Day 364, Thursday, December 30

This is what the wreath in the previous post looks like during the day. You can see the structure of the ferris wheel...and also the lights that form the diamond shapes around the wreath. Jim drove me up the skinny bridge, so I could get this picture. (I don't like bridges...especially this one because it is narrow, steep and goes over the interstate.) If you enlarge this picture and look on the horizon, you can see the lights of downtown Peoria across the river. Can you imagine having that structure in your front yard for 30 days? I was standing in their driveway when I took this picture.

Day 363, Wednesday, December 29

This is the wreath that sits on top of Fondulac drive in East Peoria. It is the structure of a ferris wheel. The wreath is lit on the friday after Thanksgiving during the Festival of Lights and shines for the entire month of December.

Day 362, Tuesday, December 28

We went to dinner tonight with our friends John and Sara. They moved to Arizona 7 years ago. Their oldest daughter lives here and she has a little boy that is 9 months old....so they are back in town every couple of months. We can sit and talk for hours....and we did!

Day 361, Monday, December 27

I realized this morning, that I had not even started my calendar for 2011! I had bought all the paper before Thanksgiving and thought I would have time to work on it...but I just forgot about it. I bought the printed papers at Scrapadoodle and the blank calendar paper at Hobby Lobby. I cut all of the titles with Lyrical Letters from scrap cardstock with my cricut. I dug through all of my unused stickers and pulled the ones that related to each month. I used some rub-ons and very small letter stickers to add the names of each relative on their birthday. I even punched a small balloon and wrote what age they were going to be and glued it to the square. I have numbered each day for project 365...much to my family's dismay...I will continue taking a picture everyday and journaling about it. Project 365 will be done digitally this year...Thanks to Becky Higgins and her blog, I won a digital kit last year! Now I just have to bind my calendar with my bind it all...waiting for Jim to get home and help me hold it all together!

Day 360, Sunday, December 26

This is my MCPT card for December. I have made the decision to discontinue the challenge every month. The last few months, there haven't been very many finished cards posted. I have hosted this challenge on the Cricut message board for 2 1/2 years. I still love doing this technique and will continue.

Day 359, Saturday, December 25

Merry Christmas! I had lots of photos to pick from for today! And I chose this one of Saige and me! Isn't she the most adorable baby! She had on a cute little red plaid dress and black tights, with a big polka bow on her head. She looked like a little present! It was awesome to hold this baby girl for just a little bit and give her kisses. (if you could have seen the rest of the room at this point in time...oh my goodness!)

Day 358, Friday, December 24

This is the scene in my living room on Christmas Eve. There were 22 people in the chaos of this room...maybe not all at once...some were in the kitchen. There was paper and gifts and legs and feet in every square inch of this room. In fact, I think there was someone standing in the hallway behind me when I took this picture. I wouldn't have it any other way! All of us together enjoying the holiday!

Day 357, Thursday, December 23

I got up this morning with a million things running through my head...I had errands to run, cleaning to do and food to prepare for Christmas. As I came out of the hallway, I saw this pink glow coming through our living room window. At first, I thought it was the neighbor's Christmas lights...but it wasn't...it was the sky. The sun was just rising and there were all of these clouds. It was awesome and it made me pause for just a few minutes and enjoy the most beautiful sunrise!

Day 356, Wednesday, December 22

Today was our last day of school before Christmas break. This is our annual Christmas sing in the gym. Our staff was up front singing Jingle Bells! The kids loved it...and so did the staff.

Day 355, Tuesday, December 21

At 2 a.m., this morning, there was a lunar eclipse. I didn't take this picture...I got it from the internet. This is one of the photos that show how the moon turned "red" during the eclipse. One day, I hope to be able to take an awesome photo like this!

Day 354, Monday, December 20

This is one of my favorite ornaments. It is a Rolan Johnson. Rolan Johnson was a local printer who designed and printed his own Christmas Card every year. In 1995, he granted permisson for the Sisters to produce a limited number of gold plated ornaments as a fund raiser to benefit their retirement fund. Rolan has since passed and the family has allowed the Sisters to continue producing the ornaments. They are dated each year. The front and the back are printed the same. Each ornament is a reproduction of a Christmas Card that Rolan created.

Day 353, Sunday, December 19

I spent the majority of today wrapping/bagging Christmas gifts! Boy am I glad that job is done!

Day 352, Saturday, December 18

This is our Christmas tree for 2010. Jim wanted to put the big tree upstairs this year, instead of in the basement family room. I decorated with just the Rolan Johnson ornaments and the wooden ornaments that Cindy and I have painted. I like the "less is more" attitude for this year!

Day 351, Friday, December 17

Our fire department came and picked up the canned food that the children at school have been collecting. We had 1,436 pounds of food donated to school. The fire department sorts the food, buys perishable foods, such as turkey, milk, eggs, etc., and delivers the "food baskets" to families who need a little help.

Day 350, Thursday, December 16

We got a package in the mail from John and Sara. Our friends live in Arizona. They sent us this candle from Crate & Barrel....I really like it!

Day 349, Wednesday, December 15

Today is my parents 54th Wedding Anniversary!

