I think life is back to normal - AJ had scouts Monday night, Tuesday night, Thursday night and Saturday. I don't think I got anything done at home this week! I finished up this little tissue cover last weekend, and didn't even get a chance to get a picture posted.

I picked up chew toys for the dogs last weekend - one large one for Jasper and a smaller one for Koori. Needless to say - they switched. Koori ended up eating both of them I am sure, but she looked so funny running around with the large one in her mouth.

I did finally "get around to" scanning a couple of pictures - one of Ralph and I at the Bank's Christmas party, and the other is Alli's school picture. I have no idea how they got her laughing!

Yesterday was a non-productive day for around the house, but I got a couple of projects finished that I had started! I finished the last few rounds of a doily, and I finally finished a bookmark! The bookmark has been started for probably a couple of years, I just needed to "finish" it with the bird, flowers, etc. I don't know why I never finished it before, but I still have one more base done - I will probably wait until someone "needs" a bookmark, and then finish it up too!

AJ had the neighbor kid Alan (Dallas' older brother) spend the night Saturday night, and when I got home from church, had David (Alli's daycare provider's son) over as well! Alan stayed most of the day, and David spent the night. I have had a house full of boys all weekend! (and it has been fun! - loud, but fun!) Today is a holiday for both my work and the kids school, so they will keep each other entertained! I need to go in to work for a few minutes today, so I will have the boys babysit for me too. That ought to be fun!

I finished another doily! Not too bad! This one is supposed to have ribbons woven around the outside pineapples, but I think I like it better without them. I put a couple in (in the second picture), just to see. It is about 20 inches across - done in white thread.

I also managed to get the Christmas stuff put away in the attic, get the house vacuumed (especially where the tree and Christmas stuff had been), straighten up the garage where things were "piled" more than normal, get AJ to clean out the pool - which meant he also had to fix the monster, and all sorts of things done around the house! Yesterday was a very productive day! (I don't think today will be nearly as productive though!

I've been bad! I haven't posted in a long time! Sorry - I got busy! I did finish up a doily, but even that doesn't seem to be what I have been busy with (or I would have more doilies done!) - I just have been sleeping in in the morning and haven't gotten up in time to type! This doily is about 23 inches across - done in a size 20 thread.

I had company last weekend! Unexpected, but not unwanted or unappreciated! My sister and family came in Friday night and stayed through Sunday morning. That ate up most of my weekend! This is a three-day weekend, so I might be able to catch up a little bit. I still have my Christmas tree up! I took all the decorations off, but the tree is still standing (artificial tree). It looks like AJ and I will be the ones putting it away, so that is on my agenda today. It will be nice to have everything "back to normal". I have boxes of decorations stacked up as well - so it is time!

Here is a bookmark I was thinking of making for Valentines Day - it is pretty quick to make, but I am still looking around at patterns. I better make a decision soon, or I won't have time to make many!

Well, AJ is now 15! He didn't have the best birthday ever though - poor guy! It was the first day back to school after Winter Break, and, he was planning on having about 3 boys spend the weekend with us for his birthday, but....when he finally saw them at school, none of them could come this weekend. He was so bummed. He wasn't very excited at all - and since he already had his birthday present from us (the rip-stick) there wasn't anything exciting at home either! I did fix his favorite dinner - shrimp with cocktail sauce for appetizers and scampi and steak for dinner. That helped a little bit, but he is still a bit down about his birthday! He couldn't even use his rip-stick, as he had a hair cut right after school, and it was dark and rainy by the time he got home. Poor guy!

Well, I've been lagging! I noticed that my last post was 12/31! I had good intentions to post this weekend, but Mother Nature had different plans. We lost power Friday morning, and did not get it back until Sunday night at 5:45. (We were lucky - I just spoke with my sister, and she won't even have an estimate of when she will get power until Wednesday!) We did manage to borrow a generator, so we were able to have heat and - even better - a TV for Pokemon! (You try to explain to Alli that the power is out - she just thinks you are being mean and won't turn on the TV for her!) We lost power because a power pole snapped at the base from the wind - we had gusts of up to 82 MPH at the Airport (and we live less than a mile away!) We have great neighbors around here though - everyone seemed to be doing okay. Ralph got some good pictures for me, and talked to everyone in the neighborhood while he was at it. We did loose out cherry tree - but it wasn't much of a loss - most of it was dead, which is probably why it snapped!






