Sunday, December 31, 2006

meagan's message to you...(and our winner)


Last night I was working and Meagan was behind me playing with my scraps. She showed me what she had created and asked me to take a picture and put it on my blog. So, from
both of us, "Happy New Year!"

Meagan also chose a name for our little give-away. Suzi!!

...shoot me an e-mail with your mailing address and I'll send a package to you as soon as the post offices decide to open again! :o)

happy 2007!!!

Saturday, December 30, 2006

eye spy...

okay, so this may not be entertaining to you...but I'm posting it anyway. I was working on editing some family photos for a project I'm working on. I walked out of the room to help Seth put in a video and when I came back this is what I saw on my monitor. I know, it's nothing really...but it struck me. Look at all of these eyes. These are the eyes of my family members - my husband, my kids, my parents, my brothers and sister, my nieces and nephews, the eyes of those who I love most. I look at these eyes and feel love and peace. I feel happiness. I hope they know. That's what I spy.

Thursday, December 28, 2006

...i'm still in the giving mood...

How about a give-away to start off the New Year?? I have an extra copy of the Special Issue by Paper Crafts magazine Paper Crafts Gourmet that I'd love to share.
(oh, and see that happy little sunshine card on the cover?? Guess who made it?!?)
I have some other fun goodies to throw in as well. If you're interested, just leave a comment and we'll draw a name on New Year's Eve!

Wednesday, December 27, 2006

homemade Christmas gifts...

I love creating (and receiving) Christmas gifts that are handmade. Last year I made a majority of the gifts we gave...but I don't think they went over so well. So this year I limited my handmade gifts to calendars (and saved myself a ton of time and stress).

Every year I make a calendar for my Grandma and for my parents. (Except for one year...and I sure heard about it! LOL) I've been trying to vary the styles and sizes, just for fun. This year's calendar was pretty simple...but I think it's my favorite so far. I used a template from MS Word to create the calendar, resized it and changed the font, added the birthdays and holidays, printed it on white cardstock, added the patterened paper, photos, embellishments and a favorite quote, and had them bound! I found some fun ribbons for hanging them and they are done! I also created a fun little perpetual date calendar for my aunt...kind of a handy little book to keep on hand, I think! I found this idea on Two Peas.

My calendars went together so easily this year that I decided to create one for us too!

Here's a peek at the inside of our calendar:



Tuesday, December 19, 2006

we've been busy...

...building gingerbread houses














...digging out of the snow (DEEP snow!)




















...decorating TWO Christmas trees



















...making LOTS of neighbor treats














... finishing up our Christmas cards (which I'm sending off tomorrow...just in the nick of time!)

I LOVE this time of year!!! :o)

Friday, December 15, 2006

an emotional appeal contest...

well, I didn't win...bummer - that new lens would have been great! BUT...my photo is included in the Tamron gallery of their favorite entries! You can see it HERE -- my mom and dad are so cute, huh?!? It's cool to have my photo included among their favorites...they had over 1300 entries!

Dear Santa...

So I was reading through some of the e-mails that came through to me while we were out of town, and found this one from my sister. I'm not sure how she got hold of the letter I sent to Santa this year...but since she did, I thought I'd share it with you all here as well. ;)

Dear Santa,

I've been a good mom all year. I've fed, cleaned and cuddled my children on demand, visited the doctor's office more than my doctor, and sold sixty-two cases of candy bars to raise money to plant a shade tree on the school playground. I was hoping you could spread my list out over several Christmases, since I had to write this letter with my son's red crayon, on the back of a receipt in the laundry room between cycles, and who knows when I'll find anymore free time in the next 18 years.

Here are my Christmas wishes:

I'd like a pair of legs that don't ache (in any color, except purple, which I already have) and arms that don't hurt or flap in the breeze; but are strong enough to pull my screaming child out of the candy aisle in thegrocery store.I'd also like a waist, since I lost mine somewhere in the seventh month ofmy last pregnancy.

If you're hauling big ticket items this year I'd like fingerprint resistant windows and a radio that only plays adult music; a television that doesn't broadcast any programs containing talking animals; and a refrigerator with a secret compartment behind the crisper where I can hide to talk on the phone.

On the practical side, I could use a talking doll that says, "Yes, Mommy" to boost my parental confidence, along with two kids who don't fight and three pairs of jeans that will zip all the way up without the use of power tools. I could also use a recording of Tibetan monks chanting "Don't eat in the living room" and "Take your hands off your brother," because my voice seems to be just out of my children's hearing range and can only be heard by the dog. If it's too late to find any of these products, I'd settle for enough time to brush my teeth and comb my hair in the same morning, or the luxury of eating food warmer than room temperature without it being served in a Styrofoam container.

If you don't mind, I could also use a few Christmas miracles to brighten the holiday season. Would it be too much trouble to declare ketchup avegetable? It will clear my conscience immensely. It would be helpful if you could coerce my children to help around the house without demanding payment as if they were the bosses of an organized crime family.

Well, Santa, the buzzer on the dryer is ringing and my son saw my feet under the laundry room door. I think he wants his crayon back.Have a safe trip and remember to leave your wet boots by the door and come in and dry off so you don't catch cold.

