Christmas 2017

Well another great Christmas over and done and I wouldn't change a thing. My parents were here along with my sister and her family. It was nice to have a full house for the Holidays.

We did all of the traditional things like make sugar cookies:

Our elf, Christopher, came for a visit. He likes to hide every morning in a new place. This was our favorite hiding place. He seemed to be missing Santa Claus there at the end.

All of the kids had a great Christmas morning unwrapping their treasures. Greta finally got a Hatchimal which she is super excited about. It plays all sorts of games and even mimics you as you talk. We had a great time watching it hatch.

Wesley was so excited to get a video camera as he wants to start making YouTube videos. He's been shooting video and is busy reading all about techniques.

He and the nephews were also excited to get some Nerf guns. The new Nerf Rival guns shoot little foam balls that are (in my opinion) more fun. The boys and Grandpa went out and had a Nerf battle.

Even the dogs got to unwrap some new toys. Winston loved his new ball he even went to sleep with it in his mouth.

The other 3 all enjoying the new dog bed.

Radio Show

A lady at church approached me and asked if Wesley and I would like to be in the radio show they are putting on for the community. I, being an age that had never seen or heard a radio show, had no idea what she was talking about. She explained that it was like a play but instead of acting we stood at old time square microphones and read our lines from a script. It didn't seem very difficult so I said yes.

It must be said that I'm not a public speaker. I don't like reading in front of people. I have a box and I don't step outside of it very often but I decided a little change is good. Plus I knew Wesley would have fun with it and it would be a memorable thing to do together with him. And it was!

The play was "It's a Wonderful Life" and we all dressed in 1940's clothes and hair styles. I had to look up hairstyles on YouTube and learn how to roll my hair. It was a learning experience. My parents came to see the show and taste all the food. I'm thrilled they came!

 Here's to stepping outside your box!

Mayor for the Day

What an exciting day Miss Greta had! There was a coloring contest in the elementary school for kindergarten through second grade. The entries were collected and the mayor had to pick her favorite. The winner this year was Greta! As a prize she got to ride with the mayor and Santa in the Christmas parade and throw out candy. She also won $25 and a plaque. She was so excited!

She anxiously took her money to Build-a-Bear (.com) and ordered a reindeer stuffed animal with her $25. Here is her winning picture. Good job Greta!

Santa!

It's not Christmas without the annual trek to the local library to see Santa. We've found the wait to see Santa has slowly been creeping up over the years and it takes about 1.5 hours to get the picture taken (you get a card when you enter and then they call the picture on the card when it's your turn). So this year we got our card and went to a restaurant and ate pie to pass the time. Worked great, got back to the library with 10 minutes to spare.

Thanksgiving

We had a nice quiet Thanksgiving at home with my parents. You wouldn't know that by the amount of food that was on the table! Snow crab made another appearance this year. We made a small turkey breast and four pounds of snow crab for the omnivores and I made several plant based dishes for the non-omnivore.

My parents brought over Just Dance for the WiiU and everyone danced! It was great. I have a video of my mother dancing but she'd kill me if I posted it. I hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving!

Autumn

There is roughly one nice day a year in which the leaves are very yellow on the maple trees lining the driveway. Then the next day they have all fallen. I caught that perfect day and drug the kids out to take some pictures. We are skipping the family pictures this year so this might be their replacement.

Sore Hands

Have you noticed my lack of blogging? Yep, it's that time of the year when I do nothing but sculpt sculpt sculpt. It sneaks up on me each year and before I know it I have a list of Christmas orders a mile long that I've promised to get done in time. This year is no different. I took on 29 orders that I have to accomplish and have shipped and received before Christmas. I'm doing pretty good only having 9 left as of today. Yay!

I am grateful that I have a job where I bring smiles to many people. The stress of the season is overshadowed by the wonderful, heartfelt messages I get from dog owners having just lost their dog and getting a little sculpture to remember it by.

I have lots to blog about but it will have to wait a few more days. Happy Thanksgiving all!

Halloween!

Halloween is still great fun for our eight and ten year old kids. I'm not sure when trick-or-treating starts to be uncool but we're not there yet. This year Greta went as a Minion and Wesley was a whoopie cushion. He's very much into bathroom humor at the moment and this was a fitting costume.

We actually remembered to buy pumpkins and carved them before Halloween for a change. I let them use the tiny saws and carve them all by themselves, they did great!

Yep, a poop emoji. 

Underground

My parents and the kids and I went on a road trip yesterday to visit a salt mine. It's still a working mine but the sections that are open to the public are already mined. The salt mine is 660 feet below ground and you take a elevator down. I had read the reviews online and they were glowing so we were excited to see it.

We watched a short video to prepare us for the trip down and then were fitted with hard hats. They were fashionable.

The elevator ride down takes 90 seconds and is pitch black. It made me a bit anxious but it's over with quickly and then you are down in a large open area of the mine. We were free to explore at our own pace and there were several exhibits positioned around.

The ticket price included admission to the mine, the dark ride and train ride. The dark ride was my favorite and it was a tram ride that takes you all over the unused portions of the mine. At one point they turn off all lights and we sit in darkness to truly experience how dark and quiet it was. The only sound you hear is that of the fan that pumps oxygen down into the mine. It's a little unnerving. The highlight of the ride was they stop at a pile of loose salt and let everyone take a chunk home. The kids loved that.

What a fun experience! The kids really enjoyed it, more so than I thought they would.

This and that....

The fall parade was last weekend and the kids just love going. Every year it seems to get longer and longer which just means more candy. It was a nice warm day and lots of people came out, it was nice. There is always a craft fair set up afterwards and we like to go support the local artists and buy their goods. We walked away with several knit hats for winter and some cute Christmas decorations. It was a great day.

When Sean's brother came to visit two months ago they brought some avocados for tacos we ate one night. We aren't avocado people (they make my tummy hurt) but have always been intrigued by growing the pits into trees. So Becca put toothpicks  into them and suspended them over a jar of water. About a month later one had sprouted roots and was transplanted into a pot. I'm anxious to see what will come of our little avocado tree.

Little bean has made herself right at home. We've had her for about a month and a half and she's doing great. She and Winston just adore each other and sleep like this often.

Our schnauzer house guest has gone home after living with us for 6 weeks. It's just not the same around here without Dieter but I think he's quite happy to go home to his quiet retirement home.

A couple of weeks ago Wesley had a birthday party to go to so Sean, Greta and I went to the local park to get a nice walk in. My church is doing a "Walk to Bethlehem" where we all walk and add up the miles to do a virtual walk to Bethlehem before Christmas. It's about 6200 miles so every little bit helps. It's been a fun motivation to get outside and enjoy this beautiful fall weather.