Project pictures

Okay, I finished a hat for myself. Did one of the mittens, but didn't like how it turned out [probably my fault, as this is my first mitten...] so I didn't take a picture of that.

Also finished piecing most of the top of the Christmas Tree Skirt. [that's my cellphone in the middle; this is a small quilt]
I still need to put some sashing around it. Then I'll make the back, sandwich the batting in between, and hand [yes I really did say hand] quilt some stars on each square. Of course, since that hasn't happened yet, there's always the chance that I'll chicken out and opt for something less time-intensive :)

One of my friends and I decided we need "girl time" more often. So, yesterday we went shooting [she has guns, too]. I brought my pistol, and she brought hers. We're going to do that again. Assuming I can find my gun-cleaning kit...

Gratitude List:
* My husband, who is awesome even away from home.
* Kids are amazingly well-behaved this week. Wondering if the pod people have something to do with that...
* We've had surprisingly warm weather this year- only a few dips below freezing, and yet there's still at least a foot of snow in my backyard.
* I finished the hardest part of the quilt- piecing the top. And, I didn't even swear at my sewing machine [out loud, anyway]!
* I am learning more about knitting. Specifically, mitten knitting. I'm really grateful for the internet, and all the great information it contains.
* Krispy Kreme donuts. Twice we've been this month, and both times we hit the "hot donuts" time, where they give away free, freshly cooked and glazed donuts. It's a good thing that the store is 30 minutes away, or I'd be there every single day. Mmmm!
* My family is in good health.
* I made brownies Wednesday, and even managed to save some for the kids' lunches.
* Walker took brownies to school with him, shared them with his friends, and they all agreed that the brownies [the same ones I made] were "the best brownies ever!" And I know this because Walker came home and told me. What a wonderful compliment!
* I'm still on track with my new year's resolutions. It helps that the biggest challenge [finishing all those UFOs] is actually a group of much smaller projects. I can see progress, and that gives me even more motivation to stick to this goal and finish everything!
* I got a wonderful, tender note in the mail from one of my cousins.
* God is good.

pictures

Still having issues with blogger about pictures. Did manage to get one uploaded:

Here's my nephew, with cookie frosting all over his face :)

I may end up taking another picture of the quilt, eventually. *sigh*

Quilting

I was going to upload a picture of the quilt I'm making, [okay, the pieces of the quilt I am making]but I cannot get blogger to rotate the photo. Grrr. I'll try again later.

Friday, we had dinner with Jared's brother and sister-in-law and their boys, and Jared's parents. I have another picture I will post later, of Bridger with cookie frosting all over his face :)

Today we had choir practice before church. I got asked to sing a solo in church, in the women's meeting, and by the grace of God, actually did a decent job with the song. :) I love to sing, and don't always get opportunities to do so. Today was a lovely surprise.

I have two projects going right now: the tree skirt that I'm quilting, and a pair of fingerless mittens for me. Yes! Finally I am working on something just for me! :)

So, this means that I am still keeping at least one of my New Year's Resolutions.

Gratitude List:
* Family get-togethers, complete with good company and food.
* Nice weather, especially for February, although our overall winter is colder than normal.
* Hot cocoa.
* Morgen and my father-in-law made pancakes for breakfast this morning. Yum!
* Good music.
* Valentine's Day with my husband, who is hardly ever at home on Vday.
* Digital cameras, and the option to delete photos.
* Jared made dinner- elk roast with some really unusual and delicious-tasting sauce. Double yum!!
* Instrumental guitar music :)
* Singing.
* My Heavenly Father, and His Son, my Savior.

