So very much in the mix here these last few months; I wouldn't know where to begin to bring it all up to date right now, but I wanted to wish you a
very lovely Christmas season and a New year brimming with blessings...be back in January.
With much love,
XOKelly
My last "gee I took a lot of iphone photos and never posted them post" There is so much to do in the summer... we are packing it all in.
Before the 4th, Mike and I somehow managed TWO date nights in one week. Totally wild, and totally unheard of for the two of us. Dinner in Salt Lake one night and one evening at the new outdoor mega shopping/theatre complex being built in our town. It was a looovely night... We saw Moonrise Kingdom It was the quirkiest movie I've seen since Napoleon Dynamite. Very funny and unpredictable. Except for the scene with the wire-hair fox terrier, who looked just like a young Winston, I would have given it 4.5 stars. (I was emotionally undone for five minutes after the dog scene... really awful). After, we sat and watched the new water fountains just built by the theatre and ate gelatto. Mine was named something like "proscuitto" only I know that's like an Italian coldcut, so it wasn't that, and it tasted like custard and cashews and Heath bars. Wow. I had a half order of the "proscuitto?" stuff and a half order of fresh raspberry gelatto, since I couldn't make up my mind between them. The raspberry gelatto was THE BEST raspberry anything I've ever had, just like fresh off the vine warm sunshine raspberries, but cold :) I could develop a gelatto problem int he near future.
The summer evenings in the desert are so nice in Utah. Warm and dry and nearly bug free. We watched everyone milling around the water show and sitting and chatting at the tables and benches scattered around. Little girls in ballet tutus ran around on the grass doing cartwheels while the sun set behind all of it. Beautiful evening.
Our 4th was so low-key it was almost off the radar screen. Mike was just home from Europe and jet-lagged. I was pooped for no particular reason. We stayed home and roasted hot dogs and s'mores over the firepit (Winston almost caught his tail on fire trying to snatch a hotdog), watched the golf course fireworks like always since they are right by our house, then migrated to the front yard for the annual neighborhood firework "competition". I think we took second or third place this year :)
The drinks were my big attempt at finding a way to be festive and lazy all at the same time. (And they sort of tie in with the water fountain photos, so there ya go). I hunted around Pinterest and found the recipe. (There are bunches of similiar ones). For mine, I bought SoBe pina colada, blue Gatorade, and Gatorade G2 ( I think that's what it was... it's the low-sugar version). I stood at the grocery store debating for five minutes, wondering if the kids were too old to be excited over something like this. But you know, they were super excited. I added leftover wedding shower drink umbrellas for further "Martha" excitement. I think I successfully copied a recipe and was lazy and it was pretty cool. Wow. Ha.
We spent this past weekend getting Sophey ready and off to church camp. She's there this whole week. It's the longest she's ever been away from home and she isn't with any girls she knows. But she really wanted to go. I'm sorta freaking out about it; I'm sure she's just fine... she will definately have conversation material more interesting than colored water when she gets home :) Pretty sure about that.
Off to the craft room.
XOK
Spring break was lovely. Sleeping in, reading, and tea drinking in the morning in the warm living room sunshine, (while kids slowly made their way to pancakes and showers...) friends, play dates and a day at the new SportsPlex diving off trampolines into rubber brick filled pits made up our staycation break this year. Mike marked out space in the back yard for a kitchen garden- I think it's going to be a fun summer family project. Baking Easter cookies, and crocheting while watching the snow storm Good Friday morning...it felt like Christmas instead of Good Friday, so strange. Sunday it was the sound of brass bells and ancient hallelujah choruses rising up through the church rafters on a glorious, warm and sunny Easter morning.
A week of contrasts, but a settling too into a more peaceful place these days... like a dog who has gone round and round to make his bed and then settles in... that's me... and that's the best explanation I can muster at the moment.
But today it was back to work... laundry, cleaning, and thinking... what am I making in the craft room this week? :)
How was your spring week?
XOK
Oh, hello there! Aren't we the cutest chicks you've ever seen...? ;)
We are so happy that it's finally spring, we've been chirping, "hooray for spring!" all day long while sitting on the sunny kitchen windowsill.
Hee hee ;)
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So I made it back on Monday...like, barely. It was a kid-ful kind of day.
Here's that quick little Easter/spring craft I mentioned for you...
I didn't use a pattern for the leaves and cut them out un-exactly, because un-exact is part of the charm.
Next, I hot glued the little crocheted primroses I made awhile ago for the chick's hats, but you could use silk flowers, or cut out felt flowers.
Or whatever you want to use for hats- it's your creation :)
I strung little red beads with a needle and thread, and then tied a knot. Dabbed the tiniest dot of hot glue where the knot was tied and hung the glued part at the back of the chicks neck (do chicks have necks...?)
Then I made little scarves for the rest of the chickies. I cut fabric triangles measuring about three inches in both directions, but adding long ties on one edge to tie under the chicks chin (do chicks have chins... well, you know what I mean ;).
Again, add just a teeny dab of hot glue to the top underside of the scarf to secure to the chicks head.
Glued the chicks on a branch from the back yard. Added the leaves and more red flowers...
And voila! Chicks on a stick chirping their little hearts out : )
Easy enough with a little help from an adult for older kids or grandkids to make too.
They made me happy sitting there on the windowsill, watching me do dishes.
I made five sets to sell at the shop. Each birdie/set seemed to have it's own personality... how does that happen anyway...?
So there ya go.
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Did you have a good weekend?
I did... the house was a happy, crazy place with all the kids here working on projects. Ainsley and Jeff bought a 1960's teardrop camper last summer for $200 (!) to refurbish. (They completedly gutted it and started redoing it last summer, but couldn't get it and a wedding done at the same time). The cabinets are done and Ainsley is making upholstered cushions for it... burnt orange and avocado green for the decor. I'll show you someday when it's finished.
Sophey made April Fool's Day "egg cupcakes" for Sunday dinner.
I almost finished a new design for appliqued tea towels.
Corbyn and his band worked on recording their first music CD.
Jesse didn't sprain anything!
And friends we haven't seen for way too long stopped by and surprised Mike and I with a Sunday evening visit ... it was all good... really good, in fact : )
See you next Monday, after the holiday...
Happy Easter to you!
XOK!
I feel like I'm always driving lately...
two more Dr appts this week, still working on my bum foot...
kid chaffeuring, ballet ( two nights a week), a baseball tryout, fabric stores, etc.
You know how it goes, I'm sure.
But today I got to drive to a favorite happy place of mine and drop off
my freshly sewn Valentine hearts :D
It's been pretty gray and dismal weather wise lately.
And gray just isn't my favorite color, you know?
But I finished up my hearts and they are cheery.
And so is the sweet children's and mom's shop I sell them at...
******************
But my computer is uploading s.l.o.w.l.y again tonight.
So I will love you and leave you with lots of cheery photos
(and less words).
for a February day.
The white hearts are from a recycled bedspread.
And the flowery ones are made from a thrifted pinecone hill pajama top.
The polka dots and paisley are new fabrics.
The beads were from a vintage necklace.
I took lots of photos, because it was fun : D
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
and now for the shop... stinkin adorable today!
*ALL TUCKED IN*
There.
Are you cheerier now...?
Good.
Mission accomplished ;)
XO!
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 ;)
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!!!
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.
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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
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...
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!
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 :)
