thank you from Norway

christmas 2012

I am thankful for many things this christmas: my children are healthy & happy, i have a job, my husband loves me, i have a great family as crazy/dysfunctional as we are sometimes, i have a nice car, i have great friends, i don't really "want" for anything, i get to travel pretty much whenever i want, i am thankful for all of these!

I do miss my mother on these days. Since she passed when i was 23 i wonder what type of friends we would be now that i am 42. Would we craft and bake together during the holidays? yes, i think we would. Would we do the crazy day after thanksgiving shopping? yes, i think we would followed by a stop somewhere so she could have a Miller high life. Would she guilt me into going to church christmas eve? that is a definate yes.

I would happily agree to all of this and more if she was able to ask. Enjoy the Holidays, keep your loved ones close

Gram Cor

Well i was feeling a little sad today, not sure why, i really love Christmas. I figured it was because i miss my mother so i thought i would go visit Gram. She was in the lunch room eating. At first i almost started to cry seeing all of the people sitting at 1/2 tables being fed. My gram has ALWAYS been the last one at the table and this still hasn't changed. I brought her flowers and chocolates. She asked who the flowers were for and i told her they were for her. She asked why and i said because i love you. She got such a big smile on her face. 10 minutes later we had that same conversation and it resulted with that same child like smile, 30 minutes later same conversation.

spaghetti was on the menu today with banana cake with cream cheese frosting. She took a bite of spaghetti and then offered me one, yes she fed me. The aide and i laughed, it's been about 40 years since she has spoon fed me but i won't argue. So that was how the rest of her lunch went, 1 bite for her and then 1 bite for me. At one point i said i didn't need anymore so she proceeded to put the spaghetti in my hand and also smear the fork down the side of my palm to make sure i had all the sauce. At one point she called me cindi marie so it was nice she knew who i was.

i brought her back to her room, put her flowers in a vase and gave her one of the dove chocolate bars. She offered it to me, i of course took a piece because she wasn't taking no today. She asked if i have seen Bruce or Marion Elizabeth lately. I said i haven't seen Bruce and she said "that buggar, he come around when he is broke". I told her that Marion moved to Chicago to be by her daughter Madeline and that she has a good job there.

I asked if she wanted to lay down and she said "not while i have company, i am not going to sleep". Soon after that she had to go to the bathroom, i brought her in and got her set up. I laughed and told her "what a small bum you have". We both laughed out loud! As usual, she took her own sweet time. I also laughed so hard because for being so little she still is so smelly, i feel sorry for her roommate sharing that bathroom! I know where i get it from. I helped her out of the bathroom and she wanted to lay down. I laid her down and gave her a kiss and told her i loved her, she said "i love you, too, you've always been a good friend. thank you for visiting".  i am glad it was a good day, i left feeling happy knowing she is taken care of and seems to be happy, that is good enough for me. Thank you gram for all you have done for me throughout my life and thanks for feeding me lunch today, i love you so very much you ole bird!

zu meinem Mann Frohe Weihnachten...

der löffel

tragedy

i stumbled upon this blog post...

http://www.nicegirlnotes.com/sandy-hook-newtown

pallets

I made this for Sheena, it's being used as her headboard right now but when she moves out she could use it as a sofa table or buffet table or whatever she wants.

 i am thankful my neighbor has a garage and a nail gun!

gluwein

this brings me back to when i lived in Germany. I bought the wine this past weekend in Appleton. The cup i got from the last christmas market i was at with Heidi in Germany, makes me smile thinking about it

it has to be heated, so i warmed some up and brought it downstairs while i was sewing and listened to christmas music!

aubri's chem test

papers still go on the fridge, nice job Aubri !

christmas ornaments

tyler

 aubri

 derick

 bells that were my mother's from germany

 this was mine from when i was a little kid

 my mother made these, bert & ernie

 sheena made this tree

basketball

b-ball at L'anse 12-11-12

candles

they turned out pretty good for my first try

thankful for the little things

Last night i had a wonderful evening with my daughter. She volunteered to wrap christmas presents for me, while we watched the Packers vs. Lions game (go pack go). The christmas tree lights were on, it was just her and i chit chatting while i did my homework. It was a very nice evening, i am thankful because she is 16 and i don't know how many more times she will do this with me...thanks again Aubri Cheryl, i love you so very much!

Merry Christmas

since sheena is on a study abroad in costa rica we had to dig into the archives for some photos. Aubri designed the card and i think it's great!

my christmas list

These are all just "wants" i don't NEED anything...i have healthy children, a happy husband and friends i love (& that love me back, most days) that's good enough for me BUT when someone asks me what i want...

