Art

(Okay, I can't help myself as I titled this "Art")

What do you call a man with no arms and no legs hanging on a wall?   

---Art---

Alright now that that awfulness is done...let's move on!  My mother has this amazingly wonderful friend who also happens to be an amazingly wonderful artist.  Peggy Wilson!  At this point in time I am not quite able to own an original Peggy Wilson but I did get a couple of her cards that I just got framed.

I love snowmen!  When the holidays come around I not only decorate my house in Nativity scenes but I also fill it to the brim with snowmen.  This one will probably never go into the Christmas box because it is a Peggy Wilson so it just needs to be on display always!

Peggy used to have a series of prints called "Mole-ympia".  Why moles?  I have no idea.  But she lives near Olympia, WA so I think that is why the "ympia" part.  Maybe it was just a fun play on words.  This picture came from that series but looking at her website today I don't see that series.  The fun part of this one is that when I lived in WA I lived near a convent.  I was the absolute highlight of my day when I would be in the store and see a nun.  It was wonderful to get this Mole-Nun picture.  It makes me smile each day to look at it.

I really do hope that someday I can own a real Peggy Wilson.  Isn't it funny that I call the prints by her full name.  They are never the "such and such" picture by Peggy Wilson they are always just "THE" Peggy Wilson.  Or it would also be wonderful to own something from a local artist such as Lorraine Ortner-Blake.  Until then, I will just be contented to look at my pictures!

Eating In

January's date night comes at a rather awkward time of year.  We just finished Christmas with presents for everyone.  Then we had our WA vacation and a Canada and Vegas vacations tucked inside.  We were not really in a place for a "big" date.  We decided to keep it really small and we were going to Eat In.  We have been exchanging babysitting with three other families, which means, in four months you get three dates with free childcare and then you have one time where all of the kids are at your house.  Fortunately on Friday the 20th, we got to go and drop our kids off.  Then we came home and cooked up one of the easiest dinners.  It was a P.F. Chang's frozen dinner (we had a coupon a few months ago and decided to give it a try).  We cooked up a little jasmine rice to go with.  It was really quite yummy.  We also watched a movie (rented from the library) called The Lincoln Lawyer.  Now before you ask how it was, I don't know we never finished it.  First we got a phone call to meet some friends for drinks at the Corner Pocket.  It was great to be spontaneous and just jump up and go.  We tried to finish the movie after picking up the kids, but well...we're old, and we both fell asleep.  We are going to try and finish it up tonight. 

On a side note, our kids bring such humor to our lives and Brian asked me to share this with everyone.  Actually when I told him, he laughed and laughed and then said, "You have got to blog about that!"  Angela and Connor were unloading the dishwasher yesterday.  We have really been working hard with them to put things away where they go.  When I came to see how Angela was doing there was a pot with a fork and a cooking spoon in it just sitting on the counter.  Before I could ask her why they were there and not put away she says, "I can't put these away, Connor ruined them."  Then pointing to the pot she says, "He spit in this", pointing to the fork, "he used this to eat some pears" and pointing at the spoon, "and he put this down his pants!"  Aren't they something? 

Brian and I

I went out for a run the other day.  It was super nice since our college babysitter was still home on Christmas break so I got to do it in the middle of the day.  I thought with the sun out it would be warm but it was pretty chilly.  Once home the thermometer read 20 degrees but with the wind chill I think it was closer to 4 degrees.  Fortunately I had some good layers and I felt just fine.

Brian took the big kids out sledding yesterday.  When he came home he had icicles in his beard.  I think this is a pretty common thing for him while he is working.



Destination Vacation

Our 'D' date fell in December and we made it our destination vacation.  Brian and I spent three days and two nights in Las Vegas.  We had such a fun time!  To read more about it go to our 2011 Christmas Vacation (part 2) post.

November/December Sewing

Shortly before our trip I decided to get serious and tackle my sewing "to do" list.  I had a few things to finish up and a lot to make.  Here is a brief look at what I got done.

I made this hostess apron for a give-a-way for my MOPS group. 

Also for my MOPS group I made these little diaper keepers and the burp rags that follow.  The diaper keepers will hold 3-4 diapers and a small package of wipes.  These gifts are for the moms who have new babies during the year.  



I made a ball for my niece, Kendall.  This is the before picture of all the parts of the ball.  I then hand stitch them together.  Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture of it once it was finished.

This is a small zippered pouch that I gave to my brother.  It was to hold his ear buds so that they would not get a tangled up and ruined in his bag.

These are art packets that I made for the kids for traveling.  Angela's is the watermelon one, Emeric's is the cow print and Connor's is the one with all the action phrases. 

Each packet has a vinyl sheet (which is in the center) and some activity sheets that slide in behind it.  They are then able to draw on the vinyl with some dry erase crayons and then they don't mark up the activity sheets.  They also had a pad of paper and colored pencils for any other art/writing needs.  Lastly there are a couple of small pockets for special little treasures.

The two date purses were made for my mother and I to use on our girls trips.  She picked the cream with green print bag and I got the gray bag.  While on vacation, Emeric loved to run around with my purse full of his toys.

A sippy cup leash to hopefully keep the cup within reach (and not lost) during all of our traveling.

A dog bone shaped neck pillow for flying and anything else.  The kids really enjoyed it on the flights. 

Christmas pajamas for Angela.

Lastly, a trash bag for our car.



Funny thing is, after all of this sewing, you would think my "to do" list is much smaller.  But darn it all it is about the same size.  After I would cross one thing off I ended up adding something else in its place.

December - Photos of Kids

Here are a few more photos of the kids from December (and our vacation).

Angela

I don't know if she is a lion or a confused ballerina.

I love to see my daughter helping with the dishes.  This is probably the only time she has smiled while doing it.

She enjoyed trying out the marionette at Great-Grandpa Chipps' house.

Pure joy on her face after opening her ipod shuffle.

Enjoying looking through her stocking of goodies.

Connor

Getting creative with his snacks on the airplane.  He made the 'C' and found the 'O's' and one 'N', I helped him with the rest.

After playing around at Grandpa and Grandma's he found some of my old costumes to dress up in.

Enjoying the Sunday comics.

Taking a rest with DC.

Having fun finding 'Bee' socks in his stocking.

Emeric

Playing dress up.  What a pretty little princess.

I think we have an addict on our hands!  It will be rough when we take him completely off of it.

"Yes! Oranges are so yummy!"

Smiling for the camera as he is sitting on the counter and enjoying a snack.

It is either box head Emeric or maybe astronaut Emeric.  Connor just looked at the picture and said "Look at Emeric, he is hilarious!"

Slightly overwhelmed on Christmas and he has just barely started opening his stocking.

Should I have forgotten any person or story or any part of our vacation, please forgive me.  It is not that I purposefully left things out.  Sometimes my brain just goes faster than my fingers and things get thought about but not typed out.  I loved every bit of the vacation and everyone we saw.  Brian, the kids and I really miss it and can't wait to see everyone next time.