Christmas 2007

My collection of heirloom ornaments; many of these ornaments belonged to either my paternal grandmother, my mother-in-law, and my husbands's aunt. Many are over 40 years old, and I was concerned that they would break. My solution was to put them in this vase, (found at Winners), and there they stay. At the end of the Christmas season, I put saran wrap over the top to prevent any dust from getting in, and we're all set until next year...Brillant!

Well, I put my foot down this year, I didn't want to do the seven hour drive home, and so told the rest of my family I was stayin' home. At first I thought that no one would come and we would have a nice quiet day with just the four of us. Mom and Dad arrived the Friday before Christmas and my brother and his financee came Christmas Eve. Wouldn't you know! I guess it pays to have the only grandchildren!

We celebrated Christmas mass early be going to the children's mass at 4:00. Carinne was part of the choir, and surprised us all by singing the "Gloria" with a partner just before the gospel reading. My heart was swelling with pride. The church was full, with even the hall overloaded. I was so proud of my girl. We came home from church to find my brother waiting for us. Again a surprise! We had a snack filled supper with tortiere, pate, and many other appetizers. Yum! The four of us headed off to a friends for some Christmas cheer. I hadn't known the rest of my family was coming...so we had accepted the invitation. We only stayed an hour and a half of so, and then came home.

As with our family tradition, the kids are allowed to open one present Christmas Eve, Carinne opened a set of lip smackers...all different smells...and Jean-Luc opened a "Chicken Soup for the Soul book...all about Cats and Dogs...his first response was "I don't like soup!" He was really upset, and tired..who would buy him a book about soup???? (Mom) One tired child went to bed shortly thereafter!

And Poppa turns 70!

This summer my dad turned 70. Wow, how did that happen? Oh, yes, I am getting older too! Unfortunately, I wasn't able to make the family party, I was teaching summer school; but as soon as I was done we headed home for our own little party. The kids were quite excited to celebrate with Poppa! And since Dad loves John Deere, it was the perfect paper!

Ahoy there Matey!

Again, some more LO's from Mexico, this time aboard the Pirate Ship. This was our second last day in Mexico, and we were at the pier early. I think it was the earliest day we got up! We had breakfast on the ship, and then set sail across the bay to a little inlet. On the way there we were treated to a "show" by the pirates, which included a pirate walking the plank....Jean-Luc was so worried he wouldn't make it...(a small boat picked him up!) The pirates were also our waiters on the boat, and they were hilarious and very courteous! Jean-Luc bought his new pirate scarf and was proud as punch to know there was "good" pirates!

Sadly late...

I have been slowly working on our pages from our trip to Mexico in March of 2007. How come I can't seem to get at them????? Anyway, I have gotten a few done, and thought I would share one. This one is of my son on the beach. We had gone for a long walk just to "do" something. As much as I love reading sitting all day was getting to me, and him..so off we went. He's such a happy guy and a kind and gentle soul. I often think he'll be the perfect husband for some lucky girl. (and yes, he's only 9), but sometimes I think you just know! He's that kind of kid, and I'm so very lucky to have him for a son. God blessed me on that day almost 10 years ago!

Yikes, where has all the time gone???

Who would have thought November would be so busy. It's been unbelievably, but mostly all in a good way! I haven't had a chance to do much scrappin' but did manage to get in a Stampin' Up card making class for Christmas cards. Which you can see above. They turned out well, and I am hoping to duplicate some soon!

This weekend, I'll start decorating, which really gets me into the holiday season. DH prefers that I wait until Dec. 1st, but I think I might be able to get some things up under the radar!!!

Challenge

I made this LO awhile ago. My girlfriend has challenged me to use a piece of paper (Winnie the Pooh) that I had in my stash, and hadn't used. The picture came out of the archives, as my darling little girl is now 12, and is very embarrased that her mother would create such a LO! I had such fun making this and going down memory lane a little bit too!

Auntie!

I made this LO, as it's one of the last pictures I have with my sister and my daughter. My daughter loves this LO as Auntie was so special to her.

Monday

Yesterday I was able to take in a Stampin' Up Class on Christmas cards. I haven't taken any pictures yet, but did have a lot of fun.

Tonight I'm hosting a Salt City Candle party, I'm very excited to have the girls over for a visit and chat!

Where does the time go??

It's hard to believe that I haven't written anything for almost 10 days. Where does the time go...kids activities, taking care of the family, chauffer, chief cook and bottle washer...the list is endless. The good news is I will finally get a chance to start my christmas creations, on Sunday I'm going to take a class from my local Stampin' Up rep. making Xmas cards. Wish me luck.

My dad, the welder

My dad is a bit of a "Jack of all Trades", which is quite funny as his name is Jack. My brother took this picture of Dad imposing a picture of him welding over the portrait. I thought it looked really cool! I have 2 5x7's that I wanted to scrap, one for each kid. Here's the result of the first one, funny enough I landed up using paper I had bought to do wedding pages! Whatever works!

Another page of Cory

This is my sister and her husband at a wedding, having fun! I wanted to scrap this page because it was a very happy day, and they look so happy in the picture. They had only been married for a few weeks and it clearly showed in their eyes and smiles.

Cory pages

Here are some of the LO's I have done in memory of my sister, Cory. The pages are hard to do, but good for my heart!
This is my mom and my sister, having a ball at a cousin's wedding!

What a busy day at work, and painful! I did something to my ribs/muscles, something, and it's quite painful. After spending the day marking at my desk, it was really difficult to make the drive home. I'm now sitting, being pampered by the family, playing on my laptop!

The whole reason for the name of my blog, I love Stargazer Lilies. It is also the flower that my sister loved. Everytime I see them I think of her!

I am a working mom, who loves to scrapbook, read, be with my kids (most days), and hang out with my husband.

I am thrilled to be finally making a blog, although it may take me awhile to figure it all out!

Day 1

Well, just trying this out and with hopes that this will work....