A Merry Handmade Christmas

Handmade die cut paper boxes and tags filled with candy for our neighbors and church staff.

I'm a stay at home mom and my husband's a youth minister. You can probably guess that can make for a penny pinching lifestyle on most occasions and saving a few pennies during the holidays is the only way to go. For us that means trading money for elbow grease and going handmade baby! I couldn't share all the goodies I'd made as gifts until after they'd been given so here they are!

These magnets with matching monogrammed tin were for my sister-in-law.

My absolute favorite handmade gift wasn't even made by my hands but by my baby's. Mr. Golden Curls specifically requested that he be the one to make Uncle Casey's gift. "Sure what do you want to make him?" "I want to make a thing where I cut a bunch of red paper and glue it to another paper." "A collage?" "Yep." "Alright, collage it is!" I was so excited he wanted to join in and when he was done and I had it all framed up I was tempted to keep it for myself. I know, not in the Christmas spirit! I finally decided I could just have him make me one of my own so Uncle Casey received his collage.

My husband's sis, Sarah, requested some clothespin magnets so I made her these to match her newly redone kitchen.

And special bookmarks for my oldest nephew and niece.

I also received gifts that will help me with my handmade goodies... a mega Starbucks gift card, I like to think of Starbucks less as coffee and more as my beloved muse. A Hobby Lobby gift card, always the perfect gift for me. And three really nice paper organizers from Target. (you can see the three drawer here, the 12 x 12 paper shelf here, and apparently you don't get to have a link the the third, I couldn't find it!) Thanks everyone!

A Merry Classic Christmas

Santa stuffed the boys' stockings with View Masters and Christmas Pez dispensers

Well we made the holiday rounds and managed to survive another year! The boys got a bunch of good classics for Christmas this year that I remember adoring myself as a kid.

Grammy and Grandpapa gave the boys a cute puppet stage with a box full of puppets

And they are fully stocked on super cool Play Dough toys with a Play dough Potato head set, Play dough Fun Factory and a Backyardigans Pirate Ship Play Dough toy. We cracked open the Potato head and the boys loved it, I can't wait to open the rest!

And how's this for a throw back! Santa must be feeling nostalgic this year, I love it! I remember discovering this pen when I was a kid. Four colors in one pen, I was completely in love!

Over The Mountains...

...and through the woods, to Grandmothers' houses we go!


And we're off to the Christmas races. Tonight we have our own little Christmas Eve with the boys and "Christmas" on Tomorrow morning. Then Tomorrow afternoon we drive 6 hours to the Bohemian's parents' where we'll spend actual Christmas. The day after Christmas it's 5 hours to my parents' for our third and final Christmas. And Saturday 3.5 hours home to be sure hub's back in time for church Sunday morning! Whew!

I hope everyone has a fantastic Christmas full of family and friends and all the fantastic stuff that really matters. And after Christmas I hope those wonderful things carry on into your New Year!

The Photoshop B-I-B-L-E

What better way to spend the evening and work to grow your child's spiritual development than a bedtime story from the Bible?! Every night before bedtime we read the boys a story that they pick and then a story from their devotional Bible. It seems the Bohemian got a little confused on this night, he must've had projects on the brain! Actually Lil' Spitfire was enthralled, Mr. Golden Curls on the other hand was a little thrown off and ready to resume the routine!

You Smell Like A Monkey...

Happy Birthday to the Bohemian! I'm so glad you were born 32 years ago today or I'd be an old unwed crazy cat lady. Ok, I'd be a 32 year old unwed crazy cat lady!

Our gift to the Bohemian

Good Enough For Me To Poop On!

Raise your hand if you remember watching Triumph the insult comic dog on Conan O'Brien? I loved that skit and I love Conan. Unfortunately I'm in the land of parenting and that means that if I'm up late enough to catch Conan it's probably because I'm up working on something. I think my dogs must've caught an episode recently though because today they have both pooped on the Christmas tree skirt that the Bohemian and I made out of fabric scraps and old clothes when we were newly weds. "So, Maya, Cash, what do you think about this extremely sentimental tree skirt under our Christmas tree?" "Oh, yea mom it's lovely with the paint splattered old jeans and crazy old lady fabric, yea just great...it's good enough for me to POOP ON!" (cue obnoxious dog laughter).

Fa la la la la...

I still can't believe I'm a small group leader but alas I am. I have somehow managed to make myself partially responsible for the spiritual growth of the Jr. High girls who are in the Bohemian's youth group. Luckily I'm not going it alone and have a fantastically cool Chicky poo trudging along with me who deals with the teaching part of our meetings. Wed. night we decided it was Christmas party time so we pulled out the Christmas music, bought a white Christmas tree (only because we couldn't find pink) and pulled out the craft supplies. It was so much fun and the girls did a fantastic job making there own decorations, the tree looks great! Now we're hoping to be able to donate the tree to someone who doesn't have a Christmas tree of their own. Doing this party also made me realize I do so much better when I can interact with people while keeping my hands busy with crafting than I do with the unspent, nervous, social anxiety ridden energy that rages through me when I don't have something to occupy my hands, I need to take up knitting!

M.I.A

For those of you who have expressed concern, no I did not trade my children in order to acquire Mr. Cash Pugface. Here is my photographic evidence:

Wishing You A Pug-filled Christmas

Isn't he so pretty? I was terribly impressed with his manners during his photo shoot. We've never done this and so far when I try to take his picture he runs up and sticks his nose in the camera. I suppose getting dressed up has a civilizing effect on us all! He sat still as a stone waiting for his treat, there must be bribes! I did realize after looking at these that he's shorter than the bottom of the tree so the tree wasn't as much of a background as I'd hoped it would be, more of a hovering presence. Have I mentioned yet that I LOVE this dog?! He's perfection. My husband's pretty cool too, he enables my newly found Pug obsession by taking pics while I bribe.

"Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain!" It's just the Pug Mamma trying to trick her Pug into acting like a Poodle.

There Was An Old Lady Who Lived In A Shoe

Once upon a time, long long ago, there was a young art student who lived in a 650 sq/ft house with no interior doors, an incredible deck the size of the house and an acre sized fenced in yard. She moved there so she could adopt a fantastic Great Dane, Sir Edward Elgar The Mighty Sedlak Graham Skaggs. This girl and Elgar had other roommates of the feline variety, 4 to be exact: Annie, Fazzoletto, Luciano, and Damian Hell Cat who lived contentedly together in this tiny house cramped with furniture, books and art supplies. They all lived happily ever after. Well, all except for Fazzoletto who died mysteriously...and Luciano who was run over by the girl's prince shortly after they were married...Damian Hell Cat, well, come on really does that need explaining?! He was destined for the wild. Oh yea, and Elgar died of bloat but he was an old man...So Annie cat, the girl and the prince lived happily ever after. Good grief, no wonder my dad was calling me Animal Hospice!

Bah Humbug!

Between kids and my love of pets I don't think I'll ever be able to decorate my tree below the half way mark. This year I thought I was safe with non breakables down low but Mr. Cash Pugface LOVES the plushies!

A Christmas Kid Craft Classic

Mr. Golden Curls has been asking me daily "how long before it's Christmas?" I think mostly because he wants to see his Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Sarah, Uncle Pete and, maybe most importantly, the four cousins that are part of that brood. After he asked for the three millionth time I decided it was time to whip up the 'ole grade school classic, the countdown to Christmas chain. Now every morning we can pull off a link and when he asks "how long before it's Christmas?" I can just point to the chain and say "that long!" I'll let you know if it actually works.

Crafter Of Mountains

On the way back from North Carolina we took the scenic route through the Smoky Mountains and it was breathtakingly gorgeous. My photos just don't do it justice because to stand on this outlook and see the vast expanse of mountains covered with autumn trees was an incredible experience, the kind of experience that makes me say "Wow, that God is one big, powerful hombre!"

Edible Fun

Over Thanksgiving the boys got to play with this really cool stuff, cookie play dough. It looks just like play dough and they can make stuff out of it and then bake them up and eat them! They LOVED it and it kept them entertained at the end of the weekend when they were pretty frazzled.

Mr. Golden Curls tries to decide which beautiful color to use first.

Lil' Spitfire digs right in with the cookie cutters.

Of course Mr. Golden Curls picks the set of train cookie cutters, he's a boy obsessed when it comes to trains, thanks a lot Thomas!

Lil' Spitfire just wants to play around in the dough but he actually gets pretty good with the cookie cutters for a 2 year old.

"Are they ready yet?!" A watched cookie never bakes!

The beauties all baked up. The one in the middle was what most of Lil' Spitfire's cookies ended up being.

Mr. Spooky Brains

As my boys get older we have the strangest conversations. While driving home the other night Mr. Golden Curls and I had this conversation:

Mr. GC: "Mamma, I made something up, it's Mr. Spooky Brains."

Me: "Ohh, that sounds pretty spooky."

Mr. GC: "Mr. Spooky Brains has a brain for an eye. Here he comes, run away!"

Everyone: "Ahhhhhh, Mr. Spooky Brains!!!!!"

Mr. GC: "Mr. Spooky Brains has an eyeball for a car."

Everyone: "Ahhhhhh, Mr. Spooky Brains!!!!!"

Mr. GC: "Mr. Spooky Brains' eyeball car talks."

Everyone: "Ahhhhhh, Mr. Spooky Brains!!!!!"

Mr. GC: "Mr. Spooky Brains is nice, here he comes. Hi Mr. Spooky Brains!"

Me: "Hello Mr. Spooky Brains."

You Don't Say

I sent a thank you email to the pug rescue group that allowed me to adopt my new pug through the shelter (you can read about that here). I wanted to let them know that what they did was a big deal to me. The shelter told me the rescue was familiar with this particular Pug and I've discovered some new information! My supposedly 7 month old is actually somewhere in the 3-5 year range. I've been kind of wondering why I haven't had too much trouble potty training and why he didn't have all the puppy mannerisms I'm used to, like roughhousing, nibbling and chewing into oblivion anything within reach. I'd just decided it's because I've never owned a Pug. His age does not at all lesson my happiness over Mr. Cash Pugface, if anything I'm excited to know that he isn't likely to get used to us and turn into a crazed Piranha-like poo machine! I also learned that he came from less than stellar circumstances and that makes me even happier to have him in our house!

