Christmas Day

I am so glad that baby was born! Merry Christmas!

One More Sleep Til Christmas

The tree is finely finished!
A day filled with last minute preparations. Christmas here we come!!

(I find the video to this video really annoying, but it was the best I could find)

2 Days

Italian. A natale Puoi- At christmas you can

Christmas and Free hugs! What could be better?

3 Days

Christmas in Greece

Lookin a little green out.

Days 5 and 4

French and Gaelic(Irish). I am adjusting my count down so Saturday will be one day til Christmas instead of Christmas day being day one.
Monday evening we and a surprise employee Christmas party for my boss. We made cookies and food and showed up at her house singing Christmas songs. She was truly surprised! We all had lots of fun.

I'm just about done wrapping my gifts, its really Christmas time!! But by the look outside we might have a green one.

Days 7 and 6

The carol of the bells is one of my favorite Christmas songs.
I figured that every country speaks music so an instrumental here and there could apply to anyone.
By the look in this video it looks like Christmas but to tell you the truth, I don't speak Russian.

The Sugar Cookie Disaster

Day 8

This year I decided to make sugar cookies. I have never made them before so this was a first for me. All was going well and I spent an entire day rolling, cutting, and baking. I had it on good authority that they tasted wonderful, no disaster there. The first tragedy hit while the cookies were cooling, objects fell from the cupboard and landed on my cookies, breaking several. It was sad. But I had made a double batch so it wasn't really a big deal. I had places to be so I didn't have time to frost them in the same day, so after they cooled I put them in bags and left them sit on the counter. As I was away, I received this text:

Today will be known as the great sugar cookie disaster of 2011. Two year olds, old dogs, and sugar cookies don't mix.

In short, red head number three climbed onto the counter and feed more than half my cookies to the dog. Needless to say, I was not happy. It was truly sad. I frosted the unharmed cookie but as they were being carried from our dining room to the kitchen, they were dropped on the floor, resulting in more broken cookies. I didn't wont that many sugar cookies anyway (sarcasm). But I have to say the survivors look pretty darn good.

Day 9

10 Days

I missed yesterday so you get two songs today.
I have decided that Christmas is just as good in other countries so I think this years count down songs will be in different languages. It should be interesting.

Today I am going to make cookies.

12 Days Til Christmas

It seems I have missed a day and it is really 11 days til Christmas. You see, I was counting Christmas morning as the twelfth day. Anyway, my count down of a Christmas song a day will begin today. 11 days til Christmas. All my shopping is done! Again this year, I did all my shopping online and I am telling you, its the way to go. It saves me time and money and everything comes in a box which makes for easy rapping. The halls have been decked and the tree is almost finished. It feels like Christmas. And I ate a cookie the other day that tasted like Christmas. Nothing tastes better than Christmas!

A Bit of Christmas Joy

I saw this wreath and I loved it so much I had to make one myself. So off to the craft store I went. I bought new yarn, a wire wreath circle thing, and half a bazillion Styrofoam balls. Just so you know this is the most expensive wreath I have ever made. I Started with covering the wire circle in yarn (it didn't take as long as I thought it would). I then covered the Styrofoam balls with several different colors of yarn (this took longer than I thought it would). Using a hot glue gun, I attached the balls to the circle. I added some little birds, and a wooden snowflake with tinny stockings ( I don't have nice little snowflakes)Ta Da!!

O Christmas Tree

Today we got our tree. We did it a little different this year and we cut our own. The family hiked up into the tree lot and I dutifully waited in the car. (with a giant goat walking around and the rain, I think I was the smart one) It was a painless adventure and the tree went up without a hitch. The plan is to decorate with edible ornaments. So when Christmas is over, instead of having to pack things away we can just eat it.

The lights can go on tomorrow, and then the rest of the house will fallow with Christmas joy. Its going to be good! (blogger is making me mad right now; every time I move something it deletes something else)

Thanksgiving

Give thanks...For pumpkins and able hands to carve them. (I only cut myself once)

For lots and lots of good food.

