while were on the subject of weird.

My feet win.

They are homely.

But I would be fine with homely now, if they were just working...

The left one is the normal one-

ya, the one with the big gap and the second toe heading west.

It's inherited

from my Mom's side...

the Warner toe.

(You'll see it everywhere at family reunions- serious :)

Three of our four kids have it too...

Definately a dominant gene.

(Leftover from my monkey ancestors tree-climbing days, I guess ;)

 

I have been to SIX  Dr. appointments (two podiatrists and one chiropractor) in two weeks.

Apparently, I have a predislocated second toe (the bruised one).

I woke up with it like that one day,

without injuring it.

(The bruise is from acupuncture.)

The podiatrists are telling me I will have to have surgery to correct it...

But I'm giving the chiropractor a shot at it for awhile.

If it's not better by March, I'll have the surgery.

It's slowing me down right now,

by evening I am just done

and I've got my feet up.

YUCK.

And that was probably just TMI, but it's life- right?

 

Except for the bad feet scenario,

I have the best feeling about this year...

I'm not sure why,

But I think it's going to be really great...?!

Mike woke up the other morning  feeling just the same

and I'm hearing other people say it too.

Bring on 2012!

I'm excited to grow my business and to grow as a creative person...

I think the vision thing is finally in place for me.

It's about children, gardens, life, creating, spirit,  joy...

why did it take so long for me to get it?

S.L.O.W. learner...

 

How about you?

What are you thinking/ feeling about 2012?

 

**********************************

Okay, I'm stopping here for now...

It's taking me forever to load photos for some reason,

and I need to get to work.

No Dr. appointments today-

I have the day to spend in my craft room.

(YAY!)

HAve A HappY FRIDAY,

XO!

 

(P.S. the blog is under construction... I'll have a new one in awhile, but the zinnias are kinda cute for now, aren't they?)

 

 

 

 

a wish for you

Sophey made our New Year's wish cake again this year...

Vanilla cake, cream cheese frosting,

and fancy fondant snowflakes...

she's getting good!

And if you've read this blog for at least a year (bless your heart.)

you'll know we always make a New Year's wish cake every year.

At midnight we all make our own secret wish

and blow out the candles together

for the coming new year.

I could ramble on about my last year...

a year filled with big highs and big lows.

I've been hoping that 2012 will be a more even-keeled year.

But this arrived Monday in an email,

and I thought it was wise in it's perspective

of embracing it all...

so I wanted to share it with you

as I

WISH You a HApPY NEw YEaR !

 

***************

Time for New Beginnings...... Taylor Adison, Blue Mountain Arts, 1989.

"This is a time for reflection as well as celebration.

As you look back on the past year and all that has taken place in your life,

Remember each experience for the good that has come of it and for the knowledge you have gained.

Remember the efforts you have made and the goals you have reached.

Remember the love you have shared and the happiness you have brought.

Remember the laughter, the joy, the hard work, and the tears.

And as you reflect on the past year, also be thinking of the new one to come.

Because most importantly, this is a time of new beginnings and a celebration of life."

 

XOXOXOXOXOX!

christmas

This was our Christmas eve day skiing/snowboarding trip to Snowbasin.

It's only about twenty minutes away from our house.

It was completely rebuilt for the 2002 Utah Olympics.

It's gorgeous.

All the kids skiied and snowboarded...

Mike and I hung out.

And we had the place almost to ourselves this year...

because there is hardly any snow in Utah.

It's mostly man-made snow at Snowbasin right now.

 

I made it this far taking photos...

and then Mike said, "Hey the couches are free by the fireplace...

wanna sit there!?"

I did for two minutes...

and then I layed down

and snoozed the afternoon away.

I was a tired Christmas mama.

 

No more ski photos...

 

until I took this one when I woke up...

before I really realized what was up.

Jesse fell on the last run.

We thought he might have broken his wrist...

Luckily, we brought two vehicles.

So Mike and Jess went to the all-hours kid clinic

for Xrays.

Merry Christmas :(

Poor guy.

But fortunately (I guess?) it was just a bad sprain.

He came home bandaged up tight.

And we had Christmas Eve dinner without any further drama.

 

I made my first ever very moist ham.

I left it cooking while we went skiing.

In a crockpot... this is the easiest ever recipe... and it's great!

And good old Utah funeral potatoes.

One of my very, very favorite recipes.

