Yes, Virginia...

it is an Ipod. :-)

Ali likes the Rudolph card that I made for her.

We wanted to get a photo of Dixie, our foster dog Frederick, and the in-laws' dog Sparky. Here's Ali trying to wrangle the dogs into position. (P.S. It didn't work!)

The obligatory annual "family in front of the tree" photo:

Later in the day, we went to my SIL & BIL's for Christmas dinner. Here's Ali opening presents with her cousin, Katie.

Another annual tradition... the Thompson family portrait. (Including dogs!)


Merry Christmas!

Color Challenge

This month's Bellaholics Color Challenge is brown, turquoise and white. I didn't have anything that was truly turquoise, so I used aqua. (I think turquoise is a little bluer.) Here's my card:


Here's another Bella. I used this for Jessica's Christmas card - she got a blue Ipod for Christmas.

This is Ali's Christmas card. She loves to watch all the old Christmas specials with me. These are 3 individual stamps. I drew the "ground" to make it look more like a scene and not just like they were all just "floating". I had a lot of fun with glitter, dimensional glaze (deer noses & hooves, Santa's boots) and Fun Flock (deer chest/tails & Santa's beard). Ali loves Santa's fuzzy beard.


A few tips: when buying glitter at the craft store, check out the fabric art aisle. "Stamping glitter" was $1.99 for .25 oz. Tulip "fabric glitter" was $2.99 for .63 oz. Fabric glitter worked the same for me.

Also, before using glitter, wipe your cardstock with a "stamping buddy" (little bag of silica). This makes it much easier to brush off stray bits when you're done applying the glitter.

The Payoff

As much as I dread cleaning my craft space, it's always so nice to be able to get in there and actually find and create stuff! I had a lot of partially finished projects that I was able to finally complete. I made a set of these cards, featuring the Fall Harvest set (one of my favorites).

And I finally finished my "November" cards for the Split Coast Stampers Christmas Card Challenge. I received these images in the last image swap on the Bellaholics list and had enough there to make my 10 cards for the challenge.

Look What Santa Brought...

No, not really. ;-) He's our latest foster dog, Frederick, a 2 year old lab mix. We just picked him up today; he's got kennel cough. Poor thing feels really bad - except for a few "potty" trips outside, he hasn't budged off that rug since we got home at 2 P.M.


I'm hoping the antibiotics will kick in quickly and, after some rest, he'll feel a little more chipper. He's a real sweetie!

Yet more holiday music!

Ali had her very first school choir concert last Thursday. She loves her choir program and was excited to have her first performance. I surprised her with a rose. She loved it.


Here's the choir getting us all in the mood for a Swinging Holiday!

More Christmas Music!

Yes, it's definitely holiday concert season!

Last night was Jessica's band concert. Here's the band playing Good King Wenceles and a variation on a French Carol (I don't remember which is which):





This one I *know* is Sleigh Ride:



Tonight is Ali's choir concert. This is her first year in choir and she's very excited!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas....

With these sudden cold temps, it certainly FEELS like Christmas! Now it smells, sounds and looks like Christmas, too. :-)

Last Wednesday was Jessica's school choir holiday concert. Here they are singing Carol of the Bells, a WJHS tradition:



There's not much "video" here - it was too dark, but here they are again singing "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" at the local tree lighting:



Here they are singing "I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas":



We also went on Saturday and cut down our Christmas tree:

I'm happy to say that almost all my holiday shopping and mailing is DONE! :) Here's this year's card:

I have also been busy baking Christmas cookies. Four kinds made so far! These are a family favorite from the Nestle site:

Chocolate-Studded Dream Cookies

Yields - 42 cookies (3 1/2 dozen)

Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Baking Cocoa
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter or margarine, softened
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1 2/3 cups (10-oz. pkg.) NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® SWIRLED™ Semi-Sweet & Premier White Morsels, divided

COMBINE flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in 1 cup morsels. Drop by well-rounded teaspoon onto ungreased baking sheets. Top with remaining morsels (approx. 4 – 5 per cookie).BAKE at 325 degrees for 11 – 13 minutes or until cookies are puffed and centers are set. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

These are the best chocolate cookies ever!