Is it really December?

We face another day of beautiful weather.  My parents are working in the backyard, raking, trimming and mowing.(I helped hold the bag) Mark had raked earlier in the fall, before the majority of leaves had fallen, so we really needed it again.  With our beautiful, green all year long fescue grass, the wet leaves laying on top could kill it.  

Christmas Tree Napkins

Yesterday morning, we had pancakes for breakfast, then opened our gifts.  Scott was thrilled with the deluxe drum set for Rock Band 2 on PS3.  Mark got all kinds of computer and game accessories and Angela got lots of clothes.  She's sending some of them back and is looking forward to the money she'll get, instead.  Archie got all kinds of things, ranging from clothes to computer toys.  I got scrapbooking tools and accessories, solo handbell music and a hot paraffin treatment system.  

 My parents arrived this afternoon and the exchanging of gifts is finally over.  After a steak dinner we exchanged gifts, then watched Scott play drums with his Rock Band 2 on PS3.  After that, we went to the basement to Play Wii Fit.  Everyone participated - Archie, Angela, my mother and me.  It's really quite a lot of fun and you're always trying to beat your previous score. 

Yesterday, after opening the gifts, Mark was very disappointed that he didn't get "The Dark Knight" on DVD and I was a little disappointed I didn't get the Zutter binding machine.  In a way, I was sorry for being greedy, yet I still really wanted that machine.  Today, our dreams came true - my parents got those things for us, as well as some other nice things.

For those of you who don't live near us, the weather today was BEAUTIFUL!!  It was hard to believe that it was the day after Christmas since it got up to 70 degrees and right now, at 10:45 PM it's still 63 degrees.  Tomorrow, it's supposed to be winter again with rain and a high of 40 degrees.  That's the way it is here - just wait - the weather will change.

Winter has Officially Arrived

I don't know what the low was this morning, but it's 13 degrees right now with a forecasted high of only 20 degrees today.  The kale and pansies on the front porch seem to be frozen solid.  I think they were not designed to withstand temperatures this low.  The furnace seems to run continually.  Today, I'm not working - I'm taking my birthday day!

We had approximately 40 people over last night after the church choir's Christmas program.  I supplied the house, our social chairwoman supplied the hot cider and everyone brought goodies.  Several people left their goodies, so we're well stocked for now.  The choir gave Archie an i-Tunes gift card in appreciation for playing with the older children during choir practice.  The choir gave Brian a money tree, and unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture of it.

The party made me clean up the house and get it decorated.  I took pictures of some of the decorations for a scrapbook I'm working on, so I'll post some of them here.

 

This year, I put up one less tree than normal.  Above, the tree in the dining room is 10' tall and decorated in blue, cream and gold.  

Left, the Barbie tree sits on the stair landing in the foyer.  To the left of the Barbie tree, I hung the kids stockings, made by my high school friend, Maggi, when each child was born (see below.)

Below, the mantel is decorated in gold with new stocking holders that proclaim: Christ is born,
King of Kings and Prince of Peace.  Since our fireplace is only decorative, I keep it filled with a basket of flowers year round.  At Christmas, I put in white and gold poinsettias.

Left, is the tree in the foyer, decorated in red and white.  Almost all these ornaments are handmade.  Notice the quilt on the love seat - it was one of the first ones I ever made and it's even hand quilted.

I'll post more decorations later.

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

The "Case of the Missing Office Christmas Tree" is solved!!  It turns out that nobody stole the tree, it was just in a different room behind the sump pump and lots of pipes in a dark corner.  We guess our former handyman put it there last year and didn't tell anybody.  Now our office looks more festive.  I've hung a Christmas quilt in my office.  It's pictured here in the blog.

My birthday was a couple of days ago.  I attended a class at the local scrapbook store - we made several small gift items - it was loads of fun.

We had our first true snowfall on my birthday - officially 1.5" fell, with some freezing rain.  The streets were solid ice on Tuesday night and the town was pretty deserted.

