So Judy won't hait me....

I have forbidden myself to even LOOK at my
Christmas photos...until I get this little baby

shoot processed.

It really won't be hard.

I'm finally feeling the energy to do it.

I did this shoot of her beautiful little boy

nearly (gasp.....) 2 months ago!

And I feel so guilty every time I see her,

though she is super sweet and tells me "no worries"

So for her....here is a little sneak peak of what I'm working on ;)

Merry Christmas Everyone
Hope the spirit fills your home with love
and peace and a bit of unexpected joy!




Today we are catching up on all the fun stuff
*making & decorating sugar cookies for Santa
*decorating that traditional gingerbread house

*Preparing a yummy ham and homemade augratin potato dinner
*wrapping up the rest of those presents
*cleaning up a bit...Santa won't bring more things to the children of messy rooms ;)

and unfortunately....ONE more trip to the dag-on store!!!!
I went to wrap a gift last night and realized it was broken....arrrgggghhhhh!

This month has been super crazy busy.
Seems more than usual.
The quantity of parties, recitals, performances,
appointments, blah blah blah blah....
have been RIDICULOUS!
But now....we breath.......

We've been making some fun changes in the house this month too...
will be showing that off soon ;)

Merry Christmas!

Partaaay Overload!!!!

You know it's shameful of me that I have not honored
the ONE person who cares about my blog and it's content.

My excuses are busy-ness and the blogging blahs.

But here, finally is the birthday girls Fall Festival Birthday Bash!
There are SO many things I love about Samantha,
but one of my favorites is that she is NOT predictable and does
not go with the crowd. She definitely has her own ideas!

This year it occurred to her that her November birthday
was in the fall, so obviously, it should have a fall theme :)

Lets start with the party favor...a cornucopia of sorts!
Waffle cone filled with candy. The tag reads
"I am so thankful you could celebrate my birthday with me"

The girls also got a fall flower clip for their hair when they arrived.


Next is a birthday banner I made from House of 3

As per my habits I decided to make this at the last minute
and used up valuable time....but I think it was worth it!
I love it...and more importantly so did the birthday girl.



Here is our traditional birthday chandelier over the dining table

She wanted carrot cake, so I made a simple 2 layer cake with

leaves decorating one side.

For our time consuming craft we made hand print trees.

I had the kids put their hand print on an 8x10 blank canvas.

A lovely friend of mine cut leaves and owls from her cricut

out of fallish papers. The kids went to town filling their trees.

Some got VERY creative with the whole idea :)

I went back and mod podged over them while they were

otherwise occupied.

The final results. They turned out really cute. That's Jack

there hiding behind the naked hand print. I can only do

so much with a bunch of kids running around. I promised

to help him with his later...and ya know...later has NOT come yet!?!

We played some outdoor games.

A pumpkin rolling contest, which was really fun.

Bobbing for apples. I have to admit, they got

a little carried away with this one.

I was running in and out trying to modpodge

the hand prints and a few of the kids decided

to dunk their ENTIRE heads in the water.

I'm so sure the parents loved me for that!

But they had loads of fun.

We also played the donut game where you have to eat it off the string with no hands,

but I didn't get any pictures of that...i was holding the bar of donuts for gosh sake.

It was a really fun party...and as any good party goes,

I WAS SO GLAD WHEN IT WAS OVER!

I love throwing parties for my kids, but they are exhausting.

For some reason I always end up running them solo...go figure.

Ok...now I can officially move onto Christmas posts.

Oh wait...i forgot about Thanksgiving :)

25 Days

Samantha pointed out to me yesterday that I needed to do something about my blog.
It just wasn't right that I had a Halloween post just sitting there in the middle of December.
It's not right!!!!

So to appease her (cause I know there's nobody out there these days :)) including myself ;)
Here's a little Christmas craft.