(But I only use one can of soup.)

(You do not need to be a Mormon to eat these, btw.

I'm not, and I don't get indigestion when I eat them ;)

I forgot to buy cornflakes,

so the potatoes went topless this year :)

I didn't take photos of much of Christmas this year,

I don't really know why.

Other than I just wanted to enjoy the day,

without people telling me not to take their photo...

I guess that was it.

 

But Winston never cares if I take his photo.

He was looking for his present.

He was a dog on a mission.

He found it.

A sock monkey I bought with a squeaker in it.

He loves it.

We cut back some and had a smaller Christmas this year.

It was still nice, but not quite so over the top...

it's a problem of mine...

I want to give everyone everything at Christmas.

But I didn't freak out about it,

and I think it turned out just right.

I made one handmade gift for everyone this year,

minky fabric bean bags to heat in the microwave.

They are great for little aches and bumps.

 

We goofed off- eating and playing most of the day

and visited my Dad in the evening.

And that was our Christmas...

pretty laid back this year.

 

And I'm slow getting back here to blogland,

but it was good to unplug for awhile.

I need to do that every so often...

 

HOW WAS YOUR CHRISTMAS?

(If you can remember that far back ;)

 

 

almost there

Monday I finished up twenty stockings for a family shopping night at church.

The local food pantry teamed up with our church to provide low income families a shopping night for their kids.

Stuff at the church has been hopping this week...

The place was filled with toys,

stuffed animals,

goodies, hats, blankets...

you name it.

Really well-organized and the volunteers even served the shoppers cookies and cocoa.

HAPPINESS :)

DOG HAPPINESS at home...

Winston discovered the bag of stuffed animals I'd left in the kitchen,

they were his, Greta's, and Frank's Christmas presents.

He went CRAZY for the bunny.

I gave in and gave it to him.

I bought more stuffed animals yesterday....

He ran around the house with it

non-stop for twenty minutes...

and then he played with it on his back

for another ten minutes...

And this is how you look after all that exercise- haha!

I wish I could make everyone that happy

for one whole $1.00!

Sophey made a kiln-fired clay candle holder at school.

She gave it to us.

That was happy too...

And the kids are now out of school till after New Year's.

Happy X's three people.

I helped Sophey make some melted crayon hearts.

They are fun to make... (if you're not the one peeling the crayons :0)

Just put the crayon pieces in the oven at 350 for about fifteen minutes,

and then you have new psychedelic crayons when they've cooled.

I seem to keep decorating (and shopping ) right up to Christmas.

Santa cups make good candle holders too.

I added glass votive candles to them this year...

and again to the glasses.

All thrift store specials last year.

Score!

I found this pair of old windows at an estate sale a year ago

for fifteen dollars.

(I KNOW ?!)

They are hung on a wall going into the living room.

 

I decided to hang the Xmas cards on it this year.

Added a sign to the mirror

 

and few more ornaments

 

stars

art : )

bows.

 

The poinsettias are not looking too good though...

they may barely make it to Christmas.

 

I am a trained professional poinsettia killer ;)

You didn't know that about me did you?

(But the poinsettias do).

 

 

Well, that's it for me.

Today I'm cooking and baking.

Tomorrow we're skiing in the afternoon.

Not any snow in the valley

but enough in the mountains.

I think I'll stop here until New Year's.

 

SO:

***** MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!*****

               XOXOXOXOXOX!!!   

 

 

 

 

sweet sunday

Wow, it's Wednesday night already...

this Christmas week is moving TOO fast!

I meant to post on Monday.

I teach Sunday school once a month to the grade-school kids at church.

I create a lesson and a craft.

(I know, perfect for me... kids and a craft!)

Every month we study a different virtue or topic.

For December, the topic has been LIGHT.

I planned a lesson based on Matthew 5:16 and shining your light

and not hiding it under a bowl...

I used the candle and the bowl above to show the kids the story.

They were into it...

I discovered that fire is a great attention-getting teaching tool ;)

We read THE FIRST CHRISTMAS while we worked.

The Amazon reviews are right:

It's message is not preachy

and the illustrations are just stunningly beautiful...

The kids did such a good job making the craft.

I gathered up a bunch of old jars I'd saved

and they made "stained glass" candle holders

with Modge Podge, tissue paper, and another Bible verse.

They went in the living room when we got home...

(We still need to make a new baby Jesus

for the little nativity the kids made

years ago...

