December Photo Drop

Seems like ages since I wrote a post about what we have been up to.  So here goes.  This is December, pretty much up till Christmas.

An elf arrived again on December the first.  This one was called Barry.  He didn't get into too much mischief. My head was not in it this year.  Paul ended up doing most of it...lol

We splurged a little during Black Friday sales.  Paul wanted to get triple screens for his iracing.  He did make the stand for them himself, and they work really well for his game.

We went Christmas tree shopping the first weekend.  We ended up getting a tree from Lowes, just for convenience.  We also purchased some new out door lights.  We are gonna need a whole lot of adapters on our return to the UK......

The boys had fun playing with Isaacs birthday presents.  Not sure if it is a good or bad thing having a birthday a month before Christmas.  At least they have things to keep them occupied....  Isaac got a volcano kit, which they enjoyed putting together and exploding.

We spent a chunk of time this month sorting out the craft area.  The unit nearest the window is from ikea.  The other 2 units we picked up at online auctions.  Paid about $15 for them both.  We sanded them and painted them.  Think I did a pretty good job at matching the colors! There is still scope for improvement on that area, but out craft room is ever evolving, and where I spend a lot of my time at the moment!!!

Barry did get up to some mischief.  Paul had to go on a drive event to Talladega during the boys last week of school.  Made for an entertaining time for me......

Seb had his school performance while daddy was away. I had to take the other 2 with me, they were really good!   His class did an awesome job.  They sang about 6 Christmas songs, and said a poem or 2.  Sebastian even had his own line, 'T is for toys'.  He did so well. I was very proud.  His speech has come on dramatically this year.  His brothers were also very pleased! 

The joy of having all this crafting equipment is the ability to make personalized gifts for the teachers.  These are mini martini glasses with the teachers names and year on the under side, then filled with candy, and wrapped in cellophane.  The glasses we picked up at one of the online auctions we have done.  I think they liked them.

Isaac had his holiday program on the Thursday morning while paul was away. I literally had to do all the school runs, then dash straight back to Isaacs school.  I got there with minutes to spare.  He did really well, he sang and everything.  I am proud of how he did in his performance.  We are still having behavior issues, but we are constantly working on it.  

Isaac is standing at the front in white

Oliver's end of year service began 15 minutes after Isaacs holiday program.  So I was late.  Not the latest, and I even managed to park just outside school.  Oliver had neglected to mention that he was playing the xylophone......he did good.  There are no pictures of this, as they do not allow photos to be taken during services in the chapel.  After his service, he was finished for the year!  We went to Costco, and did the big Christmas shop.  This was followed by pizza and a hot dog.

The boys will have been off for 2 weeks.  Monday before Christmas we went to Gravitopia.  Paul had never been before, and he throroughly enjoyed himself.  He moaned about his aches and pains for days after....

And then it was pretty much Christmas......

Christmas is here!

Christmas officially arrived in the Gosling household last weekend.  I had been saying for a while that I wanted to go and choose our own Christmas tree, we decided to actually do it (I am getting much better at following through on the things I say I am going to do!)

After much research, discussion with hubby and texts with Rachel, we decided to go to Hidden Trails Christmas Tree Farm.  This is 30 miles south from our house.  Isaac fell asleep in the car!  It was a bright sunny, warm day.  Not your usual Christmas weather.

The people were really nice, and there were plenty of trees.  You cannot cut Fraser firs (the more traditional tree that we are used to), as they do not have any, as they do not grow below 5000ft.  So we inspected the rest.  They had many varieties, but the strangest to us was Leylandii Cypress trees, cut to be shaped like Christmas tress. After coming from England, where these are privacy trees, that can become a blight, this was very strange.  Anywhoo, we had more of a look around, and eventually settled on what I think is a Carolina Sapphire (someone please correct me if I am wrong!). This is a long needle tree. Here are the boys with the tree.

                             

The boys had fun playing around the trees.  They were fortunate enough to get a small gift each, a little stocking with sweets, and they all had a photo done with Santa (this was extra).  Our tree was $40.  Same as it would have cost in Home Depot/ Lowes. But it is a nice feeling to know our money will stay local, with friendly people, maintaining a beautiful place.  They shake the tree to get rid of bugs/dead branches, then bag it, and help you get it in the car.  Awesome service.  

We got the tree home, and stuck it in some sugar water over night.  The next morning the decorating began.  The boys (and by boys, I mean Paul) had great fun.  

The finished product! ( you may notice loads of needles on the floor. These came from moving and positioning the tree.  I vacuumed them up the next day, and there has since been little to no needle dropping.  Does help the water is getting topped up every day)

                             

While we have been getting all Christmassy, I have been engaging in some arts and crafts.  I have had some slate tiles in the garage for ages.  You know me, I like a bargain, and picked these slate tiles up in Lowes about a year ago for about $3.  They are a pack of 12.  While I was clearing out the arts and crafts cupboard, I found a small amount of really thin Christmas wrapping paper.  Then I had an 'ah-ha' moment.

I cleaned up the tiles with a clorox wipe, and let them dry.  In the mean time, I cut out one of the pictures from the wrapping paper.  I put a coat of modge-podge (glue) on to the tile, waited for it to go tacky, then added the wrapping paper.  I then waited 30 minutes to an hour, then coated the whole tile in more mode-podge, going over the wrapping paper also.  5-8 coats later, here is the result

                            

I am well pleased with these.  Not sure if they are going to be coasters (I need the felt pads for the bottom if so), or just display pieces (I have 2 currently on mini easels that I bought from AC Moore, they look well cool).  They made me happy, and are very pleasing!