Mr. Cash and I try on our silly pug faces, have I mentioned I'm a bit of a goob?

I also want to add to my previous posts a disclaimer. I would never want someone to see me gushing about a particular pet of mine, think they look super swell and run out to acquire one of their own just to realize later it wasn't such a good idea after all. If you're considering a Pug, or any other pet, PLEASE do your research! Pugs aren't for everyone, they're super adorable and lovey but they are also noisy breathers, grunters, snorers, clingy, they have bad gas, are prone to serious health issues, and they're notoriously difficult to train, especially in the house breaking department!

Pugvillage.com is a great place to start your research. Read everything in their side bar and you'll be educated indeed. Their Don't Get A Pug, and Meet The Pug articles are a good place to start along with the Pug Profiler that can help you determine if a Pug is right for you. Pug Village also has a forum for asking questions, just click here.

If you do decide on a new pet please consider a shelter animal or if you're wanting a specific breed then research breed specific rescues in your area. Not only will you get a pet you love but you'll have the peace of mind knowing you gave a home to an animal in need. And dismounting soap box.

I may not have my pug face down yet but I seem to have the pug neck wrinkles!

The Bohemian Buffalo

My husband finally collapsed to peer pressure. You can read his new blog, Bohemian Buffalo, here. Lets hope it lasts longer than his first attempt! You can also see a goofy picture of me burnt to a crisp in Florida but proud of our little jewel's new blingin' sparkle paint job.

Welcome Home

Where have you been my whole life Mr. Pugface? I'm completely smitten, it's puppy love at first sight! After a very long 4 hours drive, made even longer by the fact that my weather proof car with a heater is in the shop and I had to drive the heaterless '68 bug in the 40 degree, sunless weather, which is kind of like driving a colander down the highway at 70mph, I was at the shelter. I arrived frozen solid and shivering. I made the difficult decision to stop by Walmart before going to the shelter to finally see my baby, so I could buy a bunch of blankets and make sure I didn't return home with a Pugsicle. I also bought him a doggie coat. I plan on being a 100% total goob with this dog, clothing and all. However I didn't realize when I grabbed this particular doggie coat that it matched my coat so well until we pulled over at a rest stop full of truckers so I could walk him around in the grass. Kind of felt like a Paris wannabe but we were totally stylin'! The 4 hours home were just as cold but tolerable now that there were blankets.

I've never had a pug before, nor have I owned a dog this small, what a funny little guy. I've read up on them so I'd heard about the snorting and grunting and snoring but he's always making a little noise, like a Pug purr. He's very polite for a puppy, he's 7 months old. He isn't nippy or chewing on things. I know he's the new guy so his personality may change a bit as he gets comfy and he just got his buddies snipped off so he may still be recovering a bit from that as well, but he's one mellow, laid back dog! And what a love, follows me around and as soon as I sit down he's cuddling. It's hard to tell if he likes or dislikes anything, his expression is always the same and when he gets excited he just grunts louder, like a little piglet! Pugs also don't really bark and when they do it's muffled by their lips, too funny! We got to hear one of those last night, hysterical!

I was concerned that after all this driving I would get him home and our current dog or cat would have such a problem with him we wouldn't be able to keep him. I was sure our dog Maya would be fine but Annie is another story. She's getting a little old so I wasn't sure she'd be willing to put up with this new change but she really doesn't seem to care.I think we've come up with a name. He couldn't completely shake the Mr. Pugface that was supposed to be a temporary name. It's tough, we've been using it for years. But I wanted him to have something that was just for him. I had a stroke of brilliance and decided to name him after the man in black himself, Mr Johnny Cash. So officially my little pug's name is Mr. Cash Pugface but I'll probably call him Mr. Cash. He's going to have many names I fear. The Bohemian has been calling him Mr. Pugface, and the boys have been calling him Captain Pugface, which I actually think is a pretty good Pug name.

Let the Pug adventures begin!

PUG DISCLAIMER

I would never want someone to see me gushing about a particular pet of mine, think they look super swell and run out to acquire one of their own just to realize later it wasn't such a good idea after all. If you're considering a Pug, or any other pet, PLEASE do your research! Pugs aren't for everyone, they're super adorable and lovey but they are also noisy breathers,grunters , snorers, clingy, they have bad gas, are prone to serious health issues, and they're notoriously difficult to train, especially in the house breaking department!

Pugvillage.com is a great place to start your research. Read everything in their side bar and you'll be educated indeed. Their Don't Get A Pug, and Meet The Pug articles are a good place to start along with the Pug Profiler that can help you determine if a Pug is right for you. Pug Village also has a forum for asking questions, just click here.

If you do decide on a new pet please consider a shelter animal or if you're wanting a specific breed then research breed specific rescues in your area. Not only will you get a pet you love but you'll have the peace of mind knowing you gave a home to an animal in need. And dismounting soap box.