For family, friends, and pretty things.

For after dinner pumpkin/potato launching. A good day!

My Latest Work

Today I am older then I was yesterday and older than I was last year. Today is my birthday! I don't feel older and I hope I don't look older. Anyway, here is my most recent work of art. Its small, only 6in x 6in, and only took me about an hour to complete but I like it. I still don't know what I'm going to call it. I have never been very good at naming things.

Wishful Thinking

I like so many others missed 11.11.11. It would have been nice to write something about it but, to tell you the truth, I rarely know the correct date. Today I know it is the 12th because yesterday was the 11th and I missed it. I believe today is Saturday (I have been off a day all week) and that will have to be enough. Someday I will get it together and remember these kinds of things.

....

PS. Behind me is a conversation between our foster boys that "monkey pants" is not a nice thing to say.

Best Friends

Dylan has formed a close friendship with a chicken. He calls her Best Friend, unless you ask him and then he calls her Blue. He lets her in the house whenever no one is looking. Its funny how much she likes him. They hang out a lot. Snack time with Best Friend.
A walk with Best Friend.
Story time with Best Friend

Who is your best friend?

October 27

I knew this day would come, it is a day that I have been dreading. Inevitable I know but slightly depressing none the less. A disheartening feeling fell on the ground in the form of snow. SNOW! Its too early for this.
The only up side, aside from the cold and the wet, is that it is beautiful. I love the way it looks but hate the way it feels.

Pumpkins

This year I really wanted to carve pumpkins. So I did! I can't claim originality on the face above. I saw it in a magazine and he was just so dang cute I had to have one. I tried something new, so my brain wouldn't get mushy, I did pumpkin scraping. I taped pressed maple leaves to the sides and using a pin I poked the outline. Then I attacked it with the finest green little exact-o knife that I owned. The result was really cool, however, I left it inside too long and it went moldy. Thus the odd discolorations seen in the photo. The red heads each did a pumpkin as well and I must say they did very well.

401

My last post was my 400th post and I failed to mention it. That's a number I can live with! This is post 401! Anywho, our diet is over (thank heavens). Fifteen days have never felt so long. It wasn't all bad, the fruit was good and I have a new enjoyment for various squashes. The last few days were the hardest, we caved on the evening of day 14 and ordered a pizza. Autumn is over here, the leaves are not very pretty anymore. Again this year we made it to ride the ski lift. The weather was perfect and the leaves were at the peak of perfection.


"And the glory of the LORD will be revealed, and all mankind together will see it. For the mouth of the LORD has spoken." Isaiah 40:5

A Wedding

Last week I went to my friends wedding. It was wonderful! I was so happy I cried. The wedding had a theme of country casual (cowboy boots and jeans) and I had nothing to fit the bill. So I went shopping with the thought that it was going to be difficult. I thought I had prepared myself enough but I was wrong. I got so frustrated I almost cried. Why am I such a weird shape? In one brand they fit around the waist but weren't long enough. When I found a pair that were long enough they didn't fit around my waist. One size was too small but the next size up was too big. Then I found a pair that fit both around my waist and were long enough but there were too big through the hips. This went on through four different stores. And what I thought would be a quick run to the store turned into a all day affair. The shoes were worse. I really wanted a nice pair of boots, they didn't have to be cowboy boots, just boots. But no, nothing can be easy. To cut that story short I wore a pair I already had. I finally gave up on the pants and on the way out of the store a grabbed a nice looking pair off the rack and bought them without even trying them on. I didn't know if they would fit or not I was just so sick of pants at that point I didn't care. The next day I tried them on and they fit perfectly! If I had know that was how it was going to work I would have randomly bought stuff in the first place and saved myself the trouble. In the end it didn't matter, I had such a good time at the wedding that not once did I ever think about what I was wearing.

