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!