Challenges

With Jared, I never know what to expect. Sometimes, when he's home, he gets bored and does the dishes. :) I like that! Sometimes he's hunting every single minute he can find. That's a little tough, but thankfully the hunting season is limited, and he never hunts on Sundays, so we do get to see him occasionally. Sometimes he gets called out, and misses family activities. I have a harder time with this, not because I'm angry that he's gone, but because it often means that some other family is experiencing a tragedy like the one we went through with Myles. In the past month he has responded to two different scenes, and dealt with two cases of toxins resulting in death. One victim was a young husband and father, and I felt awful thinking about his wife and children having to go on without him. The second one had me in tears; a 4-year-old girl who was accidentally poisoned. She has a younger sibling, and several older siblings, as well as her parents, who will be dealing with the loss of their daughter and sister. I wish I could go to the house and physically offer my support, but decided that would be a little creepy and stalker-like. Instead, I'm praying for their family, and sure that if you wanted to add your good thoughts and prayers, those would also be appreciated.

Now for a happier challenge: this is my latest project- another hat for Walker. His original has gone missing, and I had some leftover yarn, so I made this hat for him. It's a bit different pattern-wise, :) I was experimenting with stripes, and decided to make them all different sizes, but the overall impression was still cool. So that's finished, and Walker approves of it. The next project on my knitting needles is another hat. Well, two, actually. One each for Walker and Jared to wear when they're hunting. I bought 2 skeins of yarn, because I couldn't find one that was the right color and weight. So I got a dark rusty orange yarn that was thick enough, and added a really light-weight yarn that was the bright hunter-orange I wanted color-wise. I'm knitting the two together, and I like the extra thickness- it will add some more warmth to their heads as they tromp around looking for birds/elk/deer/whatever. :) Having the two colors also adds depth to the look of the hat. And it isn't any harder than knitting one strand of yarn, which makes me happy.

Gratitude List:
* My family is healthy and strong, and I know where they all are [approximately].
* Lots of yarn, and projects, and plenty of other supplies for my crafting "needs."
* My washer and dryer are still working. My dishwasher is broken, but I'd rather wash dishes by hand than clothes!
* I am making progress on my "to-do" list of crafts. Hooray!
* Spending time with Nate, Caitlin, Saxon, and Bridger. Thank you for letting my kids pester your boys :) We love cousin-time!
* Getting some good news from my parents [I'll share when I can].
* Warm winter weather today because we have NO WIND CHILL ;) I don't miss the Iowa wind chill.
* Getting to see John & Melissa's family again on Sunday, along with my parents, Alyson, and Kyle and Lorenzo. I am so glad my kids have cousins, and grateful that my brothers and sisters [and their spouses] are willing to let my children bother theirs. I am always surprised at how much fun Walker has with his littler cousins. And Morgen would seriously shrivel up without a baby to play with!
* A working furnace for the less-than-warm winter nights.
* Perky [the lizard] continues to enjoy good health and lots of affection from Morgen.
* Jared will be home this weekend :)
* I have a few episodes of "Bewitched" to watch while I fold laundry today.
* God's grace in my life.
* Sunshine on my shoulder [thank you, John Denver]

Scarf finished

Hooray! It's all finished- ends tucked in, properly bound off, and given to Morgen to enjoy. Next project is a hat for Jared. He wants an orange one that he can wear when he goes hunting. :)I have absolutely NO neon orange yarn [I know- what a shock!] so I'll be picking some up tomorrow. That project is my "take with me" one. The at-home project is the Christmas Tree skirt I meant to finish before Christmas... and I promise I will be done with it before Christmas this year!

Other things we've done: over the past week, my 1st and 4th graders had their SEPs [student education plan? I think...] where I came into the classroom and talked with their teachers about the progress [or lack of it] that my child was making.

Morgen is talking more than she should, which interferes with finishing her in-class assignments. On the plus side, she is doing better in math than she was last term, and she is reading well. She's also doing fantastic at her piano lessons, a fact I can attribute to her piano teacher. Annalee is firm and competent, and challenges Morgen musically. She is also supportive and encouraging and excited about music. :)She has a gift! Well, two: she is incredibly musically talented, and she is a wonderful and patient motivator of children :).

Hyrum made 2 goals last term: work on coloring in the lines, and use the bathroom at appropriate times [recess, lunch] instead of in the middle of classtime. He has met both of those goals :)and is settling into his classroom well. Both Morgen and Hyrum are friendly with their entire class [no surprise] and are enjoying school. Hyrum loves his karate class. Well, actually it is Tai Kwan Do, not karate. He enjoys the practice, and is surprisingly good at it. When we missed it last week [for his SEP- and we made it up on Saturday], he was upset enough to cry!

