Vegmom Moments

Sweet Card

A while ago, I made this card for Hubby, just because, and set it on the counter with his coffee pot for early morning viewing.

The other day, I noticed the card, and so I stuck it in the fridge with his Morning Smoothie, so he would see it when he woke up.   He told me that when he sees it now it brings a smile... so I planned to leave it hiding for more days to come.....

It says "Have I told you lately.... I love you" and a hand written note on the inside....

 

Well, tonight when I got home, look what I found on my pillow:

 

He went through my Card making stash, found stamps, inks, punches, scissors and made this cute little card...

I'm beyond impressed..... Even the little flowers in the little circles... hee hee... And the hearts for the corners.... he went all out!!   And his note on the inside is Sooooooo sweet... he even used my scrap paper, rather then dipping in to the full sheets.

And And And, he cleaned the stamps, and put everything back where he found it....

Awwwww, I think he loves me!  *smile*

ALBUMS AND THE WEB

I finally figured out why I'm not so Gung-ho to fill my scrap book albums with pictures anymore...

There was a time that I'd get the pics developed or printed as soon as I took them.  Had nothing else to do with them except get them in an album.  I rarely got more then a few months behind.   It was a two step process....

Sometimes if there was a really good event, I'd get doubles printed and send them to family.  Maybe a three step process...

But now... There is the Web... There are blogs... There is Email....blah blah blah...

So I started purposely taking pictures that fit on the blog with a caption already in my head...  I take family shots that would be Perfect for our Family photo blog.   With both of those comes editing/cropping/saving.... Emailing family and friends (only those that apply to them)  More organizing...

I get a few shots worthy of printing for family, have my Mom's yearly handmade photo calendar to think about, print a couple for frames for other family members.  And all that requires editing, cropping, printing, saving... And all gets done.

Then, I have to sort on my PC what goes where, keep track of the ones I print and file them in the right folder.   I have to keep everything organized for my sanity.  This takes time. 

Remember... I'm doing this ALL YEAR long!

Next step is to print  the highest quality shots of each event for my albums.

Once printed, those album pictures go in to a holding area and are sorted by date.  So when I'm ready to work on albums they get entered correctly.

And finally if/when time allows, I'll sit down and work on some Scrapbook pages.  But for some reason, by the time I print all those pics, I just don't find the time to put them in Scrapbook pages.

Hmmm, I wonder why?

ACTIVITIES VS. CRAFTS

My Vegman was always one to do crafts with me... I could sit for hours and work on things while he worked on things beside me.   Or we did things together... I was always looking for the next cool and easy project...

And then something happened... he got older... Now he says "I'm too old to do crafts Mom"...

Well Phooey!!  Fine, be that way!!  (stomping feet with a pouty face).....  So we haven't done them for a long time.

Then my Friend says the other day "You have to call them activities!"  Oooooh good idea friend!  Thank you so much!

And so today, I suggested we do "Activities"  and Veg said, "Sure Mom, I'm not too old for those"

Yippeee!!  And so we did crafts.. I mean "Activities" for a long time.... It was quite fun!

Wonder what other things we could do if I just changed the words a bit?  Hmmmmm... (wheels turning in brain)

SHIRT AND GARDEN UPDATE

Last week I tried to make a Natural Dye Free Tie Dye Shirt for the Vegman.... It looked Really cool...

See Here:

 

But I wasn't sure if the stains would stick after being washed.  So I let it set out for 7 days. 

Then yesterday I washed it in Cold water only... and put it in the Dryer...  Surprisingly the "Turmeric" Yellow/Orange stayed great.  The Grape Juice and Cherry Juice, Not so much:

 

 

I still think it looks pretty cool.. .. Veg, doesn't like it... If ONLY YELLOW was still his favorite color, I would have been all set!

So if you ever want a yellow/orange only tie dye shirt the Turmeric worked great.  IF you want other colors, I can't help ya!  But am on a mission... if I find other things that work, I will let you know.  Smashed blueberries are next on my agenda.

As for the Garden:

Yeah well, I got Nuthin but Carrots...

Here is one I picked yesterday, very baby carrots... but maybe I can use the greens for smoothies *smile*

 

Hey Hubby did try for me, gotta give him that much... Next year, I shall take over the garden my way... And see what we come up with.. We still have the space, just have to do a few things different?

