Blue is the New Black

First Snow

The first snowfall of the year is always exciting. This afternoon we got our first taste of the snow. While the kids were diving into their snow gear I was grabbing my camera and heading out the door.
And of course with the first snowfall comes the obligatory snowball fight. This snowball was aimed at me and I am a little surprised to see just how much Jack's aim has improved since last winter!

Bubbles

So what do you think happens when you send an 8 year old in to wash his hands after finishing a craft project????



Bubbles


Lots and lots of bubbles.

Thankful

I have been tagged by the crafty and creative Shalet at Peculiar Momma to reveal some weird and wonderful tidbits about myself. But because I have already bored you with random facts about myself before I thought I'd do something a little different! Being mindful of Thanksgiving I decided to list 7 random things that make me happy and that I am thankful for. Now you may gasp when see that I have not listed my ever patient husband and the fruit of his loin..( my 3 wonderful children)...but I am assuming that they are a given. It goes unsaid that I am forever grateful and thankful for having them in my life. That being said I assembled a bit of a Thankful mosaic.
For those that are struggling with some of the images...here is the list
1 - My most favorite fruit in the world- passionfruit. Even the name is yummy. I haven't eaten it for nearly 5 years as we can't find where to buy it here in the U.S.
2 - Vegemite. Being an Aussie girl through and through I just can't live without spreading this on my toast in the morning...( and yes...it IS black!)
3 - Margaritas...when God created alcohol he had mothers in mind!
4 - Needs no description. Life would not be worth living without it!
5 - My new glasses. Although it reminds me I am getting older at least I can see now ...so overall they are a good thing!
6 - I dream of going back to Europe with my hubby again one day. We spent a blissful 6 months vacationing there together back in 1995.....mmmmm..one day!
7 - I'm LOVING my Canon Rebel Xsi. I think my family are over my constant snapping their every movement though.
8 - (Yes...I know I said 7 but I couldn't do an uneven number of pics in my mosaic, so...) This is where I will be on Christmas day this year..lying on the beach in Noosa... must say...I AM LOVING THAT!
Happy Thanksgiving!

Sugar Coated

It was so frosty outside this morning it looked like everything was covered in powdered sugar

Sunday S t i l l -ness

I have been quite remiss the last few days...neglecting my blogging in an effort to get on top of preparations for the holidays. I did get a few things squared away...I ordered my christmas cards, started my Christmas shopping, did some baking, put some finishing touches to some handmade knitted gifts and submitted a painting to an art competition. Also this week my daughter was performing in the Missoula Childrens' Theater production of Hansel and Gretel so there were a lot of trips to and from rehearsals and then performances. By Sunday I was starting to feel a little like a whirling dervish.

So I had to stop....and just enjoy the peace and s t i l l -ness of Sunday.

The Friday Blanket

I finally finished our Friday Blanket. Friday is a special day in our family. Its officially the night we set aside to spend together. We play board games, watch movies.



After one such Friday when all 5 of us were sitting on the sofa watching a movie it was decided that we needed a blanket that would cover all of us...so out came the knitting needles.



The verdict....just perfect for keeping little feet warm!

Glass

My Dad had a passion for glass. But not just any glass. He loved crystal...Viennese, Irish, Scottish. I have never really appreciated the beauty of this glass until I looked at it through the lens of my camera. The way it reflects and refracts the light is captivating.



I was playing around with photographing a piece of this pink Viennese glass and I thought the bokeh it produced was wonderful

Thinking about Christmas

I need to get organized and start thinking about getting my Christmas cards written.



I leave it to the absolute last minute EVERY year.



So maybe this will be the year that I will be super efficient and get it done early...maybe!

When Max met the Bishop

He was on his best behavior...and even wore a tie. I had to take a picture. Who knows when I will see him wearing a tie again!

Blog Award

The lovely Kyla at Kreative Life gave me this "Marie Antoinette Award". How exciting!!!! I don't feel much like Marie Antoinette most days....no enormous wealth, no real extravagences or excesses to speak of, certainly no great beauty or political influence. And I must say... I am hoping for a much less violent fate than hers at the hands of Madame Guillotine.

The award is called the "Real Person Award". This made me curious. It seems almost incongruous that such an award would have Marie Antoinette as its patron. A woman who historically has been attributed to almost single handedly bringing about the end of the French monarchy.

But as with most people there are a lot of other less glamorous details about her that are not nearly as widely known or well documented. She was in fact an avid reader and was interested in music, science and philosophy. She was devoted to her children and had a enjoyed close friendships with an inner circle of women (Société Particulière de la Reine) who gave her support and companionship. Doesn't sound a lot different from me after all!

So in celebration of this award I am passing it on to some other bloggers whose blogs I enjoy.....

