Photos 2007

My Mom's tree is really pretty. You can't see it's beauty in this photo, however, I will always be able to see it in my memory.

This is a happy Gingerbread Man. I sure would like to taste him.

This GingerSnowman is cute too. I love my Mom's Gingerbread cookies. They really do taste good after hanging up for a long time. She is so talented and between her and my Dad I am so very blessed! They are a wonderful team and do almost everything together. They are fortunate to have the time and abilities to spend most of their time together.

I look forward to the day that I may follow in their footsteps. Being with the man I love and married full time, would be so wonderful! I married him because I want to be with him, and this sending him off to work all the time and not having him around to be a team all the time is for the birds.

Our business will be our path out of the rat race that our society has told us is the right thing to do- Get a job and be gone from your family for many many hours a day, a week, a month and throughout the years. Just so that you can buy things you don't need and never have the time to use. Ramble on and on and on........

This is my favorite! I love the bow on the wreath and the holly berries. I do want to eat this one. However, I doubt I will get one. I'm never around when they come down and being older maybe I have outgrown eating old cookies. My Mom says she know that I am one of the cookies snitchers from the 60's and 70's.

One of the 6 snitchers, apparently our gingerbread men would loose an arm here and a leg there. Funny how I won't admit to it still, but I am sure it was one of my 5 siblings who amputated those gingerbread men's appendages. I would never do anything like that, I would have eaten the whole cookie!

What a cute Christmas Tree. Now if all these cookies had mini m&m's adorning them instead of the red hots, I think my Mom would have lost all of them to snitchers already.

Mom said that the icing got hard for her to do. So small in detail and her hand got very tired. I suggested that she have a party next year with any of the grandkids who would like to decorate and maybe even help with the cutting out. This would be fun.

The only challange is that she only has 17 grandkids and one more joining us this Friday. My oldest nephew is getting married this Friday to a wonderful young lady. I am thrilled for them. So with this amount of grandkids, it would be quite a fun time in her small kitchen. However, we could work out shifts and have a small group come at different times. Or they could come to my house, my kitchen is better set up for a group of bakers. But we would still have to do some shifts.

Or maybe build a house with a kitchen for large family baking and large family crafting and scrapbooking and laughing and reminiscing, etc. A family retreat built just for us! Dream board, I have a new idea for you.... (stop the rambling, now back to this post...)

Pilot Boy walked outside and said he was just walking around. I went out and saw this pretty almost perfect heart. I asked him if he knew he made a heart, and he ran out to see it. He had no idea that he had made this heart. Cool. I really thought that he had made me a heart, but I am happy for the accidental heart he made. He did give it to me.

Here is a better or straight on view of my sons rambling feet. I love you too.

Well off again. Have a great day.

Sharinskishe

Ideas From Fellow Bloggers - Thanks Guys

MANY MANY THANKS FOR ALL YOUR GREAT IDEAS !!

Many thanks for all your great ideas that I got from December 19th Works for Me Wednesday. I am going to take those I want to work with and put them into this posting to help me remember the things I want to work on. Love to you all and I will try to get thank you emails off to you soon.

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Calender Make Overs

Last year I had my parents gather up some calenders for me and then I was going to put family pictures and artwork from the kids in them, photo scrapbook calenders. I never got to it. I have yet to do it this year, however I am thinking that if I put a reminder here, I will get going. I might even do a calender that starts in July and goes 18 months to the following December of 2009. Then maybe I will be better prepared to make a new one in 2009 for 2010.

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I am really sorry that I do not remember who presented the next few ideas. I didn't get my brainstorm to link back to the giver's blog until after I began to gather ideas. My deepest thanks to you who are not named. If you recognize any of these ideas as your own, let me know and i will add a link to your blog. Again, my sincere apologies.

Christmas Tag Notes of Love and Respect

On Christmas tags - write a niceness note that must be read before the present is opened. I think if we think in terms of Love notes for the gals and Respect notes for the guys. (I have just finished reading Love & Respect again. And I am trying to keep the things I have learned in the front of my brain.)

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Assigning Alias's to Christmas Tags

KME over at Duckabush Blog had this great idea for keeping the To and From on their wrapped presents secret until Christmas Day. She assigned a character name to each family member. Such as- To: Prancer Love: The High King Peter or To: Donner From: Ariel. Check out her specifics at Duckabush. Then come back here for more.