Day 348, Tuesday, December 14

This is Tammy, Sue and Cindy in their Biggest Loser shirts. Sue's cousin, Patrick won the title of Biggest Loser tonight! The family of Patrick wore these shirts when he went home from the Biggest Loser Ranch. Sue's Aunt, is Patrick's mom and she invited Sue to be with them when Patrick came home. Sue couldn't go, but asked that she send her the green "Congratulations" shirts. The girls wore the shirts to school today, to support Patrick in his quest for the title.

Day 347, Monday, December 13

I got a special package in the mail today! A group of girls from the project 365 thread exchanged names for Christmas and had to complete a gift for our Secret Sister. I got my package from Debbie in Omaha, Nebraska. I LOVE my scrap cave clipboard with the picture of all my friends. I always tell the girls....I wish they could be with me in my scrap cave...now they can! Thanks so much, Debbie for my perfect gift! She also sent me a bag from Archiver's (t!m holtz style), some metal tags, birthday card and Christmas card...that package was loaded!

Day 346, Sunday, December 12

This is my version of the "12 tags of christmas" by t!m holtz. i was sad to wake up and realize the tags were done today. this is the second year that i have completed the tags. i will go back and complete the 2007 and 2008 tags! they are so much fun! (i didn't capitalize anything because that is how t!m types!)

Day 345, Saturday, December 11

We went to the hockey game tonight. When the Rivermen scored the first goal of the night, we celebrated by tossing Teddy Bear's onto the ice. The stuffed animals were collected to give to children in the Peoria area who have experienced an emergency....such as a fire at their house or a situation involving police response. The bears are given to help soothe the fear of the children. The first goal happened within a few minutes of the game and we were caught off guard and slow to get the Teddy Bear Toss going!

Day 344, Friday, December 10

We went to dinner at the Embassy Suites for the Morton Buildings Christmas party. The party was a western theme. We each got a bandana that has the Morton Buildings emblem. We ate a buffet dinner of beef brisket, chicken, salad, cole slaw, fruit, garlic mashed potatoes, baked beans, biscuits and corn muffins. The desserts were a big hit, as there were many different types of cheesecake, pie and cakes.

Day 343, Thursday, December 9

Today, was Saige's 3 month birthday. My mom and dad are her great grandparents. Happy 3 months old, Saige!

Day 342, Wednesday, December 8

When I got home from work tonight, Giz was sitting under our Christmas tree...does he think he is a Christmas present?

Day 341, Tuesday, December 7

This is a birthday treat that I received at school. It is an Oreo cupcake...and it was huge! I sat the Pepsi can next to it to show the size. It was a yummy cupcake and no...I didn't eat it all. I only had about 1/4 of it and shared it with my friends. I shouldn't have eaten the cupcake, but I would have eaten the whole thing before I started losing weight.

Day 340, Monday, December 6

Tonight, we had our Chirpin' Chicks annual Christmas party. Instead of a card exhange we had a cookie exchange. We also had a gift exchange ($10 scrapbook related). This picture is of my friend Jen, checking the size of Yvonnes purse, to see if all of her "stuff" will fit. Please note Jen has on sock monkey slippers...she always take slippers to wear in everyone's house.

Day 339, Sunday, December 5

This little guy was sitting in the tree watching me take pictures of the birds the other day! He didn't make a sound. He really kinda scared me because I was scanning the tree with the lens of my camera and there he was!

Day 338, Saturday, December 4

Today, Jim and I put up the Christmas trees...and the rest of the decorations, too. He suggested we go to Famous Dave's tonight for dinner...I said...let's go! I was really hungry and I love their roasted chicken, and muffins, too! lol Anyway, Wilbur was running around the dining room making a pig of himself....ha ha ha. Another picture to put in my book! Thanks, again Jim, for helping me do all the decorations today!

Day 337, Friday, December 3

I did it! I made all 25 cards from Kristina Werners Holiday Cards 2010. I tried to make them using the same colors and design, but I didn't have all the same supplies...so I used up tons of stuff from my stash. You can follow her at www.kwernerdesign.com

Day 336, Thursday, December 2

Cindy, Julia and I all had on snowman attire today. It is funny, some days Cindy and I will have the same colors on...usually at least one day a week! One time, many years ago, we bought the exact same shirt and wore black pants. We had a parent ask us if it was a uniform! lol

Day 335, Wednesday, December 1

I am so very excited today! Today begins the "12 Tags of Christmas" from the master Tim Holtz. I couldn't get the tag done today...so I took a picture of the supplies I will be using in the next 12 days to create each tag. You can follow him at www.timholtz.typepad.com. Watch for my tags to appear in about 2 weeks...they won't be as good as Tim's, but I love making them anyway!

Day 334, Tuesday, November 334

I think this is a female cardinal. Another one of the close ups that I got with my Rebel! I LOVE that camera and lens!

Day 333, Monday, November 29

We have been having a bunch of cardinals in our backyard. Everytime I would get my camera and open the back door, they would fly away. They seemed to like the tree in our neighbors yard, so I put the telephoto lens on and used just the center focus dot and I got a few good shots. This is one and I will be posting a few more over the next few days.

Day 332, Sunday, November 28

Hi Jim! Thank you for putting up the Christmas lights on the outside of the house! It makes me nervous when he has to go up and down the ladder so many times....but I love having our house lit up at Christmas.