Beginning of School Year and Fall

Justin started pre-school this year! The first day was rough, (a lot), but after a few days he loved it and wanted to go every day, even on the weekends. He is learning so much, making new friends, and is even starting to read and write! What a big boy!

I decided to be bold and make the kids' Halloween costumes this year. Wow, what a big undertaking. Especially when one twelve year old orders, "An Alice In Wonderland" costume just like the one she wore in the movie, sigh. I did my best, and was happy with the result!

Justin wanted to be "Super J" so I designed and made him a special Super J cape which he still wears around the house so he can fly and do super hero moves. Every boy needs a cape!



Sarah turned 12 in October and in honor of the big day I made a Happy Birthday Banner. I was inspired by Tracy's beautiful banner and didn't realize how similar our banners were until I went back and looked at hers. I guess great minds think alike! :)

Coming Out of the Cave

Hello Dear Friends! It's been a while...a long while since I've been here. Many factors have played into my five month hiatus: The starting of school, the holidays, Sarah's winter dance performance, and my annual winter hibernation mode.

I recently discovered that I have SAD, or Seasonal Effective Disorder; what a strange sounding condition! Living as far north as I do I don't get enough sun in the winter, or in the summer even depending on the weather conditions for that matter. This summer we didn't really have a summer since we were either fogged in or clouded in most days. When winter hit I felt like a bear going into hibernation mode. I wanted to sleep and eat all day which isn't good for the mind or the waistline. Then every day felt like a monumental task, and everything seemed so over whelming. Right around that time I started taking Vitamin D3 supplements and noticed an improvement in my energy and mood immediately. This got me thinking about the sun, our lack of it, and what I could do to remedy the situation. Then I remembered that my aunt who lives in Oregon uses a little light every day in the winter to boost mood. So I got one, it's called a "Sun Box" and you can order one off of Amazon.com for around $80-$200. It produces special rays that mimic sunlight. You sit in front of it for 15-30 minutes per day and it tricks your brain into thinking it's summer. I just started using it and am noticing a big difference already. I also joined a gym and am starting to work off the hibernation padding. :) Hopefully this year I will become my old productive blogging self!

I also got a new camera finally! My old one broke in the summer and I realized that I am very dependent on pictures for blogging. Really, how can you blog without pictures, right?! So I'm going to attempt to do a speedy wrap up of the past 6 months.

This summer we went camping, visited family in Oregon and had an amazing vacation in Lake Tahoe with my parents and brother. My dad rented a vacation home right near the lake and for a week I soaked up the sun and felt like a queen. We used to vacation there when I was a kid so it brought back great memories too. Right at the end of summer we took a trip out to Boise, Idaho for Ron's Grandma Delphia's funeral. She was an amazing lady who lived to be 96 years old!

Multnomah Falls, Oregon

Boise, Idaho

Lake Tahoe

Happy 4th of July!

Happy 4th everyone! Here is a summary of the day in red white and blue. The day has consisted of eating good food, relaxing, doing art and hanging out with the family. My favorite kind of day! Hope you're enjoying your family and freedom as well.

In honor of the French coming to our aide in the War of Independence Ron and Sarah made french toast. It was so delicious!

My mosaic stepping stone made from English bone china. Please tread on me!

Geraniums and allysum I enjoyed while relaxing on the deck this morning...

The prettiest lily in our yard.

Christmas decor

I love decorating for Christmas, and now that we have our very own house I'm going all out this year!! Every time I walk in the door I feel a sense of welcome and warmth with all of the decorations and the tree greeting me. Here are some pics of the decor thus far:

Our 9 foot Christmas tree which is the tallest we've ever had. I love how it looks in the living room with the high ceilings.

The star.

Wreath with fresh trimmings in the living room window.

The nativity. I love how the kids always make the animals all face baby Jesus.

Dining room decor: Fresh holly branches from our tree.

Close up of the holly.

Entertainment center decorated with nutcrackers and holly.

