Happy New Year?

Sorry I've been so neglectful again about posting.  I've been trying to get back on the routine but life keeps throwing me curve balls!  There have been some highs and some lows so far this new year, and if that is any indication of what is in store we have a very busy year ahead!  First off, some cards:


These were the Christmas photo cards that I sent out this year.  I actually got them out!!!!  There were a few that remain unfinished when I got sick, and then since so much time has elapsed I decided it was too late, so those friends and family will receive a photo valentine this year!

It felt so good to actually STAMP and mail good old snail mail cards this year again!  Practicing what I preach!

Next, some Christmas ornaments that I made for my studio tree.  Each year I plan to add some ornaments with new patterns.  It is amazing what you can create with paper - and I still have so many ideas for decorations, but baby steps to get this done!
                                                                          This one is a wreath I made using the Daisy die for the Big Shot machine. 

And this is the thank you card that is going out tomorrow with notes from the kids.  Still something I try to encourage - giving thanks!  Just common courtesy.  It actually opens by pulling the lid off and there is a slid in card inside.

This card is my favorite.  I used the stamp set "Banner Builder" from Papertrey Ink along with their set of coordinating dies.  Yes, Stampin UP! is my favorite stamp manufacturer, but when you come across a set that is very clearly a versatile addition to your collection, you add it no matter who made it!  I used the Stampin UP! Kiwi Kiss and Baja Breeze and layered them on the new Sahara Sand card stock.  This is the card I gave to my sister to welcome her new addition.  She thinks he looks like me - what do you think?

Too funny.    How come SHE ends up with the red head?  No fair.

 He is a real doll - very good baby.  I went out to visit my sister right after the holidays, thankfully leaving my bronchitis behind.  We had a great time doing NOTHING!  I helped my sister with the kids, held the baby a lot, played play doh with Tyler, got to see her new lovely house, and just chilled. I really enjoyed spoiling Tyler in every way possible (I brought a tin of cookies with me and gave them out at will) and made sure to tell him "that's how we do things in St. Louis" so he would be encouraging my sister to visit!  ;-)  Sibling manipulation continues to thrive!

Little did I know that on my last night there my dad would wake up back at home to find my grandmother on the floor of her bedroom in the middle of the night with a broken hip. So life handed us another adventure to deal with in the second week of the year.  This was the last time I saw my grandma before my trip.  We had a belated Christmas celebration due to weather and illness.  She received the dreaded Santa Hat where you have to wear it until all gifts are opened on Christmas Day!  But with a good sense of humor at 97 she was more than willing!   Unfortunately of this writing, she has suffered multiple complications from the surgery - mostly due to her dementia preventing her from cooperating with the hospital staff to get her into rehabilitative therapy and some post surgery infections that have caused her to diminsh rapidly.  She is now in a nursing home under hospice care.  Please pray for her to pass gently and soon.  Her most fervent prayer was always that she not be in the situation she is in right now.

Not that it's easy to find a bright side to our current situation, but if you had to it would be that my grandmother's illness brought us all together for a visit.  My sister came with her boys so that she could see Grandma, but more importantly to bring some cheer to my dad who is dealing with his mother's decline.  So my kids got to see the baby - which they were very upset with me for not taking them to CA to do!  They both want to hold him and feed him and they are both being great playmates with Tyler.  We've had a wonderful time being together - and I mean REALLY together.  We had snow all day yesterday and so my parents and Amy and her kids all had a slumber party at my house!  They live on a big hill so if they had stayed at their house they would not have been able to visit us and more importantly would not have been able to get to the hospital as needed.  Plus, our school district is notoriously the last one to call off school due to weather, so we never know until about 5:30 am if they have it or not.

 

We spent our day of snow together playing and feeding the baby and then in the afternoon when it stopped, we took Tyler out for his first ever snow play!  It was so fun!  There is something about playing in the snow with a first timer that makes you impervious to the cold!

It wasn't good packing snow, but I gave the kids a spray water bottle and they were able to manage a small snowman for Tyler.  Then later we took him sledding.  He is very independent and wanted to go all by himself after one trip with Jason.  Wiped out several times, but got right back up again and got on again!  Then we introduced him to Hot Chocolate (which he had with ice).  Liked the chocolate, not so much the hot part.

I hope you find your new year off to a great start with more ups than downs and that you find time each day to express yourself in some way!