Christmas Countdown Day 8.... Creating...

I'm busy making a few things for the elementary school's raffle on Friday...I'm calling this little guy a "squawth"... a cross between a flying squirrel and a sloth :)

Christmas Countdown Day7...

I had leftover yarn from Asher's Christmas tree hat so I decided to make some wreaths. I'm not really sure what I'm going to do with them yet, but they are quick and easy to make, especially with a sleeping baby in your lap.

Tiff

Christmas Countdown Day 6...

Asher turned 4 months old today!  So for his monthly photo shoot, I quickly crocheted a little Christmas tree hat for him to wear in it.  I really like how it turned and he didn't even mind wearing it :)

I can't believe we have less than 3 weeks till Christmas!!  Lots to do still.

Have a wonderful day,

Tiff

Christmas Countdown Day 5...Gingerbread House Party!! Vote for your favorite..

Yesterday was my 4th annual gingerbread party!  I had 8 friends attend.  Here is the house right before everyone arrived....

We did gingerbread trees this year.  And I must give thanks and credit to my 17 yr old daughter, Becca, she baked all 220 gingerbread stars and made all the royal icing. I couldn't have done the party without her!

I kept the refreshments simple.. cheese and crackers, veggies and dip, and cookies and chocolate covered pretzels.

Everyone is intensely decorating their tree...

I had an extra one because of a last minute cancellation, so Mason was very happy to make use of it!

The green and red icing failed... so the trees had to be done in just white, with some yellow...

Zach then decided that he wanted to help too...

And now the finished trees...  Please vote by telling me the number you like the best...

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And here is Zach and Mason's tree... I love how he made the candy corn into candles!! 

And Becca's tree...She didn't want me to share it because she said it was horrible, but I like how she made icicles on it.. 

If you want to join the countdown, just add your blog below...

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Have a lovely day, Tiff

Christmas Countdown Day 4....

Today was the gingerbread party...I'll share it with you tomorrow.  Asher had his 4 month check up today...he is growing perfectly.  16.9 lbs and 26" long. His Dr commented on how perfect and soft his skin is, it's because I rub him down in coconut oil after his baths :)  After we got home an early Christmas gift came in the mail for him...a little chair of his own to sit in :)

Love,

Tiff

Christmas Countdown Day 3...

In November I signed up for a mug rug exchange with Kimberly over at Camp and Cottage Living. I had never made one before but I figured it shouldn't be too hard since it was just like a little mini quilt.  I got paired up with a lovely woman, Jean, from New Zealand...you can see her beautiful work on her blog,  All Points on the Compass.

Yesterday afternoon, my package arrived!!  

Along with a beautiful mug rug, she included buttons(funny because I had sent her colorful buttons as well!), bookmarks, a mini calendar, and awesome Kiwi bird napkins...but she didn't stop there....

She went through my blog and found out every single one of my kids names and then made them(as well as James and myself) each a New Zealand key chain!  And wrapped them all up individually so they each had their own little present(I love the paper!). She even made sure there was one for Cameron in Hawaii. Seriously, how sweet is this?!?!

 And here is a closeup of the lovely mug rug, she used wonderful batik fabrics for it.

I really can't thank Jean enough, her thoughtfulness and kindness were greatly appreciated and brightened up my week. I need to go make a cup of tea now to try out my new rug!!

Have a wonderful day,

Tiff

and feel free to link up below...

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Christmas Countdown Day 2....Join me!

All the Christmas decorations are up and the most of the gifts are bought.  I kept the decorations on the simpler side this year...I didn't put the glass ornament tree up, unpacking and hanging over 700 ornaments just didn't seem possible this year.  And I never put things in the same place...so I needed to find a new display for some of my vintage Putz houses.  I love Martha's version of her Putz wreath, so I tried my own.  I need to flock the wreath and get some more trees, but it's good for now :)

Share your Christmas Countdown post by joining the Link party below...

Have a lovely day,

Tiff

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Christmas Countdown Link Party(my first ever!)

