Christmas 2014

Hello and Merry Christmas! All was calm and bright Christmas eve when I went to bed. Thankfully, it was early to bed too, got all the wrapping done ahead of time, YAY!

Morning came early and quick, with Sam up first at 5am, Renee was too but went back to sleep. Finally at 7 with everyone awake the fun began. Renee passed out the gifts as always, she was excited this year too since she got to shop for us for the first time. She spoiled us! I should have known sending her on her for the first time would result in too much fun and money, lol. Happy that she could do this though and will tell her to go easy next year. See the wall of presents Summer has in front of her, too funny. The only things missing was Kristin, we miss her so much. She doesn't have wifi in Nepal so we haven't talked to her in over two weeks. So weird not having her here.

I couldn't get many pictures, it all happened so fast. Summer got this penguin from Renee and LOVES IT! She got lots of penguin stuff and took all her gifts right upstairs and put away before I could get a picture. Lucky is chewing on the bone we got her, so cute.

This is a perfect photos describing Sam opening gifts and how he's been since then. Renee got him a nerf gun and I got him a bow/arrow so he's been doing those inside and outside, always moving and making noise but very happy.

 

I didn't get any photos of Renee or her stuff, she went upstairs the fastest, happy but done.

Here are my gifts! Love them all, especially the new mugs.

Later that day we went to my mom's which was so nice but quiet. My nieces got the flu in the night and couldn't be here, we missed them so much and felt so bad for them. No fair having the flu on Christmas, right! We got spoiled here with gifts, love and food. Thank you MOM!

I've been working on my December Daily too, YAY! Have pages to share but thought I should share our Christmas with you first. The days were gray last week too which makes it hard to get pictures of my album. Thankfully we just had some sunny days and I could get pictures, will share soon.

 

We are happy to be home and relaxing now, all that work for days and it's done in one day. Rich took off some extra days too, so nice having him here with us. The temps are mild too and no snow.

Hope your holidays were merry! Thank you so much for visiting!

Nancy I hope to see you this Sunday at church, miss you!

T stands for Tuesday

Hello and Happy T Day! I wanted to wish the Tuesday ladies from Elizabeth's a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Looking forward to more fun T times in 2015.

 

My cup for today are the cups in this picture, which is filled with not a beverage but frosting. We decorated cookies today with my nieces and my cousins stopped over too. They didn't come out so good, so lucky for us we had some others to munch on. Today was also the first day of break, we had sunshine and temps in the 40's, YAY. It's looking like a very mild Christmas, maybe a little bit of snow too. Much different from last year's chilly snowy holiday.

 

I wanted to keep this brief since it's crunch time at my house and maybe even yours. Have to share one fun ATC swap I just had. Was hoping the Christmas ones would get here in time but they haven't and these ones did.

It was a house swap, too cute! We could do anything we wanted, great variety here. The hostess also made us the cute pin. You can click on image to see it better. I tried to find my houses but can't, will keep looking and share them if I can find them. Hoping the holiday ones come in soon and will share them too. My next swaps will be for next year, they are fun too.

 

I have an around here post below if you'd like to read it, they are my favorite to write.

 

Thanks Elizabeth for another Tuesday of sharing with friends. Thank you for your visits and sweet comments. Have a wonderful holiday with your loved ones!  HUGS!!

AROUND HERE

Around here today was the last day of school, YAY!

Around here the kids are waiting for a white Christmas, might not happen

Around here my cousin Jennifer is on her way home now, YAY!

Around here we just had our Live Nativity at church, LOVE THIS

Around here Colt just had his first Christmas concert, so cute and so big!

Around here Sienna and Ryan are best buddies together, LOVE THIS!

Around here we had a sleepover with Cam/Ryan last night, YAY!

Around here I am almost done with shopping and need to wrap

Around here the weather has been mild and not so mild but no snow!

Around here Renee has had some busy nights at DQ, think it's all those shoppers

Around here I'm almost done with more pages in my DD and PL, will share soon

Around here we have two trees up, one with white lights and colored on the other

Around here I'm reading 3 advent books for Christmas, LOVE THIS!

Around here I have my new OLW for next year, DELIGHT! So excited for it

Around here today we will have Christmas with my dad and my sisters

Around here I'm thankful everyday for family and friends

Around here I'm thinking and listing ideas to do next year, YAY!

