FINALLY!

I tend to be a procrastinator when it comes to non-scrapbooking craft projects. The last 2 days have been snow/cold days off school here, and miraculously the two little boys coordinated their naps BOTH days, woohoo! Christopher and I embarked on a craft/art project both days. Yesterday we finished our gigantic 6 foot wreath so we can hang it on the peak of the garage next year. Well, it still needs some silver tinsel garland (or ribbon), but unless I can find that in the clearance bins tomorrow, it'll have to wait for the stores to get their supplies next fall.

Today our project was something I've had the materials for since 2004. (did I mention I tend to procrastinate?) My sister-in-law found this on Martha Stewart's website (LINK) way back when and she and my brother-in-law made the candle holders at my in-law's house on Christmas Eve while my mother-in-law cooked and/or we all sat around visiting and watching 1 1/2 year old Christopher. Somehow I never got around to starting or finishing our candle holders when I finally found all the pieces we needed. Disclaimer: The photo is actually my in-law's, as we don't have candles for ours yet:) Anyway, Christopher and I made the patterns fit, glued, and glittered today and even Christopher remarked this evening that they look really good!

Our other snow day project was candy cane cookies. It doesn't bother me at all that we do some of our Christmas baking AFTER Christmas most years;) Not only do these cookies look pretty, but they are some of the best tasting cookies. I've been making them since my early 4-H years. I have no idea where I/Mom found the recipe originally, but it's in my photocopied 4-H Christmas cookie book. The scrapbooked version of it was from a Scrapgirls.com recipe swap in December.

Project 52: Final Pages!

Project 52 lasted through 43 weeks over at Jen Wilson Designs. Chrissy and I were disappointed it didn't finish out, but I'm glad it lasted as long as it did! I have 43 layouts that more than likely I either wouldn't have at all or at least would have been vastly different without the challenges. Here are the the last few I haven't uploaded here yet...(our anniversary one is my favorite!)


Week 43 was to scrap something in general for which we are thankful.
JWD Dried Leaves
JWD Fall in Love Little Autumn Bits
Syndee Nuckles French Market
Syndee Nuckles Cinnamon Suede
Brandy Hackman Blossoms & Blooms Fall
Shalae Tippetts Promise
Shalae Tippetts Aged Frames
Paula Wright Thankful Collection
Amanda Sok Alluring Autumn
Shalae Tippetts Hearth
Kim's Scrappin' Turkey Time


Week #42: Lesson Learned (1 of Jeff's most excellent photos from the 2009 trip to the Boundary Waters)
Scraplifted from a layout by Thao Cosgrove at Scrapgirls.com
JWD Mango Sunrise
JWD Down Home Fourth of July
JWD Fluttering Finishes
Thao Cosgrove Tucked Photos Embellishment Templates
Michelle Coleman quote
Imagine by Fran: Lady in Purple (purple flowers & leaves)
Anita Stergiou Ray of Light (brads)
Sarah Batdorf Deep Shadow action
Candara font


Week #41: Home ...the challenge was to scrapbook at least 5 things we were thankful for regarding our home (address changed for privacy purposes)
JWD Sunburst paper
JWD Halloween holiday flower with Jan Hicks Coin Folder Chip style applied
Leora Sanford Rainbow Glitz alpha
Shabby Princess Olivia (home word art)
Brandy Murry From the Desk Of journaling spot/paint/etc.
Erica Hite Chic Embroidery (home sign)
Valerie Randall Batik (circular home sign)
JWD Buttoned and Looped Blooms flower
JWD Sandcastle eyelet/ribbon
JWD Journaling Card


Week #40: 10th Anniversary (Yep, Jeff and I celebrated our 10th this past November!)
I am so thankful to have found you, my true love. The reasons I love you have deepened over the years. You still have the same wonderful sense of humor, are considerate and loving, and are handsome and sexy. To a busy mommy with 3 boys, there is nothing sexier than all that PLUS you not only work hard at work but help at home with boys and the household. We may not have the quietest or most well-behaved household,but I’m quite sure we have the most fun and share lots of love. For this and much more, I am so very grateful. To the next 10 years and beyond!!
Cynthia Gullett Photography
JWD Laundry Line Tyler
JWD Titled Journal Cards
JWD Grunge Edges
Erica Hite Up at the Villa
Brandy Murry Mossy (love word art)
Thao Cosgrove All About Marriage
Sarah Batdorf Deep Shadow actions
Brandie Valenzuela Grungelle brush set
Cinzia Loosemore That's Amore freebie ("I love you")
Anita Stergiou A Brand New Day alpha
Font: VT Portable Remington


Week #39: God's Art (William in the leaves this fall)
JWD 24/7 Cards
JWD Caring paper (blended with photo)
JWD Fancy Edges
I really liked how the background photo turned out...I put it over a subtle painted background, changed the blending mode, and got something interesting!

