Are you going CRAZY too?

I'm too busy to blog, and feel totally stressed! I quickly looked at a few friends and family blogs and they haven't entered any new blogs recently either, so I guess that we all are in the throngs of the season right now. I hope that all of you have a very happy holiday and are safe in all your travels to and fro. love, Kelley

Chistmas Carolers

My Mom made these porcelain caroling dolls for me one Christmas when the girls where little. HOURS were spent cleaning, painting and firing these dolls. Countless more hours were spent by my Mom meticulously choosing the right color and style of wigs, eyes and so on. Each doll represents one of my daughters when they were so little and cute! They are still cute, but in a more fashionably and stylish way! Thanks Mom!!!!

Some Santas...

Here are my favorite Santas. I just bought the Cooking Santa Nutcracker and the other Cooking Santa beside the fake Christmas Treats this year. The wonderful Santa in velvet is an original Santa from the Coka-cola company. It was a display item for a Bayless grocery store in the early 60's that my Dad was a manager for. He brought him home after a Christmas and this Santa was a traditional fixture in my home growing up. My generous Mom gave him to me. I love that Santa Claus !!!! Some of the Santa mugs are old and some are new. Last year when I browsed the Antique stores, that is what I looked for.

Congratulations Graduate!

BRAVO for Chelsea! She just graduated from ASU with a degree in Music Education. WE ARE SO PROUD!!!!

Christmas Stockings

These are our family Christmas stockings. I saw similar ones that were leather in a Cowboy decorating magazine and wanted them sooooooo badly, but they were around $50 each 10 years ago. So I sort of copied them, only I used felt instead of leather. I made a pattern for the boot and different patterns for the toe, heal and top of the boot so that the stockings would all be different. I made half of these I think 8 or 9 years ago, and add to them as the girls have gotten married and as grandchildren came along. I need to make one for Sloan before this Christmas. I plan to make at least two more pinkish ones and two more blue ones since we know that Chelsea is having a girl, but it's too early to know what Kelli's baby will be. The girls didn't like the stockings too much at first because they can't hold that much stuff! But that's a good thing for Santa as we now have 20 of them!

Thanks Grandpa Fabulous!

Glampa Fabulous brought home a roll of manila paper that he found at work that apparently had been there for years, even before their company moved in. He had called to ask me if I wanted it and I did not hesitate! Here are my darlings hard at work, and everyone of the grand kids had more wonderful ideas as to what we could do with this big roll of paper. Fun, Fun, FUN !

And here is Cruz busy trying to carry around the basket of Santa hats. It's heavy and you can see his tongue is also tying to help carry the load!

I've just gotta BRAG!!!

My daughter Chelsea is student teaching at Desert Vista High School as a choir teacher. Last night she conducted several wonderful songs for multiple choir levels. She did great! But the most fantastic thing was that she had the opportunity to conduct "The Hallelujah!" chorus from "The Messiah" for the combined choirs along with the orchestra AND anyone who wanted to participate from the audience! Of course I got up onstage to sing. It was one of the most memorable experiences I've ever had! Getting to see her face and being in the midst of these wonderful singers and orchestra was..... I don't even have the word, but HEAVENLY! Chelsea was amazing, and at the end, the choir director: Andrew DeValk was so gracious in thanking her for the good job she did. (What a wonderful, generous man to let her have these opportunities) and then the choir presented her with flowers and a huge pink gift basket with baby items in it that weighed a ton! This night was a parent's dream come true, and I have been lucky enough to have many fabulously proud experiences over the years with each one of my girls, and now sons-in-laws and grandchildren. These are the moments I cherish and that make the harder "regular life" stuff worthwhile.

Thanks for letting me brag. (This photo was taken at Chelsea's senior recital. I forgot my camera last night!!!!!!! SHAME ON ME! She is now much bigger with my 9th grandchild!)

"Looks Too Good to Eat..."

I decided to decorate the tree in the kitchen "All things Yummy..." I bought children's "play" food, glued and glittered them, and attached hooks for decorations. I also put any decorations that I already had that fit into the theme on the tree. For the topper, I bought 3 styro foam discs and stuck a wooden dowel into the side, painted and covered the "lollipops" with clear-ish cellophane wrapping paper. I used white zip ties to attach the candy on top of the tree. I used to think that a glue gun was the thing to always have around, but lately zip ties are coming in a close first. But, who am I kidding, everyone needs a glue gun, duck tape, a soldering iron and zip ties if you want to be able to "make stuff". Oh yeah, and your own personal set of hand tools and small power tools at your disposal. HINT: Hide all these precious possessions, as Husbands and Son-in-laws who do not put their own tools back in the right spot want to "Steal" I mean "Borrow" them and you never seem to get them back or you find them still in the spot that they used them, now rusted and crusty!

Yummmm....

This is my display of delectable treats. Don't try to eat them though, as they are all fake! I made the cake by cutting a piece of styro foam in to four circles, I painted them a light brown (which was a waist of time because I ended up covering them up) and then I "frosted" the cake with white vinyl Spackle. I have a lot of fake fruit that I use for still life set ups, so I got out some strawberries and "drizzled" brown shiny fabric paint on top for chocolate and sprinkled glitter on top for sugar.