I have decided that I like having all this snow. We get more snow here than we did in Iowa, but this snow stays put- no blowing winds to drift it over a previously shoveled driveway! And the road crews do a great job clearing the roads :) Jared's been talking about getting a tractor. He wants a front-end loader attachment on the front, and a backhoe attachment on the rear. Obviously we're settling into the rural life. My favorite part, today, is that we've had almost a week of early morning fog. I love fog. Really. I think it is my favorite weather event:).

Walker's SEP is this week; I'm hoping that he gets a good report. He gets pulled out of science and reading to do band, and has some missing assignments from those classes.

Gratitude List:
* Jared got back safely from Chicago. Someday we'll go there, just the two of us :)
* He brought me Ghirardelli. Have I said how much I love this man? I do. I really really do.
* Morgen's lizard is absolutely the best. pet. ever. Perky has been wrapped and tied in various rags, given a "fashion makeover," and talked and talked and TALKED to. And she puts up with all of that for lettuce and the occasional cricket or mealworm.
* Yarn and fabric. And knitting needles. And crochet hooks and sewing machines and paper and stamps and ink and glue and... :) I am so glad I have hobbies!
* Quotes that inspire me to do better.
* Hulu. :)It's my free version of cable, and DVR. LOL.
* Surprise visits from friends.
* the red ink lines crossing out items that I've finished on my "crafty to-do-list" I cannot tell you how good it feels to finish and cross off each item!
* all the patterns [free! and otherwise] that are available online. I may never need to leave my house again...
* ditto with the yarn/fabric/paper/embellishments also available online...
* that none of my kids still lick inappropriate things [there was a little girl in Church that was licking and licking her folding chair. Eeeeew! but funny ;)]
* good books to read.
* my family and friends.
* Jared, Walker, Morgen, Hyrum, and Myles. I am so grateful for each one.
* Pictures and journal entries.
* my Savior, Jesus Christ.
* God.

Projects completed and to do

I have a list of things to do; specifically, craft things. And, I'm sharing them here because my mom always taught me to share :). Also, if I share them here, I'm more accountable, which means they might actually get done!

* Knit Hyrum's scarf. This was supposed to go with his hat, but I didn't have time, so the scarves ended up being a 'post-New Year, pre-Valentine's Day present. I finished Walker's before school started. Morgen's scarf is in progress. Oh, and this is done, BTW

* Finish Jennie's album. I typed out everything I can read, and I'm waiting for Jennie's translation of words I cannot read, then I will copy everything in my best penmanship into her album and give it back to her :). I think I can call this one half-way-done.

* Cut out and sew Christmas stockings for Hyrum and Myles. My MIL made stockings for Jared, Walker, and I after Walker was born. She gave me the fabric, and I actually cut out and sewed Morgen's for her. Then I cut out another stocking for Hyrum when he was born. It sat with the rest of the material for SIX YEARS in my sewing stuff. I know that because Hyrum is 6 years old. Yep. That's the kind of prepared mother I am! Anyway, I cut out another stocking, and sewed up both of them, so Hyrum now has a stocking that officially matches the rest of the family's. Myles' stocking will hang with the rest of the stockings at Christmas, and we're going to put notes to him inside of it. I finished these today!

* Sew tree skirt. I have the fabric. I need thread. But, this project is next on my list of things to finish [when I'm at home, anyway].

* Knit Morgen's scarf. This is in progress. I had it about 1/4 of the way done, but didn't like how the pattern was turning out, so I frogged it [I love that word! Even if I don't love the reminder that I make a lot of knitting mistakes], and re-started. It's my 'traveling somewhere/waiting for kids' project. This one's on the needles right now, in progress.

* Make birthday cards. I always need more of these :)

* Knit orange hat for Jared. He needs a hunting beanie.

