Seahawks Mantle

Since January doesn't have a holiday (other than Martin Luther King Jr. day), it is a challenge to come up with ideas for a January mantle. We don't really get wintry weather here so that idea is out.

Thankfully, I found inspiration from my team, the Seattle Seahawks. I'm glad that I like their colours, What if we lived in Wisconsin? I'd have to embrace mustard yellow. Ugg. This mantle has been the works for a while. A bit of a challenge, but I'm up for it.

I am still working on painting a sign but I probably won't finish it before the big game on Sunday.
So, without further ado, here it is:

Details. Click on photo to see it better:

Tissue Paper Pom Poms. I made them. They are so simple! I wish I'd discovered them sooner. I found great instructions here.

Pennant. It cost me all of four dollars at a sports store at the mall. I got the last one they had in stock!

Paper Hawks (Richard Sherman and Russell Wilson). Printables from the Seattle Times.

Paper Seahawks bus - printable from Bellingham Herald.

Little Marshawn Lynch. I found it here. Tough to put together!

Seahawks printable. Found by googling.

Go Hawks Banner. Ben Franklin craft store in Redmond had the sample and the instructions. I used their die cut machine to cut out the letters, triangles and stars.




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One Thousand Gifts #494 to #499

(these are typically done on Mondays but since yesterday was a holiday, today is my Monday.)

494. So many sunny days in January. I don't take them for granted.

495. Although my hubby suffered through a cold two weeks ago, I didn't catch it and neither did the boys.

496. Downton Abbey is back on.

497. Listening to a fascinating audio book to make my drives more interesting.

498. My football team is going to the Super Bowl. Again!

499. Holding warm dishes from the dishwasher.Pin It

The Seahawks weren't the only team to win this weekend.

My hubby's robotics team had a great day Saturday at the SemiFinals competition.

At the end of the day his team (Robogators Team 1) had the 2nd highest score in the robot competition. They would've had the highest if they hadn't forgotten a single piece of Lego. Ouch! They won an award for Robot Mechanical Design. My oldest son is on the team (far right on photo above) and my youngest son was a helper. A is doing programming and C can build Lego like nobody's business!

J and his co-coach Dave.

Only 10 teams advanced to the State competition and they are one of them. This competition will be on January 31st. It is the best 30 teams in Western Washington.

The other team from our school was 5th in the robot competition and they won an award for Strategy and Innovation. They are also going to the State competition.

This is what it looks like at the table, during the robot competition:

The kids wore custom lab coats with their names on them and gator tails made of foam.

I'm happy that this year the competition will be on this side of the mountains, unlike last year when the meet was in Ellensburg, and in February.



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New Year shelf

I like to change out my little shelf by the front door for each season or holiday. Since it is a new year, time for a New Year shelf.

The numbers are paper mache, from Hobby Lobby. I painted them and then glued scrapbook paper on top. The last step was a coat of mod podge over top.

This little vintage card was found at an antique mall.

Yesterday on New Year's Day we went to Tacoma. J and the boys went to the Model Train Festival at the Washington History Museum. I went antiquing. I found a View Master! I have been looking for one since summer.Pin It

2014 A Year in Review

Well, this has become a tradition on my blog, so here goes. This is a review of the year on my blog. Note that I share our family activities and my crafting adventures on my blog. In early January we went up to Semiahmoo for a mini getaway. The rest of the month was all about robotics - competitions and preparation.

In February, Seattle won the Superbowl! We ventured to Vancouver for a mini getaway and at home we cheered on Canada's hockey team to gold in the Olympics. I created a Valentines Day mantle and some nose Valentines for a classroom exchange. I enjoyed my annual trip to the Northwest Flower and Garden show. The robotics season finally ended and that was a good thing.

In the month of March I made a spring fabric garland. We watched our oldest son play the bass drum in concert for the first time. J and I celebrated my birthday with afternoon tea at the Four Seasons.

We spent some of our spring break at Suncadia. We had a fun visit to the Pacific Science Center and took in the exhibit on espionage. I made paper hydrangea Easter eggs and another fabric garland. Gardening started up in earnest.

In May J and I were so proud to see both of our boys be baptised and take communion for the first time. . Both of our dads came for this event. C had his crossing over ceremony at Cub Scouts. We enjoyed Aviation Day at Paine Field. I made a clay pot wreath.

