A birthday party!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JONNY!

 

 

I feel for you, being far away from home, even if its in a glamorous place!

ha! just kidding - I'm jealous!!!

 

If you were here, we three sisters would be doing something

FABULOUS!

Laughing!

talking

enjoying the day.

 

I even made you a cake. 

Don't worry, you can scrape the frosting off your share -

 the cake underneath is light and sweet like you.

 

Enjoy your day.

BIRTHDAY WISHES!

 

A brand new year ...

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

 

 

We managed to stay up for the Space Needle Fireworks.  We did it by watching TINTIN, and then the BOURNE something, it was so exciting I forgot its name. We poured a little champagne and waited for the Seattle Fireworks display. It may sound dull to you, but its our kind of fun.

 

 

Just before midnight I decided I wanted a family photo, I am taking this one with my very long arm. Walker looks pretty normal but Phil and I look like we are suffering the effects of staying up too late.  I like the cozy feel of the three of us squishing together as close as we can to all get in the photo!

 

Last January, I started seriously taking on-line art classes (one per month!). These comp books are where I kept all my info (passwords, notes, pictures, etc.)  I made one for each month and also added in all the little stuff I learned or wanted to remember (possible classes to take, art supplies I NEED, etc.)

 

As a result, now I have this huge stack of comp books, filled with so many ideas! 

 

There are a few online classes I want to take in 2013, but for the most part I want to revisit these ones from 2012.  For example, in January I took Julie Fei Fan Balzer's Stampcarving 101 class. Fabulous! I want to make lots more stamps.  It is so much nicer to use your own carved stamps in art journaling. Her blog could keep me busy all year, its so packed with free tutorials and samples of her own art.

 

Other classes I took in 2012:

 

Thirty days in your journal (Balzer)

The Art of Wild Abandonment (Junelle Jacobsen "Yes and Amen" blog

Artful Alphabets (Joanne Sharpe)

Shades of Grey (Pam Carriker)

Create Daily (Alisa Burke)

Suzi Blu Portraits workshop

Remains of the Day (shabby journal technique)

Liberty Jane Design Academy (18" doll clothes)

The Art of Wild Abandonment 2

2012 Artsy Ornaments (Christy Tomlinson)

 

I think I might have to post a little sample of each in tomorrow's post. Just to remind me of all the fun stuff I did and to kick-start my creativity for 2013.

 

I don't usually make New Year Resolutions, but this year I am tempted to make of list of things I would like to accomplish in 2013.  I think I'll ponder that while sitting in front of the fire tonight.

 

Best Wishes to YOU for 2013!

 

 

Thanksgiving Day

 

This is a little late, but this is what our Thanksgiving looked like this year.

Above is the centerpiece Tori arranged for our table.

Pretty!

 

Here is the little carnivore.

 The only thing he ate (after a LOT of black olives) was this turkey leg.

 

Tori helped with the food too: the dressing, the gravy, a corn casserole (recipe below) and she wanted to try making the coffee too! She is a huge help in the kitchen.

 

 

I'm not sure what is happening here but it it was definitely funny.

We had a super nice Thanksgiving. 

We all had many things to be thankful for.

It was a joy to spend the day and a feast with the family.

 

Thank you for stopping by!

 

Tori's Corn Casserole*

 

1 can whole kernel corn, drained.

1 can cream style corn

1 8-oz pkg jiffy cornbread mix

1 cup sour cream

one cube butter, melted.

1 cup grated cheddar cheese

 

Mix all but the cheese in a big bowl. 

pour into greased 9 x 13 pan.

bake 350 degrees about 45 minutes.

sprinkle the cheese on top and back in the oven until melted.

 

*A Paula Deen recipe from Food network.com

 

 

 

 

 

Happy Birthday to you!

 

 

Happy Birthday mom!

 

We had a girls only brunch in honor of mom's birthday today.

(I love how the dragonfly is flying out of Claudia's glass!)

 

Jonny brought out her prettiest things.

 

 

This vase belonged to our grandmother. It has her name written on the bottom, from the time she entered a floral arrangement in it at a flower show.

 

 

Jonny made STUFFED FRENCH TOAST.

It was indescribably delicious!

 

There were flowers, and gifts, lots of talk and telling of stories.

 

Claudia made RED VELVET CUPCAKES.

YUM doesn't begin to describe them!

