Anika's Pictures

Anika's 5th Birthday

Well, we've been up to pretty much the same stuff as last time I wrote...stayin' at home and playin' with Christmas gifts. We woke up Sunday and tried to make it to church, but we still couldn't get the van out and we didn't want to risk riding around illegally in Michael's truck when the rest of the city was drivable.

Eventually Mike and the neighbor dug us out of the slush later that morning because it was Anika's birthday and we HAD to find something to do that would make it feel special. Besides, we didn't even have her present yet. So, we finally made to to Walmart and out to lunch for Happy Meals and playing at McDonalds. By the time we made it home, the plow had come through! Now we can come and go as we please. I'm so happy.

There is still tons of snow that hasn't melted in big piles all over town. Kelby even admitted she was happy to see the grass again! We had a little party of ice cream sundaes with just us on Sunday night and Anika opened her presents from family in Arizona. We let Anika pick out her big girl bike at Walmart, so the girls were skating and biking out in the garage since they can't go out in the snow.

On Monday we had the cousins over for a "My Little Pony" birthday. This was Anika's first "real" birthday since I usually combined it with a big family dinner on New Year's Day and last year we weren't up to partying much since everyone was sick. She was very content with her party and excited to be five!

I spent the last few days frantically searching my house. On Sunday night I discovered my little credit card wallet was missing. I knew it was somewhere in the house though because we had been trapped. I looked and looked and was so preoccupied and irritated by it. Finally I decided to let it go. I figured I'd cancel the cards when the garbage man came since that would be the only place they'd have gotten that someone might find them.

Today I was putting away my Christmas decorataions and YEAH I found them! The wallet was wrapped in a nicely folded blanket that I'm positive I shook out multiple times. What a pain, but thank goodness I hadn't already cancelled them!


In my crafty-techy world, I spent last night learning how to design images on my computer and cut them out on my Cricut machine. It's amazing! I haven't sold anything on my Etsy shoppe, but that takes time and I need to get more items designed and uploaded. I'm excited to do it, but I have too many ideas and not enough time. I should be organizing and cleaning, but what fun is that?

Slushed In

We'll the snow quit falling, but now it is coming down as rain. The foot of snow on the ground is not going away too quickly, but it's turning into a slippery slush. We tried to go rollerskating this morning so Kelby could use her new skates, but still couldn't get out of the driveway. The girls spent their day playing Wii and with their new toys. We've all been enjoying the karaoke machine that Santa brought together. We don't sound great, but we have lots of fun trying! The girls' other favorite pastime today is eating all the candy from their stocking. I think it must almost be gone. Kelby's been rolling around the house in her skates since they are still clean! They've also been crafting. Anika has her whole tea set painted already! Overall, it's been a day of good healthy fun...except for the candy part. Today I've been setting up an Etsy shop to sell my crafts...visit My Etsy Shoppe if you want to see what I'm selling so far. We'll see how it goes. It'll be a fun thing to try anyway.

December Photos & Update

This batch of pictures catches you up on all the events of December. In the transition to our new blog, there were a few things that happened at the beginning of December that I never mentioned. I'll get that out of the way so into the new year, I'm all caught up!

For one thing, I think I forgot to mention my my baby sister had a new baby on December 5th! Her name is Makayla Dee Magana. They all live in Arizona, so I haven't got to see her yet. She is so beautiful in pictures though! I know it is tough having a 2 1/2 year old and in infant...so prayers for Andrea's sanity might be in order!

Between December 8th and December 17, we did a lot of fun activites on the advent calendar. We made thank you cards, letters to Santa, had Christmas tea parties and read Christmas books with cocoa. That made the time pass quickly. I was busy making a few gifts. I made a neat rag quilt for my new niece and my nephew along with several other gifts. It renewed my love of all things crafty. I bought a nifty new tool for scrapbooking that I need to get some use out of in the near future. It cuts paper into shapes from design cartridges. It's called a Cricut machine. I can even make vinyl decor for walls with it! FUN!

Michael was into making his own gingerbread men this year. He found a great recipe and made serveral batches! I did a little baking too. I have WAY too much junk around here now.