• Book "Self sufficienty for the 21st century", Dick and James Strawbridge
• Under Armour long socks (at Dunham's): teal stripe and 2 pack of funky color pink and green
• Life is good long sleeve t-shirts, sz XL: Happy Hour; its a wanderful life or wander woman
• sweater from etsy, i found it over a year ago, couldn't stop thinking about it, so i bought it for myself today!  
• sliceomatic, https://www.sliceomatic.com 
• 1/16 letter stamp set 
• http://www.amazon.com/Piece-Letter-Number-Punch-Stamping/dp/B00315F9
• Babushkups glasses or also called Matryosh cups
• Les champignons poster, http://www.modcloth.com/shop/wall-decor/remains-to-be-scene-paper-set-in-pasture
• Boots poster, http://www.uncommongoods.com/product/boots-erin-smith
• Alladin travel mug, turquoise from Target



• turquoise necklace, http://www.etsy.com/listing/74281953/primary-colors-star-necklace
• Book "Organic body care recipes" http://www.amazon.com/dp/1580176763/?tag=soul01-20
• purple faux fur blanket/throw from TJ Maxx $19.99
• earrings http://shop.nationalgeographic.com/ngs/product/clothing/jewelry/guatemalan-jade-and-sterling-silver-earrings
• sweater, too much but oooooooooooohhhh so beautiful, green, XL  http://shop.nationalgeographic.com/ngs/product/clothing/women%27s-clothing/sweaters/irish-sweater-jacket 
• i really want to surprise someone with something but i don't think i can pull it off in the next 2 months, i won't give up on this one!
• Coach or Prada, everyone has those ! Lucky crossbody convertible bag in bourbon  or Fossil explorer tote, espresso http://www.fossil.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=12052&catalogId=25005&productId=22331378&cm_mmc=goo2-_-feed-_-pdp-_-dly&mr:trackingCode=B164AAD8-C187-E111-9D68-90E2BA028069&mr:referralID=NA&mr:adType=pla (these 2 purses are a WANT for sure! this is too much for a purse, i haven't spent this much on the last 8 purses i have bought myself but hey it's my wishlist :) 

kitchen towels

i added this fabric to a couple kitchen towels for a birthday present for a friend,  i think they turned out ok. We'll have to see how they hold up in the wash

Baking

amaretto nut bread (i don't used nuts)

 peanuts, butterscotch chips & chocolate chips

lazy dogs

November 23

yup, she biffed it off the porch into the yard

 she is wearing her great grandpa's boots, all the tread is gone on the bottom

i had a good laughing watching her try to make it to her car

a + h

these two are so weird. They dressed in black and went over to their friends house to scare her because they knew she was home alone. First they had to scare tyler first, he was in his bedroom and yeah, he jumped

thanksgiving 2012

 this was written for Martin because he showed up with low sugar...

 aubri wrote this about her sister...

 Caden is thankful for bluebirds...

 Brianna is thankful for happyness...

 i think aubri wrote this...

 and tyler's, straight from the heart...

The Central Ski Report

Here's an update:  the papers arrived in Norway today 11-20-12

Hello Cindi Carlson, The newspapers arrived today. I have just opened the envelope but I haven`t hade the time to read them yet. But I am looking forward to do so when I can find the time.

Thank you again for this gift. I will send you a formal thank you-letter in a couple of days.
All the best form
Per Øyvind Østensen, Curator
Norwegian Mining Museum
Po box 18
3602 Kongsberg
NORWAY

I had a stack of these newspapers that were my grandfathers from the 30's and 40's. I don't have an attachment to these but i knew i couldn't just throw them away, i knew i had to find them homes. I have a few i will send to the ski hall of fame and the rest are going in the mail to 8 different places.

When you are researching old newspapers, its the the shape the newspaper is in, it is the article on the front page. I read the articles, looked up people online and sent them to the person/ski hill with the best story.

I am sending some to a museum in Norway. One of the articles was about a Birger Rudd, he went onto to win an olympic medal and open up a skiing museum in his home town. I contacted the curator at that museum and they wanted the newspapers...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kongsberg_Skiing_Museum

pallet project

IT'S FINISHED ! this is all i can show you because it's part of a surprise. I am thankful for my neighbor who helped by cutting the boards and letting me use his garage. I think "she" will like it

gotta love free pallets for projects but it sucks to get the boards off. easiest way is to zip the sides off and then you just have to struggle to get the middle nails out

i'll update once i get this built

hey

 11111 pageviews this is what i hit today ! pretty exciting, thank you to my (3) loyal readers...

dress

navy with white polka dots

aubri picked out the pattern and fabric last summer, yeah 2011, i started it and never finished it. Well its done now, it was suppose to be an EASY pattern but it was not. I swore a lot sewing this

quilt

after this quilt i will have enough scraps from my mother to make 1 more, god she was a HOARDER of fabric

succulents

since the basement is so dark, no point in putting flowers down there but these will work

Kafers

I bought this at Kafer's, one of my favorite stores that just happens to be located in Sohren, Germany. Did i mention that i was with one of my favorite girls when i bought it? 

yeah, Kathy Chapman has one just like it. We both HAD to have them because Marion had one, we always buy the most fragile stuff that has to be packed in the suitcase. We've been lucky so far...

a boy & his dog

 warms the heart...