barley's birthday party

well, we normally don't have people over when we do anything for our dogs birthdays, but when your friends have a 4-year-old who previously asked if he could come to their parties... well, then, a party it is. :) barley turns 2 on the 15th (thursday). i will be at work that night so i decided to celebrate a bit early. it's not like barley even knows what a birthday is, much less her own, right?! so we had our friends over and made grilled chicken sandwiches and fries. after dinner, harley (my favorite 4-year-old) and i made homemade peanut butter dog treats for the girls, with one big special one to serve as barley's "birthday cake." (she had to have a cake, too.)we had a great time, and while initially worried there would be flour all over the floor, there was nothing to worry about as barley and cotton licked every bit of flour spilled right up. here are some pictures of our evening of fun.

rolling and cutting out the first batch of cookies. harley enjoyed the flour, too.

if you look at the end of barley's nose, you can see a bit of flour. (harley, very sweetly, kept telling the girls we were making them treats and they would love them. it was very cute.)

i am showing you a picture of my rear just to show you how much fun harley had!

batch number two cooling off so we could put the "icing" in the middle and make sandwiches.

the first attempt to get a self shot of me and harley...

...success, although, you can still see cotton was trying to be in the shot.

look at those 3 sweet babies!

GOING...

GOING...

GONE!

we had a great time and the girls are still enjoying their treats. we had plenty, so we sent some home with matt and alicia to share with orion, too. (and i'm sure i am not the only person who celebrates their dogs birthdays, either!)

new craft project

i have finally finished my latest craft project. it does include yarn, however, nothing is knit together. apparently, there are many ideas out there like this one, however, i found my idea here. in fact, after doing a bit of browsing today, i may have to copy the starbucks one for next christmas.

here is my take on the yarn ball wreath....

(my first official) "not me! monday"

so, what is "not me! monday?" it is many things... cheap therapy for one. as it states above, it is being brutally honest and living to tell about it. it is a way of admitting things you have done by saying you've never done them. this began with mckmama, and has spread through the blogging world like wild fire. so this is my first monday... let's see how it goes.


just a few minutes ago, i totally did not almost start this post instead of taking my dogs out to the bathroom. and it was not because my one dog had just started to whine, which meant she needed to go out and poop. and it totally did not mean she would still take at least 5 minutes to do her business outside. i could have finished this post and then taken her out and then the time from door to "business" would have been almost immediate. i never would think of making her wait. not me.

and, because everyone who knows me knows that i keep my house spotless 24/7, knows that i would never ever let dishes pile up in my sink. i would never leave clean dishes in the dishwasher instead of emptying it and letting the dirty ones sit in the sink for days while i work. and i would never think that my sweet husband might get the nice idea of emptying the dishwasher and reloading it so that the sink wouldn't be so full, since i was sleeping all day and working all night. i would never leave them in the sink on purpose, just to see if that would happen. never.

and i would never ever complain about having the worst work schedule between last week and this week. never. my schedule is so normal. now, yes, i do work nights, so that takes the normal out of it already, but this isn't the issue. the issue is that after working last thursday, friday, and saturday night, i was off sunday, had to swap days this week so i work tonight (monday), tuesday, then off wednesday, then have a mandatory recertification class thursday and then work thursday night. who would complain about that? not me. and who might get a bit snippy and grumpy with friends and loved ones? most certainly not me. (although i think i warned everyone that that might happen, and if not then i truly am sorry about that.)

see how that works? it is good therapy. try it sometime!

knitting

i am not a big resolution maker, but this year, my goal is to learn more technical stitches and knitting techniques.  i would love to be able to make more things... besides the scarves, hats, and dishrags that i have learned to make.  i need to find some classes, get some new books and magazines, join a knitting group, form a knitting group... something!  so that is my resolution.  if it takes the entire year, then so be it.  

did any of you make resolutions?  if so, what are some of them?  please feel free to share.

happy new year!!!

i am about to go to bed after a long new year's night at work (our floor is full, with a couple of people waiting for beds... lots and lots of babies!).  but, i wanted to wish everyone a very happy new year from jay and myself.  we hope that the new year treats you even better, or just better, than the last one.  and if it can't get any better than last year... well, surely it can.  :)  

calling all prayer warriors

if you have read my blog at least twice, then you have most likely seen the little "mckmiracle" button on the right.  it is a link to a blog of a family i don't even know, except through the world of blogging.  baby stellan is the "mckmiracle" and is currently in the picu fighting rsv.  please pray for this little guy and for his family.  for updates from his family, visit mckmama's blog here.

the stockings were hung by the chimney with care...

when i was in tn, mom and i (yes, mostly mom) made new stockings for the pets so they would match mine and jay's. we now have a lovely, coordinated mantle. (and dave's stocking doesn't have feathers, it is already stuffed a bit.)