Kelby got recognized at an award assembly for making it on the honor roll. This is the first time that her grades have counted for this, so we were very proud of her! Hopefully she continues to work hard to keep getting that award. Kelby's friend Taylor invited her to a magic show at a local theatre on December 12th. I guess they even got to go on stage as part of the show. Taylor's mom got great pictures!

That same night we got a babysitter for the other two and Mike and I went out shopping for all our Christmas stuff. I'm so glad we did it early this year because we were trapped in the snow after that weekend.

I got to enjoy a ladies breakfast in LaConner on December 13th. I taught a workshop there on "Darling Gifts Under $10". The snow started to fall that afternoon. Our church even cancelled services on Sunday the 14th because the threat of snow was so great...however, little did they know that would be the least of it! They postponed the children's program until the next weekend...when the snow was even worse. School was postponed two hours on Monday. Tuesday cleared up and I got to mail a package at the post office and good thing, because Wednesday the snow came down and down until there was about a foot. School was cancelled on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday before Christmas break even started. Kelby didn't get to bring home her gifts she made at school and Tegan had to miss a Tea Party they had planned!

We had friends over after school on Tuesday and on Wednesday to make ornaments for our planned retirement home visit. We made ornaments out of recycled Christmas cards, scrapbooking paper, and salt dough! Good thing we had something to do while trapped inside. We also watched a lot of Christmas movies and played a lot of Wii together since all this snow started falling.

I already told you how we almost didn't get to deliver those ornaments, but it all worked out in the end! One day we walked to the store in the snow, went out to lunch, and walked home. We spotted an exellent spot where other neighborhood kids were sledding. The rest is history because we've been over there time and again to have fun sledding since then! Okay, I think that fills in all the blanks! I hope everyone enjoys themselves this week and thinks up some good new years resolutions! I'm thinking up a couple of my own already.

Christmas Day and Beyond

We were up at 7:00 am to see what Santa brought. He brought some great chairs for the girls. They are round and fuzzy. They'll be great reading spots (or video gaming chairs over Christmas break). Of course he filled the stockings with goodies and candy. Their favorite thing in the stocking were the harmonicas. Mike has gotten one earlier this month, so now they can all learn!

My mom and dad "called" us on Skype and we were able to video conference our entire Christmas morning with them. Mike had a laptop with a built in camera that he set up. It was fun! From us Anika got a huge collection of My Little Ponies, Kelby got rollerblades, and Tegan got a digital camera. Plus they got lots of little fun things too. They'll be busy over break! It was pouring down beautiful snow all morning! Here's a family picture of us out in the snow! We had a little breakfast of yummy Cinnamon pull apart bread, little smokies, and scrambled eggs...our Christmas Day tradition. Once we got dressed and all our stuff loaded into the back of the truck in bins so we could get to Gramma Wright's house. We didn't want to take the van out because it couldn't get out of the cul-de-sac without chains, but once out of Sedro-Woolley, the roads cleared off and it's not fun to drive on clear roads with chains on. We spent the rest of the day lounging over at the Wright grandparent's eating, visiting, and playing in the snow. Mike built a snowman on the porch and a fort for the kids. Also we played some Guitar Hero! Today and for the rest of break we'll be relaxing and playing with our new toys. Santa also brought a Karaoke machine, so there's been a lot of music around here....and maybe we need some earplugs!

Christmas Eve

We woke up this morning and there was even more snow! I think that about 4 inches came over night. Because we had so much snow around here, we decided not to go up to Mt. Baker for our customary Christmas Eve sledding trip. Instead we headed first for our fall back tradition...breakfast at Denny's!

The roads are terrible around town, but the weather turned to rain while we were out. That might help until it freezes tonight. It kept changing from snow to rain all day. We might get more snow tonight...so there's no doubt we'll have a white Christmas!

After breakfast, we stopped to visit Gramma Debbie. She wanted to give the girls their gifts. She always gets them pajamas, so they get to wear them to bed tonight.

Then we came back to Sedro-Woolley to find snow around here for sledding. We found a small hill that sufficed, then came home to do a few odd things before watching The Nativity. We had a dinner of appetizers...my new Christmas Eve tradition. We had taquitos, mini tacos, coconut shrimp, and mozzarela cheese sticks. I'm stuffed!

After a little while we headed out all squeezed into the truck to drive to our Christmas Eve service at church. We enjoyed the music and short message. There are lots of fun things we do as a family on Christmas Eve!