Michelle
Dana
Elaine
Shawna
Blazey
Mom23boys
Elk

To all of you I say..."Let them eat cake!"

A bit of Bling!

The gray old weather has caused me to crave a little bit of sunshine....so until mother nature gets her act together and the sun comes back out I am going to have to be satisified with some man made bling

Private Joke

Lately I have been doing a number of custom orders and this one really had me intrigued. My customer wanted to surprise her best friend for her upcoming 40th birthday. She asked me to make matching t-shirt transfers with the ladies names on the front and a message on the back. She gave me her specifications but I had to double check the message part to make sure I had got it right. "Casual People Don't Spit!" Apparently it is a private joke between her and her best friend...wish I was in on it!

Mmmmmm....

A post at Shutter Sisters about food inspired moments provoked this cupcake shot....Mmmmmmm!

Missing Summer Already

The rain just won't quit.
Its not even December yet and I am missing summer already!

The Lake....


Swimming...



Boating....



Playing around....



Goofing off...



Having fun...



Making smores...



I am usually a rain peson but now we are heading into our second straight week of non stop rain I'm looking forward to seeing the sun again

Rain

Just another gray old day.

Election Fever

My children were so excited last night to watch the election results. I let them stay up passed their bed time because I felt that they were going to see some history in the making. I was surprised to see how politically aware they had become. They even made posters to cheer their candidate on. We felt like we witnessed something pretty special last night....hopefully the beginning of a whole new era.

Popping Corn

Settling in to watch the election results, the kids decided that like any good movie evening popcorn was required. They had picked some corn cobs at the pumpkin patch a few weeks back and tonight they stripped all the corn off the cobs and we cooked it. Add a little bit of salt and butter...yummmmm!

Six things....

I

I have been tagged. This is a whole new experience for a novice blogger like myself, but Kyla tagged me to list 6 Random things about myself. Like any good challenge there are a few rules....
1. Link to the person who tagged you
2. Post the rules on your blog
3. List 6 random things about yourself
4. Tag 6 people at the end of your post.
5. Let each person know they have been tagged and leave a comment on their blog.
6. Let the tagger know when your entry is up!


Ok...let me think...Six Random Things....hmmmm... As I was formulating my thoughts I zipped over to Shutter sisters to see what was going on there today and noticed they had a self portrait challenge. So that got me started..(see Random fact # 1) and I decided to get out of my comfort zone and add some self portraits to this blog entry! Yikes!!!!



Random Fact # 1
I hate having my picture taken. I know its ironic considering I like to take pictures of everyone else but I feel like I reached my photogenic peak when I was 5 years old and it has been all downhill since then.


Random Fact # 2
I have a paralyzing fear of sharks. Odd..or maybe because of the fact that I grew up on the beaches of the Australian east coast. I find it really difficult to watch documentaries about sharks and think that the movie "Jaws" is the most horrific film of all time. When I do go down to the beach I won't go into the water any further than chest deep and even swimming in the deep part of a lake where I can't touch the bottom can make me panic. I learned from Wikipedia that fear of sharks is called "selachophobia" so as far as neuroses go, I think I only have the one...which is good!


Random Fact # 3
I never expected to get married and have children. I always assumed I would be a career woman and never thought too much beyond that. I was never that little girl who dreamed of getting married and who had been planning her wedding since she was 9. As a result when I did finally get married I was woefully unprepared for the whole wedding whirlwind and would have quite happily traded in the white wedding and eloped to Fiji.



Random Fact # 4
I can NEVER have a career in sales. My brother always says that I have the subtlety of a sledge hammer. I don't intentionally try to be so direct...so I guess it just comes naturally. There is an upside and a downside to this of course. The pros are that I am very honest and upfront and the cons are that I am very honest and upfront. So depending on the question I am asked my directness can be a good thing or a bad thing. Now, I don't want you to think I am completely tactless BUT generally speaking if you ask me a question I will give you my honest opinion. As a result I tend to gravitate more towards authentic people who don't get too offended about my directness.



Randon Fact # 5
I used to hate green...but now it is one of my favorite colors...(well you did say random things!)



Random Fact # 6
Christmas is my absolute favorite time of the year. I love all the anticiaption and excitement...the waiting! For me its not about the gift giving, its about pausing our busy lives and just enjoying being together. No school, no work, no sport. This year we are headed back to Australia to spend Christmas with our family. It will be summer down there and although I am a little perturbed about having to get my lily white body into a bikini I am looking forward to lying on the beach and watching the kids swim and play..... as long as they don't venture into the surf too far...(refer Random Fact #1)
Now that is my 6 Random things. I have sent off emails to the next 6 lucky contestants. Thanks for tagging me Kyla...it was fun!