I thought I would challenge myself to blog everyday, so I'm doing a Christmas countdown again this year(can't remember if I did it last year or not, but I know I have done it at least once in the past ;) )...And I thought I would ask all of you to join along too! I've never hosted a link party before, so hopefully I'm doing this right.  Just join below with what you are doing on this first day of December. And if you would be so kind to share this on your blog, thank you my friends.

I'm getting ready for my annual gingerbread party, which is this Friday!!  Lots of gingerbread stars accumulating....many, many thanks to my 17 yr old daughter for making these for me!!

I got back a few clay ornaments I made at school a few weeks ago... I love little Asher's feet in the heart one.  A couple of the Maine shape ones are going to my grown up kids and the moose is for our tree.

And I put up the December bulletin board at school yesterday afternoon... I usually paint the characters I make, but that takes so much time. So I decided to just use markers on them this time...not sure they look as nice, but it was a heck of a lot faster to do.

Love,

Tiff

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Happy Thanksgiving!!

Happy Birthday and Happy Veteran's Day...

(Gavin asked for monkey bread instead of cake for his birthday so that is what he got.)

My 4th baby turned 15 years old today!! He's not so much of a baby anymore, in fact he happens to be the tallest in the family, pushing 6ft already! He is also a very sweet, kind hearted, funny, smart, and handsome young man.  He's a freshman in high school  and is doing quite well, straight A's for the first quarter :)  He also joined the cross country team for the first time and will be playing LAX again in the Spring.  His goal is to go to MIT and then have his own software company, he already has it registered and a website...he's very much computer and technology gifted(like his father). Gavin is a great kid and I couldn't be more proud of him!

Love you Goobs

and thank you to all the veterans out there who defended us and our way of life.

Love Tiff

New Lighting for the Kitchen...

I've been trying to find the right lighting for the kitchen table for a long while and I have tried many different lights... the last one being a vintage one I picked up in Ohio for $20 when we were there in April. However, within minutes of hubby putting it up for me, I just wasn't  in love with it.

Here is the that light ...it has thick milk glass shades and I spray painted all the metal parts black, but the arms of it always hung slightly off, which bothered me.  It just wasn't what I was looking for.

So this weekend while we were out shopping for a new fridge(yes, our fridge died(see it sitting there all innocent looking...grrrrrr.  New one won't be here until Friday) I decided to look for new lighting again.  I didn't want to spend a fortune, but I wanted a certain look.

I found these industrial brushed steel lights for $29 a piece!  Hubby put together the old wooden boxes(which I have had for years), did the electrical, and then mounted it all to the ceiling. We had to do that configuration with the boxes in order to cover the hole from the original lighting electrical stuff, it was off center for the new allignment of the table.

And while we were there, I picked up two pendant kits(also in brushed steel) for $15 a piece. My 14 yr old son then made me these new mason jar pendant lights!! It's hard to see, but we put those old looking Eddison bulbs in them.  This is the kitchen at night, so much brighter over the table now.

And I LOVE the ones over the table now!! Evey time I look in there, I think it's not my house ;) it looks so different, but in a good way!

So, for under $100, I got all new lighting for my kitchen!  Thank you hubby and Gavin ! I love my new lights <3 p="">

And I will leave with a picture of Asher, taken this chilly November morning...he's all warm in a knit one piece:)

Have a lovely day,

Tiff

Happy Birthday Halloween!!!

Today is my oldest baby's 22nd birthday!!  I am so very proud of the wonderful man he has become.  My daughter and I made this video for him...

After the kids went trick or treating, we skyped Cameron in Hawaii so that he could blow the candles out on his cake :)  A thoroughly modern birthday celebration.(and my oldest daughter is on the phone)

Asher didn't have a costume, just a cute outift....he was not happy wearing the hat, as you can see in the pictures, no smiles...

The little boys went around the neighborhood with daddy, but the bigger boys stayed home.

I hope you all had a safe and Happy Halloween!!



Love,
 Tiff