Nice Rack

I'm on a roll here... take 2 weeks to post and I put 3 on in one day! This one is kinda lame, but was proud of my work. The boys didn't really have a place to put their jackets and I was tired of always being the one who put them up and took them out of the closet... and then when they were all wet, we just threw them in the laundry room. So I went to Target and picked up a rack and cheap shoe shelf, moved some stuff around and now our laundry room is a little mud room too! Now the boys can take care of their own jackets with out them being on the floor! woohoo! And of course I needed to switch the artwork to make it all better. I had a frame I purchased awhile back that was too large... but has now found a home. The photo is an old photo of ladies scrubbing laundry.Here are some other prints I found. I have to say I feel like high fiving myself. Last year I did a faceless painting of the Mona Lisa (so you can stick your head in the canvas and take a photo). The boys had destroyed it, so I ripped off the canvass and painted the frame black. I had a mat from another frame, and a frame backing from a frame I used for a painting. I painted the backing black, pasted the print on that, then assembled it and nailed it together! I recycled the black frames from prev projects and cut my own mattes from card stock on the other 2 prints. Now, at one point I did pay money for the original items, but for this particular project, it cost me $00.00!!! :) They are all pictures of doing laundry. My favorite is the large one... there is a crab attacking the garment. :)This last photo is Thurston. I sat down to update the blog and he yelled "Hey Mommy, take a picture of me!" and then he posed...

Singapore goodies

I meant to post this last week when Preston came home, but it's been a busy week! He brought us all some goodies from Singapore! Here are a couple of treasures: This is a hand painted watercolor scroll. It's gonna look fabulous in my dining room... we both wish he had picked up a couple more! This is my Dress he picked up. I have been wanting one for a long time, and he has wanted me to have one for a long time as well. It's a little short, but I think it will do! Now I just need to have a baby and loose all the fat so I can wear it!

This one is my absolute favorite. This one is for Aleah! Ahhh! Soooo adorable!!!!

He also got me some smaller vases and a bracelet. The boys got solar powered waving cats! They are hilarious and yes, Thurston has already broken his. Preston got himself a Merlion (the symbol of Singapore) statue. It's actually really cool looking.

He loved his time over there and would jump at the chance to go back. We missed him like crazy and he missed us too. He said that if they ever offered him a year transfer over there, he would take us there in a heart beat. He said it is so clean, safe and full of culture from everywhere. Someday I think I would like to go with him too!

Snow and Treasures

We had another good snow storm last week, this time with Preston here. It wasn't the best snow for a snowman (too powdery), but they did manage to build an awesome snow chump. It was basically a pile of snow with snowman characteristics. They had fun.Thurston LOVES carrots, and will go through a bag of them before I realize it, so when I go to cook them, they are gone. Sadly, some fall by the way side and go bad with out me knowing it. In this case, it worked out great, our snow chump man had a long, skinny bendy nose!Here are the boys with Jazz, the Snow-chump-pile-man. Cute, eh?We had our Christmas Party with our friends last night. While we were getting ready, we put on "A Very Monkey Christmas" (Curious George). Below is one of the many reasons why I love George... he does this to my kids:The party was a blast and Preston scored some sweet presents. Below you will see a photo of some of the finest things money can buy... not one, but 2 collegiate snuggies, AND featuring on TanTo the dog, the Snuggie for Dogs. Preston's other prize was a Lady Gaga CD. (WoW, she's horrible.. I thought so before, but now I can testify to it with an educated opinion)... Bill is holding his big prize of the night... it is for a fancy picnic. He has in his hands a box of pink Walmart wine, complete with easy cheese and generic cheese crackers. Classy! What is not featured here are the bendy straws that came with the box o wine. Preston and Kim (the lucky girlfriend of the man holding the box o wine) had a Mt Dew drink off. They had 5 minutes to chug a 2 liter of Dew. Preston finished his in less than 3 minutes. But Kim held her own. Had it not been for the 3 or more previous Mt Dew's that day, (or the pasta right before)... she may have been able to beat him. The best was when she had to borrow my maternity sweats! Sadly, I did not get pictures of the said event, but I know someone did, so I may have to get a few of those shots.

It was fun.

Snow!!

The boys were VERY excited to wake up to snow this morning. Joseph's first response was

"Now we can make snow angels!" and then he said "And we don't have to drive anywhere today!" (little did I know I forgot to turn in a video at the library and was informed later of a fine I accrued today!!) But it was worth the 50 cents to spend the day in our jammies!

We went outside and had some fun. This year both the boys have adequate snow clothes, so it took them a long time to want to come it, we were out there an hour! I got the side walks and driveway all shoveled while they played.

After they were worn down, we came inside for cookies and hot cocoa. The rest of the day we just kind of bummed around in our jammies and made cookies and watched Santa Claus is Coming to Town. A great day! Just wish Preston was here. :/

cookie makin' and booty shakin' kind of Sunday

It was one of those cold Sundays in December, where all you want to do is make cookies and shake your booty! And that is just what we did! It was a lot of fun. Preston is over in Singapore this week, so we are missing him like crazy, and wish he was here for the fun. Here is how we break it down in the Thomson house, Enjoy!

Thanksgiving

We spent another Thanksgiving here at home in Boise. I think it was the least stressful one yet! The cleaning and most of the set up was done the night before, and Preston had seasoned the Turkey the night before, so when we woke up on Thursday, we were lazy and laid back. Our guests this year were Chi Ming and Wendy, (Wenchi), Bill and Kim and then Jason came a little later. It was nice, and Preston did an amazing job on the Turkey and Potatoes. I will toot my own horn about the pies and the yams though. The pumpkin pie was made from scratch with a pumpkin from our own garden! Honorable mention goes to Rhodes Rolls and Stove Top Stuffing (still my favorite!!) ...and Bill and Kim for the veggies, Wendy for her Panda cup cakes, and Jason for the left over Pecan pie and whipped cream. It was all sooo good! I only have a couple of shots, I forgot to get the camera out during (or after) dinner. But it was fun and we hope everyone did too!

Preston and his sexy self basting the turkey...Let's just say we ate some pie before everyone came....Thurston has been kind of obsessed with Mixers, and when mine died, he took it in as his own. He wanted me to take a picture of him with his mixer. :)

The Life and Death of a Mixer

Back in the day when Preston and I got married, we received a hand mixer as a wedding present. I had one already from my days in single ladyhood, so we tried to take it back. I think we went to like 4 different stores and none of them carried it, so we kept it. About a year later I got that bad boy out and fell in love with it. I know it sounds silly, but when you love baking and cooking, a mixer is your best friend. I was very happy with it, but yes, I secretly coveted the Kitchen Aid Mixers... oh so pretty. Well, a couple of months ago, my little mixer was getting sick. She wasn't doing as well as she usually did, and one day, whilst mixing a batch of dough, she shuttered, sputtered and sparked. When I saw the black smoke rising, I knew it was time to part. Farewell my mixer, you were awesome. She even survived a nearly fatal melting accident when she was left on the stove. My sadness lasted about 2 minutes when I realized that Preston wanted to know what I wanted for Christmas... heehhee. Being the man he is, he was already planning on getting one for me, I just got it a month sooner! He did some research (as he always does) and found some sweet deals. In the end though, he found a secret treasure. I am now the proud owner of a Cuisinart Brushed Chrome 5.5 Quart Stand Mixer SM 55 BC. Oh yeah, she's a beauty. She has 800 watts of baking love power, nearly 2x the amount as the Kitchen Aid Pro, and we got her at a MUCH lower price! I look forward to many years of happiness....