Happy New Year Everyone!

Here it is, my last post for 2005 :) Sitting around, eating organic chocolate chip cookies, watching good ole New Years Rockin Eve on ABC. Hot date, huh?!? D has duty tonight, so it's just me and the kiddos, who are playing upstairs. Here's to plenty of happiness and good health in 2006!

Yarn Sale! Yarn Sale!

Pretty darn big yarn sale going on at Micheals right now! Several of the Moda Dea lines are 70% off. I scored this lot of TuTu for $2.09 per skein! Can't beat that!!

Lynlee

Is such a sweetheart! Thanks so much for the goodies girl, I can't wait to make something funky, and the kids love their goodies :o)

Notice some missing chocolates? Those didn't last long *lol*

Merry Christmas Everyone!!

Pictures of the big day :)

Christmas Eve




Decorating cupcakes for Santa!


Decorating the tree!


Mistletoe kisses!


Presents!


Princess Natalie!

THE SANDS OF CHRISTMAS
By Michael Marks

I had no Christmas spirit
when I breathed a weary sigh,
and looked across the table
where the bills were piled too high.

The laundry wasn't finished
and the car I had to fix,
My stocks were down another point,
the Chargers lost by six.

And so with only minutes
till my son got home from school
I gave up on the drudgery
and grabbed a wooden stool.

The burdens that I carried were
about all I could take,
and so I flipped the TV on
to catch a little break.

I came upon a desert scene
in shades of tan and rust,
No snowflakes hung upon the wind,
just clouds of swirling dust.

And where the reindeer should have stood
before a laden sleigh,
eight Humvees ran a column
right behind an M1A.

A group of boys walked past the tank,
not one was past his teens,
Their eyes were hard as polished flint,
their faces drawn and lean.

They walked the street in armor
with their rifles shouldered tight,
their dearest wish for Christmas,
just to have a silent night.

Other soldiers gathered,
hunkered down against the wind,
To share a scrap of mail and dreams
of going home again.

There wasn't much at all to put
their lonely hearts at ease,
They had no Christmas turkey,
just a pack of MREs.

They didn't have a garland
or a stocking I could see,
They didn't need an ornament--
they lacked a Christmas tree.

They didn't have a present
even though it was tradition,
the only boxes I could see
were labeled "ammunition."

I felt a little tug and found
my son now by my side,
He asked me what it was I feared,
and why it was I cried.

I swept him up into my arms
and held him oh so near
and kissed him on the forehead
as I whispered in his ear.

There's nothing wrong my little son,
for safe we sleep tonight,
our heroes stand on foreign land
to give us all the right,

To worry on the things in life
that mean nothing at all,
instead of wondering if we
will be the next to fall.

He looked at me as children do
and said it's always right,
to thank the ones who help us
and perhaps that we should write.

And so we pushed aside the bills
and sat to draft a note,
to thank the many far from home,
and this is what we wrote:

God bless you all and keep you safe,
and speed your way back home.
Remember that we love you so,
and that you're not alone.

The gift you give you share with all,
a present every day,
You give the gift of liberty
and that we can't repay

No more grinch :)

I woke up this morning with all of the previous days stress gone. D and I had a great night, we finished up the wrapping together, found the phone & video chargers and got the house clean. Also, blueberry bread does wonders for the soul. To top it all off, I opened the door this morning to find a large package from my father in law and his wife. Just in the nick of time :) Life is good again, and we're looking forward to a fabulous day today and tomorrow. Now I'm off to call my Mom...(FYI, the damn phone charger has been missing for several weeks!)

This ought to cover it all :o)

Please accept with no obligation, implied or implicit my best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low stress, non addictive gender neutral, celebration of the winter solstice holiday, practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of the religious persuasion of your choice or secular practices of your choice, with respect for the religious/secular persuasions and/or traditions of other, or their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions at all. I also wish you a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling, and medically uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the generally accepted calendar year 2006, but not without due respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures whose contributions to society have helped make America great (not to imply that America is necessarily greater than any other country or is the only America in the western hemisphere), and without regard to the race, creed, color, age, physical ability, religious faith, or sexual preference of the wishee.

By accepting this greeting, you are accepting these terms: This greeting is subject to clarification or withdrawal. It is freely transferable with no alteration to the original greeting. It implies no promise by the wisher to actually implement any of the wishes for her/himself or others, and is void where prohibited by law, and is revocable at the sole discretion of the wisher. This wish is warranted to perform as expected within the usual application of good tidings for a period of one year, or until the issuance of a subsequent holiday greeting, whichever comes first, and warranty is limited to replacement
of this wish or issuance of a new wish at the sole discretion of the wisher

7 Deadly Sins

Greed:	Very Low
Gluttony:	Low
Wrath:	High
Sloth:	Medium
Envy:	Very Low
Lust:	Medium
Pride:	Medium

Take the Seven Deadly Sins Quiz

Don't piss me off :)

Bah Humbug

It's my blog, and I'll whine if I want to. But I'm done now :)

You know you're jealous...

Of my mad knitting skills :) This pink yarn (Cottontots) is destined to become a pair of legwarmers for Natalie.

just stuff

My Age of Empires CD won't play, and I'm pissed. I don't get into very many games, but this is one I like. Damn. D got home early this weekend- scared the *@%^#& crap out of me, cuz I was sleeping on the sofa when he came in and jumped me :) But it's nice to have him home again..someone else to take out the trash! *lol*

We went to the book exchange today- I love that place. I have a serious book fetish, and buy tons (gotta love the thrift stores- books are $0.45!) I have amassed quite a library of my own, and picked out some to trade in today. Got over $40 in credit! Seeing as though they pay me 25% of the books original value, I made out pretty damn good! I love it when I bring in my $0.45 books and I get a couple of bucks for them. Works out well for me! So, I picked out 3 books for myself (A VC Andrews, and the first 2 HP I was missing), D got a book and the kiddos each got 2, leaving a $20 credit. Nice.

