Hoffmann Vases are DONE!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Santa Visit

Yesterday, Ian and Maren got to go see Santa. . .This was the real one at Valley West Mall. He is the best santa I have seen. Maren was wee little last year when we visited him. . .but it was the same Santa. . .
Luckily, the line was really short, so I didn;t have to worry about entertaining munchkins for an overly long time. . .Grandma J was here for backup anyway.
Ian asked Santa for Red, the Fire Engine from the movie Cars. Maren just stared at him, she wouldn't smile.
After visiting Santa, Ian and Maren took a ride on the train that the mall has at the Santa place. Maren seemed to enjoy it, and of course Ian was VERY excited. They rode round and round. When the trip was done, Ian decided to hijack the train and go again. . .As everyone exited, he made a uturn and loaded himself into the front car, with a group of kids that were getting on. . .Luckily, that fulfilled his need for train rides and it wasn't necessary to go again. . .whew. . .Maren watched her big brother ride the train the second time. She really liked all of the pretties in the santa scene.

2/3 of the way there.

We had school called out early because of the ice storm that was supposed to hit at 12-1. . . it is now 3:30, I am home, the kids are taking naps, and I just etched 5 of the 21 vases that I am creating for the annual Hoffmann Bash. Eric laughs at me as I sit for hours with my x-acto knife, hovered over a contact paper covered piece of glass. The laugh is the same one that, three years ago, was in reaction to the Christmas ornaments that I decorated for all of the married couples in the Hoffmann clan. As I look onto my dining room table, I see 14 of the 21 vases, and see a light at the end of the tunnel. I honestly thought that I would be etching up to the hour before the Party (Which is NEXT Saturday). It is now time to re-evaluate the names that have been permanently etched into the vases, and make sure I am getting all of the ones I need. There are 8 Hoffmann vases, and a mixture of other married names. I hope the people, that don't have to arm wrestle for the Hoffmann vase, will appreciate the time that I have put into them. I tried to find a design that the families would like, Aimee and Mike were by far the easiest, with their die hard western lifestyle.
My little project has turned into a big project. I didn't realize the actual time that it took to make one until last night, the finishing touches on 3 of them took me an hour. I figure that each one averaged around 2 hrs a piece. I'm having fun doing them, I just hope everyone likes them.

Doggie Spa

Tonight, we decided that with the bitter cold, and no straw bales yet, that we'd keep Toby indoors. I thought that this would be a great opportunity to give him a bath and attempt to get his nails trimmed down a little. . . What an ordeal! Toby has been in the house only one other time, so getting him to cross the slick kitchen floors was not fun. It was even less fun trying to get him to go up the stairs. After nearly strangling him with his choke collar, I resorted to picking my 60+ lb. dog, and carrying him upstairs. After making it to the top landing, I tried dragging him into the bathroom, No luck. So I carried him into the bathroom and plopped him into the tub. . . wheeeew! Toby did an Excellent job with the bath/shower that I gave him. I felt kind of bad, we found a few dead ticks on his back, it appears as though the frontline worked, I feel bad that we didn't see them earlier. . .After a good scrubdown and a tick removal/check, Toby smelled much better! After I toweled him off really well, I attempted to get him out of the tub. . . . no luck!. I had to lift his front end out first, followed by his hind in. . .I then tried to coax him into the hall . . .again, no luck. . . he was just a difficult dog tonight. Toby has not been around stairs, so when I wanted him to come back down, he refused! Go figure!Eric helped our by giving him a friendly shove down the stairs and we got him back on the main level. We moved his kennel into the laundry room, until he gets completely dry. While we were in the mood for grooming, I got out the dremmel tool and made an honest attempt at grinding down his nails. I haven't cut them at all, meaning his nails are quite long. I ground them down a bit, I will work on the more later. I didn't want to traumatize him yet. . .he was very patient with me. I think he liked all of the attention. Eric made sure to reassure me that Toby was an outside dog, so didn't even think about keeping him inside. The kids would love it I'm sure. He was so much calmer when he was in here. The kids gave him lots of love and kisses. Toby is warm, clean, and in doggy heaven!

OK, so I was bored, here's a little insight into my life

what will you be doing for Christmas?
I will be spending time with Eric's side of the family. Christmas eve at Walnut/Church that night, Christmas day over to Bellevue to visit Barb's side, on the 27th we will be back in Walnut for the annual Hoffmann Bash, which we are partly in charge of this year. . .not sure after that, we are having Christmas with My side of the family on Jan 11th.

what did you do last year for Christmas?
almost the same, except for I got to see my family on Christmas Day.

who was your first love?
Eric

do you have a favorite:

type of dog?
Not really. I really don't like little dogs, like those mini pinchers, and little yipee dogs. they are annoying!

scent:
I love the smell of swimming pools ( I guess it's the bleach) Eric wears Abercrombie Fierce, it's yummy!

color?
Green

tv show?
House, ER, Law and Order SVU


favorite season?
Fall

if you could have one super power what would it be?
abilityclean my house in a single day!

funniest thing that happened this week?
I went to school with my shirt on inside out, my second hour students noticed!

if you could change one thing about yourself what would it be?
I would like to be thinner. . . trying to work on it though. . .

do you regret anything from your past?
No regrets.


do you know anyone pregnant?
yes. . . and no it's not me.

what would you rather be doing right now?
Should be sleeping, but I'd love to be catching up on my scrapbooking. Mom just bought me some new quickutz!


what will you do this weekend?
Friday is my Birthday (30) so I am hoping my hubbie has some plans for us.

what kind of car do you drive?
Dodge Grand Caravan. . . QUIT LAUGHING!

do you have a nick name for your significant other?
Not really. . .Babe. . . I guess. . . sometimes.


do you have a nick name from them?
same

where do you want to be in five years?
In a job that I like. . .I'm pretty happy with where we are now. . .My job could be a little less hectic. . . but, whose couldn't?