* Knit hat, scarf, mittens for me! And I already have the yarn and quite a few possible patterns in mind... I want to begin these now, but the point of having a list is to get the boring [or difficult] things done, then reward myself later.

* Sew skirt for baker's rack to hide board games. Have fabric, have thread, just waiting for its turn to come up.

* Finish knitting baby blanket.

* Knit 3 more washcloths for master bath. I have the yarn, but this isn't a necessity, so it's further down the list than I wish it was.

* Finish felt wall hanging. And I've added some applique patterns, so this may take longer than I originally thought.

I also have some "as there is time" projects that really don't have an ending date: knitting dish cloths, scrapbooking, etc. These don't really count as UFOs, since they will never be completely finished, but I put them on the list anyway. That way I remember to do them, and I also remember how much I am accomplishing.

and that's as far as I'm going to post, since that will probably keep me busy through March. At least.

Random comment: Morgen calls her lizard "Sweetheart"

Gratitude List:
* Snow. I don't like driving in it, but I don't have to, today. Instead I can sit inside my cozy house, making stockings and drinking hot cocoa, and enjoy the beauty of white, fluffy flakes.
* Jared is back for a few days- hooray! He's been in St. George this week. [It's a lot warmer down there, and I was mildly jealous.]
* I got to go on a "walking report card" with Hyrum. He had a packet of work to show me what he'd learned so far in first grade. I had a great time seeing how much progress he has made since the beginning of the year.
* Homemade whole-wheat bread with soup. Mmmm.
* A house :) with electricity and heat.
* 4-wheel-drive.
* Kids that shovel the driveway [because they're earning money for the book fair].
* Bath and Body Works lotion and shower gel. I feel so pampered whenever I use that stuff!
* Time to meditate this morning.
* Good books, and time to read them.
* Food storage :)
* Faith in God.

Keeping up

Well, I've finished one of my UFOs already. Hooray for me! In honor of this, I started a new project LOL. Well, not really a NEW project; I knit a headband over the holiday break, and discovered when it was finished that it was much too big for my head. So, I frogged it. [that means I pulled it apart] I planned on using the yarn to make another headband, but wanted to figure out another pattern before I began again. I have the pattern, and I'm over half-way done :) this is a pretty quick knit, thankfully.

Of course, that means [technically] that I haven't changed my "to-do list" status at all... but I'm choosing to focus on the positive ;)

Here's another picture of Morgen's new best friend:


and one more, wearing a stylish 'rag wrap' outfit that Morgen generously made for her. Can you see the long-suffering look in her eyes? Poor Perky.

Gratitude List:
* School tomorrow! [Hyrum was pretty excited about that, too]
* One less thing on my UFO list
* the flexibility to add projects to my UFO list ;)
* It snowed all day today, but was too warm for the snow to stick to my driveway.
* No shoveling!
* homemade pizza
* homemade vanilla ice cream
* oh, and homemade root beer floats ;) made with that homemade ice cream
* I've lifted weights this whole week [so far] and I'm pretending I can already tell the difference in my triceps.
* My husband was home last week. I love it when he's home!
* He fixed the dishwasher. I really love it when he's home!
* He took the kids sledding twice, to a really cool spot with a long hill and some jumps. I really REALLY love it when he's home!
* :) Celebrating 14 years of marriage last week. WOW.
* Good music.
* Healthy kids.
* We have all we need, and most of what we want.
* God is good.

We have a lizard!

Ooh, and a lovely lizard it is, too :) It hissed at me once, when I was picking it up to place it in its new home [probably because I scared it]. Since then, it has been handled [and mauled] many MANY times a day. It has been given a "tissue dress" and a "lizard blankie wrap" and has been carried around and placed on a bed and fed multiple times [all approved food, thank goodness]. It has a heating pad and a lamp to keep it warm, its own little water dish specially designed and made by Jared, and an awesome top to its cage, also designed and made by Jared. It has also been named "Perky" and given more love than any lizard should be asked to endure :)

Most lizards are active in the day, and sleep at night. I think ours will be sleeping when Morgen is in school, and hoping for after-school activities!