Now it's off to finish baking cookies. Chocolate chunk, mmmmm! :)

Hehehe

You taste like chicken. Your succulent thighs,
legs, wings, and breasts melt in the mouth.
Your crunchy outer coating barely hides the
juiciness within.


How do you taste?
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Wrapping, wrapping....

Is so much fun :) It's one of my favorite parts of the season! I will freely admit that I'm not the worlds best wrapper, but I love it nonetheless! The kids have some funky shaped gifts this year. Very few easy squares- we've got tubs of K'nex, Magnetix, remote controlled dinos...but heck, they won't care if Mommies corners aren't perfect. After all, they're just gonna tear the damn paper off in about 2 seconds flat anyway :)

D is gone again- till Monday this time. He got to come home for a couple of hours last Monday, then I had to drive him in to work at 3am Tuesday. But he's on leave as soon as he gets off Monday, so thats nice. They are moving the ship back to NOB (which is 5 minutes down the road) which will be sooo much nicer than the commute into Newport News twice a day.

Off to wrap more presents...

Today....

I cleaned my house, and re-arranged the craft/play room. I found several things I had thought were lost. The monsters are in great moods, and have been "big helpers" all day long. My husband is coming home tonight. Pumpkin bread is baking.

Life is good.

New Hats

Here are my two latest hat designs:

Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone

So, I'm watching this on ABC Family channel- it's about 45 minutes into it, and already I have seen 3 scenes that are NOT on my DVD! I love it :)

You are interchangeable.
Fun, free, and into everything, you've got every
eventuality covered and every opportunity just
has to be taken. Every fiber is wonderful, and
every day is a new beginning. You are good at
so many things, it's amazing, but you can
easily lose your place and forget to show up.
They have row counters for people like you!


What kind of knitting needles are you?
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We won!

We signed up for Nana's Boutique mailing list, and we won a free jewelery set for Natalie! It came in the mail today, isn't it fabulous?!



Check out more Nana's Boutique items on ebay!

http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQfgtpZ1QQfrppZ25QQsassZnanasQ5fboutique1

This is why I love ebay....

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=4715393187

I'm ALL for public television and education, but damn! $75 Is a little much! Now I have it on my Christmas wishlist :)

Ah, Ireland....

My family is Irish, and my mother and I plan to take a trip within the next 2 years to visit. I was just flipping through the channels and found a program on, called "Celtic Woman".

Wow.

Wow.

It's just...wow. There are few words to describe it. They are interviewing a 15 year old who is part of the program, and her voice is simply amazing. I must have this cd. The show is raising money for public television, so the cd is a whopping $75. May take a while to get it. But rest assured, I WILL own this cd.

That's a promise.

I even understood several of the phrases in the songs, thanks to my self taught Gaelic! I'm steaming through the first 2 cd's, and it truly is a pleasure to listen to and learn. I am fluent enough in French, thanks to 5 years in school, but this language holds personal meaning to me. I can't wait to be totally fluent, it's one of my goals in life. I have a feeling that once I get to Ireland, I'll have to be dragged out :)

Swiped from Lynlee...

You Are a Lace Bra! Dreamy, romantic, and ultra-feminine You're a womanly woman who makes guys feel like men Your perfect guy is strong, determined, and handsome With a softer side that only you can draw out What Kind of Bra Are You? Take This Quiz :-) Find the Love of Your Life (and More Love Quizzes) at Your New Romance.

You Are Girly Panties! You're totally girly - it's who you are, not just part of your charm. From your perfectly painted toenails to your soft lingerie, you're all girl. Men find you intriguing and sexy - yet also comforting. Just make sure your feminine ways are womanly... not little girlish! What Kind of Panties Are You? Take This Quiz :-) Find the Love of Your Life (and More Love Quizzes) at Your New Romance.

funny, funny stuff

I'm in danger of wetting my panties after reading this one!

http://yarnpants.blogspot.com/2004/11/museum-of-kitschy-stitches-vol-iii.html

:D

Monday is FREE day at the ZOO!

Gotta love free day :) Well, free hour really. Our zoo opens free of charge the last hour of the day, every Sunday and Monday. So of course, we try to take advantage of this as often as possible! Here are a million pics of the monsters having a blast last Sunday:

Making Ornaments!

Pay it Forward

Today, I went to the post office to mail a suprise package to a friend of mine, and helped a young mother who was wrangling several large packages and a rather rambuncious toddler. After the post office, I took the kiddos to the book exchange, where a very nice (and cute!) guy bought them each a new book, because they were being their usual adorable selves, and reminded him of his daughter. See, there are still nice people in the world :) Now get out there and do something nice for another person. You never know when those good feelings will come back to you!

The Noble Princess

You are just and fair, a perfectionist with a
strong sense of proper decorum. You are very
attracted to chivalry, ceremony and dignity.
For the most part you are rather sensible, but
you are also very idealistic.

Role Models: Guinevere, Princess Fiona (of Shrek)

You are most likely to: Get kidnapped by a stray
dragon.


What Kind of Princess are You? - Beautiful Artwork (Original Music is BACK!!!)
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