Christmas

Winter break has passed us by in a blur! Barring cancellation of school tomorrow for the expected bitter cold, it is back to the usual schedule in the morning (thank goodness; as of today the big boys had officially had enough of each other, and SO HAD I!)

We celebrated with Jeff's immediate family the weekend before Christmas, with our own little boy-filled family on Christmas, with the larger Borg (my mother-in-law's) family the 27th, and finally with my parents January 1. They intended to stay over on Christmas Eve as usual, but the weather in SW Iowa didn't cooperate and they were snowed in before they could get off work and leave for here.

We had a more wooden or old-fashioned Christmas than usual. I am very tired of commercialized, media-related plastic crap. Now that's not to say the boys don't love it, or that we don't allow it, just that I wanted more durable, meaningful, less violent things to abound this year. I purchased a lot of things from A Toy Garden and was very happy with it all. I also purchased from Three Sisters Toys, also a great store. Both have Waldorf roots, so very nature-based and non-violent. Ah!

Christopher actually had asked for a drum for Christmas, and received a very nice wooden one from Santa. Michael's main gift was a set of wooden castle/tower/knights blocks, and William got a wooden cash register. The big boys both wanted a Batman cave (essentially a doll house for Batman, lol) and BOTH received them from grandparents:)

Bokeh (look it up!) is apparently very popular in photography right now. The angel/nativity below is a new decoration I couldn't resist this year. I thought the photo turned out very nice with the tree in the background. Santa is also a new purchase this year.

We spent New Year's Eve at a friend's house, marred only by a huge fight between the big boys (and a mama-sized blowup in reply) right before we went over. It didn't help that Christopher had just had a private sleepover at Grandma & Grandpa's house and had had a taste of being an "only child" for about 24 hours. He apparently thought the universe still revolved around him when he got back and was in for a rude awakening.

We allowed BOTH big boys to stay up until midnight...and they MADE IT! Yikes! None of that next year, lol. We stayed up late watching "Up"...all but Jeff had already seen it, though I think there were a few scenes I hadn't yet seen. And mercifully they slept in until 8:30ish on the first!

Thanksgiving

The first image is our seasonal display, including Christopher's "Winter Garden" he made in preschool. They start with a wooden board, then add clay, then plants such as an evergreen sprig, berry cluster, etc, and is topped off with a little gnome/person made of wool and a little baby. He still plays with/changes his around a lot even 2 years later:)

I found the pumpkin candle at Target, and it smells DIVINE. I bought a smaller one we kept in the bay window of the kitchen.

All three boys ate huge amounts, the first Thanksgiving they've done so. Even William sat there in his high chair and stuffed himself with delicious food:) We topped the meal off with a "drunken apple pumpkin pie" which is basically pumpkin pie with chunky applesauce inside, then a small amount of flaming rum poured over it at serving time. Sorry, no pics of that! We were too worried about burning the house down to try to photograph the event;)

Poor neglected blog

I am dusting off my blog; hope I still have some readers out there to see;) Let's see, what have we been up to? Oh yes, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and most recently: MAJOR snowstorm and cold snap. Yes indeedy, winter has definitely made its appearance!! Christopher has had 2 days off from school due to 12+ inches of snow, then the bitter cold.

Some explanation regarding William's turkey costume below...Jeff started calling him our little Butterball when he first started getting chubby around 3 months of age. I got the notion to find him a turkey costume for Halloween, and found this one on Ebay. It still makes me giggle:)





Due to an illness in the family, our Thanksgiving plans abruptly changed the evening before. So we ran out to buy a turkey and invited my parents and in-laws here to our house. Between the things we were going to take and the things Mom and Dad were going to take to the extended family get-together, we had about everything we needed:) Including a good excuse for not having deep-cleaned the house before company arrived;)

Thanks to the enormous snowstorm and 2 days off from school for Christopher, we now have all of our holiday decorating done. And I put in a huge photo order online today, including enlargements of the family and each boy for us and grandparents. So I'm feeling pretty productive and think I might just kick back for the rest of the evening, heehee. Or perhaps I could kick back with a cookbook and think about cookies; Christopher keeps asking if we can make some Christmas cookies...