In June I received some unexpected health news. We had a fun birthday party for C at the hobby store. A received the President's Award for academic achievement. We took a short vacation to Vancouver and met up with my parents.

In July I went to the doctor and/or the hospital many times for various tests. I love to go to Jetty Island and we went twice this past summer.

In August we travelled to Yellowstone National Park for vacation. I had surgery to remove several lymph nodes. I enjoyed a Dahlia show.

In September A entered middle school. I created a Back to School mantle. We celebrated A's birthday at Elevated Sportz and in our backyard. J and C went to Scout camp.

October's craft projects were: fruit made from books, melty beads, and making a Minecraft Halloween costume. We had beautiful weather and visited two different pumpkin patches. I received good news regarding my health. We cheered on A at his soccer games.

In November I finally finished my fall mantle. We had our family photos taken by Jill at a Christmas tree farm.

We watched a lot of Seahawks games. We celebrated Thanksgiving at home.

In December I blogged about Christmas and the books I read in 2014. The first robotics competition was December 13th.

Throughout the year I continued to count my gifts. I really hope to get closer to 1000 this year. No, I won't stop then, but it would be a great milestone to achieve.




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Books Read in 2014

I was in a bit of a rut, in my reading during 2014. I seemed to gravitate to mysteries this year. I read six books in the Flavia De Luce series and thirteen Lord Peter Whimsey books by Dorothy Sayers!!

This was reflected in my tv watching as well. I watched 31 episodes of Inspector Morse. I can't watch the last one since that would mean there are no more to watch! I like Morse's grumpy, snobby demeanor and the setting of Oxford is so beautiful.

I stayed away from the more depressing or realistic books this past year since I was facing some pretty scary times concerning my own health: multiple blood tests, ultrasounds, a CT scan, a PET scan, and an unexpected surgery.

I read more books in 2014 (a total of 55) than in previous years. I think because I selected shorter books! I read a classic book that I had hoped to read in 2014 - Fahrenheit 451.

Just before Christmas I read a book that had been on my "to read" list since 2007 - The Thirteenth Tale. I am still musing about this book. I'm not sure what I think of it.

As for non-fiction, I enjoyed some biographies - Ben Carson - Gifted Hands
and Crashing Through The Extraordinary True Story of the Man Who Dared to See (true story of man who was blinded as a child and regained his sight as an adult). I enjoyed The Boys in the Boat

(very popular and a good read) but it wasn't one of my favourites.

I read some more books by D.E. Stevenson and they are a very pleasant cosy read.

One fun read was Sense and Sensibility by Joanna Trollope. She took the classic novel by Jane Austen and set it in contemporary time.

One audio book that was a delight and I shared with my nine year old was Knucklehead.

If you have boys in your house, I highly recommend it! Jon Scieszka grew up in a house with five brothers and went to Catholic school. A very funny book.

What do I hope to read in 2015? Well, I enjoy a good audio book to keep me awake and amused/engaged while I drive to and from my boys' school. Finding the right audio book can be a challenge. I was all set to enjoy one when I discovered the narrator was the same one for Les Miserable which I listened to a few years ago. I can't listen to that man's voice any more! I wish there was a larger pool of narrators. One I hope to listen to soon is Fever which is about Typhoid Mary.

Since I enjoy Marilynne Robinson's writing, I plan to read Lila. I also plan on re-reading Paul Miller's A Praying Life. The Light We Cannot See is getting a lot of attention and it appears to be a book that I would like.


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Christmas 2014

This is at our church's Christmas Eve service. J was more formally dressed than the pastor. :)

Our church rents from Edmonds Church of God and used their chapel for our service (we usually meet in the gym). They had this very large nativity scene on display.

I liked the stars hanging about the nativity.

My boys don't really wear jammies right now so this is them in their comfy clothes on Christmas morning. 

I love my jammies. I've had them a while. They're from Target.

We love the Seahawks here. I found these toques for a great price so I had to get them for my boys.

One of the boys' presents was the game Labyrinth. It is a good game and A usually wins.

J set up A's electric train to go around the tree. It was a fun addition to our Christmas. My main gift was a sewing machine, an upgrade to the one I have. It is supposed to be self-threading. We'll see. :)

One of our family tradition is to watch the Queen's message. She always talks about the real meaning of Christmas.

Here is a photo of the big bird. I brined my turkey.

J and I are wearing paper crowns that came from our Christmas crackers. Don't know about crackers? Here's a link to explain them.