New house update:  We've applied for our construction loan.  The contract with the builder should be in our hands tomorrow.  The builder, Joe, contacted Otto, the basement guy, and we are next on his list - scheduled to begin in January.  It still seems like a dream.  I guess when they actually start digging it will seem real.  

Scott came home from OSU today - his last final was this morning.  He's moved back into his room for a month and will begin work tomorrow or Monday.  

Staff Christmas Party

Above:  Jackie & Ron Fore, Sherry & Keith Miller, Sue & Roger Norrie, Russell & Teresa Parks.

Tonight, Archie and I attended the FBC Staff Christmas Party at my bosses' house.  We had 20 people there who enjoyed rib-eye steaks.  Everyone brought something to go with the meal.

After eating, we exchanged gifts, but in a special way.  Two days ago, everyone brought a sock to the office (one per participant) that contained a piece of paper with the owner's name.  We exchanged the socks, drawing from a large paper sack.  Then everyone purchased a gift, $10 maximum.  The twist is the gift had to fit in the sock.  Tonight, we brought our socks with gifts inside and ribbons with gift labels tied around the necks of the socks.  Archie and Andy played Santa, distributing the sock-gifts and one-by-one we opened our socks.  It wasn't as much fun as a "Dirty Santa" or "White Elephant" exchange, but everyone took something home that someone had purchased especially for them. 

Below:  Jake & Julie Adams, Ginny & Mike Addington

Below:  Me & Archie, Brian & Marquita Dickinson

Mark's Birthday

Our oldest child, Mark, turned 27 today - guess we're getting old!  We gave him a video game and took him to Rib Crib for dinner.  Then we stopped by the mall and picked up a cookie-cake.  

I told Mark at dinner that on my 27th birthday, I had an 8 day old baby boy - him!  Mark replied that he was sure glad he didn't have a baby boy and as his parents, Archie and I agreed whole-heartedly.

Thanksgiving

We spent Thanksgiving in Kansas City with two of Archie's brothers and their extended families.  Everyone gathered where we happened to be staying and gorged on turkey and all the trimmings.  Twelve adults and eight "cousins" gathered at their respective tables for good food and conversation.  The "cousins" range in age from 13 to 29, from 4 different families and none have married yet.  

Black Friday - We contributed a little bit to sales that day.  I dug through the sale bins at Archiver's and Michaels.  I also stocked up on some cards at Mardel's for my boss.  Archie had my shopping list and came home with a large bag from Archiver's - yea!

We got home about 8:30 last night.  Within a half hour, I was in the attic going through the Christmas stuff, indicating what needed to go down and what could stay up - almost all went down.  That means that today is decorating day as well as laundry day.

The reason we brought the decorations down last night was Scott needed to get back to Stillwater in order to be in line for a seat for today's football game against OU.  The student tickets are first come, first serve on seat location and he wanted to be in line around 5 AM today for tonight's game - they open the gates at 7 PM.  Also, Mark works about 13 hours straight today.  Archie's knee isn't completely healed yet, so he's not up to bringing everything down, either.   

Got to get back to work!  More later.

Monday, Monday...

I've got the song from the "Mama's and the Papa's" stuck in my head - "Monday, Monday, so good to me..." Today was good to me.   Since this is a short week, I'm pretty busy at work, which is good because I hate to sit there with nothing to do.  I started laying out the new church directory today and it turns out to be pretty easy - you just select a layout and drop the pictures into their spots.  

This evening I finished two more Christmas presents - Yea!   Again, I'd post pictures, but the gifts might be for you!

Leaves Everywhere

We finally had a hard freeze this week, then the winds came and now the trees are pretty bare.  Our oldest son raked up 4 bags of leaves in the back yard so he could mow the grass on Wednesday.  The leaves really began to fall on Thursday, after the freeze and now we need to do a lot more raking.

No pecans this year - the squirrels ate every single one of them.  That's okay, since we had bumper crops the last two years and there's still lots of pecans in the freezer.