Drinking The Yard

So this juice fast/diet is hard. Harder then the Daniel fast. It requires us to drink green juices that smell like freshly cut grass. Yum. We are also allowed to eat fruit and veggie dishes, so we have a little bit of variety. I am, however, getting sick of zucchini. Maybe if I Photograph it in different lighting it will taste better. Or add a pretty pink straw. Somehow, I think not.
I have wedding to go to Saturday and I will be taking a break for the reception. Because not eating the really really good food would be a insult...right?

Random Thought

Today I thought about Christmas and how much I want it to be here. I can't wait to decorate and make cookies. The thought was brought to mind when I lite my peach smoothie scented candle. Which also made me think of how good a peach smoothie would be. Mom and I start a juice fast/diet on Monday. Nothing but homemade juice for fifteen days. We watched the documentary 'Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead' and became inspired. I wonder if peach smoothies would count? Also you can't buy banana chips in our town, sad. And I need to get my butt in gear and buy some pumpkins before it's too late. Speaking of butts, I need to buy pants for a wedding next weekend.

Moonlight

I finished my painting today. Nothing to fancy but I'm happy at how it turned out. I did this painting to try something new. I read in a magazine that rubbing alcohol does weird things to acrylic paint. Guess what? It does! I poured some on the background and it pushed the color around. However, when it drys it loses most of its coolness. Also, I used salt. You can kinda see the darker spots in the lower left hand corner. In short, I can make the same affect with a brush without having salt all over the place. But its good to try new things once in a while.

A Change

Is my new font to hard to read?

A Funk

It is so easy for me to fall into a funk when it comes to blogging. I love to blog but when nothing but life is happening I stop. So I am updating to get me out of said funk. Work has picked up again so that is keeping me a little busy. I'm just about to finish a painting. It is of trees in the moonlight. Calling it "Trees in the moonlight" seems a bit obvious so I shall have to think of something better. I love trees. Fall is truly upon us now, I ate a apple today and it tasted like everything fall is. Yummmm! I have started reading 'The Guardian' by Nicolas Sparks. Its wonderful but it freaked me out last night and it took me forever to fall asleep. Something about stalkers have always freaked me out...creepy. Also, I must make a confession; I am somewhat obsessed with Americas Next Top Model. Mostly for the photography parts of it, I'm not about to go off and walk the runway (That would be something don't you think). I watch it when I have a free moment, which is part of the reason I haven't been blogging as much. Funny how that works isn't it.

Diary of a Dog and a Cat

I thought this was so funny that I had to share.

...

Dairy of a dog-
8:00 am - Dog food! My favorite thing!
9:30 am- A car ride! My favorite thing!
9:40 am- A walk in the park! My favorite thing!
10:30 am- Got rubbed and petted! My favorite thing!
12:00 pm- Milk bones! My favorite thing!
1:00 pm- Played in the yard! My favorite thing!
3:00pm- Wagged my tail! My favorite thing!
5:00pm- Dinner! My favorite thing!
7:00pm- Got to play ball! My favorite thing!
8:00pm- Wow! Watched TV with the people! My favorite thing!
11:00pm- Sleeping on the bed! My favorite thing!

...

Diary of a cat-

Day 983 of my Captivity

My captors continue to taunt me with bizarre little dangling objects. They dine lavishly on fresh meat, while the other inmates and I are fed hash or some sort of dry nuggets. Although I make my contempt for the rations perfectly clear, I nevertheless must eat something in order to keep up my strength.

The only thing that keeps me going is my dream of escape. In an attempt to disgust them, I once again vomit on the carpet. Today I decapitated a mouse and dropped its headless body at their feet. I had hoped this would strike fear into their hearts, since it clearly demonstrates my capabilities. However, they merely made condescending comments about what a "good little hunter" I am. Evil people!
There was some sort of assembly of their accomplices tonight. I was placed in solitary confinement for the duration of the event. However, I could hear the noises and smell the food. I overheard that my confinement was due to the power of "allergies". I must learn what this means, and how to use it to my advantage.
Today I was almost successful in an attempt to assassinate one of my tormentors by weaving around his feet as he was walking. I must try this again tomorrow, but at the top of the stairs.
I am convinced that the other prisoners here are flunkies and snitches. The dog receives special privileges. he is regularly released, and seems to be more than willing to return. He is obviously retarded. The bird must be an informant. I observe him communicate with the guards regularly. I am certain that he reports my every move. My captors have arranged protective custody for him on an elevated cell, so he is safe. For now...