Around here I'm getting Christmas cards and slowly sending mine out

Around here Sam's voice is changing and he's growing again and changing. LOVE!

Around here I am having a date to catch up with Jennifer, YAY!

Around here life is busy and good and so fast. Enjoying each day and moment.

Around here I'm wishing you a very Merry Christmas, will try to be back for a Tuesday T Day!

Thank you for visiting and your comments that make my day! HUGS TO ALL OF YOU!

December Daily and Project Life, YAY!

It's beginning to feel like Christmas now that we had our first family party. Anyone else feeling this way now, hard to believe it's almost here. Having that first party and the kid's concert at church this weekend also set it in motion for us. The kids are excited over their first gifts and the concert was cute, I started shopping and making progress on my cards. YAY! I also did some work in my albums today, double YAY! We have mild temps now too which is making me very happy.

Also remembering it was me as a teen reading from the bible and now it's my kids doing it. LOVE THIS SO MUCH NOW! I can't believe how fast they are growing. sigh.

Here is the two pages that I did in my December album. I love using the white pen first on the black paper then on the picture on the right side. Had fun with these once I figured out what I wanted.

here is my PL for last week too. Got these all done today, YAY! This took me some time, couldn't figure out what colors and how many photos to use. Finally took some out and will put them in my December album. I joined in on a black and white challenge for the week too. I'm sharing the two here on the left side here and the others will be in my December album. It was fun to do this and want to more in the future. I like seeing all our decorations on the right side like this, neat that my sisters each have a fireplace and new places this year. You can click on them image to see better.

 

I won't be linking up for T Time since my days will be spent getting things done before kids are home on break. I need to keep rolling and getting these pages done by the New Year. The kids like to look back on the album New Year's Eve, love this tradition. Will share them as I get them done.

Hope you are doing well and are farther along then I am on your shopping. Thanks for visiting.

December daily update

Hello and Happy Thursday! Only two weeks till Christmas, still haven't shopped yet but I'm staying calm, for today anyhow. It's all the wrapping and hiding the gifts that stress me out. So let's enjoy a cute page I did in my December album instead.

 

I bought these cute cups for the kids and almost saved them for their stockings, so glad I didn't. They were so surprised and happy when I shared them the next morning. The main reason I bought them was for the penguin, Summer loves them and I like finding them on things to surprise her with. She has window clings of them now in her bedroom, tucked a few others away to save for Christmas. Anyhow, I saw that and the other two designs which are perfect for the other kids. I know it's not a big story but it's the simple things in our daily life that I love to record and bring me the most joy.

 

I used a new holiday stamp "cheers" on the photo and found the "cheer" little card to add to the pocket with some fun colorful confetti. Click on the image to see better. I wasn't sure where/how to tell the story of the cups and decided to just write on the striped paper. Added a doily just for fun and like how it all turned out.

 

Working on the next pages and almost had my PL ready too. Will get those done and share soon as I can, the rush of the weekend and babysitting 3 days in a row is upon me so will do what I can.

 

Take care and stay calm with the hustle and bustle around. Thanks so much for visiting!

T stands for Tea and Trees

Hello and Happy Tuesday! This picture sums up what is making me happy most days. Some quiet time with advent reading and tea by the lights. I sit for a little before bed too, love these moments. Sharing this for the Tuesday group at Elizabeth's where we share our beverage or cup and what's new.

I got the first week of December in my PL done. YAY! I had fun with this page, the left doesn't have much journaling but for now I'm leaving it till I decide how I want to do the journaling. I have started my December Daily album too, see those pages in the post below.

My mom and I went to my sister's and helped her decorate. This will be her first Christmas at this house, YAY! Excited for her and everything came out so pretty.

I love how the mantel came out, so pretty! My mom thought of the ribbon and stockings idea, turned out so darn cute. I love mini stockings and mini trees and everything mini.

LOVE THE RED!!

If you look closely you will see her new roommate, Flynn!! A little furball of 6 months, he's very shy still so this was the best I could get of him. Think he was a little freaked out by all the decorations and noise we were making. Annie has always wanted her own cat and now she has one, so happy for her. Can't wait to see if he gets into the decorations or the tree, lol.

I forgot to post this below the one above so you could see better. I like the tea time card I made.

All that decorating at my sisters made me ready to start on our house now. For over a week I just enjoyed the tree with lights only, the kids have asked to decorate it finally,lol. The boxes are pulled out and little bits of Christmas are popping up in all the rooms now.