What's for dinner tonight?
Pizza

ever had surgery?
yes


what color are your eyes?
Hazel/greenish


Have your brothers or sisters ever told you that you were adopted?
no


When is your birthday?
December 19th


What is the last letter of your middle name?
e

what soda do you drink?
diet coke

what color are your underwear?
white

do you have a favorite band?
Not really, I listen to whatever my students drag in.


are you in school?
Yes, as the teacher

do you bite your nails?
only when under stress or nervous



do you wear slippers?
nope. . .don't like wearing shoes either!


hot chocolate or coffee?
hot chocolate

do you like the snow?
when it means snow day!

Girls Day Out

This afternoon my little sis and mom treated me to an afternoon out. . .they contacted Eric, making sure he could watch the kids :) We started with lunch at O'Charley's. It's good food for those who haven't tried it. I figured that we would have a little lunch and maybe hit a store or two and call it a day. This was not what my sis had din mind. Following lunch, we went for pedicures! (so that's why Eric made sure I shaved yesterday. . .) I was completely surprised! This is the first pedicure for any of us. . . I have wanted one for quite a while, but I wasn't going to get one by myself, so Erika took the first step and set us all up for one. . .
We started off with picking out a color for the toes. I chose a dark reddish brown. Erika went with a brownish violet and Mom went for silver iridescent. Next it was time to hike up the floor length skirt and leggings, and step up to the chairs for the foot soak, Ahh. . . so relaxing! (we also had complimentary wine) We had massage chairs that Erika got quite a kick out of. After soaking for about 15 minutes or so they put the callus remover liquid on our feet and let that soak in. . .Over the next hour, we got our toenails sculpted, feet sanded down, feet and legs exfoliated, foot and leg massage, and toenails painted. . .Erika opted for some flowers on her big toes, I went for more festive snowflakes! they are cute, and my little sis wishes she had some snowflakes like mine :( Thank you mom and Erika for a wonderful day out. . . LOVED the pedicure. . .and I do owe a big thanks to Eric for watching the kids while I got out for a much needed and much appreciated R&R.

Oh I almost forgot. . . the reasoning behind the afternoon festivities. . . I turn 30 on Friday (the 19th). . . I have one more week to enjoy the end of my 20's Can you believe that I am 30 ALREADY!?

Cookies!

This weekend Mom and Auntie Erika came over to partake in holiday cookie and candy making. We made, cinnamon Candy, Almond Bark Cookies, Spritz cookies, and the roll out sugar cookies. Ian and Maren helped a little. For the most part, the cookies turned out, Toby only got a few. I have a video of Ian making cookies. I'll get it on here later. . .

Ice Ice Baby!

The water pipe on the exterior of the house broke sometime in the past day or two, we don't know when. The way we found out was that the furnace wasn't turning on, so Eric went to investigate. . .There was water in the furnace. We could also year water running, that shouldn't be. Eric went outside to find this site. . .It's ironic how something bad could look this good! There is ice covering the exterior of the house. Water entered the white pipes on the outside of the house, draining down into our furnace. . .ta da! flooded furnace. . .At least we know why and how the water got in there. . .Miller plumbing will be here in an hour.

Another flood casuality?!

Tuesday night we went to get our tree. After finding one, we strapped it to the mini and took it home. After setting up the tree, the branches fell, and then we realized just how fat our Christmas tree was! Turns out, the tree was more of a bush, with several "trunks" up the middle, that had been shaped into a tree. Oh well, it looks fine. just a little shorter and fatter than last year. . . If we wanted perfection, we'd get a fake tree. This evening, Eric and I wrapped the tree with the colored lights that Ian picked out at Target.
After finishing the lighting, I went to the basement and located the box o'Christmas ornaments. As I picked up the box, I realized that it was full of water. After hauling it upstairs, we realized that the majority of our ornaments were ruined. any glass ones, were stripped of their paint. Ornaments with any sort of absorbency, were covered in mold. We are now down to about 10 ornaments. I was happy to see that Our First Christmas ornament and Ian's First Christmas ornament made it with little damage. The cat in the hat ornaments that we got from Burger King, back when we lived in Mo Valley, are all just fine. The ornaments that were collectibles from Pier 1, are not looking too good. I rinsed them, but they got wet inside, and the paint looks a little thinner. Oh well, what can we do. . .I guess this year, we are going to need to buy some shiny balls to decorate our naked Christmas tree.