Last minutes ~

The rush is on ;)
Sending out last minute bits of cheer and love ~
Off to play Christmas elf!
Wishing you peace...
xo

Babies ~

Hmm, you would think that after cuddling, kissing and lovin' 5 of these little darlings that I would be set, right? No. Not set. Not yet. No way...

That little pumpkin there? She is supposed to be our grand finale (and what a sweet one she is) ~ yes, is...I'm not announcing any fabulous news here but, I am thinking..."I'm not ready..."...

No, no I just am not ~

Then the question would be, when would I be? After 6, 7, (or can you imagine, 8!?)babies?

When do we know when we are ready to let that chapter of our lives come to a close? Is there a note of finality or does a little twinkling always linger...I imagine it's different for all folks...still...I wonder...

Wishes and a Winner! ~

And what lovely littles 'hellos' I was greeted with! Thank YOU, xo

My understanding is that there are random # generators for this kind of gig ~ we usually use the mixing bowl method where we copy all the contestants names and pop them in a bowl, mix them up and one of my rambunctiously eager kiddos gets to draw the winner (right Sunshower Kisses folks? ;). Today, its just my 8 year old, one wee baby and myself so we thought we would try our own RNG ~ we wrote down names, assigned them a number and my helper called out a number between 1 and 19 ~ and that winner is.....(little drummer boy roll...)
Momto5!
Congrats mama!
Pop your address to me at writeus4@yahoo.com and I can send these little lovelies out on Monday :) Thanks for playing along!

Just a quick note on the Peace Garland ~ one tradition we have here is to draw pics or write wishes on the little strips, loop them together and send them out into the world. It always amazes what comes out of my kiddos' mouths (on both ends of the spectrum!). The general idea is, 'wishes for the world'. Around here, we get anything from, "free ice cream for everyone" to "food for for all"...hmmmm, now that I think about it, both are food related...;)

This garland is last years ~ we still need to get going on this year's! Where does the time go...!

Mini Nativity ~

...and child friendly!
Last year I also made some of these ~ yet those sets also had a drummer boy, kings and shepherds (some of you may have them actually! :)
This year with time constraints I made just a couple of these mini nativities. So simple and sweet. Nice for little hands too ~ Feel free to give it a try!
Just cut a square of fabric and wrap it around the wooden person 'til you have the look you want...do the same for all three; add some hair if you like, maybe some twine for a belt and you are done!
Happy Crafting :)

Spicey ~

Lately, I have been trying to embrace...well, the spiceyness of my children.

Now, I can appreciate some sass now and then but things just seem to be getting a bit too zesty in these parts for my taste ;)

Just a couple of 'for instances' -

When does saying "No." slowly slide from having an independent opinion to an outright mutiny? After all, they do have me outnumbered here and even that baby has been giving me some sheepish grins lately...

Or, how about when the cutesy smile becomes an, "I'm daring you to do something 'bout it." taunt rather than the light of my day?

Basically, spice adds something exciting to life, yes? A little something to turn the bland into the memorable...yes...that's it....fodder for laughter in the years to come. I'll keep this in mind, that SOMEDAY I will laugh at these zingy moments...will most likely even trade anything to actually be in them again for just. one. second...

100!

Two posts in one day? Well, I just realized my last post was my 100th!
I have to say, I've been busier than I thought...
To celebrate my stick-to-itiveness (folks who know me realize that...can...be...an...issue ;) I'd like to do a little giveaway for anyone who may have been reading along ~
How about some of my faves? Vintage buttons! I just love 'em ~ have been collecting and stashing them since I was in highschool, scouring the Sunday flea market at the Portland Expo...
So, if you've been reading along, here's your chance to say howdy!
Just a quick hello gets your name in the drawing for some darling dainties...not those pictured here however(how's that for snotty?) - just happened upon those little lovelies at Sal's yesterday and need a little more time to sufficiently drool ;)
Oh, but don't despair, I have many, many more where they came from ;)
The drawing deadline? How about Dec. 19th :)
We'll call it a surprise, so don't be shy ~ say "Hi!"

Basket ~

A tisket, a tasket...and my basket overfloweth...

Seems any stitch of time I can squeeze in is spent craftin' up some holiday goodness. Late nights, mid-days...the general here and there of our days ~ not too many late nights though as I gave up most of those in exchange for better and more alert moods during the day ;)

Loads of love going in many directions this year ~ way out to Cali to my Holiday Traditions partner (no peeking Anie!), family and friends and maybe even a bit for sale if I can spare some ~ feels so good to send it near and wide ~




Oh, and that whipped cream and pudding ~ well, a girl's got to keep up her energy! Seriously though, do you think pudding and whipped cream EVERY day for the past 2 weeks is maybe a little too much? I just tell myself its low in sugar ;)

Happy crafting and may you enjoy some yummy food!

Skinnies - size 0

My son - the rockstar -

That he is... all 100 pounds of his 14 year old, skinny assed self ~ (did I say that out loud?).

His mission a while back was to get himself some skinnies - the newest thing with the guys these days. Jeans so tight, they are painted on their adolescent behinds. Only thing is, this boy is just way too skinny for guy's skinnies. They end up looking like regular jeans on him. The alternative? Obvious - girl's skinnies.

And. Why. Not?

Well, why not if you have a mama who will run in, not only once but, yes friends, 4 times to get you the pair with the perfect amount of tightness. That is, run in after you have tried them on in the back seat of the minivan parked right there in the parking lot (thank goodness for tinted windows!) because you either,
A: don't want to be seen buying girl's skinnies - 'cause there sure is no way folks are going to think those are for me
or,
B: in his words, "I'm not going in with you if you wear that thing". My "hippy thing" as he calls it - the, well at least in the mama world, beautiful wrap that we have for bambina ;)

This is all OK though... really. The sales girl in the store even told me so, yeah. Seems that's the way it is. Guys buy girl's skinnies "all the time". She wasn't surprised that I was coming in, getting increasingly smaller sizes of skinnies. After I handed him the size 0's I informed him..."I think this is it buddy, next size is double zero's". There was a light that shone in his eyes.."Really?" and a wistful, happy grin. However, we stopped at the zero's - lucky for me because, you know, I really want grandchildren from this kid someday.