have a good weekend

Is it Friday already?  This first week of the New Year has flown by and I am not doing very well on my resolution (have better posture).

Thanks to my "Hoarders" induced trauma, I have been cleaning like crazy (would anybody come to a garage sale January? I gotta have one).  And in unrelated news, I have been sucked into the Pinterest vortex.

Back to regular posting next week.

Hope you have a great weekend! 

image here.

hot wheels

As an antidote to my last post, a turtle that was hit by a lawn mower and paralyzed in her back legs, has a new lease on life now that she's been fitted with wheels. (more info here.)

could only be awesomer if they had gotten her a skateboard.  (image here.)

scarred for life

Have you ever seen "Hoarders"?  Because I was still away from home and don't understand how to work Tivo, I ended up watching it for the first time last night and I still feel itchy and awful.

I'd read a little bit about hoarding and I've even been known to call Steven a hoarder when I'm mad (he has 2 black and white enlargers and boxes of paper work from the 90's in the garage, for example) but I had no idea that some people were that bad.  (sorry Steven.)

Those poor people. And their poor pets.  (oh, their pets.) 

As much as I couldn't look away, I wish I'd never seen it.  It was just too sad.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have to clean the entire house.

back to reality

traveling today, back to the real world.  sigh.
Gus and Ollie are going to miss the hikes in the snow along the Rio Grande.  (me too.) 

Happy New Year!

making a hard play for the "Best Aunt Ever" award

My nephew Declan's birthday isn't for another couple days, but since yesterday was our last night all together in Colorado, we decided to celebrate.  (Did I mention we're in Colorado for the holidays?  We are.  It's lovely.)

Since cakes don't turn out that well here at high altitude (at least not when I make them) and I had some left over sugar cookie dough in the fridge, I decided to make him a giant pop up bulldozer birthday cookie.

I just cut the parts using a template and then assembled them with a TON of royal icing.  It was really easy, I swear.  The only hard part was trying to pipe the icing with 3 kids trying to sit on my lap or steal a taste (I didn't really mind). 

I decided to make a bulldozer partly as an homage to last years cake, and also because...

after the candles were blown out, we had a demolition derby.

The kids took some of the parts home with them this morning.  Can't wait until next year.

even better than gingerbread

Architects Marijke Bruinsma, Marjan Van Capelle and Arjen de Groot created Eathouse, a shelter to grow food to eat! Made of a modular system using scaffolding and plastic crates, Eathouse makes it possible for you to grow fruit vegetables on the walls and roof of a backyard garden shed.

As much as I love the whole idea, and even though I can't stop fantasizing about putting an Eathouse in my own backyard, I think the model might be my favorite part.

more images and info here.

house to home

It was a gingerbread extravaganza! 

Steven had a log tower, a pretzel fence and some window boxes.

My nephew Colin's house had a tootsie roll mailbox and an awesome "Christmas tree".

My brother Michael started the mailbox trend and put some gargoyles on his roof.

My nephew Declan had a backyard ice rink, gummy worm curbs, Oreo siding, Starburst and Smartie roof tiles and if you look very carefully, a family of gummy bears living inside.

My niece Riley got banished from the candy table before she got to the front because she was eating way more candy than she was putting on her house, but her roof still looks fabulous and pink.

My sister in law Annie's house had a gorgeous roof and french doors in the back.

 And I decided to live out my farm owning fantasy in gingerbread.  Barn complete with weather vane.

preview

Today, we all, Riley (2 and 5/6ths), Declan (4 and 356/365ths), Colin (6 and 3/4ths) Annie, Michael, Becky, Steven and me (grown ups), made gingerbread houses and they are awesome.

I'll confess that Declan's is my favorite, but only because none of the other kids read blogs. If you repeat what I said to either one of them, I will deny it, and make sure that you get nothing but coal in your stocking next year.

Riley's is the pinkest, Michael's has gargoyles, Colin's has an awesome "tree", and Annie's has french doors.  Steven's is the most ambitious (he's an architect, it'd be embarrassing if it weren't) and mine has a house and a barn because I made all the gingerbread parts and the frosting and I want a barn in real life.

But Declan's has a red ice rink that is surrounded by flowers because, "they all should be."

Photo's of the finished houses tomorrow, but I have to say this is a new tradition that's even better the second year!!

merry and bright

My mom said to my niece Riley (almost 3), "What do you want Santa to bring you for Christmas?"

Riley replied, "M&M's."

I hope your holidays are just like Riley's.  So much fun that the only thing you can think of to make it better is just a little chocolate.

And that Santa brings it for you.

Merry Christmas!

Sorry

I'm not sure how to break it to Gus that I didn't knit that for him.

post haste

I am sorry to be absent!  I've been spending my free time decorating the house for the holidays,

making about a thousand cookies, and finishing up a bunch of other things that I won't show so as not to ruin the surprise for the folks who are going to get them for Christmas. :)

I'll be back to regular posting, once I get everything in the mail!

In the meantime, our friends Jen and Gabe are wonderful event and portrait photographers and have a new website.  Check it out.

cold

think pink

Honeysuckle is the Pantone's color of the year for 2011 and I think it bodes well for a good year.

And as an added bonus, it means the scarf I've been wearing for the last 5 years is finally in style.

Have a good weekend

There are about a thousand things going on this weekend, and we still have to decorate our tree!  I'm exhausted just thinking about it, but in a good way.

If you are in the area, be sure to go to Tiny Expo today.  You can pick up some great cards from Elevated Press, some beautiful terrariums from Pot and Box, some left over porcelain flowers from the piece I made in the spring and lots of other great stuff.   

And after that be sure to come check out our friends Val and Walter photo show and Mark's CD release party!  

Hope you have a great weekend!

The force is strong with that one.

Sweden is awesome.

So is Jackson. 

Gingerbread camper.  

I want to make this.

And this.

yum!

yum!

image here.