I don't know like maybe, waiting till after the freeze to plant the seeds, and possibly seed them in side first like all the directions say, and maybe, put down some soil and compost and... OH don't get me started!!!

Poor lonely Garden, pretty much looks like this still:

HANGING TOWEL HAND MADE

A Hanging Towel.... By far THE COOLEST THING VEG EVER MADE ME.....

Here is the story... 

This morning when putting laundry away, I found this old hanging towel that has seen better days..

 

I told Veg, that I wish I had more of them because we would probably use a lot less paper towel, if we had some more of these handy....

"Well Mom" he says, "I can make you some, I learned how to sew buttons at my Montessori school"

He proceeded to tell me that he could do 2 hole or 4 hole buttons and just needed some supplies.  Here was his list:

• Cloth (I gave him an old burp cloth)
• Button
• Scissors
• Needle
• Thread
• And something for the loop (old T-shirt Piece from our rag bag)

We rounded up the supplies, I left him alone and got this:

 

 

In case you need a closer look:

 

OK, so the BEST part of this whole thing, is that Veg is now the Paper Towel Police..... 

"Dad, you don't need paper towel in the Kitchen, if you just washed your hands, use the hanging one and save a tree"

Seriously, he said that.... and all night long...  "Don't forget to use the towel and save a tree"

I am soooo loving this towel...  And made out of totally Reused/Recycled goods!

He put Extra knots to make sure it would last through the Laundry Machine when needed... Hopefully it will last us a long long time!

DYE FREE TIE DYE

Ok, I know this belongs on my Crafty Blog But it was way too cool not to post here...

Veg has been asking for a new Tie Dye shirt since he's outgrown his other ones.  And I just didn't' want to do the whole Dye thing....

Today it dawned on me that if we could make Dye free Play Dough, Surely we could make Dye free Tie Dye shirts...

And so I grabbed a plain white shirt of his, add a couple rubber bands, and filled up three plastic cups.  one with Grape Juice, one with Cherry Juice and the other with Turmeric Powder mixed with water.

We dunked and doddled....  until we were happy with the colors...

 

And this was the final result:

 

An entirely cool, Dye Free Tie Dye shirt!!! 

My plan is to let it sit for 7 days.  Then try to wash with cold water only... My hope is the stains will set and keep at least SOME of the color....  Because I don't use Bleach washing detergent, I'm hopeful that the color will stay long enough for him to enjoy his new Tie Dye.

Anyone know how to purposely set a stain!  ha ha... I'll keep you posted...

Ps.  If this actually works we will be doing LOTS more of these... I'll even make one for myself... Going to try to mash up some Blueberries for mine.... and maybe mixing the blueberries with turmeric would give me green?

ETSY?

Do you sell on Etsy??  I know two people that are thinking of selling their crafty creations, and have never really looked in to it myself.... Of course I have nothing crafty to sell, which is part of the reason...

Those I know that have purchased, have had great experiences too though.. I'll have to check it out...

So do you sell on Etsy?  What do you sell?    or do you have a favorite store that you buy from? Feel free to post your links in the comments...  I don't have many viewers but someone may happen upon this and see you.

P.S.  My comments are making your names not clickable, so you'll have to actually put your link in the comment itself... sorry for the mix up, they are supposed to be fixing that shortly... 

CRAFTS CRAFTS AND A TOWEL WRAP

I'm back to posting on the Crafty Blog, probably won't be consistent, since I don't have as much time as I would like to craft... but tonight I'm making up for lost time.  Including Dye free play dough, a gift from Hubby, some cards and more....  Be sure to look... 

Vegmom Craft Idea Exchange

PEAS AND TOOTHPICKS

Who needs building blocks or expensive erector sets when you have Toothpicks and Peas lying around?

How cool is this time-taker??...

CRAFTY WEEKEND

Well it wasn't totally crafty, but sorta...We went to a very nice lunch with friends yesterday and she brought a long a craft for the kids to do while waiting for food (Little bell wreaths)  Veg LOVED his and it now hangs on his door. 

By the way, you have to RING the bell to enter now...

She gave me some fun crafty stuff for Christmas gifts, which I got to use some of it when making cards..

Check them out here along with a Cini-Smelly ornament collection....

We also hand made some pizza dough where you have to wait for the dough to rise and everything, from a really cool dairy free kit, made by Mrs. S herself.  And by the way... every piece of paper decoration matched, from the cards, to the paper ribbon to the hand made tops of packages....  She is just way too crafty!!  So pretty!!

Then to top off the weekend, Veg and I made 4 batches of the Vapor'ish rub for a few friends and my Mom to try...I found cute little jars at our local health food store and stocked up on supplies...

Needless to say, its been a fun weekend..  Still have Work Work to do, and a few more things to finish around the house, but kudos to hubby... He put all my laundry away... Ummm Ok not all of it... he put "HIS" away!  ha ha.. but the rest is folded, that's better then Nuthin?

CRAFTY SUNDAY

Another Crafty Sunday... Click here for details!!

Not much else to share... The sun just came out, so I'm hitting the pavement for a little jog... Hubby just realized that I'm training for 13 miles... he said "Thats a long way, guess you better get running" 

ha ha, yeah, ya think???   Hoping for at least 3-4 miles before dark... wish me luck!!

THE RECYCLED BOX GIFT TOWER

A couple months ago I decided to not wrap gifts Traditionally any longer.  I started using Reusable shopping bags (canvas or other) or recycled paper and items from the house.  Not because I'm too cheap or lazy to wrap gifts... Although secretly I despise having to wrap them... But that isn't the reason. 

I just felt like it was smarter to reuse or pass on the Reuse-ability with wrapping or giving.  And spend money on things that can be reused, instead of thrown in the trash....So this Christmas, I will wrap only Veg's presents (to use up the rest of the paper so it doesn't go to waste) and everyone Else's are coming in either reusable type containers, or the boxes they arrived in.... No wrapping paper!!  

Note to family and friends, if you get something that is in a canvas bag, you will know why *smile*

Well, I have a crafty friend, and I couldn't wait to giver her the gifts we purchased...(yes I know it is not even December yet, but I have my reasons for giving early, I promise)  *wink*   

But I couldn't just give it to her in normal recycled fashion, because after all, she is my Crafty Friend.  I had to do something Crafty...... 

So I dug through the recycle bins (they are kept in the family room, so no bad stuff inside)... And created this...The Gift Tower.  Each box contains a gift item (nothing big)...

 

But of course, I couldn't leave it looking like that... No Sirree!!....  Insert, pretty craft paper and scraps, Folded just so, that each can be re-used in a card some day...

 

Handmade Card punched and tied with the twine (saving the paper of an envelope)  And decorated on top with little Star Fondant Cut Outs (she's a cake lady)  Personally, I call them cookie cutters.  But the package says Fondant!  Who New?  And the stars sort of match something inside (hint hint)...... Then all tied together with the twine.

I take the gift tower to my crafty friend... and of course she says "Its not even December yet"  Ha Ha....Well.... then she says "I'm not going to open it till Christmas!" 

WHAT?   That can't be???   I thought I was learning Patience, but apparently not so much!  *smile*

WHAT A WONDERFUL WEEK

Changing my take on things, rescheduling my days, Work Improvements Tri-fold and making time for Sleep and Exercise and Crafting... This has been a Wonderful week!!

I ran a total of 5 miles over several days.  I took 10 minutes here and 20 minutes there as I could.  Getting me back in to the groove... 

Veggies from the School Garden prompted me to make things I haven't had in a long time.  I even got some beets at the grocery store to throw in our salad last night.  The prettiest Romaine Lettuce I've ever seen... How cool to have an organic garden so close and dear.  Not to mention all proceeds go to the school.

My Computer was off every night by 12:30 even one night by 10pm.  So the mornings made it easier to wake early and get things done.  One morning I even sat down and made a Card to get me excited for Christmas... With all the cards I made last night, I'm almost done with that part of Christmas Preparedness....

Check out my Crafty Blog to see all the fun things we've been working on.

Vegmom Craft Exchange

Now were off to my favorite Veggie restaurant for an early dinner!!!  A Great Week indeed!

