Christmas Characters

Those darn kids. Ask them to pose for a photo before their Advent program and what do you get?

P.S. The muffs are vintage fur and used to belong to my Aunt Muffin. That really is her name. I am not making this up.

Cute holiday card

PlanetClaire readers know how much I love crafts. My friend Pierce at work got the most clever greeting card. It's a punch out Jumping Jack. I had my daughter put it together and now it's hanging on our tree. Cute, cute, cute.

P.S. Read Pierce's syndicated column here...

Let heaven and nature sing...

It’s the second Brownie meeting of the year and Maureen, the mom hosting the meeting, decides to take our eight Brownies to Piner’s Nursing Home for Christmas caroling.

Click here to read more Surrendering to Motherhood...

Merry Christmas from PlanetClaire!

From all of us (me) at PlanetClaire, we wish you a Merry Christmas, we wish you a Merry Christmas, we wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year !

The Fighting Sisters

When I talk to my girlfriends who have sisters, they always tell me how great they get along now, but how much they hated each other growing up.

Someone please transport me 10 years into the future, because my husband and I have three girls at home (ages 8 to 14) who want to kill each other on a regular basis.

Click here to read more...

These boots are made for splashin'

Well, things were pretty busy at PlanetClaire headquarters over this past four day weekend but Mrs. PC found time to ID these spiffy rain boots at a local department store. Not only did I try them on for size and photograph them, I printed out said photo and left it on Mr. PC's desk as a not so subtle Christmas gift hint. I hope they appear under my tree :)

Glitter Girl !!

Is this not the most fabulous glitter pack you ever saw? It is the Martha Stewart essential colors glitter set.
My friend Donna got one and when I saw it I had to restrain myself from taking hers then and there! I went to three different Michaels to find it. In the end, success.
Glitter glam is here for the holidays!

A Sunday Walk.

It’s Sunday morning at church, and this time, instead of the girls, I’m the fidgety one.

I check my watch compulsively — I don’t want to lose track of time. I have a mission to complete.

Click here to read more...

Baby shower

Another Donna White production: Baby shower and brunch for Lisa, Kathy and baby Emma.
Love, love, love the pink bling theme!

P.S. Please note tiny "diamonds" sprinkled within tulle on tables.

Last Halloween pics, I swear.

Ok, I promise these are the last Halloween pictures I will post. But I had to put them up because I love my skulls. Each skull was rolled in prism glitter and then hot glued onto a wooden thread spool painted black (thank you Grandma Evans). Neato!!! Now that these are done, I have officially moved on to Christmas crafts. Honest.

To catch a thief.

Here is my latest column...

To catch a thief.

When my husband re-landscaped our modest-size backyard, he left a bare patch of turned-up dirt under a scraggly birch tree.

This will be the perfect garden spot, he said. I’ll start with tomatoes.
To read more click here...

More Donna White Magic

Check out this candy box made by craft guru Mrs. White.
See the pile of bones on the top? Love it!
She embellished it with Jolie's Stickers and other Halloween decorations.
And it was filled with GOOD candy. This will be prominently displayed --maybe next to the Mad Scientist lab in the house.

Skullduggery!

Here's a neato bag I made out of some fabric called Skullduggery. The rose is black velvet with skull and crossbones metal charm. Perfect for Oct 31 !

Huffman Halloween!

Here's a few shots of my Halloween vignettes. Special thanks to Annabelle and Grandma Sue for the Mad Scientist supplies and artwork.
Mwwahhhh aaaa aaahhhhhhh !!!

The coolest cookie cutter EVER

Love, Love, Love it !!!!

Bonjour.

Here's a link to my most recent column. I called it Bonjour.

People have been leaving blog comments about the column online. One of the comments to the column was written in french:

mdr! Elle m'a appris tout ce que je sais, et ça n'est pas une mince affaire!

Translated by a computer it comes out like this:
Mdr! She learned me all that I know, and that is not a thin matter!

I think that's a compliment :)

Happy Birthday KC!

One great thing about October birthdays? Halloween themed birthday cards!
Happy Birthday to my dear friend Kevin.

It's all about Mike

Our dear friends Mike and Michelle came to CA for a little visit and Mike's 30th high school reunion.
We met up in San Francisco at Scoma's restaurant for dinner and more than a few laughs.
Mike and Michelle are raising an adorable young man, who happens to be autistic. They aren't able to take many vacations on their own, so this was a rare trip across country alone.
During the night, we debated over wine, seating arrangements, and whether to order appetizers and salads, or both.
"Mike, since it's your vacation and your reunion, it should be all about YOU," I said.
In that spirit, I have documented several key moments of our meal on Fisherman's Wharf.
Ladies and Gentlemen: Introducing The Fabulous Mike K., all the way from Spearfish, South Dakota.
Mike: Planet Claire salutes YOU.

DJ Rocks

My husband rocks. Look at the beautiful flowers he sent me today for our 19th anniversary!
Awwww..... I love that guy.

Thanks Michelle!

Check out this cool Barbie scarf my friend Michelle sent me as a belated birthday gift. Love it! Thanks Mk!

I surrender.

Here's something new I am doing at work....

From the October 6 Napa Valley Register:
http://www.napavalleyregister.com/articles/2008/10/07/life/doc48e9922ada19b035551650.txt

Surrendering to motherhood

Resistance is futile

By Jennifer Huffman

As a mom to three girls ages 8, 11 and 14, I find myself dashing through life like an endurance event — an Olympic decathlon 24/7, 365 days a year. It’s a daily race over hurdles and obstacles, often ending by collapsing on the couch sometime after 9 p.m.

But there’s one thing I could do that would make my life so much easier.

Surrender to motherhood.

(Click here to read more....)

Ding King!

Have you heard of the incredible Ding King? This nifty invention will pop the little dings out of your car doors. Keith and Gerry brought the Ding King over today and fixed up my car doors for me. Here's how it works.
Thanks Keith!! You are the Ding King King!

Halloween Spirit

Went to an unusual fine art fair over the weekend, where each booth was themed for Halloween. Love the goth/spook look.

Getting organized!

Oooh I'm so excited! Don brought me these wooden wine boxes and I have organized my scrapbook area! I am so happy to have a clean space to do my projects and SEE all my supplies. I wonder how long it will last, ha ha.