2008 in Pictures

You have to go check this out when you have a minute, I have only looked at a few but it's awesome, click HERE. http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2008/12/the_year_2008_in_photographs_p.html

Merry Christmas!

If you haven't gotten a card from us yet, you might still- I ran out of stamps, and I'm losing motivation though, so this is all you're missing. We are having a wonderful, rainy day!

Chubs

Did I mention he's the chubbiest baby ever?
(and I have no idea where I got the paper and template I used, I'm sorry to the creators!)

My favorite

You can't compete with the baby- they will always be my favorite. (until they get to be about 2- then it's anyone's game and can change day to day) I love these pictures, and can't believe my little (big) guy is 8 months old already!
(and for anyone who is into digital scrapbooking, I used Glitz papers and a template off the Glitz templates cd)

Twilight Before Christmas

I don't want to ruin the movie for anyone, but this parody is pretty close to the real thing- you'll laugh if you've seen the movie. Thanks Becky for sending me the link!!

New Glitz Cards!

There are some new FREE cards to download and print from Glitz! Go to the Bright Ideas section of their website or click HERE. They have several Christmas and others, just click and print and you have an instantly cute card. If you want more great stuff, go check out the Glitz blog (HERE) and leave a comment to win a stocking full of great stuff!

2 Great things in one post!

First, I found the perfect stocking stuffer for Sam! Luckily he only occassionally checks my blog to be sure I'm not posting any inappropriate pictures, or identifying information, or talking about how much I love him so he shouldn't see this before Christmas: Ok, besides the fact that he is a bald guy, it's FREE, and if you know my husband, you know a free gift is his favorite kind. So go to Walgreens this month and pick one up- it's $5.99 but there's a full rebate if you pick up their monthly rebate book. What? You don't have any bald guys (guyz) in your life? Well I bet you have some kind of White Elephant gift exchange coming up don't you- this would be awesome just for the packaging itself! I went with the Bald Guyz Moisture Gel, because it's all they had, but that bald executive on the front- in the suit is so classy- though I like how the wipes clearly illustrate that they are good for all kinds of bald guyz, suspender wearers, or guyz in suits. If you really want to go for the ultimate gift, they have a Bald Guyz Club! For $20 you get 2 products, a t-shirt, coupons and discounts, and I believe a membership card. I think they have a sense of humor about themselves, you have to check out the website. I think I'm going to submit my husband's picture to the "Bald Guy of the Week". Now that's a great gift.

I said I had 2 great things to blog about- the other great thing, the reason I went to Walgreens in the first place is the new Take Care Clinic. This is a great idea- going to the Dr. at a drug store? I wouldn't do it for something serious or mysterious, but I woke up with pink eye today and found out that you can walk in, sign in on a computer, and within 15 minutes I was in with a Nurse Practitioner who filled out my information on a computer, looked at my eyes, and sent my prescription right over to the pharmacy. It was awesome. It was the 4th Dr. visit and prescription for us this month and by far the easiest.

Wow.

My husband forwarded this video to me from one of his friends. I watch tons of local news, but not much national, so I don't know who this guy is but it's interresting to see everyone laughing at him and calling him crazy when he had it right on.

Priorities

Some things are just more important than others- like applying my Edward tattoo before I go see Twlight. I liked it! I'll see it again if anyone needs company!PS- I am excited about this website that makes To Do lists quickly for you! Click HERE for Ta-Da list.

Grocery Shopping Tip- Stock up time

The holidays are a great time to stock up on all your grocery necessities. Most basics, especially baking supplies, go on sale for cheaper than you'll see them all year. As you can see, I have been stocking up on my most basic supplies.

Go get some free Christmas music

I found this on SlickDeals.net- Amazon has a free download of some classic Christmas songs to get you in the holiday spirit. Click picture or HERE.

Banners by Lyndsay

If you hurry, you can run over to her blog and enter to win your very own blog banner from Lyndsay- they are cute, you want to enter. Click HERE. (through Wed 11/19) And if you don't win, she sells them too!

Giving gift cards this year?

These Christmas Dreams Giftcard Holders from Designer Digitals are so cute! You just print them on some cardstock and then cut them out and you have a custom gift card holder. They're on sale right now for only $2.79- click HERE.

