Sad

On January 5 we lost my Aunt Pat. My aunt and I were a lot alike.  She always said I should have been her daughter! We had a lot in common and spoke and emailed each other frequently.  She had an awesome sense of humor and was someone I could kid around with for a good laugh! I've never had the experience of dealing with an unexpected death.  It still doesn't feel "real". I still want to email her or pick up my phone and give her a call.  She adored Ryan and always took an interest in his life.

I MISS HER SO MUCH!

 Here's a picture of my Aunt Pat and I in 1969. - Notice my parent's plastic covered sofa! HA!

My aunt was very generous to us and left us some of her favorite possessions. Below you will see the Ventless Gel Flame Fireplace that once sat in her living room. I always loved how it looked and now each day I have a part of her in my home.

Above the fireplace I have finally completed our family's "Wall of Fame"! I love how it turned out. I designed the vinyl wording at Uppercase Living. The B&W posters are also vinyl and have a sticky back and can be repositioned - They are from Paper Coterie.

Each day I am reminded of just how fast life can change and how important family is.

My aunt was very generous to us - she left us her car - her car meant so much to her - so, we are honored she entrusted us with it.  Her car will now be Ryan's very first car - which is always something you remember!

 It's a Silver 1996 Nissan Sentra

She'd be so happy to know we are giving it to Ryan.

Christmas Has Come and Gone

Ryan and I are enjoying our time away from school - we do not have to go back to school/work until January 9th!! LOVE IT!

Here are some pictures from "the big day".  Santa had just came in the first picture!

 Here's Ryan after we finished opening gifts.  We opened for an hour, took a break and had breakfast and then finished opening. 

I set up the tripod and we snapped a couple family photos - see how excited Ryan looks??? HA! 

 I took the tripod over to my brother and sister-in-law's house and captured some more family photos

Clockwise:
My brother, Dan, me, sister-in-law, Kim, Bill, My Dad, .My brother, David, Ryan, My Mom, Nephew Jacob

Back Row: Me, Bill, David, Dad, Dan, Kim
Front Row: Ryan, Mom, Jacob

This is a majority of my presents!  GIFT CARDS - MY FAVORITE I got 33 of them!!

I purchased a gift for myself.  These black and white fabric posters.  They have adhesive on the back of them, so they "cling" to the wall.  I've designed a decal to place above them - but it hasn't arrived yet.  I'll take a picture after it's all finished! 

Wishing you a HAPPY 2012!!!

Getting Ready for Christmas

 Thanks for stopping by to check up on us!!!

I've been wrapping Christmas gifts for three Sundays for a total of about 12 hours!  My brother, David has a spare room off of his living room - this is what it looks like right now!!  These are the gifts for school (friends/students) along with my parents, nephew and something small for my brothers/sister-in-law! 

Ryan and Bill's gifts are in Dave's spare bedroom hidden in bags for transport to our house on Christmas Eve! This way no one is tempted to peek!!

 I got an amazing deal on gifts for the Kindergartners.  Jewel sells Gingerbread House kits in their bakery department.  They are normally 10.99 a piece.  Ryan noticed they were ringing up TWENTY-FIVE CENTS!  He did mention to someone - but they never fixed the issue. When shopping at Jewel, I scanned them and they were still ringing up .25 cents! They had 21 of them left, so I was able to buy one for each student!  The entire class cost only 5.00!!!!  I needed a cute, practical way to wrap them, since I need to stack them.  I made a black sash and a snowman gift tag - Didn't they turn out cute???

While shopping at Anderson's Book Store - I saw wreaths made from old book pages - I've made several for gifts, along with decorations for Brookdale School.  I've made several different designs - this one is my favorite!

 Today was a friends birthday.  I placed a Starbucks gift card in an empty glass and placed tissue paper to make it resembled a drink! So adorable!

 The teacher I was with last year had a baby a few weeks ago.  She named him Ryan! I wrapped his gift in polka dotted paper and stamped his name inside each dot!

  You can see, I made a bow from the left over gift wrap!

Ryan received his Junior Varsity letter in Football.  His jacket is currently at the sporting goods store having the letter sewn on!

I designed a poster print of Ryan's pictures throughout the years.  This poster is printed on a fabric-like material that had adhesive on one side! I placed it on the wall of our entry way.  I think it turned out great!

Enjoy the holiday season!!! Looking forward to two weeks off!!!!!