SILLY APPLE PUMPKIN DAY 2008

And so our Second Annual Silly Apply Pumpkin Day of 2008 comes to a close....  Veg ate his dinner at about 7:30 excused himself from the table and said "I'm going to bed, its been a long day"  AND HE DID!!!  Out cold... Fast Asleep.... No Muss No Fuss.....  But what did we do on this day you may ask??

First, there was School.... The kids got to carve a Pumpkin.  When parents arrived they auction off the pumpkins... Its all for fun and all proceeds go to the school... Did my guy CARVE a Pumpkin???  NOooooo!  He didn't want to "RUIN" the pumpkin!!  Wish I would have known that at 10pm last night when I was running around the city looking for a kid friendly carving tool..... And so he painted it!!  A beautiful masterpiece.  Notice the skeleton in picture 2:

Hubby brought Veg home after the auction, while I went back to work.  Upon getting home, I find my little Vegman in his usual costume attire... the same thing he's been for the last 5 years.... and I gave him his outdoor surprise...  The silliest pumpkin of ALL time... One that BOUNCES!!!  Really Really High!!  In fact so high, that it took off down the street and I was running very quickly to catch it before it got slaughtered by on coming traffic.  That was fun!! 

Here is Spidey, showing off his new friend!

And of course there were Leaves... Lots and Lots of Leaves... And finally one of my trees decided to turn pretty before the season ended:

After raking and jumping, raking and jumping, then playing our version of Dodge Ball and blowing bubbles.... OOH forgot to write about the bubbles....

While out last weekend, someone at a store gave Veg some bubbles.  Hubby wouldn't let him have them because they were "Halloween" and Hubby doesn't want Halloween celebrated...  Well... I say they are BUBBLES......  So tonight, I wrapped a little jar with happy pumpkin and apple stamped paper, then made my own bubbles....  Dish soap, Water and Sugar... I made it really really really soapy, so the bubbles were GREAT.  We found an old wand, and blew the most wonderful bubbles.

Ok, so after bubbles, leaves, bouncing ball and fun...  We came inside.....Bobbed for Apples!  Veg is much better this year then last year, but we all had some great laughs.  Hubby got his on the first try... SHOW OFF:

Then it was hand out candy time (to each other)  The candy I chose for Veg, was Organic all natural Candy Canes.... Afterall,  What is more silly then Christmas Candy in October???  Just love this box!!

Veg was soooo excited "Thanks Mom, this is the best candy ever"  BUT - he says... "Remember last year when you made me a really nice bowl for my candy?  Why didn't you do that this time?" 

Well Phooey!!  He remembers the one thing I forgot.... So I get him in the shower then run around to find a decoratable container...  Thanks to my Crafty Friend.. I had some recipe boxes lying around...

One of them is now officially a Silly Apple Pumpkin Box:

With candy canes inside:

Eventually it is time for dinner.... I was so busy with everything else, that I didn't bother to make a good dinner, but I had to make something that was Silly! and something that was Apple'ish..... 

Fried Apples did the trick, although didn't come out as good as I imagined they would, Veg really liked them... He said they were chewy like gum.. ha ha... Not exactly the texture I was going for:

And this Guys name is Chief Silly Face:

I also made these.. Peanut Butter and Chocolate bars but they are cooling in the fridge right now...  Those aren't really Pumpkin or Apple'ish, but they sure do look good!!  ha ha... And they will give Veg some "Peanut Butter Cup" type candy when he wakes in the morning, to show him that not going trick 'o treating isn't so bad after all....  Ooh is he excited for those.. (so am I, by the way)

And so our Day comes to an end!!  My Veg Man went to sleep as happy as can be and just before heading off he says.. "I know we don't celebrate Halloween, but I'm sure glad we celebrate Silly Apply Pumpkin Day"

Sheww... Mission Complete!!!

WEEKEND RAMBLINGS

Yesterday was a nice refreshing day... There was so much going on in our town this weekend for the Fall and so many things that I would normally drop everything to go do, and yet, I didn't want to do ANYTHING!!!  Yesterday, Veg didn't want to leave the house even with the promise of festivals and fun galore. 

So I decided, if he didn't want to leave, and I didn't really want to either, then it would be a stay home do nothing day!  And thats what it was.  Even Hubby joined in on the do nothing activities, we all got naps, and munched on what we had around the house, we all got rest, and did fun family around the house activities.

