Holiday DIY

How many times do you see something and say "Love that, I can so make that" and then time passes and you kick yourself because you "forgot"!! A few months back I found a really sweet gift tag on Pinterest. I love snowmen so this was a no brainer. I gathered my supplies and away I went.

I made my prototype and then in a assembly line I went to work
tying bows (I used ribbon & tags from other projects) and laid out the buttons and started gluing
all finished!!
I would walk by and think I had a plate of cookies :)
I have decided just to put the "to" on the tag that way they can be recycled or they can be hung on the tree. The entire project took me about 2 hours start to finish, I made about 30 tags. The only thing different I would do: buy my buttons off the internet in bulk, they are pricey little buggers. Now go get started!!!!

Peace Out

Tree Decorating 101

For the last few years we have been hosting a tree decorating party the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Gumbo is on the menu and no Christmas carols for us it is the Florida/Florida State football game. There a couple of birthdays thrown in for added fun. I mean football, Christmas tree, gumbo & cake = a good time!! This year we had a team of expert decorators brought in for the tree. These 3 young people had such a good eye for placement. Their enthusiasm had no limit. Move over HGTv , I have found your new stars!!!!!

Bennett discovered he could put 7 ornaments on 1 branch :)
Hudson placing his selection just so (I wonder what that duck tape is doing there)
Helping Gamma taking her treasures out (Uncle Ray is totally into the game)
Kate does know how to dress for the occasion
Sweet Hudson (look at that fab mitten garland)
yes...perfection
It was so much fun with their help. It warms my heart that all my grandchildren have such a love for the magic of Christmas.

Peace Out

Holiday Open House

I just love the holiday season. I love Thanksgiving...this year I did feel for the first time a bit overwhelmed with all the food prep. My fault entirely by not delegating. I think we will change things up a bit in the future. For the last several years Thanksgiving weekend also means the beginning of the decorating for Christmas. I love getting my treasures out, the memories and the objects. This year I had the pleasure of having Hudson, Bennett & Kate help decorate the den tree (more on that in another post). Sunday, after the company left I got to play with my beautiful things. Now I have been downsizing and getting rid of the clutter except in this area. How do you downsize Christmas? So join me me on a holiday tour of my home.

The view from the front door
My elftster gift from last year (love)
The patio tree looking into the kitchen
It is amazing what a few balls will do
A new addition this year. fabric & twig reindeer
One of my all time favorites on the mantle, "a partridge in a pear tree"
My minitures
LOVE my dishes
We really must eat in here this season :)
a yoda mixed in with the snowmen (another of my favorite treasures)
a second peek
drop by and hang an ornament or two
perfection
What about you? Is decorating a chore or pleasure?

Peace Out

4th of July

Over the 4th of July, we traveled to Sanibel Island, a serene beach

In front of Tom & Susan's home it is lush with pulmerias, I love their fragrance The beach.......
Randy worked a little
I started a puzzle

A sunset through the porch screens (mosquitoes were hungry that weekend) I finished the puzzle
We walked to the beach, I just love the pathways to the beach on the island
Lots of shells, I looked and left them for the next person to gaze upon them
Watched some birds frolic
Randy fished
and was successful (he also gave the fish back to the gulf)
I mostly gazed at the water
We had a lovely time. We ate out (fish, shrimp, oysters, conch and a Blue Moon or 2) Tom grilled a cow (or 3) Steak is so yummy over charcoal. Eggs & grits (Tom's specialty besides the steak) for breakfast. Randy & Tom ventured into the gulf to try their hand at fishing. I beached and relaxed. I also stood by with extreme envy while Susan bought the exact iPad2 I dream about. We enjoyed a couple of terrific thunderstorms that only happen in Florida, the lightening, LOVE the lightening. We are so lucky to have friends who open their home to us. We are so very lucky to have friends that we can just be.....

Peace Out

And to be completely honest, yes we (I) live streamed the trial (why Casey Anthony of course)

A Little Dusty

It is a little dusty over here at Yo Gamma Gamma. I have a couple of thoughts on where I want to take this space. Hopefully I will be getting the feather duster out and begin soon.

Peace Out

this moment

{this moment} – A Friday ritual inspired by SouleMama.A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week.A simple, special, extraordinary moment.A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.If you’re inspired to do the same, leave a link to your ‘moment’in the comments for all to find and see.

I realize I am not to write an explanation but......I love this picture, in this young woman I see all three of my daughters...their joy in their lives....my joy in them......

this moment

{this moment} – A Friday ritual inspired by SouleMama.

A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week.