This is a little countdown that I made using a this kit from House of 3
Can I just tell you...I LOVE this place.
They have such adorable stuff.
I use them quite a lot.
I made my blog header with there stuff, my Christmas cards,
and there are a few other things floating around in my head.

Anyway, this is an advent calender that you flip everyday.
It counts down from 25 to 1.

I actually didn't get to keep this baby :(
I made it as a white elephant gift for our RS Enrichment party.

So I still need to make one for myself....maybe this weekend????

I cut out 2 pieces of chipboard from packaging and covered it with Christmas paper and decorated the cover.

Then I printed out the countdown pages and trimmed them up.
I backed them on cardstock that I trimmed with scissors.
Stacked them all in order and put it together with rings.
And it stands all by itself!

Make one for yourself!!

Heidi Swapp has a coupon on her blog for a Houseof3 purchase!

uhhhh....happy halloween???

Seriously....i SHOULD NOT be on the computer right now!
i repeat...i SHOULD NOT be on the computer right now!

i have way too much to do.
Sometimes, when I am super busy like this,
i seriously end up vegging on the computer,
WASTING TIME!

So I've promised myself just a short time of looking
and this quick post.

The kids at Halloween.
I'll just let the pictures speak for themselves.
ENjoy ;)

Because I know ya'll are wondering....

Nathan was a "scientist" ??????

And once again...this is the ONLY picture he would allow!

Ok, that's it. I've got 5 more table runners to sew for enrichment.

HAPPY DECEMBER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm Running as fast as I CAN!

That's how I'm feeling right now.
Running as fast as I can!

Trying to keep up with all the needs,
while wondering how to squeeze in the wants!

* the girls started track break this week...we have yet to have much fun (at least the want section of fun)

* Celebrated a little birthday yesterday for the man of the house.

* Planning a birthday party for the youngest girl of the house this Saturday. Much to be done there...we have a fun little craft planned.

* Realizing that Christmas planning needs to start happening NOW! Will be with family for turkey day and need to have all our gifts ready to take with us.

* Did another baby shoot. Can't wait to start messing with those.

* Doug continues to struggle around on crutches. It's only been a few weeks and he (and I) are SO over this. And what do we have????? Like 3 more months?????!!!!! ugh.

* Jack has turned into my little shadow. He used to be so independent. Now he wants me to "snuggle" with him all the time. Wants me to be in the same room as him, all the time. And you know I feel bad. He's my baby, and I want to just soak him up and be with him, but life calls. So right now, as I spend "just a moment on the computer" he has brought in to my room, his little castle and guys and is playing right next to me. It's so cute, really, and I like having him near. Especially when I can get done what I want to get done :)

* I've been trying to work on some areas of the home that Doug considers a "death trap" for him, with the crutches and all. I've made some progress, but not enough.

* Mr. Napoleon is doing well. He misses his master though. We are still working on the whole potty training thing, but he is learning to listen to me :)

* I need to post Halloween. (Like that's a law or something!?)

Like I said, I'm running as fast as I can!

Just blabbing

Fall is blowing her way in today.

Hard.

I might need to bring in some Halloween

decor, lest it blow away forever.

I love this time of year.

All the festivities.

Making soup

Feeling all cozy.

Makes me want to stay inside

and.......hmmmmmm.......

lock myself in my room and scrap!

aahhhhhh......in my dreams ;)

It is a busy week.

Halloween parties galore.

We've already got a few under our belt this season.

Helping out at the schools.

Getting ready for birthdays.

Loads of fun!

The girls will start their track break at the end of the week.

I'm looking forward to things slowing down a bit.

Two less schedules on my plate.

I have some fun things planned for us girls.

I like having our time together.

Can't believe it's nearly November,

and we are hitting our first track break.

This year has FLOWN!!!!!

If you know me, you know I'm hoping to do

a bit of this sometime soon....like today!
It's questionable.

Here's a few layouts I've done this month.

I love going back and doing old pictures. It totally takes me back in time.

