Matt is thinking about getting involved in paintball.  With Christmas coming as I was looking around for an online paintball store and boy did I find them.  They are every where; I really did not realize they were so popular.  You can find all sorts of paintball guns and some of them look so real.  You need to do a lot of reading to find out what is the best gun for you according to what you are looking for.  The top picks for most players are the Tippmann A-5, Tippmann 98 Custom and the Spyder Pilot ACS.  Don’t forget about all of the tactical equipment that is available too, you will be looking like you are on your local squat team.

The one thing that is getting on my nervous about my ipod it the battery, it just keeps running down even after I charge it forever. Why can’t we just all have excellent ipod batteries and never have to worry about charging them? I think it is out to get me because it always runs out right when I am in the middle of a really good song then the whole thing just shuts down.

I was talking to Tanya today and let me tell you for someone to be so small that girl can put away more food than a truck driver on a long haul. She was telling me all of the Armenian food her mom and aunt are going to cook and she said she was going to have do a colon cleanse by the time dinner was done. That girl is just crazy sometimes.

I wish we had the change of seasons like they do up north. I remember when I lived in up state New York the colors were so beautiful this time of year. I had a friend that when she stayed at a Michigan bed and breakfast it had some of the most amazing colors on the trees she had ever seen. Believe me I like living in Florida because we don’t have snow but I do miss those colors.

Ever want to make your own t-shirt but you don’t have the tools, all you have is the idea and you can not figure out what to do with it?  Now you can make your own custom t-shirts just as easy as I did.  I just made me one that says “I love my husband” in about 2 minutes.  It actually shows you the shirt on the screen then gives you all of the tools to make it yourself, you can even upload images.  Easy and fun what more could you ask for?   You can get everything from sports teams to embroidery.  If you can think of it you can make it.

Hoping to have sometime to work on the calendar tonight.  I want to have it finished by the end of my Thanksgiving break but I am not sure if that is going to be possible or not.  We usually put up the tree the day after Thanksgiving but Matt has to work so we will not go to the tree until the weekend which was when I was going to work on the calendar so I guess I need to move something around.

It is getting to close to Michaela’s graduation it is scary. We bought a few of the announcement from school but those things are so expensive and the amount that we need is just mind blowing. I have been looking into envelope printing and just ordering some announcements from another place. It has to be cheaper than what we are looking at paying now.

The first piece I did was the tree because I thought it would be the easiest to do. I cut the green felt in half, sprayed the board lightly with adhesive and put Elmer’s glue all around the edges of the tree and laid the tree on the felt. After the felt was dry and I cut the excess off leaving about 1/4 inch around. I then took about 1/2 yard of beaded string and every so often I put a little glue with a toothpick to tack it down. I had some Christmas buttons I had picked up on clearance a couple of years back and I glued them to the top 6 “branches” of the tree.

First Ornament

The first ornament is a reindeer. I cut 2 oblong pieces out of the brown felt. On one of the pieces I used embroidery thread to make a nose. I made the antlers out of the pipe cleaner. I used one long piece and two smaller pieces. The 2 smaller pieces I just wrapped around each end of the longer piece making the antlers. I then slid the antlers in between the two pieces of felt. Then stuffed with a little poly-fill and stitched around using embroidery floss, sewing the antlers in place as I went around. I glued on two of the eyes above the nose. I put a piece of velcro on the back to stick it to the tree.

Thanks to everyone that took the time to vote in the baby idol contest. Lani did not make it to the second round but that is ok. If you want to see who did just click on the link http://www.wmtx.com/pages/babyidol2_week2.html

I bought the supplies for the advent calendar and it cost me $21, I really did not think that was too bad. The supplies that I bought consisted of:

1 pack multi-color pipe cleaners

10 squares of different colored felt

1 package of green felt used for table toppers so it is one solid piece

1 package wiggle eyes (the smallest size)

1 package pom poms black (the smallest size)

I had also picked up a package of white but I guess Lani dropped them out of the buggy because they did not make it home.

1 20X30 white board (it is like poster board except it is about 1/4 inch thick so it has some stability to it

I had my daughter’s boyfriend draw me a “Charlie Brown” Christmas tree on the board and I cut it out with a utility knife.

I also have random ribbon, foam board, glue, embroidery thread, buttons, fabrics and stuffing. I will let you know exactly what I use for each piece but just because I did not buy it does not mean I will not use it. Look through your sewing stuff and get creative. This is something hopefully you and your family will enjoy for a long time. Make it yours, give it your own touch and have fun.

Keep checking back because as I complete something I will post the directions, materials and picture. I hope you will join me on this project.