Leaving On A Jet Plane...

Well today is the big day, DD is sooooo excited to go to an airport and be in a plane! I can't wait to see my nieces I haven't seen them in almost four years! We made it. Had one VERY hurried connection in Detroit and they de-iced the plane there too, that was interesting, A. slept on the second leg - yahoo.

As promised...

My Christmas Present from DH was a.....

For those of you whom aren't familiar with this; it is a crafters dream machine, it die cuts letters, shapes etc. in different fonts and has many other capabilities. I had to figure out how I was going to adhere the letters on the pages because some of them are too small and skinny for a tape runner or a glue stick. I found a great product at JoAnn's is is called a Zig two way glue pen by EK Success and it is a fine tip, like a marker, pen for gluing - very cool and works like a dream. Although I haven't had much time to play play play I did get that figured out so I am ready for next time. This machine has so many capabilities for card making and scrapbooking I am really looking forward to what I can do with it.

The guy in the big red suit....

As close as my dear daughter would get to the man in the big red suit.

Placemats

IMG_1490
Originally uploaded by lauraabbett

My mom or my aunt made a set of these placemats and napkins to match a few years back. I love them! I get them out every winter and use them. You may not be able to see in the pic, but there are snowman recipes listed on them - so cute. In the background are my three "Crazy Mountain" Snowman, love them!

Candy Canes...

This is the photo I am entering on Polka Dot Creations, red color challenge for this month. I have never entered a contest before. I am still working on how to take photos of my work, I am not sure if the photo does it justice or not. The Polymer Clay Candy Cane Ornaments are made with of all things a cane, the stripes are from a cane I made. My Candy Cane ornaments go well with my gingerbread ornaments, see them at this post: http://abbett2.blogspot.com/2007/12/gingerbread-man.html

Luxury item, for me going on a flight and trip is a luxury especially with the cost for a family of three, especially when DD also needs her own seat. I love to travel, I love to people watch, I love going new places and this is all going to be happening over the next two weeks. We will be in three different states, Kentucky, Indiana and Tenessee. We will be visiting DD's, nana and grandpa and great grandma (my husband's side of the family).

How am I going to keep my two (almost three) year old busy on the plane trip?

• the excitement of going on a plane (she doesn't remember her first trip at 10 months old)


• DVD's on laptop (Wiggles of course!)


• Her My First Leap Pad (Wiggles book)


• Coloring book and crayons


• starfall.com (can we get internet on the plane?)


• pack snacks lots of them (peanut butter crackers, popcorn, pretzels, apples, juice boxes)


• That reminds me I need to get bottled water for all of us, the snack bag is already getting really heavy! I am starting to get real excited about this trip, we haven't technically been on a real vacation in about a year and a half. (other than our land and that doesn't count, although DH says it does.) I can't get too excited just yet as I am still wrapping up work related things on my end...

What have I been doing work wise? I have been writing six letters of recommendation for my student teachers, my taxes - yes I file quarterly for my Polymer Clay business - did I mention I have a bonifide small business in that jobs post? I don't think I did. I got work scanned and out to my sponsor teacher and student teacher (which accidently uploaded to snapfish and they both got an email saying go visit me at snapfish to view the eval. Woops.) Apparently my scanner and HP and snapfish have a connection that I didn't know about. I promptly fixed that - gotta love technology. I graded a paper, a Reflective Practice Portfolio to be exact. I did two Family Celebration write ups for my museum job today. I also made phone calls for the same job. I still have five letters to write, but I try not to think about it like that, or it gets overwhelming, I am trying to do one a day. Of course I may have gotten more done today had I not decided to lay down in my bed in the afternoon, sure is quiet here when A. is at daycare! Lets put it this way I crashed. This working from home stuff is hard, seriously it is. Too many temptations.

LOL Funny

Laugh Out Loud, funny. At breakfast this morning we, were having hot cocoa and toast. A tradition from my husband's side, is to dip the toast in the hot chocolate. As DD was dipping she announced "This is my exercise." In other words her having to dip her toast in the hot chocolate and bring it to her mouth was her exercise! LOL

Bloopers and Blizzards

This was an ominous sun in the middle of the day, I took it through the window so the screen is showing. They are forecasting a MEGA amount of snow for tomorrow (Sunday). People are going nuts at the grocery stores here today!! I didn't have to go to the grocery store today, however I did have to go to the Post Office (lucky me) and no it wasn't to mail Christmas Cards, it was to mail work stuff. I think I was the ONLY person in line, not mailing something for Christmas. The line was crazy long, but it wasn't too bad about a half hour or so. They are saying BLIZZARD like conditions for tomorrow. I am glad I got my work stuff mailed out so I don't have to travel on Monday.
Did I mention that we celebrated Christmas today with A. and with my family? This is a picture of A's loot. Blooper: A. was opening a gift from Santa which was a book for the LEAP Pad and well, I said "Wow, mommy put a lot of tape on that!" Daddy gave me a look and I realized my blooper, I was laughing, so the book turned out to be from Mommy and Daddy. Ya know Christmas is where you hang your hat. Even though it wasn't technically Christmas Day, with all of our traditions it felt like it. It was nice.
Cool pic, I got my Mom in the mirror and my daughter looking at my Mom's Christmas village. My Mom is showing her which house is which.
Decorating a cookie for herself, that red bottle was GONE after about three cookies. Note: She has her pirate dress on again.

Still to come.....drum roll please......in a future post I will tell you about what I got for Christmas from Dear Hubby. It is a crafters dream.

Gifting

Have you ever watched two, two year olds exchange a present? My DD (dear daughter) and her DF (dear friend) exchanged a gift today. My DD is about 8 months older than her DF and that makes a difference when you are two. My DD hid the present behind her back, which she has picked up somewhere lately that this is what you do when you give a present, you hide it behind your back. Then she attempted to give it to her DF whom didn't grab it to open it. Her DF started walking away from her so, she decides to open it herself! (what a trip!)

Have you ever played hide and seek with a two year old? That is a trip too!

Tomorrow we celebrate Christmas in the morning and afternoon with our family. Our favorite book lately to read to DD is Froggy's Best Christmas Ever. (Click on the title to go see it at Amazon.com)

Let it Go, Let it Go, Let it Go....

Sung to the tune of Let it Snow....
Ladies, this goes out to all of the Moms and women I know whom are trying to get ready for the holidays. As you know this family had a rough November, it was two steps backwards for us with having a sick daughter. So needless to say I had to prioritize, I was behind in my work and that had to be a priority, I wanted to get up at least some of my decorations for Christmas, plus we are going away for Christmas, so getting presents ready, wrapped and shipped, the shipped part and some of the wrapping hasn't happened yet. AND I will probably not be sending out my Christmas Cards this year, which is very unlike me, however a few years back I also didn't send them out and well to be honest with you it is a good way to get crossed off of other people's lists, so next year I won't have to do as many - you should try it sometime :-). I see tons of creative projects online that I would love to try however now, it just is not the right time for me. My advice is to all of the women that are stressed out right now.....just....let it go. Your health and your families health is all that really matters. Be thankful for that. Plus did I mention that my house isn't as clean as it normally is, oh well. If I get my work done I can relax more when the Holidays do arrive, so that has to be a priority for me right now. Happy Prioritizing to you and Let it Go!