My Dandelion Wishes

Wishing all my family and friends a Happy New Year. TJ, Jennifer, John and Mr A (Ms S was at a sleepover) came over to celebrate with me. This was the first time in ages we have all been together on New Years Eve. What a fun evening and we all made it till the midnight hour. So it is off to bed for me and will post pics of our evening tomorrow when I am more awake.

It is hard to believe that Christmas has come and gone so rapidly. I had a wonderful Christmas with my family and am looking forward to spending New Years Eve with them. I can't remember the last time we as a family celebrated the New Year arrival. I am usually in bed:) fast asleep before that midnight hour. Yesterday I was out and about a bit as I have been staying pretty close to home. Colleen was in Cali with that new beautiful Granddaughter of hers so it was just Kim and I to hook up at Mystic Paper so we could check out the sale. Lots of goodies on sale and lots seem to find their way into my bag. Not quite sure how that happened. We were able to catch up with Kim and Rick, Jennifer is out of town for the holidays and Ellen. Oh ya Congrats Ellen beautiful ring!!!!!! We had planned lunch a Sweetcakes but they were closed (go figure on a Sat no less) so we ate at Mangos. Yummy yummy yummy Mexican food. After lunch I headed back home to put those new papers I had purchased to g...

Merry Christmas to all of my family and friends. Unfortunately the rain this week did a number on my home phone and Internet. Today is the first day since Monday I have had them back. To say I was lost without the Internet is an understatement. We had a wonderful Christmas with tons of food and lots of friendly??? game playing. We are a very competitive family especially the guys!!! I didn't get alot of pics as mainly I was just enjoying the day. TJ came down from Casa Grande Wed nite and helped me prepare most of the food. As he says he was the prep expert. Couldn't have done it without him. Everything turned out really good so we were stuffed and miserable. Anthony said he hadn't seen such little chickens!! We had Cornish hens. Everyone loved their gifts and I was certainly spoiled with cashmere PJ's from Jenn and a new lens for my camera and CD player from TJ. Even the bird was able to celebrate Christmas with a little taste of freedom. The only time he gets out of t...

Today was all about celebrating Anthony's 8th birthday. He was born on the 8th of Dec. We had to postpone dinner till today due to many commitments and scheduling difficulties. Pretty much Anthony has had a celebration every week since his birthday. Not bad. We all met up at Carrabba's for lunch. It had been awhile since we had all gotten together. Lots of stories, catching up and tons of laughter. As usual Uncle TJ had come up with the best gift a remote controlled tarantula. You could just see the thoughts spinning in Anthony's eyes of who or what would be the victim of the creeping spider. I have a feeling Sadera mite be the recipient of a creepy crawly on her when she is asleep and I just know the cats are going to be chased around too. The excitement of wondering what was in the package Mr spaghetti face thrilled with his gift Daddy John and Sadera...... Jennifer was camera happy Grandma and Anthony Jennifer Being silly for mom's camera TJ refused to pose as Jenn...

I usually have my house all decorated and my tree up at Thanksgiving. But this year I was in Iowa so nothing was done. I got home from work a bit earlier today so I plunged in and got the tree unpacked. I decided to go very simply this year. The tree and a few other decorations. It feels good to have accomplished this much today. My tree Glass block Jan gave me. I am loving it My old pink Christmas balls in a jar Just a few things on my tea cart I have a few more things I want to find but that is pretty much going to be my decorating for this year Meeting Colleen tomorrow to pick up my stamps and a few other goodies at Mystic and then to Costco for a few things. It is supposed to rain this weekend Yuck

My gosh it is Wednesday already. I am still trying to get unpacked and things put away from last weekend. I put the finishing touches on my Amy Tangerine class and added the tag to my Christmas album from Debby S class. Need to finish up my ATC holder. Amy taught us reverse applique and I had so much fun learning this technique and putting my collage together My album from Debby S. Love this little album and as a bonus I learned how to use my bind it all great fun When we were back in Iowa for Thanksgiving Mom and Dad gave me a little folding chair from the Presbyterian Church I attended. I sat on a chair like this every Sunday for Sunday School when I was very small. Dad packaged it up and mailed it to me and it arrived Tuesday. I love my little chair. I'm thinking I need to "borrow" one of Colleen's dolls to sit on the chair. This has been one busy week so far and I am looking forward to the weekend. I need to get my tree up and get my shopping done. Looks like it ...

What a wonderful weekend. I can't quit smiling as I think of all those special moments. I was so lucky to attend my second Kim C event "Joyeux Affaire" this past weekend. Kim's events are like Christmas. The build up and the anticipation and then the day arrives and you open the greatest gift ever. Kim oversees each and every detail. Everything from food, decor, gifts and instructors is fine tuned. She assures that each of us have a great day and we are spoiled beyond belief. So Friday morning Kim H , Colleen and I packed Kim's SUV to the max and headed to Cali. What a fun road trip. We had so much catching up to do and Colleen was quite the expert at signing with her white gloves. Kim and I cracked up as she waved and signed her displeasure with some of the drivers. Needless to say we got some strange looks. One of the fun cars that we passed was the Oscar Meyer weinermobile. I tried to get some pics as we drove by Saturday was the much anticipated day. We were...

Heading out to California today for Joyeux Affaire at Kim C beautiful home. Check her blog for the beautiful photos she has posted. My traveling companions Kim H and Colleen J are as excited as I am. Looking forward to great classes, fabulous decor, wonderful food and tons of laughter. See ya when I get back. A special thanks to the boss for letting me take this trip at this time

What a week. As I wrote in my last post TJ and I flew home to Iowa for Thanksgiving. We had a fabulous week with good home cooked foods, family and clear cold weather. We packed so much into our visit that it is hard to pick out one favorite memory as they were all so special. Everyday was an event of the best of meals. I can't pick a favorite. TJ got to try pheasant for the first time and really enjoyed that. Thanksgiving Day, just where do I start. Other than getting up early and getting the bird in the oven it was a spectacular day. Mom and Dad had worked so hard and had many surprises for us. We had the traditional Struchen food of turkey, ham, stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy and my favorite green bean casserole, squash and sweet corn as well as a ton of salads and desserts. All the vegatables had come from their garden and were yummy. During the meal a cowbell was rung and you had to take a turkey joke out of the container and read it. Now Kate and Jo totally got...