At one point, I jogged up to a new store that has our bank inside.  Hubby and Veg met me up there with the car and Veg traded in his coins from NeeNee, then went to buy a toy.  Legos.. Of course...He was so proud.. He told everyone from the bank teller to the cashier, that he rolled that "monies" with his NeeNee...
On our way back to the car he said "Do you think NeeNee will save me some more Monies?"  I already told him the answer was YES!  *smile*

So I should have been really really well rested.  Should have been good to go, happy, ready to start this Sunday....And yet, I wasn't.  Woke up with a Sinus headache.  A few natural remedies later, and headache is gone... But as the day want on, I was just a Gloomy Guss....  Worked on legos with Veg, and did some housework..... Nothing horrible happened and yet, I felt like I was dragging, like my brain had no power left and I was picking my chin off the ground...  Then I got in to the thinking of "Why are you feeling this way, you have nothing to be miserable about"  And so the day went on... Much of the same.... 

Hubby comes home and says "I know what you need, a Starbucks drink"  And he offers to go get me one...  Very sweet on the one hand, but not supportive of the "no Starbucks" on the other hand.  So he tried to make me feel better by offering to listen to my woes.  Since I had no woes on this day, there was really nothing to share... So he said he would go buy us food, but I wasn't hungry....  Poor Guy really did try!

And finally I realized, we just needed to get out side... Even Hubby joined us and we went for a short walk, then home to make Leaf Drawings on the driveway.  Pictures HERE  .....

That was what I needed, I'm sure of it!!  Because back inside I had enough energy to finish these blog posts, make dinner, eat dinner, shower, and listen to some lovely music (Veg playing his instruments) until we got him off to bed.

So Alas, that is our weekend!  Nothing amazing, Nothing out of the ordinary, Nothing horrible!  Just a plain Ol' weekend of doing a whole lot of nothing!

MAKING PAGES

I've written a lot lately about doing things I wouldn't normally do, but tonight I stayed right in my shell, very happily !!   

Having my Crafty Friend over for some good conversation, and fun scrapbooking... As well as Idea sharing, Starbucks Treats, snacks.... Did I mention Scrapbooking... I made 7 pages... WooHoo!

As in the past, I was shocked to look at the clock and realize it was 2am!  ACK!!!  But so worth it!

We had a great visit!  Even Hubby decided to chat for a while.  Maybe now the crafty bug will be happy with me, and I'll do some more before the weekend is over....*maybe*

For now, I'm going to bed!

RECYCLED FORT (TORT)

What do you do when you forget your Reusable shopping bags?  Well you ask for Paper instead of plastic.... Save at the landfill, and make a Tort?

What is a Tort, you may ask?  Well it is Fort spelled with a T and apparently that is what Veg has decided to call his new favorite spot.  The brown paper is cut up bags, and the white papers are old craft sheets that have been re-purposed...  You can see the legs of Mr. Veg enjoying his couch inside the Tort! 

I have a feeling when I come home tomorrow, he and his Daddy will have made this little area into an exotic forest..... For now Veg is going to sleep in his Tort and it is quite funny!

BACK TO CRAFTING...

I know I don't keep my other blog updated as often, so wanted to send a note on this one...I've posted a few really easy craft projects....  Vegmom Craft Exchange....  Check them out...

If we can do them, so can you!

*smile*

LOTS OF CRAFTING

Today was a Crafting day.... Check out pic's on my other blog.... To get all this done in one day, you know they were easy!!!  So enjoy!!  And thanks to my crafty friend for so much inspiration:

http://www.vegmom.typepad.com/vegmom_craft_idea_exchang/

CRAFTY MORNING

We had a Crafty Morning... I love those... Posted everything on my Craft Blog...  *smile*

CHRISTMAS PRESENTS - A LITTLE LATE

My sweet angel Mom sent us Circuit City Gift Certificates for Christmas.  One for me and one for Hubby.   No offense to Circuit City or my Mom, but there wasn't anything that I really had to have at that moment.  So Hubby used it to buy him some more Video games...

