Holiday wishes and Pretty Little Things for November

Wishing everyone a wonderful Thanksgiving. Filled with love laughter and of course good food!

It doesn't feel much like a Holiday around here with out Ja , but we will be spending the day with some great friends and saying good bye to them. They leave for Hawaii on the 4th of December, but we will see them again one day , as we planning on taking a vacation to see them!

I particularly love this months pretty little things all pink and glittery and HOLIDAYISH.... you girls have been some creating DIVAS !

1. 1 Year Blogiversary Cake, 2. Bottlebrush Trees, 3. a Beautiful beaded heart ornament from my gal "Silent But Deadly Bella", 4. A super adorable ballerina shadowbox ornament from the sweet Heather Rowley of speckled egg, 5. Silver Bella ornament, 6. Sisboom-sequin-trees.jpg, 7. Sugar Shack! Glittered Christmas Village House Box KITS!, 8. Vintage Bling, 9. Pink Treasure box with Bell, 10. Vintage Christmas Wreath, 11. Wishing for Snow Wreath, 12. Fabbbbulous vintage ornament wreath, 13. Silver Bella ornament swap, 14. New "Vintage Pink" German Glass Glitter, 15. aqua ornnies, 16. buttontemplatesm, 17. Tea Room Kopenhagen, 18. Button Jars, 19. Holiday Birdcage, 20. Vintage-style Pink & Glitter Garland, 21. Let It SNOW CONES winterwonderland, 22. houses1, 23. sequin tree, 24. my favorite time of the year, 25. All That Glitters Wreath, 26. Christmas07, 27. New Faux Cupcakes, 28. Christmas Sneak Peek, 29. Christmas, 30. pretty christmas things 7

Fa la la la la, la la la la - Jessi makes me SING!!!

WOW I was BLOWN AWAY from all the wonderful sparkly things my buddy Jessi sent. She is a ball of talent and I am now the proud owner of some of her fantastic creations! I just love this gorgeous sparkly house, looks like it was covered in sugar its that sweet!

These gorgeous postcards that are edged with yummy glass glitter, oh how they sparkle . I already have them hanging up in the house!

Beautiful ornaments in the yummiest of colors!

And then there is this , the most thoughtful wonderful book I have ever received. An entire 22 page scrapbook album ! I couldn't believe my eyes, it was so much fun to flip through and the kids loved seeing there names and all the fun pages she included. She thought of every detail on this one ! You must stop by her FLICKR and check it out , truly a wonderful gift , and I am so grateful... THANKS JESSI!

And how cute are these , I love that they have DECK THE HALLS on them , I will always remember they came from my wonderful swap partner!

I hope everyone is having as much fun with this swap as I am . I should have all Jessi's photos posted soon, mailing out your box this week and will post them soon after! Thanks for being a wonderful partner , I LOVE EVERYTHING !!!

Our sweet little Rori is now off the Bypass machine and her little heart has been working on its own . I would like to thank everyone sincerely for there well wishes and prayers. She still has a lot ahead of her but we have all breathed a small sigh of relief at this point.

We had a rather busy weekend , which I suppose is good. I have been trying to fill up our calendar so that we are going going and getting closer to Ja coming home ! 1 month and counting WOHOO!

A great friend of mine turned 30 and she had a themed party last night and boy was it a ton of fun! Happy Birthday AGAIN to you my friend...love you girl!

Then today we spent a few hours bowling and cleaning for the start of a new week, which hopefully flies by!

I didn't forget to DRAW a name , it was fun reading all of your traditions and I hope to make it by all your blogs this week! The winner chosen by http://www.random.org/ is.....................................................

cindyiscrafty.wordpress.com

Email me with your mailing addy and I will get a little something out to you !

Well girls hope everyone has a great week , I am off to get some shut eye!

Pinch me please!

I am over the moon giddy this morning after winning a very GENEROUS and beautiful giveaway from Chris at http://tuttichic.typepad.com/.

Stop by her beautiful boutique Tuttichic ,its full of beautiful things for your home and lots of great gifts . Make sure to check out the WOODCUT signs ....

Here are the things I won taken straight from her blog, how lucky am I???

Thanks again Chris and Gabby!

You made this girls day!!!





Your prayers are still needed for our sweet little Rori. Since her heart surgery on Tuesday her little heart has not pumped any blood on its own and she is still on the bypass machine. It has been a very somber few days , thanks for all the emails and well wishes and prayers, Please keep little Rori and her mom and dad in your thoughts.

