Pink Santas... How lovely!

See them here. It must be cold at the North Pole.. look at those freezing faces. I like the littlest one best.. he seems a bit more cheerful.

More on Climate Change...

"A member of the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change says he and many other scientists do not see global warming as a developing catastrophe and there is no smoking gun proving that human activity is to blame for the warming that does occur.
John Christy is the director of the Earth System Science Center at the University of Alabama at Huntsville. He and thousands of others on the U.N. panel share half the Nobel Prize also awarded to Al Gore. But he says he cringes when he hears 100-year weather forecasts when it is incredibly difficult to accurately predict the weather five days from now.
He writes in The Wall Street Journal, "Mother Nature simply operates at a level of complexity that is, at this point, beyond the mastery of mere mortals (such as scientists) and the tools available to us."
He points out that a recent CNN report on climate change made much of the shrinking Arctic sea ice cover, but did not mention that winter sea ice around Antarctica set a record maximum last month." The link to this article.

Personally I think there is no question that we ought to stop polluting our planet. I believe strongly in recycling and conservation where possible. I do not believe in the panic over global warming. Become energy independent as a nation is something that I believe is more crucial to our economic well being and security as a nation. Predicting weather patterns is far from an exact science and I don't think we don't know enough about it. I do believe global warming is becoming quite an expensive theory. Good decisions are rarely made in this type of anxiety. Just thirty years ago, scientists were predicting another Ice Age and that really was mostly because were had a few cold winters in a row, which I think we probably will again.

Something that bothers me even more is the kind of reporting mentioned in the article above. News organizations profit by being sensationalist and alarmist as do many others. That is enough to warrant caution.

Christmas...

I feel that I may need to post a warning on this blog. November 1rst kicks off the Christmas Season for me. I know there are purists that like to wait until after Thanksgiving, but to myself I ask, "What am I most thankful for?" and the answer is Christmas. I am one of those annoying Christmas Freaks... yes the Christmas music has already been on and I've watched Elf and The Santa Clause. Yep, a Christmas freak who lives with Christmas freaks.

I won't put the tree up until about the 15th and it stays up until 12th night... why don't we still have 12 days of Christmas. Possibly because people like me have made it 65 days? Anyway, have you seen this movie? Would little c like it?

An Educated Mind...

"It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought with out accepting it." Aristotle

I like this quote so much and it reminded me of this story about a judge in the U.K. who, in the interest of telling school children the actual truth, pointed out some inconvenient questions. A brave man.

Happy Halloween...

I don't want to alarm anyone over much, but as you can see.. Pirates have run completely amok in our neighborhood...
they are performing the most unflattering orange die/dye jobs on unsuspecting passers by. Unfortunate. Terrible. Troublesome. And, I'm afraid to say that you may be spotting some of these mangy fellows in your own neighborhoods.
Thanks heavens Sheriff little c is saddling up and hopes to have every rebel rouser seen to, shaped up, reformed or tied to a tree by the morning of...
All Saints Day! Hooray! Everyone have fun and be safe.

Sweet Treats...

Blue House on a Hill tagged me as one sweet treat to read. I am so flattered and I tag... Just Recipes... Toothsome Family... & According to Kelly. I had a difficult time choosing 3 because I like all the blogs that I link to and quite a few more. There are so many fun people out there and it has been great to make friends from here to England, Austrailia & Canada to right back here in Utah. I'm so glad to have met you all.

Barbara Milo Ohrbach

I recently revisited some of the pages of this beautiful book. I love Barbara Milo Ohrbach's books. They are so lovely and I really enjoy some of the quote books she has like, A Bouquet of Flowers: Sweet Thoughts, Recipes, and Gifts from the Garden.

"If I had but two loaves of bread, I would sell one and buy hyacinths, for they would feed my soul." The Koran

Blocks...

This is another of the crafts we're doing for our activity. I was hoping that people would get the idea that they can make these to match their own home.

More Bunting...

I picked up these pink and green fabrics at a really cute fabric shop in Hailey Id. I wish that I had a picture of the shop to show you. They had so many vintage inspired fabrics that were fun. I would love to have purchased just a piece or two more. However, as cute as I think these are, on Sunday, not a single person signed up to make one, so I may need to re-think this craft.