Needless to say my sweet angel Mom was NOT happy about this turn of events and wanted ME to get something for ME...  So I promised I would spend an equivalent amount on Stampin Up stuff. (card making supplies).. I finally did this today.  My consultant placed the order and it should arrive on my door step in the next week or so.... Not only did I get LOTS that I wanted, but I also got some of the free stamp sets in their Sale-a-bration catalog...

Very cool indeed.... Thanks Mom!!  *smile*

CRAFT BLOG UPDATED

Don't forget to check out this one... CRAFT IDEAS  Hopefully I'll update it more often... When I update it often, that means I have time to craft often.  And I like having time to craft!  *smile*

END OF WEEK

First New Years week comes to a close!  And another balanced day!  *smile*

Not too many tips to share except this one  "leave Hubby Notes"...  Last night I prepared Veg's lunch to bring with us this morning and left myself a note so I wouldn't forget stuff.  When I got out of bed, hubby had already let the dogs out and fed them, also packed up the lunch from my note, and had everything waiting for me by the stairs.  (he must have thought the note was for him, but I'm not complaining)

Following the tips from yesterday (although going to sleep at 2am and not 12am) we had a successful morning.

Veg and I were Awake, Dressed and out the door in 10 minutes!  WooHoo!!! 

I'll be coming home to a straightend house (picking up as I go really does help), my car is not a mess, and my work task list has been nipped away.  Hubby is picking up Veg so I can go shopping (saving me from doing this tomorrow) and if all goes well, I'll stay one day ahead of myself! 

At least I can hope!

DOING IT ALL AND BALANCED

I posted yesterday that I would find a way to time manage and balance my life a little better in 2008, getting back to some things I used to do.  You know like, putting stuff away as you take it out, or finishing a task as soon as it is assigned so it doesn't pile up.  Simple things like that...  Maybe even a pile of laundry a day... hmm?  what a concept.

So, I have to report about my 2nd day...This one didn't include any extra sleep, and my plans were forced to change in order to finish up a task... But in the end it all got done.  Including updating this blog.  Soooo here it goes:

Tip - Prepare everything in advance for Veg's School day making this morning less stressful

• Load up the car with lunch, soy milk carton, slippers, bag, jacket, mittens, hat, shoes, socks, extra clothes, blanket, pillow (you get the idea)
• Lay out clothes for the Veg-Meister - have breakfast and drink already in the car before he woke up
• Dogs fed and outside/inside
• Get myself dressed - pack wallet, computer, blah blah blah
• Take Veg to school and then drive to work

Tip - Don't stop at Starbucks in the AM, saved me 25 minutes and $3.85

• Get to work and do all paperwork soon as I arrived and get it all turned in before the busyness starts
• Work
• Take my lunch break only this time with Hubby - we met for lunch and Starbucks (OK, so i didn't really save the $3.85)

Tip - Parents of school age kids, be sure to meet for lunch... May be the only "couple" time you get and is a great break in the day to discuss what ever without having little ears around or needing to pay a babysitter.

• Back to work... work, work, and more...
• Then pack up and go get Veg (have a snack handy to avoid car whining)
• Once Home, bring everything in the house at once instead of forgetting about it till later
• Before closing the garage door, start a load of wash
• Head upstairs, change my clothes and go for a jog, while Veg has "daddy" time  (Only got 10 minutes because it was dark, but better then nothing)
• Make dinner
• While dinner is brewing, grab the lunch box and fill it up for tomorrow

Tip - Its easy to prepare lunch while preparing dinner because you already have all the food handy, and saves you the rush in the morning.

• Check Blackberry and get computer hooked up for evening work
• Dinner is done, so we eat (its now 7:30)
• Play with the Vegman for a few minutes
• Clean up kitchen from Dinner
• Clean up toys from play time
• Read Bed time book
• Brush teeth, toilet stop, lotion on hands (don't ask), change music, turn on fan, light... blah blah blah
• Alas 8:30 and Veg is sleeping....
• Sit down at the PC to update blogs, check out Mom's site, and log in to work...It is now 10pm
• I will finish this up, clean out some more email from my week off and then shower myself

Tip - Shower at night - great way to relax without any interruptions, and one less thing to do in the morning..

I will probably goto bed by midnight (or I can hope)  but this was a perfectly balanced day!

Time for Veg, Time for Hubby, Time for Work, Time for Me, House not piled with mess......

I'll Take it!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Whoops! Wall

Alright Everyone.... My Advent Calendar loved my wall, but my wall DID NOT like my Advent Calndar..

Whoops!  Guess I've got some patching and painting to do!  *sigh*

And my advent boxes were also destroyed while tearing the paint off my walls, so the lids have been turned in to a scrapbook page!

VEGMOM GIFT GUIDE

The gift giving season in our home has sort of been a month long process.  When my Mom was here we got some gifts.  While going to our friends holiday gathering, we received gifts... and boxes have been arriving on our doorstep from everyone else....  So I must share some of  the unique gift hi-lights of Christmas 2007!!  Sorry, in advance if I forget anything...

Bananagrams - Its like Scrabble but with out the board, points and brains.   Our friend got us this and it is actually much harder then she led on... Oh Yes, she said you didn't have to be smart to play, so I thought we fit that category very well.   However, it is quite challenging.  Hubby and I played tonight and it took over an hour to clear the pile and make words.   I did win this first round, by the way... must throw that in!  *smile*

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101 Things to do with Tofu - This too was purchased from my same friend who knows that I'm always looking for fun (easy) recipes.  This book has over 100 easy recipes that even I can do.  From Appetizers to Dessert and everything in between.  Can't wait to start using this and making lots of new things.  Perfect timing, now that Hubby is on board with this Veg thing... I'll need to be creative with food choices and this will be sooo helpful.

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This Vera Bradley bag is from my MIL.  There was some confusion on the colors, but she did get the one that matches my backpack.  And it is a retiring pattern..  Its supposed to be used as a Hand Bag.  But I've never used anything called a "Hand Bag" and don't plan to at this time... Oh No!  I have changed the name to "Veg's Travel Bag"  It will perfectly hold all my toiletry items and cords and phones etc when I'm traveling.  It has pockets and more pockets, then a big center area for brush, travel size bottles and such.  I'm actually pretty excited about this one.. Especially since I have a trip coming up soon

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VTech Vsmile Pocket Handheld - It's actually called "VTech V.Smile Pocket Learning System"  However, NeeNee went all over her State to find the "Vtech Handheld"... Only to find out it was called a "Pocket"...  *smile*  Poor NeeNee... But she found it and our Veg is Very happy.  The cool thing about this is that it holds all the same games he already has for his bigger Vtech System.  Which means we didn't have to buy any new games.  But it did come with a game that he didn't already have so that was a bonus.  NeeNee also bought him two more games to go with his collection.  So he is Stocked.  This little system is small enough that it is easy for travel but big enough that he can control it and the screen is easy to see.  And even better, you can plug it directly in to the TV and play off the big screen if you choose.  This will be great for traveling..  Another cool feature is for those kids that are Lefties... The controllers flip from lefty to righty with the flick of a button.  It is a VERY cool gadget! 

Silly Sentences  - This silly game was a complete surprise from another friend.  We met the other day and she surprised Veg with this Christmas Gift. 

Veg looked at it and said "AW Cool, I have one of these, but this will give me more pieces"  I just love the way he sees the positive in things.  I remember when I used to do that more often.... (note to self, get back to thinking positively about things)....

Anyway, when we got home, Veg had already started taking a part all the pieces and ran to get his similar game.  They were the same but different.  One is called Silly Rhymes.  And this new one is called Silly Sentences.  Basically for both of them you have to make sentences using puzzle like pieces.  We ended up having a lot of fun reading and making word groups all last night.  The fun part was that he could tell if he was missing a word to make a complete sentence because the puzzle pieces didn't match.  So fun and very educational...

In addition to the items above, I also got my craft organizing cubes, shown here!  and A new Vera Bradley laptop bag and some crafty supplies.  Veg has received clothes, lots and lots of toy cars, a giant Excavating Truck thing, handmade gifts, a Playmobile Nativity Set, games, and more. 

So the Holiday isn't even over yet and our house is full of stuff.  Good news is, Veg agreed to begin getting rid of stuff after Christmas.  So I think that will be a new tradition.  The day after Christmas pack up all your old things and ship them off to make room for the new.

Thanks to everyone, for so many fun and wonderful things.  I can't wait to use and play with everything....

HOLIDAY CRAFTS

Don't forget to check out my Craft Blog.  I don't update it as often as this one, but always post our latest pretty or not so pretty things.... For some reason, you have to refresh your page if it loads funny... So don't give up when you click over...

If you have any ideas, feel free to share them... I won't post your name unless you ask me to.

HOME MADE ORNAMENT

Veg and I went to a Holiday party tonight.. The one where we had to bring a homemade ornament.  It was getting down to the wire and I just couldn't think of anything better then my silly cow picture that said "Tofu, Its whats for dinner"

The person that hosts this party is one that likes to tease me about the Veg thing, so I decided this was a perfect ornament... I didn't get a picture so I can't show you...  But this is what I did...

• Take the top off of a glass ornament
• Fill the inside with little square pieces of white Styrofoam (the tofu chunks)
• Took a picture of a cow and laminated it (self adhesive laminate sheets)  And stuck him inside the ornament.
• Put the top back on the ornament
• Then I wrote three things on the outside using markers that are made for glass

1. Tofu, its whats for dinner!
2. Tofu, the other white meat
3. GO VEG!

Anyway, my little guy helped me pop the pretend tofu chunks in the ornament and he was quite proud of the finished product. 

Hubby originally said he didn't want to take Veg there, but then decided last minute that we should all go... Then he didn't come to the party with us although he really wanted to... Something has happened to his foot.  Not sure what yet, but he is sort of unable to walk at this moment!   So we left him home with an elevated foot!

As for us, we had a nice time... Veg pretty much went from room to room, upstairs, downstairs and in between.  Only stopping to talk to a few people and pet the little soft doggy.  Otherwise he was moving!  Well, he was moving until he found a skeleton at the top of one of the stair wells.... This, stopped him in his tracks!  Thankfully, this meant we no longer had to go up that stairwell.  hee hee

Even went out front on the porch to dance to the band.  Think that was my favorite part.  No one else saw him do this, but I enjoyed watching him over and over again!  *smile*

Yes, there was a live band.  And lots of food and beverages... Including the alcohol variety.... When we went down stairs my little guy noticed some "Yellow Juice" in a great big bowl.... And he was really wanting some of that yellow juice!  "Sorry sweety, I don't think that is for us"  ha ha!

All in all it was a nice night and we left in perfect time for Veg to get to sleep without trouble.

Thank You to the hosts... and congrats again on your new home.  It is beautiful... And by the way, I think that is the biggest Christmas Tree I've ever seen!

INSIDE THE BOXES

When I made these last week, I had no idea what I would put inside them.  But someone shared their advent box story and I had to copy the suggestion.  So I can't take credit for this in anyway, but the boxes made a very happy Veg!  (Oh, and the thumbtacks worked great to keep them on the wall)

I got him his very own Table top Christmas tree for $1.00 at Walmart.  A strand of 35 lights from Michaels for a couple dollars, and a very pretty star for the top (because Veg said it had to have a star).. Along with a few packs of small ornaments and a few little nick knacks.

When Veg woke up yesterday morning and I told him it was December 1st, he ran straight to his first box.  Opened it up to find two little Rudolph ornaments for his tree.  You would have thought it was Christmas Morning.  He was sooo excited, and couldn't wait to get them on the tree.  And later in the day he looked at the boxes on the wall, then looked at his tree and said "Mom, this was the best idea ever" 

Today he did the same and found a little matchbox car and an ornament!  Again, he was pretty darn excited but more about the ornaments then the matchbox car.

I'd say all together, I've spent about $15 for this project, and still need to fill up the last couple boxes.  But, so worth it to see that smile on his face. 

And by Christmas Morning it will be a fully decorated Christmas Tree of his very own! 

This is what it looks like now:  (ornaments are on the bottom but you can't see them so good in this pic)

MY NEW CRAFT AREA

My Christmas Present from NeeNee and Gpa Chris.... Yup I got it early!  *smile* 

This is my new craft area!!!  Yippeee!!

And by the way... Its a tad bigger then it looks in this picture.. And every single little piece has to be put together by hand.    Each cube comes in a flat box with parts.  You build it from scratch!  It takes a LONG time!   But sooooo worth it!