A Treasured Hand-Me-Down ~

 Thanks Denise and Teresa...this sweet package got me a little choked up yesterday when i pulled it out of the box!  Jordyn will proudly wear the "cousins" sweatshirt originally gifted by dad :)  Wish he was here to see her wearing it!  Love you guys!

p.s. to put a smile on your face, Jordyn is butt naked from the waist down in this shot...so glad her rear end isnt reflecting in the glass :)

Girl Scout Sleepover ~

 We had a sleepover this weekend at the fire station with the girl scouts!  They had an absolute blast, and i have to admit, i was rather entertained myself :) 

 We enjoyed pizza and snacks...played games...

and had an art show with the Brownies to earn their painting patch, while the daisies earned another petal patch.

 We also had a gift exchange, that the girls were really excited about, and after the presents were opened, all the girls shared their gifts with each other and then played some more!

 As the evening was winding down, we watched the new Tinker Bell movie and ate popcorn...

 but then it was time to dance....

 and dance some more!

 The last few kids fell asleep around 11:30pm...and the room fell silent to gentle snores...ahhhh sweet music!

 All in all a pretty successful first outing with the troop!  Im looking forward to our next adventure!

Meanwhile, its my month in the Birthday Block Swap on about.com...and these are the first two blocks i received from Diane.....Thanks Diane!!!  Cant wait to see what else comes in the mail :)  Oh, and if you are wondering, i picked the waterwheel block in blue batiks on Marcia Hohns quilters cache site.

Christmas Card Photo Shoot ~

 We finally got some snow today...which meant Jordyn and i could take her Christmas card photos!  It was a chilly 12 degrees outside, but she was a good sport about it.

 

These were just some of the shots, but not the one i chose for the card...ill wait till they're mailed out before i post the "official" shot.  :)  In the meantime...Hooray for snow!

Holiday Crafts ~

 Holiday crafts are keeping me busy right now!  I just added these four table toppers to my Etsy shop, so i hope you'll stop by and check them out :)  Ill be adding some different items as well, so stay tuned!

 This little table runner isnt quite finished, but i thought i would share it anyways!  Cheers!   :)

Peaceful Morning ~

 I never seem to get in any of the photos, so i thought i would show you a picture of me this morning enjoying my coffee before embarking on a quilting frenzy!  :)  Im trying to finish a few pieces for a craft fair this weekend...but if i dont make it, at least they can go in my Etsy store.   Ill post some photos of them when im finished.
 Meanwhile, i went in to check in on Jordyn the other night while she was sleeping, and i found this picture sitting on the floor next to her bed...

 and there was a note on the back, which reads, "Dear Santa, I really miss you Santa.  I hope that you can take this picture tonight.  Merry Christmas!"  She must have worked on it while i was at training, so she spelled all the words and compiled the letter completely on her own!  Well done sweetheart, i just know Santas gonna love it!

 and for some smiles...heres a shot of Trash looking anything but comfortable!  Ahhhh...to be this flexible!  :)  Have a fabulous day everyone!

Thanksgiving and Other Holiday Fun ~

Thanksgiving was kicked off with Bloody Marys and Eggnog!  It was another gorgeous day, which is wonderful, but we really could use some snow!  Meanwhile, while i was preparing the lasagna,

Jordyn decided to play dress up and watch a movie...i think she was a little bored!

After cooking the lasagna for 1/2 an hour, i realized the toaster oven wasnt plugged in....doh!  So dinner took just a little longer than we originally planned...but no worries...it still came out tasty!

Jordyn was confused as to why we werent having turkey like everyone else...to which i explained, many families have different traditions, and this is one of ours.  Sometimes we do a bird and sometimes we do lasagna, and this year Justin wanted lasagna.  But once she started eating i didnt hear any complaints! :)

Friday morning we had some work done on the cabin...this wall above the logs is just a bunch of wood slats with no insulation of any kind...you can even see light shining through in a few places.  Anyways, it was something we've wanted to have done for a while, and with winter coming on (or not as the case may be right now), we wanted to cut heating costs by finishing off this wall.

It took them a little longer than they thought (doesnt everything), so it was framed in and insulated on day one...

and on day two...

Doesn't that beetle kill pine look pretty!  I am so thrilled with it...it really brightened up the room, and even added a little new color to it!  Im planning to put a clear varnish on it to help pull out the colors a bit, but i probably wont bother with that until after the holidays.  So while our house was torn up, we spent a good bit of the afternoon up at Aunt LeAnns place enjoying turkey and visiting with some of the cousins.  We had a great visit with everyone, but sadly, that afternoon we discovered Jordyn was missing one of her earrings!  We tried to put a different stud through her ear, but it was already starting to close and forcing it didnt work.  Now we have to wait till that ear heals before we can go back to get it re-pierced, and if we dont find the other earring (and so far we have had no luck), then we will have to pay to have it redone again!  doh!  Poor thing...she was soooo upset....she thought all of her friends would think she chickened out after having the first one done, to which i replied...no they wont, cause you can see the little scab on the other ear...besides, you can be a pirate for a week before we fix it...and that will be kind of cool :)

So, my little pirate and i decided to put the house back together and then get out the Christmas decorations!  We purchased a new tree this year.  The old one was starting to wear a bit and i wanted to have a tree that could sit on the floor and still be tall enough to tower over us.  I found this tree for the cabin, and it couldnt be more perfect.  Its 7 feet tall, but really skinny so it doesnt take up much room, and it even came with lights.

There is nothing quite like curling up in front of the fire at night with the house lights low and the tree illuminating the house.  Such a cozy, warm feeling!

Looks like we're ready for the holidays! 

Friends, Earrings and Santa, Oh My ~

 Our Thanksgiving holiday was kicked off after school on Tuesday when some of Jordyns "summertime" friends were up visiting grandparents, so they all had a play date!  They ran around on the island for a while, jumped on the trampoline, had a light saber battle, and then they had a movie night at their grandparents house.  Thanks for visiting Andrew and Mackenzie...it was great to see you guys again!

 You may recall our previous attempt to get Jordyns ears pierced this summer...well, after several months of rethinking the whole thing, Jordyn decided she was ready this time.  So, for an early Christmas present, we decided to try again.

 Look how great she did...all smiles!  Daddy was able to leave work and be there too, so it was a family afternoon at the mall.

 We walked around enjoying the decorations, when we heard a familiar sound on the other side of this Christmas tree, so we went over to check it out.  Well, wouldnt you know it...Santa was at the mall! 

 We werent properly dressed for a photo with Santa, so we ran over to the Gymboree store, purchased a pretty snowflake sweater and hairband, and headed back over to the Santa booth.  Whala!

Dont they look sweet :)