I liked it because I love pink and when I looked through my scrap box I found that to be able to make some of these I literally didn't have to buy anything, for some I had to purchase two yards of ric rac or a bit of ribbon, but for others I already had a bit of ribbon I could iron that would match perfectly.

I will show you all some of the others craft projects later today.

And the winners are....

I say are because I decided to give all 3 away. So, I'm going to let the winners each make a 1rst second and third choice and hopefully all three will end up with a box that they'd like.

The Winners are: Alison, Shauna & Amy... Hooray!

Reflections...

This is little c's entry in the reflections contest for this year. It was due today and she finished it this morning. I wish it would show up how it really looks, but I have a difficult time working with my camera and certain reds (tips anyone?). I did make some alterations to the photograph for display here. Anyway, I had such a great time watching her paint this. The theme was something like.. how can I make a difference or something like that.

Don't forget about the giveaway post below. :)

Aqua...

This was fun.. I turned out to be Aqua.. the same color as my studio.. What color are you.. and do you like these tests? I think they are fun. My favorite one was on Michelle's blog.. you know the which Jane Austen Heroin are you.. I was Marianne.
This is what they said about me... I must have a big head.
Your dominant hues are green and blue. You're smart and you know it, and want to use your power to help people and relate to others. Even though you tend to battle with yourself, you solve other people's conflicts well.Your saturation level is very high - you are all about getting things done. The world may think you work too hard but you have a lot to show for it, and it keeps you going. You shouldn't be afraid to lead people, because if you're doing it, it'll be done right.Your outlook on life is very bright. You are sunny and optimistic about life and others find it very encouraging, but remember to tone it down if you sense irritation

Do you think this will work??

You may have seen some of the Halloween bunting that I made for my shop. I've been making a lot of bunting lately. The reason being that I am organizing a craft day for my church women's group. I have never really participated in these before.. mostly because they always choose some neutral color and I don't like neutral colors. However, I don't want to do all bright things and make the neutral people unhappy..

So.. the theme of my craft day is going to be, "I Gotta Be Me!!" you know the song? I want everyone to make something that will go in her own home. However, this is going to require that people bring a few things from home. I will have the patterns for the triangles (different sizes) and letter, but the ladies will have to bring mostly their own scrap fabric and ribbon.

... And actually some paint as well. Would that be too much trouble if it were you? I still have a day to change my mind about the whole thing.

The top picture is of "HAPPY BIRTHDAY" bunting that I made for little c's room. And the bottom photo is one that I made to demo neutral.. it's black, white and cream.

Giveaway Day!!!

To celebrate Halloween and my one year blog anniversary I'm giving away one of these boxes (the winner gets to choose) with a bag of Halloween goodies including some spinning spiders. Enter your name just once one the comments below and I will draw a name Saturday Morning. Spread the word. :)

Ladybuggies...

These reminded me of some of you Ladybuggie fans out there. See them here.

Spinning Spider Tops...

I love spinning tops... I just got these from Oriental Trading. I felt lucky because they sell out every year and I came in just under the wire. They are tiny about the size of a penny, but good spinners as all spiders should be.

Evening...

Amazing talent in this film about relationships and regret. There's a scene in the film where the young mother played beautifully by Clare Danes lets the dinner burn while she sings to her children. Sometimes that's what you have to do. I'd turn the burner off first myself, but it's a sweet scene and shows how much the mother loves her girls.

Part of the film was about the constant battle women have trying to maintain some sense of self continuing to achieve personal goals and trying to be the best mother they can to their children.

Super-bat-spider-buzz

I know this Jake story comes on the tail of yesterday's Jake story but anyway... funny things happen when that kid is around. He's at that age where he can talk, but you have to be the mom to understand. I often feel like I'm speaking to a fast talking German (I took a little German in college) and I'm catching only every few words and all this makes Jake think I'm a complete idiot.

