I got a haircut 2 days ago.  I told Kimberly to cut it so the gray showed…there's a lot of it, but it still tries to hide under the color on top.  I have never, ever colored my hair – my Mom told me, when I was a little girl, that women paid big bucks to try and get my color…strawberry blond or Titian, a color that the artist Titian frequently used in his paintings.  Strawberry blond doesn't sound quite accurate because my hair really isn't the color of strawberries.  Anyway, I am a good girl and have always listened to my Mom…besides, it's easier if I have someone to blame!  So Kimberly took a lot off – it's cute and I'm getting used to it being shorter:)  But you still can't see much of the gray.  I am getting old, but you can't tell much from my hair color unless you happen to catch a glimpse of the underside.  What I have realized is that my eyebrows have a disproportionate amount of white in them.  My eyes aren't as strong as they used to be, so I have moved up the "off the rack, reading glasses strengths" to a 200.  I have been having trouble to see my brows in order to pluck them.  Now I don't know if they'll come back in with color or without color to them. 

At least, most of it!  You all know how hard it is to not miss something!  That Christmas stocking that someone carried into their room, that box of ornaments that got covered by a jacket on an out of the way chair.  Putting away our boxes is such a rush and madness that once they get up in the attic – and this is not a traditional attic with stairs that I can go up into…it's a garage attic that requires a big ladder and some major muscles – if we have "stuff" (more of that collection at my house) that we miss, it may be sitting around until we get the Easter "stuff" down!  Thankfully, that's the next holiday when we have decorations with any major bulk, and the containers are minimal…mostly baskets.  Anyway, I'm making a pile.  Hopefully, as I clean my workroom, I won't find too much more Christmas stuff!  I do keep all my Christmas scrapbooking "stuff" in my workroom all year…who knows when the urge to scrapbook the holiday might come upon me…so it is better if it is all kept together.  But I have work to do, so I must keep cleaning!  Perhaps when it is more organized, so will my brain be…which you can tell that "it" isn't just by my sentence formation!  A couple of days later… It is not a good idea to walk away when you are

 I love Valentine's Day treats!  But most of the commercial packaging, while descriptive, doesn't rock my world.  So take a few minutes and dress up your treats for your favorite Valentine with cute patterned paper and embellishments.  These can be super simple or a little more involved.  But they are so much fun to make!  These papers are from last year's We R Memory Keepers "Heart Attack" line.  I just read from Stacy Julian's Facebook page that Pantone has announced that Turquoise is the "in" color this year.  I guess that WRMK was ahead of their time since they definitely use strategically place turq in this line!  Love that turq! The instructions are really easy: measure the dimension around the box, add about 1/2" and then cut a strip the height of the box.  Wrap around the box, secure with a sturdy tape (red line) and then embellish.  You can do this with any paper line!  Too cute!

Anyone that has a Target in their neighborhood (or on their shopping route) knows all about those dollar bins in the front of the store.  I know that it tends to be that "shiny" thing that distracts us from what we are actually shopping for – mostly really fun junk that we don't need, but heck…for a dollar…we can afford that!  But we don't NEED it.  Anyway, I usually just avoid shopping PERIOD because I really don't need anything.  But yesterday, Megan came home with some fun Valentine stuff from the dollar bins.  So while there's still the possibility of you being able to find some of the products, I'm making REALLY inexpensive Valentines, care of Target and their dollar bins, with a little help from stamps from Michaels dollar stamps!   There are patterned card blanks, 8-count with coordinating envelopes, but no text.  There are also dimensional stickers, die-cut patterned papers, rub-ons (not my favorite), clear and cardstock stickers, even doilies.  Here's just a few ideas! Have fun with your super dollar deal finds!

 Beautiful frilly, lace adorned, romantic versed Valentine cards are great for adults, but all that effort is lost on almost anyone under the legal age for chewing bubble gum.  But that doesn't mean that they must be condemned to receive only cards that are packaged in bulk from those "big box" stores or the corner pharmacy.  You can create fun Valentines for kids as well as those for adults. Inside the skunk card…  What sort of cards appeal to children?  Traditionally, children like funny Valentines, and have easily tickled funny bones.  You can take lead from jokes that are super silly…perfect for kids!  I have a box of cute die cut chipboard shapes from Die Cuts With a View from their Green Stack collection that I have been waiting to use.  When I noticed all those cute little faces looking at me out of the packaging window, I thought "Perfect!"   They then inspired me to go online and look for jokes that included beavers, skunks and squirrels.  I am including them in the download section if you are interested.  But you can choose any sort of pre-made die cuts or make up something of your own.  Then go looking for "clean" jokes – the goofier the better!  They don't have to be Valentine related, but don't forget that important little bit of text under the punchline!  Here are some examples! Aren't making Valentine cards fun?  I will get to

