'Tis the season to be jolly!

I put up my Christmas tree last night! Put on some carols and lit my holiday candles. Nothing compares to the warmth of the holidays! Constance made the garland for our tree (with minimal help from me) and helped me hang the Christmas lights outside. Jess helped me unearth everything from the shed, and reload the shed with now-emoty boxes. I set up my three (yes, three) nativity scenes and hung all of my hokey wall decor up. I have boxes all over the place, but it will all soon be cleaned up and ready to go.
Eric has been hard at work studying away in preparations for exams and presentations. But he still makes time for us, which is always special. We went out and did some Christmas shopping yesterday, and got stuff for our new fish tank (same fish, upgraded tank).
Exciting news (more, I know)! Constance is the 'Star of the Week' in her class she gets to brint the snack, read her favorite story to the class, be the line leader all week, and gets to take a poster all about her to display for the week. She's thrilled!
Logan has decided that it's more fun to take the ornaments off of the tree than it is to put them on. He's also decided that the garland looks better in his mouth than hanging on the braches. We'll have to wait for a few of the beads to... um... resurface... as it were, and then they'll have to be thrown out. *uncomfortable cough* Ewww.
Well, I'm off to go and convince Eric that we need a cat named Alice (it's involved). Wish me luck!
-Jeri

Christmas is coming! Christmas is coming!

As you can tell by the update of my blog, I am thrilled that Christmas is so near! I've made new stockings, a new tree skirt, ornaments, garlands, and a tree topper! I'm so excited that I get to put it all up on FRIDAY!!! WOO HOO!!!!

I love watching the kids' faces Christmas morning, when they see the gifts under the tree. I love that they willingly go and donate their old toys to children who may not otherwise have Christmas. I love the spirit of love and hope that lingers all over my home, and the joy that it brings to us all. I love the smell of fresh baked cookies, homemade fudge, and Christmas trees. I love that we've already scheduled Christmas exchanges, early dinners, parties, and more. I love that I have a lot of my Christmas shopping done already! I LOVE CHRISTMAS!!!

I'm even excited for Thanksgiving this year. Thanksgiving will be wonderful, spent with dear friends. I've been put in charge of stuffing, and Eric is so excited that he gets my super-yummy sausage water chestnut stuffing! It's SO good!

1. I hope you all have a very happy Thanksgiving, and that you'll all be kept safe! If you're going to any of the Black Friday sales, remember the important stuff: Hot cocoa if you're going early to stand outside in the bitter cold.
2. Your shopping list, organized by person, store, and section.
3. And finally, a Tazer... because sometimes people just get dang rude on Black Friday (evil chuckle).

Let the merriness begin! -Jeri

TWILIGHT NIGHT!!!

I am so excited! In about two hours, I'll be going on a date with may super-duper hubby to see Twilight! I'll let you know how it is tomorrow! BYE!!!

My new 'do

So this is my new hairdo... whaddya think?
I think it's super duper!

Gilbert Days Parade

So Constance was in the Gilbert Days Parade yesterday, and it was great! Logan was at home with a sick daddy, but I took some great pics for him. He loved seeing the picture of the old firetruck! Ah, Gilbert Days, a fun parade that mixes all that is old and new. Lots of fun! My favorite part is always the classic cars and the MANY horses. Such beautiful creatures!

Okay, so this float was AWESOME! You hardly ever see something of this magnitude in the Gilbert days parade, but I gotta admit, this one was a doozy! The people who were on the the float were even doing Tai Chi. I have no clue whatsoever they were promotin, beit a school, church, or dojo of some kind, but nonetheless, it was pretty stinkin' cool.

I did learn some valuable things going yesterday.

1. Six year olds get very bored waiting for the parade to start.
2. Six year olds are still bored while sitting on the parade float.
3. No matter how hot its going to be by 11 am, you will still freeze to death until 10:59 am.
4. People who, as a concrete rule, never use a Port-a-Potty will in fact, after doing a thirty minute I'm-gonna-pee-in-my-seat dance, finally mentally renegotiate their rules, allow for emergency circumstances, and finally cross the street and use the oh-so-scary thing.
5. Traffic after that parade is horrible!
6. Black hair in direct sun gets REALLY warm (alas, not warm enought to thaw the rest of you. it's like a weird hot flash).

All in all, it was a fun day, and I got to spend time with some very dear friends and watch my daughter in her very first parade. What a day!

SO... Red and I don't get along

Okay, So I dyed my hair. Deep burgundy my butt! I left it on five minutes longer than recommended. Do you know what I got? CARROT RED WITH A PINK TINGE! ACK!!! Eric is gonna be pissed that I have to buy more dye to fix it. The only color that will even kind of fix this disaster is black. BLACK!!! Grrr. I look ridiculous!
I consider my lesson learned. never again will I attempt red. It may make my eyes look REALLY blue, but it just plain old hates me.
Eric's gonna kill me.

Circular Thinking

So here is picture for today, I might do some more tweaking to it in the weeks to come, but for now, this is 'Circular Thinking'. I hope you like it! -Jeri

P.S. The next time you see me, don't be surprised if my hair is RED!

