time to start again!

so it is almost mid February already, and I just realised that I haven't blogged since November. Wow, time flies. We had a great Thanksgiving, joining my family at the Rogue River for food, fun and family time, this is a new tradition and is the plan from now on I believe for everyone who can make it. Christmas was really amazing this year too! We tried not to spend much money and had almost an entirely hand made Christmas, we all really loved everything we got and appreciated it so much, especially the lack of plastic and packaging! The girls have had about a weeks worth of "snow days" so far-including one yesterday-when there wasn't any snow. (Makes me wonder if maybe they just needed a midweek break!)
My sister decided that living in England and studying physics wasn't her cup of tea (oh-I am a riot!) so earlier this month, she moved back here and is staying in the loft-it is temporary, but she is paying rent, so that is a big help.
Valentines day is quickly approaching (which is one of my very favorite holidays of the entire year, barely eclipsed by Christmas and Blochtoberfest) so we are getting ready and excited for that. For years now, I have had a valentines day tradition with my friend Erika (she loves vday too!) we would do some fancy girly thing, so we would have a great time and let our men off the hook. (side note; boys DO NOT understand valentines day. They get all worried and anxious about the right present or what to do for dinner, when all the while, we are just happy to be in love and think it's cool to celebrate it) Anyway, every year we do something, when we had kiddos, they started coming with us, and this year, the big day falls on a Saturday, so the whole gang is coming. Mom and Dad are even coming up and we are going to eat at Benihana-which is Japanese food that they cook on your table, it is fun and so delicious, followed afterwards by big piles of strawberries back at Erika's house with little shortcakes, cool whip and chocolate to dip it in. Sounds dreamy right-what's not to love?!
The shop is doing well, there haven't been many sales lately, I guess it isn't candle season. I am working on some new things and can't wait to bring them into the shop. BuzzHandmade will soon be carrying more goodies made with bee products for you and your home, so that project has been keeping me pretty busy. (stay tuned)
The sun has been peeking out a couple of days a week, so we have been able to take walks, play outside (in the mud) and start getting excited about our garden. So far we have done the clearing out and cleaning up, we even bought some neat new seeds, but we really can't wait for the days when the sun comes to stay and we get to be outside more. We have big plans for this summer-there is a Disneyland trip, Mexico, camp outs, rafting plans, bonfires, parties, and of course just making time to visit and play with friends. Hope to see you soon!