In case you still have any money...

Because I don't, and a lot of people I know don't, but I think there are still some people who do. I think that finding things and showing them to you here is almost as good as buying them and showing them to you in my home. I love this bag- simple, cute, earth friendly and a cheap $4 gift idea:Besides this cute vintage tote bag, they have some fun vintage magnets and stuff too. I think it's actually easier to window shop when you know you can spend NO money, rather than having just a little money, because then you have to stress about what you want the most. Crate and Barrel has the prettiest cake plate I've ever seen:And finally, I don't really want this loopy stocking, but there's something about it I like, I wonder if I could do the same effect on paper, maybe with ribbon? Anyways, there's something really fun about it!

Spoonflower- a great idea!

From my Photojojo e-mail today I discovered Spoonflower- design your own fabric! If you are a designer, this could be really fun, or for us average people, you can send in photos and have them made into fabric. Endless possibilities! This is a purse made by Lauren O'Brien with her own custom printed fabric. It's available in her Etsy store!

Pretty Pier One Holiday

I got a little Pier One catalog in the mail last week and finally went through it tonight and it was so pretty! I'm keeping an extra sharp eye out for cheap-make-it-myself decorating ideas (in case I can actually make the time to do some this year) and I loved this candy garland: Another fun thing was the balloon tree in the picture below. I'm not sure how exactly they did it, but if you have a big bag of green balloons laying around, I bet you could put something together.I liked the pretty paper garland around it too- they had those strung around in lots of the pictures.

A Brand New Day

Breathe in, breathe out, life is good! I love these commercials.
They are a good reminder that tough financial times are not the end of the world- and you can even shop at Target still! It even makes it look fun to be a little poorer, thrifty, spending good time at home with family. There are some smart marketers over there at Target.

Halloween Tricks and Treats

Those are some angry looking Hannah Montana's! (they didn't want to waste any time posing for pictures) Miss G removed all of her costume but the white t-shirt and sparkle leggings about 5 minutes after we walked out the door. We spent Halloween night at the neighborhood carnival and then trick-or-treated down the street with friends and cousins before bed. It was a fun night! Mr Skeleton was an angel all night. I spent the day making treats for the carnival bake sale- my pictures are horrible, (as usual) but I had fun with the tags.

Still Undecided? Not feeling it?

If your mind is made up, I can't change it, (and won't try) so skip this post, (please don't leave me mean comments!) BUT if you are unsure, or even just not passionate about your decision, read on for a minute. It's a tough time to be a republican- a lot of our leaders have let us down. Obama is so eloquent and really makes me feel all warm and fuzzy and hopeful, he's intelligent and respectful, I wish he could be my candidate. I used to be of the belief that the President's job is basically to be a good cheer leader. It wasn't until a few weeks ago I became passionate about my decision to vote for McCain. If I thought he was a bad leader, or an evil, corrupt guy, who was only pro-life to try and trick all us dumb people to vote for him, then I would take a look at another candidate, but when it comes down to it, is there anything so GOOD about Obama's (or so BAD about McCain;s) economic/tax/healthcare/education plans, that it puts the value of human life second? (and I personally believe McCain has the better economic/tax/healthcare plans) It's suddenly so clear, please click HERE. And this is the third time I edited this post, but (click) THIS video just arrived in my inbox- it's powerful. Watch it, and go VOTE! It's not over till it's over. I won't get political on here again.

Go get the kleenex

I was late for church yesterday, partly because I spent way too long reading the Republic article by Jaimee Rose about Stephanie Nielson and her sisters. (and partly because I'm just slow.) It was awesome, read it HERE. And there will be follow up articles all week- you can read the one from today HERE. I didn't get to go to the benefit concert this weekend but I wish I could have been there- I bet it was incredible. If you have read their story I'm sure you don't need a reminder to keep them in your thoughts and prayers, and if you haven't go read it!