Once the kids went to bed we wrapped a few more packages and watched "It's a Wonderful Life" on TV.

The Eve of Christmas Eve

Above is me and the girls in my laundry room last night. We were all cold, so we gathered around a heat vent and put the blanket over it and us. It was a cozy way to read our bedtime story and say prayers!

I spent today finishing the Christmas card that I sent out (and posted) earlier today. Mike took the girls out one at a time to buy a present for a sister. They drew names for each other. I think that had a good time with him. We also watched Polar Express and had pizza for lunch. We didn't do anything else to exciting today. There is still snow on the ground and a few flakes still coming down every now and then. We won't be going up the mountain for sledding like our normal Christmas eve adventure. There's just too much snow around here to think about driving up the mountain. Instead we're going to go out to breakfast at Denny's (a substitute tradition) and then drive around until we find a suitable sledding area around town! We'll probably watch the Nativity in the afternoon and have a dinner of appetizers before heading off to the Christmas eve service at church. All this is subject to change depending on weather and road conditions. We end up enjoying Christmas Eve even though our actual activities are rarely the same every year.

Our Christmas Card

Every year about this time I try to remember what we did all year and share it with you. So, I go back and read our website updates...because I can't remember on my own. Well, it can be said that it has been a good year of family and fun. We started off the year slowly with selling Girl Scout Cookies in January. We had never done that before, but the girls ended up enjoying themselves and learning a bit about hard work and counting money. The girls are in Girls Scouts for a second year now. In February I started looking for a tent trailer for our family. I eventually found a used one in great condition online on Craigslist. I drove down through Seattle two hours to get it without Michael and towed it home on the freeway when I had never towed anything before in my life! It was a crazy adventure, but I’m so happy we have it. We went camping eight different times this summer! We even went to Oregon with it for a wedding. The tent trailer is just enough comfort to make camping easy and fun for everyone…especially for me. And…it is small enough to be towed behind our minivan. I was able to visit my family in Arizona by myself in March. It was a “gift” to my mom…but it was really a gift for me. Then my sister and her family got to come up and visit us too! We enjoyed having them and wish they could come more often. This year we took up another fun, family hobby called geocaching. Mike bought a handheld GPS and we use it to track down “treasures”. Not really; they are just caches hidden by other people with the coordinates posted online. We found many caches during our camping trips which added to our adventure. Many of the caches have small trinkets in them and the geocaching rule is “take something, leave something”, so the girls enjoyed the trading and finding of treasures. It can be a little dangerous though. Mike once went after a harder cache that required climbing up a rocky mountain. He stumbled upon a rattlesnake on his way and nearly slipped to his death on wet rocks! After a great and busy summer, we entered the next school year in the fall. Kelby is now nine years old and is in fourth grade. She likes her teacher this year. Even though she is pretty strict, she is also loving and kind…just what Kelby needs! She has a hard time remembering to turn in work and stay focused, but she’s a very good girl and tries hard. She’s enjoying reading much more now. Kelby loves drawing and horses, and drawing horses! The only medical treatment that she needed this year was some orthodontia! In August she had “surgery” to remove two fused molars and had a spacer put in. Crazy thing is that this surgery was the most painful out of all of them for her! The mouth is a pretty sensitive place. Tegan is in 2nd grade, but she’s in a 2nd/3rd grade split class. She fits in well there because she reads way above her grade level and picks up on things pretty quick. It’s almost like she’s skipped to 3rd grade. She’s now seven years old. Tegan always wants to have friends over and has several friends her age right in the neighborhood. I don’t mind too much and tend to let the kids come over often. Anika is almost five. Her birthday is three days after Christmas. This year she got into the preschool at our local high school. It is very inexpensive and well run. She loves it and enjoys going for three hours on Mondays and Wednesdays. I enjoy the hours I get too. I use one day to run errands and the other day I spend volunteering in Kelby and Tegan’s class. It is nice that Anika doesn’t have to be dragged along for that anymore. She’s been volunteering at the school with me since she was strapped to me as an infant! Mike continues to run and compete in local races. He is still working at Janicki Industries with computers. The company is going through a lot of changes right now and with the economy as it is, we are hoping they can keep up. They are a great company and we have a lot of faith in their management. Mike also continues to enjoying the hunt for great pictures. I’m grateful for the product of that hobby as seen on our blog…so many beautiful pictures of my family! I have continued to volunteer at my church as a women’s ministries administrator. Things are going very well with that and have been very fruitful for the women of our church. It is a challenging, but rewarding thing to do. I’ve been working with some great ladies that have become dear friends. We are currently enjoying the accumulated foot or so of snow in the yard! This has started out as a crazy winter for us. We never have snow longer than a day, but it started to fall almost a week and a half ago and is still here and not yet melting. We might have a white Christmas! The girls’ school was cancelled three days before break because of the hazardous roads. We’ve been staying home, walking, or sledding at the small hill nearby. Pure WHITE joy! If you want to keep up with us in the future, I just changed our family website into a blog, so please stop by and visit us to see what we are up to at www.perpetuallywright.blogspot.com. I’m hoping that making it a “blog” will make it easier to keep up-to-date. I have been crafting like crazy this last month and am contemplating selling some of those crafts online in the near future. We’ll see what happens. There are so many things I’d LIKE to do, but not enough time to do them all! We pray that though the nation is going through some tough times right now, it allows you to focus again on what is most important in life. We are trying to do that ourselves and appreciate EVERYTHING that we do have, knowing there’s no guarantee we’ll keep our “stuff”, but we’ll always have each other and the peace that the Lord gives those that trust Him. May God bless you all this holiday season and bring you REAL joy! Much love, Shawna, Michael, Kelby, Tegan and Anika Wright PS. Sorry that this comes not by snail mail as a card. I’m running behind in a time and money! If you’d like a hard copy of the picture, please let me know and I’ll send one to you!

