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Sunday, November 9, 2014

The Christmas Countdown is on

 Well Christmas is less than two months away and here I sit looking for easy things to make for Christmas gifts. I love checking Pinterest for wonderful ideas for family and friends.


With several grandchildren to buy for I have been thinking of many ideas for home made that especially the Granddaughters could use. They are young adults as are most of the grandsons. 


Each year they all look forward to their mug and hot chocolate ( one grandson wants Russian spice tea instead of hot chocolate) so that is one thing I will do later in the season. 


Scarves seem to really be the in thing and in browsing Pinterest I find so many different scarves. I love the infiity scarves and think I like the idea of doing one in just 5 minutes. 


Courtney from Sweet C's Designs does just that. So I think I may have just found one of the gifts for the granddaughters. I know that two of them can really use nice warm scarves. One in Watertown New York  while her husband serves in the Army, and another in Marquette Michigan, way in the northern most part of the Upper Peninsula.





Do you not think this is a great idea for the younger generations. I might even have to make a few for me. 

Today's Fabulous Finds 
  http://todaysfabulousfinds.blogspot.com/2010/12/15-gift-ideas-under-2.html   had some great ideas for friends and neighbors.. We are doing a secret Santa at work this year for the month of December and are to give a small gift each week with a larger gift for the last day we will be working . I had bought some candles to use and saw this. How appropriate to use for one week. 


I love the saying.
May your days be happy, your heart be light, your Christmas merry and the New Year bright! 

I have the forms for doing several wreaths and bought a lot of different rolls and colors of the Deco Mesh. I enjoy the wreaths so much and you can decorate them in so many ways. 

Next to find things for the men and boys in my life. Did get John Deere fleece this week end to do a blanket for our oldest great grandson. He loves anything John Deere and wants to be a farmer when he grows up. His daddy works on a farm and takes Cadyn with him. He loves riding the tractor. Just all the older ones are harder to buy for. 

I have bought a few small gifts but hope to get it all done within the next few weeks. Last year I did almost every bit of it by the 1st of December and hope to this year also. 









Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Christmas Is Less Than Two Months Away

The past year has again flown by and it has been a busy busy year for me. I have been so busy working two jobs that blogging was put on the back burner.

Yes I did say work "Two Jobs". And yes I sometimes wonder what I was thinking . I had been working on call as needed since retiring in Oct. of 2010. It was really nuts. I would get up and dressed in case I was needed at one of the Senior Centers to help cook and not get a call . If I did not get up and ready for work that would be the day I got a call. I went a month or two without working then would be called and work for several days.

One day last November I received a call to work at our Onsted Center. This was the center I had started out at in 2002. Worked there for 2 years and loved it there. I went in to work for the day and was floored at all the changes since their Center Director of 30 years had retired. And those were changes I did not like at all.I am a stickler for following health code regulations. And their cook was certainly not following the county regulations nor the standards demanded of the cooks in the other centers. Having been one of the head cooks I could see that they could very easily been shut down by the health department . I offered the new center director my advise as to what had to change.

 Well when he set his food down when the cook came back lets just say she was not a happy camper.I got a call on Sunday night that I was again needed at the center until they could find a new cook. Seems she walked out on Thursday and called Sunday night and said "I quit".

Needless to say I jumped at the chance to go back to work on a regular time schedule and the hours were perfect. I only work three days a week and just 5- 51/2 hours each of the days. I love being back around the seniors again and the best part is I am 5 minutes from work now.


Nation honor  Food Service Workers Week


Not to many places where you receive flowers and candy from your boss.

Now as to my second job. In the summer of 2013 George and I went camping about 12 miles from home for a long 4th of July week end. The campground owners were new and working the whole campground with no one to help. We were talking and I was telling her that when George and I first married were had a permanent site at another local campground and we had worked in the office in exchange for our lot rent. I mentioned that I missed camping each week end but was just not in our budget to do. 

The next thing I know she is saying  maybe we can work out a permanent site for you if you are interested. Along with that the second job  came along. I plan and do all the week end activities at the campground. Love what I am doing and now we camp every week and week end for the months the campground is opened. We just got all moved back home two weeks ago and I am now catching up at home. 

I am now working on a bigger and different schedule for next summer. What other type of job can you have so much fun at. Crafting with children and adults, lots of different games and celebrating different holidays . We did big week ends for Memorial Day, 4th of July, Labor Day and two weeks ago celebrated the Fall and Halloween season. What fun.

 We even celebrated Christmas in July .It sure was different to decorate a Christmas tree in July and in 90 degree weather. We even had a visit from Santa Claus as he stopped by from his vacation in Hawaii. Oh what fun the kids had and the excitement in their eyes as Santa came around the corner of the office . One little boy was on his dads shoulders and I thought the poor dad was going to drop him as he tried jumping off when he saw Santa. Santa then went on a hayride with all the kids and received a small gift. They loved it and wondered if Santa would be back next summer too. 

 I sure do wish I could figure out how to get my pictures from the phone off to my computer so I could share a few of the Christmas in July ones with you. Nothing I have tried works and my phone does not have internet so guess they will stay stuck on the phone. 

I can share a few of the Halloween ones though. 


The kids love pumpkin painting.


This little girl was a shy one but her dad finely got her to look at me.


Face painting was so fun. This little one was just 3 but he sat so still all the time his face was being done.


Brother and sister puppies


Our face painters came from 6 hours away and had as much fun as all the little ones. April doing one of the teen campers. 


And Rick our other face painter concentrating very hard while doing  one of the younger campers into a puppy. 

Thank you to both April and Rick for adding a fun time to our celebration.


These were our ghosts used in pumpkin bowling. What fun the kids had trying to get those pins down with a pumpkin as a ball. 


This was the Ghost Nose knows game. They had to get all the cotton balls into a cup without using their hands. Just their nose . They had a dab of Vasoline on the tip of their noses for this game. 


And these were from the scarecrow decorating contest. What fun they had doing this as a family. 


I just have to share these last two pictures This was our reluctant puppy. He was like mom do I really have to have this done. 


And here is our reluctant puppy again having fun helping build a scarecrow. He had about as much straw on him as some of the scarecrows by the time he was done. 

So that has been my last year in a nutshell. Things are now getting back to normal and I am now able to get online more often . Be on the look out as I am reading to start blogging once again and share many of my Christmas treasures and crafts through out the Christmas Season.