Christmas Decorations Day 6

Today started off pretty normally. Mark took the day off since his classes were cancelled due to a field trip. So we dropped a couple of items off at Erin's (and caught up after their NY trip!) and took some papers to Brian. Then we went to finish our Christmas shopping. We have one gift card left to get and then we're DONE!! Yea! Now to get them all wrapped....UGH!

Here are today's decoration entries....


These were some fun ornaments to make. Erin and I were both working in Relief Society that year and we made about 150 of them! They're cute and not too difficult to mass produce. And the best part is that they're unbreakable. The grandkids like to play with the tree ornaments, and this is one of the "safe" ones.

I love this nativity. It's made by Jim Shore. I like that's it's so colorful and rustic looking. It was designed to be a set of ornaments, but I've never put it on the tree. I'm afraid they would get "lost" on the tree, so I set them out on a table or a shelf.

This ornaments holds a ton of memories for me. My Grandma Mortensen used to always carry a cloth hanky in her purse. She was a true lady. Anyway, when Grandma passed away, she had a box full of hankies she'd accumulated over the years. Well, Mom got possession of them and one year she made all of us a hanky ornament made from one of Grandma's hankies. They're so simple...they have a styrofoam ball for the head, tied at the neck with a ribbon and embellished with a little strand of faux pearls and a rose bud. Every hanky was different, so no two angels are alike. Luckily for Erin and Emali....they got the hankies that were monogrammed with Grandma's initial...E for Emma!

Mark surprised me one year with the simple nativity. It was made by the shop teacher at the school where I worked. I love it!

This is one of our "newer" nativities. Last year we had six of the grandkids over for a sleepover before Christmas. Besides making gingerbread houses with them, we made these nativities. They're made with turned wood pieces. Each of the grandkids went home with one and I've seen them out this year as part of their Christmas decorations.

I think I have enough left for one more decorations post....

New Home Construction

We started (and finished) a new home construction today. The Trimble girls came over before Libby's soccer game to make their gingerbread house. There was once a day when all three of our kids and their families gathered on the same day and we made three houses, but those days are gone, it seems. Everyone is so busy that this year we're doing each family individually. But that has its perks, too. Less chaos, no competition, more personal time with each family. So that works, too. Anyway, as soon as the girls came in the house, we got started. Eliza and Libby eagerly talked and planned what they wanted to do, while Hattie and Ellie ate candy as fast as their little hands could put it into their mouths! I'm surprised neither of them got sick. It was so funny to watch. We'd encourage them to put something on the house, but no, they'd plop it into their mouths! Eliza and Libby nibbled a bit, but they got really creative with their house. I can sure tell that they're maturing and letting their creative juices flow.

We'll be making Brian and Kamille's family house next Saturday! So it's two down, one to go! It's a tradition that we've done since Matthew was a year or two old and he's nine now, so it's been around a while. In the beginning, the parents did most of the decorating, but not any more. They mostly sit aside and the kids go to town with the houses. I'm so glad of that.

After the construction project, the Trimbles headed out to Libby's soccer game, and no, she didn't play. She won't even step a foot across the sideline into the field. She has a great time at practice, but she says that there are too many people "watching" during the games, so she's yet to play. Oh, well.

Mark and I took off for the east valley. We picked up Hattie's Christmas present from a lady I met on etsy.com. She (and her mom) make quiet books and that's what Hattie (and Erin) wanted for Christmas. It's pretty cute. Then we went looking for a few other gifts we needed to find. We had a little luck, but still have a couple more items to complete our shopping.

Jan and I worked HARD yesterday/last night on a new project that we'll be teaching at Scrap Happy Sisters in February. It's a book that could be used for Valentine's Day, an anniversary, or just because. It's about the love story of a husband and wife. It's really going to be cute. We have everything cut and planned out, but we still need to finalize pictures, embellishments, etc. I'll post some pics when we finish.

This week will be another busy one....taking Dad and Aunt Dovetta to the airport, an Enrichment Meeting, shuttling Dallin and Luke, picking up Eliza, Libby and Abigail after their early release day (we'll have to do lunch or something!!), Eliza's chorus program and gingerbread house with the Surprise Mabees. Whew! I'd better get some sleep!

Black Friday

Mark and I were up and out early this morning. First stop was Wal-Mart for some grandkid gifts that were on sale. Then we headed to Target and Joann's. Mark went to Target and I went to Joann's. He got some more grandkid gifts on sale and I purchased flannel for various projects. We started at about 4:45 am and were home by 7 am. Then we took a well-deserved morning nap. After we woke up, we went back to Joann's for more flannel....I didn't get enough that was good for boys earlier, so we stood in long lines this time. There's a lot to be said about missing the rush by getting up early. Then we met Dad, Aunt Dovetta, Brian, Kamille and their kids at Chick-Fil-A for lunch. AFter that, we went to Westgate to a new business called RideMakerZ. It's a car-themed Build a Bear sort of store, but more for boys. We had received a free one in the mail a while back and the free offer expires this Sunday, so we were a little under the gun. We let Dallin build the car. It was a green Mustang and he (and his dad!) had a great time selecting the various parts and assembling the car. I'm glad it was free (or at least most of it was), since we figured it would have been VERY pricey otherwise...something we probably wouldn't choose to do. But Dallin had fun with it.

Our next stop of the day was to pick Ellie up for her birthday sleepover. She was giddy with excitement. She had her backpack all ready and her sleeping bed by the front door. We let her choose a place for dinner, and she chose Sardella's for a plain cheese pizza. She wanted to shop for her gift tonight and she wanted to go to Wal-Mart. She choose a new baby doll, two Fisher-Price baby play sets--one is a naptime baby and the other is a bathtime baby. Her last choice was a miniature Cabbage Patch baby with a tricycle. When we were at the store, rather than askingn if she could buy those items, she wanted to "borrow" them. I think she doesn't understand the difference. Maybe it's because she borrows things from our house and keeps them at her house for a while....until she thinks they're hers!!
She had a great time tonight getting them all out of the packaging and playing with them. She's got her sleeping bag on the living room floor and she's watching The Polar Express for about the 100th time!! She (and her dad) love that movie! Tomorrow, her plans are to go to Build-A-Bear (for her Saturday activity) and then we'll take her home. I almost forgot....she requested Pop Tarts for breakfast and when she learned she got that and her own personal chocolate milk, she put both hands to her mouth, gasped and then giggled! I wish more people could be as innocent and unassuming as little Ellie.