Gettin' Outta the House!

The first thing we did today was to walk a mile or so to the closest tire center and we traded in our old chains for ones that actually fit our van! It was the day we had scheduled to deliver the ornaments to the Country Meadows retirement home. We couldn't let the snow stop us!

The girls like going to that store because they offer free popcorn. This is them walking and eating popcorn on the way home. Mike picked us up so we didn't have to walk the whole way home. I got the chains on all by myself and then powered us out of the garage and into the cul-de-sac. I felt to proud of myself when we were on our way out of the neighborhood. I even had to get out and help push another guy because he was stuck in the middle of the road blocking my way.

After picking up one girl, we made it to Country Meadows just in time to meet up with the Hollopeter family. The girls all timidly handed out their hand crafted ornaments to the residents and then sang a few carols. They are a shy bunch of girls, but the residents loved them and the gifts they were bearing.

This lady was known as "Pinkie" and told us she had a pink Christmas tree. Luckily we had a couple ornaments that would match!

Some of the residents were excited to get hugs!

We came home afterward with one extra friend. The girls all played the Wii together for awhile and then when back outside. We went over to sled again for an hour or so. I brought a book to read this time. The sun peaked out for just a minute before it went down.

I'm always craving soup when I'm out in the snow, so I made some yummy chicken noodle soup for dinner. Umm umm good!

A Stamper's Christmas Poem

Only crafty crazy girls will appreciate this poem, but I thought it was hilarious!

Twas the night before Christmas, I'm glued to the tree. I'm wondering what Santa brought just for me. Could it be cardstock or chipboard or lace? Or a Big Shot, I said, with a smile on my face. And that's when I heard him, "Hi Santa, " I said "You know....good little girls Should be in their beds." "I know I should Santa, And now I've got caught. But I was just so excited To see what you brought." "Well, let's take a look In this room where you work. " He shook his head quickly, And left with a jerk. I heard him exclaim As he put it in gear. "You've got enough crap, I'll see you next year!"

Playing in the Snow

The girls absolutely love playing in the snow. They went out again in it this evening and started making snowballs. Maybe the snow will be snowman quality sometime soon. This afternoon they played with the neighbor girl for a long time. They, of course, love their cocoa when it is time to come in! Michael dug them a tunnel in a drift today and Kelby helped!.

