Faces In Places....

A few weeks ago while "surfing the web" I came upon such a fun blog called Faces In Places... A photographic collection of faces found in everyday places. After you look at the fun pictures on this site, you start seeing "faces" in the most common, everyday things! It's fun...check it out!! :0)

Fun night out....

Last night was fun...dinner and a movie, two of my favorite things to do!!! And, even better...
dinner at PF Changs...we love it, and don't have the opportunity to go there often enough.
After dinner we went to "Charlie Wilson's War", an excellent movie starring Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts:Based on the true story of how Charlie Wilson, a Texas congressman, persuaded the CIA to train and arm resistance fighters in Afghanistan to fend off the Soviet Union. With the help of rogue CIA agent, Gust Avrakotos, the two men supplied money, training and a team of military experts that turned the ill-equipped Afghan freedom-fighters into a force that brought the Red Army to a stalemate and set the stage for conflicts in the Middle East that still rage to this day.

A very fun evening, and sharing it with Jon and Sarah made it even better!!

Brrrrrr.....

Wish I could say I took this picture, but I didn't!! Even so...it kinda looks like this outside Jon and Sarah's house tonight...we had snow today (we only got 4-5" though, thank goodness)!! Hopefully we will get outside tomorrow and get some great "snow" pictures....you know, always thinking scrapbooking! :0) I love it here...they put salt on the roads, so the snow is off them fast!! I know it rusts the cars, but it sure makes for great, non-slick roads, and for those of us who don't like driving on icy roads, this is wonderful!!
We are having so much fun with this little guy...he just turned 2, and is busy!! It's so much fun to hear him talking...seems like he uses a new word every day! Getting in all the snuggling we can...it has to last us a while!!

Christmas Top 5....

"Top Ten Favorite Things About Our 2007 Holiday Season:

1. Our traditional "Fine Diner's" Santa party at our house...always a special, fun evening with friends and family! We packed lots of people into our house, lots of little kids...and it was so much fun to see their excitement and anticipation as we all waited for Santa's arrival! His visit was definitely the highlight of the party...I have enough pictures to keep me scrapbooking for at least a year!!

2. The ladies only "Girls Night Out" at our house...another fun evening with friends---not a tradition yet, but I think it will become one!! We ate, talked, and just relaxed. It was fun to spend a quiet evening..."de-stressing" from the hectic holiday season!!

3. Family time...celebrating Christmas, 2007, with ALL of our children and grandchildren...on 3 different days and in 3 different states!! Even though we wern't able to all be in ONE place---which we would have loved---it was very special to get to spend this time together!!

4. Our new "pre-lit" Christmas tree...YEA, a 2 day process (setting up the tree and getting it all decorated) was shortened to 2 hours!! :0)

5. Grandchildren....shopping for them, wrapping their presents, and seeing their excitement when they tear open the packages! It is so much fun to have an excuse to go to Toys Are Us again!!

TELL ME ABOUT YOURS...LIST YOUR TOP 5 FAVORITE MEMORIES THIS HOLIDAY SEASON !!

Almost ready...

4 days and counting...where did December go?? But, I think I'm "almost" ready for the the big day! Today is one of my very favorite days of the season...first, we are having our annual "Santa" party tonight with many friends, children and grandchildren! There is nothing more magical than seeing the faces of the little ones when Santa rings his jingle bells and comes through our door! They believe!!
Second, I love this day, December 21st, because it is the shortest day of the year...woo-hoo, we add minutes of daylight beginning tomorrow!!! I know it we have to add up many of these "minutes" to start making a difference, but we have to start someplace, and soon it won't be dark at 4:30 PM! Yea!! :0)

Kids of the Year....

The choice of Vladimir Putin, the President of Russia, as TIME magazine's "Person of the Year" was announced on Wednesday. As I walked on the treadmill listening to this story, my mind was racing about a scrapbook layout...I could choose my own "person/people of the year!" Above you see the finished product...these 5 little people are my choice for the award for 2008...and every other year, too!!

Lovin' this layout...

I love this layout, not because it's anything special "scrapbook-wise" (is that even a word??), but because it shows an adorable little boy (with such kissable, sweet cheeks) having a great time on a beautiful, sunny summer day!! (We're not getting much sun in our part of the world these days!) We get to see this little guy "in person" in just a few days...can't wait!! :0)

Cheers....

What a fun, relaxing evening I had last night with good friends, good food, beautiful Christmas music, fun conversation and Oprah's Pomegranate Martinis! We're kind of "scrunched" in this picture (our photographer, Jim, was having trouble getting us all in!!) but we decided we needed a picture of us that we can send to Oprah telling her how much we liked her recipe and then she will probably be so excited that she will send us free tickets to be guests at her show!! Won't that be exciting!! :0) But, back to reality....we had a wonderful, "stress-free" evening in the midst of this hectic holiday season! (Thanks for the idea, Jean!!)

Random Favorites...

Five random favorites this time of year:

*hearing from "long lost" friends

*Starbucks lattes

*December 21st...the shortest day, is only a few days away!

*sunny days (when we get them!)

*on-line shopping

It is so easy, this time of year, to get all caught up in all the craziness around us. This special time can become not so fun---presents to buy and wrap, cards to send, goodies to make, house to decorate, etc., etc., etc. And, pretty soon, this "most wonderful time of year" becomes a time that we trudge through just hoping to make it to the new year!! So...take a little time today to think about some of your favorite things this time of year! (Hopefully "updating your blog" won't be on that list that becomes "not so fun!!") :0)

Holiday baking...

OK, so I'm thinking "holiday baking" is WAY overrated...right??!! I mean, if I were to make it, we would just eat it, and we definitely don't need to eat it, so I'm really helping us out if I don't have a lot of delicious things--fresh from the oven---sitting around the house to tempt us! I'm really doing the right thing....right?? :0) But, had to break down and make these little "goodies" for our Paper Pals party last night...in case you missed them, they came right from Becky Higgin's blog:

PRETZEL HUGS

1 bag pretzels

1 pkg. M&Ms

1 pkg. Hershey "Hugs"

Place pretzels on baking stone or sheet. Place a Hug on each pretzel and bake at 200 degrees for about 8 minutes (just watch for the Hugs to melt). Remove from oven and promptly place a couple of M&Ms on each pretzel, pressing into the melted chocolate. Allow to cool before serving. At room temperature, this takes SEVERAL hours. I would recommend making these the day before you plan on eating/delivering. Or you can put them in the refrigerator to speed up the process.
Note to self: I tried to experiment with the caramel-filled kisses (the batch before this one). Bad idea. It didn't work. But my friend, Karolyn, said that Rolos work. So maybe you'll want to try that version.
(That adorable Christmas Countdown calendar is from Tami Vik...you can order one from her on her blog.)