New house update:  We finally got a bid from a builder.  It's higher that I think it should be, so now we have to do some hard thinking.  The basement contractor called again tonight to see if we were ready, but we're not.  We had a nice conversation - he loves to talk.  He also gave me his opinions on some of the builders in town.

I made my third trip to Hobby Lobby today, to get some sale items for Christmas presents. Making these gifts is sure fun - wish I could post some here, but they might be for you!

Christmas Tree Napkins

CHRISTMAS TREE NAPKINS

At last night's quilt guild I learned how to make the cutest Christmas tree napkins.  Here are the instructions.

Get a piece of 11" x 17" paper, fold in half, short sides together, and using a compass or pencil with string, draw a quarter circle.  Cut out and open out into a half circle.

From the middle fold, measure over to the right 1 1/4" and make a mark.  Make a dot 1/4" in from the edge of the paper at this mark.  (The pencil is at the original fold line, not where I made the dot.)

Draw a line across the circle from the dot.  This line will be 90 degrees from the long straight edge.

Draw another line from the dot across the half-circle at 45 degrees from the long straight edge.

Repeat for the other side.  Now your pattern is ready.

Cut out two half circles of fabric using your pattern as a guide.  These two fabrics must have a lot of contrast.  You may the layer the two fabrics, right sides together and cut them out together.

Pin the half-circles together.  Sew all around, using a 1/4" seam, leaving a small opening on the long straight edge.  Trim the corners, notch the curve and turn right sides out.  Poke out the corners and press.

Now align the pattern on top of your napkin.  Fold back the first "quarter" section and use a pencil to lightly draw a line along the fold.  

Fold back the 1st and 2nd quarter sections and draw another line along the fold.

Repeat for the final section.

Edge stitch all around the napkin, making sure to close up the opening you used to turn the napkin right side out.  Stitch along each pencil line.

Now fold the first quarter section and press.  

Repeat for each section.

Your Christmas tree napkin is finished.

According to the instructions, 20" of each fabric will yield 4 napkins.  A yard of each fabric will yield 10 napkins.

Mundane Monday

Today was just another mundane Monday.  This morning, I played organ for a funeral, then did some filing this afternoon.  Went to the bank to deposit last Friday's paycheck and then to Hobby Lobby to pick up a couple of sale items.

New house update:  Got a call from a builder and he gave us a ballpark figure that was about 20% above what I thought it should be.  He did admit that it was probably high.  He wants to charge us a flat fee to build the house and we can cut back on some of the materials to save costs.  We might actually see the bid on Wednesday - but we've heard that before.

Tonight, I attended quilt guild.  I contributed 2 blocks to the block of the month drawing and didn't win, again.  Tonight was the annual party, which included lots of food and several "booths" where you could buy things and/or make something small, like napkins or coasters.  It was lots of fun.

Tomorrow, the piano tuner comes in the morning.   I have to go to work by 11 AM for a staff meeting and maybe my boss will have something for me to do, since I have to stay until 5 PM.  

Guess that's it for now.

Creative Juice

Today I finished three gifts from my online gift giving class.  I'm posting the acrylic frame I made for my son's 24th birthday on Sunday.  My husband and I will visit both him and our daughter tomorrow (her 20th birthday is on Sunday, also.)  I found the Halloween picture on his Facebook page and used it for this project - sure hope he likes it!!   I'm also posting a circular door hanger that I made for my daughter's dorm room door.  Now she can let her friends know where she's at, or if she doesn't want to be disturbed.

This week, I've been to Hobby Lobby twice and the local scrapbook store twice.  I even used the 40% off coupon twice at Hobby Lobby.  I always seem to need some little thing to finish a project - the right color ribbon or some kind of embellishment.

This evening I found some more gift ideas online, so now I'll have to get to work on them - I'm having fun with these projects and hope the recipients of the gifts enjoy them as much as I've liked working on them.  

Obamanation

The election is finally over and depression has sunk in. Around the church, we call the situation an "Obanamation." At least, Oklahoma voted the right way, and our state senate and house are now ruled by the Republicans. We still have a Democrat for governor, though.