For the truffles, I painted styro foam balls brown and drizzled the fabric paint on top and glittered. I did the same thing for the chocolate dipped strawberries, but poured the paint on and let them dry on a plastic disposable plate so that they would peal off better.

I used lager styro foam balls and used the same process above to make the cupcakes. I put Spackle in the bottom of the cupcake foil cups and let it harden first so that it would be level. I also iced some cupcakes with Spackle, but they are on another centerpiece that I show you tomorrow.

It was fun, took some time, but worth it as I can use these objects for other holidays or parties and in still life groupings...

Another reason I love being a Glamma.

Yesterday, Sloan was given a blessing. She's wearing the gown that her Great Great Grandmother Openshaw made. Her Grandpa Fabulous and his 7 sisters and 1 brother wore it when they were blessed and Her Mom and her 4 sisters wore it when they were blessed and Sloan's 4 older siblings were also blessed in this dress. All of the babies that were blessed in this dress have their initials embroidered on the gown. Isn't that the neatest thing ever?!!!Sloan's Aunt Devan made her this pacifier with the serious BLING! Faaabulous!!!

Sloan thinks the dress tasty.

Ok Glamma, don't you remember that I don't have sitting up skills yet ?!

Only My Hairdresser Knows for Sure...

I got my roots done the other day, and my darling hairdresser Amanda asked me while putting the foils and goop in my hair "Have you finished painting your house? Because I don't see any paint in your hair this time!" I told her yes, for now, but lately I have been working on making a few new decorations for Christmas. Then, she paused and said "Yes, I can see that, I just found a bunch of glitter in your hair!" I thought of the old commercial that said " Only my hairdresser knows for sure" and then I remembered how at the last two massages I got, the masseuse asked me if I had been painting. I had paint on the back of my arms that I guess I couldn't see to scrub that well.
It came to mind that I am an open book. I do not lie (I am terrible at it, thank goodness) and my family tells me that I disclose way too much even when I am just meeting someone or even just chatting with a stranger in a line at the checkout counter. I am what I am and I am finally coming to accept and even like all the quirks about myself. That will have taken almost 50 years this April. It gives me comfort to know that I have a good more 30 or so years to improve bad habits and to acquire better ones, to become a more skilled artist, a more loving wife and mother, and a much better friend and extended family member. (God willing) THIS IS GOOD! These thoughts leave me hopeful and excited for the future, even with all the crummy stuff that happens on this world.
Anyway, I didn't start this post with sentiment and soul searching, it just happened. I guess I'd better copy this entry for my journal. (many silent thanks to my genealogy teacher, Bro.Comeau) THE GLITTER: I glittered tons of fake fruit, made fake candy and decorated all kinds of stuff for the kitchen. (I am a little worried about getting it all cleaned up, it's hard. Every time I think I'm finished cleaning, I look from a different angle and see glitter ALL OVER the kitchen.) Anyway, here is the village. It was a lot of fun to put together. I can see why people love making train city's and such. Maybe next year it will be bigger. The houses are all chipboard, painted and glittered. I used vinyl Spackle for the icing, and children's air dry clay for the candy. (Some of the candy is plastic that I bought.) I can't wait for the grand kids to see it. I am buying some small fences I saw at the store to give a more visual "please don't touch" feel to remind those kids to not eat anything.

Doesn't Everyone use their Jigsaw over the Kitchen sink???

I decided to put a train under our kitchen Christmas tree and needed a 36" round piece of wood. Well, the home fixit stores had one but it was $46!, so I had to make one myself. I've found in the past that working over the kitchen sink (I put a paper towel in the bottom of the sink to catch the sawdust so it won't go down the drain) works well because of the height of the counter and I can maneuver the wood and saw pretty well there. It's also the most stable place I have to work till we get the garage set up. I know, it's unconventional, but if I waited for someone to do it for me, I'd never get it done.

I was also very proud of myself for remembering to drill holes for the lights from the tree and from this DARLING village I'm making! I'll keep you updated on the fun decorations I'm doing this year. I am having a blast putting this all together!!!

"Altar Boyz"

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Our Family

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Pre Thanksgiving Dinner

We had an early Thanksgiving Dinner with family and friends Sunday evening. Slade loved the dessert...

and so did Craig, Kelli, and Ava.

Chelsea made all the pies!

Amber and Nicole made these nummy Maple Rolls,

and even my grand-reptile Cosmo partook!

Ava has a special love for her cousin Cosmo.

More Roosters!!!

Since I have been on the subject of Roosters lately, I thought that I'd share some older paintings that I've done of our feathery friend. I know of at least 4 more paintings that I've done of roosters, so now I'm going to look back into my files and count them. (There just might be more)

Funny, how you sometimes don't realize that you tend to choose the same or similar subjects or styles in clothing sometimes till someone points it out to you. I can't tell you how many black skirts I have owned over the years. I know that I own probably at least 8 right now and they all have wonderful subtle and sometimes not so subtle qualities about them...Just like Roosters!

