ILLUSTRATION FRIDAY-MAGIC!!

well, i decided that i wanted to participate in this week's illustration friday

after much thinking about what i would draw and much hesitation as to whether or not i would actually scan it and post it, i decided that i would just go ahead and do it.

i used zig pens in 0.5 pt. on art paper. i really would like to learn how to draw in photoshop. i am simply amazed as to what people are able to do in the program. maybe i should add that to the list of crafty things i want to accomplish in 2005.

POCKET CALENDARS!

these are a couple of christmas presents that i made for my mom (monopoly calendar) and mike (forensic calendar).

i just used the cheapo pocket calendars that you find out there with puppies, kittens, or flowers for the covers. i got mine at big lots for 59 cents.

instructions:

1. remove calendar from plastic cover

2. you will see that the calendar is probably put together by two staples in the middle. you can either remove these staples and restaple later, or carefully remove the cover ONLY and use two sided tape to adhere your new cover to the calendar.

3. after you remove the cover, trace the cover on the paper of your choice (i used scrapbooking paper).

4. cut out new cover. discard old, ugly cover.

5. use method mentioned in #2 for put your calendar back together.

6. place calendar back in plastic cover.

voila! you have a customed-eo-you calendar. very cheap and very much needed. now i just need to stop back by big lots and pick up a whole bunch more for gifts :)

IT SNOWED! IT SNOWED! IT SNOWED!

for those of you that are unsure where i am located just by saying "gulfcoast" alone, i have included a map in this post to show ya. i am located where the big blue star is next to "mississippi gulf coast".

now that you know how south i am, i now can tell ya that on christmas day it snowed!!! i haven't seen snow here since '96. i am so glad that it did. it was bella's first snow experience. we were at my mom's (sans mike) and we got all bundled up and headed outside. even though it didn't stick and we def. weren't able to make a snowman (much less a snowball), we had fun sticking our tongues out and letting the flakes fall on em. we also had fun running around in it. i just wish that mike could have been there with us (damn stomach virus)!

CHRISTMAS MORNING!

well, i woke up about 6:30, started some coffee, and fixed my messy hair for pictures (yes i am that vain, but i knew mike was going to take video to send to our northern relatives, so i had to look some what decent).

then we got the kiddos up and let them tear into the mounds of presents that were under the tree. santa was very good to them this year despite the messy rooms and the temper tantrums that were thrown.

mommy and daddy also got some good presents also. all and all it was a very good day (despite mike's inability to stay out of the bathroom...poor thing).

we were very blessed this year. i hope all of ya'll had a wonderful day as well.

CHRISTMAS EVE!

i finally got off the couch and got a few minutes alone to post about our wonderful christmas (despite the fact that on xmas eve night, mike got a stomach virus and was sick up until yesterday :(

on christmas eve, the kiddos watched the christmas classics (rudolph the red nose reindeer, twas the night before christmas, frosty the snowman) and helped me decorate the cookies.







after the kids were tucked into bed with vision of sugar plums in their heads, me and mike had a nice adult dinner. well more of an appetizer dinner and we watched the christmas story about 2 times while we got everything ready for the next morning.




we finally crawled in to bed about 1130 and i slept very lightly due to worrying about mikey getting up early before i could get pictures of his reaction :)

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

well, right now its 6:44 a.m. and i am waiting for everyone else to wake up. i hardly slept last night. both from the excitement of opening presents and worrying about mikey getting up in the middle of the night and seeing what santa brought before i could have a camera in front of his face. the tree and all of santa's goodies look lovely. i cannot wait for the kids to see it. of course i will post more on today's and yesterday's events later, but i wanted to pop in and tell everyone merry christmas and that i hope you have a wonderful day (okay, who am i kidding, no one's online right now).

MOMMA, COME AND LOOK AT US!!

MIKEY'S SCHOOL XMAS PARTY!

mikey hasn't been feeling good again (damn germs that he keeps getting at school) but being the mother that i am, i still made him go to school for the christmas party. he had fun none the less. my mom and bella met me up there and then mike arrived shortly thereafter. they sang a bunch of songs, opened up some presents, and then santa arrived and read them a couple of stories. after that it was time to eat.

besides the fact that he has been sick more in the past 4 mos. than he has been in his whole 5 years on earth, i am really glad that i put him this school. now if i can just find a whole body suit that he can wear there that will keep him from getting sick and then getting the rest of us sick.


as you can see, bella wasn't too fond of santa. i thought it would help to tell her that he was the one that was bringing her presents in a few days. it didn't work.


mikey opening a present.


daddy and bella

*note: of course i took a bunch more pics and a few videos, but i didn't really want to post pics of the other kids. didn't want to piss some parents off ya know?

