I thought I was doing well this Christmas.  All of the kids presents were bought and I even wrapped them all.  Normally I'm wrapping on Christmas Eve and cursing myself for my procrastination.  So..I thought all was good.  Then I remembered I have tons of nieces and nephews and never bought anything for them.  um.  Oops!  So there goes my peaceful restful feeling. 

The last couple of crafting attempts with the kids ended in toddler tantrums and giant messes.  That's what I get for saying that they were working together harmoniously.  Karma.  I only have one craft scheduled for this weekend.  I need the relaxation.  I really really do. 

I also didn't make any presents this year.  Not a one.  Remember when I said I was going to do a lot of crafting?  Well...I didn't.  But I'm OK with that.  (Remember Stewart Smalley? " I'm good enough, I'm smart enough, and dog-gonnit...people like me")

Where are you with your holiday plans?  Are your cards all sent out? (I still have M and E's card sitting here at my elbow...I'm out of stamps), Presents all wrapped?  Bought?  Thought of? 

Check out this post by blogger Chookooloonks: http://www.chookooloonks.com/blog/2008/12/8/through-the-viewfinder-spread-happy.html

I completely believe that happiness is contagious...just as contagious as a bad mood.  But who would want to go around making people feel grumpy when it's way easier (and nicer) to spread the cheer? 

So...I'll bite.  I know that I could use a ton of cheering up and I'm more than happy to try to cheer up anyone who wonders onto our little corner of cyberspace.  (Even if they did get here by googling "Miley is a Dirty Girl")

Here are a few things in my life that make me happy:


*We have been busy Christmas crafting on the weekends and my children have been sitting together and crafting side by side while sharing items...and they are getting along!  Maybe they are getting older, maybe they are feeling the spirit of Christmas, maybe I...I don't know.  But whatever it is...I'm loving it.  And I'm not going to stop the crafting after Christmas...now that I know it won't be as big a headache as I've always imagined.

*Music always makes me happy.  Whether I've discovered a new song by a new band or if I've rediscovered an old love. 

*This morning my boys were cuddled together in one bed and my girls were cuddled together in another bed.  How friggin sweet is that? 

*I love my hair.  Is that too vain?  Is me loving the color of my hair wrong to put on a list of things that make me happy?  I don't care.  Because it does.  I love it.

*It makes me happy that I can find myself looking at things in nature with as much fascination as my children.  That I'm constantly surrounded by beauty...and that all I have to do is look.  (No...I'm not talking about my hair)

So now it's your turn.  What is making you happy?  Leave a comment with me and also a comment at the original post.  Let's spread the joy all through out the internet. 

 


 

I've had such terrible luck lately posting links here.  Our links page is currently a bunch of carp.  Half of the links take you nowhere.  I think it's my fault.  I think.  Maybe?  (ooh!  I just figured out what's wrong.  It will take some time but I'll fix them!!!)

I'm going to try again though...I just came across this perfect site! 

One Pretty Thing:  http://www.oneprettything.com/

  I'm so in love with it.  Pictures and links and categories and crafts and all things that I love!  What kills me is that M has had it on her reader for I don't know how long and hasn't clued me in on it.  Hhmph. 

Seeing crafts on the internet at Christmas times really helps boost my already over inflated Christmas Spirit.  I'm sure I'll be dying my hair green and red before the week is over...

 

I'm always looking for fun things to make with the kids during the entire month of December.  We like to load our tree up with as many home-made goodies as possible.  I just came across this great origami wreath tutorial:  http://www.typepad.com/t/trackback/2445510/35722764

and think we will have a lot of fun with these.  I will probably be doing the construction but they can go hog wild with glitter and glue and stickers.  And since they look so simple (and so cheap!) I can make tons of them and they can decorate one for every member of the family! 

I want to hear your family crafting ideas.   Do you have a favorite craft?  Do you have a website that you either run or love that has great ideas? 

I'm not going to completely bypass Thanksgiving and skip straight to Christmas.  No way.  It is, after all, my second favorite holiday! 

Here are a few things I am thankful for...

My husband...he's taught me all about True Love and patience. 

My children...they've taught me more about patience...but I'm thankful for every thing they do and are.

My mother and my sister...for being the strongest women I know....even when they think they're not

My sister-in-law...who has raised some awesome teenagers who are the best Role Models I could ask for for my children. 

My niece and nephews-for being as awesome as they are.

My MIL...for her generosity. 

E & M...Oh my goodness.  I couldn't ask for better friends.  

Chocolate and coffee and TV and Netflix and video games and L'Oreal and my crappy ipod and all of the other material things that make up my days...

 

We here at QDM are completely obsessed with Christmas.  At least I know for 100% that myslf and M are incredibly geeky over it. (I'll have to wait for E to chime in)  We barely make it to Thanksgiving each year with out uploading Christmas songs to our ipods or busting out with "Let it Snow" or "Winter Wonderland" during a long car ride.  We stalk Walgreens ads until they put out their Christmas items and then find excuses to stop in so we make sure we walk out with a 50 cent Santa tray large enough to hold one small cookie.  