Shower Pretties

I can't believe my baby sister is having a baby! (congratulations Diana!) We had her shower this weekend and Becky T. did a great job on the decorations. I wanted to show my favorite things, those big pink puff balls hanging from the ceiling in the right hand corner:Somehow I didn't get a good picture of them though. They are so cute, I think I need to go get some for my girl's bedrooms! They were just at Walmart in the Martha Stewart crafts kit section- here's the picture from the website:I got to do the favors and filled these boxes with pink M&M's and Strawberry Whoppers. I got the white boxes from Michael's and wrapped a strip of Glitz Hot Mama Damask paper around them and then made the stickers on my computer with the Glitz Create-a-Card CD (vol 2) and printed them on sticker paper sheets and then used a circle punch to cut them out.Sounds pretty simple, but it took me hours of staring at them to figure it out, especially how to make the ribbon work, (fyi- I wrapped the black ribbon around the box lid, and then stuck a couple pink ones in the knot) but I liked them in the end. There were a few left over and I left them out last night and the kids woke up and helped themselves to candy for breakfast today! At least I got to sleep a little longer before anyone needed me for anything.

Thanks Lyndsay!

I was mindlessly going through my Google Reader list and found myself tagged by Lyndsay! So here goes- 6 non-important things/habits/quirks about myself:

1- I've always considered myself to be very logical, mathematical, organized and non artistic, however, in the last few years it has come to my attention that I am actually very unorganized, often illogical, and quite interested in art and artists! I am curious to see if creativity can be learned, I think I have gotten a little better.

2- I am a big rule follower- I follow recipes to a T, I faithfully sleep on my left side when pregnant and take my vitamins, always wear my seat belt, and thoroughly read directions before starting any project.

3- Social situations are stressful for me, but once I get talking it's hard to stop- particularly if I've got some caffeine in me, or if I haven't been around any adults in several days.

4- I'm a junk collector- I keep cute tags from clothing, shoe boxes, jars, pretty catalogs and interesting direct mail pieces, the buttons that come in little baggies on new clothes, bottle caps, ribbon and other things like that.

5- I like to think I'm smart- I would rather someone see me as ugly than dumb.

6- When I empty the dishwasher, I put the dishes away, even if they are not completely dried, because they will dry right? I never considered taking out a towel to dry them until a couple weeks ago when I unloaded someone else's dishwasher and they were appalled that I hadn't towel dried the dishes. Is that weird? Am I really the only one who doesn't do that?

I only like posts with pictures- so here's my 2nd grade pic. Miss B was able to pick me out of my class picture "because I saw those big teeth!" She was kind not to make fun of my hair or outfit- I know she wouldn't be caught dead wearing that in the 2nd grade.

Now I tag Shauna, Stephanie, Leslie, (that's you mom) Katie Prince, Katy McDonald and Keri!

Rules:

1. Link to the person that tagged you 2. Post the rules on your blog 3. Share six non-important things/habits/quirks about yourself 4. Tag six random people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs 5. Let each random person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their website. 6. Let your tagger know when your entry is UP.

James Avery

I got a James Avery catalog in the mail the other day and almost tossed it out (overcoming my compultion to look through every catalog that comes in my home) but then I remembered this Dr. Pepper silver charm by James Avery I used to drool over, and I decided I had to take a peek. When it said "Religious Jewelry Selections" I expected a lot of crosses (which he had) but there were also a lot of other things I wanted to share. Like this Ichthus Bracelet: (I guess that's what the "Jesus Fish" is called) And this La Paloma (dove) charm:

And this pierced butterfly ring:

And though I don't wear crosses, I thought this one was beautiful and adorable:

And I decided to add a list to my sidebar of my favorite artists- all kinds, so check those out sometime!

The holidays are here!

The first sign of the holidays beginning is my mom's house turning into a haunted house, followed soon by the matching pj's from Sam's mom for all of the grandkids and the photo shoot that gets more interresting each year!

