I'm still here!

Hello!!! Hello, hello, hello!

Gosh, my poor blog has been so vacated that it seems to have developed an echo. LOL Bet y'all are surprised to see me, huh? Can't believe I haven't blogged in so long. No real reason as to why I haven't. I keep planning posts in my head & I've even taken pictures in anticipation of doing a post...but then I don't follow through. ??? I sometimes take a self-imposed exile from my blog but my recent, extended absence can't be attributed to that. I just haven't gotten around to it. I know, I know....it's been 6 months! But you have no idea what a procrastinator I can be! I've been planning this post for almost 2 months!!! *blushes* Anyway, good to be here again...let's see if I remember how to do it.

I'm sure most of y'all heard about Cassandra Van Curen's Handmade Christmas Ornament swap...some of you even participated. I want to share the ornaments I made & received from the swap. I was fortunate to be paired w/ some mega-talent..so many incredible ornaments! I put them all on this little white tree in my studio & although it was a Christmas swap, most of the ornaments were more wintry than Christmas'y so I've just now taken the ornaments down. So I'm not actually as tardy as I appear. ;)

These first 3 ornaments were crafted by Jeannie Ryan. Jeannie doesn't have a blog but she does have any etsy shop. Sweet, glittery chapel!

Nested bird on a snowflake....

& a glitzy tussie mussie! Complete w/ candy but I ate it before I took the pic.

She included this sweet tag too so I hung it on the tree also.

These next 3 ornaments were crafted by Becky Swartzlander @ Rebecca Rose Designs Lovely soldered ornament!

And this adorable Colleen Moody inspired snowman! Love it!

And this pretty little stocking.

These next 3 ornaments were made by Robin Sanchez @ Once upon a Pink Moon. Isn't this snowman clever???

And this little snowman cup? Too cute!!

LOVE this altered doll!

These next 3 were crafted by Cassandra herself. Loved this sweet "sugar cookie"!

And an adorable paper clay bird.

We kind of had a theme going w/ snowmen & birds....love this nested bird, also by Cassandra.

These next 3 ornaments are the ones I crafted. Didn't do much for this first one....just foof'ed up some vintage birds I bought @ Canton.

I bent little spoons & filled them w/ a nest of tinsel. Mine's a bit different than theirs though as I didn't have 5 spoons the same. I like theirs better but mine's cute too.

I made little hot air balloons out of tiny vintage shiny brites, an old thimble & a frozen charlotte.

Lot of crafty creativeness on that tree, huh? And even though I've taken these ornaments off & packed them away, there still is. Robin, Becky, Jeannie, Cassandra & I were all so thrilled w/ our ornaments that we agreed to do a Valentine ornament swap & my tree is currently bedecked w/ beautiful handmade hearts. And I participated in another Valentine ornament swap also...I promise I'll be back w/ pics of those before Valentine's!

I've enjoyed my little tree in my studio so much that I have decided that it will be up year-round. Wonder if the girls will be game for swapping through all seasons? We've already agreed to do a Spring swap so maybe so!

Summertime fun @ Honey's!

Hi y'all! It's been forever since my last post, hasn't it? Sorry! But I spend as much time w/ the grands every summer as possible & while it's enjoyable, it takes a lot of energy to make every day a "special" day. Energy, I don't seem to have enough of. ;) But oh how I treasure the memories & the fun. And I know they will as well.

It was a hot, hot, hot summer though...the hottest ever here in N. Texas. We had more 100° days than ever in history. Over 70 days above 100°! But the grands still enjoyed playing in The Enchanted Tea Cottage...even if Connor is too big to stand all the way up. LOL

They had pow-wows behind the cottage.

And Miss Caralyn played dress-up.

She dressed up a lot!

Since it was so hot we went bowling often, where it was nice & cool.

We ate pizza.

Colored on the patio....

& in coloring books too.

Sometimes they took baths to cool off.

They did a lot of snuggling w/ the puppies.

Connor's dog, Mikey spent a lot of time w/ us as well....LOVE this pic of the 2 of them!

Yes, Coleson is wearing a tiara....he probably spends a bit too much time playing w/ his sister. ;)

Sweetness!

We had art days...this day it was play-doh.

and we had grandkid pile-ups.

They were full of funny faces.

Except for Connor...he just looked at me w/ a "Seriously?" expression.

Occasionally we ate breakfast @ the park but we had to do it early before it got too hot.

They played hide n seek...

tag....

and swang on the swings.

This art day was painting sun catchers.

Noah did his best to catch butterflies.

And any dog who came near. LOL

One day, they painted my windows with a mixture of tempura paint & dish soap. They had fun & all I had to do to get sparkling windows was hit them w/ the water hose & squeegee them. Just call me "smart"! ;)

Caeden is too sweet. On his window, he wrote, "Kids + love = grandparents. I love my Honey. I love my Grouchy. "

We watched a lot of kiddie-flicks.

And I put them to work watering my plants.

We went bowling once a week. It was the one activity we could all agree on that wasn't too hot for Honey. I can't believe I actually enjoyed bowling but I guess everything is more fun when done w/ a grand.

They blew a lot of bubbles & went through almost a gallon of bubble solution.

Noah wears pants, I promise! But he's in the midst of potty-training & it's easier to leave them off. Can't believe I won't have any grands in diapers! I've had at least one grand in diapers for the past 6 years! *sniff sniff*

Being so hot, we ate a lot of ice cream!

And Connor was kind enough to give wagon rides.

Poor Connor though. He turned 13 in May & hanging out w/ his grandmother doing kiddie stuff wasn't exactly exciting for him. He would have been happy if it had been just he & I.....playing "shoot 'em up" video games & watching scary movies. But I had to keep it age appropriate for the little ones. Anyway, by then end of the summer, this was the look I got when I snapped a pic. Doesn't this picture just scream "I'm bored outta my mind!"?

So to compensate for such a lame summer at such a momentous age, Grouchy & I got him tickets to ride-along w/ a pro-driver in an actual Nascar racecar. One pair of Jeff Gordon sunglasses....$15. Four laps around Texas Motor Speedway @ 170 MPH....$100. Watching Connor puke afterwards...priceless!!!!!

I hope everyone had as wonderful a summer as I....I am very, very blessed!!!

I'll be back later in the week with very belated swap pictures. I didn't get much crafting done over the summer but I did manage to do a couple of swaps....I just haven't taken the time to blog about them. *blushes*