Christmas Pics & Videos, Butter Tarts & A Few Sales

Hi everyone,

I hope you are enjoying the holidays! I apologize for not updating the blog - we are enjoying some much needed family time. I have so enjoyed doing nothing but visiting friends, speaking with family on the phone and eating way too much. That is one of my New Year's resolutions - to lose weight. I have yet to succeed at keeping a resolution, but I am not a quitter :) I can't wait to get back to crafting and have so much to post this coming week. One of the gifts Allan got me was an Ott floor lamp so I can actually craft at night now woo hoo!

Here are a few pictures of what we have been up to:

Waking the THREE kids up on Christmas morning.

 

Christmas Brunch: Truffled Eggs with Chives on a Portobello Mushroom, topped with Shaved Parmesan. Kiwi and Orange Compote on the side. It tasted better than it looks :)

It was Freeway's first Christmas and he handled it quite well overall. The tree traumatized him at first (It's big! It blinks! Why is a tree my house? Wait, can I tinkle on it?) but he got used to it.

When Rosie tore open her presents Christmas morning, Freeway just looked at her and then to us, wondering why we were not stopping her from such destruction. He let her open all the toys and treats then he took them and ran to play.

The video above is Freeway discovering that one of the toys makes an extra noise (and my very annoying laugh). Christmas dinner and all of the treats ensured that come tree time next year he will be just as excited as the rest of us.

The day after Christmas was very cold (about 15-20 F) but sunny. Heavy rains had washed away a lot of the snow, so we decided to head to the dog park. We were only able to stay for a few minutes before the dogs got too cold but here is Rosie making friends. Who am I kidding -  she barked and scared that poor dog lol - she likes to be on her own to investigate, while Freeway instantly goes and makes friends.

We also head out to Cape Spear, the easternmost point in North America, and Signal Hill where Marconi received the first transatlantic telegraph message. I think I need glasses - I saw people by these statues of a Labrador and Newfoundland dog and said to Allan WOW look how big those dogs are! I didn't know they weren't real :(

Today we are headed to Rod and Colleen's house. Allan works with Rod, his wife Colleen is very fun. I made Butter Tarts, one of the few desserts that is truly unique to Canada. They are similar to a pecan pie but without pecans.  Here is the recipe - I really have no idea if it is good as this is the first time I am making or tasting these things. The recipe I used is from The Best of Bridge, one of the most famous Canadian cookbook series - I think it is the equivalent of the Better Homes & Gardens Cookbook for us Americans. I found it on the Joy of Baking site *here*.

Sales, Specials & Happenings

Embellish-Online.com Store

Check out Embellish-Online's Deal of The Day! Every day there is a new sale for you to check out. You can use code word GLITTER to save an EXTRA 20% off your entire order - even items that are deals of the day! Today May Arts ribbon is 20% off!

Odd Bird Planet

Odd Bird Planet has tons of new releases you just have to check out - I will have lots of inspiration to show you this coming week! There is also a sale going on! Each day, leading up to the 12th day of Christmas, Odd Bird Planetwill have a coupon for a  percentage off your entire order. Starting on the 25th at 11%, increasing by 1% each day, ending with 22% on the last day. Keep an eye on Johanna's blog for the daily sale.
 
In addition to the percent (%) off your entire order, specific items will be on sale each day. Your percent (%) off will be an additional % off of that day's sale items, clearance items, and regular priced items. Nothing will be excluded from the percent (%) off that day. However, you will not be able to combine your % off with any other discount codes you may already have.
 
If you decide to shop on more than one day of The 12 Days of Christmas Sale and you want us to combine your orders to save on shipping, just include that comment along with your original order number in the "special instructions" section of each subsequent order during checkout.
 
Odd Bird Planet will be closed from December 24th through January 4th. So, no new orders placed during that period will be processed or shipped during that time. We'll begin order fulfillment the week of January 5th, when the elves come back from vacation.

Sweet 'n Sassy Shop

The Sweet 'n Sassy Store is celebrating the holidays with a huge year end sale. Save 10-40% off many items in the store!

Look for the Sweet 'n Sassy Blog Hop starting on the 31st - challenges, inspiration galore and prizes to be had! Stay tuned for details!

The Rubber Cafe

Shimmerz Paints are $3.24 a jar on sale!

Toodles & Binks

For a limited time they’ve got a choice of any three of the current designs for £11.00, under the 3 stamp bundle - all you need to do when you buy that product is place your choice in the comments box on the order. Additionally, if one of those stamps happens to be Toodles & Binks Skate, they will also include the Figures of 8 quote. They will ship internationally.

Thanks for stoppin' by!

Suzy

Comments

[Debbie Scheunemann]

Suzy, your dogs are adorable! Are they hairless? What kind of poochies are they? I must've watched that little video 10 times. Too cute!

[Denise]

Love your family photos! It's so nice to learn a little about our fellow stampers!

[Elena]

Glad you had a great time Suzy! Thank you for sharing great pictures and fun video!

[Conniecrafter]

Loved that video, the toy we got our dog doesn't even make noise and she was scared of it, but our cat liked it..LOL!

[Heather Fullerton (Retired Heather)]

Great photos Suzy. The dogs look so great in their PJs. Thanks for the sales sites. Have a wonderful 2009
Heather

[Robb_eeie]

Thanks for sharing your Holidays with us :) I love the pics, especially of the boys in their PJ's! Ha! Looks like they have new clothes too. Hmmmmph. Someone at this end of the world is very jealous and is in desperate need of more coats/pjs too.

Hope you have a wonderful New Year Suzy :-)

[Heather Imhoff]

Looks like you enjoyed the holidays. Happy New Year!!