Saturday, December 23, 2006
#1- Merry Christmas
I wanted to keep this post very simple-- no projects, photos or such. I wish you and yours a very Merry Christmas! I hope it is a very peaceful, magical holiday for you all! I will see you in 2007 and wish you all the best for the coming year!
#2- Thanks & Quality Time with Friends and Family, Part Trois
I've made it to Post #2- Wahoo! I've run out of steam, though, and I think I'll give myself a Christmas gift- a little blogging break! Once Post #1 of 25 Days is complete, I'm taking a blogging vacation! Thanks for visiting my blog and leaving me comments! I have "met" some awesome folks, and appreciate you all leaving such kind comments! I thank the bloggers who tried the 25 Days of Christmas... I don't know about them, but I certainly found it hard to write that much!
We've been Social Sallies lately & have had a great time! Friday we got together with the Chef Messies for a little Fondue and homemade hot chocolate! My fondue didnt' turn out so great, but it was still pretty tasty! Kim made yummy hot chocolate and we got to watch their son Matthew open his gifts-- he's into cars and trains and such! Such a cutie! Thanks for having us over, we had fun! :)
Today we went to Richmond to get together with some of Jeremy's family. Not everyone could make it as his parents are in Tokyo and many of his siblings (he has 6) live far, far away or were ill... we still had nice get together!
We met at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, which was under extensive renovation, but still had a very nice collection! I tried to take pictures of the kids and even some of the adults... but no everyone would cooperate!
Ellie and Benjamin
Chiara-There was some pouting after visiting the gift store; in this case, that she couldn't get the Yo-Yo she wanted. I can't wait to show this to her in 20 years!
Afterwards we headed to a great Cuban restuarant called Kuba Kuba.... really terrific food and fun decor... with such pleasant weather outside and a colorful interior, it felt like summertime!
More attempts at pictures...
Chiara
Jeremy and his brother Casey
Later we headed to a playground across the street...
Casey, Charlene, Chiara and Benjamin
Jeremy and his sister Leslie (her daughter is Ellie, who would not allow me to take a decent photo!)
Us
Thanks for planning this Charlene, it was a great idea!
We'll have more time with friends and family Sunday. Sunday afternoon, my friends will come over for a lunch. These girls I've been friends with since forever, so I'm sure we'll have a blast. I can't wait to give them their gifts!
And Sunday night, we're going to an evening service and then doing Christmas with my parents and brother.
Tuesday we're off to Philly, which is always fun. Hope you're getting to spend time with your loved ones!
Note: If you want to save a copy of any of the photos, just right click with your mouse and save it to your computer; or, click on it and save the right size you want from Flickr... then do with it what you will normally do with photo files.
We've been Social Sallies lately & have had a great time! Friday we got together with the Chef Messies for a little Fondue and homemade hot chocolate! My fondue didnt' turn out so great, but it was still pretty tasty! Kim made yummy hot chocolate and we got to watch their son Matthew open his gifts-- he's into cars and trains and such! Such a cutie! Thanks for having us over, we had fun! :)
Today we went to Richmond to get together with some of Jeremy's family. Not everyone could make it as his parents are in Tokyo and many of his siblings (he has 6) live far, far away or were ill... we still had nice get together!
We met at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, which was under extensive renovation, but still had a very nice collection! I tried to take pictures of the kids and even some of the adults... but no everyone would cooperate!
Ellie and Benjamin
Chiara-There was some pouting after visiting the gift store; in this case, that she couldn't get the Yo-Yo she wanted. I can't wait to show this to her in 20 years!
Afterwards we headed to a great Cuban restuarant called Kuba Kuba.... really terrific food and fun decor... with such pleasant weather outside and a colorful interior, it felt like summertime!
More attempts at pictures...
Chiara
Jeremy and his brother Casey
Later we headed to a playground across the street...
Casey, Charlene, Chiara and Benjamin
Jeremy and his sister Leslie (her daughter is Ellie, who would not allow me to take a decent photo!)
Us
Thanks for planning this Charlene, it was a great idea!
We'll have more time with friends and family Sunday. Sunday afternoon, my friends will come over for a lunch. These girls I've been friends with since forever, so I'm sure we'll have a blast. I can't wait to give them their gifts!