These are the GOOD times

Somehow, Miss E and Miss G cannot resist the urge to "improve" our home with their artistic talents. There are few surfaces in my home that have not been "decorated" by their hands at some point. I get so sick of telling them "we only color on paper" as I try and get them to erase their drawings, and often even with my help we can't get it all off. They've colored walls, furniture, beds, blankets and even carpet. The other night, just as I was closing my eyes for the family prayer, I paused on these pen marks on my dresser. They were made weeks ago with an ink pen, and carved into the surface and I don't think they're coming off. I first felt a twinge of anger and frustration seeing them again, but when the prayer started, I had the thought that someday, seeing those marks would make me happy. If something were to ever happen to my Miss G, or just years in the future when she was more grown up, I would look at those pen marks and smile. I thought about that again during conference today when someone (sorry, I can't remember who) spoke about enjoying right now in our lives. There was some quote about how if we fill our days with dreams of the future, we leave behind lots of empty yesterdays. (something like that, I will find it when they are typed online and post the link- it was good!) Anyways, I know it is true. I hear it all the time from parents whose children are grown, they actually MISS this stage I'm in! And even now, when I look at those pen marks on my dresser I do smile. These are the good times, and I appreciate the reminders that I need to be doing more to make them good.
And thanks to Kyle & Ashley who let us visit them this weekend, and Kyle who suggested I go get the camera today and take the picture of Sam and the kids- it's a good one.

Why I use coupons

So I can show off my $82 savings on my blog.

Time to get a new picture on here

I've been told Charlie looks like a girl in this picture, but I think it's cute. The cashier at the grocery store asked me if he was a girl yesterday and he was wearing a totally blue and white boy outfit. Nothing new to talk about... he looks like a boy for sure in this one:

They're baaaaaaaack....

I don't know what it is but I love these dolls! I don't usually care about the toys in my kids Happy Meals (in fact I usually can't wait to throw them away) And I'm not even a fan of the Wizard of Oz necessarily, but when they have these dolls, I find a sudden urgent need to go to McDonalds, frequently!

We totally need the blue monkey and the green man.

Denim and a movie

Quick- head into your closest American Eagle Outfitters and try on a pair of jeans and you'll get a free movie ticket! Valid every day of the week, even on special engagements. If you buy a pair of jeans, you'll get 2 free movie tickets. I saw the sign up in the store this morning and ran in. Now if I can get Sam to go try on a pair we'll have a free date! They even had some jeans on the clearance rack for $20 if you need them. The tickets are good through 9/21 and they are only having them in store "while supplies last."

CPS #81

Made a card with the CPS blog sketch this week. The quote was downloaded from the Designer Digitals freebie gallery, and I tried out the Glitz Roller Doodles for the squiggles around the striped paper- fun!
I have a new obsession, the "Glossy Accents" clear puffy paint stuff and I tried to put it over the word "mother" and it didn't go well, it might be because it's so late, but I couldn't keep it in the lines for some reason. Oh well, I still like the card, and I love the glossy stuff for other things.

Sneaky

My camera keeps disappearing, and then when I find it there are mysterious pictures... I found some evidence:
And this time there was some video footage of her accomplice:
I was wondering why my camera lens was all cloudy...

The greatest thing since sliced bread

I just signed up for Carbonite and am really excited about it. You download it and it automatically backs up your computer online so you never have to think about it- until the worst happens, and then you don't have to worry because everything is safe with them. Sign up or find out more by clicking HERE.You may recall that earlier this year I lost everything on my laptop when the hard drive suddenly crashed, for no reason. Luckily I regularly uploaded photos to Shutterfly, so I only really lost a few of those, (but my original digital files are gone, I can only get those printed from Shutterfly now) You'd think I would have constantly been backing up but I only did it once before now- it's a pain! I love that I don't have to think about this and all my pictures, music, Tax and financial info and digital scrapbook stuff is totally safe now! And it's only $50 a year. That's a bargain.

Fashion

I saw this cute picture, on THIS cute blog, and found THIS fun flickr group for Simplicity pattern 3835, and it got me thinking about dusting off my high school graduation present, my sewing machine. Maybe it's just because I probably can't possibly sew with a broken wrist, but those shirts look really cute, and easy enough for me even, maybe.

I've never seen a storm like this before

Not here in real life anyways. We had hours of this non-stop thunder and lighting all around us. It got loud and windy and rainy but it was really exciting to watch! The video doesn't do it justice of course but you'll get the general idea.

