on the seventh...............eighth...............ninth.....

tenth AND ELEVENTH! WHERE HAVE THE LAST FIVE DAYS GONE?? (you'd think it was Christmas or something!) My apologies to these WONDERFUL ARTISTS!!! i DORTLED.... The seventh day gift was lovingly created by one of the sweetest ladies on the planet!!! Vivian (although sometimes known as Veronica...which brings visions of Scooby to mind...hee hee) created this sweet lil snowguy....! So stinkin adorable! (did you all know she is gonna be a grandma again but this time to a lil baby GIRL!!!? (TORRIE...her adorable grandson just turned one!)

and on the eighth day of holiday fun...Corrine created this spectacular banner...(if you remember back from a couple of posts..THIS IS THE GIFT that wanted to be opened FOURTH!!! Well what a beauty!! ...and it now graces my front window curtain!!!

on the ninth day of the 13 days swap....Hope made this lovely girlie pin that actually MATCHES a new scarf I got!!! She will grace it long after the holidays are packed up!!! Just look at the detail in that sweet face!!!

the TENTH DAY Terrie Lightfoot made this sparkly spool of MAGNIFICIENCE!!! The lights from the room and tree catch the tiny prisms of glitter!!!

and on the ELEVENTH DAY...Linda Morgan made this little steampunk baby!!! (and it's LAVENDER!!!) HOW APPROPRIATE!!! (FOR ME ANYWAY...LOL) I gasped when i saw her!!!

made this little steampunk baby!!! (and it's LAVENDER!!!) HOW APPROPRIATE!!! (FOR ME ANYWAY...LOL) I gasped when i saw her!!! THANK EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU!!! This swap has been just a delight!!! Still got two more days to go and the anticipation of opening a little piece of each of your hearts makes mine sing!!! and to convey...what i'm feeling...

I DOUBLE LOVE EACH OF YOU!!! (thanks, maxx for helping!)

on the SIXTH day of Christmas...

What more can anyone ask for...

WISHING JOY WISHING PEACE WISHING LOVE day SIX...

AND MORE JOY ON THE FLIPSIDE!!! Martha this sweet glass heart is so beautiful!!! THANK YOU SOO MUCH!!! It dangles with so much sentiment for the season!!! The time is rushing thru my fingers...with yet SO MUCH to do... Now we KNOW it's coming...why don't I prorate the work..and get it done sooner..lol....ahhh...tis the season... HUGZ...til tomorrow..(goodness...i have blogged more this week...than i have ALL YEAR!!! (it CAN be done...and i'm taking note of it!)

FIVE GOLDEN RINGS...

As I mentioned on the group....the pause in the song...made the fifth day so special! Made you take notice...well heck...it's about GOLDEN RINGS!!! But on THIS fifth day...our gift was created by Patti Gramza!



It's so hard to tell from my photo but the cone was lovingly constructed using layer of fabrics with sweet treasures buried within!!!! It is sooo beautiful!!! In the package was a package of clear stamps...and some shiny rhinestone stickers!! AND A CANDY CANE!!! YUMMMMM...



I've met Patti once...(did you know she lives just the other side of town from me??)

Patti's gift was wrapped in a piece of muslin..that will have to become another one of these....babies!!!!



a girl could get addicted to having a lovely package to open everyday, ya know!!!

hmm...wonder what splendor awaits us TOMORROW!!!?? It's getting so that I want to stay up til midnight to make it LEGAL TO OPEN A NEW ONE!!!

HUGZ TIL THEN!

On the fourth day of anticipated loveliness...

well it began with an...

OOPS....the number four sticker...plopped itself on the number EIGHT package!!!! Guess it doesn't want to wait, eh?? lol

HERE IS THE CORRECT package!!! Created by Leslie Brier!

...it's sooo beautiful!! THANK YOU, LESLIE!!!

Here is Leslie's sweet ornament in it's home!!! (and the snowman just below is one my son, robbie, made in kindergarten!)

Maddy's Concert was quite wonderful...(not that i'm prejudice or anything! lol) Good thing she wore that big white flower so she is easy to pick out!!!

...AND maddy had quite the "fan" in the audience! Maxx's performance is the week before Christmas!

each day that we meet, brings new surprizes and moments of wonder...CHERISHING THEM....AS they too will pass oh ever too quick...

HUGZ TIL TOMORROW!!!

on the third day of Christmas...

sweet Elizabeth made for us...

I pause this announcement to give a
HUGE
THANK YOU
to our fearless wonderful lovely hostess, Elizabeth, who IS the mostest!!!

...back to our regularly scheduled blog post...(which HAVEN'T BEEN REGULAR!)
Elizabeth created a magnificient work of art using materials she already had! She created some amazing sun tatooed fabrics and used vintage fabrics and lovely antique buttons to create...

day number 3's work of ART

THANK YOU AGAIN!!
now on to day 4!!!

HUGZ til then!

on the first day (and second day)...

of Christmas...my true loves gave to me....

Back a couple of months, sweet Elizabeth, posted if anyone was interested in participating in a 12 days of Christmas swap. Time has flown by and we are now in day 2 of our 13 days of Christmas! 13 because we were blessed with an extra participant..and who can say no to one more sweet giftie!!! Besides...13 makes us UNIQUE!

Here are all the gifties under the tree, waiting patiently to RIP into them!!!

The pressure was on....I WAS DAY 1!!! So I wrapped my gifties (because I couldn't stop at one...lol)

Inside my little box package was:

a glass snowman globe...

and...

a snowflake fabric cuff! (they also fit around a starbucks cup...lol)

day 2 (which I got to open on the same day as 1 because I was watching Lavender and Logan when the whistle blew signaling the opening to commence!)