Here's little Jack. I remember this day...and taking these pictures

of him, watching his daddy mow the lawn.

I've been wanting to scrap these photos. Especially the saying.

It says "I want to be with you whenever I want...and that's kinda all the time."

That's what Samantha said to me earlier this year and I love it!

Here's the girls just being goofy in my glasses.

Check it out!

Kristen had a big day at the orthodontist on Monday.
Now you see them........................................




...................and NOW you don't!!!!!!




Just look at those big ol' pearly whites.
She's so happy.....except for the retainer she has to wear.

Of course, we'll most likely be doing this again in a few years.
She is only 9. But at least she won't have to endure what I did
as a child. Horribly crooked teeth and no room for any of them
leads to much teasing and name calling for many years.
I didn't want that for her.

On a side note...notice also her little ear there.
There's something in it!

A few weeks ago she mustered the courage on a spur of the
moment girls day out. She decided to just get it over with!
She's much braver now than she was a few years ago.

The story goes like this....the girls were begging, BEGGING
to get their ears pierced. So as a Christmas present we took
them to the mall. Kristen suddenly not convinced of the whole plan
decides to let Samantha go first, to see if it hurts.
Samantha's immediate (and dramatic) tears was all the information
she needed. NOPE, not getting her ears pierced.....maybe ever!

So here we are nearly 2 years later, ready to take the plunge.
She was VERY nervous, and held back much wanted seepage from the eyes.
But she did it...and she was SO proud of herself.

Now if she could just take them out and put something REALLY fun in them!

A little bit of adventure...in an otherwise dull day.

Kristen had quite the school field trip last week.
Just a little trip down the COLORADO RIVER!

It was for all the 4th grade GATE students.
There were about 32 kids and then chaperone's.
Doug was supposed to go with her, but we all know
that didn't happen.

We had a good time together and spent like 4 long hours
on the river. We stopped on a beautiful white sandy beach
for some lunch. We made several stops along the way, checking
out other beaches, little water falls and the like.

This crazy bridge is going up over the Hoover dam.
It's incredible to see up close & huge! All cement, HOW do they do it?????
Our tour guide pointed out a porta potty sitting up at the very top.
The kids thought THAT was hilarious!

Me and my baby girl! It was a beautiful HOT day and
Kristen can't stop talking about it.



Blake fishing with a stick and weeds.

if your ever feeling down...just think of us and you'll automatically feel better, cause your NOT us!

So life continues over here in it's usual disastrous ways!
We are in recovery mode once again.

Doug had to have surgery last week.
Tore his Achilles tendon...I should say, IT tore...he didn't do it!
This one is NOT an easy recovery. It is very painful.

His foot can't touch the ground for 6 weeks and then he goes into
a boot for several months after that.

It's a real downer for him. He is so limited in what he can do right now.
Me personally...I'm flippin' exhausted!

It's been a very busy week.
But today....like they say in school...
It's FUN FRIDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I don't have to do anything today...YAAAAAYYYYYYy!
I think I'll lay in bed all day and surf the web.


I wonder if Jack will let me actually do that?????????

**********************************************************

Speaking of Jack...here are some totally random pictures
I took this summer of my boys.

They make me laugh every time I see them.
I told Jack to put his head on top of Nathans for the picture.

This is how he took those instructions. hahahahahahahaha
Then he proceeded to just play with Nathans head.

We finally got one close to what I was asking. But it was really just more
wrestling with him and the ball.




Happy FuN FriDaY!!!

Boo to You

A few more crafts for your viewing pleasure (i hope)
I'll give a shout out to Jen for hooking me up with these super cute
BOO letters. I painted them, sanded a bit...and put them out till I figure
what else to do with them. Think they need a bit more, maybe sanding,
or some ribbon tied on somewhere. For now this is it!
Oh and they are HUGE!

Gotta thank Heather for this little class. We learned how to
make pumpkins at a little enrichment get together.
They were so cute, and SO easy that I went a little overboard
and made SIX of them.
But you can never have too many pumpkins...RIGHT!!!!????

