Shine On

I found the cutest ornament for our Bunco Christmas ornament exchange!  I usually get something beautiful that I'd love to have on my tree.  But this year, this sweet little 60's frog totally caught my eye!  I'd love to have him on my tree too, but there was only one.  He has real velvet flowers (stuck) on his shiny glass shirt.  And those shoes?  Stylin'!

See those adorable flowers?  (I think he's dancing)

 

I caught him sitting down in all the trunks/branches of the birch tree-so cute!  He was using his golf club from his perch : )

I have a few pictures built up on my desktop from the past couple of days!  I'll share them with you.  The one of Ethan (up above) is from Monday afternoon-just playing outside since it was so warm here (69 degrees, a true Indian Summer)!

Mary Claire and her class had a Thanksgiving feast on Tuesday: beef stew, grilled cheese, and a snack mix (Cheerios, raisins, nuts, chocolate chips, and marshmallows!).  Ethan made fast friends with Brice and Lucas (they shared their food!):

Mary Claire and Marissa

Today, we went out!  We didn't want our break to be too stressful, so we took the afternoon off.  First we went to the movies to see Tangled (very good!), and then we went to Lowe's to get some insulation since the ceiling of Clay's hideout (attic space off his closet with blown-in insulation) is falling down!  Next, we went to the Fayetteville Square to see the Lights of the Ozarks. We got there right before dark, since I'd forgotten my real camera!  You can tell in the first few pictures, it's daylight, then it's slowly dark...

I had to play with the exposure/brightness/contrast to get this one even visible!  I had no flash, so I had to brighten it up a lot.  You can tell it wasn't that great.  Mary Claire had just had a crying spell over (almost) losing the stylus to her DSi, and they just wanted to run around.  Darn it, Mom and her pictures.

Always a good Razorback amid the beautiful horses on the carousel. : )

She was taking pictures with her DSi, so I took a picture of her!  I wonder who she gets that from? ; )

We love the lights too, Ethan! : )

Clay loved the blue ones!

Of course, he only likes the green lights.

I had to put in all four of these.  The first one is the best, but it's blurry.  The rest are just stereo-typical of our photo shoots. : )

The Growl and Peek.

Movement with Growl.  More Peek.

Here is the Mean Growl, and the Big Cheese.  Clay obviously, is the Pro at this.  He realizes that if you get a good picture, you are done faster.  He gets this.

I love this tree.  It's the only one that has been totally wrapped along its branches-beautiful!  I had to move away to fit it all in!  And check out that amazing sunset with color!

Then we went to US Pizza on Dickson to eat pizza (do I smell a tradition brewing? -we did that last year!), and to Wal-Mart for a few more things for tomorrow (and found the cutest sequined bow shoes for Mary Claire-for $10!), and to Jo-Ann Fabrics to look at scissors.  I want some stronger curved-tip scissors for cutting fabric around the applique lines.  I found some really nice ones by Gingher.  They were $29.99 (and 30% off), but I didn't get them.  I know they'll have a pretty good sale coming out for Friday, so I'll bide my time! : )  I did get some envelopes for our Christmas cards...which I'm working on.. :)

Precious friends and family, I'm so thankful for you.  I pray for God's blessing on you!

Happy Thanksgiving! : )

May the Lord bless you and protect you. May the Lord smile on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord show you His favor and give you His peace.  Numbers 6: 24-26

Green Amour

Hey ya'll!  Little busy 'round here! : )  My tiny boy thought he'd help his daddy jump in rake leaves, and try out those leaf bags for size! heehee

While they were having fun, I had some work to do.  I debated on fabrics, and got some towels-Clay's teacher has a birthday on Wednesday, and we are going to have a party tomorrow!

Mrs. Lee likes green, polka dots, and stripes!

This is the first one: Love, Joy, & Peace (I switched them around this time!)

Then I tried a new applique font for her last name!

Here are the two together-I coordinated them, just in case she's ever using both at the same time. : )

Then, when it only took me two hours, I decided to keep going!  I made a few cards to add to her little package. : )  I knew I wanted them to kinda match the towels, so I got out some green ink, and pondered over cards.  I picked ecru, so I knew my theme: jute string, french stamps, an *L* for Lee, and a little green ribbon:

I added little crown stamps to the backs of the envelopes-I was very impressed with the stamps-they inked beautifully!  (I hadn't used all of them before)

I inked the backs too: Eiffel Towers, keys, and some Amour!

Yes, I've done plenty more in the past couple days, but do you really want to hear about it? No! : ) hahaha
I've just been up late shopping for applique designs online (got some free too!), helped my sweet Ethan recover from his tummy bug, and discovered laundry mating and multiplying behind my back!

We're going to go ahead and have another Real Thanksgiving this week, and make another turkey.  Not going to be a huge deal, but we do enjoy good food! : )  I usually make a yummy pumpkin pie with a crunchy pecan topping, but not this year-I bought a frozen pie!  (shhh-don't tell anyone!)  I guess there won't be any pictures of that one.
We can't wait for the kids to get out!  Tuesday is their last day, and Ethan's last day was today.  Tuesday afternoon Ches is planning to take Clay to see the new Harry Potter movie (I'm grossed out by it-so the rest of us will stay home), and Wednesday we are going to see the newest Disney movie, Tangled!  It looks so good, so I can't wait.  I'd love to shop on Friday-this will be a fun week! : )  What are you thankful for?