In other news, vanilla cupcakes are a delicious treat :) and a great way to keep children [both my own and visitors] entertained for a good 2 hours. BTW, chocolate buttercream frosting goes quite well with the above cupcakes. And, 3 days later, it tastes divine on graham crackers, too! [Assuming you forget to hide a stash of cupcakes especially for your own self] The stash of chocolate buttercream frosting is safely hidden in the fridge, in one of the left-over containers. Kids never check those :) so I'm thinking it's safe.

My New Year's Goals are as follows:

1. Exercise and lift weights 4 times/week. [the end result should be a healthier me]
2. Daily meditation
3. Finish all my UnFinished Objects [this means, specifically, every single craft that has already been started. I either finish it or find it a new, and loving, home.]
4. Keep to our budget :) and save for a down-payment on our next home.
5. Have a nice long bath every week :)

Gratitude List:
* Meditation time.
* I love having too much music to fit on my ipod :) so many choices...
* A fast new computer, which means less time online and more time for those UFOs...
* This quote:

Failures want pleasing methods.
Successes want pleasing results.
-Earl Nightingale

which reminds me that the reason I make goals is not because I enjoy the process, but because I want the outcome. Good thing to focus on while I'm riding my bike, with my leg muscles burning and sweat dripping down my back.
* Vanilla Cupcakes with Chocolate Buttercream Frosting!
* Just got a call from my doctor's office :) and my cholesterol levels are [and I quote] "Great!" :)I love getting good news from my doctor :)
* Good friends and neighbors.
* A loving, supportive, extended family.
* A husband and children I love very much.
* Faith in God.

Recap of the Holidays

Mostly because I'm too lazy to stop what I'm currently doing [more on that later] and upload photos, this will be a photo-free post :)

We had a great holiday season, celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ with family and friends. Christmas Eve we had dinner with Nate and Caitlin and their boys. That was awesome- my kids LOVE their younger cousins, and I love that they have the same play style [rough & tumble and chase-around-the-house-giggling]. Caitlin made the most delicious pork roast, with sweet potatoes [they tasted like pumpkin pie- seriously GOOD], a yummy cheese dip, corn casserole, and green beans. We won't talk about dessert. That would make me want to bake, and my to-do list is already way too long :) [Oh, and Caitlin? I would love copies of those recipes :)]

We put the kids to bed, then took candles to the cemetery to put on Myles' grave, and on my grandparents' grave, too. I love this tradition- seeing the flickering lights in the snow, and feeling the quiet solemn peacefulness there. We also saw a few deer in the cemetery, avoiding the people and looking for green things to munch on. Then it was back home to let Santa deliver his presents to us.

Christmas day began HOURS before I was ready. Jared was up early to start the pull-apart bread [or monkey bread, if you'd rather call it that]. My gorgeous girl decided to get up and "help" him. Part of that help was being so loud that her brothers woke up. Jared fed them all breakfast, and came to wake me up several times :) so I could take pictures and watch the kids opening presents. Yeah. It took me a while to get out of bed, but we still began the unwrapping process BEFORE 6:30am. All I can say is: wait until next year. The Grinch will be taking presents away if mom has to wake up before 8am. Anyway, getting such an early [hah!] start meant that the entire process was over by 7:30am, so I went back to bed until I felt decent. After lunch, and a wonderful nap, we drove down to my parents' house to visit. I forgot my parents' gift, but I'm blaming that on my early start. Interrupted sleep is never a good thing for me :) We all got a lot of loot; my favorite gift [and the one that has eaten up a lot of my time since Christmas] was a new computer! Hooray! More on that later...

As we drove home Friday night, Morgen was complaining of a sore tummy. I told her I thought it might have something to do with all the eating that had occurred lately, but Morgen was sure I was being silly :). Then she threw up early Saturday morning. She was sick most of the morning, and insisted on getting up and slowly shuffling around the house, quietly moaning. I sent her back to bed. I'm unsympathetic like that :). I mostly worked on setting up my [fabulously fast] new computer, and doing laundry for our upcoming visit to Fallon. Hyrum was busy playing Plants vs Zombies on the old computer. Jared and Walker were taking Walker's hunter safety tests, which took them until after lunch. Yes, my 11-year-old is now officially allowed to go hunting. Good thing, since his father has been planning for this particular event since Walker was born. Seriously.

