Last Project of the Year

I don't think I will finish another project. I love gingerbread men and I think I will like this on my table. I am thinking about one with snowmen. I will be putting up all the Christmas stuff and putting out all the snowmen. Only time will tell.

After reading Liz's comment I remembered that the name of this pattern is Dancing Gingerbread Men. I must of done something right.

Merry Christmas

I love the mess after all the gifts have been opened. Apparently, my little kitty did too. We had a crazy day and Wes and Keith spent much of it in the er with Courtney. She ended up staying the night at the hospital with viral meningitis. She is doing much better today. When you have a Christmas day like that you realize that what is truly important is your family and the knowledge that there is a God who loves us and has a plan for us. As we were driving into the hospital last night, there comes a point in the trip were you can see all the lights in Twin Falls. There are some beautiful Christmas lights, but what I wanted to see, and did, were the lights from the Temple. It is the anchor of our lives and I am so grateful that it is so close to us.

Christmas Tree Lot

One of my favorite events of the year is when the Christmas Tree Lot opens. This is a family business that comes in from Montana. It is the only place in Jerome to buy a tree. They sleep in the bus. It is pretty awesome. I thought I had a better picture of it, but this will have to do. Merry Christmas.

New Blog

Wes has decided to blog. It should be interesting. http://hallmine.blogspot.com/

The Pageant

Having kw in our lives is very interesting. She really wanted to do a Christmas Pageant. I looked at her and asked, "Have you ever tried working with these people?"

She was not discouraged. She brought costumes. wrote a script including music and assigned roles. Then she made us practice and had us preform it, but for who? We finally called one of ls friends. I was just happy that no one made her cry.
Here is t as the angel.... pretty ironic, ls and kw are sheep and did a wonderful job.

r was a wise man. Needless to say, they are hard to find in our family.

She insisted that w and I be Mary and Joseph. I was having trouble keeping a straight face.

I think the only one not pictured is s and he was the narrator.

Hand Made Gifts

I love homemade gifts. I like to give them and I love to receive them.
Here is a purse I made after I made the big one.

Then I put this together.

And here may be the best part. My nephews wife painted these skates for me. They are adorable and I am looking for the perfect place to put them. I think they may be able to stay out for January, which is my snowman month. Too cute.

Snowy Night

I have no idea why Wes was wondering around taking pictures in a snow strom and 2 degrees, but he did. For 25 years I have been trying to get him to put up lights. He did try it once in Linden. He had them hooked up to the movement sensor and they only went on when a cat walked by. I didn't think I would ever try again after that. However, we did try one more time.

Still Quilting

Here are the bunny hill block of the month. Only one more to go and I can't wait to put this one together.

Here is one of my block of the months all finished. This is what I call a winter nap quilt. It has flannel on the back and it is warm and big enough to curl up under and take a long winter nap.

Candy Land

We are learning the letters G and F this month at Kindergarten so we are having fun Fridays. Today we had Game Day and to my surprise the majority of kids had never played Candy Land. This was shocking and I felt that their parents should be shot, but here is the truth. Kids learn many things from games.

• how to take turns
• colors
• counting
• 1st, 2nd, 3rd
• rules

So next time you get the chance, you should sit down and play a game with a little one.

Grooving

I am not a huge fan of Rock Band, but Ty insisted that we do an old people version. All I have to say is that I kicked their butt. I did have to get pretty close to the TV to see the words, and I would have lost big time on the drums or guitar.
We are playing video game and I am trying to see the words on the tv. They are very small and I had to get very close to be able to see them. Not very Rock n Roll, and according to my daughter; hillarious.

Mr. Math giving it a shot and Ty enjoying the guitar.

We also did a boy band and a girl band. All in all, we had a good time.

All About the Food

We had one of those weekends that revolved around food and we certainly did enjoy it. We stopped at Krispy Kreams for a free hot one and Wes came out with the hats. Scott and Rich wore theirs all the way home. They put smiles on the faces of many a driver from Provo to Twin Falls. Of course we had to go to the new In and Out in Orem. I have to say that I am truly thankful for this addition to Utah's fine dinning.

They have been open one week. The first day they had sold 66,000 burgers by 10:30 that night. We went at 10am and were greeted by a full staff. We were #10.

Thanks to Todd we also visited a local spot for milkshakes, Sammies. Very good. Sorry you missed this trip Todd.

And of course there was the Thanksgiving dinner. I cooked at Ty's house. He picked out a great turkey and we all enjoyed.

Good food and great company, just the way a Thanksgiving weekend should be.