 

Thank you for visiting and your comments, they make my day. I do babysit today so will be by tonight and tomorrow to see what your up too. Oh, I found something special to share with you soon on T Day, can't wait.  Till then enjoy your beverage and your Tuesday.

Remember you can see my December page below if you want to see.

More December Daily pages

Happy to be sharing more of my December pages with you. Can't remember if I mentioned this in the post below but I decided to not date my pages. My plan was just to document our December, no pressure on dates or picking just one story or none at all, just filling it up with December memories.

 

Here is two more memories, the left is Renee helping Ryan with her homework. So cute listening to them and just seeing them together. This story is also going to go in my PL, it's a rare moment so I wanted it documented twice. You can click on image to see better.

 

The right side makes me happy and was a complete surprise. While at my grandma's the other day, Kristin was face timing me. I wasn't going to answer because of the lack of service, thankfully I did and we got great connection. I handed my dad the phone and they had their first conversation since Kristin left. Loved this so much and thankful again for modern day technology for moments like this. I enlarged the picture so you could see it better and glad I did. Added a few cute things to draw attention to Kristin in the upper corner and did some journaling. We were all surprised at the connection we got, better then it is some days at my house.

Here is the next 2 pages. The left side will be a picture just like the one with my dad and Kristin only it's my grandma talking to her. I didn't want to order the picture till I saw how it would turn out. Will share it when I get it done.

The right side is  a cute one and I love these papers. The picture is of Summer and her friend Meredith and they ring the bell each year for the Salvation Army. They both look so cute, happy to not see weird faces in this one like they normally would do. First time using a wood veneer too, my friend Dawn gifted me a little set of them, YAY! Not sure if I should do some writing but for now leaving it just like this.

 

I have my photos ready for PL this week too, YAY!! That's right, staying on top of it this month. Will hopefully have the journaling done and share it this weekend. Thanks so much for reading and your sweet comments. Have a great weekend!

December Daily

December has arrived and so has my holiday goodie box. It's filled with sparkle, shiny, greens and reds and fun Christmas stuff for my December Daily album. I decided to go for it this year and actually make a mini album for the month. So excited and ready to document this month. My goal is to pick up my camera more and not use just my phone. I can tell my camera isn't working as good either, thinking it's time for a new one but for now it will have to do. I haven't decided fully on how I will do my PL pages this month, might make it all Christmasy or just keep it as normal.

 

I'm going to take my pictures and every few days get them printed and into my album so I can document while the day is still fresh in my mind and to keep me motivated. Going to keep it simple and one photo for each day, special days will get a few extra.

I'm also going to include some things that happened right before December because it all goes together and I want it that way. Like our new tree already put up this past Saturday. This is the new me for sure, tree usually never went up till mid December.

this is a bad photo but the only one I could get this one. Summer put up their cute pink tree last week. So cute how she does this all on her own each  year. I'm sure when she has her own place one day she will still be doing this. I went up to say goodnight to them and found them like this. So cute even if it's a bad photo.

The first day of December was spent scrapping at my church. We are trying something new, Monday's instead of Saturday's. Worked out nicely and I got a few things done too. I used the self timer on my camera to get this one, tried to get all of us but didn't work out.

This is page one in my December album, I am starting my Christmas reading of advent books. I loved it so much this year and am excited to do the same books again this year. Kept this page pretty simple, was good just have it started. I have a mix of page protectors for this album so not all days will look like this one. 

This is from today, so wonderful to see a beautiful sky again. Can't remember the last time this happened but it made my night. Only lasted a short time so I'm glad I saw it. Not sure if this will go into PL or my December album yet.

 

Hope you are enjoying the first week of December, so far mine has been good. No stressing or worried about the perfect Christmas, just focusing on my family and Jesus. With a  little December Daily thrown in for fun. If you want to hear about our Thanksgiving read the post below.

 

p.s. Sharon, wanted you to know I typed this post during the commercials of The Middle. Wasn't it so funny, loved it. Thankful my sister told me it would be on, I didn't know it would be. Hope you saw it.

Thanks for reading friend. See you again soon with more of my pages.

T stands for a Terriffic Thanksgiving

Hello and Happy Tuesday! Hope everyone had a good week and Thanksgiving if you celebrate it. Ours was wonderful, the whole long weekend was better then I could ask for. Will be sad to see it end and for the quiet house again. I'm sure the kids will miss me, lol, I know Rich will at least.

