December Got Away...

How does that keep happening?  I'm trucking along and then it's 2 months later???  I had such high hopes for December...I was so excited to share all the neat things we were doing.  I did continue the focus on memories and I think it paid off.  The Pergo was replaced, the dishwasher was bolted back in place and calm ensued...for 12 minutes.

A quick catch-up:
     We celebrated Willow's tenth birthday.  I don't even know how that happened.  It seems as if she was just born and now she's truly growing up.  I'm so proud and so blessed and it's so bittersweet!

So many crafts, so little time:
    
      We made snowflake candle holders...so cute. (Although, should you go looking for the artificial snow at the craft store 48 miles from your home, keep in mind that you will NOT find it with the Christmas goodies but instead in the Sewing Notion department.  Even the sweet manager who helped me didn't get that one!)  We covered the candle holders in Modge Podge, rolled in artificial snow, allowed to dry and repeated.  Once dry, we mixed some blue glitter with the Mod Podge and painted over the snow.  So cute!  These are the supplies we used:

     We made a lot of ornaments this year.  We painted some plaster bone shaped ornaments and put the dog's names on them.  We also did a fun, easy, momma-loving (translate-no mess) ornament.  I purchased some wooden cut-out, photo ornaments.  I had the girls color them...yes, color them with markers.  Then, they went over them with clear, glitter fabric paint which comes in handy squeeze bottles. 

    Did I mention the Peppermint Rice Krispy Treats? Mmmmmmm...  Make your standard Rice Treat recipe, add a bunch of crushed peppermints and chocolate sprinkles!  Beyond delish!  Perfect for Valentine's Day too.

     We were so blessed to be treated to a Ornament Glass Blowing session by my Mom at a neat studio in town: Glassworks. 

The girls were mesmerized by the studio with it's furnaces, kilns and art glass area.  I, personally, loved this sign:

     We spent a lot of time with family, a lot of time at home and tried not to focus so much on the commercial side of Christmas.  Gifts were fewer this year for the children and they didn't even seem to notice!  I tried to purchase gifts for others from PEOPLE and not stores...etsy and hyena cart helped out!  I even tried my hand at making key fobs!  I got pretty good by the time I'd finished...48 in total!

I'm learning to embrace the moment.  Bit by bit!  As we leave December, I'll leave you with our Christmas picture.  (We didn't do Christmas cards again this year.  We've taken to donating $100 to a charity instead!)

January--I can sum up the entire month in 6 sentences:
     I had shingles.  It is not an elderly person's disease.  It is way more painful than un-medicated childbirth or kidney stones.  I took a lot of drugs and slept a lot.  The children took over the house, the kitchen, the fridge and the television.  I'm still trying to catch up. 

The End. 

Glad to be back!

May blessings abound

Kim