Snow in Tennessee

It's not very typical for Tennessee to get a lot of snow in the winter (though when I think about it, I think we've had snow every winter that we've been here - 4 so far) and it's definitely not typical to go 2 weeks with highs in 20's or so. But, that has been the case! We have had snow falling off and on the last 4 days and accumulation up to 1 inch or so. A lot of the snow is melting today because the sun is out, but the temperature hasn't made it to freezing degree mark yet -- maybe Monday.

We've struggled with keeping our home heated especially when the lows have been in the single digits. But we're drinking a lot of hot beverages and snuggling under a blanket on the couch. We're supposed to be back in the "normal" Tennesee winter temps this week. We're super glad about that!

Cousins, part two

Here was the whole group (only missing my brother & his family).

First try: Caleb is sobbing, Luke is happy he got the rocking chair and Emma's holding tight onto Aaron.


Second try: Caleb is a little happier, Luke is looking away, Emma is doing fantastic, but Aaron is getting fussy.

Third try: Caleb is running out of the picture, Luke won't look, Emma's trying to hold it together and Aaron is not happy.

What can be said? It's an experience! :)

I think it didn't help that the kids were hun-gr-y, but we wanted somthing with the cousins all together in the clothes that Nana made. Even Chelsea (although far away in South Dakota) has a matching outfit. Oh well.

New Cards

Here's a festive card that I made to encompass a few missed holidays...

Oops! I had great intentions, but with the craziness of the holidays, neglected to get this out to my brother and sister-in-law. I used several different papers and then made a snowman out of white paper cut into circles. I put a gold ring on one of his "arms" for the anniversary greetings, but it didn't quite work out the way that I expected.

These two cards were made for two of my friends that got married recently. I used a similar template that I did before with birthday cards and instead wrote the new couple's name on the inset rectangle. Inside it says, "congratulations."

Believe it or not, with all the cards I've made lately, I'm still behind! I have two sympathy cards yet to make and then ones for the birthdays this month. Got to keep moving!

Progression of Pictures

So, we tried to get a picture of the cousins together in their church clothes. Here's what occured:

No Caleb, but some smiles...

We got Caleb, but he's waving a DVD case. The smiles are a little forced.

Now, Luke is upset that Caleb has the case, Emma isn't quite sure about this, and Aaron's looking at the floor?
Luke's still upset and holding something in his hands. Caleb's smiling and Emma's trying to be a good helper.

Okay. I think we got the best shot that we could. They're at least all happy, right?!

Maybe I'll share the other session that we tried. Unfortunately, it turned out worse than this one.

Creative Monday

I made thank you's for my co-workers.

They're about 3x3 and I used a die cut for the stars. I criss-crossed the green organdy ribbon and added the piece of red paper with thanks written on it.

This is a thank you card I wrote up and added Philippians 1:3 to the front.

Here's another thank you card that says thanks so much. On the inside it says "we appreciate your thoughtfulness." I used leftover stars from the cards for my co-workers.

This one is for a friend at church who is being induced on Wednesday.

Inside says: Welcome, Rocklyn!

Inside says, "to you!"
I used a design that I had found at Cardpositioning Systems. There were 4 patterned papers and then I wrote Happy Birthday on a piece of red paper. I added a piece of green organdy ribbon across the bottom.

I used this same design for the next 3 cards. I used two patterned papers and one solid. I added ribbon and another die cut.

I cut the corners off the smaller rectangle to make it stand out a little.

We had the day off on Monday and I was able to get a lot of cards made. I re-stocked my supply at work and made up a few for some things that I needed along the way. I'm hoping to work a little more this weekend as well.

Hanging out with family

We came to my parents' home near Birmingham to celebrate Christmas. We drove down Christmas day. One of my sisters was here already with her family and then later in the evening my other sister and family came in. Only my brother and his family were not here.

Here's a short video of my dad and his youngest grandchild.

We have noticed that he is a lot more animated than we saw him in November. It's amazing the difference in a month! He likes to hold his hands together and if he doesn't have his pluggy, he will suck on his fingers.

More pictures to follow from all the festivities!

Christmas

We didn't have a very big Christmas, but this is what we got:

Barry got slippers!

I got a waffle maker! We had them for breakfast. YUM!

We slept in and had an easy morning before packing up and leaving for my parents' home in Alabama.