You have to see this......

I know that I make my own jewelry, but really, there are limits to my talent. : ) I am a daily reader of the Raffia blog (well again now that I have a computer). They are a local shop here in Billings, and they have the COOLEST stuff. Remeber the necklace Jaymee got me for Xmas? It came from there. If I didn't have to tote Elliott around, I might actually get to go into the store. There is just too much stuff for him to touch and break. They are having a contest and giving away this.....................

Yep, it's made out of a zipper. SO cool. Take a look at their blog here http://raffiasisters.typepad.com/raffia_sisters/

The end of the world.

Ok, not quite, but reeeeeally close. My computer DIED last week. Yes, it was as tragic as it sounds. I had to take it to the "Geek Squad" and apparently they had to replace the motherboard. I am obviously no kind of computer geek myself because I thought for sure that when I got it back everything would be gone. Nope. It's just fine. YAY! Ok, so now to catch you up. Ethan had a hockey tournament in Cody, WY this past weekend. My cousin Jaryn and his girlfriend, Freedom, came to spend the weekend with us, and Joe and Tyler were able to make it too. Ethan loves having people there to watch. Ethan's team took 1st out of 4 teams, and had 2 shut outs. Ethan even scored during the first game. It was so exciting. I think I might be turning into "that mom", the one that yells too much and cheers just a little too loud. I can't help it. I get so into the game and watching Ethan play.

Elliott has a great time in the locker room with all the big kids. He was butting heads (literally) with Ethan. All I wanted was a picture of them together. Ready for the game to start. Love the "game face."The games read left to right and the boxed team was the winning team. I felt kind of bad for the teams who lost against us. Ethan was Billings Teal. We had to play our other Billings team for the championship. They all played awesome.Ethan's BIGGEST fan. It looks like he might have scored here. He didn't, they were just messing around while we waited on the ref's to get on the ice.THE CHAMPIONS! So proud!

Success!

Etsy is a BIG place. There are hundreds (literally) of people selling jewelry, but last night I had a fellow shop owner look at my stuff and ask for two pairs of earrings. Sounds simple right. Yeah, not so much. She told me which items she liked the colors and designs of best, and then left it up to me. I racked my brain all night, and didn't get to sleep until 1:00am thinking of what and how and wondering if I could actually make her happy. I can always make things to please myself, and possibly a few others, but to make specific items for someone I don't even know, with very little direction, almost made me crazy! Well, I came up with these.

I love them. I was so impressed with myself, but I still had to impress my customer. YIKES! After I sent her the pictures, I was so nervous. I must have checked my email 100 times, waiting for her reply. Finally it came. "those earrings are OMG more than i could have hoped for...i'm very excited". Yep, that's what she said. WHEW! Such a relief and a huge accomplishment. So to go along with this excitement, are these! A fellow Etsy seller, makes pillow boxes, which is what I like to use to put my jewelry in for shipping. She made custom boxes for me, using a red embossing, and hand drew all the lips, and even made earring and necklace/bracelet cards for the insides. They are incredible, and give a little something extra to my business. So, I guess, all in all, I had a really great day. : ) Hope you did too.

Soooooooooo Slooooooooow

It's getting close to Jason coming home. No, I don't have a date, but I do know it's closer than it was a year ago. It seems like the past year flew by. Well, right up until midnight on January 1st, 2010. Time has come to a very slow crawl. Every day now drags by, and minutes feel like hours. I can't help but think about all the things that will change, and go back to "normal" when he gets home. I can't help but to be frustrated by small things that I have spent the past year just doing myself. Ethan's new phrase that I hear probably 10 times a day is "I wish my dad was home so that............". I know it wasn't that long ago that he was home, and we were lucky enough to spend a lot of time with him, but knowing that his homecoming is just around the corner makes it so hard to focus on anything else. I'm so thankful that he is safe, and that we have been given this opportunity. It has been hard, but so good for us. I can't wait to move forward with our lives.

Ethan and Elliott's jam session

Nothing makes me happier than to watch my kids having a great time together. This was the funniest 10 minutes of my life. I haven't laughed that hard in a really long time. Elliott was trying to mimic Ethan's air guitar, and after a while gave up and played lap drums. I laugh every time I watch this, and the other 5 videos I have of them. I hope it makes your day too!

Hockey at the Metra

I have to start with a huge thank you to Jaymee and Dereck. Jaymee and I had planned to go to the game together, and leave the little ones with Dereck (since they would both be sleeping), but Jaymee had a change in plans and she and Dereck both stayed home and kept Elliott for me. I had a great time just being with Ethan, and not lugging around an extra 25lbs, and trying to keep Elliott entertained an seated for 3 and 1/2 hours was so nice. Well, Joe and Tyler came up too, but you know what I mean. We all went to dinner at a new Italian restaurant, then I took Elliott to Jaymee, and headed to the game. While we were getting everyone situated on the plan, the Bulls came out of the locker room and before they headed to the ice, the kids got to give them knucks. This is by far one of Ethan's favorite things to do. Look how tiny he is compared to that guy. Mind you, the Bulls players are only 16-19 years old. Oh yeah, and they SMELL TERRIBLE! But, when you are 6, I'm sure they are impressive. Here is Ethan getting ready for his debut. He's just so stinkin' CUTE!All ready to hit the ice. Unfortunately, my pictures of them on the ice didn't turn out, but Tyler said he got some and will send them to me. LOVE US SOME BORRIS! Ethan cannot walk by Borris the Bull without getting knucks and usually his picture. After the 2nd period, the kids got to go back onto the ice and throw stuff into the stands with Borris. Yep, he fell, and the t-shirt didn't make it over, but after a couple tries he got it. It's not easy being 3 ft tall. Whew, a hard days work at being just a little bit famous. It's not easy but somebody has to do it.

20-10?

So, what is it? 20-10? 2 thousand 10? just 10? Well, whatever it is, it's here. I rang it in at the casino with my good friend Jackie and her husband. We had a fun night, but this morning started out much better. First, I got an email from Jason, then while I was on-line, so was he. He didn't have a camera or microphone, but he was able to use skype to chat with us and he got to see the boys. After several weeks of only receiving a few emails here and there from him, it was great to finally just chat. I was so spoiled talking to him and seeing him almost daily at first. I have no idea how families made it through without technology. If this morning was any indication of how the rest of my year will go, I am excited. Ethan and I are now watching hockey (go Flyers). We bet a quarter on the Winter Classic game today. So far a pretty uneventful game, but my team did just score. Ethan will be skating during the Billings Bulls game tomorrow night at the Metra. He is very excited. There should be about 2000 people there to watch. It's kind of his first taste of fame. I will be sure to take pictures. We wish you all a VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR!