A Visit

with family...

seeing sweet faces...

family trees...

a walk in the woods...

helping each other...

work...

to stay warm...

 finding north...

through the dark woods...

finding beauty in unlikely places...

finding nourishment from within...

old places...

reconnecting...

trying new things...

from the motherland...

saying "olive you"...

new life...

freshness...

looking to the future...

while building on the past...

opening windows to our heart...

standing strong...

ties that bind...

and memories...

hoping spring will come soon.

Valentine Craft Wrap Up

The finished painted junk mail wreath.

I used some of the painted junk mail to wrap a gift.

Valentine charms made out of sculpy clay, baked then glazed. I strung them on black ribbon.

I cut some socks in chunks...

mixed and matched the patterns, sewed them together with seams on the outside...

and made Katie some artist's gloves.

What I Did Today...

A while back, on facebook, I posted that I would send the first 5 people who commented a handmade item. So, today I finished and fulfilled my promise.

I made bracelets. The one on the left, I stamped with the letters of the first name of her children.
Then I started a project that will probably be the craft for our first Craft-In at Exhale Creatively.
A heart wreath. I stole the idea from Alisa Burke. I only got so far as to paint the junk mail and create the first 2 flowers. I'll take a picture of the finished product, when I get it finished.

Steave was busy, too. He was working on the electrical system of the motorcycle that he's building.

It's amazing that he knows what all that is.

Then fish tacos for dinner. I've never made them. They were actually pretty good.

Salsa

Just kidding....

I'm talking about the tomato, pepper, cilantro kind of salsa. Just made it...

Just ate it.

Did You Miss Me?

I feel like I haven't blogged in ages. Where have I been? Well, I was in Birmingham for a conference for a few days. You would think a giant, mega-mega conference center would have internet - but no! So, I didn't get to facebook or blog or finish my much enjoyed photography class "Picture Winter."

When I got back, I hit the ground running at school. The first full week in months. The weather has really screwed with our schedule and we realized that the 100th day of school was Feb.3. It kinda caught us off guard. Before I started teaching, I didn't realize the significance of "The 100th Day." I thought the teachers just chose a random day to celebrate - why couldn't they choose "The 71st Day"? Then I realized that the 100th day basically marks that the year is 1/2 over. And 100 is a good number to celebrate. Easy to remember. Better than 71.

So, we ran around and planned our celebration. Basically, it was massive amounts of children, being incredibly loud and having a good time...

Here they are doing the "100 Second Hoop" Competition.

So, today, I'm trying to catch up on my blogging and correspondence. I'm planning Exhale Creatively's  first "Craft-In" coming up this month . Got any ideas for an easy craft? I'm open for suggestions. I'm also making salsa today - maybe I'll blog about that, too. I'm so glad to be back!!!!