Don't Get Mad...

Get glads! Three of the twelve that I planted bloomed.

Change

I am pretty sure I say this every year but I will say it again; the seasons have gone by much to quickly. It is September already. The leafs have started to change color, littering the ground with their red and yellow hues. The smell of dying vegetation fills the air. This is my favorite time of the year. My flowers are still blooming. The clematis opened its only bud of the year to reveal lovely purple petals.
And the little rudbeckia, for the first time, bloomed! This plant makes me happy. It was a reject plant, not expected to grow. I bought is for a $1.00. We showed them didn't we little plant, oh yes we did!

Hello September

This past week has been interesting. For starters mom and dad went to Texas. Which left me with the kids for four days. I'm not sure why, but whenever I watch the boys they always seem to injure themselves. Red-head number one had a log attack him and his right side, from his shoulder to him ankle, is all scratched up. The days fallowing he wouldn't wear a shirt so that everyone could see his battle scares. Red-head number two got a bloody nose and has a lovely looking bruise between his eyes, which I am sure are both going to turn black. Red-head number three came out filthy but otherwise unscathed. Then as if running the house for four days wasn't hard enough, a creepy cat showed up. Well more of a kitten, but still creepy enough that we all rushed inside. This cat was missing its lower jaw. It was so gross to say the least. It hung out around the house and because I am who I am, I felt sorry for it. The thing was half starved so I had to feed it. We put a little dish of food in a cage and when it went in to eat we trapped it. This time we call the towns Animal Control Officer (the fancy name for the dog catcher) . But the ACO doesn't deal with cats. How can you call yourself a ACO if you don't deal with cats? Are cats not animals anymore? They were no help at all so I kept feeding it. I refused to let anyone shot it because despite the fact of missing an important body part it was doing rather well. I named it Jaws and to cut a long story short, we found a home for it. And to make it even better she said she never puts cats to sleep ( I hate animals being put to sleep) and that her vet says that "if you put a cat in one room and its leg in another, it will heal." To all this moms says "Don't loss your kind heart, just get married".

Yaya

The peahen is still around. I am a sucker for anything that looks hungry. She has made herself right at home in the hollows next to the ducks. I feed her chicken food and she sneaks duck food, I guess she likes it because she is there every morning for more. Pickles has claimed her as his, he loves seeing her around. And it is so cute how he says her name "Yayayayayayayaaaa"
( She is so photogenic don't you think)

Ducks

I realized today that I have not posted pictures of the ducks lately. They got big. Ping looks about the same as she did before but Pong has really changed. He has a green head now! But he has no quack; did you know that male ducks don't quack? Well, they don't, who knew right? They are so much fun to have around (at least I think so).

One of Thirty Four

Sometimes creativity just grabs me and I am helpless against it. My only hope is that someone else sees my randomness as creativity as well.

Spearmint in a Vase

Columbus Zoo

The Columbus zoo is known for being one of the best zoos in the country. I can do nothing but agree with that. We had a wonderful day there. And it was a perfect day for the zoo, sunny with a slight breeze that made the 85 degree temperature beyond bearable. Our favorite, by far, was the polar bears. It was so cool to be able to go underground and see them swim around. They looked like over sized teddy bears. They would sit on the glass directly above us and hop up and down. Another favorite would be the kangaroos. We got so close we could reach out and touch it but the zookeeper was standing there so we didn't. This one kangaroo was looking at me and every time I would move it would shift its head so it could see me better. I thought it was going to come over and kick me. We also saw lions and tigers and bears, oh my! And they had a manatee, who we named Barbra. Flying foxes are one of the reasons I don't live in Asia, they are giant bats (Almost the size of a fox). It was so relaxing to walk around not having anywhere we needed to be. No rush; a good day!