Holiday Crafts

I am trying to get into the holiday spirit (which is hard when its not cold or snowy) so I have been doing some crafts to try and help. Enjoy!!! (now, I know I normally post a picture and then the description, but I flipped it this time, just FYI)

Ian and I built a gingergbread house. Now before you get too excited, it was a kit, we just had to assemble it, but Ian assembled it and I decorated it. I think it turned out pretty good for our 1st one ever. Next year we decided we would try and make a more complicated, or at least, a prettier one.



As I was sitting in the waiting room at the doctors office on wednesday before my physical therapy appointment, I was glancing through one of the family magazines and saw the coolest super easy craft project ever. It was making bookmarks out of ribbons and buttons, that you would lay in the book and each end with the button would hang over the end. So I decided I wanted to make some for family & friends. I am still searching for individual buttons but found some packs at Michaels that I thought would be great to send to all my little cousins in Chicago to go along with their christmas gifts from Lisa. It was so easy and fun and I am looking forward to making more. Everyone should try this craft, all you need is a hot glue gun, ribbons & buttons, so easy and cheap!!!

Lots of Info!!

This is my 3rd post today, so be sure to scroll down and check everything out. This last post is gonna be some random stuff that didnt really fit but I wanted to let everyone know.

1st Thing:
I know you all know Im crazy and like stuffed animals and toys, but I have some super cool animals right now. They are about 2 feet tall and have a metal frame so litle kids can ride them. Last year I got Mr. Elephant at Sams Club (I had seen him a few years back but wasnt able to buy him because he was gone, so last year I saw him and HAD to have him). So this year Sams Club now has a lion, triceratops, bear and horse. (I really wanted Mr. Giraffe but missed him too, darn it) Anyway, I just got the triceratops but really wanted to call her Cera (Sara) the triceratops, not Ms. Triceratops. So that meant I need to rename Mr. Elephant, plus I still want the lion and bear, so I decided on the following names. Cera the Triceratops, Lionel the Lion, Bob the Bear and Ernie the Elephant. How do those names sound???? Any additional suggestions I am willing to listen too.



2nd Thing:
We had some crazy weather yesterday in Austin. Its been kinda chilly recently (in the 40s and 50s, maybe a high in the 70s). Anyway, yesterday it was beautiful, I had a dr appt in the morning so I didnt go into work until like noon or so. That morning I didnt even need to take a jacket, by the time I got to work it was 82 degrees. So we were sitting in the office and it just kept getting colder and colder inside and we couldnt figure out why. We found out that it had dropped about 40 degrees in 5 hours. So we all ran out to our cars in short sleeves and getting pushed across the road by the heavy wind.

When I got home we just kept hearing the wind hitting the windows and swirling outside, and the temps just kept dropping. So I was upstairs in bed reading a book and it sounded like hail hitting the windows. I knew it was raining but I didnt hear thunder or see lightning so I really didnt think it would be hailing. So I got out of my warm bed only to discover it wasnt hail, it was sleet. Turns out it was actually hailing in bastrop (where I work) and later in the night we had thunder and lightning, but more sleet than anything. There was a cover on the ground, the deck and on the roofs of the houses (even the next morning) and on my car (which was no fun because we dont have any car scrapers anymore).





The bottom line, we had a record high and a record low for the day in austin yesterday. Gotta love crazy weather!!!

Thanksgiving with the Family

Lisa, Mom and Eric were able to come down and spend Thanksgiving with us and the puppies. It was so much fun and went too quickly. We had big plans on taking picture but didnt get any before Lisa left, and the night before Mom & Eric left we hurried up to take some pictures.

Mom got some pictures from Thanksgiving day, but I dont have those so you cant see them (hey, I havent seen them yet either so dont pout).








i really wanted to get a good picture of the 4 of us to try and send in our christmas cards, but after 4 or 5 attempts this was the best we got, so no pictures will be going out in our cards unless ashley comes over and tries and can make ian smile and jaska care


I know my eyes are closed, but it was a good picture of everyone else, especially annie girl

Anyway, we had tons of fun, we put up all my christmas stuff, went shopping (left at 4:30am on Friday and didnt get home until 7pm, it was a long day). We had tons of Thanksgiving food, Ian's friend Marty come over for Thanksgiving, so amazingly enough there were 3 women and 3 men, I dont think its ever been even.

After they left I continued with my holiday decor, and took some extra ornaments and filled my pretty snowflake bowl with some extras. I think it turned out nice.



We dont have any outdoor lights or decor yet, but after Christmas we are going to get them on clearance and next year we will decorate the outside. A lot of homes in our community really went crazy so I dont want to look like a christmas poop next year again. I have big plans for day after christmas shopping, now that we have the house I want things to be pretty and match since I actually have places to display things now!!!

San Antonio #2

So back in October we took a long weekend to San Antonio (which I discussed before with the Sea World pictures). Anyway, we went and visited the Alamo and got some pictures. Its funny how we are in the middle of downtown San Antonio and right in the middle is this historic building that you see in so many paintings in the middle of nowhere. How the times have changed.