... in hope that dave nickolas soon would be there.

so, jay bought dave a new santa hat, complete with beard. i will let the pictures tell the story.

a little time in tennessee

yes, it is true.  i am in franklin.  live and in person!  i am just beginning my last full day in tennessee (car mechanic willing) and should be heading back to NC tomorrow. (i drove our 1999 land cruiser here in order to have the timing belt changed.  why here?  because we have a great mechanic here who saves us lots of money... worth the drive!)   it has been a short but definitely good trip "home."  i have completed most of my christmas shopping and have spent lots of good time with my family so far.  did i mention i have eaten a lot, too?  yeah.  saturday evening i had dinner with the dennis side of the family at sportsman's grill.  good food and good company.  sunday i had breakfast with my parents and my aunt janice at cracker barrel.  my grandparents came over to mom and dad's on sunday afternoon to visit and we watched some of the titans game on TV.  then we spent the evening with (my brother) phil, (my sister-in-law) samantha, and (my niece) courtney.  we had our christmas together and exchanged gifts and had a lot of fun watching courtney open and enjoy her presents.  i made her an apple hat and bought her some elmo house shoes/slippers.  she loved both of them.  she will be two at the end of january, which was showing in her inability to sit still for long periods of time.  however, it made the evening much more enjoyable, having an active little one there to enjoy the fun part of christmas.

courtney really liked phoebe's new toys (cotton and barley got her a bad cuz and a nylabone)

courtney trying to figure out why elmo is on her feet (and a great shot of the apple hat!).

she enjoyed pulling the hat down as far as she could....

...to the point where she walked around with it over her eyes.

attempt at a self picture

this is the cutest elmo toy ever (she got that from her pops and mimi)

today i am going to visit my favorite hair stylist, kristie, because i am stealing mom's appointment at a moment's peace (she really can't go) and then i am going to meet mandy and rachel at stoveworks in the factory  (yummy!), followed by some shopping with mom.  it should be a fun and busy day!

our christmas tree

ok. i have now tried to make this post happen 3 times. i will blame it on my allergies/cold. :) we put our tree up last wednesday night. the dogs are still trying to figure out why we have a tree inside the house. dave, however, is used to christmas trees and is loving having a tree again. if he could talk, i think he would say this is his favorite time of year. a special blanket (tree skirt) beneath a tree... he is in kitty heaven. we haven't put up a big tree since jay and i have been together... only little trees. so dave has missed them and the dogs have never seen them. they don't bother it too much. thank goodness! it definitely makes it seem a bit more like christmas in our house.

dave checking the tree out

the girls watching as i put the lights on

the finished product

a great mckcause

again, i am sure many of you have seen the mckmiracle button/link on the side of my blog, telling the story of mckmama and her msc (many small children) and the miraculous healing of her last child, stellan (mckmuffin). mckmama has a great new raffle and give-away set up on her blog. it is for 3 great causes, so follow this link and check it out.

"i wanna soak up the sun"

they will be sad when a christmas tree is in the corner tonight.


the original sun-lover



barley loves the sun, too, (and is laying in it right now in the "tree spot") but will sometimes lay with dave and share a spot of sun between them.

yes, you heard correctly, we are going to buy our tree and decorate it tonight. it has always been my family tradition to have a live tree the first year in a new home. i have a bit of an allergy to christmas trees (and all things pine) and tend to end up with allergies that settle into bronchitis. so we'll see how it goes this year. jay grew up with live trees most years, so we're giving this year a trial run...

within 72 hours

this post has everything you could ever want! this post contains a TON of pictures, which include the beach, the snow, and the dogs. what else could you want? so, as the title gives away, jay and i have been on the beach, walking in the sand and playing in about 4 inches of snow within the last 3 days. insane, yes? it is hard to believe. we spent thanksgiving in hilton head with jay's family (his dad, larry and his wife mitos, uncle kenneth, aunt brenda, and cousin brian) and had a great time relaxing and listening to the ocean, watching some football, and enjoying good company. so, without further delay, pictures from the beach...

porpoises in the ocean

sunlight breaking through

perfect sand dollar... he didn't survive the trip home

brian, jay, and kenneth on our friday morning walk

"big waves" breaking with high tide

my feet in the ocean (yes, it was cold)

it did rain and was cloudy most of the weekend, but it was nice to get away. the upper 60 degree weather was nice, too. :) in fact, when we departed on sunday morning, it was 65 degrees. when we got home sunday afternoon, it was 39 here in asheville. cold! so where was all the snow? well, it was NOT here in fletcher at our house. but it was up about 30 minutes north in madison county. we took the dogs and drove up the interstate in search of the snow. the elevation is much higher and the snow was definitely falling up there. we stopped at the rest area that is just south of the nc/tn border. the dogs, well, we all, had a great time and were even able to get the perfect picture for our christmas card. (that will still be a surprise, but you can get a good idea from these pictures.) so, without further hesitation, here are some pictures of snow!

winter wonderland

this beautiful picture was at the rest stop (before the girls played!)

they loved chasing snowballs and not being able to find them!

me and the girls (getting ready to pose, maybe!)

cotton took "stay" so seriously, we got a great picture of her.

"yummy! snow tastes good. barley, where is your face?"

barley bounding in the snow (look at those ears)

"see cotton, it is fun to stick your face in it."

beautiful snowfall

my feet in the snow (yes, it was definitely colder than the ocean)

sweet barley's portrait time

so that is the fun and the sites we have seen in the last 3 days. i don't go back to work until thursday (nice, yeah?) and am planning to do some decorating for christmas. we are planning to get a live tree this year and might possibly get that this week! we listened to christmas music on the radio while driving in the snow yesterday, and it definitely got me in the christmas spirit.

i am going to make this post interactive... comment back and tell me what gets you most in the christmas spirit!