Help yourself to cookies on the table but don't eat too many or leave crumbs on the carpet.

Yours Always,
MOM

Can't have a post without a cute picture of the kiddos. This is us TRYING to take a picture for our cards this year, lol.

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Edited to Add: Since someone just asked me about this post, I thought I should clarify - it's a joke. I didn't REALLY write the letter ...but it sure sounds like I could have, lol! ;o)

Thursday, December 14, 2006

finally...i'm here...

Oh my goodness, it's been SO long since I've posted anything here - the last few weeks have been a bit over-the-top crazy here. Between sickies, traveling, computer/internet issues, and general life I haven't had a chance to do a lot of things I've wanted to do. Anyway, I'm back now. We had a great trip down south (I didn't mention it before because I didn't want to announce an empty house to the general public, lol). We stayed in my parent's condo and the kids were able to swim and play outside...a nice change going from single digit temps to mid 60's in one day! Then we had Brad's family Christmas party last Saturday. Unfortunately, several family members weren't able to attend this year because of illnesses and they were missed. We were also able to attend a "live nativity" at Tuacahn, which was really neat! We did have a lot of fun, but it's always nice to be home...if only we could have brought home some of that nice warm sunshine!! We made a quick stop to see dear old Santa Claus:



















Oh, did you notice Seth is missing from the picture? He was so scared of the man in red...he clung to Brad and didn't want to go anywhere near Santa. Santa was so cute though, he got up off his big comfy chair and walked over to give Seth a little gift:











So..I'm failing miserably with my December Journal. I was so sick for the first several days of the month, then we were out of town and I forgot it...so I think I'm going to jot down some notes in my regular journal and tuck this special one away for next year (I'll just have to change the stickers to say 2007). I'm kind of bummed about that, but it'll be fun to do next year.

In other news...I'm excited to be starting on this year's homemade calendars that I always make for my Grandma and my parents...I'll share those later. (after Christmas because we wouldn't want to spoil any surprises! lol) I'm also working on a few other handmade gifts...so much to do and so little time - why does this always happen?

I made my first (of many) batch of fudge last night. Don't even get me startedon how ironic it was that I was making fudge (and tasting plenty) while I watched the finale of The Biggest Loser. I haven't watched the show at all...I just can't get in to the whole reality show scene, but I do love watching the finales of the shows - they recap everything during the last show anyway, right?!? All of the contestants were so inspiring (even though one, in particular, I found quite annoying). Oh, and did I mention the fudge??? Yum! Brad took about half the batch to work today with him, so I think I'll be making another batch tonight so we can get it wrapped up and ready to take to neighbors soon. :O)

Sunday, December 03, 2006

three years and seventeen minutes ago...

...our little miracle was born. December 3rd, 2003 at 12:03 am this little guy took his first breath. He'd already been through so much - and taught me so much - before he cried his first cry. I can't believe it's been three years, it truly seems like it barely happened.

I was up wrapping his birthday presents when I realized what time it was, so I had to grab my camera and snap a quick photo...he fell asleep in our bed watching tv with Josh.

Happy 3rd Birthday, Seth.

Friday, December 01, 2006

it's december...

It's snowing outside and everything is being covered (again) with a beautiful white layer of winter. The kids are off to school (have I mentioned how much I LOVE living where the kids now ride the bus to school? No more bundling up babies to drive kids to school on freezing cold winter mornings!). Brad is off to work, but I'm hoping for a short day due to the weather (no, it's not likely, but I can hope!). Seth is sitting next to me making his wish list (again) out of the Thomas the Tank Engine toy catalog. Zach is in his high-chair munching on graham crackers. I can't think of a better way to start out the first day of this magical month of December. I love when I feel excited and happy for no particular reason, don't you?!? I've been waiting for today to share a fun project with you, so without further rambling/commentary...

This is one of those projects that once I get the idea, I can’t wait to get it all created and finished up – that is why I didn’t go to bed last Saturday night! I got started on this project, and I just didn’t want to stop until it was done. Every year I get so wrapped up in the “stuff” of the holidays that I don’t take as much time as I should to just enjoy the process…soak in what’s going on around me…and take note of all the beautiful and wonderful things that are happening. I vowed that this year would be different, and because of this project I know it will!
Here’s the idea: I created a 9x9” page for each day of December. I left a space for a photo and lots of room for journaling. Of course, I added lots of fun embellishments too! Now, at the end of each day, I’m going to print out a photo and write down whatever I want to record about the day…what we did, where we went, thoughts, reminiscings, etc. At the end of the month I will have a very comprehensive journal (complete with photos), recording a snippet of my life…December 2006. (and YES, it really was worth losing a night of sleep over.) Here's the cover and the first blank page -- I can't wait until tonight when I will fill in the journaling and add a photo!

P.S. Several months ago I mentioned a project I was working on for Making Memories -- well, they've just released their own complete version HERE. Several of the designs are mine, and then they started doing them completely digital (you can probably tell the difference). This would be a really fun way to share your photos with friends and relatives. And, it's FREE, so that's makes it even better!! Check it out!!

May your december 1st be full of happiness, joy, and magic -- the beginning to a wonderful holiday season!