A simple, special, extraordinary moment.

A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

If you’re inspired to do the same, leave a link to your ‘moment’

in the comments for all to find and see.

Spring

Every year I look forward to the azaleas blooming, this year especially so. A bittersweet moment. The bushes really took a beating from the infamous tree. The missing one is dead, not a sign of green coming back. It still makes me really angry. The plan is to replace it with one or two and prune the others back and then in 30 years we will have them back as they were. (a tad bitter)

Peace Out

I am in love.....

and her name is Colleen, pretty red hair gal with green eyes from Ireland via Waldorf. I found her on an Etsy site. She will be joining Little Miss on her 3rd Birthday. She is so very sweet. I know she and Kate will be very happy together. shhh... it is a surprise. :)

Peace Out

The Number 5

I am grandmother to 5. Five precious beings that our daughters have given us. Hunter, Hudson, Bennett, Kate and Wyatt. Five, only one more then four and yet five. I have 5 fingers on a hand, 5 toes on a foot, I sleep about 5 hours a night, 5 children in my birth family, 5 original Ryan's, 5 hours in my work day. Five..... WOW!!!! Five......and I do not believe we are done.

Peace Out

Time Well Spent

As I sit at my desk I wonder at the passing of time. The second month of the new year is half over. How did this come to be? 2010 raced by in part to the Wedding, so much planning & anticipation and then it was done. I want things to slow down just a bit. How can I help this along, live more in the moment? I find I look forward to events happening in the future (normal, I know) but does that stop me from enjoying today? Something to ponder....

We had a jam packed end of January beginning of February!!!!

* Our first weekend taking care of the grandkids solo, we jam packed the weekend with shopping, bike riding, outdoor crafts (bird feeders & bird houses), swinging, feeding horses, playing ball, playing catch with the dogs, reading, movies, snuggling and oh yea vomit & diarrhea. A good time.

* We spent a week with Nancy & Elizabeth in Alabama. A sleep in, chatting, catching up, reading, organizing, chair covering, decorating, Pandoring, shopping, vino, birthdaying, king cake.

Another good time.

And now on to taxes and gardening.......and eagerly awaiting the arrival of Baby K.

Peace Out

this moment

{this moment} – A Friday ritual inspired by SouleMama.

A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week.

A simple, special, extraordinary moment.

A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

If you’re inspired to do the same, leave a link to your ‘moment’

in the comments for all to find and see.

{this moment} – A Friday ritual inspired by SouleMama.

A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week.

A simple, special, extraordinary moment.

A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

If you’re inspired to do the same, leave a link to your ‘moment’

in the comments for all to find and see.

Toddler Weekend

On Friday morning we are embarking on a toddler weekend. All things toddler. We will have total control of a 3 year old and 2 - 2 1/2 years old. Friday afternoon until Sunday evening. No Momma or Mami. Cooking, playing, entertaining, changing, wiping, consoling, laughing, cleaning up after and hopefully sleeping. Actually other then the much needed break sleep brings, there are a couple of nighttime cuddlers I am looking forward too. I love cuddling with a sleeping child (sigh - Erinn). I am looking forward to it, I am nervous. I had 3 girls spread nicely over 14 years. I never had 2 small children let alone 3. Good thing I have The Boy to help out with the family rules. :) He reminds me of Elizabeth S. in the way he advices on his siblings. :) I think I will need it. I have a few activities planned mostly we will let them lead the way. Life is a lot more fun when you experience it once again as a toddler. I feel privileged.

Peace Out

Resolutions

I looked back to what I wrote here last year and really came up short on the whole church thing. I did not even manage C & E. WOW!! I do feel I did manage a few things. At least in part I feel my communication skills improved. I went through the whole wedding planning with only 2 tifts with the bride. And that would have been a communication issue. Erinn and I tend to get very defensive about the same issues. The good thing is we make up quick and do not hold grudges. And I feel we did learn from them. I have one person in my life whose negativity drives me nuts and how did I choose to handle it? By being negative towards and about that person. It does not help that I have an willing participate in this game. So...I am going to try my hardest to stop in me what I feel is a very unbecoming character flaw.

I have reconnected with 2 people from my past through FB and that has been fun. A good thing from 2010. I lost a dear friend and am still struggling with that loss. A few people around me have chosen to live their life in chaos, I need to find balance, being supportive yet not getting sucked in. I tend to go into fix-it mode. I want to tear down my fix-it shingle.

So...that is it; negativity and no more fix-it. And on the up side renew my love of scrapbooking!!

and maybe work on that church thing. :)

Peace Out