A week of snow

We are now about a week into our snow thing. It has melted and came back several times, but now we have 6 plus inches outside, so it will be here for a while. The only thing I still have to do for Christmas is buy tape to wrap presents. (Liam is going through a whole tape thing.) I am willing to hold out until Thursday for a white Christmas.
Here are some pictures from yesturday. The east winds were very stong and it is only in the 20's. Liam only stayed out a couple of minutes then he wanted to go in the house. It is still in the 20's this morning, but the wind has died down, so maybe we can get out a bit. We had rain fall on top of the snow and freeze, so it will be more cruchy this morning.




Here are two layyouts from some of the snow photos.

Credits: Kit: Snowed Under by Lindsay Jane, Baubles and Snowflake border from Linday Jane's Blog

Credits: Tracey & Mikki's Winter Wonderland by Tracey Monette and Mikki Livanos & Tracey and Saxon's Winter Frost by Tracey Monette and Saxon Holt.

More snow days/hen house update

We are in day four of snow. It actually warmed up a bit and rained tonight, but it is supposed to re-freeze and snow for the rest of the week and then really snow on Sunday. In Portland, Oregon, this is very unusual. I remember my parents telling me about the year they moved to Portland (1968) and the huge snow that year. I work with someone who is turning 40 this week and I was telling her about that snow storm and she told me she was adopted and had to stay with a foster family for three weeks because her parents could not get to her.
I am trying to organize craft and other activities to keep the natives occupied. Today the boys did art, helped make pizza for dinner and then I put the tent up for a while. I had to take it down when they failed to obey me, then Liam spit on me while I was taking it down. Good times.
I think I am going to do peanut butter play doh and carmel corn tommorow. Here are some pictures from today's outing.


It had been a while since I have included an update on our chickens. This cold front has made me very anxious with the chickens. They seem to be doing fine and to prove they are happy, they have been laying eggs.
Here is our chicken Tess haning in the hen house during Sunday's snow.

Our "meat chickens" are now 6.5 months old. They have not grown very big and they have not crowed yet either, so we are assuming the are hens. We decided that we could name them. I named them after a co-worker - Darla & a regular customer - Audrey.


We will try raising "meat chickens" again in the spring. I hope they are male this time because we don't really have room for any more hens unless we expand their house.

Birthday/Snow Day

Yesturday was Christian's 6th birthday. To add to the birthday excitement we also had snow. Sunday and Monday it was very cold and windy. Today is just cold. Tommorow we are supposed to get more snow, warm up just enough to get freezing rain and then the temperature will drop again and we will get more snow. This is unusual for Portland, where we usually get rain.
I had not wrapped Christian's presents and Sunday night, it was so cold, I did not want to go out to the garage and get the presents and wrap. Liam is going through a whole present wrapping, scissors and tape phase so David and I decided that he would enjoy wrapping the presents Monday morning. He also hates the cold and has no desire to go outside. I took Christian out for a walk while David and Liam wrapped the presents. Everything worked well except four year old Liam grabbed one of the wrapped presents and started announcing that there were Legos inside.
That afternoon, I made gingerbread cookie dough and let the boys cut out cookies. I then let the boys use the remaining frosting from Christian's birthday to decorate. They love sprinkles and use a lot of them. I worry about waste, then I realise that those sprinkles are probably five years old. I can just pick up some more at Winco when the weather improves.


Credits: Kit - Jingle Bell Blues by Lindsay Jane Designs, Template - By Chrissy W. found in Funky Wonderland the Elemental Scraps December Collab Kit
I downloaded a 30 day trial of Photoshop Lightroom. This photo is a great example of why the program is fantastic. The chair Liam is standing on is a Lime Green Ikea chair. Very cute, but it does not go with the whole Christmas scheme. I played around with this in Lightroom.

Kit: Funky Wonderland - Elemental Scraps December Mega Kit
I did this layout with a few pictures from Christian's Birthday Party

Kit: Birthday Bash by Jannylyn Brokken, Distressed Paper: Not Too Shabby by Angie Kovacs, Alpha: Glittered Edge Alpha by Angie Kovacs, Template: Mixin' It Up 4 by Chrissy W.
I did this layout with all the pictures I took at Christian's Tae Kwon Do Class

Credits: Template Mixin' It Up 4 by Chrissy W. Kit: Wild Child by Linday Jane Designs

This week has been busy with Christmas activities and preperations for Christian's Birthday Party.
This year we were on the fence about whether to do a party or not. Christian would want a party every day of the year if we let him, but we did not want to spend too much money or create too much work for us. A local fast food restuarant has a large play area and will let you do birthday parties there for $2 per child and a discount of food. (no purchase food purchase required). We have been to two other parties there. The standard practice is to purchase kid meals for each of the kids.
I only let Christian invite six friends. Last year he had around 20 guests every person invited except one were able to attend. We kept it small for cost purposes and also so Christian can have quality time with his friends and might be able to tell us who was at this party in years to come.
My first job was to make the invitation. I had some fun in Photoshop and came up with this.