2 Weeks

So I have been in this kindergarten class for two weeks now. I love to take them to computer lab. It takes about 5 minutes to get everyone logged in and then they they have a blast. Sometimes you will hear random singing or laughter.
I recorded test scores today, thank you no child left behind, and as far as I can tell, I have done no damage yet.
It is fun and they are adorable, but it is organized chaos and it makes me tired.

projects, projects, projects

I made this table runner for one of my quilting groups and I love it. Should have made it sooner.

Here is my Christmas Tree skirt. To be honest, the points don't match, but I am making it for my mother, who really can't see well enough to know, so que sera, sera. The other problem with this is that I need to quilt it again. It is just not right. I haven't decided exactly what to do, but I imagine, I will fix it.

A Bitter Pill

I have taken a job as a long term sub for a Kindergarten teacher who just had a baby. It is this districts policy to only let certified teachers do this, but since the teacher asked for me and there just aren't that many certified teachers willing to work at a sub's salary, I am working.

Well today I had to send home a letter from the district informing parents that I am not a certified teacher and that I am not 'highly qualified'. This is all true, but there are a few things that I would like to add to the note at this time.

I am qualified to long term sub in the state of California.
I have passed the testing and have more units than the teacher I am subbing for.
I work very well with children, due to 24 years of experience and a minor in Child Development.
The district will have to 'lay me off' for one pay period, because doing this job, although not 'highly qualified', means I have worked too many hours --state ed code.

Okay, I feel better, but someone please tell me why I agreed to this.

Button Beanie

So yesterday Callie went to Twin with me to take care of a couple of things and she wore a beanie that she 'buttoned' up last week. It is so cute and everywhere we went someone asked her if she made it. Hey, I think it is cute too and I didn't even know she knew how to thread a needle. Good Job Cal!

Head Spin

This project is starting to make my head spin. This is going to be a Christmas Tree skirt. It is comming along.

Sisters

We have spent the weekend with family. My older sister was married this weekend and I was so happy not to have to travel to attend. It is fun to be the hostess and just entertain the visiting family. She had a very nice wedding and I wish her all the happiness in the world.
Here she is with her family. She now has 2 step sons and one of them is 12. Rich may enjoy a family party again. And here I am with my family again. We were just together a few weeks ago in much warmer circumstances. We are missing my brother Jay, but it is always fun to see each other.

I really enjoyed hanging out with my sister Allison this weekend. We grew up in Twin Falls and being with her there brings back many memories.

Choke-Cherry Jam

Since my mother and sister were in town for my sisters wedding, I thought it would be fun to go to the craft show at the college, CSI -- College of Southern Idaho. It is a big one and they have tons of venders. I thought we might be able to find some choke-cherry jam, which is my mothers favorite.
We did find the jam and there was a lot of food to buy there. Better yet, they had a lot of samples, so after we walked the craft show and ate all the samples, we had lunch.

Allison and Courtney

Courtney having some soup and it was good.

My mom, Callie and I.

Lunch, Lunch, Lucnch
Oh and yes we did buy a few things. Seasoned pretzles, scone mix, 5 jars of choke-cherry jam, spud fundge, made from potatoes -- hey it uses 1/3 less sugar. Notice there is knife with it, so you can eat it in the car. We also picked up carmels and doggie treats -- by far the busiest booth there. We did not pick up any crafts, but had a good day.

Fall Walk

When I was in California a few weeks ago, Rich mentioned that I hadn't posted any of my walking pictures. He was so right. I have a terrible time switching from walking in the morning to the afternoon in the fall. And then I got sick and couldn't get better. So I came home and went to the doctor and after a couple of weeks, I finally feel better and I can breath, which is always a plus. After a horrible, windy, cold week, we had a lovely day today. You can still find leaves on the trees.

The corn is long gone.

However, there are still sugar beats, and these are some of the last ones. I would except these to be harvested any day now. Jerome sits in the distance and it looks like we still have some fall colors to enjoy.

The 5 Little Ghosts Story

This is the story of 5 little ghost who lived on a diet of white milk, vanilla ice cream and cottage cheese. Then one day they were left at home alone.

The first little ghost found some blue berries and had a bowl full. (turn him over)
The next little ghost found some cherries and ate a few. (turn him over)

Then a little ghost found some grape juice in the fridge and upon drinking a glass (turn him over)

Then a little ghost found his mothers stash of chocolate chip cookies and (turn him over)

And last a little ghost found some carrots and nibbled only to. (turn him over)

When the mommy ghost came home, this is what she found

She called the doctor and who put them on a diet of milk, ice cream and cottage cheese, which turns them back to their ghostly color.

Okay, I was pulling this story to take to Kindergarten with me this week and thought that some of you might enjoy it. In a world where everything is electronic, this story is always a hit in Kindergarten. This is my 3rd set of ghost since it was presented to me some 25 years ago. So get some card stock, glue and a sharpie. The element of surprise is what makes this fun. I do it on a white board with magnets to hold them up. Try it.