A "Thing" for Roosters

OK, I guess I do have a "thing" for roosters. I painted these three fellows specifically before we moved into this new house. The top is entitled "Looking Fierce", the middle "This is my Best Side" and the bottom "Bad Hair Day". I painted them while listening to the TV, and "America's Next Top Model" marathon was on. They are 16 inches by 16 inches and painted with oils. I think they need 2 inch deep black frames that the canvas "floats" in to "pop" them out of the wall a little more. I love these paintings, I get a kick out of them every time I look at them, which is the exact opposite at some other work hanging in my kid's houses that I gave them. I see all my mistakes over and over again in them. When you practice music or sports, the mistakes are out and gone, a paintings mistakes are forever....

More "Good Stuff" (I'm trying not to say "Crap" so often)

In our new house the ceilings are a lot higher than our old house, so I have 22 inches of space above my cabinets in the kitchen. This allows me another wonderful decorating space! I have collected old stuff from since forever. I especially love objects that have been in the family a long time. Anyway, I would be a good store person that sets up the displays, I would not be good in the selling department, because I would probably tell the costumers where there is a better deal someplace else! I can spend hours rearranging objects just right so that the composition is pleasing, the colors all compliment one another and making sure that there is variation in height. With a (self-diagnosed touch of OCD), I can get a little more concerned about arrangement than healthy and something a little off can bug me enough that I have to get out of bed to go change it. Well, this post looks like a confessional.... Oh well.

PS-I really am not collecting roosters, I just like their shape and colors, so please do not buy me any.... (only if it is FABULOUS!)

My Fun Plates...

I love these plates! My love for eating food (not cooking it) has lead me to choose the theme of fruits and vegetables for still life arrangements to paint from to finding wonderful ceramic pieces that explode with color and happiness. (It's funny, that I never paint any images of ice cream...) Anyway, I found the plate with the lemon and asparagus about a year before I found the other two plates, so I actually placed the first plate on the counter for a while. This is the beauty of decorating your home with the things that make you smile. We might rearrange where we put things, or add to the collection, or put it away for a while to wait for just the right place for an object to fit. I do have to say, that it is so much fun to be able to have the space to really show off some of the wonderful objects I've found over the years in this new big house of ours. When friends come over, they think that everything is new because at our old house things were cramped with all my "good crap" I've collected over the years. My "stuff" makes me happy...my family and friends make me feel loved, isn't it wonderful to surround yourself with both!

Raising our Children

I saw this fabulous sign at my mother-in-laws home, told her I thought it was wonderful, and she bought me one !!! Thank you Grandma Great! I know that a lot of the people who read my blog are young mothers, and probably have to count to 10 or breath in deep 3 times or sing a little hymn like I did when you are in the middle of raising small children and really hope that you do not kill them in the process. (I also just hoped I did not kill them when I fed them...) It is a wonder that we all grow up and turn out because parenting is a learn as you go, glean what you can from others and hope and pray for the best!

More Thanksgiving Decor

I got this cut felt runner at "Kirkland's" for $2.25 and the square nut wreaths at "Michael's" at 75% off so they were only $3.25 each! Whenever I say how much something cost, I always think of my Mom who said that nobody needs to know, but I just can not resist to brag about a good bargain. That's 90% of the fun to me of putting together "stuff" to decorate with. Don't get me wrong though, if something is absolutely fabulous, I can always make my family eat macaroni and cheese for the week! (just kidding, but really I'm not...)

YW in Excellence

We just had a "Young Women in Excellence" this last week. I said "Wouldn't it be cute to do those "Barbie" cakes in the YW value colors???" "Sure, I can do them, No problem!" (I had never made a "Barbie" cake, in fact, I don't know how many years it has been since I even opened up a cake box...)
OK, the decorating was pretty easy... but it took me 4 times x 2 cakes mixes each, to finally give up with the Wilton cake mold. My cakes would just not cook in the middle, even with that rod that you put in. So, I ended up making 8 three layer cakes and then cutting them each into a skirt shape. That's 24 caked mixes there plus the first 8 cake mixes = 32 cake mixes! So 32 cake mixes with 3 eggs each= 96 eggs! 1/3 cup oil each cake mix= 10 cups of oil!
It was actually fun after the decorating started and I can now say that "YES, I can make a "Barbie" cake, No problem!"

More Thanksgiving Decor

I just love this Turkey! I got it at Home Goods in Marshals two years ago for $12.99!

Oh Lucy, I'm Home!

Well, as many of my family and friends know, I don't cook. I say that because I simply do not find it fun. I loose track of what I'm doing and get bored really fast "watching the pot". So many things that I cook end up overcooked or burned as I forget that I need to be there in the kitchen. Anyway, recently I wanted to make some homemade rolls and buying frozen dough from the grocery store counts for me! I thought that the dough would not thaw out overnight. Then my Husband said that I should take the dough out of the bag to let it thaw out. Of course I didn't think He knew what he was talking about......need I say more?