I taped the snow flakes I crocheted some years back to decorate the door's windows.

Mosaic I made and two vintage angel ornaments.

The vintage Christmas cards I hang each year.

The stockings are hanging in the hallway down stairs. Usually they hang on a wall, but this year I decided to break with tradition. I think I'll add some garland along the wainscoating as well.

Christmas Joy

We had a wonderful Christmas with my family in Sacramento. It's been years since we've all been together, so it was really nice to all be there. The kids had a great time of course. It's so much fun to watch them rip into all of their presents. Their complete and utter glee is amazing, I love it! I'll do another post on the other fun things we did while on vacation later...

The fam, Christmas Day

The kids hanging out on the spiral stair case

Justin's fire truck from Grandpa and Grammie. This kid LOVES fire trucks!

Christmas excitement = hyperventilation - literally, she was dizzy

My family! L to R: me, my little (tall - 6 ft. 5!) brother Geoff, Dad, Mom, and older brother Eric

Digital Christmas Card

I didn't get around to sending out cards this year. I created some on Snap Fish, but don't have time to mail them. So, this is the digital version. It was fun to make! I used pics from our performance, except for Justin's pic. The greeting is the line in the poem "Twas the Night Before Christmas" that was read as Ron and I walk off stage waving to Santa as he rides into the sky on his sleigh.

Christmas Decor At Our House

I love to decorate the house for Christmas. I got going a bit late this year, but finally got in gear and had some fun making the house look festive. I'm no Martha Stewart I can assure you! It's fun to make the house look Christmasy though, especially for the kids.

A beautiful bouquet from Sarah's ballet, a spiced orange Sarah made, and a croissant Ron brought me from Brio for breakfast.

The tree adorned with hand made and blown glass ornaments, and birds. I hand made the metal star topping it.

Sarah and Justin's ever growing nut cracker collection.

The stockings: Left to Right - Sarah, April, Ron and Justin.

The Princess and Her Triceratops

The kids had a fabulous Halloween this year. Sarah was a beautiful princess, and Justin was a triceratops. He refused to wear his dinosaur hat, but Ron had a stroke of genius and told him that he would get candy if he wore it...he quickly put it on and didn't take it off all night! Here are some cute pics of them:

The Many Reasons I Love Fall

Fall is my absolute favorite season of the year! Here are some of the many reasons why:

Sarah and my birthdays are in October

I love watching the leaves change into beautiful colors of red, orange and yellow

Pumpkins: carving them, decorating with them, etc.

The weather here in Humboldt County is beautiful in the fall, (usually)

The kids have loads of fun with Halloween, dressing up, etc.

Here are some fun fall pics. I think Justin shares in my joy of fall!

Whirl Wind Weekend

After having the best birthday ever the weekend was jammed packed with fun! My parents came up for the weekend from Sacramento to visit us and took us out to Rita's for my birthday dinner. Rita's is my all time favorite restaurant here in town. The Mexican food is soooo good and the margaritas rock. If you haven't tried Rita's you need to!

Saturday the life group that meets here at our house did a garage sale fund raiser for a family who had their house burn down in a fire. Our church has been encouraging the life groups to do service projects. We thought this would be a good opportunity for us to help someone in need in a tangible way.

My parents took me out for some birthday shopping in the afternoon and I got the cutest pair of shoes, thanks dad and mom!

That night we went to a pumpkin carving party Ron was invited to by a co-worker. The kids had a blast, as did Ron and I. Here are some pics of the weekend festivities:

The beautiful pumpkin artistry created at the pumpkin carving party. Mine is the left back one. All the kids said, "that pumpkin is scaaary!" when they saw it. Justin cringes when he walks past in on the porch, bad mommy!

Ron focusing on the serious art of pumpkin carving.

Sarah, "Take my picture and put it on your blog mom." Sarah modeling her new coat and rhinestone bracelet Grandpa and Grandma bought her.

Grandpa and Justin having some cuddle time.