The Holiday Season is Definitely Here...

and all the busyness that comes with it!!

It snowed all afternoon and all evening on Saturday, but this weekend it was the fluffy stuff (we ended up with about 3 or 4 inches of it) and there was virtually no wind, so although it was really cold, it was quite beautiful.

Remember my icy ax picture from the weekend before? Here's the same ax after this weekend's snow.

Saturday night I took Kaitlin to the production of The Christmas Carol at the Dakota Theatre here in Yankton and she loved it! She sat and watched the whole thing beautifully! To make it even more exciting, her Junior Kindergarten teacher had a small role in it which I did not know before hand.

I have been toying with having Kaitlin tryout for Beauty and the Beast production which is going to be put on by the Lewis & Clark Children's Theatre Company here next March. She is not convinced she wants to do it, but seeing her teacher up there got her a little more excited about the prospect. We'll see...

After the play, we drove along Santa Clause Lane along Riverside Park to see all the lit-up snowmen, Santas, elves, reindeer...she was so awed by it all and with all the snow, it was quite enchanting. I want to go back some evening and get some pictures there...didn't have my camera with me that night.

Sunday I did some miscellaneous things around the house and worked on some Christmas ornaments that I am making for someone to give as a gift. I will share when I am done with them. I made similar ones last year for my mom and mom-in-law and they were a hit.

We watched TWO movies as a family in the evening...kind of a lazy evening for us. First, we watched Transformers, which I didn't expect to like, but was pleasantly surprised by it.

Second, we watched License to Wed which I knew I would love...I'm a sucker for those romantic comedies, ya know...Justin fell asleep about three-quarters of the way through that one.

Tonight, we went to the Santa's Workshop event at Kaitlin's school. There were all kinds of craft tables for Kaitlin to enjoy. She made a snowman notepad.

The principal helped her make a gingerbread man ornament.

Her teacher watched her make a snowman door hanger...

which she was very proud of!

She also got to Santa's lap...

Well, sort of.

On the way home, she said, "Mom, that wasn't Santa. It was just Mr. Brown...he was pretending to be Santa."

"Did you tell him that you knew it was him?"

"No, I didn't want to ruin the surprise," she said.

Matthew Mayer, a Budding Artist, and Cold-Weather Comfort Food

Matthew Mayer:
The annual Christmas dinner was last night at the College and afterward Matthew Mayer held a concert in the auditorium. I heard him for the first time last year in November and LOVED him immediately. I was so moved that I actually wrote a poem about the experience and later created a layout around it.

Nothing has changed...he's was still AMAZING. I bought two more of his CD's to add to the three that I bought last year and he autographed both for me...he's such a down-to-earth, personable guy! He currently lives in Omaha, NE and plays mainly within the Midwest, but has played in cities all over the country. If you ever have the chance to hear him in concert, you should not pass up the chance.

You can learn more about him and purchase his CD's on his official website. You can also hear a couple of his songs on his MySpace page.

He's just such an outstanding musician and you can see how much he LOVES music and performing. He gets very emotionally involved while playing and is interactive with his audience, which is wonderful.

There was a couple songs in his performance where the piano actually began to smoke! I don't know about you, but I've never seen a piano smoke before...talk about putting energy and emotion into your music!!

Thanks for another night of beautiful music, Matt!

(The photos above were taken by Theresa Condon. I am also the advisor for the student newspaper at the College and she is our staff photographer. Thanks for the photos, Theresa! I was too wrapped up in the music to take any pictures!)

A Budding Artist:
Kailtin has been all about coloring and drawing and painting lately! She spends hours at her old-fashioned school desk in the living room coloring or at the kitchen table painting...it's so fun to watch her 'creating'!

Cold-Day Comfort Food:
I made chili today. Considering it's only 12 degrees and snowing here today, it sounded like a good idea.

I am not, nor never will be, a gourmet. My recipe is simple...

2 lbs browned hamburger
2 cans chili beans
2 cans of diced tomatoes
2 cans tomato sauce
2 diced green peppers
1 diced onion
1 packet of chili seasoning
Salt, pepper and oregano to taste
Garnish with a little shredded cheese and serve

I always like to make a BIG batch so it lasts the weekend...and sometimes more. To me, chili tastes even better 'left-over'. It's been simmering on the stove all afternoon...mmmm...I think it's time for supper!

Introducing Mirecle33 Creativity Patch

Wow...there really is a 'patch' for everything these days!! :-)

Now I know exactly what I need when I hit my next creative slump...the Mirecle33 Creativity Patch. Thanks Chris Dunmire!

I just need to find the Moretime24 Patch and I'm all set...if only it were that easy!

Go Elf Yourself!!

No, this is NOT profanity...but it is about the funniest thing you'll ever see.

Have you heard of "Elf Yourself" on the OfficeMax website? I had run across this myself about a week ago and was going to create one with Kaitlin's face, but just hadn't gotten around to it yet.

Then, my sister calls me tonight and says, "You have to go check your email RIGHT NOW! Mom just about pissed her pants!" (Sorry, Mom...but I just about did, too!)

So, I did and this is what I found (warning - may take a bit to load, but totally worth it!):

The Pechous Family Elf Yourself

Now, it might be as funny to you being you may not actually KNOW these people, but from left to right the dancing elves are me, my mom, my dad (he doesn't normally stick his tongue out, but adds SO MUCH to this), and my younger brother (with one of his classic goofy faces)...notice my sister didn't want to embarrass herself and therefore left out her face. I don't care though...it's just hilarious...and, of course, I think I'm the best (sexiest) elf!

AND...here's the Paulson Family Elf Yourself!

That's Justin on the left, Kaitlin in the middle and me on the right this time.

So, go make a dancing elf troup out of you own family faces and leave me a link in a comment...I'd love to laugh at your family, too!!

An Icy Weekend...

The icy snow on Saturday kept us in all weekend. Here's a couple pictures I took on Sunday.

Can you see the ice on the trees...brrr. It was even worse when I had to chip away at an inch or so of ice that blanketing my car so that we could open the doors and get to school/work this morning. One more reason I'm not fond of the winter months.

I tried again on the Christmas dress photos on Sunday...this time, we were successful, I think. I can't share them just yet though because it's supposed to be a surprise for the grandparents...sorry, Ruth, I know it's going to drive you crazy to wait! :-) Just remember, Christmas is only a few weeks away!

It's snowing...

In honor of our first snowfall today...here's some snow fun:

TYPEflake - create a snowflake out of personalized text
Make-a-Snowflake - create your own cut-out snowflake

Unfortunately for us, it's not a pretty snow. It's a heavy, wet, sleety snow. Nonetheless, Kaitlin was adamant about going out into the mess as soon as she got up and looked out the window this morning, so I bundled her up and out she went for a while.

We also attempted our Christmas dress shoot today. Not sure if I'm quite pleased with the results...may have to try again later. Have I ever mentioned how I hate taking pictures indoors??

The Sprague Lab: Blog of Note and a Quote

I love Jessica Sprague! Not only is she an incredibly talented hybrid scrapbooker, but also an incredibly generous teacher! She is always providing a host a great tutorials through her blog, The Sprague Lab, and sharing interesting bits and pieces of her life.

She recently completed a redesign of her blog, which is GREAT by the way, and included this quote in her header:

"Time stands still best in moments that look suspiciously like ordinary life."
~Brian Andreas

It is definitely one of my new favorites!!