The Crafts

If you spend any time reading blogs or viewing Facebook you can find photos of various Christmas trees galore. Most look the same, ours included, but there is enough excitement bubbling behind those Christmas tree pics to warrant the need to share with the world. The family and I decorated two trees this weekend, my parents' and our own. Actually we have one real tree and several artificial trees. We've accumulated at least six artificial trees in our seven short years of marriage. And believe it or not, we didn't purchase a single one. That's what happens when you have family looking to 'share' their old trees and when you move into a partially cleaned out old home. We found a great big Christmas tree in the basement. ****************** While I ordered our Christmas cards a couple of weeks ago I'm wishing I would have waited.  Wouldn't this have made a cheery greeting?! Or I could have used this pic instead. Although I think I'm p...

I'm a little surprised at myself. I missed an entire week of blogging. We've been filling our days with lots of good things like family, playing outdoors, celebrating Thanksgiving, decorating for Christmas and well, just plain relaxing.  CJ may have 'dominated' her game of catch with Holden but...     ...Holden put the smack down in their impromptu game of tug-of-war. Typically I don't like to begin Christmas celebrations until December 1st at least, but this year I couldn't help myself.   Santa Dina Claus flexes her guns.   Santa Claudia Claus is feeling mischievous.   While Santa Kate Claus knows how to work the camera. With the Christmas spirit in our sails we made our way to a local tree farm.   The face of a laborer. That Frasier Fir was no match for 'Paul Bunyun.' And what do ya know? The real Santa Claus made an appearance after we chopped and hauled our own Christmas tree. ...

I am certainly not the first person to ever have two children, but it is my first time ever having two children.  I like it a lot. These girls are my world. They're sweet, intelligent, fun-loving but, and you knew a 'but' was coming, when they are together... boy howdy, you'd better put on a helmet because you're gonna get hit with a lot of crap. Proverbially crap, literal crap, figurative crap...it's all gonna fly. But among the flying crap a rainbow in the form of preschool or nap time or a simple miracle arrives and you get a glimpse at how one child can act when they are away from the other crap-flinger. (Is this too graphic? Sorry. I'm just being honest.) Today was one of those rainbow days. Kate had preschool while little sister and I had some fabulous quality time together. We read books at the library for an hour and played at the park together for another hour and a half. This afternoon was a breath of fresh air. CJ laughed, smiled ...

Back in my 20s I was no stranger to the early morning hours. Watch movies til 1 a.m.? Sure! Hanging with friends on the town til 2:00 a.m.? I'm there. But now days, the sight of 10:30 p.m. causes a panic. It's part knowledge that my two favorite girls will be up before the sun and part me just getting old. So when my friend Jennie suggested we try out the midnight showing of the new Twilight movie I immediately balked. Midnight movie? Haha! Who does she think I am. Britney Spears?  But you know what I did? (I'm darn proud of myself.) I put my worries aside and dove head first into that midnight showing.   Earlier in the day I pushed aside all the furniture, gave the girls a great big box and told them to burn off every ounce of energy. Mama was going to need a nap. It was a great night. We left at 9:30, stood in line until 10:30 and waited with all of the other crazy Twilight fans for the midnight show to begin. When it wrapped up around 2:00 a.m. I felt awes...

The return to normalcy after a super vacation isn't always the smoothest. I've been doing pretty well but I've also sunk myself deep into some serious projects. I continue to start new activities before I finish the last. I guess now I know where Kate gets her focus (or lack thereof.) November in Iowa and it's 55 degrees. It may not be a tropical paradise but we're still taking in the local sites.   My mind and body were still thinking warm because I went out for a jog in shorts the other day. Thanks to my delusions, I'm beginning to feel the start of a cold. I'm sure in some strange way this potential cold is Iowa's punishment for me missing Florida so much. Thankfully I've got a box of Cold-eeze (have you tried that stuff? It rocks!) and lots of irons in the fire. These are all good things to keep me preoccupied from the inevitable winter weather and a groggy head. Besides, hitting the park with these two b...

While my heart belongs to Iowa, I must admit I left a huge chunk of love in Marco Island.   This looks like a set-up for Jaws 4. Those nine days were fabulous. I loved every minute. Ok, so I didn't love the 5:30 a.m. wake-up calls (4:30 a.m. Central time) from this girl... ...but we powered through it. I can't blame her, really. Who would want to lay in bed while there was so much to explore outside?   I'm a summer sun, sand-loving kind of girl.   So is she...   And she... Kate fell hard for the sand and surf. Each morning began with a request for the beach. And each evening ended with sand in all sorts of places.   Watch out for my six-shooter. She means business!   Hands up, Grandma! When we weren't at the beach we were doing this out back...   Shooting squirt guns and swinging pool noodles... That's how this girl rolls. High-flying pool jumping! We all took...