Jewelry

I felt like one of Santa's helpers this weekend.  My dining room table was a sea of black jewelry bags.  30 bags will go out this week, which will hopefully put a smile on 30 recipients' faces at Christmas time!  One more weekend left of jewelry making and then I have a little break until after the first of the year!!!!

This is what my table looked like after jewelry making today:

Videos from Santa

Just this week, Ryan was questioning whether Santa was really real.  Josh N. (our neighbor boy) told him there was no Santa, and that parents buy all the presents for the kids at "Black Friday".  Evan and I struggled to keep a straight face during that one.  It just so happened these videos arrived the night before:

Ryan's Video from Santa

Carter's Video from Santa

I wish I had a video camera to capture their faces as they lit up watching their videos from Santa.  So amazing! 

The kids and I went to Arthur Christmas today and as we left the theater, Ryan looked up at me and said "Now I know that Santa is real".  Mission Accomplished.  I'll take that as a successful Saturday afternoon with my boys! :)

To create your own video from Santa, click here.

Solar System

I woke up on Friday morning to "Mom, what's the 5th planet from the sun"?  I had shopped on Thursday night from 8:30 p.m. - 3:30 a.m. on Friday.  I wasn't quite awake when Ryan asked me that question.  I stumbled downstairs to see that he and Grandma had been diligently working on a project of the solar system.  He just loves "projects".  Here he is in all of his glory:

Thanksgiving 2011

I counted my blessings on Thanksgiving and need to make more of a conscious effort to do so every day.  It is so easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of the holidays and life in general and take for granted all of the wonderful things we have been given.  I'm particularly thankful for my family, friends, health, and good jobs.  Ryan did a project for school and he was thankful for "America, our house, and God."  Puts things in perspective for me.  It's not all about the 'things' but about the time we have with one another.

We spent Thanksgiving Day in Byron at my cousin Kim, and her husband, Shane's.  It was a great day and it flew by.  The kids love playing with their cousins and we enjoy eating and visiting! :)

Take some time today to think about what you are truly thankful for and what matters most to you!

Turkey Run

I took a break this morning from jewelry work to run the Turkey Run around Como Lake in Saint Paul.  It is my second year running it - last year the course was glare ice.  This year was also slippery thanks to the snowfall we received yesterday, but it wasn't as icy since the snow was covering the course.  It was cold (in the teens) but it was a fun run with friends.  It is a small, well organized race and I love the scenery.  It brings me back to the 'old days' when I would rollerblade around the lake after work in Saint Paul...

Me and my neighbor friends, Michelle and Diana:

Jewelry

I am in the midst of my busy season, diligently working on orders as quickly as I can to keep up with the rush!  Here are this weekend's pieces:

In case you are wondering what my dining room looks like during 'busy season', here you go! Someday we'll have a dining room table again.  Right now, it's my workspace!!!! :)

Carter's Preschool Picture

Does it get any cuter than this?  Love that contagious grin of his!!!!!

Glow Birds

Much along the same line as our Halloween Craft, we made Glow Birds for Thanksgiving that we found in Family Fun magazine.  It held the boys' interest for about as long as the pumpkins, oh, about 5 minutes or so.  The other hours were spent by Mom and I putting together the glow birds.  We ended up with 7 and I think they turned out cute.  When they are lit at night, they are really pretty, almost have a stained glass appearance!  Ryan wants to know what craft we are doing for December, so if you have any cute ideas for winter or the holidays, please let me know! :)

Weekend at Grandpa and Grandma's

The boys and I spent the weekend at Mom and Dad's, and Kyle and Evan went up to the hunting cabin for to hunt.  We had fun at the Pizza Pub with our friends on Friday night and then spent a low key day on Saturday at home.  The boys used their imagination to play much of the day - that is when I could pry the iphone out of their hands!  ;)

Their movie theater.  Can you see the names of the movies?  All spelled by Ryan! :)

Dolphin Tale

Soul Surfer (Sole Serfer)

Arthur's Christmas (Arther Crismas)

Puss 'n Boots (Puss in Boots)

Transformers 3 (Trantsformers 3)

Rio

They acted out each of the movies several times yesterday!

Carter peeking under the 'curtain':

Carter is sick again and back on the neb!  Poor little guy - hoping this one is knocked out as quickly as the last with his nebulizer!!!

Jewelry

You know how you have some days at work that just don't go quite how you expect or want them to?  That was my day yesterday working on jewelry.  I had a tough time getting motivated and then I just couldn't get into it.  I completed under half of the orders I had hoped to get done, and then when I got back home, realized I had misspelled a name on 2 of the necklaces - same name was on both.  Ugh - talk about frustrating!  It was just one of those days!  :(  I love making jewelry, but the holiday season brings a lot more pressure and I am trying to find the balance with spending time with my kids and making jewelry that works for all of us.  If anyone has any tips/tricks on working from home that they'd like to share, I'd be all ears!  :)