These two pictures were actually taken by our friend Pete Jones, who is now the assistant food & beverage director at the San Antonio Riverwalk Property. We worked together at Coconut Point (he was our banquet manager) and not long after we moved to Texas he did too. Anyway, the Hyatt has a VIP suite with a deck that overlooks the alamo, thats where we were standing. What a great view for a party.




Is this not the hugest cactus you have ever seen!! There were tons of these at the Alamo.

The Countdown Continues!!

ONLY 8 MORE DAYS - I CANT WAIT!!!

Sea World San Antonio

Ian and I took a 3 day weekend down to San Antonio probably 2 or 3 weeks ago and I am just now getting around to posting some pictures. I still have some to post from our visit to The Alamo, but that is for another day. Let me just say, I love Sea World and all the animals, so I hope you enjoy the pics!!


it was penguin mating season, this couple must have started early because they already had the baby penguin, and it was quite large as you can see.


this middle penguin was ian's favorite, it just kept waddling around and just has a funny look on its face, doesnt it?


nothing special here, just some pretty penguins


I FREAKIN LOVE THIS OTTER. I wanted to just steal him, he really wasnt much bigger than a ferret, I WANT HIM!!!


we spent quite some time with the sea lions because I love them too. They make me think of Annie and I just want to steal them, but they are a little too large for me to bring home :) We took some really great video of us feeding them and them making their super cute noises, but something happened to the video and I dont have it anymore, which makes me very sad


this sea lion caught the fish I threw down to him (or her, no clue)


this guy was begging for fish, if Annie were a sea lion, this is what she would be doing all day long :)


ITS SHAMU!!!!


this was during the Shamu "Belive" show, this is the part where 2 of the trainers ride on shamu and then shamu jumps in the air (with them still standing on his nose) and then they jump off and all 4 land in the water, I WANT THAT JOB!!!


this is from when we were feeding the dolphins, since it was a sunday in October the park really wasnt busy so we were able to get really close. Ian got this great picture when it was my feeding time (so thats my arm you see).

we got a video of us feeding the dolphin but i dont know how to post it, the file size is too long and my computer genius of a husband tells me he doesnt know how, and doesnt want to try either - so if you want the video you need to bug him about it!!

The Countdown Continues

THE COUNTDOWN JUST GOT EVEN BETTER - IN 40 DAYS I WILL SEE NOT ONLY LISA, BUT MOM & ERIC TOO!! THE RICHARDSON CLAN (INCLUDING THE PUPPIES) JUST CANT WAIT!!!

The Countdown Begins

I WILL SEE LISA IN 43 DAYS!!!!
HOPEFULLY I CAN SEE MOM & ERIC THEN TOO!!!!

One More Masterpiece...

here is my newest paint by numbers, i really like this one, but i do think it looks much better in person, the picture doesnt do it justice.



instead of a new paint by number, i got a basset hound puzzle, so that will be my next project, then who knows what will be next!!!

My Hobbies

Here are some pictures of 2 of my favorite hobbies - my annie girl and my paint by numbers.




my annie girl loves to sit in the sun - sorry for the not so clear picture, i didnt want her to see me through the windows so i was hiding behind the couch holding the camera in front of the mini blinds, the screen and the closed window - but you can see how she loves that deck and the texas sun - thank goodness its been cooling off, its only been in the high 80s low 90s which has been such a refreshing change from the past 4 or 5 months


i finished another paint by numbers on friday, i went out yesterday on my way home from work and got a new one, an underwater scene with 4 dolphins and some fishes - ill post a picture when im done - i know you all cant wait

Hurricane Ike

I know I got quite a few phone calls on Saturday asking about the Hurricane and Austin, well, we are fine. I believe the eye was still somewhat close to Austin (maybe 60 miles away), but luckily we were on the west side of the hurricane which is always the weakest, plus there was a pressure system (low or high, I dont remember) that was pushing it even more east. We were prepared for power outages and high wind, we had water, flashlights, candles, and pulled in both cars and the grill, but of course, we didnt get anything. No rain, 15 mph winds, yup, thats all :)

Because of Ike we actually have a cold front this week, it was 68 on my way to work today and the highs are supposed to be in the high 80s, so I am very excited about that. It is supposed to last all week, but Im not holding my breath, but will enjoy it as long as its around!!

We're Alive!!!

OK, I know, its been like forever, its been busy. I cant event think of all that has happened since I last posted, but we have both been busy with work and stuff. Nothing big has happened that I can think of, so you havent really missed much.

I did go home mid August for Gma & Gpa's 50th anniversary as a surprise. It was a good time and great to see everyone. I took some pictures, they are posted online if you want to check them out. They are at www.flickr.com/mimilach.

Lisa might get her neck brace off today, so everybody think happy thoughts for her. I hope it comes off, 13 weeks is a long time and I think I would have lost it by now.