Here is a list of just a few of my favorite things about Christmas:

Candy Canes-they have to be peppermint ones.  I'm a Candy Cane Purist.  No "Blue Raspberry" for me. 

Trees made out of buttons and millions of other random uber-crafty cute items you see.

Walgreens!!!! 

Snowmen.  Not making them (Refer to a million of my other posts to notice that there's a snowballs chance in Florida for me to be able to make a Snowman)...but the decorations.  I'll buy anything if it happens to have a Snowman on it.  "oh!  Are those used dentures?  But I see they have a snowman cleverly stamped on them...how much?"

Bells!  Bells!  Bells!  Oh my goodness.  Seriously, guys.  I'm sitting here just thinking about bells and getting all giddy!

Cinnamon and pumpkin spice.   Cinnamon candles or room deodorizers make me weak.  The grocery store currently has boxes of cinnamon brooms near their carts.  What a wonderful marketing tool!  "Why of course I need to put this in my cart as I'm walking into the store!  Wouldn't want to get to the cereal aisle and not smell cinnamon!"

Stockings.  You know...I don't actually have one of my own.  It's not a big deal to me to not have my own stocking...I just like looking at them. 

Paper Snowflakes! -Ever since I learned how to do that neat little folding trick that make your snowflakes look "real" I've been obsessed. 

Movies- "It's a Wonderful Life", "How The Grinch Stole Christmas", "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation" to name a few.  


 Driving around looking at lights.-Or even driving home and the kids competing to see who can be the first to point out a house with lights.  My oldest children memorized where each house was on the route home last year and would sit in anticipation until they were "legally" allowed to point them out. 

But most of all..it's a feeling.  There's just this air of "Life is wonderful" around Christmastime.  Even when it's really not all that peachy.  Even if I'm trying to fill myself with self-pity I catch one whiff of those brooms or see one string of lights and I feel warmth. 

http://stopshootingauto.com/

I tell everyone who listens that owning a DSLR and shooting in auto is just flushing money down the toilet.  I've tried to give my own little quick email tutorials to new DSLR users but I don't know if my terms ("CHange the doohickey") was beneficial or not.  But this site breaks things down to a beginner level...and I looooove that. 

And let me segue a bit....I absolutely adore photographers who share their knowledge.  Photography is an art form and art should be shared.  When I come across a site where the photographer spends half of the time dissing amateur photographer

It's Halloween!  What does Halloween mean to me?  For the next week or two I will be making myself sick off of candy and grumbling to myself that I never learn.  Oh, and cute costumes. 

On another note...I love photography.  A lot.  I spend a lot of free (hahahhahahaha) time reading about photography and absorbing as much information as I can.  There are some wonderful web resourses out there for amateur photographers...and below are a few of my favorites:

Tutorial9 (Tutorial Bliss) link:  http://www.tutorial9.net/
They have Photoshop, Illustrator as well as basic web tutorials, but they also have a whole page devoted to photography.

Digital Photography School link:  http://digital-photography-school.com/blog Their layout is very simple and easy to follow.  And their tutorials range from the very basic to the more advanced...and they don't make you feel like a big dummy for even wanting to know.

Christopher Maxwell is a wedding photographer...Not only is he a really good wedding photographer, he's also an extremely generous one.  I really enjoyed his article linked here:  http://www.christophermaxwell.com/wedding-photography-tips.htm


Another awesome and generous photographer's site is Roman R Zolin, Friendly Artworks with a Smile linked here: http://tips.romanzolin.com/

And as far as inspiration goes...I have to go back to my good ole Nikon Guru, Jessika Creedon.  Her photography is awesome and her patience with my years of endless questions is forever something I will be extremely grateful for.  Link:  http://www.jessikacreedon.com/index.html 

I realize it has been a while since we have updated...we're busy...our dogs ate our keyboards...we're expecting a baby any moment now...we've suddenly developed an overwhelming fear of computer screens...we moved to Outer Magnolia.  Pick one.

I came across a new site today.  Love it.  She has a bunch o kids, enjoys crochet and photography...yet she isn't me!  Strange?  It's called Planet M Files and here is the link:  http://planetmfiles.com/


In other news...I'm all about baby crafts right now.  I seem to know a lot of expectant mothers and have baby on the brain all of the time.  I'm itching to make a few things but I have to wait until I get paid and have money...life is so rough and unfair sometimes.

Oh!  And fall is here!  Even here in the Sunshine State!  It may only last a week but at least it's here.  Cool weather...I have been able to breathe outside...it even smells fresher.   I just wish the leaves would change colors.   

Have you ever been out of diapers for your toddler but had plenty of swimmers on stock?  We all know that those things only work if the baby is actually swimming...but...if you're in a pinch and need to throw something on him so you can drive to the store and get diapers you can put a maxi-pad inside the swimmer and slip it on.  It holds a surprising ton of pee.  (As our "in a pinch" moment happened at bed time last night and he did not leak at all!)