 To a casual passerby, the small pile of what appears to be snow next to our front sidewalk may appear to be remnants of a trip to the mountains, since actual snow in San Diego is HIGHLY unlikely.  To the residents of our house, a once in a blue moon occurrence has happened.  While trying to fit our frozen food purchases in our outside freezer today, it was determined by Meg that this could not be accomplished without first defrosting our 20 plus year old upright freezer.  Megan was the official "defroster", and I was her assistant, carrying big pots of ice chunks and shaved ice outside.  Not really enough to build an actual snowman (5' X 2' by 1'high), but funny to see how many pots it took to carry it out.  While at the grocery store, we were just talking about how little we had actually gotten accomplished today, and now we can end the day with a feeling of success, knowing that there is plenty of room to add more frozen goods to the shelf.  One of these days, we are going to need to get a new freezer, but until then, I am happy with the hand-me-down upright from my MIL, grateful that my husband is clever enough to figure out a way to add a latched lock to it so it doesn't accidentally get left slightly ajar.  This is

 Okay…not quite technically DONE!  When I say done, I mean I am ready to move past the the decorations, the tree, the baking (at least for now:), shopping and wrapping presents, hiding things, really…the projects that go along with the season.  I'm done with the green and ready to combine my reds with a little, or a lot, of pink!  Don't get me wrong…I love the traditions of the Christmas season: the excitement, the time spent with family and friends, the parties and service projects, sharing our time and energies.  I get in the mood for Christmas starting about mid-July and can keep going for months.  But Christmas is so BIG and I am ready for simple.  I want to move on to an uncluttered house (easier to dust!), sweet words of love, romance, fresh flowers and definitely different shapes, maybe along the line of…hearts!  I have banned myself from going to my office so that I could spend time with my family, but now the last of the overnight company is gone (boohoo) and although the putting away of the decorations is weighing heavy on my mind, I feel the need to do something different.  Besides, the boys (required for getting all the Christmas bins down from the attic) are out camping in the desert, so the finishing of the clean-up will just have to wait!  Like it or not, I am ready for a change.  So here come the Valentines!   Pinecone

I always forget about this until Christmas time when someone send it to me so I remember to do it for the kids!  Enjoy, and go do it for yourself and/or family! Send your own ElfYourself eCards And a ho, ho, ho!

 I've been alive for over half a century and once again, Christmas has sneaked right up on me.  You'd think that I would have figured out how to avoid this predicament.  I always try to get my act together and prepare for the season a little in advance, but it doesn't matter how well I plan.  My blog goals have slipped right by me without noticing – it's been over a week since my last post and I completely missed my Scripture Sunday, which I was determined not to do!  Not that anyone's life will be different without the cataloging and sharing of MY life, opinions or activities.  Sometimes life gets so busy in the actual living of it that recording it will have to be done by those "angels above us" that are "silent notes taking, of every action"…with the admonition of "Do what is right."  Having relationships with people, one on one, is even more important than sharing with the masses…and I say THAT totally tongue in cheek considering my huge quantity of visitors, which I appreciate nonetheless.  But I had a lot of fun last week, including a last trip to Disneyland with Meg to see the Christmas decorations before our passes were blocked out for holiday traffic.  But I would be remiss if I didn't share the creative talents of my daughter Megan, as well as acknowledging how much

In a previous post, I spoke of my son Jake and his carrying on the Naylor gingerbread house tradition.  He pointed out to me that I didn't really show his talents and he would like to be famous for good reason.  So here are some examples of his skills…prepare to be dazzled with his talent!  Disclaimer:  All gingerbread is made and baked by Jake…you can't do this with graham crackers!  These houses are major sturdy!  He sorts the M and M's into different colors from different bags.  Anyone have any Shrek bags hanging around?  They have good colors in them!  Flash!!!  Don't try this on a fresh house!  This one is 6 weeks stale…see the dumpster in the background? Here's from a different year… And still another! Isn't he incredibly creative and talented?  Gingerbread house is kind of an understatement!  Trust me, in my children's younger years we never went to this extreme!