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Get-Ready-For-Christmas-Party

"The idea is simple. Everyone comes over with their own Christmas project in hand. It might be presents to be wrapped, or Christmas cards to write, or a Christmas craft/gift, or just envelopes to be addressed. I serve cookies and tea (although I forgot the tea this time - oops!) and everyone works on their particular project in good company with good conversation." Check out the rest of her blog: Laundry & Lullabies

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Crochet Star Ornament

I have crocheting talent, however I have not done anything for several years. I love to crochet, but I have been busy with other things. So I want to make some of these this year. Go to Amy's site By Hook or By Cook for more information.

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Making Christmas Last All Week

I like this idea of spreading out the Holidays. Who says all the presents have to be opened in one day or one sitting? I want to find a better way to manage gifts and spend more time serving others and remembering what Christmas is really all about. I also want to savor the season. I can see giving my children gifts that could be used to make other gifts and serve others at the same time. I hope to get back here and clear up my ramblings. But for now I am glad I have the seed of a great idea that should be able to be nurtured and grown for my family. Thanks Mego. Go read this idea in full at A Day with the Demos.

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Three Gifts for Christmas

I Love the 3 gifts ideas that I have heard lately. Check out De's Blog at The Fruit House as she explains how their family benefits from this tradition. Thanks De.

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Well there are more Ideas to Come so check back. Thanks again to everyone. I hope you get lots of traffic via this posting.

Best to you all.

Sharinskishe

Check out my Second Posting of Your Great Ideas - Ideas From Fellow Bloggers 2

Check out the rest of my Blog - Today on Practically Perfect Life

Ideas from Fellow Bloggers -2-

Christmas Folder or Notebook

This idea from Sorta Frugal is something that most of us have heard many times. I use a notebook every year. However, it is the notebook I am currently using in my everyday life. So it doesn't have the previous years information nor is it very organized, it is just notes jotted here and there. So a Folder would be good for me. Check out Katherine's idea at Sorta Frugal for the full scoop.

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Talking Time Out for Use in the Car

Desiree over at her Blog Clappy Shoes has great advice for driving with kids by using a talking time out. I will be incorporating this into my car travels. See her Blog for more information.

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A Solution for Itchy Skin

As I was reading at Flexible Dreams, Amy points out how she gets rid of her winter itchies. I hope this will help me too.

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10 Ways to Reuse Wrapping Paper

Need some ideas to recycle wrapping paper? Check with Tickled Pink for some great ideas.

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Gluten Free Cookies

One of my Cub Scouts is allergic to wheat. So I am hoping that this recipe will be one that I can use to have a treat other than veggies and fruit at our meetings. So if you need Gluten free cookies check out 3 recipes over at In The Life Of A Child BlogSpot.

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Simple Tradition - Ornaments

Daddy on the Road, Mommy on the Run have some great ideas about Ornament collections as a simple tradition they enjoy. Many of us have the same tradition, I really liked how they presented their method.

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Shiney Hard Cookie Icing

I want to try Amy's cookie icing. So I will be heading to her blog at Too Many Recipes to try it out.

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Stocking Stuffer List

If you need ideas for stocking stuffers. Check out MemeGRL's Blog. Her friend Heather made this list for her and I for one will be benefiting from it. Thanks Heather and thanks MemeGRL!

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This is all I have for now. Thanks to one and all for your great ideas. I hope everyone has been able to find some fun things here that they can use. May you all be blessed for your kindness in sharing your traditions and ideas with me and those who frequent my Blog.

Sharinskishe

Check out my First Posting of Your Great Ideas - Ideas From Fellow Bloggers

Check out the rest of my Blog - Today on Practically Perfect Life

Creative Wrapping by Santa

Santa was pretty funny at our house this year. He wrapped two very small presents and labeled them Mom & Dad. Then as we opened them, we came to a second wrapping of a different paper that said Pilot and Angel. So we handed the presents off to them and they opened the gifts to find their 'big' presents. They got i-pods this year.

The kids were pretty disappointed until that point as we were a little lean this year and all they opened were dollar store gifts, shampoo, things they knew we already had like the Cabella's 'Swiss army knife' look alike and hair pretty's that had not yet been used.

They know that the business is in a stall right now, but that does not make it any easier when it comes to Christmas presents. We have never spent a lot on them. By a lot, I have heard of people spending a thousand on each child. I think a hundred is more than enough. But this year we did go about one fifty because we chose to go with a particular i-pod. But they didn't get any new clothes, socks or small gifts, other than those they gave each other.

This did not hurt them. They were appreciative and we received many hugs and kisses and thank yous and I don't believe its. It was fun for Hubby and I.

For the very most part, the day was perfect. I was proud to be their Mom. I was grateful for them for acting in loving and helpful ways. It was a day we all dream about, where the sister can be next to the brother without killing each other! (... and the lamb shall lie down with the lion...)