Busy Day

Today is a busy day! In other words, I should be doing what I need to do and not posting on here;) The preschool Halloween party is this evening (figures that it would rain heavily today). I have a pumpkin pie to bake, a cream cheese jack-o-lantern to make (cream cheese ball for dipping crackers), and pea soup to get in the crock pot. 5 people need to be costumed and at the party by 5:40 tonight to finish setting up for 6:00. There are supposed to be multiple stations outside (good luck with the rain), including pirate me, "Sea Salt Mommy" unless someone can come up with a better piraty name for me, lol. I will have a bucket of dry ice for effect, and a treasure chest of beads for all to choose from.

The Jen Wilson challenges have been dwindling a little:( So here are a couple pages I've done recently for me and/or my friend Amy.

Ami Collofello space kit
Art Warehouse title
Jan Hicks Coin Folder chip styles
Amanda Sok Ponder (solid paper)
Heather Roselli Spaced Out (purple rickrack)
I "pimped" the title quite a bit. The base is a chipboard rocket from Ami Collofello, unchanged. The words were primary colors with no outline from Art Warehouse. First I gave them a white mat outline, then I deleted the white part that was underneath the letters. I gave the white part a chipboard style to raise it up and make the letters look embedded in. Then I changed the blending mode on the primary colored letters. Now they are darker with texture...ah:)


Yin template
Amanda Sok Alluring Autumn
Amanda Sok Folded Flowers digital stickers
Syndee Nuckles Cinnamon Suede
Sarah Batdorf Color Match shadows

Happy Fall Y'all :)

William is now a FAST crawler and of course is curious about all the stuff in the house he couldn't get to before...we deal with tipped over dog water, constant reminders to everyone to keep the bathroom door shut, etc. Our dog now knows how to scratch to ask for her water, lol.
As of this week he is saying his first word other than mama and dada, which he seems to say purposefully as well. Dah, dah heheheheheh, he says this every time he sees a dog IRL/book/statue :)

This is more a reminder to me than anything: Christopher surprised me by announcing that he doesn't want Santa to bring him Legos this year. He wants a drum! I casually (hehe) asked him more questions and he wants a bongo/hand drum. I think I even know where to find a cool one! They usually sell them at our preschool's holiday fair, which we are not having this year. But of course the teachers will know which vendor was selling them and I can contact her. Oops, I mean Santa can contact her...

Michael loves preschool and has made good friends with Maddy and Madeleine:) Sofia doesn't like it when he scares her, and he and Landon tend to fight a bit. And an undisclosed person bit him one day and he still talks about it. I can only feel a tremendous sense of relief that he was BIT, not the BITER :) He was very disappointed around 10am today when he asked if he was going to preschool and I said this wasn't a preschool day for him.

We had family photos taken a couple weeks ago by a good friend of mine I've known since high school. She is in the Kansas City area. Visit Cynthia Gullett Photography for a sneak peek!


Week #38 Jen Wilson challenge. We had to pick a Book of Me question we liked from a website and I chose "If I could change the world" and was supposed to list 3 things. This awesome oak tree is out at McFarland Park for all you nearby readers!
If I could change the world:
1. Reverence for nature
2. Love for your fellow man
3. Peace for all
JWD Forest Glen
JWD Graphic Tagboard No 2
JWD Project 52: Dated Stamp Circles
JWD Zachery striped paper
JWD Complete Boy stitching
Brandy Murry Mossy Collection Biggie
Amanda Sok SSTools Wires 6401 styles
Melissa Renfro Downtown Brush Set
Keri Schueller Patternologie
Cheryl Barber stitching style
Trish Jones circular word art


Jonah learned to knit this summer when he broke his toe. One of the first things he made was this adorable hat for William. Jonah was offended that William didn't wear it (in August) so I made sure to put it on Will's bald little head on our trip to the apple orchard in October. All the other preschool moms wondered who made his hat and I pointed at Jonah each time.

Week #37 Jen Wilson challenge to SB a meaningful item of clothing.
JWD papers from: Nostalgia No 7, Sunburst, Mango Sunrise, Breaking Free-Rush Mountain
Template from Heather Lee
JWD Shimmer Edges overlay
JWD Doodlepad Pages (heart/love)
JWD Laundry Line Buttoned Looped Blooms, Laundry Bag Strings, and Garment Tags
Dragonwick font (title) and Amethyst Zucchini (journaling)
Brandy Murry Knitting Basket style