Merry Christmas

Tonight we went down to the local children's shelter and donated a bunch of toys, books, and clothes. I want Kiah to learn and understand that there are a lot of children that are less fortunate than us. I know it is hard for someone his age to understand, but I get so tired of him being so materialistic. I want to start doing a different charitable cause each month with him.

Hopefully it will help to conteract some of the hold the advertising industry has on my son.

So in Downtown Willow Glen every December they have horse drawn carriage rides. For years (5 Years to be exact) I have been trying to get Chris to take me there for Christmas. Well this year I thought I was finally get my Christmas wish. After convincing Chris, Mom, Lin, Granny, and Kiah we had to go we made it down there in time to see the last carriage ride arriving back. At least we almost made it. We still had a fun time after Santa claimed we were all naughty including granny and made us all sit on his lap. Chris refused but still let me take a pic.

Before and after using Susan Suttle's sepia technique. I loved taking this workshop. I learned more in a few weeks then I did in years. Her videos made the lessons so easy. If you ever have a chance to take one of her workshops, I definately recommend it.

Kiah's 8th Birthday.

Kiah and his Grandma Barbara a day before his birthday. In January she will leaving to go to Maryland, so she can take care of my niece and nephew while my sister-in-law goes to Afganistan. We will miss them both so much.

Christmas goodies I found over the summer at garage sales and thrift shops. I got all this stuff under $10.00. I can't wait for the next garage sale season. I bought stuff to list on my Etsy site but now I can't let go of it.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Kiah won first place in sparring. He even had to to go against a black belt. I never knew I could be so proud of my son kicking people in the head. Go Kiah!!!

Learning new techniques in
Susan Tuttle's workshop.
It is so much fun.
Thanks Susan!!

Happy Halloween Everybody!!!

The last month and a half has been so full of different emotions. My sister Linsey was sick and we were all fearing for the worst. She was basically in kidney failure and there were times when it really looked the worst. She has a very rare genetic disease Ethylmalonic encephalapathy. We thought her symptoms were related to her disease, but it ended up being a different rare disease called Minimal Change. As of right now she is doing good, out of the hospital and in good spirits. I can't believe how your life stands still when someone you love is deathly ill. Now that she is in remission we are trying to make her life as fun as possible. Love you Lin!!

All my decorations were in storage so I made these out of scrap paper. The book column was made by folding all the pages in half and then gluing the covers together. The moon face came from the Matthew Mead Halloween magazine

The spooks are coming out!!

Dang it's hard to make nice looking carmel/chocolate apples. Oh well at least it was fun.

Didn't get too many pics it was too hard trying to keep a group of 20+ together.

12th Anniversary

It was our 12th Anniversary of being together. Go figure, one of these years we will get married. We went to the Big Foot museum that Chris had been wanting to visit and then I got to go to any thrift store I wanted. I didn't find anything special but we did have hot chocolate on the pier. Which in it's self sounds totally romantic, but when you add the element of fishing to it, it kinda changes things. None the less we are still in deeply love with each other and cherish these crazy moments we call life.

Beach Time

We recently took Kiah and Grandma Marcie to the beach. It was a short visit but still a lot of fun. Both Kiah and Chris went body boarding ( is that what it is called?) There was dolphins in the water when Chris went out in the surf a bit. I kept seeing something but couldn't tell what it was.

Good Housekeeping Dec. 1927

I found this magazine at a sale at the nearby antique store. It was only $3.00. After I paid for it another lady kept telling me, "oh, my it is so beautiful, I wish I would have bought it". Guess I picked a good one.

Flea market Finds

We went to the Branham High Flea Market on Saturday. Chris and I had never been there and we just barely made it there before it closed. It was hot as hell and Kiah kept bugging me for video games. Which he knows I'll never buy them from a flea market or garage sale. You know they won't work. In the short time we were there I managed to find some really cool treasures and only spent $3.00 on them. Quite a few items were free so that was a double score. Next time around I might try to get a space to sell some stuff. I am tired of giving everything to Goodwill, only to have them mark it way up. We'll see how that works I'll probably buy more than I sell.

I need a vacation from my vacation

I can't believe it is already July 22nd. This month has left me exhausted and it is not even over yet. We went up to Orleans, Ca in the beginning of the month.

As soon as we got home my Grandmother who has dementia wondered and was brought home by a sheriff.

Since then everthing is just a blur of social workers, daycare kids, karate, swim lessons, and phone calls.

And to top it all off I have lost my mojo and have't been able to produce something worthy in almost a month.