I have some more pictures (again, they are pretty random). The captions and stories will be below each one as usual.


the dogs just love our backyard and the deck, i see them just sitting like this, or annie just chillin while sunbathing all the time. the also enjoy just watching all the backyard creatures we have, i am guessing this time they might have been watching for birds. jaska managed to catch and kill one a few months back and annie loves to bark at them, as long as they dont kill a squirrel i will be ok


speaking of backyard creatures, annie had a little run in with one. she was bit on the tail (right behind her little butt) by a snake. luckily we live near an emergency vet so on a friday night at like 10pm in early august i got to drive her there as i was freakin out because i was afraid she was gonna die or something. the vet said it was a canine bit, but everyone who has seen it (and ian did some online research) said it was a snake. jaska would never bite annie that hard and while annie is stupid, she is not dumb enough to bite herself in that location that hard either. anyway, they had to shave that part of her tail and put 3 staples in, so she had to wear the collar. she becomes paralized with it on, so it was quite interesting, after 2 days she figured out she could walk backwards, and then after another day she found out her legs did infact still work to move her forward. but she cant walk up or down the stairs, or get on or off the bed with the collar on (actually she cant do a lot of things since she is so short) so we had to take it on and off a lot. but she is all healed now thank goodness!!!


another backyard creature, i have become very fond of the squirrels. this one was eating an acorn and ian used his great live action nature photography skills to get this great picture. he was on our fence but then he jumped up in the pecan tree to hide, but ian still managed to find him. isnt he a cute little squirrel :)


we finally got a dining room table, another IKEA purchase, just gotta love that store. i really like the table, we havent used it yet because we eat on our couches (which i will eventually take pictures of, i promise) but i plan on using it at thanksgiving for the first time (hopefully)


i finally started working on my paint by numbers again. i had started this one over a year ago and finally finished it over the weekend (finding a house and moving made it hard for hobbies). i started the one with the 3 wild horses that i got for christmas last year from the richardsons. there are 3 new ones i saw online that i want to get, a lion & lioness, a panda with bamboo and an african animal collage thing. hopefully ill finish the horses this week (i worked on it all day yesterday and have a good start) but i have 2 library books i need to finish by the 23rd, i think i am taking on too many hobbies, i need to just focus on one at a time

i will try to keep this thing updated more often, i am not going to promise it will happen, but i will try ;)

Random Pics

I know its been awhile, just been busy. I'm gonna post a bunch of random pictures from the past month or so - so enjoy!!


i went home in late june and was able to be there for eric's 13th bday - here is the teenager with his new hair style


ian & i celebrated our 3rd wedding anniversary on july 2nd - he got me the pretty tiffany's jewelry box ive wanted for awhile - of course i liked the gift box and the bag too!!


my little old lady - getting so old she needs glasses :)


this is our super cool new Weber grill, we have been all about the BBQ now that we are in Texas





there were lots of baby ducks at the lake near our house today, so we took our black oil sunflower seeds that the ducks and geese like and went to feed them some dinner, yes, i actually stood there with a bag full of seeds and fed all those ducks, and didnt run away until i was out of seed because i feel they would have tried to kill me then, those ducks are HUNGRY!!!


here is a new backyard creature, we have lots of lizards, but this one is much bigger than the little green one i posted awhile ago, this sucker is about 8 or so inches long and about 1 inch wide, he hides under the deck, jaska really wants to catch him, but he is fast




this is why texas is a state full of fat people, its so hot it even makes the squirrels lazy, this squirrel lays like this not only on our deck, but he also just chills out on the tree branches like this :)


this is jaska trying to catch either the squirrel, the lizard, or just a random bird. she did manage to catch a bird the other morning and kill it, luckily i was not here, but ian of course got video, just what everyone needs to see :)

we got some new furniture and are slowing making house improvements, so stay tuned to more pictures to come in the next few months!!

Lisa

For anyone who doesnt know yet, Lisa was driving home to attend Sara's high school graduation on Friday and was in a car accident. A car was trying to cross the highway and ran right into the front of Lisa's car. Lisa, Shawn & T were all in the car, Lisa & T were taken to the hospital (they were in the front seat) and Shawn just had some cuts and was ok at the scene. Both Lisa & T are fine, T was released on Friday, Lisa was just released today about 30 minutes ago. She fractured her neck and wrist, injured her ankle, and her pelvis area is brusied from the seat belt and she has some cuts and stuff, but is doing ok considering. She will be in a neck brace for 12 weeks and will not be able to work or really do anything, but thank god that there was no nerve damage with it being her neck. Its been a scary weekend, but she is doing much better and has a few months of rest ahead of her.

More House Pics

We have finally started to buy some furniture, with the first purcase being the best of all, a king size bed (even got a bed frame)!!! So we moved our bed into the guest room, where we finally got 2 DVD shelves that hold 360 movies each, so they can hold all our dvds and ians computer and video games.


***pardon the mess around the bed, the master bedroom is still a work in progress plus we were tired after putting that thing together and just wanted to go to sleep**





I have also been trying to make this place look a little less boring, so I got Molly all set up on her little shelf, she looks so pretty.



My next goal is to start hanging up some of the pictures Ive had in boxes for a few years and come June we will buy the rest of the furniture (we have a lot to get). Ikea is gonna be getting a lot more of our money soon :)