We finally got to open presents!

We did finally get to open our presents on December 27th! I was past ready (although I tried to hold it together seeing as I'm an adult and all). I was just excited to see everyone open what I'd worked so hard to pick out/make just for them! As you can see from the pictures, with so many people, it can be a madhouse. It also takes quite a while to open as we go around from person to person opening gifts. This is mainly because us girls like to watch everyone open what we worked so hard to pick out/make for everyone. That's more than half the fun!

It was a little hard because Grandad wasn't with us. I looked at Grandma when we were nearing the end of opening and she had tears in her eyes. With this being our first Christmas with Grandad in a nursing home (irreversible dementia), it was sad.

Starting new traditions isn't always easy, but it makes you appreciate what you had and what you have. It's all okay.

Mama Mia Dance Party!

In the evening (of Dec. 26th), we watched the movie/musical "Mama Mia" with Meryle Streep and we loved it! Pooker and I had seen it before (twice), but no one else had seen it.

After the movie, they had where you could click on the different songs and those scenes would play with the words scrolling across the screen so you could sing along with it. That is what we did! We sang and laughed and danced for about an hour (it was just us girls dancing and singing like we were in the scene with them). I tell you that I haven't danced so hard since the wonderful dances in the 80's (pretty much from lack of opportunity rather than lack of desire).

Our morning walk 12-26-08

This is from our morning walk on 12-26-08. As you can tell from the sun already being up in the sky, I probably slept in as much as I was able being that we had to get up so early the day before and I'm sure we stayed up late as well. This is one of Brownie's dog cousins, Abby, who also liked to hang out with us (sometimes to Brownie's dismay as Brownie feels it is her duty to guard us from unwanted lickings).

Hide and Seek

We had a lot of fun playing Hide and Seek on Christmas afternoon. As you can see, there is a lot of pretending not to see where someone is hiding for a while until you suddenly came upon them and say, "Oh, there you are! I see you!"

Christmas Day

I take periodic walks throughout the day when we're at home (besides our main morning walk). I loved the way the shadows reflected off the feeder onto the goldeness of the grass with the blue sky (and a few cows) in the background.

I also like this rusted farm implement because of all the spokes and spires and the motion of it all in a still photograph.

It was fairly sunny in the morning, then a cold front moved through and it got a little overcast and windy.

There was a little calf whose mama wouldn't let him drink, so taking his bottle to him often involved more than one person.

I guess, with nothing better to do, these cows just wanted to stand around and watch the feeding.

Assorted Gift Tags

These are some of the gift tags I've been working on lately (in between cleaning the house, working on our Etsy store, and trying to get my part-time work done). Right now, I'm just trying to wake up enough so Brownie and I can go for our walk. Seems to be a little nicer out and I look forward to fresh air and sunshine to start my day.

Sunrise on Christmas morning

After (yes, the sun was just rising AFTER) the kids opened their presents, I went outside to catch the sunrise. It was beautiful. It started out all soft and pink and pretty, then twenty minutes later with the sun about to come up above the horizon it was a brilliant yellow/orange/molten goldish that was stunning. Loved it!

Christmas Morning

We all managed to get home on Christmas eve this year. (By we, I mean my sister's and their families. My brother lives near my parents, but he and his wife and son were at her parents for the first three days we were home.) With Grandma Mabel in heaven and Grandad Delvin in a nursing home, unable to be with us, it changed things and we started new traditions this year.

We were all woken up bright and early on Christmas morning by the kids, who were chomping at the bit to open their gifts. They were the only ones who got to open gifts (thus began my chomping at the bit as in years past, we opened everything on Christmas eve). All four of them were excited and their little squeals of excitement were cute to hear as they opened and found something they'd been wanting (or something they didn't know they'd been wanting).

Our family walk right before going home for Christmas

Finally! I've downloaded all the pictures from Christmas onto my computer. You may think I could have already done that by now, but I was at the end of one memory card during Christmas and started a new one. Hadn't pulled that one out until today, so now I can update you on Christmas. It may take a while to get all those on here as I want to continue to show you things that are current, too!