Winston stole him last year, and he is still MIA...

Bad dog, really bad dog).

But anyway,

before we went home, we participated in a cookie walk.

Two really long tables loaded with all sorts of cookies.

(I had never done this before).

Everyone brings their favorite cookies

and then you go home with a really great assortment of cookies.

There are cookie artists here... delish.

**********************

 

I think this will have to be my post for today... 

I wanted to get to bed early tonight- haha.

But I'll post one more time before Christmas.

I think (?!)

 

Are you getting there...? I'm almost done.

I still need to grocery shop and buy a couple of things

and bake on Friday...

I'm trying really hard not to stress out and have my usual Christmas freak-out moment.

So far, so good.

But I still have three more days to go ;)

+++++++++++++++++

So tonight we went carolling with our church to a hospital pediatric wing...

that put everything I could stress over in sharp perspective for me.

I wish I could always keep my perspective,

about what's really important... and what's not... 

It's so easy to get caught up in the trivial stuff, isn't it?

XOK

 

 

this amazing internet community

I almost finished my Christmas shopping today.

My first day of "store" Christmas shopping.

(And school plays and ballet chauffering)

Running all day long... I am pooped...

And tired of hearing cheesy Christmas music in the stores.

(Sorry Elvis, but you should never have sung Christmas songs.)

 

I LOVE shopping on the internet for Christmas now.

It is sooooo much easier for me...

And Etsy... I luv it too.

Just got some vintage SHINY BRITE ornaments in the mail yesterday.

From ETSY seller GLAMOURAMA.

She did such a great job packaging them.

None of them were broken...

until they got to our house...

and a (will remain nameless) child had to inspect them.

Whoops...

We are one less SHINY BRITE ornie here.

The clay pottery was my first ETSY purchase a few years ago...

From FARMER JULIE.

She is so talented.

Her designs make me happy.

And this made me happy when I spotted it today...

www.PROJECT320.blogspot.com

Not enough time for me to enter to do a giveaway,

but I wanted to share the link

so that you can enter the giveaways going on

through the weekend.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

I'm marking all the great Christmas charity projects in blogland,

so that next year I'll be ready to participate too!

 XOK!

 

happy merry birthday christmas season...

We did my "official" birthday celebrating Saturday night.

It was sooo much fun.

The whole fam went to see the Muppet movie at the new theatre in our town.

HILARIOUS-

that's if you think dancing chickens in sequined bikinis singing "forget you"

is hilarious...

Ainsley and I do.

Laughing/crying funny.

 

We want to go see it again next weekend. 

It was like meeting long-lost childhood friends again...

Oh ya, I remember YOU!

 

And Kemit hasn't aged a bit...

(What a hunk).

 

And I totally scored on the birthday goods...

Mike spoiled me with a Kindle and an iphone.

Ainsley and Jeff gave me a cool iphone cover.

Corbyn bought me a RED Kindle case.

 

Yes, I finally got an iphone.

Technology and I are not the best of friends.

I am always scared of new gadgets.

I wait along time before jumping in...

But I LOVE it!

And this sweet girl made me a homemade cake.

She made her first icing roses

and "drop lines".

I didn't know what those were.

But she does... those are the swag lines on the bottom.

(She's the serious cake-boss-watching-future-professional-baker around here now).

Jesse gave me the best smelling candle ever: CYPRESS SAGE.

It smells like a really clean Christmas tree.

I give it five stars. * * * * *

(He told me Target.)

Sophey made cute art for my studio.

Cupcake liner petals.

Ta Da!

And Mike gave me a Santa from his trip to Germany last week.

Isn't he a gorgeous guy?

Mr. German Gandolph wizard Santa ;)

 

See, I told you I scored...

I have such the sweet fam.

The kids bought their 'friend gifts' and wrapped them this weekend.

And we bought a real tree for the family room. 

I did the lights.

(While Mike recovered/snoozed away jet lag).

The kids did the rest.

I left them to it...

(I have finally learned it doesn't have to be perfect to be perfect, you know?)

Pizza for the Saturday birthday dinner

and turkey meatballs

with veggies

And Mr. Newman's sauce for Sunday dinner.

(I miss Paul...)

 I decorated some more...

And got my husband off for another week away today.

Boo.

 

It's been a long month of business trips

I miss him...

 

How about YOU?

What did YOU do last weekend?