I went to my sister's yesterday because she wanted to show me the Christmas sweaters she bought for her cute boys. When I got there, I made Jake come and give me a hug and as I'm holding him he says, "buzz blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, spider, blah, blah blah..." I smile and say, "Awesome Jake!" and he rolls his eyes at me. So then I make the big mistake and I show him his new Christmas sweater. "NO! NO! Teef! blah, blah, Buzz blah, blah, blah, blah..." So I ask for a translation and my sister tells me that I have made the faux pa of missing a major holiday. Jake does not want a Christmas sweater, he wants to be Buzz Lightyear for Halloween. Oh, is that the only problem? Simple, "Jake the postman is bringing your costume in a few days and you can wear this nice sweater at Christmas. You can have both."

This is where I get into trouble because my sister leaves the room and now I'm stuck with a small angry person and no translator. Jake says, "No! No! Teef! Blah, blah, blah... Super...blah..." Oh dear. And, I am the idiot Jake thinks I am because I say, "Jake this is a very handsome sweater." Violent head shaking. "NO!! NO! NO!!! Teef (I'm Teef, if you were wondering) blah, blah, blah, bat, blah, blah, blah....." It's now that I have a light bulb moment and come out of my haze. Jake is very smart and I realize that he is trying to trade me the Christmas sweater for the Buzz Lightyear costume first, but he is willing to accept Superman next or Batman if that absolutely won't work. And I'm wishing that I had learned that baby sign language.... "Jake, in 3 moons, postman come, bring Buzz Costume ... to ... Jake."

I'm getting smarter so I try re-directing and I put Jake on my shoulders and fly him around the room. But Jake is not easily re-directed. He's very smart and he knows what I'm doing. So from over my head I hear, "Blah, blah, blah Spider, blah, blah....." I didn't know what to do at this point so I gave Jake a big hug. I completely understand where he's coming from even if we don't communicate well. Jake and I are a lot alike. Actually, I was having a completely frustrating day myself. Things were not turning out. Having this visit with Jake made me realize that atleast I can work on my stuff Jake is still wondering where the heck the dang mailman is with his Buzz costume and why his stupid relatives want to skip his favorite holiday.

The Girl with the Pearl...

There are some lovely new pearl earring designs available in ThE LoVE BoXeS ShoP.. the pearls are real, not the finest quality, but they are real and the findings are all sterling silver.

Mine... The Seagull Story...

The California Gull is the state bird of Utah. Go Figure. One comic said this proves we are a low self-esteem state (The Colorado Blue Spruce is our state tree... I know, it's pathetic). Anyway, since the California Gull is the state bird you can't shoot them. To me it's like saying the common garbage rat will now be our state vermin, so don't poison them.

With these thought in the back of your mind I'll tell you a story. I like to take my daughter and her cousins to the park. They have a lot of fun playing together and enjoy this park because they can scooter all over the place and I like it because I can sit on a hill in a chair and see almost all they places they scooter, except Jake. Jake is too small to scooter, which puts his usual bad mood into a worse mood (don't think I'm judging him.. he's the relative most like me) and at the time all these bad mood troubles were compounded by the fact he was two.

When I go to the park, especially with Jake in tow, I always remember to bring quite a few snacks. It's frightening to go with Jake unprepared. And yet, on this particular day, I found that I had but one granola bar in my purse. This was going to be trouble I knew so I waited to give Jake the granola bar until I could see the volcano of his unhappiness was about to erupt.

As I gave him the bar, there were several families there with loaves of wonder bread and the Sea gulls were swarming like bees (idiots!)! Can you just imagine the filth they leave all over the grass the same grass the kids are playing on? Plagues have come from less. Anyway, as Jake is contentedly eating his bar, one Seagull swoops out of the sky and tries to take his bar. Jake starts to scream, which makes me boil. So, in front of all the cute families feeding the lovely vermin, I take off my big wedge sandal and hurl it at the Seagull as he makes a second attempt at the granola bar. On my best day I can't hit the side of a barn, but for some reason in a puff of feathers, I nail the Seagull and he drops out of the air like a brick.

The happy vermin feeding families are mortified by me and jaws drop everywhere. Disgusted moms give me crusty looks. But, Jake loves me... Don't take my bar. Mine!