The rest of Saturday, we took decorations off the tree, and the walls, and the shelves. Jared wanted to get the tree down, and dumped, before I left for Fallon with the tree-hauling vehicle. I thought I was doing really good with the decorations this year- I packed them all up and had 2 boxes empty when I was done! Then I realized I'd forgotten a few things. Nevermind.

Sunday we had church, and I decided to drive to Fallon on Monday, which gave me another day to pack, and Morgen another day to fully recover from being grumpy about being sick. If this is even a small taste of her behavior as a teenager, I am running away to join the bookmobile. I thought about joining the circus, but my talents do NOT include tightrope walking or lion taming, so I'm using Plan B.

Monday, after we stopped for money and gas [and breakfast sandwiches at McDonald's]we left for Fallon, Nevada. We made it 500 miles with 2 stops: one for gas, and one for food and gas. No fights, no complaining, no arguing or throwing things or any of the many other incidents that make traveling long distances with children so umm, character-building. Yeah, I used duct tape.

Kidding! ;)We had an audiobook- "The Last Olympian"- to listen to, which meant that my kids were perfectly quiet and enthralled the entire 8-hour drive.

The week was filled with swimming and Wii time [LEGO Indiana Jones and Wii Resort]. We also visited and played with cousins- thanks Josh and Brooks for bringing Ethan, Sloan, and Mason with you- aunts and uncles, and grandparents. We got to see Jon and Melinda's new house [beautiful, guys], and see it snowing in Fallon! I think their annual precipitation is 4 or 6 inches. I bet they got at least 4 inches in snow while we were there, too. Snow is not the normal there- cold, yes, but snow, no.

We drove home Friday, after I looked at the weather report [stormy Saturday and Sunday] and decided not to risk driving in snow. We finished up the audiobook, and the character-building behavior returned, but I threatened them: "If you continue that behavior, I'm stopping the car and PLAYING BARRY MANILOW!!!"

Not really. The Barry Manilow, I mean. :) But stopping the car, and extending the torture of sitting in it, seemed to work fine as a threat.

When we got home, I made the kids unpack their clean [thanks to my MIL's washer and dryer] clothes and put them away. I, however, sat down at my new [!!] computer and began to work on retrieving the data from my old one, courtesy of Carbonite backup [thank you very much]. Picasa found all my pictures, no problem. I installed Quicken and retrieved all the financial data, again with no problem. I was able to transfer my podcasts and purchased music from Itunes, but ran into problems with the CDs I had uploaded myself. Now, before you tell me how I could do this easily, using only my ipod and some barbed wire and chewing gum, I need to explain. When I got my ipod, a few years ago, I tried to upload my [rather large] collection of CDs to my old computer. After 2 DAYS of sitting at the computer, and after I ran out of storage, I gave up. So, really, it's okay that this part didn't transfer, since there wasn't much on the old computer to begin with. But that brings me to my "more on this later" part of the post. I spent most of yesterday [that would be Sunday] uploading my CDs, and organizing my playlists. I started with my religious music, it being Sunday and all, then moved on to Christmas and Classical. I went to bed at 11:30pm, and hadn't finished yet, but I'd made a good dent in the stack of 150+ CDs I own.

Now, going to bed at 11:30 normally means it's a bit hard to get out of bed by 7:30am to get kids ready for school. I was okay with that, though. Unfortunately, what actually happened was this: when my handsome and hard-working husband [oooh, I can alliterate] got up at 4:00am this morning, I woke up, too. I managed to pretend to be asleep until 4:30, then gave it up as a lost cause. Normal for me is NOT pretending to sleep at 4am. It is ACTUALLY SLEEPING at that time. I finally gave up in disgust, did my meditation, and got up. I started uploading more CDs, and did dishes while I waited for the CDs to load. When I ran out of dishes, I checked my email. Then I thought, "I know! I'll update my blog!" So that's what I'm doing.