Christmas Program

Last night's storm was a little unnerving. I didn't sleep that well. We woke up to some great drifts in the yard. Our church was having services, so we decided to try to get there. Mike tried to get the van out of the garage, but couldn't. So we thought we'd pile into the truck even though it doesn't have enough room for all of us. That is how stir crazy we're getting. Luckily our next door neighbor goes to our church and offered to take two of our girls to church for us! The service was the Christmas musical this morning and we didn't want to miss it. Kelby and Tegan didn't want to sing in it this year, but Anika got to sing with her preschool class before the show. Because of the snow and cancellation of the show last week I had forgotten she was even part of the show! She was supposed to be wearing her "Sunday Best" and she was wearing jeans and a sweater. I was a little embarrassed. The put her in the back row for the show, so it wasn't bad. We spent the rest of the day goofing off. There's no where to go and nothing important left to do before Christmas. It is a nice feeling actually. We played a little Wii and watched a Christmas movie. Mostly, I worked on setting up this new blog. It think it will be great!

Winter Storm Video!

There is a crazy windy winter storm going on outside. We hope it doesn't knock the power out. What a weird winter for us! There was about a foot of snow, but now there is more, although it has been blown into drifts. I can't wait to see what the girls think of it tomorrow morning!

The Sledding Before the Storm

This is what we did for fun yesterday. The girls had to wait until I got the house pretty clean before we could go. It was COLD outside! At least I had my cup of coffee with me!

Photos & SNOW

The girl had a snow day today. I think we've gotten a foot so far. It has slowed down now, but we might get more tonight. Needless to say, the girls are having a great time! I'm enjoying the forced slow pace...baking, crafting with the girls, eating the goodies, etc! I LOVE IT! We might even get a white Christmas! Here's some photos for now...

Photos

Crafts I've Been Making

My Crafts

December fun, here I come!

Hello lovely friends and family! I'm sorry yet again that I've been out of touch. This last few weeks was my really busy season, but now I'm looking toward smooth sailing through the rest of December. Sure, there's lots to do, but it is all fun and relaxing. I can honestly say that! I plan to craft and read, rest and relax in front of my "fire" (everyone knows I just have a DVD on as my fireplace right!?). When there's a cup of coffee and a book in my hand, you know it is good times for me.

So, what have we been up to? Well, one really important and exciting thing is that Mike built me a "new" computer so I can do things more speedily! I can't believe what a difference it makes. Now, my laptop can be used by the girls instead of the big old clunker. We are keeping that in the family room. So, I bought a bar-height table for that room instead of a desk. It is so nice to have an extra space for games, drawing, homework, and hopefully soon, a puzzle!

So, since the beginning of November, what have we been up to? Well, busy for sure. In fact, I can't even remember because it slipped by so fast. I was busy reading for part of it. I finished the Hobbit in there somewhere and then read two other books since then.

Anika got to go to a birthday party for a friend. That was her first one ever by herself. Her friend Katura is one of the three girls in the family we met this summer. Their daddy is in Iraq right now for a year. Those three girls are the same age as our girls and they are SO sweet!

There were lots of meeting in November for me since our Ladies' Christmas Festival for church was upcoming. I volunteered to do a demonstration of "Darling Gifts Under $10" for it and so I was also busy gettin' creative! It reminded me how much I love it. In fact I wish I were crafting right now instead of on the computer. I'm thinking about selling some of my crafts. There is a website called "Esty.com" where you can buy and sell only handmade goods. Mike was impressed with the crafts I made, so that made me feel good. Maybe I'll post an album with pictures some time.

On Friday the 14th of November, the school had a movie night planned. The girls were excited to see KungFu Panda. We got there and I helped sell refreshments until the time the movie was supposed to start. It was a packed house of kids and parents. They started the movie and 5 minutes into it we realized that no one could hear it! Everyone was bummed and frustrated...so we turned on the lights to see what we could do. Seconds later, the lights went out! We thought we had done something, but soon found out that the power was out on the whole block. We had that packed house and nothing by emergency lights to go by! It was crazy. My girls were scared. Finally we realized that even if the power came back on, there wouldn't be time to watch the whole movie, so we sent everyone home. At least they didn't have to pay for the movie! The girls were bummed, so we came home and watched part of a movie on the little portable DVD player until the battery died. Then we played a game by candlelight. In the end it was a fun adventure of an evening...except that Mike was working late to move computers around and the power went out on them too. Power outages are always a pain for him, so he was at work until 1:30 am.