Day 2 was lovingly created by Mary Zimany! I actually got to meet Mary IN PERSON for REAL in October at Art-is-You!!!

She created this LOVELY ornament...so many details...(my photo does not do this justice!!! It's a little tin embellished with inks, images and so much sweetness...filled with sparkly goodness it IS peace on earth!!!

here is the ornament on the tree!!! (all the ornaments on this tree are handcrafted...over the years!

I made this Christmas greeting for Maddy and Maxx

...and here are Logan and Lavender...on a Christmas card I created for them! They are getting so big!

and here are Kaleigh's boyfriends three little ones

..this is Kaya

this is Lydia...

...and this is Mason

...and of course Xander, Maxx and Maddy!

Hoping everyone is taking time from the rush and stress of the season...to enjoy the moments!

HUGZ til next time!

GET THYSELF OVER TO....

JENNY AND AARON'S

A.S.A.P.!!!!
They are giving away....yep FREE....a cuttlebug!!! (now since I REALLY WANT TO WIN IT....) you don't actually HAVE to sign up...but I GUESS in the spirit of all's fair in love and cuttling...go ahead...(you can just send it to me...if you win) Muhahahaha.....I'm in a really evil mood today...lol...must be the season...and LOOK...LOOK LOOOK...I'M actually creating a blog post just for this!!! (hmmm....only after TWO MONTHS OF ABSENCE!!!)

HEAD on over...there....(casting that MOM GLANCE that throws FEAR INTO THE HEARTS AND MINDS...of my kiddos...)

MWAH..AND HUGZ TIL LATER...

ALMOST TIME!!!

funny....when i typed in the title above...and began....ALMOST....it popped up a finishing word to the line...and it read..."ALMOST SUMMER" where the heck did it go? summer that is...how do i let time slip away....and trying to remember is not as easy as it was....say....yesterday...lol...

heck...STATE FAIR IS HISTORY (that was always the signal for the new school year for me)

The kids are readying themselves for school...Maddy will be in FIFTH GRADE!!! and Sirr Maxx will begin...4K...and Xander will be in FOURTH!!! wow... I know many of you have watched them grow up on here...such technological kids... This begins the ONLY YEAR they will be together in school....for their school career... Guess that means no little brother "bothering" her...lol...or creating havoc drooling over her friends...

or perhaps...

how could he BOTHER..her...look at that "innocent smile" HA!

Maddy is coming down from a summer where her team won the West Allis championship fastpitch softball league! The got to play at the Brewers Miller park in a little league stadium where the original county stadium was.

and robbie was a volunteer assistant coach for her team..thinking he ENJOYED the championship dousing...lol

This friday is Maddy's 10th birthday...TEN YEARS...she wasn't even a month old when 9-11 happened....seems like forever...and then again...seems like a blink....

She keeps climbing to new heights..

...and maxx keeps racing along...

with his medical issues....heading in for an EMG/NCV test..on Sept 8th...it involves ALOT of "shocks" (shots) so they are sedating him...prayers needed.

Maddy and Xander will be starting a new bowling league..in september..so we went to practice a bit..

"big buddy" and fav uncle, Robbie has volunteered at the bowling center to coach the younger teams! So he came along to get a jumpstart on coaching...he is AMAZING with teaching kids...

Just over a MONTH til I head to ART-is-YOU in Connecticut!!!

..and with THIS post...THE NEXT POST WILL BE 400...and someone who has posted from the last post til the next will win a OOAK halloween art doll!!! So leave me some love...

BIG HUGZ til next time...

just not..feeling it today...

..but this does count as another post...moving toward that 400th...and the giveaway...
i try to be upbeat on here....and a happy camper...(NO THAT DOES NOT MEAN I'M LIKING CAMPING...for the record...lol)
but....
just when you gather a bit of wind beneath your wings....a truck goes by..and sucks the air...right out from under them....and CRASH....down ya go....

life isn't playing fair right now....at all....

hugz til next time....

ta! da!!!! (and a giveaway..)

sounding the trumpets...carrying on like a school girl...yep...WAY UNDERESTIMATED my bloggability...this summer... I thought for sure...this easy-going-got-NOTHING...(i snicker here) to do summer...i could prepare a long tall glass of lavender (is there ANY OTHER KIND??)ice tea...and bloggy for hours.... Well best laid plans quickly get whooooooooooooooooooooooooooooshed to the side...don't they?

Even as the saying goes...corn kneehigh by the fourth of july...didn't quite make it..but if you'd throw in there...AUGUST...we MADE IT!!!

My bits of time quickly were compacted and filled the hours...bits of time to do sewing...firefly catching...

bits of time to have babies come to play....

bits of time to watch the early nighttime hours thru the wired links in fences....

...AND Maddy's team is going to the championships in a game played at the Brewers Miller Park little League stadium! GO SLUGGERS!!!

Bits of time that if we pause too long...the dust will cover our feet..

bits of time to hold tiny Lavender babies as they slept...

...because as we all know babies have that magical way to grow ever so quickly and soon we witness them zipping by...unable to stop...them...from growing again and again...

and soon they are about to turn TEN...TEN!!!???? Where did those moments go??

just know that even with the tiniest fingers...learning..growing...exploring...with each and every gesture...they are saying

I LOVE YOU....just read into it!

can't promise...a post soon....could happen at any time...because we have to grab hold of those bits of time...and use them....as best we can! HUGZ...til next time!

BUT....THOSE THAT LEAVE A COMMENT...WILL BE ENTERED INTO A DRAWING...FOR A SPOOKYLICIOUS...halloween ART DOLLIE....between NOW and my impending 400TH POST!!! (and that's only 3 away!!)