Friday, December 14, 2007

Oh happy day!

Ok, so I pour myself a bowl of cereal this morning, (I have granola with raisins every day.)I'm on my way to the fridge to get some milk and I look down to see this. No, seriously...I didn't touch a thing! There is a happy face in my bowl of cereal!! After I show everybody who will listen, I ran to grab my camera. Surely this is a sign of how my day will be, right? After several incidents, (One of which included Bryson knocking an entire bowl of cereal and dried fruit out of my hand and all over the car), I decided that the face must represent a mischevoius smirk instead of an actual "smile". The joke is on me! ;-)

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Ok, I'll play along....

Read this on Nicole's blog the other day and then I just got this email from my friend Susanne. It's always fun to read other's responses to these so here goes:

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Wrapping paper is just more fun to open.
2. Real tree or artificial? I've never had a real tree. Had friends who did...love the smell, not the mess.
3. When do you put up the tree? I used to put it up the first weekend after Halloween (oh yes, you heard me right) Now I have to wait until after Braden's birthday (Nov 4th)
5. Do you like eggnog? No
6. What about Fruitcake? Not that regular candied fruitcake...YUCK! It's always been a family tradition to make a graham cracker based version, though. YUM!
7. Favorite gift received as a child? I always looked forward to the big box of nuts and chocolates we got each year
8. Do you have a nativity scene? Yes
9. Hardest person to buy for? Thomas' parents!
11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? I plead the 5th
12. Mail or email Christmas cards? I usually make them..... Don't expect any this year!
13. Favorite Christmas Movie? A Christmas Story, Rudolph, Polar Express....too many to name! I love them all.
14. When do you start shopping for Christmas? After Halloween

15. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Oh yeah!
16. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Mom's ham, chocolate pretzels, peanut butter bon bons
17. Clear lights or colored on the tree? Clear, please.
18. Favorite Christmas song? I am so totally addicted to the Rat Pack Christmas CD this year. I'd have to say "Baby, it's cold outside" by Dean Martin
19. Travel for Christmas or stay at home? We always go to my mom's on Eve and have both our parents over Christmas morning for breakfast.
20. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer? Of course! Dasher, Dancer, Prancer , Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen, Rudolph
21. Angel on the tree top or a star? Big gold bow
22. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? Well.....we're bad at my house. I let the kids open one gift each Saturday in December. I guess because I was always BEGGING to open something early as a child. My parent's liked to watch me go nuts I think ;-)
23. What is the one present you want most this year? To see my kids' smiling faces on CHristmas morning. What better gift than that?
24. Most annoying thing about this time of year? People are so hard to buy for this year!
25. What I love most about Christmas? Thomas getting to be off work so much and Braden being out of school. We get to all be together for so long!

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

75 degrees in the middle of December???



Well, that's what it was here today! Unbelieveable! What a beautiful day, but it made it so hard to believe that Christmas is only 2 weeks away. I took the kids out to enjoy it and Megan came over for a bit to join them. It was fun while it lasted....The high temp 5 days from now is supposed to be 38!



Friday, December 07, 2007

Mmmm.....yummy






And what says "Christmas" like a pair of new red flannel pajamas? One for each of us, I might add. I am crazy about pjs. In fact, if you came by my house after 6pm pretty much any day of the week, chances are, you'd see me in them. It's one thing you can never have too many of. There's nothing like being comfy at the end of the day!
And that was my adventure for the day.
Mission accomplished!

Wednesday, December 05, 2007

What could be more fun...



than a cookie decorating party! We're going to have a few of Braden's friends from school over in a couple of weeks to decorate cookies. After seeing this idea in Real Simple Magazine, I knew I had to do one! I mean, really.... a bunch of kids, cookies, icing, every sugary candy topping you could think of. Hmmmm........you might want wanna check back with me after the messy chaos and see if I am still as thrilled with the idea. ;-)

Sunday, December 02, 2007

Long overdue Halloween Photos


Ok, per request from friends, here are a couple of photos from Halloween. Please excuse the wonky blue tone as I had just gotten my new camera and hadn't figured out how to change the settings yet! The first one is my favorite and I totally can't believe I even caught it. Was snapping away when Braden's little girlfriend said "Get one with me kissing him!" Of course, I was expecting a little peck on the cheek, but as you see, she laid it on him....right on the lips! GASP!


And here, you can see my little dragon grabbing up a handful of candy to hand out to trick-or-treaters at the front door. Both of the boys like giving out the candy as much as they like getting it, I think.