Happy Fall Ya'll!

as promised...

I made these little draw string bags for the girls
to hold their dance shoes.
Kristen's old bag was really sad,
and Samantha just started dance this year.

Good reason to go to the fabric store and let them pick
out some cute fabric!

I also learned how to make these super cute fabric flowers.
I've seen them all over the web and am totally in love!

Now I just need to go back to the fabric store and buy
broadcloth in every color of the rainbow!
and attach them to EVERYTHING!

I'm really looking forward to this weekend and watching conference.

It seems the older I get the more I enjoy it and look forward to

hearing the words and council of our leaders.

Hoping to do a little of this at the same time!

I've never scrapped a collage of photo's before.

It was fun, and I love being able to show the whole story

on one page. I kinda just threw some random things on there

(now, when I say random...what i really mean is I poured over

ALL my supplies for far too long trying to find the perfect group

of eclectic items!) I really like having a bunch of odds and ends

pulled together in a fun way. To me anyway ;)

Hope ya'll have a great weekend!

Next week (or maybe this weekend ;)

I'll be sharing some fun Halloween crafts.

Phew.....

I got abandoned by my computer yesterday!

For some reason my internet decided to not function anymore.

How RUDE!

Had to call my trusty computer guy to come figure it out.

He did. Thankfully.

I know I said I had lots of projects to share.

Since I've failed to photograph most of them,

or load them up..I'll start with one that's NOT done.

But it's sure gonna be pretty when it is....

Bought this hideous (yes I called it hideous) dresser

off c r a i g s l i s t, for practically nothing.

Gorgeous 70's hardware and everything!

My plan is to refinish it with a distressed blue paint

and silver hardware.

I can just see it now.

It's gonna be cool.

...i hope.

It is going in my newly designed living room

as a sideboard.

I have that, I've picked up my curtains and hardware.

Now...I just need to figure out how to fit the most

important piece of the puzzle into the budget.

A new couch!

The super old, burgundy/green plaid couch

don't jive with my new plan!

I've been wanting to burn it for years!

Wish me luck!

Check back tomorrow

for something that's actually finished!

ahhhhh....a few things.....

*I've been in craft mode around here lately.
Lots of things in the works.
SOME are even done!!!
Others, will take some time.

I'll be posting this week.

*It appears that I've probably
broken my big toe.
Dude...I have never broken a bone in my life,
and now in less than one years time,
I've taken out my tailbone, and NOW my big toe!
What the heck????????

Our bar stool (it's big, heavy, and made of wood) got tipped over and landed square on my toe.
When I hit the floor in pain Jack, a bit scared asked me
"Do mommies cry??"

We thought it just got bruised.
It swelled up nicely that day and all stiff like.
Looked really pretty all week, black, blue, green, purple.
It was like a rainbow!

But it's been 3 weeks now, and I still can't put a shoe on it.
I still can't move it very well.
And, it still hurts a bit.

*Somehow, I've been busier since the kids went to school
than I was when them and all their friends were at our house all day.

Go figure.

*I've been a good mommy and have been helping out at school.
Have had a variety of appointments.
Did another baby shoot.
Did my visiting teaching (yay!)

*This is all I've been able to scrap since school started.
I'm going through withdrawals.
Definitely need to find me some more time!

Here are the kids at the pumpkin patch last year.
I liking the use of smaller pictures gathered together
in a grouping. It allows me to use lots of pics
without burying the page.

Me needs a bit o white space!(that's space with nothing in it ;)

These are pics Heather took of Jack and I a few years ago (obviously!)

I love them, and can't believe this babies pushing 4!

and....Samantha and Abby putting their Best Friends necklaces together.

I love the playfulness of this page. It's perfect for these cute little girls.

I don't normally do cut outs well, but I like how this one came together.

Happy Monday ya'll!