CHRISTMAS BAKING!

wednesday evening (of course i waited until the last minute) i whipped up a couple of things to bring to work and to mikey's school. of course i was stressing out due to the lack of brown sugar at my house and one of my favorite cookie recipes calls for it. so i found another quick (okay, who the hell am i kidding, this recipe stressed me out beyond belief due to the liquidy dough and the spreading the cookie did on the cookie sheets...more about that in a minute) recipe.


okay, so here are the cookies. these cookies have a great taste and i would recommend using this recipe, HOWEVER, i added about another cup and a half of flour and please, i am begging you for your own sanity, make sure that you make the dough in 1 INCH SIZE BALLS!!! this is very important. if you make them bigger, once they hit the oven, they spread out and it looks like you are baking pancakes. i still was a lil disappointed though that they did not remain ball-like and spread out a lil, but the third batch was better than the first two ;)


the next thing i made was the peppermint bark that allison posted on her site. it is yummy! again though there was stress factor. i began to think that the pan i used was too big b/c i was wanting to spread the mixture across the whole pan and in some places you could still see the pan. so then i pushed it all back together. well, maybe i should have stuck to my original plan b/c in some places the bark was really thick. but that's okay b/c it was yummy!


the third and final thing i made was chocolate covered pretzels. last year, tommy and penny got us a huge box of these big chocolate covered pretzels. i think me and tommy ate most of the box before we left work and then he gave me another and me and mike polished them off (and i wonder why i could stand to lose a few lbs.). so this year while i was at the dollar tree, i found some pretzels that were really think and pretty big. that is what i used. i melted some chocolate chips using the double boiler deal and dipped the pretzels. i then placed them on parchment paper and then put some nonparrels (sp?) on them. they are so good and almost taste like the pretzels i ate so much of last year.

so my baking night was a disaster and i couldn't wait to be done. don't ya just hate when you have cooking days like that. i mean i was in the mood to do it (when am i not in the mood to bake?) but it seemed that everything turned out difficult. and on top of that, it didn't help that the sink was filled with dishes and the counters were covered with a whole bunch o shit (not literally).

but that's a whole 'nother post :)

MY SECRET SNOWFLAKE PKG. ARRIVED!

yesterday we recd. a notice in our mailbox that we had a box at the post office that needed to be picked up and signed for. i secretly hoped that it was from my secret snowflake (since i was on pins and needles to receive it) but there was also that possibility that it was a christmas gift from a family member.

so today during lunch, my dearly beloved drove 30 mins. from work to go to the post office to pick it up. i called him to find out what it was and he told me it was for me from canada. my secret snowflake pkg!!!!

once i got back to work, i went to mike's office to get the pkg. and went upstairs to my office to open it up. it is from jessica in canada (her glitter name wasn't on the pkg.) the lovely-est of things were in it. a chocolate santa filled with candies, a wine bag with a snowman on it that was filled with polar bear droppings (chocolate covered cashews), 2 bars of soap, lavender and candy cane (yum), 2 metallic pens with the cutest lil toppers a devil duck and a kitty cat, a postcard from canada and last but not least the best lil mug that looks like it has yarn or thread wrapped all around it with a needle in the yarn/thread. it is too cute.

well worth waiting for :)

A DAY OF FINISHING UP SOME XMAS CRAFTS!

well, today i woke up feeling a sense of dread and stress with the crafty things i had left to do. i am also stressing b/c i have yet to receive the fabric i have ordered for melissa's purse. i placed this order on nov. 27, so you can see why i'm a lil upset.

anyway, i made the following necklaces



i also made a bracelet to go with that purse that the fabric hasn't arrived for


some picture magnets that i made to send to mike's grandparents (along with a buncha pictures of the kiddos. i mean that is all they want afterall since they live so far away)


also made a card to put a giftcard in that i got for mom. turned out pretty cute.


and here is a card that i made a while back that mikey is going to give ms. virginia for christmas. where it says #1 teacher, that is a small chalkboard. i just used paint pens to write on it and to make the apples. i also plan on making her some cookies.


i also worked on these cute lil mice that mikey is going to give his classmates. i am going to take em to work and finish working on them there, so i will post a pic of them tomorrow.

did you craft anything today?

I CAUGHT YA IN THE ACT!!

when i went into bella's room to get her up from her nap, this is how i found her. thank God i went in there when i did. otherwise i would have ended up in a situation like this.

I'M SPYING ON YOU!!

a couple of weeks ago, i sneeked up on bella while she was taking a nap and this is what i saw. i guess i forgot to post about it.

when my lil ones are unaware of my presence, i could watch them all day long.

SNAIL MAIL PROJECT!

i joined the snail mail project just a few short weeks ago and hope has already sent me two beautiful cards.

hope, if you are reading this sweetie, you will recieve something in the mail very shortly :)