I did get the chance to finish up a new doily (crocheting by candlelight!) This one is about 22 1/2 inches across.

I think I have finally shook most of the cold bug - but now Ralph has it! I did finally get around to some projects I wanted to do before Christmas but just didn't have the energy. Now - to get to the projects I wanted done before New Years (Like take the tree down and un-decorate the house!) I hate feeling tired all the time!

AJ had his first experience with snow sports this weekend - the scouts went up to Mt Shasta. AJ tried snowboarding for the first time. We didn't get off to a good start - I slept in just a bit too late, and had to rush, and then AJ was still half asleep, and forgot to get everything, including the directions to Dave's house (the scout leader taking him up), so we showed up just at the right time (I am awful - I hate to be late - for anything - and am always early - if it involves driving - like to Sac or something, I am always 30 to 60 minutes early.) We got to Dave's and were standing around waiting for the other kid to show up (he was a half-hour late!) and AJ told me his boots were too small! If I hadn't asked him several times in the last two weeks if he had all the gear he needed, and everything still fit (since he has grown so much lately) it would have been different! He also didn't have his cell phone with him. (Dave doesn't have a cell, and was counting on AJ to have his to keep in touch with the rest of the group.) Needless to say, I drove home shoeless (I was wearing boots that are AJ's size, so he took those, and the ones he had were too small for me!) and with no cell phone. If something had happened - like a fender bender or a flat tire - AJ would be dead! I think all those years of skateboarding and now the new rip stick (he got one of his own for an early birthday present!) really helped him. He had a blast, and the first words out of his mouth when he got home were "Mom, we have to do this again!!" I may be spending a few days up in the lodge in Mt. Shasta!

While I was still feeling puny - I finished another doily. This one is only about 9 inches across, so it didn't take very long.

We have been having some beautiful sunrises lately! These were taken Christmas Eve morning, on my way in to work. The mist was rising off the river, and the moon was setting!

I got some pictures up - Alli doesn't seem any more happy about wearing a hat than Koori did!

And this was my blanket:

What happens when you have a very large bag and a teenage boy?

Koori and her favorite toy! (it lasted about two days!)

We all survived Christmas! The kids all had a great time - as you can see by the videos! It was a lot of fun - and everyone seemed to enjoy it! AJ has decided that for his birthday, he wants wants what Dallas got for Christmas - a Rip Stick. They have been playing with it all day today, as well, so - that is probably what he will be getting, and maybe just a bit early, so he can use it now!

Alli got a very large stuffed Pikachu - and it was a hit!

I found out why I wasn't getting anything done the last couple of days - I was coming down with a cold! It kicked in yesterday! I think it is a very mild cold though - just enough to force me to slow down and take a break. I sat on the couch yesterday, watching movies and crocheting. Very much "down time". I need to get moving today to finish up the last minute things, because I am back to work tomorrow, and then it is Christmas!

Ralph and I went out to dinner Friday night for our 20 (!!!) anniversary. AJ and his friend baby sat for us - they are getting pretty good at it! They also watched Alli while we went to a funeral service yesterday, and it lasted a lot longer than I thought it would! I checked in with AJ right after the service, (before we talked to everyone there) and he said Alli was being a pain the whole time we were gone. She wouldn't each the lunch he fixed, she wouldn't each the snack he fixed, she didn't want to watch the videos he picked, nothing! Just being a pain! She was much better for me when we got home (AJ and Dallas ran away a soon as they could to Dallas's house.)

I don't think Koori is having a good Christmas! AJ and I put Christmas hats on both dogs this morning! Jasper, being Jasper, had no big issues with it, but poor Koori looks very put out about it! That was probably the most productive thing I did all day. This was definitely a "down time" day for me - I watched TV, watched movies, played with the dogs, crocheted, etc. Very relaxing!

I even finished a new doily yesterday - this one is about 8 inches across, so it didn't take very long.