 

 

We did invite the guys to join us for cake.

 

We girls sang "Happy Birthday to you"

THREE TIMES!

By the third time, we sounded like the Andrew Sisters!

(or maybe that was the mimosas!)

 

Love you mom!

355 years of experience!

 

It seems like we celebrate a lot!

Friday was my dad's 85th birthday.

 

 

Happy Birthday to you!

 

We met at Falls Terrace in Olympia for dinner,

then over to mom and pop's for (another) dessert.

 

 

We went to the Falls' "early bird" dinner.

A good choice with an attentive wait staff and it was pretty quiet (except for us).

My pop pointed out that we had 355 years of "experience" sitting at our table!

 

Here is the fan club, wishing him many many more!

 

Happy Birthday!

a cup of tea

Tradition

 

My sister Claudia and I had an idea one year:

to find a cute card, and re-use it as long as there

was still space to write.

 

 

I bought this card in 1996.

 

We haven't used it every year. In fact it was hiding

for the last ten years.

 

What fun to see it again.

There is lot of room for many more years.

 

I love old stuff!

A Bubble of Tranquility

A Japanese Fall Tea Ceremony

 

 

My sisters took me to Tea Lady for a birthday event.

We participated in a very authentic Japanese Tea Ceremony, with a narrator that explained every step along the way. Very interesting and unique.

 

But first, we got to browse the shop.  So many delights!

 

This is our "host" preparing the tea. Every little step has significance and must be performed perfectly, like playing a musical instrument.

 

Above are the "sweets" we were given with our tea.

The little white square is sugar.

The other item is made of lima bean paste!

 

Not like a British High Tea!

 

This is my bowl of tea being served to me.

I cradle the bowl with my left hand and steady it with my right.

I turn it 45 degrees before drinking, to honor the artist who made the bowl.

The tea was bright green and frothy.

Drink it in three gulps, slurping the last one noisily.

 

The ultimate goal of the ceremony is to leave tea with a bubble of tranquility around you. The ritual, the peace, the calm of the ceremony all add to that feeling.

 

Here I am at my mom and dad's looking pretty peaceful.

They made up for the exotic sweets at the Tea Ceremony by serving us Neapolitan cake with ice cream.

That made me feel even better.

 

 

Wish Granted!

 

Happy Birthday to my niece Angela.

She and my daughter are only a few months apart.

They played barbies together 30 years ago.

 

 

First thing at a party: eat!

Angela ate a Jakes at Dirty Daves.

The rest of us had pizza.

(Notice her lovely round earrings?)

 

Then, open presents!

Her mom made her an album commemorating her

40 years!

Next comes the CAKE!

Light the candles...

 

 

make a wish!

Wish granted!

 

Happy Birthday!

Celebrating ten years.

Celebrations...

 

Happy Anniversary to my mom and dad!

 

 

married 65 years ago today.

They are still pretty cute together.

I love 'em

 

 

Happy Birthday!

I have to admit we love our celebrations. 

On Walker's birthday Phil and I cooked him a great BIG breakfast.

fresh caught trout - cornbread pancakes - scrambled eggs - bacon. 

One of W's gifts - hearing protection for range days.

hmmm, I might want to borrow those around here sometimes...

 Ice Cream cake is a tradition for this July birthday.

Some people see art in everything around them!

We had what I call a "junk food" menu:

Hot Dogs, meatballs, beans,

chips and cole slaw.

Fancy cars in attendance: 

classic Trans Am, and hot off the press SONIC,

a new car for Aunt Jonny.

(the guys were all drooling over both)

We love our little family gatherings.

The countdown is on for Walker's return to his Senior year. 

Sunday afternoon...

It's been a long time since I've been to a bridal shower. 

No silly pencil games for this crew. 

Each team was given 4 rolls of toilet paper and 7 minutes to "make" a wedding gown for one of the members of our team.  The bride-to-be was the judge.

My team consisted of very artistic ladies. We were so focused!

We didn't even look to see what anyone else was doing.

A hat, a necklace, a ring, a bouquet, even shoes.

glamorous, right?

Then we saw the competition!

That team really did deserve the prize!

That blushing bride-model is the real bride's niece.

The shower had a tea party theme.

Everything was so lovely. 

And many tasty treats.

A lovely way to spend a Sunday afternoon.