Hello, Monday!

I hope this post finds you stuffed and thankful! We had a nice Thanksgiving holiday with the family, but now that it’s over, I’m having to wean myself off of having delicious desserts with every meal, or as a meal replacement. It’s not easy; I have a major sweet tooth.

This morning…

:: We are slowly but surely getting things decorated. The kids’ rooms were the first to get hit by the Christmas bug.

     

:: It’s been hard to keep the kids focused on school with little reminders telling them that Christmas is just around the corner.

:: I have had my tree up since last Tuesday, but it’s yet to get dressed with the exception of one large Mickey Mouse ornament. It’s on my to-do list for today.

:: Someone’s been making his list, and checking it twice. Legos seem to be at the top this year. He wants every set, grandparents.

:: I’m bracing myself for tomorrow. I’ll be turning #%, and I’m not ready to admit it.

Happy Monday!

xo

nessa dee

Happy Thanksgiving!

Since I’ll be knee deep in turkey and stuffing tomorrow, I will probably be too stuffed to blog tomorrow. 

Have a wonderful turkey day!

xo

from my little turkeys

Hello, Monday!

This morning I’m…

:: Playing with my early birthday present. I feel so hip and with it now.

:: The kids are playing with Legos. Ha! So primitive.

:: Enjoying the little rain shower we got.

:: Making a list of daily to-dos in hopes of being a bit more organized this Christmas. I had to edit it a bit so as to not ruin a Christmas surprise. And, yes, I’m still trying to put up all of my Halloween stuff.

:: Trying to get good pics of some more paintings awaiting entry into my shop. It’s hard to get good light when there’s dark clouds looming outside. I’d rather wait an extra day or two or five, though, if rain’s the trade-off.

:: Helping Finn set up his blue Christmas tree with blue lights, blue star, and blue and silver ornaments. [ The pink ones are going on Audrie’s tree.]

:: Listening to this with the kids…

We just finished listening to this…

It’s one of my favorite books…so delightful and beautifully written. And if you haven’t listened to anything read by Jim Dale, you should. He’s an amazing narrator and really brings the books to life.

Happy Monday!

xo

nessa dee

SALE, SALE, SALE!

I am having a holiday sale in my shop. If you’re looking for cheap, but expensive looking gifts, then my etsy store is the place to be!! Here’s the details:

Pretty self explanatory. I am gradually adding new items over the course of this week, some of which are in this group of thumbnails:

I’ll also be posting some of the original paintings as well, if you’d rather have something more expensive and cheap looking. Wait. I mean, expensive looking.

If you have any questions, you know what to do.

xo

nessa dee

Hello, Monday!

This morning…

:: We’re trying to adjust to life in the normal world after being in LA over the weekend. It was a very quick, but fun trip, and I can’t tell you just how proud I am of my little girl. She did an awesome job, and though she didn’t win the overall prize, she definitely won for biggest ham on stage, at least in my book. The event itself was being webcast live, so in addition to the family we had there, family and friends back home got to see Audrie play her piece. As soon as we get the video up on youtube, I’ll be sure to post it…of course. I’ll give you a play by play account of our trip in pictures soon, too, but until then, here’s a picture of all the finalists:

:: I had forgotten how much I loved watching my kids play at the beach. This trip reminded me.

:: I’m enjoying my new haircut. I decided after 3 years, I should probably do something with this unruly mane. Here’s the scary before:

Here’s the after with lips pursed:

Here’s the real after, because let’s face it, it’ll never look like the above pic again:

[Not the best pic to represent my new hairstyle, but I figured my stupid expression would distract you from the fact that my hair looks pretty much the same as before.]

And here’s the amount of before and after photos I took of myself. A little vain, are we?

Mostly, I felt silly.

:: I’ve started decorating for Christmas. I figured I’d do a little bit at a time, so it won’t be so overwhelming. So far, I’ve hung a wreath.

:: I still haven’t taken down all my Halloween decorations. I think the spiders compliment the Christmas wreath, though.

:: I’m panicking because I just realized that next week is Thanksgiving. [really??] And Christmas will be here before I know it. AAAAAAHHHHHHHHH! I’m already stressing.

:: I have plans to take Christmas pics in the traditional Christmas outfits for our Christmas cards, but I think this family pic might trump any future efforts:

Happy Monday!

xo

nessa dee

From my sketchbook…

and other notebooks that I drew in when I couldn’t find my sketchbook and was too lazy to go looking for it. [Ignore the ‘Albus Dumbledore’ signature. We’ve been listening to Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone on cd. I got distracted.]

Why these animals? Well, for one, I’ve never attempted to draw some of them. But really, I’m working on a personal project. I have big plans for this project, and I’m pretty excited about it, but before I can do anything with it, I have to brush up on my technique.

I’m off to LA. I’ll see you when I get back.

xo

nessa dee

hello, Monday.

This morning…

:: I’m frustrated by the never ending, always growing list of must do things that need to be done before I can get to the never ending, always growing list of want to do things.

:: I’m wondering why things tend to break in groups of 3 rather than one thing at a time.

:: I’m gearing up for a remake of The Beverly Hillbillies when the family heads for LA on Thursday.

:: I’m wondering why I chose to paint a sample color on the front of my cabinets knowing full well that I probably won’t paint my cabinets before everyone comes for Christmas.

Who am I kidding? I’ll do good to get them painted by Christmas of 2012.

:: I’m considering getting this personal trainer to help me reach my workout goals. He seems to be on the cutting edge of exercise science.

Then again, maybe not.

Happy Monday!

xo

nessa dee

IF: Scary

Younger siblings can be quite scary.

xo

nessa dee

Adventure Time

Halloween was a success! We managed to score just as much candy as we bought, plus we still have 3 bags of candy from our giveaway stash, so we ended up ahead. By the end of the year, if I haven’t gained 20 pounds, it will be a miracle.

Our Adventure Time costumes turned out pretty awesome given that I started on them late Sunday afternoon. Yes, it was just a tad bit last minute, but it all worked out, and my kids didn’t have to dress like hobos because Mom dropped the ball. I have to say that these are my favorite Halloween costumes to date.

Finn was Finn the Human Boy

Audrie went as Princess Bubblegum, though not in her normal outfit. PB usually wears a long, pink princess dress, which is not Audrie’s cup o’ tea. Instead, Audrie wore an outfit from a particular episode in which PB donned a shirt with a graphic print of her pet, Lady Rainicorn. 

Jonathan was Jake the Dog

And I was Marceline the Vampire Queen

We went trick or treating with the neighbors and had a blast watching the kids run from door to door.

Finn put his backpack to good use as his candy bag. He eventually got tired of asking one of us to help him put his candy in the backpack, so he started turning his back to every candy giver to let them drop it in.

At the end of the night, after hitting two different loops, we were pretty beat. So we called it a night, but not before getting a family pic.

I think this is going on our Christmas cards.

xo

nessa dee