It was also a busy day as the day progresses. We had to rush at the end to spend as much time together as we could because Dad had to leave for work at 4pm. It was either be gone from the house for work on Christmas Eve from 4pm until 6am on Christmas morning or stay home Christmas Eve and go to work Christmas day at 4pm and come home on the 26th at 6am. For me, there is no choice but to have him here on Christmas Eve and go to work on Christmas Day. It is the better of two bad work scheduling opportunities.

Some year soon, we will have him home with us on both days because the business will take care of that. It will be a time of much thanks and opportunity to help others. We can not wait for that time to come. The beginning will be coming in February or March--- hurray! We can not wait.

Time to head out for now. Ha det godt!

('Ha det godt' or 'have a good day'- in Norwegian. I'm not sure why, but ending this way is just flowing naturally from my fingers. I used to end this way all the time. I speak Norwegian and even lived in Norway for 16 months on a church mission. My family heritage on my Dad's Mom's side is from Norway. So I guess the Norwegian is trying to burst out of me for now. So, ha det godt. Have it good. )

Sharinskishe

How was Your Christmas Eve?

You know that times are changed when you volunteer to do a project and find you don't have the 'old' technology in your home to do it. I am in manner trying to tell you that I am a techno junkie, however, I have apparently have joined the technology age enough to have given up some of old machines and do-dads.

I went to my Mom's...

OK, here is the way my afternoon went. I went to my Mom's to do a couple of things for her and for myself. I needed a copy of some files off her computer. I did not take my travel drive, so I copied the files to a disc. I tested it there and all was great.

I then told her that I thought I had a typed copy of a story my Dad told us kids from back in Christmas 1974, that I had taken from a cassette I had made back then. I couldn't find the story. I typed it back in 1980 or so and it has never been put on the computer. So I borrowed back a cassette I gave my Mom a month or so ago that I found of another of my Dad's stories, from 1977.

Then when I left her house, I didn't know it, but I forgot to get the Cardamon I was going to borrow, so I could make Julekake.

I returned home...

I got home and went to make the Julekake and realized I had forgotten the Cardamom.

So I decided to go to task number two. I went to work on the family recipes. I put the disc I copied from my Mom's computer into my computer and my laptop won't read the disc. It appears the disc is empty. I used to use discs all the time, and either I have forgotten how to copy or maybe the disc writers are not compatible. Maybe, even though I tested it, maybe I still messed up on the saving of the files. Weird.

So, I decide to go to task number 3. I decided to get the last cassette I just found of stories from my Dad transposed to the computer. I am holding the cassette, the kids and I listened to it on the way back from my Mom's.

It is a treasure and in a few years it will be priceless. I am grateful that I can still hear my Dad's voice and someday, when he passes on, I will still be able to listen to him. I hope to get more of these treasures made. So anyway, I am holding the cassette and realize that I do not have a cassette player in my house! I have always had one since the 70's and it is unbelievable that I do not have have a player here.

So I will not be transposing the tape tonight. I could go sit in the car, which really would be fine- no interruptions, peaceful and quiet. However, we are in the middle of a severe winter storm, with blizzard like conditions and I have no desire to be freezing out there in the driveway today.

So with 3 tasks stalled in their tracks, I did the only thing I could do- - - - I went upstairs and took a nap!! heeee heeee : ) I needed one, I had been running around town with all the last minute crazies doing a little finishing touches for myself, getting stuff my Mom needed and letting my kids get some last minute stuff. It was fun, but I was truly exhausted.

So since Hubby is not working tonight, I took a nap so that I can stay up with him for as long as I can. He has a hard time sleeping at night now, so usually he sleeps during the days and works or stays up at night. Doesn't work for me, but it does work for him. So we compromise, I sometimes nap and stay up with him and sometimes I don't. He tries to sleep some nights, but it is usually just a nap here and there. Enough.

I am awake now and I have a lot to do to be ready for tomorrow. But I am sure that everything will work out fine. It always does. The snow is really coming down. We had a wonderful very close lightning. I saw the flash while my eyes were closed and then heard the thunder right after. It was sooooo cool! Then the snow was flying.

We probably have 6 inches and has been snowing for about 3 hours. And it is still coming fast. Love it!!! Pilot went out to shovel and found it was useless as the snow was coming so heavy. I tried to tell him to wait, but he gets so anxious. He will learn as he gets older.

Well I am going to go. We just let the kids open their Christmas Eve present and so we are all going to sit and watch Pirates 3, with popcorn and the works. This is the first time we have done a movie, it is usually pj's. We decided to go a different way this year as the kids are getting older. So ha det for now.