It's hard to get excited when you know your taxes are going to go up. Our stockbroker just called to give me some suggestions. Now I'm learning about municipal bonds. I guess our house in on hold, also, until the stock market goes back up.

This Friday, my husband will have his 5th surgery on his knee. We hope that he has an early surgery time and everything goes well, since I'll be in El Reno, scrapbooking all weekend. Now that's something to get excited about.

Picture Day

All the kids arranged to be here for a family picture, taken at church.  They turned out really well! 

Scott got rear ended yesterday, by the tire of a monster truck.  Fortunately, there was no damage.  Angela ran into a motorcyclist in Shawnee, on her way back to the dorm.  She thought that the man was only bruised, but he went to the hospital anyway.  I don't know how much damage there was to the motorcycle, but Angela's headlight was dangling and her tire was flat.  The police removed her headlight and put her spare on for her.  Now we'll have to deal with the insurance.  She also got a ticket and was pretty shook up.  Fortunately, she wasn't injured.

Archie volunteered to fix the monthly breakfast for the youth tomorrow.  He went to the store for all the things needed to fix breakfast casseroles, along with some muffins.  I actually fixed the casseroles so all he has to do is put them in the oven.  He is cleaning up the kitchen - YEA!

Last night, Archie went with several of the youth for "Reverse Trick-or-Treating."  They handed out small bags with candy, a New Testament and a card about our church to people that had their porch lights on in designated areas.  The people are surprised and give all kinds of different responses.  500 bags were prepared to go out and I guess they were all delivered.

House update:  The basement contractor called today to see how close we were to starting.  Archie told him that it wouldn't be anytime soon, since we have not heard from FEMA about our flood plain issue and we had lost so much money in the stock market.  Continental Resources stock went up quite a bit this week and we hope it continues.

Not much else is going on here.

Tuesday

The day's almost over and I just realized I haven't written anything for awhile.  

The weather is definitely colder - lots of frost last night.  Archie picked quite a few tomatoes yesterday, just in case we had the forecasted freeze last night.  However, nothing looked wilted today, so maybe it wasn't cold long enough.

I didn't go to work this morning, because a service technician was to come "first thing" this morning.  At 9:45 AM I called, only to find out they didn't have me on the work list for today.  Now, the man is coming Friday afternoon, when I'm off work, anyway.

Today was my monthly trip to get my hair done.  I visited Staples and Hobby Lobby on the way there.  I stocked up on some essentials for my big weekend crop at a bed & breakfast, which is the 2nd weekend in November.  

Today, I made another gift from the suggestions from my online class.  This is a journal.  It turned out real cute, but I can't post a picture because one of my readers must might get it for Christmas!

That's it for now.

New Project

This is today's project, a Music Mosaic for a Christmas gift.  It's another idea from the online class I'm taking.  The artwork went together quickly and inexpensively.  Finding the music paper was the hardest part!   (It's 11" x 14".)

The second photo is the quilt that is hanging in my office.  I have several, and change them out according to the seasons.

Thursday, it was 62 degrees in the house when I got home from work.  The electric ignition on the first floor furnace was broken.  That's the second time since we've been here!  Anyway, Friday afternoon, the repairman came and fixed it.  Thursday night, my husband suggested I bake cookies to stay warm.  It worked!  I think he just wanted some cookies.

Dreary and cold Thursday

The weather has certainly changed - now it's cloudy, windy and chilly. At 3 PM it was 52 degrees with normal Oklahoma winds - the windchill is in the 40's.

I'm the only gal in the office today and tomorrow, and all I have left to do is print, fold and stuff the bulletins for Sunday. All the guys are gone (it's their day off) and phones hardly ring. Tomorrow will be busier because at least 3 of the guys will be back.

We had a funeral here yesterday, for a lady that has given so much to the community. The sanctuary was packed with about 100 people in the Fellowship Hall watching on TV. The funeral was tough on the staff and lasted over an hour. The front of the church was covered in flowers. She was truly loved and will be greatly missed.