Renovations

As you can see, I redid my blog, something that's a little bit better suited to my artsy-fartsy-ness. Also, I added a player that has a bunch of music that I love. However, 'Everyday' and one other (don't remember which) by Dave Matthews Band are NOT those songs. It'll be fixed soon though. Also, 'The Cantina Band' by John Williams is actually the 'Star Wars Disco', though it does infact have a funked out version of the cantina band in it. There you go, enjoy! -Jeri
P.S. Yes, I love Paramore.

My day in a word, splendid

So today started out as any other, the hubby going to clinicals at the VA hospital, Constance to school, and Logan and I with the day ahead of us.

I had some returns to do, so I went and did them, but I was near my grandpartents house, so I stopped in to visit with them. I had only planned to stay with them for an hour or so, but 3 hours later, I realized it was time to go get Constance. What a day!

I was able to talk with both of them at length with many wonderful things. My grandfather even gave me this test on what kind of job would be best, based on this really interesting color scale. I was purple which meant I could be succesful at any number of artisticly based professions, including a painter, museum curator, industrial designer, or architect. Now, as many of you know, these are the four things I want to study and get degrees in when I finally get to go back to school. Let me tell you, it was cool!. I got to kid around with my grandma, which is always fun, and grandpa and I got to pick on her a little.

Logan and i played with blocks, and he told them all about Halloween, cars, trains, christmas, and his favorite topic; food. He was so tired after lunch, but he wanted to play. We watched their cats in the backyard, another litter was born about 3 months ago, so it was fun to watch them frolic. SO CUTE!!! (I wish I could frolic...)

I got to go and get Constance from school, and then we went to the store. When we got home, we put together flowers for the float we'll be decorating tommorrow night for the Gilbert Days Parade (I've passed the torch, afterall, I was only in it NINE times. Only fair that it be her turn.)

It was a day that may seem dull to some, but it was one of the best days I've had in a while. I love my kids so much! -Jeri

Still retarded

Okay. the real link to my deviantart galerie is http://moosie6182.deviantart.com/ sorry about that.





Anywho, spent the day at craft stores and doctor's offices. My feet hurt, and I still have a bunch o' stuff to do for the day. Ah... thank goodness it's sandwigh night. I love sandwich night!

I didn't paint this, but I like the artist that did. Can't remeber his name to save my life... whatch gonna do? Have a spectacular remainder of your day! -Jeri

Okay, I'm retarded.

The link for my deviantart gallery is: www.moosie6182.deviantart.com Enjoy!

#1 (see post below): Hair today, Gone tommorrow, & 2 (this one): Deviousness

Um, I forgot to let you know. I have posted many of my works on deviantart.com, and they are all available for purchase. Not that you're going to buy them or anything, but I'm proud of myself for having the guts to post them anyhow. Yea me! Have a good day! -Jeri

So if I were able to do anything to my hair, and have the body to dress anyway I please, this is how I'd look. This is Jeravatari, and she is my avatar. She's a little 'punk', but that's why she works so well for me. I may not be a crazy-too-much-eyeliner-wearing-rock star, but there's an inner me that wishes I were. ^_^ I may do the hair though. My hubby doesn't understand the attraction. But dang, wouldn't it be great to stand out in a crowd? I sure as heck think so!

Now, take Hayley Williams. She is a rock star, therefore according to said hubby, she can have the hair. But I don't want it to be cherry red (even though it would be FREAKING AWESOME), but burgundy with black could be fun. Not chunked like I sprayed it for Halloween, but maybe burgundy with black underneath and black low lights all over? I think that could be great! I dunno. I'm at least gonna do the cut, it's pretty much what I have now, just more fun! What do you think?

Well, here is another of my works. This was inspired by my aunt, who lives for fall, leaves, and art! So, Lisa, this one's for you!

Fall Joys by Jeri Housel

ILL!

UGH! I hate being sick! I could barely sleep last night, then I slept through my alarm this morning, thus making Constance almost late for school, and completely forgetting to send her with the stuff she needed (LIKE HER UNIFORM) for Girl Scouts. I'm feeling completely negligent as a parent right now. I repeat: UGH!





In lighter news: yesterday I made a picture for my brother, one that has been in the making for about 15 years. Ha! I finally have the tech to do it. SO... with out further ado, I give you...

"Whirled Peas"

Okay, background time. My brother used to make fun of me for being a peace loving, tree hugging, animal friendly hippie artist. Oh well. I am what I am. So, he used to tell me I should just paint a picture that embraces my quest for world peace, like peas in a blender. Haha, get it? Whirled Peas. Well, Chris this ones for you!

Have a good day, all. I'm going back to bed. -Jeri

Paintings and Results

As promised, here are some of my projects, I'm experimenting with fractals and whatnot, it's new and I haven't worked all the kinks out yet, but I'm enjoying it.

Chasing Hope

Wheel of Time

Oil on Water

So Barak Obama is president, well, will be soon. Can't say that I'm thrilled, but democracy is a beautiful thing, and I'm greatful that we have the freedom to choose and participate. No sense in complaining. Well, have a good day! -Jeri

I just got the soundtrack for Twilight and I LOVE IT!!!!!!!!! Get it, listen to it, fall in love with it! I watched Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire the other day and sqeaked when Rob came on. It was completely invoulentary! LOL. Oh well, it made Eric laugh and roll his eyes at me. Whatcha gonna do, right? I can't help it, I'm a fan! Can't wait for the movie either!

Okay, so I found a new art program that I'm gonna try out some fractal work on, so look for my art in the days to follow! Bye!

Me