what i did on MY christmas break 2011

Thursday, December 22nd

• worked til 4pm
• stopped and got some last minute gifts
• 6 pm, out for pizza & drinks with kathy :) great way to start my break!

Friday, December 23rd

• lazed around
• finished wrapping
• finished shopping
• delivered a meat, cheese, roll & eggnog package to neighbors whose 21 year old son passed away with Lisa & Kathy
• St Vincent at 5pm for .10 shopping spree! all clothing & toys were .10. Sheena, Aubri and I had a blast!
• pork pies at Mavis & Phil's
• christmas at Dan & Micailly's after pork pies

Saturday, December 24th

• Lisa W.'s for dinner
• christmas eve service at Mitchell with Sheena, Aubri, Steven, Aaron, Maddy, Matt, Liz & I
• prepped some food for tomorrow
• kids opened presents to each other

Sunday, December 25th

• 8am, kids up and opened presents (Aaron was here, too!)
• i made pumpkin puff pancakes
• Aubri & Ty went to their dads
• Sheena, Aaron and Derick to church for 11am
• I went to the ski hill from 12 - 4:00 (it was wonderful to escape the madness!)
• 5pm christmas at our house began....INSANE! my house is way too small. Here is who we had for christmas: Aubri, Tyler, Derick, Sheena, Aaron, Cindi, Steven, Cori, Brian, Brianna, Caden, John, Kathy, Emmett, Martin, Beth, Gideon & Celeste.
• We had had different snacks, everyone brought a couple things
• Maddy, Matt, Liz, Amy, Dennis, Mavis, Phil, Dan, Micailly, Riley, Olivia & Alex stopped over around 7pm

Monday, December 26th

• went on a walk with Tina
• skied from 5 - 8:30, Aubri came with me

Tuesday, December 27th

• up at 8 am to bring Aubri to b-ball practice, picked her up at 10:30am
• funeral at 2pm for neighbors son
• out for drinks & chapper burger with Lisa

Wednesday, December 28th

• up at 8 am to bring Aubri to b-ball practice, picked her up at 10:30am

Thursday, December 29th

• up at 8 am to bring Aubri to b-ball practice, picked her up at 10:30am
• christmas with Kathy & Lisa, exchanged gifts and out for pizza & drinks
• tyler sick all night with the flu, started about 10 pm

Friday, December 30th

• finally went to the nursing home and gave Gram her present (Gram was makeover of the month for December)
• made 6 loaves of gum drop bread, Aubri made peanut butter cup cookies
• went for walk with Tina

Saturday, December 31st

• put christmas away, took tree down
• cleaned all day
• when mom is on vacation and decides to be lazy she pays for it later. I did mountains of laundry today
• cleaned Aubri's room

Sunday, January 1st

• slept in
• took Aubri to Target, that christmas money is burning a hole in her pocket
• picked up K-Con at 12:15...off to make a day of it watching football & having some biers

Monday, January 2nd

• slept in
• did some laundry, cleaned up
• tried to balance gram's account, worked on it for over 2 hours :/
• scanned some photos for ty's grad party
• made a healthy lunch for my lad and delivered it to him

christmas card 2011

it turned out so gooood!

best christmas craft to date...this year

that's all i can say because YOU may get one

pretzels + chocolate = love

first bag with hershey hugs, 2nd bag with hershey candy cane and 3rd bag rolos with cashews

m&m pancakes

breakfast of champions around these parts...this is what the queen requested for breakfast this morning, well chocolate chip but i didn't have any so i had to improvise

christmas wreaths

one for kathy d....

one for lisa w....
getting my craft on...
santa soap holders i bought for dirt cheap last year that i forgot about
aubri & sheena's wreaths

dogs...

ty & lola

martha...
lola's "babies" all washed and looking brand new again

thanksgiving 2011

GO PACK GO...watching the Packers play, why are they sitting so close??

Aaron is always smiling, what's up with you sheen?
ok, now she's on board...
hahahahahahaha...
candy corn hat

Bitte ein bit

i received these as a present today, 3 of them actually...what a great christmas present!

one of my favorite german biers

captain my captain

aubri is a co-captain this year and i am very proud of how hard she works...

christmas party 2011

beef rolls

3 pkgs Carl Budding beef slices ( i actually used 5 this time and had more than enough stuff to spread)

1 - 8oz cream cheese

1/8 t. prepared mustard

2t. worcestershire sauce

onion salt

1 t. horseradish sauce

mix last 5 ingredients & spread on beef slices

baby shower gifts

my first "Maya" wrap, i will make these for future baby showers...directions found here http://www.mayawrap.com/n_sewsling.php

ditto with these if i know the mother is going to breast feed, these will save her a ton of money

the ole bird strikes again...

i just got done telling Tyler that i need to go see grandma tomorrow. 2 minutes later the phone rings, i didn't catch the caller id but as soon as i answered i knew it was my gram. Here is how the conversation went...

Me: hello

Gram: (no hello) did you know the wedding was cancelled?

Me: No, i hadn't heard that

Gram: well it is, they told me it was cancelled because there is a storm coming. I was so damn mad!

Me: well there is a storm coming, we are suppose to get 6 - 8 inches tonight

Gram: Ok well I'm glad you told me, i thought they were just pulling my leg. I tried on 2 dresses but the girl told me that is not what is in now. What is in right now is white pant suits

Me: really? i don't like white pant suits at all, you should wear a dress

Gram: i don't like the white pant suits either, bullshit. What's new with you?

Me: oh nothing really, i am planning on visiting you tomorrow, hopefully we won't have too much snow from this storm.

