Hmmm...now how do I do this?

It has been forever since I posted anything..I guess I just had a case of the writing blues. I really planned to quit all together but today as one year is ending and another is waiting, I decided why not.
I am in the process of taking down all of our decorations and its a bit overwhelming. The positive side of being such an enthusiastic decorator is foremost how lovely it is to sit in the midst of lights, color and things that remind us of Christmas' past. We raised our boys with lots of Santa, magic and wonderful memories. I still enjoy that even though they are all gone. I wasn't going to do as much this year but J brought in some North Pole saying "You need to do these." I continued on. I found every friend that told me they didnt decorate anymore, it was too much work, I would add something else. I dont know why.  The other positive side of taking it all down is how spacious and clean your house becomes! I am having trouble remembering where I hid the 'normal' stuff and again where does it go?!? Signs of maturing for sure.

I asked J to help me make a Christmas tree this year and thought I would share it. We donated our big old fake tree while in Gig Harbor. It was getting old and just a big pain to store. So last Christmas we had a real tree and that will be the last time. That baby was ready to start a massive fire it was so dry...my ornaments were sliding down the brittle branches!

So I had this great idea to make two trees tall and narrow and put one in the living room and one in the dining room. Honestly is there anything prettier than a lit tree full of ornaments in your house?

We bought two 7 or 8' tree stakes from Home Depot and J painted them brown and made bases from some of the wood.

We bought about a dozen pkgs each of boughs in two different styles. I started off with about four thinking it looked like a lot and it would have been... for a two foot tree! I had planned to make two trees with the different boughs (can you tell the difference?) and put one in the living room and one in the dining room. As we were finishing this tree J said no to having two trees. Too much to store and not enough space. I was really disappointed because I had this vision and mostly because I would have made the other longer needle tree instead if I had known. We never got around to returning the branches so maybe we can find room...

This is J drilling holes in the stake for me to glue in branches. I kept telling him more holes and that it was great PT for him!

This is me gluing in the branches and burning off my finger prints. I thought it would be so easy but it turned into a painful job! Hard to believe its winter looking at my outfit...

J taking a phone break but you can see the progress and just how many branches it takes.

Here you have our final result and a train to go with it! I really like this tree because its tall enough but narrow so not sticking out into the room. Maybe I like it so much because we made it together. Once I take off the ornaments and lights I plan to add a few more branches but otherwise it was a success.

Another project we did was to make three wreaths for our garage windows. We bought the wreaths and added lights, pine cones and bows and they added so much to the front yard. Notice how much
Gracie enjoys watching me make things!

                                      "What do you think Gracie? Kind of boring right?"

Perfect right?! I also made several pillows, a snowman on a wreath, finished some projects I had started last year but put away AND made a few gifts. All in all a productive xmas!

I had written this note to put in xmas cards about how close I had come to planning two funerals this year with Ky's wreck and J's west nile. How I was forever changed by the events and how I would wake up each day with a grateful heart for the blessings I have been given. I would live a life well lived and be a better person. By the time I got around to sitting down to writing cards I found I could not send it. I came home from MN a changed person and prayed I would continue to embrace the strength, patience, and lessons I had learned. After almost 4 months I realize I am slipping back to the old me and sitting in judgment, saying negative things about life and people, and not feeling so positive and grateful as I stated. This makes me so very sad because I really liked who I had become.
My Christmas wish is to begin this new year and each day being thankful, kind, patient and most of all someone people want in their lives.
I will end with a sweet family photo which unfortunately is missing one. We had a lovely 2 week visit from Rande in Nov. so understandable he didn't return for Christmas.
Not sure I have anyone still reading my blog but if so thanks for dropping by! Wishing you a wonderful, happy and healthy 2013!

Thanksgiving 2012

Christmas 2012