Whatever skill I have with Photoshop, I lack in cake decorating. I decided to make cupcakes (from a mix) and bought some basic decorating supplies at the craft store. I bought some Wilton molds and candies and made stars to top each cupcake. I had a few left over after getting the cakes ready for his party and I let the boys decorate them. Christian's cupcake fell apart (we have all been there). Liam had an easier time and ended up with quite the creation.


I made lollypops with one of the molds I bought instead of doing the whole "goody bag" thing. Last night I made bag toppers. I used the kit Space Ranger by Nikki Scott.

On a completely different note, we found Liam involved in an intense game of chess the other morning.

I finally made an Advent wreath this week. (Yes I know it is late). David trimmed back the neighbors pine tree that grows into our back yard. I went to the Dollar tree and bought the candles and ribbon. They were say a bad wind storm might come in and I told David we could light the whole thing if we loose power.

Credits: Kit: Very Merry Christmas Kit by Jannylyn Brokken, Jesus in the Manger: Nostalgic Nativity by Sharia Braxton

Credits: Jingle Bell Blues by Lindsay Jane Designs

Breaking Boards and Christmas Trees

Today was a packed day. Christian had Tae Kwon Do this morning and it was board breaking day. Here are some pictures:



We were planning to drive out to Oregon City and chop down a tree at a farm, but on the way to Tae Kwon Do, I saw trees for sale for $10 on a lot. When Christian and I returned home, I told David about it and we drove over. It was great the guy tied the tree on the car for us and everything. We saved money on the gas and the tree and did much less work.
We usually have problems getting the tree in the stand (assuming we can even find our stand). Christian was able to loosen all the screws in the stand for us, then David got the tree it and set straight easily.

Once the tree was in the house, the boys were so excited, they were driving us crazy. The tension level rose quite high and the Norman Rockwell factor was certianly gone. David and I were saying, who needs crazy, drunk relatives to make a crazy, dsyfunctional Christmas. Two hyperactive boys are enough. David put the lights on the tree and the boys decorated. We can't find some of the decorations, but oh well. Less is more.



Here are two layouts I did from our visit to Santa

Credits: Funky Christmas by Tracey Monette at Scrapbook-Elements (Available Sunday AM)

Credits: Kit Holiday Cheer by Sherri Tierney, Acrylic Frames by Chrissy W., Template by Angie Kovacs

Visit to Santa and great night-time photo shoot

David and I took the boys to Macy's Downtown Store on Tuesday to see Santa. The boy sat on Santa's lap. Their favorite part was an electric train display they had in the Santaland. I used to work in the Visual Merchandising Department when that store was Meier and Frank. Our department was in charge of designing and setting Santaland up. I would go down there for work related projects. The train set was a hold-over from those days (and probably my childhood), but I didn't remember it. It is funny how seven years ago, I had no idea how much trains would be a part of my life.

We went to OMSI (Oregon Museum of Science and Industry) after Santa. It was dark by the time we left, but very warm. I decided to play around with some night photography. Here is what I got:

Big News at Elemental Scraps

Elemental Scraps is having a Grand Re-Opening. The store has a new owner, Angie Kovacs. There are lots of Great Sales and Challenges.


I spent the weekend working on layouts for the event. Here is a walk down memory land. This is my 8th Grade Orchestra. Guess where I am.

Credits: Template: Challenge Template #10 by Chrissy W - Free at Elemental Scraps, Kit: Music Basically by Leah Riordan
Christian and our cat Luna on Thanksgiving Morning

Kit: My Love by Jannylyn Brokken - Availble in the December Elemental Scraps Grab Bag, spend $10 in store and get it for free
This was taken last year on one of our sparse snow days.

Template: Mix it up 5 by Chrissy W. Kit: Slippery Slope by Angie Kovacs and Chrissy W. Both available in their Collab Grab Bag #2 at Elemental Scraps
This is from last Friday at Zoo Lights

Credits: Christmas Traditions by Lindsay Jane Designs