This was taken on our family walk right before we went home (my parent's house in the Panhandle) for Christmas. You'll notice Brownie is wearing a new pink jacket. I couldn't pass it up when I saw it half price at Old Navy. Especially because she didn't have a windbreaker/rain repellent jacket and it had a slit in it so we could attach the lead to her harness! And it's pink! And I'm in the picture!

Another one bites the dust...

Yessss, this is my second vacuum to bite the dust. (If you'll recall, my first one shorted out on me, complete with sparks and the smell of burning from where it was plugged in.) This is my second one, which we only purchased two and a half years ago (feels like only six months ago). There's a bit of a story, so let me get to telling it.

After my first vacuum shorted out on me, we had to go vacuum shopping. We ended up at Sears and bought a Kenmore Progressive vacuum (pictured above). My sister also needed a new vacuum around the same time and I was happy to recommend the one above as it had tremendous sucking power (made even more impressive by the fact that the one I'd had previously for eleven years must not have had much suction at all or maybe a steady decline of suction over the years to where this one felt magically powerful). So, she bought one too. We've been noticing in the past few months when we vacuumed, there would be a slight burning smell.

She called me two weeks ago and told me she'd burned the belt on her motor and broke one end of the brush off. She said the smell of burnt rubber lasted all night. Evidently, the brush is $35 to buy a replacement for an the belt is $5, so they were going to replace them even though they went out and bought a new vacuum. (Her husband wants her to have a backup vacuum as this is the girl who has gone through two mixers by burning up the motors.) She told me if I was smelling rubber I'd better check the belt on mine.

I proceeded to take it apart and check my belt and it looked perfectly fine, so I screwed it back together and went on about my business. Until Thursday night. I was vacuuming and had finished half the house and the smell of burning kept getting stronger and stronger, then BAM, a loud noise and a little smoky burning smell. I turned the vacuum off and turned it over and hollered to Pooker that I thought the vacuum just broke. I unscrewed the bottom and the little roller brush fell out at me on one side. It had burned completely off. I looked at the belt, but there was no problem with it, only that one side of the roller brush. Kind of odd. Especially since it just happened to my sister's vacuum in the last two weeks. Her roller brush must have broken on the side with the belt, which would explain why it broke the belt when the roller brush broke and fell into it.

I called her and let her know it was not her at all, but some genetic flaw in these vacuums (or a horrible ploy by the manufacturer to make you spend money on more parts every few years). So, we had to go out and get a new vacuum. It's a Bissell, especially for pet hair (I also shed hair like a pet, so it wasn't only because of Brownie). I wasn't happy about spending more money for a vacuum (I expect them all to last at least eleven years because my other one did). But I have to tell you that I love this new vacuum! It can recline almost flat backwards to you can slide it under more things and feel like you are getting everything really well. And, the brush rotates so fast, it is like a hungry animal straining to pick up everything it can so it actually kind of propels itself forward a bit. Nice.

No, we aren't going to bother replacing the brush on the old one. I'll be putting it out with the trash. I figure if it did it once (twice), then it will just do it again. I think it is a fatal flaw in the design and I sure don't need that. Plus, it is nice to have one that doesn't leave your freshly vacuumed room smelling like burnt rubber.

Well, must go. We've got food to prepare for our Super Bowl party (just the two of us, but we like to eat). We're having a hot artichoke dip (mmmmn) and later we'll have cheese fondue (also mmmmn). I've got to get my crafts table set up facing the TV so I can eat and do crafts during the game and watch intently during the commercials. I've tried reading during the game, but then it's hard to pull my mind away from the book to even care about the commercials. Craft time keeps the hands busy, but the mind free to watch the commercials. (Craft time is different from art time as crafts consist more of sewing or making gift tags, bookmarks, or what have you and art (for me) involves paint and a paintbrush or my fingers and it is all consuming and I lose myself in the colors and the paint and the moment and the movement. Couldn't do that and watch TV, either.) Happy watching and/or what have you and eating!