We are finally near the end of January, and I couldn't be happier about that. The subfreezing temperatures, gray skies and empty wallets contribute to my feeling of malaise. There is one nice thing about winter, and that is Calcifer, the flame in our new pellet stove. We named him after the character in Howl's Moving Castle, and we love him! We have been up to less than usual lately. Corie celebrated her 10th birthday and has been asserting her 'tweenhood through peace signs and pouting. Aunt Chris called it the beginning of the "payback stage".
Zakary has been testing the boundaries lately, and he received his first bare bum spanking from me for his efforts. I can't say he is back to his angelic self, but he is now aware of how far he can push me.
Eric has been working every weekend, and on the one weekend he had off one of our pipes froze. He worked his plumbing magic so it wouldn't happen again. He had to rip out part of the ceiling in Manland to get to the pipe, and now he wants to redo the whole basement this summer. I didn't share his enthusiasm for this new project, but he has bribed me with the promise of a laundry room and utility sink... So he has now received project approval. I have been spending most of my time on the computer (which is strategically place directly across from Calcifer). I'm at the tail end of a slides to jpegs project that was started years ago. I have also been on facebook lately catching up with old friends and acquaintances. After hearing about about every ones accomplishments I decided it was time to get my sewing room in order and get back to work. Here are a few of the Christmas presents that I made this year.
I try to learn a new sewing technique with each project... mostly I learn what not to do. I should mention that the two guys on the ends were made from sketches from Molly Chicken's Flickr photos. Her blog is so inspiring.
I guess I've inflicted enough boring on you for one day.
It's hard to believe after weeks of preparation the holidays have come and gone. What a flurry of fun! We spent Christmas day with Eric's folks, Bob and Cheryl, and my Mom. Our 
neighbor, Cathy, and her son, Ryan came over for a bit also. Ryan is Zakary's best friend, and they are so cute together. 
The funnest (I don't care if that's a proper word) gift was the Wii. It is just as much fun to watch others play as it is to play it yourself. Corie got a digital video recorder and spent most of the day recording people and cat butts. 
The day went by way to fast, and around 5pm Corie's dad came to pick her up, Mom left for home, and Bob & Cheryl took Zakary with them for the weekend. Eric and I decided to take advantage of our child free weekend... He headed down to Manland to play on his Xbox, and I headed up my sewing room to finish making the gifts for my cousins. Every once in a while we would run into each other in the kitchen, and that suited us just fine. The next weekend we had Christmas' at my Mom's. It was hard to get Zakary away from her Christmas displays long enough to get him to open presents. Her place looked great... at least until Zaky started rearranging everything. If you want to see what it looked like prior to a Zak check out her facebook page.
Mom spoiled us... especially me. I got lots of great vintage (and new) kitchen and sewing stuff. And just when we thought it couldn't get any better.... my Dad, Pat and Amber came up this last weekend. This was a dual purpose visit (install new pellet stove & rip open Christmas presents). While the boys were hard at work installing the new stove we girls did our part by getting out of their hair. 
We went to JoAnn's where I spent the gift card that Bob & Cheryl gave me for Christmas. We also hit a Hallmark that was going out of business. Dad and Eric finished the installation our new pellet stove. It's beautiful, and we love it! It almost makes winter bearable.
Corie came home from Christmas with her dad's family on Sunday, and we opened our presents.
We got spoiled all over again. I got two great new craft books that I can't wait to put to good use! It was a great visit but it went by way to fast. We are going to spend this weekend getting the house back together. It's been non-stop since Christmas and we still have ALL of the gifts in our living room and dining room. My guess is there will be more playing than cleaning, but that's okay. Oh, by the way Pat, you forgot your Bailey's in the 'fridge. Don't worry. We will save it for you. ha-ha.
We are finally near the end of January, and I couldn't be happier about that. The subfreezing temperatures, gray skies and empty wallets contribute to my feeling of malaise. There is one nice thing about winter, and that is Calcifer, the flame in our new pellet stove. We named him after the character in Howl's Moving Castle, and we love him! We have been up to less than usual lately. Corie celebrated her 10th birthday and has been asserting her 'tweenhood through peace signs and pouting. Aunt Chris called it the beginning of the "payback stage".
Zakary has been testing the boundaries lately, and he received his first bare bum spanking from me for his efforts. I can't say he is back to his angelic self, but he is now aware of how far he can push me.
Eric has been working every weekend, and on the one weekend he had off one of our pipes froze. He worked his plumbing magic so it wouldn't happen again. He had to rip out part of the ceiling in Manland to get to the pipe, and now he wants to redo the whole basement this summer. I didn't share his enthusiasm for this new project, but he has bribed me with the promise of a laundry room and utility sink... So he has now received project approval. I have been spending most of my time on the computer (which is strategically place directly across from Calcifer). I'm at the tail end of a slides to jpegs project that was started years ago. I have also been on facebook lately catching up with old friends and acquaintances. After hearing about about every ones accomplishments I decided it was time to get my sewing room in order and get back to work. Here are a few of the Christmas presents that I made this year.
I try to learn a new sewing technique with each project... mostly I learn what not to do. I should mention that the two guys on the ends were made from sketches from Molly Chicken's Flickr photos. Her blog is so inspiring.