A night of too much candy, hyper kids and lots of fun!

Thursday, November 08, 2007

Brothers


Aren't they sweet?... Those two boys that I love so much. A little tribute to them and the friends they've become to each other. I hope they always get along this way...
-M

Thursday, November 01, 2007

And for today...

Lookie here at my little stud-muffin and his girls. The one on the left is a friend since birth. There was no choice really...her mama and I are best friends. The one on the right is his official girlfriend. Oh yes, they are in love....as much as Kindergarteners can be, I suppose. They are 3 sweet kid-os!

Wednesday, October 31, 2007

One just for me...


No assignment, no deadline. Just that a little boy was asleep and a mama had a little time alone!
The subject was inspired by a layout in Simple Scrapbooks a few months ago by Aby Garvey. I thought it was so sweet, that I had to do one myself! Look! I am actually in one of my own scrapbook pages! Amazing, huh? ;-)

Thursday, October 25, 2007

Fresh from my table....


My newest layout using pretty much all products from My Mind's Eye - Bohemia Collection.
And look at that face. If that's not an adorable, happy face, I don't know what is!

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Something to share...



The weather is turning cooler...finally! Fall is my favorite time of year, and it always starts me making things....banana bread, apple crisps and warm drinks. One of my favorite drinks (that I discovered only a few years ago) is Chai Tea. Sure, they sell it at Starbucks, but why pay $3+ for a cup of it when you can make it yourself! Don't get me wrong, I LOVE Starbucks. But I did find this killer recipe so I can make up a big batch of mix and have it every morning if I want! Made a couple of these jars up to share with friends too....using my new Papertrey set, of course! Might as well share the recipe here too!
Chai Tea Mix
INGREDIENTS
1 cup nonfat dry milk powder
1 cup powdered non-dairy creamer
1 cup French vanilla flavored powdered non-dairy creamer
2 1/2 cups white sugar
1 1/2 cups unsweetened instant tea
2 teaspoons ground ginger
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon ground cardamom
DIRECTIONS
In a large bowl, combine milk powder, non-dairy creamer, vanilla flavored creamer, sugar and instant tea. Stir in ginger, cinnamon, cloves and cardamom. In a blender or food processor, blend 1 cup at a time, until mixture is the consistency of fine powder.
To serve: Stir 2 heaping tablespoons Chai tea mixture into a mug of hot water.
Bring on the cool weather!
-M
ETA: This recipe is supposed to make 36 servings. Also, I usually go ahead and double the recipe when I am making it so I have plenty to share and some to keep for myself!

Thursday, October 04, 2007

Just some quick ones...


Cards, that is. Whipped up a few yesterday that I needed. I am totally digging this Basic Grey paper right now. Who couldn't love these the little trees...huh? Feels so fallish. Loving it!
On another note, just thinking of something Braden said yesterday that I needed to get down before I forgot it. We were coming home from school and he says"Mom, are we gonna have a garage sale soon?"
"Uh, I wasn't planning on it, why?"
"Because I need to sell some stuff"
"Honey, I don't think we have anything to sell right now"
Silence from the back seat for a minute and then...
"I think we need to go out buy something I don't like so I can sell it!"
This kid totally cracks me up sometimes!
-M

Wednesday, October 03, 2007

And now, for your crafting pleasure.....

My first 2 design team projects!
And of course, they are for Halloween.
I actually like altering things as much as scrapbooking, so this was fun for me!



Yes, I decoupaged a pumpkin! Well, it's not a real pumpkin...just a foam one I got from Hobby Lobby.
Notice how the sentiment from Spooky Sweets fits perfectly in the empty space of the pattern. Been dying to use this new set so this was my perfect chance! Hopefully more to come soon!

-M

Thursday, September 20, 2007

And the winner is...........

ME!

I got the official word last night that I won the design team contest for my scrapbook store! And here are the layouts I submitted:





Now I will be designing 2-6 pages each month to be on display at the store. SO fun to have my stuff hanging all around in there! And besides that, I'll be getting some free and discounted product.....and I need that because I spend way too much money in there! LOL!

Monday, September 10, 2007

This makes me giddy!