Gram: we are going to Gail's for Christmas dinner, she has been to our house the last 2 holidays. When i told Gail she said "oh do i have to take a turn?" When Gail was at my house i asked her if that bowl was hers and Gail said "No, i didn't bring anything". It's the understanding that if you have the dinner then you supply the turkey, gray and potatoes because it's too hard to keep potatoes warm.

Me: i don't know what we are doing for Christmas, our plans are still up in the air

Gram: Ok, I'll talk to you later (she hands the phone off to the nurse)

Me: Ok, I LOVE YOU, Gram, i love you...(no response)

she is something else and that conversation made me happy, alzheimer's or not!

quotes...

Live simply so people can simply live

A year from now you will wish youhad started today - Karen Lamb

Let go or be dragged - author unknown (but brilliant!)

The Positive Angel There have been various breakdowns offered about the huge expense parents experience to raise a child--The cost range anywhere from $149,610 to $246,320 depending on family income. This is good information but one must also consider the huge benefits as well:What do you get for you money?

*Naming rights, First, middle, and last
*Glimpses of God every day.
*More love than your heart can hold
*Butterfly kisses and Bear hugs.
*Endless wonder over rocks, ants, clouds, and warm cookies.
*A partner for blowing bubbles, flying kites building sand castles, and skipping down the sidewalk in the pouring rain.
*Someone to laugh yourself silly with
*You get to frame rainbows, hearts, and flowers under refrigerator magnets, hand prints set in plaster for Mother's Day, and cards with backward letters for Father's Day.
*You get to be a hero just for retrieving a Frisbee off the garage roof, removing a splinter, getting a wad of gum out of hair, and coaching a baseball team that never wins but gets treated to ice cream regardless.
*You get an education in psychology, nursing, criminal justice, communications, and mortality that no college can match.
-Source: Unknown

kitchen cupboard update

yes, i am leaving the doors off...

yes, that is a stencil (houndstooth)

yes, i love it!

kitchen re-painting update...

all the bottom cabinets are done and i love them! dutch boy "sheet metal" is the color, semi gloss

1 year anniversary of the "incident"

kitty litter cake...it actually tastes good

my first metal stamping

i bought a set of letters & numbers to stamp jewelry, this is my first one (actually 2nd because i wrecked the first one). My co-worker had to put her dog Baylee to sleep so i made this for her, it has a pink bead on it also...

Ladies night

went to ladies night tonight (Nov. 15) in Ishpeming. Highlights ~ art show, free roses from flower shop, seeing friends at Wilderness Sports, Andriacchi's (going back for tortellini & sauces), spending time with my crazy friends/co-workers and Lisa & her sister arguing as usual

Kitchen re-painting

Before: mustard color and cream (the black is chalkboard paint i just did for my meal plan)
pantry: mustard color with reddish/pink trim on top
unfortunately this is what my dining room...
and kitchen counter will look like until it's all done (look in the background, the gray looks sooooooooo good!)
i think it already looks better!
i have help from tyler, he took all the handles & hinges off. I have 27 doors/drawers in this kitchen, that's a lot of hinges & handles

taco ring

1 1/2 pounds ground beed
1 pkg taco seasoning mix
1 3/4 cups shredded cheddar cheese, divided
2 T. water
1 egg white, lightly beaten
2 pkgs crescent rolls

Preheat oven to 375F, cook ground beef over medium heat, 10 -12 minutes. Stir in taco seasoning mix, 1 1/2 cups of cheese and water.

scoop filling evenly over desired shape, finish shape as directed. brush with egg white, sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake 25-30 minutes or until golden brown. serve with toppings (salsa, shredded lettuce, chopped onion and tomato, sliced olives, sour cream).

MAKING THE RING: unroll 2 pkgs crescent rolls; separate into 16 triangles. arrange triangles, slightly overlapping in a circle on a large pizza stone (or pizza pan). Points will extend off the edge of the baking stone. Roll wide ends of dough toward center to create a 5 inch opening. using large scoop (i use an ice cream scoop), scoop filling evenly over dough in a continuous circle. bring points of triangles up over filling & tuck under dough.

This recipe is from "all the best" by Pampered Chef

Tyler & friends

team romby

caramel rolls & a shoebox

you can find the recipe here...http://kristirandomly.blogspot.com/2011/11/easy-caramel-rolls.html

shoeboxes filled with small presents were due back at the church today. tyler helped me pick out the presents...

11-11-11 WORSE DAY EVER and a ham

meat raffle, my auntie won (she picked a turkey) then she drew my number! it was exciting...

first snow day of the year 11-10-11

snow started on wednesday, we saw 3 cars in the ditch on our way home, 1 was on its roof. I got home and made dinner right away. Good thing cause the power went out at 6:45 and didn't come back on until 10:45, that's the longest its been out in a LONG time. I lit candles, Aubri and I cuddled on the couch to keep warm. We talked about bizarre things, laughed and i really enjoyed it!

first 2 pictures are Negaunee on our way to work thursday morning, everything was closed BUT NMU

next 2 pictures are Marquette, 12 miles from Negaunee, hardly any snow at all!

aubri

hope for a cure! warms the heart that girl of mine..

my dogs...

this is how we roll up in our house. i know TONS OF PEOPLE who do not give there dogs people food, only buy top of the line dog food, etc. i heated all this up for my dogs...fat i trimmed off my chicken (i cooked it first), sausage, potatoes, venison sausage a handful of noodles (i cleaned out my fridge). i mixed it in with their dry dog food...

they look pretty happy to me!
i've never noticed her ears like that before, she looks like the flying nun