Really, though, this behavior is sick. And wrong. But mostly sick. Jared has always chosen to get up early, so he can finish working at a decent time and spend the evenings with me [and, later, our kids]. As a night person, I put up with this because I enjoyed having him home when I was awake enough to appreciate him. But I never, ever wanted to do it myself! *sigh* I guess, after 14 years of marriage [minus 7 days], it isn't a total shock that I should start acting like my husband. I'm not sure I would have chosen this particular habit, though. On the plus side, though, I have now uploaded successfully 140 CDs. My total music listening time is: 6.4 days. Bonus :) only 44 more to go...

Oh, and kids are up and showering now. Time to start my "real" day!

Gratitude List:
* Sleeping in [except I'm thinking this might be something I admire from afar, now].
* Friends, family, neighbors.
* Good food [and the exercise bike to work it off].
* my new computer!!
* music.
* that I stopped buying CDs [and started buying songs online] when I got my ipod.
* fog [but not to drive in, just to look at :)]
* meditation time.
* My husband and kids.
* God
* the possibility of a nap later today.

Christmas cheer

this is our tree. It's attached to the ceiling because it has a balance problem. Honestly, we just gave it one drink...

Project Status:

Wood blocks- all sanded, and all but 1 set painted. That set is an extra, so it isn't urgent that I finish it before Christmas, except that I really want my dining room table back soon :)

Hats- 2 knit, 1 half-way done [finished by tonight for sure]
Scarves to match those hats- not even started :) that's an 'after-Christmas bonus present' at this point.

Towel Embroidery- finished, washed, and folded into neat packages.

Autumn Wall Hanging- I put this back into my 'unfinished projects' box. I'll pull it out in January :) maybe...

Tree Skirt- Sadly, I haven't even cut this out. It went into the 'unfinished projects' box as well. But it will be done by the end of January. That's the new goal anyway ;)

Baking- DONE. And enjoyed, and of course there is more to do, but that's for fun, not a deadline.

Books to Read- took several breaks from my non-fiction stack: some Georgette Heyer books, "The Blind Side" by Michael Lewis [good book!], and a Mercedes Lackey novel [another favorite author]. But mostly I've been knitting and sewing in my free time...

All the presents are made. All the presents for other people are wrapped and sent. My kids' presents are almost wrapped- there's a family gift that we won't be wrapping [too big], and 4 other gifts that will be set out 'naked' after bedtime Christmas Eve. But, I'm done. Whew!

All Christmas Cards are sent. At least I hope they are... :) If you read this and didn't get one [and if you actually care LOL] please email me your address [jgailey4 at hotmail dot com] and I'll send one out. I do have extras!

Last night I dragged the kids and my husband to see the movie "The Blind Side." It was good! Of course, with the late night, we all slept in this morning. It is the last day of school, but Morgen and Hyrum have chess club, so they had about 10 minutes to shower, dress, and eat breakfast. All I can say is thank goodness M doesn't do makeup yet!

Gratitude List:
* We're all healthy.
* Presents done!
* Tree still smells like pine :)
* Presents piling up under the tree, and my kids' excitement about Christmas coming.
* I'm excited, too LOL
* Snow- lots of snow- making this a wonderful white Christmas!
* Looking forward to family dinners.
* Celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ [I know He was born in April. I get that. But I'm still glad we can celebrate His birth at this time, and I don't think He minds if the date is a bit off.]
* Neighbors who come over and sing carols to us :)
* Fudge. I love fudge.
* My husband and kids.
* 4 wheel drive :)
* Dishwasher
* Clothes washer and dryer [can you imagine hanging your wash outside to "dry" in the wintertime? then bringing it frozen on the line back into the house to thaw out by the fire? Yeah. SO glad for my dryer.]
* Time to meditate in the mornings. Yes, I'm still doing this amid the holiday bustle. Totally worth the time, too.