It's my newly placed expression from Uppercase Living! This stuff and scrapbooking go hand in hand in my opinion. Super cool words for your wall. All of them are fabulous and I loved it so much that I'm hosting an open house this Friday night! Can't wait to get more! To see the catalog, go to the customer login and type in id#832718 and token:cheerio
Just a little plug for my friend, Susan. ;-)
Also a little peek at some of my most recent pages. I have to give props to Nicole for inspiring me on the lower right one. Your stuff is amazing and constantly inspires me! In other news, I'm hoping to hear from my local scrapbook store in a few days with news about my submissions for the design team. Maybe I will post those layouts if I make it!

Friday, September 07, 2007

Sometimes you've just gotta....

...play in the rain!







It's been a VERY long time since it's rained around here. So when I picked Braden up from school yesterday he asked if he could play outside and splash in the puddles. And I thought...you know what? Why not? They had an absolute blast! And that's what being a kid is all about, right? ;-)

Friday, August 24, 2007

I can't believe I got to....

hold him while he was sleeping! And boy is it hard to take a picture of it yourself! LOL! This was the highlight of my day yesterday. Bryson is such a busy boy that I can't even remember the last time I got to do this, so you'd better believe I was loving every minute of it!

Thursday, August 23, 2007

He amazes me

One morning the first week of Kindergarten, I went to school to have lunch with Braden. As I'm waiting for his class to line up, I was standing in the hallway and I noticed a row of pictures hanging on the wall. All the kids had drawn their families-- with moms, dads, sometimes a dog or cat. And then I notice Braden's.....hundreds of dots on his paper. I'm thinking to myself, "Great!! Why can't he just draw cute little people like everyone else?!" Then I notice the title..."Everyone in the world", and I'm simply blown away. How perceptive of him at just 5 years old to see everyone in the world as part of his family. From the time he was a toddler, he's always seen life differently than the rest of us. I used to see that as a problem, but you know what? Now I see it as a gift! I couldn't be prouder of this boy.

-M

Monday, August 13, 2007

Well, he did it!



Braden went to school. His first day was last Thursday. He was nervous....I was nervous. He settled in quickly with a folder game at his table.

I stood around for a while in the class with a few other parents. He continued playing his game, not even realizing I was there, so I decided to go. There was a parent reception area down the hall where we gathered and talked for a bit, consoled each other and finally, after realizing there was nothing more to do, we left.

When I came to pick him up after his first half day, he runs to the car saying "That was GREAT! I give it 89 thumbs up!" Can't beat that, I guess.

So today is his first full day and as I was driving there this morning I say "Do you want me to drop you off at the door or should I take you to your classroom?" "Nah", he says "Not unless you just WANT to." Uh....what? Not the response I wanted to hear....So I marched myself up to his class, have a short chat with his teacher, and come home. Now it's just me and Bryson. I do a little cleaning, play with Bryson. He takes a nap and here I am. ALONE. I almost feel...depressed. This isn't supposed to be happening. What happened to me doing all those things I said I was gonna do when I got some free time? What was it I wanted to do again? I can't seem to remember for thinking about Braden and wondering what he's doing every 15 minutes! Oh boy...this is going to take some getting used to!

Wednesday, August 01, 2007

Wow...is it August already?



















I can't believe my first baby is about to start Kindergarten in 8 days. I'm sure I will laugh later about being so stressed about it, but somebody give me a sedative, would ya?? I've had him for nearly 6 years to myself. Don't get me wrong, he's totally prepared. He WANTS to go. It's Mommy that is having the problem. I keep trying to look at the positives....like being able to spend time alone with just Bryson. I know that's a good thing. He is going to a private Christian school with only 16 kids in his class. Can't beat that, right? For me, though, it's all about turning my child over to someone else. It's hard for me to think of him somewhere else and me not being able to see him or know exactly what he's doing. I'm sure I will be doing plenty of volunteering out there. But change is kind of a hard one for me and this is a BIG one!


In other news, Bryson went to the allergist last week after an 8 month struggle of us trying to figure out what he was allergic to. Turns out it's soy, eggs and corn...all of the things we were letting him have in place of the wheat we were trying to keep him off of because we thought it was that! Mealtimes are a complete nightmare around here, which I am not used to. When Braden was a baby, he would eat anything we were eating. And still to this day, if he's never tried something before, he immediately wants to try it. Bryson is as opposite as could be from that. I cannot get him to eat ANY vegetables at this point (does french fries count?), although I try daily. Between what he can't eat and what he won't eat, there's not much left. So I feel like I feed him nothing but turkey sausage and pretzels at this point! Sometimes it just drives me nutty!