I will put together another post with all my wonderfully SWEET SWAP GOODIES from the ultra talented and sweet Jessi Nagy. See you then!

Sweet baby girl

I need every ones thoughts prayers and well wishes this morning as friends of ours will truly need them. There beautiful 4 month old daughter RORI will have heart surgery in a few hours. She is just a precious little thing ,reminds everyone of a cabbage patch doll . We love you little Miss Rori!

I hope everyone had a great weekend, I am loving all the photos around blogland from the Bellas. Looks like everyone had a fabulous time!

We had a fun weekend . Crafted a bit on Friday at Marias and then went to Nascar which was tons of fun! Austin didn't want to come home at all. He loved being around all the guys and playing football afterwards with them. So glad I took him ,it was a great time for both of us!

Also wanted to remind those of you in my SWAP to go and leave a comment for the drawing I will have on Sunday!

Something GOOD EDITED with new address

I received an email this week that I really wanted to share with everyone.



When you are making out your Christmas card list this year, please include one for a recovering soldier
I contacted an organization and was told WALTER REED was no longer excepting the cards but the hospital in Germany which has a US postal address still is ...mail your cards to the following:

This is where most of our soldiers go when they come off the battlefields

LANDSTUHL REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER
PASTORAL SERVICES DEPT.
U.S. HOSPITAL
CMR 402
APO AE 09180


If you approve of the idea, please pass it on to your e-mail list.
This is something close to my heart and I had to share it with all of you.
Thanks to everyone who passes it on and sends a little good our soldiers way.

Keeping Busy and a SWAP GAME

I can hardly believe it has been 6 months since my sweet hubby left. At times it seems like forever , he will be home for a visit in a few short weeks . Then he returns for just 4 months , I say that as I try to convince myself that it will be a PIECE OF CAKE!! In reality I DREAD it! I am going to try and think happy thoughts and enjoy his time home with us and not about what it yet to come. Wish me luck..haha!

We have a pretty busy month planned ,starting with NASCAR. That's right while all you divas are at Sparkle Bella I get to go sit out in 90 degree weather at Phoenix International Raceway and smell gas and rubber all day. We went as a family last year with some good friends of ours and had a blast. This year it will just be Austin and I meeting up with a few friends . I promised I would take him again because HE LOVES IT and who knows when we will ever live this close to a track again. Certainly don't forsee them racing on the island of OKINAWA JAPAN. He cant make up his mind who his favorite driver is , I think that's so we can buy ALL THE CARS...lol. I would prefer Jimmy Johnson , while I think he wants Gordon or Stewart.
.

I have pulled out a bunch of stuff and started on things for my lovely swap partner Jessi

Hopefully they turn out as I envisioned! Here's just a peak of some of the stuff I am using

Ok for all the SWAP PARTICIPANTS that want to play I am going to put together a small giveaway , with a few ornaments and something made by MOI . I thought it would be fun to have everyone share a HOLIDAY tradition or recipe here . It can be Thanksgiving or Christmas doesn't matter. I will then draw a name on SUNDAY the 18th .

Can't wait to hear about all the traditions and maybe try some new recipes !!

I will leave you with my most requested holiday recipe

Broccoli Rice Casserole

1 package frozen broccoli spears ( defrosted and finely chopped )

1/2 cup celery (chopped)

1 1/2 cups minute rice

1 can cream of mushroom

small can evaporated milk

1 stick of butter

small jar of cheez whiz

Mix soup, butter,celery and cheese in pan over medium heat until melted. Add the rice, broccoli and milk. Pour into greased baking dish . Bake uncovered at 350 for 3-40 minutes until bubbly and slightly browned.

Flickr Group is up

Hope everyone had a safe and fun Halloween.

I am certainly ready for FALL but here in the Desert it doesn't look like we will be getting any cooler weather anytime soon and I already have my first cold..uugh

I took my camera in yesterday and got the BAD news , it wasn't the battery. So now I have to get the thing in the mail next week to Canon for a diagnosis.

How is everyone doing with the swap? Getting those ideas ready? I hear a few people are almost done...boy oh boy you girls are quick! Just wanted to let everyone know that I opened up a Flickr group for those wanting to post sneak peeks or photos. I can't wait to see what you share!

Here is the link for the group

http://www.flickr.com/groups/570126@N23/

Check back next week I am planning a game of sorts for my swap participants , with a PRIZE!

For now I will leave you with some beautiful ornaments I have seen on the net lately, so yummy!