The next day was our November Her Place meeting at church. That has been going smoothly for us now. Ladies really seem to enjoy it. I shared about simplifing Christmas at a workshop that day.

Mike and the girls when Geocaching while I was busy that day. They found our first "geocoin". That is a special item that can be tracked. It was exciting to finally get one!

I had a Stampin' Up party on Sunday because I joined a once-a-month club for it. I go to one every month and buy $15 of fun stuff, then one month I get to the the hostess and earn all the goodies! I got lots of great stuff.

I don't really recall what kept me so busy that next week...but it must have been good...spent crafting and what not. All I know is that we had a fun weekend.

On Saturday we had three girls over for a play date (the military family). Their mom got a little break and my girls had a blast. We crafted and played with them for a long time. I hope we do it again soon.

That evening we had a babysitter come over and went to a friend's house for a dinner party! It was so fun to be invited. It was a bunch of couples we know. Our friend Shayla went all out to decorate and cook a delicious meal. Then we played games together afterward. My new favorite game is "Apples to Apples". We even got the kid version!

The next week flew by because the girls had only 2 days of school and a half day before Thanksgiving. Because Kelby is a junior girl scout, she got to go to the middle school on Wednesday to volunteer. Her troop helped to prepare apples for pies for the community dinner they host there on Thanksgiving. I was so proud to see her doing that!

Of course there was turkey on Thanksgiving! We watched the parade as I made my pecan pie and broccoli salad. Mike watched TV while he made his speciality...asparagus ham cream cheese rolls! Yum. We went over to Debbie and George's about 12:30. The girls love to hang out with cousins. After dinner Mike set up a movie projector so they could enjoy movies on the big screen...apparently an important tradition for all the kids. We enjoyed watching "Fred Claus" that evening.

I went shopping the next day at 5:30 am. I had a good time...rushing and seeking. I found mostly what I wanted...including that bar-height table with stools! Then we started getting Christmas stuff down and started decorating.

This week was last minte countdown time for the Ladies event happening on Friday. Things weren't too stressful for me. The coordinator had to deal with all the details. I just had to get my fun craft demo together. I was also playing with a new fancy tool I bought myself. (I spoiled Mike's Christmas present to me by doing it, so I feel bad...but I'm sure I'll use it before then lots!) It is called Cricut Expression. It cuts anything you want...like a printer, but instead of printing shapes, it cuts them out. I should be able to master it and make images on my computer to cut, but for now I can use the cartridges that have cute designs and fonts. FUN!

Thursday was happy birthday to my Mom! I was proud that even in all that busyness, I had gotten her present to her on time.

On Friday morning, my baby sister had another baby! Makalya Dee Magana...8 lbs, 19 1/2 inches. I was sent some pictures and she is a cutie. Wish I could go meet her and see my sister.

That day I was at the church after noon and working hard to help get the event set up for that night. There were lots of little things to do. I went home to get the girls after school and went back after Mike got home from work. The evening was a hit I think! It was laid back, but offered a great variety of activities. I felt great about it. The vision for it was from a great gal and she did a good job implementing it...and it was a real success. There were a few kinks, but there always are. I stayed late to help clean up afterward, but we finished everything at 12:30 pm. I was happy to have it completely done.

Yesterday was way relaxing. I enjoyed lounging a bit and getting caught up too. I even got our tent trailer winterized! Just had to put a special antifreeze in the plumbing in case of freezing.

We went to the annual Sedro-Woolley Christmas parade. The girls were there to help sell food and drink for a bake sale for girl scouts. I'm not sure if they made much money. The parade only lasted for 15 minutes, if that! It was icky raining too. Still, it is one of our traditions, so we had to do it!

Today was church and then not much else. Well, we went Christmas shopping together after church for awhile, but that's about it. I think life really will settle down for me now even though it is getting to be the crunch time for Christmas. I think that our Christmas is simple enough that it is all good. I'll be doing a little baking this week, mailing a few packages, crafting a little, and, of course, we'll be doing our fun family advent calendar countdown. We have activities everyday that the girls are enjoying. So far we've had a Christmas tea party, built a gingerbread house, made some gifts, and watched Christmas movie. Lots of fun for all!

I plan to take some time to read by the "fire" as well. (The DVD version!) Hope you all have a happy and blessed December remembering and celebrating the reason for the season!