 

This is what we woke up to Thanksgiving morning, isn't it pretty! Thankfully it didn't do much more then this and it melted off the next couple days when it got warmer. Hope it keeps doing these warm ups through winter, makes it much easier and not as long. We don't want a repeat of last year.

Say hello to our 22 pound turkey, it was so good this year. We our still eating leftovers as of Sunday. Rich was up at 4:15am to get it in the oven with the hope of eating at noon. Of course, our plan didn't go that way and we finally ate at 1:00. All the food came out just right, we've had years of burning something or forgetting to even cook something but I'd say we are pros now on this day.

Rich's mom came to eat with us this year, so nice having her with us. Even Sam who doesn't like this holiday or the food this much did great today. Thank goodness he doesn't whine and cry all day like he used too. Notice my cleaned off table, it lasted till we were done eating. I had all my stuff back on there and was a happy girl again, lol.

Tuesday wouldn't be right without a photo of a cup or beverage. Today is when we stop by Elizabeth's to share what we are doing. There is always something fun and crafty going on in this group. Happy and thankful I could link up again this week.

I didn't get any good pictures at my mom's later that day except for this one. When I got there everyone had their electronics on the counter, I laughed about it. My mom made them into a mandala, YAY!! We had a good time over at mom's, yummy food and laughs and love!

 

The only thing missing from this day was Kristin, she was missing us too. We go to face time a little and text her. Thankfully they were invited to dinner with some other Americans there on a trip.

The rest of the weekend went by with us being at home and just enjoying the break. We played cards, watched movies, tv, played wii and had lots of leftovers. I almost want to rewind and do it again.

 

We also said good bye to fall and hello to our new Christmas tree. Will share that for next time.

Have a good week and thanks so much for visiting. I have a AROUND here post below if you want to read it. Thanks again and Happy December!

AROUND HERE

                                                  AROUND HERE

around here we are watching lots of movies from the library and on tv

around here Rich is home for 4 days so it's nice to relax and just be

around here we had a great Thanksgiving and loving the leftovers

around here my sister Annie got a kitten, she named him Flynn

around here it's cold and only a dusting of snow on the ground

around here we are getting our tree tomorrow, so excited to have it

around here I can't wait to sit by the tree lights and read and just sit

around here it's time to pack up fall decorations and get out the Christmas ones

around here I can't wait for my cousin Jennifer to come back home again

around here Sienna will be having basketball games, YAY!

around here time is flying by way to fast

around here Summer put up their pink mini tree and loves it, this makes me happy

around here Sam got out the wii and is playing again, yay

around here I'm ready to get out my Christmas puzzles and do them

around here I'm getting my December Daily ready, a little mini

around here I'm catching up on my PL still and so ready to start a new one next year


Hope everyone who celebrates Thanksgiving had a nice day, even if you don't have it hope it was a nice day. I will be back on Tuesday to share our actual Thanksgiving day with photos. Have a good weekend and thanks for visiting.

T stands for almosT Thanksgiving and Project Life

Hello and Happy T Day a little early. This is my favorite week of the year, Thanksgiving week! I got to have turkey and fixings already at our church Thanksgiving dinner last night. Look how pretty the table settings are, Joyce does a great job on our tables for parties. The food was amazing, tons of it and so good. That will keep me for a few more days till we cook our big 22lbs. turkey on Thursday. I'm using the photo above for my beverage (punch) at Elizabeth's for this Tuesday's link up.

I have most of our fixings, will buy the fresh stuff on Wednesday and get a little of it ready Wednesday too. If you remember from past years we really do love this day and the food, the leftovers, the smells, BEING THANKFUL, the leftovers and just being together.

Something else exciting happened this week, Sienna completed her first scrapbook album. She was soooo excited and really got into it. She wanted it all done that day, 16 pages in an hour. I found an old kit of the girls that they never used and was perfect for her. I didn't get any pictures of her pages, by the time she was done it was rush hour of big kids home and going outside to play time. She has already requested another album and to make lots of them, YAY!!!  A girl after my own heart.

I've been working on my Project Life, always a continued work in progress. Since winning a spot in Project Life Catch-up at Big Picture Classes, I've been doing more and learning so much. In this photo, I'm sorting through my kits and getting them organized, soon I will take a few favorites from each kit and put them together as a quick mini kit to make pages faster and less stress.