Last night, we had 5 new people show up for choir! Monday night, the choir divided into small groups and went to visit our prospects. The groups sang a silly song at each home, like "We Wish You Would Come to Choir" to the tune of "We Wish You a Merry Christmas", "If You're Happy and You Know It" and "Come on Baby Come to Choir" to the tune "Come on Baby Light My Fire." It looks like their efforts paid off. After choir practice, we had a fellowship with lots of snacks.

Tuesday night, our prospective builder never showed up, never called and didn't e-mail. I sent him an e-mail today, to see what happened.

Would you believe that our middle child sent me his Christmas/birthday wish list? Of course, most of it I've never heard of - movies and games. He does have a birthday coming up in a few weeks and I guess he doesn't want me to forget about him!

That's it for today!

Struck Out

Quilt Guild was a bust, prize wise, yesterday. I didn't win anything - not even a door prize. I entered two blocks in the "Block of the Month" contest, which means I have two chances to win. This month, 13 blocks were submitted! We've never had more than 8 since I've been there. Oh well - try again next month when the color will be blue. Certificates were distributed to all who participated in the quilt challenge (I joined too late) and their quilts were gorgeous - those ladies are way out of my league. I should have taken pictures!!

Today we celebrated "Bosses Day" at work by feeding the guys lunch. We divided up the meal, and I provided a casserole called "Funeral Chicken." The recipe is in the latest church cookbook and it's really yummy - nothing dietetic about it with lots of sour cream and cheese. The guys seemed to enjoy the meal.

Tomorrow, we will have a large funeral at the church. There are 75 in the family, and 60 full-time employees from the business the deceased co-owned. Luckily, I won't be playing the organ - they wanted piano. The lady had fought cancer for several years.

It's supposed to rain tonight - sure hope so - we need some rain.

Saturday Routine

It's a normal Saturday - laundry.  

New House Update:  We have a meeting with a builder for Tuesday evening at 7:00 - sure hope it pans out this time.

Quilts:  My monthly quilt guild meeting is coming up on Monday.  Each month, they have a "Block of the Month" drawing.  The blocks must have a muslin background.  This month, the other colors allowed are gold and brown.  For each 12" (finished) block you contribute, you get one chance to win all the blocks.  So far, I've never won.  I made two blocks for this month - they are pictured in this post.

My Day Off

Finally, a day off to do whatever I want.  I'm taking a class from BigPictureScrapbooking.com that gives lots of gift suggestions.  So today, I took project #2 and made Christmas cards.  What fun!  I used a lot of old paper that's not appropriate for the style of scrapbooking that I'm doing now and made about 20 cards.  I'll post some pictures.

New House Update:  The builder that promised us an estimate had to reschedule.  Maybe we'll get it tomorrow.

My daughter, Angela, is a sophomore at Oklahoma Baptist University, majoring in mathematics. She didn't think that I gave her enough allowance, so she got a job grading papers for a math professor.  She seems to like it.

My husband injured his right knee (again) while we were in Jerusalem in August.  He'll have arthroscopic surgery on Halloween.

Guess that's it for now.

Frost in the Air

Fall must really be here - we're supposed to have frost tonight. Archie covered up his tomato plants to protect them.

New house update: We have an estimate for the basement. A builder will bring his bid by tomorrow night. I'm anxious to hear what the house will cost. With the stock market down, especially CLR, I don't know how we'll pay for the house. We might have to get a mortgage.

I've started a new work schedule and I like it alot - I don't work on Fridays at all. I really needed another day off. Since I do laundry and cleaning on Satuday, it feels like a workday. That meant I had only Friday afternoons off, and those 4 hours went by FAST.

Scrapbooking update: I'm up to date on the pictures I've taken lately, except for our trip to Israel this past summer. I'm saving those 250 pictures for the scrapbooking retreat in El Reno the 2nd weekend in November.

That's it for now.