Merry Christmas 2014

MERRY CHRISTMAS to all my wonderful friends and family!

Oswald Christmas tree!

Hanging out and waiting for the kiddos

Unfortunately, Greg and Sarah and Greggy won't be here today, but soon they will.  Time to go make some Christmas goodies for later today.  Have a great day, no matter who you are with! 

Today is the ultimate "be a joy giver" day!  Have fun

Merry Merry Christmas!

To all of my favorite people in the world! 

Have a lovely, joyful day!!

Merry Christmas everyone

I want to wish all of you a Merry Christmas.

It has been a pretty amazing year for me so far, and I am so grateful for all the people who helped make it that.

I am so lucky to have such a caring network of family and friends, both near and far away.

It only seems fitting to put in a few Christmasy, wintery pictures....  It is my gig, you know!

You have an apple for me, right??

Long shadows on a sunny day

Ruger

I know you will enjoy the quaint Christmas scene with the shotguns stacked
with care in the corner....

Jonny in Kindergarten

Greggy in Kindergarten

Mikey in Kindergarten

Presents

Attempting to walk off the morning of cookies and treats  with Ruger, Toby and Sarah Jane

Railings on the loft

um, yeah

Grandma's gift to babygirl!

Little cabin in the woods

And of course the stone house makes an appe

frosty december 

 It is HARD to stay steady when one has had some chocolate "refreshments" before going lights looking!!

Christmas lights

More Christmas lights

Merry Christmas from me to you

Find your joy!

Oh Christmas tree, oh tediouschristmas tree

It seemed like a good idea at the time!  I received a COOL picture from a friend of mine, who totally knows my thought process apparently, of a Christmas tree that is made of broccoli and other vegetables.  It hit a chord in many ways..... a. it's Christmas for heavens sakes, deck the halls and hohoho.  2. It is vegetable, which of course is my gig now.  Next. I like the visual translation of the whole thing- it is artsy in a Trompe l'oil sort of a way. and e. I usually wimp out for Potlucks and just buy a veggie tray, so here it is people.  This is the best I can do!  AND btw, it was a very good idea and it turned out pretty cool!!

And yes I pinned it on Pinterest and will pin the puppy onto my board later, when I have a "free moment"  HAHAHAHAHAHA  as if.

So to start this process, I bought some veggies and then I went back and bought more the next day.  THIS was a wise decision on my part.

Shopping list:

Broccoli

Green Cauliflower

carrots

yellow and red pepper

cherry tomatos

foam cone

toothpicks

dip or hummus

**THANK you Susie Daniels for providing me with the cone!!  YOU are awesome!!

As I was cutting up the veggies last night, I decided it would be best to assemble them in the morning so they wouldn't get soggy or limp.  So GUESS WHAT I did at 4:30 am??!!!

I began at the bottom of the cone and put in sort of like rows of the 2 green veggies.  NOTE: if you do this, put the toothpicks IN the base first. Not in the broccoli.  AND trim down the stems a bit.  You will thank me for this advice!  You're welcome!!

Oh, look, I can focus a camera at 4:45!

So fill the tree with green and then go back and try not to curse as you fill in the holes that you missed before you actually woke up for the day......  Those are unpleasant words to use at Christmas time any way.

Prepare to decorate the tree!  Enter cherry tomatoes, peppers and carrot pieces:

Begin the garland with pepper strips...

Add the ornaments......

Add a star!!

And done- only about 2 hours of time and no Art teachers were harmed during this event...... Well, my fingers are sore from the toothpicks, but that is a small sacrifice.  

And so I hope this gives my lovely colleagues in the High School a lot of joy!  :)

An early Christmas present!! to me from me....

I will elaborate more on this later, but I found a marvelous gift to me from me yesterday!  It is a bundle of art supplies that I had purchased at the Art Convention 2 years ago!!  I had put them aside, as my house was in disarray from the bathroom and kitchen remodel, plus I had a Madrigal costume I was working on, and I was just beginning my journey into weightlifting, and so apparently I have not moved that little stack of stuff for 2 years.....  which is in itself interesting, disturbing and indicative of how my priorities have changed.  Hmmm.  I have to think about this.

But, hey, this is so cool and I am going to find one of my big sketch books and leave this stuff out so I use it more.  I get so much art at school that I neglect my own.  Except for my photography and this creative writing thing that I have taken up... also known as ramblings of a Mad-Art teacher!!  :)

Santa, you are a stealthy guy. Thanks for the art supplies!!  MWAH!!

Merry early Christmas! Apparently I have been very good this year!!!

Pencils pencils and more pencils.  Plus some awesome watercolor crayons and free stuff from the convention that is sort of out of the picture.

Until next time, hope you find an early Christmas present in an unexpected or unexplored place.  Life can be sneaky!!  And joyful

Christmas day- a little late!

Well, I had taken Christmas Day pictures, and then got so busy doing other things that I didn't post about the day!  So, I guess better late than never!

The picture of me is blurry, as the Mad Accountant took it, and I had to coach him on NOT moving the camera as he snapped.

And THEN this is the photo he took- nice and clear, but ..... uh.....

 Look who kept us entertained during this holiday weekend!!

And I do mean Ruger, but Greg can be entertaining as well.  At one point Ruger chewed up a twenty dollar bill-- Now how the 20 got on the floor into Mike's shoe is something you will have to ask The Mad-Accountant.  Weirdo.

We had a very nice day, actually we spent much of it outside!  Hope you had a an awesome Christmas yourself.  On to the New Year!

Some days it's just really easy to find your joy!!

Merry Christmas everyone!!

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From my house to yours-

 MERRY CHRISTMAS!!
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Be sure to find your JOY!!!!