Dressed for Winter

I am participating in Val's Enchanted Ornament Swap again this year and the theme this time was "Dressed for Winter". The first thought that I had was to make dresses for garland. So here are the 6 dresses that I made for my partner, Kerry.

then I made some Elf clothes for those little helpers

and then for the ornament part I crocheted some snowflakes

and put glitter on them with the stiffener.

This was a super fun swap!

Kerry I hope you like the stuff I made and the other goodies.

I really had fun making them all up!

Jace the Dinosaur Excavator

Last night Earl and I bought Jace this little Dig-It Dino's Excavation Kit at Cracker Barrel. It was $4.99 and Jace spent hours chiseling away at the egg.

Here's Jace getting started.

The kit comes with the egg, a hammer, chisel, a matt, brush and knife.

Everything a dino excavator needs.

Jace thinks all of the dust is pretty neat

Our sofa thought otherwise!

Jace finally got a hole in the egg.

This process took him about an hour.

This is getting exciting!
Jace can identify the Dinosaur now

but we have to be very careful with our chiseling

so we don't break the dino bones.

and Jace did it!

Now he has a plastic dinosaur skeleton.

Jace had to go dig through his box of dinosaurs until he found the one that matched the skeleton.

The inside of the egg had imprint of the bones in it which was pretty cool.

This morning Jace spent another hour or so chiseling the rest of the egg just for fun.

So all in all I think it was $4.99 well spent.

A few hours of entertainment, a little toy and a neat educational experience.

Just for Fun

Mallory and Earl went to a girl scout Sweetheart Dance last weekend.

Mallory and Ezie knocked this icicle off the side of the house.

I'm glad they didn't break the guttering off!

Lots of Love Goin' on Here!

I received this pretty package in the mail

from my friend Cathy.

and look what is inside

a cute Valentine sewing kit that Cathy made for me.

Thank you so much Cathy for your thoughtfullness and

for the time you put into making something special for me!

I am so touched!

and then I also received this beautiful card from Mallory and Jace

Mallory spent hours handstitching this card for me.

She also stitched the inside of it.

Thanks Mallory!

You did a really great job and your stitches are so nice and even.

I LOVE it!

I made Mallory this bag for toting her school stuff around

and then some matchbox ornies for my stepmom, bus drivers, teachers, and Ezie's girlfriend.



and then some extra ones for swaps and to have on hand.

Happy Valentines Day to Everyone and Thanks again

Cathy and Mallory for the special gifts you made for me!

Mini Fabric Collage

I joined Linda's Mini Fabric Collage Swap and so I wanted to share the one I made. I went with a Heart theme since it's February.

I used different fabrics, burlap, felt, lace and a vintage key and vintage buttons.

I had some barbed wire rope that I added for the hanger.

I hope my partner likes it!

LiFE.....IT's ConStantLY A CHaNGin'

Life is full of changes and change can be an interesting thing. Changes happen when we least expect them I have learned.....sometimes for the good and sometimes.....well, they just plain suck! Eventually though, I usually find the silver lining around the not so welcome changes.

Earl lost his second job on Dec. 30. He has worked for 3 years at a church doing cleaning. It was quite unexpected. No notice, no severence and no renewal of our lease on the house we rent from the church. So now we are short $1,400.00 a month and a place to live.

Fortunately, we found a house about 10 minutes away (so the kids can stay in the same school district). It's not as big and not nearly as nice, but it has potential. I will be loosing my craft room, one bedroom and a second bathroom. It's a really old house and the landlord said we can do whatever we want to fix it up. It does have a nice big yard and a nice front porch. There is a creek a couple of houses down that the kids can so some exploring around.

So, even though it is a very unexpected change, I think it will be nice. Earl and I are actually excited and once he finds a new second job and we get moved we should be okay again. Until then.....we just go with it and accept the new changes in our life.

Mallory and Jace in the snow

Mal's snowman

and Charlie went straight for the snowman

as soon as he walked out the door.

Poor Snowman!

I guess his life is full of change too!

I Got What I Wished For.....Well.....Kinda

Okay, I guess sometimes a girl

should be more specific in what she wishes for,

but I can't deny that my wish has come true.

I have wanted to see Johnny Depp star in a western

for a long time and now he is

.......as a chameleon.

Oh well!

Johnny Depp and a western is what I asked for

and that's what I'm getting.

I guess our physical appearance isn't always what others expect,

but it's whats on the inside that counts!

I still would like to see the man himself star in a Western though!

Did you know......??????

Jace has become quite infatuated with dinosaurs lately. He LOVES watching Dino Dan and remembers almost all of the facts that he learns on the show. He can pronounce and remember the names of all the dinosaurs (I can't pronounce most of them!) Santa brought Jace a bunch of dinosaurs for Christmas and then his sister Lexie bought him more for his birthday, so Jace is in dinosaur heaven now.

I find this amazing partly because Jace had so many speech problems at first. He was diagnosed with having PDD which is a form of autism. He was diagnosed with PDD because of his speech problems and his social delays. Now he will talk to anyone and everyone about dinosaurs and Power Rangers. He is VERY social and he is always wanting to learn new words. He is even spelling some and reading a few words. Jace is also teaching himself to write his name. He sits down and "does his homework" all by himself just like the big kids. I can't wait to see how he blossoms when he actually starts school next year......although I must admit, he's my last one and I'm not quite ready for him to leave me.