Fancy

So I went and broke my wrist this weekend. Luckily when I went to the Dr. today they gave me the option of a pink, glittery cast- yeah! I told them I had 3 girls who would think it's really cool. (not to mention it makes me happy too)I had to take a picture of me holding Charlie before I got the cast- they gave me this nasty splint at Urgent Care and I couldn't do anything with my hand. Miss G suggested the Baby Bjorn to hold Charlie and I was very grateful- it has helped a lot.

Here's the scene of the "accident." Sam is the irrigation pro for our little circle but he was at a church Daddy Daughter activity Saturday and needed me to pull that triangle thing out of the ditch- it was standing up blocking the water, and the ditch was full. I have done it before and it wasn't a big deal, but this time I stood with my feet on either side of the ditch walls and my hands on the handles of the metal thing and pulled up, but there was a lot of water on the other side, and the weight of the water pushing it somehow made me lose my balance or something and I fell backwards, into the ditch, and must have tried to stop myself with my hand. It happened fast and all I could think of was I had to get up as the nasty, disgusting water washed up over me and pushed me down the ditch. My arm hurt like crazy and I was pretty sure I had broken my wrist immediately- I couldn't get out for a mintue because my left arm was useless, and I couldn't get up on my feet. One of my flip flops washed away and the second worse part of the ordeal was walking through an irrigation soaked horse pasture- with pokies- without my shoes! My wrist hurt so bad and it was so disgusting to be covered in irrigation water! I came in and took the best shower I could with one hand, called my mom to come help me get dressed and take care of Charlie while I went to urgent care. Anyways, the Dr. said I could be good in as little as 4 weeks so that's good news! I can't believe how much I use my left hand for. I'm very thankful I didn't hit my head and drown, or get sliced up by that big metal thing, or break my right wrist, but it is hard to schlep my 18lb baby around with only one arm. (yes, 4 months old and he weighs 18lbs, 4oz!!!) Oh and I can't do my hair- that stinks too. And I look lovely with my elbows all scraped up and a huge bump/bruise on my leg from that metal thing I think.

My Turn

I've been hesitant to post about this because I don't know the Nielsons personally but my life has been touched by reading NieNie's blog so I feel the need to say something on mine. If you haven't already heard, Stephanie and her husband were critically injured in a private plane crash last weekend and are in the burn unit fighting for their lives. They are parents to 4 beautiful children and they need our help. To be inspired and get to know her, read her blog HERE. Hers was one of the first blogs I ever read and she is one of the mothers who have truly inspired me to work harder to change some of my attitudes towards motherhood and homemaking. Through her short sweet blog entries I realized that in her blog she exemplified the type of mother I wanted to be, and that the direction towards becoming that kind of mother, was to change my attitude. (I need that reminder on a regular basis) One day I spent a couple hours reading the archives back to the very beginning- one of the stories I best remember is of one of her girls camp experiences, when she was a teenager with very short boy hair. It is hearbreaking and funny- I knew I liked her by the time I read it. Click HERE for the whole story. She's a bit of a celebrity in my blog world- it seems like everyone I know reads her blog, and a lot of people I know in real life actually know her in real life and I believe them when they say she is really the person we know from her blog. I've only met her once, I ran into her at a Target and probably freaked her out a little when I introduced myself as a "fan!" Anyways, it's weird how I can feel like I know and love someone who I really only know through this miracle of the internet, but if you are reading this you probably know how I feel! They need lots of prayers and if you can donate any money they will certainly need that as well. Nie doesn't have a counter on her blog but I would be willing to bet there are hundreds, if not a thousand or more people who read her somewhat regularly, and what a difference it would make if all of us could donate even $5! I put the button with a PayPal link on the right hand side of my blog if you feel so inclined.

Last Week...

She loves to pose as much as her big sister! She was so excited to finally go to school! Her only disappointments were that she doesn't get to ride the bus, and she doesn't get to stay all day! We were pretty rushed on her first day and I didn't notice the purple socks she'd selected until she got home and unfortunately they didn't get in any pictures. On the 3rd day we got there a few minutes early and she wanted to go play and I realized how little she is when I saw her walk out onto that big playground with all those big kids... sniff, sniff...