 

(ps. and um... just in case you wondered... I messed up my blog... trying to change things a little and now it's really messed up and I can't fix it myself... will have to wait for the I.T. guy er, husband to get back in town :) 

random thursday

Yesterday, I got flowers twice.

It's a good day if you get flowers twice.

In the morning, an interior design company that Mike worked with through the year remodeling and redecorating his company building sent the most artsy bouquet to us.

How did they know I like branchy things?

 

(our bedroom dresser^)

I have branches all around the house, in front of mirrors.

In the bedroom, bathroom, entry...

 

And red branches and flowers for this house!

I'm guessing they are psychic interior designers ;)

Hydrangeas are favorites too.

And pears (?!) Cool.

In the afternoon this bouquet came from my in-laws. So pretty and kind.

We decided as a family we wanted to organize a neighboorhood food drive every so often. 

We distributed flyers that Mike and the kids made.

And Saturday we picked up food from our neighbors front porches.

The kids had a ball riding in the back of Mike's truck.

Then we put the food in the back of my car, and it filled it.

This is our haul... not bad for a first time!

It felt  sooo good to be able to do this.

The sign at our old church after I dropped off the food there.

Warm fuzzies all over me... :)

I went shopping after...

I bought groceries for eleven meals and this CD.

Had to have it.

 

And I listened to it tonight while decorating the living room tree.

Christmas music has been hard for me the last two years since my mom passed on.

Too many memories from those old songs.

But this CD is new, and Susan has the voice of an angel.

I think her voice is healing AND gorgeous.

 I stopped at Just A Bed of Roses... and talked with Brenda.

Brenda is great and so is her store, if you're ever in Davis county Utah, go see her!

I bought a tinsel wreath and hung it in the dining room.

It has fallen three times.

FYI- Duct tape will not hold a tinsel wreath to glass...

I need a Plan B.

 

I also bought a mini tinsel tree.

And decorated it with mini pinecone ornaments... from Kmart!

And a new star topper... the tree has been topperless for three years.

Corbyn made this reindeer in 1st grade at school.

Those grade-school crafts are precious to me.

Santas have been given to me for years for my birthday.

Bought our cards online this year.

 

It was fun to design them and then just click and order.

TINYPRINTS is great-- I had the cards in five days without ordering a rush.

Now I can look like one of those "organized" people who order their cards in September- ha!

I also ordered recipe cards from an Etsy seller-- HIGH TEA WITH ALICE JOYCE.

I thought this was such a clever idea.

She mails you a handwritten recipe card for $1.00

I ordered cards for homemade pop tarts (above)

and RED VELVET BROWNIES for christmas baking.

YUMMY.

Right now the only holiday goodies are the fake ones on the kitchen sideboard.

Cute though, huh?

Well, that's my excitement for the last two days...

how about you?

I am almost on track for Christmas...

hope I stay that way.

XOK

 

sweet sparkles

Well that big ol' second storm fizzled right out last night-- and I'm very glad it did. Today was all blue sky kinda happy. It's my birthday today. I goofed off... ignored a giant pile of laundry... ran errands... took myself out to lunch... and shopped for a few Christmas decorations.

We'll officially celebrate next weekend when Mike gets home.

I think I generally like being in my forties now.

The only thing that would make the forty-decade better would be a sixteen-year olds' metabolism... and skin.

Dream on...

The weekend was hectic, getting Mike ready to go, cleaning up from the storm, and we also did a heighborhood food pantry drive.

But Saturday night we stopped and made time for the kids to make their gingerbread house

Jesse said, "how does Buddy do it and make it look so easy?".

They are big fans of  the tv show, cake boss.

And this is your expression when you think your sister is hogging the decorating...

 

 

She's serious about this stuff... she wants to be a baker when she grow up.

And a ballerina :)

Rudolph under the back eaves.

So cute... didn't they do a good job?

Sophey decorated her room this weekend too.

(Apparently, cleaning it was not on the Christmas to do list).

And decorated her cupcake tree.

She was so excited to put up her tree... sweet girl.

I've just started decorating.

The santa collection is out. 

We have an artificial tree in the living room up but not decorated

and a real tree to buy this weekend.

I'm kinda slow this year... but it will get done.

I refuse to panic :)

Tonight we are going to Frank's house for dinner ;)

It's fun to have grown-up kids (and their pets) too.

 

Have you decorated yet?