And Sunday night, we're going to an evening service and then doing Christmas with my parents and brother.
Tuesday we're off to Philly, which is always fun. Hope you're getting to spend time with your loved ones!
Note: If you want to save a copy of any of the photos, just right click with your mouse and save it to your computer; or, click on it and save the right size you want from Flickr... then do with it what you will normally do with photo files.
# 3- Music Box
My grandmother purchased this for me in elementary school... always a favorite Christmas decoration of mine! I remember we were shopping here in Lexington & visited the Stonewall Jackson House. I couldn't take my eyes off it, it was the coolest thing I'd ever seen! I left the store having no idea it would later be a gift for me.
Soldiers march around a castle...
Dolls dine with their teddy bears... (oops, I guess it's a little dusty!)
Marionettes and old books...
Soldiers march around a castle...
Dolls dine with their teddy bears... (oops, I guess it's a little dusty!)
Marionettes and old books...
#4- Gingerbread Houses, Teapots, Greek Vases and Complete Exhaustion!
This was a wild week at school! The kids (and adults) were so excited for Christmas vacation, but we had lots of projects that needed to be finished so that they could take them home for Christmas.
I myself needed some help finishing some ornaments a fellow teacher had asked me to do for his students-- thankfully our friend Kirsten was visiting us from Savannah, on her way to catching a plane to Spain! (That sounds a bit Dr. Seuss-ish!) She's such a fun lady, you should check out her shop! Kirsten, thanks so much for visiting and helping me! Hope we can see you soon & that Spain was a blast!
I do like how they turned out... our simple little snowmen wearing scarves, standing in front of evergreens... but I was disappointed that after baking them (we used enamel paint), some of the white absorbed the red of the bulb!
Now, on to the students work...
The entire 3rd grade made gingerbread houses, and the adults constructed the basic house... Wow! I never knew what a challenge it was to work with royal icing... So that was 60 houses, plus the 12 kids in one of my reading groups wanted to give it a go! I think I have made enough icing and tried to keep together enough houses to last me a few decades!
The 3rd graders have been working on a project with me for about 3 weeks now... they'd learned about Greece, so we painted Greek vases with Geometric designs. 60 plus! I see some future artists!
The 4th graders painted British teapots with me... the design they had to do wasn't as much fun, but I think they learned a lot. (They had to do a floral design.)
And a few other projects I thought I'd share... 5th grade writing...
Aren't they sweet? :)
I was so exhausted by the end of the week!
I myself needed some help finishing some ornaments a fellow teacher had asked me to do for his students-- thankfully our friend Kirsten was visiting us from Savannah, on her way to catching a plane to Spain! (That sounds a bit Dr. Seuss-ish!) She's such a fun lady, you should check out her shop! Kirsten, thanks so much for visiting and helping me! Hope we can see you soon & that Spain was a blast!
I do like how they turned out... our simple little snowmen wearing scarves, standing in front of evergreens... but I was disappointed that after baking them (we used enamel paint), some of the white absorbed the red of the bulb!
Now, on to the students work...
The entire 3rd grade made gingerbread houses, and the adults constructed the basic house... Wow! I never knew what a challenge it was to work with royal icing... So that was 60 houses, plus the 12 kids in one of my reading groups wanted to give it a go! I think I have made enough icing and tried to keep together enough houses to last me a few decades!
The 3rd graders have been working on a project with me for about 3 weeks now... they'd learned about Greece, so we painted Greek vases with Geometric designs. 60 plus! I see some future artists!
The 4th graders painted British teapots with me... the design they had to do wasn't as much fun, but I think they learned a lot. (They had to do a floral design.)
And a few other projects I thought I'd share... 5th grade writing...
Aren't they sweet? :)
I was so exhausted by the end of the week!
Sunday, December 17, 2006
#7-Christmas Postcards from Me to You
I would like to share with you some of my favorite Christmas postcards from my little collection...
Birds, of course!
This one is from 1911! Cute dogs!
I think I have at least 400 postcards total now, with at least 150 Christmas cards or postcards. I was so excited to recently discover that many of the postcards were unused & in excellent condition! I will have to find a special project for that.... but later!