Here area few my pages I got done, pages I never thought I'd get done.

Wish the color was better, orange and pink together. Took me some time but I figured out how to make it work and like the results. YAY! Sticky notes were part of the tips in class.

This is another one I couldn't figure out. I kept seeing the 9/11 photo and blue and no other blue on the page but still wanted this photo on here. By using a timer, another tip in class I got this page done in 18 minutes. YAY!!! Click on image to see better. The journaling is done but no picture of it yet.

Here is a whole spread I got done that I didn't think I would either. Lots of those were my issues this year. Too many photos being squeezed in and not flowing nicely. Last year I was always making collages so I didn't have that problem so my plan is to pick photos and make sure they work together before ordering them. Looking forward to a new year and new album to fill up!! Click on image to see better. The gorgeous October images are not mine, they are from my IG posts.

 

I will share more with you later and when there's more light I hope. The snow has melted and the temps have been warm all weekend. So nice to see grass again and wish the leaves were still here.

 

Happy Thanksgiving to the ones celebrating it this week. Have a great week and thank you for visiting today! Just realized this will be our last T day in November, time is flying.

P.S. Nancy I made sure to post early so you wouldn't have to wait :)

T stands for no cup Today

Hello and Happy Tuesday! I'm joining Elizabeth and friends today as we share what's in our cup or in my case no cup. I thought these cuties (pun intended) would be more fun then a cup/mug.  Does anyone else like these? We can't get enough of them, each day we eat at least one and sometimes two, perfect size for a snack and could count as orange juice for my beverage today at Elizabeth's.

 

Thank you so much for the birthday wishes and comments last week for Sam's 13th birthday. Can't believe it's been a week already. Now we are getting ready for Thanksgiving and old man winter decided to come early this year to our neighborhood. Sam got his birthday wish, sadly for most of us.

Look at the winter wonderland, last Thursday is when it came in. A bit more came over the weekend and this morning. Might even have snow all week and winds, which is no fun. I have to say that first snow is always magical and so pretty to me though. I love seeing the white in the trees especially.

My pumpkins are hiding under the snow. Hoping the snow stops and gives us time to put out our Christmas lights, I love lights!! I'm itching to get my tree up already too, more lights!

You can see more snow pictures in the post below if you'd like.

Doing some major Project Life catching up right now too, Colt is my new art buddy now during the days. If you look closely my phone is in front of him playing Christmas music. Yep, broke my own rule about no holiday music till after Thanksgiving. He loves it too and lets me sing off key.

Look at that smile, he loves smiling for pictures!! YAY!

 

So what are you up to today? Any snow for you? Sunshine?  I will be visiting tomorrow as long as the kids have school. Fingers crossed they do, we do not want a repeat of last year.

 

Stay warm Nancy!!! See you on Sunday!

Let it snow, let it snow.. in November

We woke up to snow Thursday morning, just a light dusting. I love seeing it on my pumpkins, not ready to say bye to fall but that first snow every year makes me happy. Hoping it doesn't mean a repeat of last year's long cold winter. My sister, nieces and mom were flying out of the snow this morning to Disneyworld and are happy they missed the snow. I'm sure they will not want to come back now either if this is what's waiting.

here's a peek at the back yard with a  sprinkle of snow

I had no idea that the sprinkle of snow was going to turn into this. WOW, in just hours it started really coming down and piling up outside. So pretty and magical to me, again, not ready for it nor do I want it but decided to be happy about it. I knew a certain boy would be happy too.

Of course now, you can't see the pumpkins, lol.  Look at all that snow, we must have gotten 6/7 inches. The roads were bad, took Rich 4 hours to get home that night, accidents and slow moving traffic for a ride that usually takes 45 minutes. Thankful he made it home safely. I shoveled the drive too, only had to do it once.

I had the little ones yesterday and was excited to get them outside in it. They love the snow too, Colt plays so well in it and doesn't seem to feel the cold. He looked so dang cute in his winter attire, reminded me so much of Sam at that age. We had Lucky out there too but I didn't get any photos of him. Colt just kept making snowballs and throwing them in the air, so cute.

Once the big kids got home, they all went out to play in it too. My camera battery died right after this so I only got this picture. If you look closely you can see them. They had so much fun out there.

 

How is the weather where you live? Stay warm or cool depending on where you live and Happy Weekend. See you back here Tuesday for T Time.