In the evening we were able to Skype with my parents so that was really nice. The boys had fun showing them their gifts. We also sang a carol for them.


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Merry Christmas! Our family photos.

My boys out at a Christmas tree farm, in the rain.

J and me. Both photos were taken by Jill of Redhead Photography.

I hope my friends and family have a very merry Christmas. We will be going to our church's candlelight Christmas Eve service this evening. My parents aren't joining us this year so we are having a small intimate Christmas celebration.

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One Thousand Gifts #487 to #493

487. Getting a Christmas tree without spending a lot, driving far, or spending time in the rain. We got it at Whole Foods which is around the corner from us!

488. Finding a nice sweater for 1.50 from the thrift store.

489. My youngest son made me a medal (using duct tape) when I won our Scrabble game.

490. My Christmas tree is decorated.

491. Friends joining me for a daytime Bible study, going out on a limb and hosting it.

492. Our football team is doing well. Yes, we are a Seahawks family!

493. Hubby's robotics team won 2nd place at the qualifier on Saturday.


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Thanksgiving 2014

Our low key Thanksgiving. Family, food, football. I cooked a turkey breast since it was just the four of us. I also made traditional green bean casserole which is more of an American tradition. We had mashed potatoes and gravy, cranberry sauce, and corn casserole from Trader Joe's which was so yummy! Pumpkin pie from Costco was our dessert. Sparkling apple cider for everyone except A who doesn't like anything fizzy. We ate on our good china and used the silver.

I love this photo! :)

After dinner, the boys and I watched the Seahawks vs. San Francisco 49ers game live (well, when I wasn't cleaning up and going out to get an early Black Friday deal). J watched it later, taped, once he knew our team won. :)

On our Thanksgiving table, on the right, is our thankful tree. I used the same one I created last year.

The cards to write on were a free printable from Jones Design Company. The branches I think are fake, from Michael's.


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One Thousand Gifts #477 to #486

My boys hugging on the sidelines at a soccer game. Note the mud!

477. My sons really do love each other. No major fighting takes place.

478. Safety. I don't want to take it for granted after 2 shootings recently. One was at my former workplace and the other at a high school north of us.

479. My oldest son's study skills. He has really improved in this area.

480. We haven't had any late night visits from a rodent in probably six weeks.

481. My soccer-loving son had the privilege of attending a Seattle Sounders game for free!

482. Our family hasn't had any colds this fall until just recently my youngest started coughing.

483. Warm new jammies in a fun print.

484. Lots of sunshine this week.

485. Consistently solid preaching from our church's pulpit.

486. The amazing cinnamon rolls that my neighbour Shelly makes. Delicious!Pin It

Fall or Thanksgiving Mantle

Well, I'm finally happy with my fall mantle and there was a sunny day for photographing it. It was intended to be a fall mantle but I guess it is now a Thanksgiving mantle. :)

The wreath was made by me three years ago.

I made the garland using a leaf paper punch (and book pages and metallic cardstock) and then I sewed the leaves into a garland. It was my first time sewing paper.

I found the golden apple in the clearance section at Target. I made all the book fruit.

The harvest sign came from Home Goods a few years ago.

I also used the white vases in my fall mantle of 2012.

I think this mantle's theme is book pages!

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Halloween 2014

My boys are big fans of Minecraft - the game. C wanted a Minecraft costume so we found some instructions online and modified them somewhat. My amazing hubby constructed the costume from our cardboard collection (!!) and duct tape and then I painted it. The head we had already since it was a valentine's day box from 2012. It was in rough shape from lots of play so we fixed it up. We had to cover the costume in clear tape since it was a rainy night. The pick axe came from Barnes and Noble. A decided he was too old and stayed home with Daddy.

Some more photos of C's costume.

My costume (dress, mask, and wig) came from Fred Meyer and Value Village.

I'm a renaissance princess/queen.

Our trick or treating didn't go very well, unfortunately. It was raining hard when we left home. I got lost finding the neighbourhood we enjoyed last year. Parking was tough. I got tired of carrying an umbrella and flashlight. C's handle broke. He had trouble seeing out of his head. He didn't like the attention from other kids who said "cool costume" and "wow, look at that!" "hey, Steve!" C didn't get much candy since he only went to about 5 houses before he wanted to go home.

It was a great costume year but not that great for obtaining candy. Some years are costume years and some years are candy years.

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