Birds, of course!
This one is from 1911! Cute dogs!
I think I have at least 400 postcards total now, with at least 150 Christmas cards or postcards. I was so excited to recently discover that many of the postcards were unused & in excellent condition! I will have to find a special project for that.... but later!
#5-A Paper Town of My Own...
I knew my recent discovery would be trouble... days before Christmas and I've already found a new project!
I found a town to rescue...
Some of the buildings just need some touch up and detail work....
but others are so badly damaged, I'll have to do some major renovations!
I will definetly have to hold off on this until next year!
I found a town to rescue...
Some of the buildings just need some touch up and detail work....
but others are so badly damaged, I'll have to do some major renovations!
I will definetly have to hold off on this until next year!
#6-Annual Christmas Photo
I hope to take a "family" photo in front of the tree every year, but haven't had much luck this year or last. The husband doesn't want to, the cat doesn't want to be held, the dog can't sit still, I can't seem to smile in an uncheesy way! I hoped to get a nice one so I'd be inspired to write Christmas cards. Christmas cards will have to wait this year, maybe they'll be more like New Year's Cards.
Here are some attempts at a nice photo...
Finally, we just said forget it!
Here are some attempts at a nice photo...
Finally, we just said forget it!
#8- A Partridge In a Pear Tree
I honestly don't know what a partridge is! According to Wikipedia, the site that knows everything:
Partridges are birds in the pheasant family, Phasianidae. They are a non-migratory Old World group.
These are medium-sized birds intermediate between the large pheasants and the small quails. The partridges are ground-nesting seed-eaters. Many species are hunted for sport or game.
Did you really think I'd post about my tree and not show a single bird? I don't have a Pear Tree or a Partridge, but I found lots of birds on the tree this year...
from our honeymoon in the Bahamas...
borrowed (and I doubt I'll return) this from my parents... I know it' s been with them since they first got married. He's lost an eye, but I still love his color...
I loved flamingos in college...
a silver bird...
And a Tree of Cranes by my one of my clubs. We read Tree of Cranes by Allan Say (an excellent Christmas story) and learned to fold paper cranes (the easy way and the difficult way) and paper candy boxes. They were fast learners!
Partridges are birds in the pheasant family, Phasianidae. They are a non-migratory Old World group.
These are medium-sized birds intermediate between the large pheasants and the small quails. The partridges are ground-nesting seed-eaters. Many species are hunted for sport or game.
Did you really think I'd post about my tree and not show a single bird? I don't have a Pear Tree or a Partridge, but I found lots of birds on the tree this year...
from our honeymoon in the Bahamas...
borrowed (and I doubt I'll return) this from my parents... I know it' s been with them since they first got married. He's lost an eye, but I still love his color...
I loved flamingos in college...
a silver bird...
And a Tree of Cranes by my one of my clubs. We read Tree of Cranes by Allan Say (an excellent Christmas story) and learned to fold paper cranes (the easy way and the difficult way) and paper candy boxes. They were fast learners!
#9-Quality Time With Friends and Family, Part Deux
We met my parents the other night for dinner at a local German restaurant. Yum! There's nothing like a good roast with dumplings, spaetzel, red cabbage and rolls with good butter in the winter time, and I can't wait to have a big Christmas dinner! We tried to snap their picture, but if my dad was smiling (Yes, that's smiling!), my mom was blinking...
and so we try again...
They're so funny! I'll have to try again Christmas Eve. Here we are... gosh, I look tired!
Tonight we'll all get together to see Jeremy sing in his Christmas Choir! He sings his big heart out! Even Chef Messy's involved! She's playing the piano-- she plays wonderfully!
Four more days of work to go, but the fun is just starting. Hope you are all enjoying the season!
and so we try again...
They're so funny! I'll have to try again Christmas Eve. Here we are... gosh, I look tired!
Tonight we'll all get together to see Jeremy sing in his Christmas Choir! He sings his big heart out! Even Chef Messy's involved! She's playing the piano-- she plays wonderfully!
Four more days of work to go, but the fun is just starting. Hope you are all enjoying the season!
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