My only therapy is the scrapbooking I've been doing lately. I have done 9...that's right NINE scrapbook pages in the last week! I feel like I finally have my office like I've always wanted it. For me it's all about organization, and I get totally paralyzed when things aren't in complete order. The ideas are flowing like water over here and I recently made up a new system that is really working for me. I bought cute little recipe card holder and filled it with index cards. Whenever I get an idea for a page (the journaling always comes first for me), I whip out a card, write and sketch my idea, print out the photo(s) I want to go with it and then stick it in my handy dandy Cropper Hopper 5x7 photo keeper. It's all ready to go when I get the time to do my page. Here's my proof that is so working for me...My wall-o-pages:


I like to hang them up for a bit and enjoy them before I tuck them away in my albums. Here's to getting another page done today!
-M

Friday, July 06, 2007

Paisley, bags and other birthday stuff...




Have I ever mentioned how talented my mom is??


Just look what she made me for my birthday! My obsessions with paisley and bags run a tight race...but put them together and WOW! I squealed so loud when I saw it, that I scared Bryson to death! Mom had been searching for the perfect paisley fabric for a while and this definitely qualifies. She'd bought a set of designs for her embroidery machine with this in mind. Can't know me for 33 years and not know what I like, I guess. Absolutely LOVE it, Mom!

In other birthday news, my friend Mary took me to lunch yesterday at The Looking Glass Cafe .


It's one of my favorite places to go for the atmosphere AND the dessert is to die for! Plus the scrapbook store is right next door, so that's a plus too! And get this.....I went alone ...as in no kids. TOTAL rarity. Thomas was off and stayed home with them. I almost don't know how to act when I'm not trying to coral 2 little wild dudes. The peace makes it hard to think.



Hey, and just for fun, because I never get a chance to do a project, much less post one, here is my latest scrapbook page:




It's all about simple around here! And speaking of simple, if you are any kind of scrapbooker and haven't checked out Rebecca Cooper's new book, it is an absolute MUST! Totally in love with this book right now. It is exactly what I have been needing to get me out of my rut! DO yourself a favor and go get it!!

-M

Saturday, May 26, 2007

Somebody turned ONE...



I can hardly believe that my baby boy turned one year old just a few days ago! In contrast to the anticipation of waiting for him, it seems like this first year of his life just flew by. It is amazing how different he is now from the day that I brought him home. Well, except for the waking up at night part. Can't BELIEVE he's still doing that! Twice last night, but anyway...
So many exciting things happening for us. Braden graduated Preschool, Bryson started walking, we are moving to a new house in just two weeks. Life is sure to be exciting. Actually having time to post about it? Well, now that's another story!

Monday, February 26, 2007

Just a little something...


Been playing with a new little stamp set I got last week. This one's pretty special. My friend Nichole recently came out with her very own line of stamps and this is from the first set! Lovely, versatile set. I can't wait to see what else she has up her sleeve!

Tuesday, February 13, 2007

My basket runneth over...

Sometimes I need to remind myself that those little things that tend to get on my nerves right now will be the little things that I will really miss later.

Take this basket, for instance. This is my basket of all things Braden. He has a little desk here in my office (which he refers to as HIS office) where he makes me approximately 542 things every day! So I made this as a place to put it all. In this basket, you will find every sort of "gift" you could think of.....Many envelopes with little notes, stickers, homemade puppets, workbook pages. He's really starting to get the hang of sounding out words and he writes a LOT nowdays. My favorites are the little pieces of paper with "MOM" and hearts to decorate as his little token of love. Sometimes I just look at this overflowing basket underneath my desk and sigh in frustration as it can get completely out of control, pieces falling here and there. And I think to myself "I really need to clean this out!" But then I just can't bring myself to do it. Besides the fact that he checks it periodically to see if it's all still there, it's a nice little reminder for me. One of these days, my little boy will be too busy for such things.

So I took this picture to help me remember this sweet gesture. But right now, all I have to do is look at this huge stack of notes to be reminded of how much one little boy loves me!

-M

Friday, January 12, 2007

First one, then two!



...Teeth, that is! Missing ones! Braden finally lost his first tooth on Monday afternoon. And after much crying and freaking out (over the blood and there was barely ANY), he was excited about the Tooth Fairy coming.


After that, the one next to it started getting so loose that it was hanging sideways. Well, I knew it wouldn't be long until it came out too, but he was too nervous to pull at it. So as I was picking him up from school on thursday, it literally fell out of his mouth and into his hand! So now he's double toothless and he talks so stinkin' cute with that little slur. I make him say "S" words just to hear him do it!



-M

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