I'll never get lost again!

I have a terrible sense of direction.. I could get lost in my own neighborhood, I promise! So for Christmas my husband got me the best present... a Garmin!



I LOVE it! I've been wanting one forever... I can't wait to use it :o) So what was your favorite present this year?

how do you hang?

Your Christmas cards, that is! Do you display them creatively? Do you stuff them in a drawer? Do you hang them from the chandelier? ;) Every year I say I'm going to display my cards in a fun, cute way... and every year they get taped to my wall! Some year...

Merry Christmas to YOU

Merry Christmas to YOU! My cards have been sent out so I figured I would post some of them here. Can you spot the mistake on the last card? I didn't until I got my order back from winkflash!! Woops! Wonder how many people noticed?! I really wish my version of photoshop had spell checker!

the pics were taken by sharla :o)

This was my favorite bible verse for cards this year...

For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; ... And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9:6

Love notes...

Wow, its been a while since my last post! We've been super busy!! We're in the middle of the last minute rush and business before Christmas. I can't believe its less than 2 weeks now! I hope I can take a little time out to remember what this season is all about. I love listening to Christmas music because I can always feel the rush slow down just a bit when I do :o)

Or when I sit down to my morning coffee and find a little love note...



Tylia is so into writing us little notes and leaving them for us to find. She wrote that one after getting into trouble for not doing what she was supposed to!

Or this note I found on our chalkboard a while ago! That will bring a smile to any moms face :o)

So Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to everyone! May you all find just a minute to relax and remember the true Reason for the season :o)

Its that time of year

I can't believe Thanksgiving is tomorrow- our family has so much to be thankful for this year!

and then... its Christmas time!!! Yayy- my favorite time of the year :o) I just love the whole season- the songs, the decorations, the feeling in the air... its truly the most wonderful time of the year!

And one part of it is the cards- that tradition of forcing your family to pose for a picture, struggling to get the kids to smile (or at least look at the camera without crying). Then you get that oh so beautiful picture made into a gorgeous Christmas card. After that you address your envelopes with all of your friends and families addresses until your hand is cramping and your fingers are numb (unless you get smart and finally print your addresses on mailing labels like I have never done, but say I'm going to every year!). After that you spend a bucket load of money on stamps, and voila... your cards are sent out :o)

Really, though, sending out cards is another of my favorite Christmas traditions, one that I can't wait to do! I'm working on a lot of cards right now... here are a ew of the designs I've done this year:

these are just a few of the designs I've done so far, although in different colors. And if you notice I used pictures from last year, so as not to ruin the surprise of everyones photo's!

I hope everyone has a blessed Thanksgiving!!

2 Corinthians 9:15 Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!

sneak peek: artisian fair

I've been hard at work... well, not really working, more like having fun! I'm excited for the fair, I can't wait to see what everyone else has been working on :o)

a pretty pink party!

We celebrated Brielles first birthday yesterday afternoon! It was a cozy,

rainy day for a pretty pink party :o)

Most of our families came to help us celebrate our little princesses first

birthday and we really appreciated having them there :o)

I made her cake using this recipe from Bakerella.com... mmm- yummy! and it was even yummier this morning with my coffee :o)

Happy Monday everyone... I'm hoping this week will bring lots of time for crafting for me. Its supposed to rain almost all week here so I'm looking at the silver lining and that means lots of indoor time=scrapbooking!

One year ago today....

...Our third little princess, Brielle, was born! She was born in

wee hours of the morning, after only 2 hours of labor. She

was our biggest baby at 7 pounds and 5 ounces.

I can't believe that was a year ago already! If I close my

eyes I can remember the feel of her newborn cuddlyness,

how she curled into a little ball, her wrinkly skin and

chicken legs... where on earth did the time go??!

my one year old, almost walking, still nursing, barely talking,

bald headed, already digging, well loved, sweetie pie :o)

cute little four eyes

you may have noticed in my last post that Brielle is wearing glasses... Yes, my not even 1 year old baby girl needs to wear glasses. This is something that I have kind of deep feelings about. Why such deep feelings about glasses? Well, I myself had to wear glasses at a young age- I clearly remember getting my glasses- I was so proud of them and I loved wearing them. I remember I even had a pair of snoopy glasses that I thought were so super cool! Until I heard a lady telling my mom that I would be so cute if it weren't for those glasses. I was devastated! My beautiful new glasses made me NOT CUTE?! After that I didn't really love them quite so much. When I finally got contacts at 11 years old it was a whole new world for me! I finally felt like my glasses didn't define who I was. Now my sweet baby girl is going to go through the same experiences as I did. And the funny thing is I think her glasses make her even cuter to me!

pumpkin traditions

Last night we had our annual pumpkin carving tradition!

What fun!! This year we had a lil pumpkin crawling around under the

table while we did our carving :o)

Paige drew her design all by herself and then we carved it out for her

And tylia did all of her own designing and carving- all by herself!



Brielle wasn't sure what all the fuss was about with these big orange things...


was she supposed to eat them??


NOPE! tastes kinda yucky!

We had fun carving our pumpkins, and now the girls are so excited for trick or treating!

Happy Halloween everyone!

paper crazy!!

I've been making cards and other paper crafting stuff for the artisian fair for the past week or two... I'm in the middle of a paper frenzy and loving it! my fingers are stained with ink and I have bits of paper glued to my jeans, but this is the life!

These are just a few of the cards that I've made... For some reason I'm stuck on baby cards, can't seem to stop making them!

sweetness

I've been in such a crafty mood lately... and for me that means scrapbooking,

mostly! I made this page using this weeks sketch from 52 sketches, 52 weeks.

She's our little bit of sweetness- we could just eat her up!!

The pics were taken by Sharla.

today is a special day!

Today is Paiges 6th birthday!!

We don't have any special plans- we already had

her birthday party, and had cupcakes at school.

So today is just our family. We'll bake a

cake later today. She wanted to open her

presents as soon as she woke up, so we let her :o)

Lord, please be with my daughter today

and every day, for the rest of her life.

Please protect her from harm and keep her safe in Your arms.

I know You love her even more than I do!

May she always know you and love you, too.

In Jesus precious name, Amen.

This is the day that The Lord has made,

let us rejoice and be glad in it.

my favorites

Karen inspired me to make a photo journaling picture... thing-

mine is different, but still inspired by hers :o)

they're in no specific order, I promise :o)

By the way, how ddoes everyone get their pics bigger on their blogs- I can't seem to figure it out?? Mine are all so teeny tiny, even set at the largest setting... ggrr, computers

It's here!

Every year I wait to see something in my neighborhood. Its a sure sign of fall and

when I see it I can't help but smile! Its this right here...

And I had to add this picture here...



I love the color of the pumpkins against our newly painted door... so festive!
I'm loving this time of year, just like always! Its my favorite, and sadly it lasts
the least amount of time. Its the one season I don't get tired of by the time its over!



Happy Fall everyone!!

Gods sketch

This weekend I was able to finally get some scrapbooking done- it's my therapy, my stress reliever, my addiction! I actually finished 3 pages! Thats pretty good for me- I'm a very slow scrapper. I was working on one page with a sketch (from 52 sketches, 52 weeks) and as I was working I was thinking that our lives are like the sketch. We start out with an idea of what our life will or should look like, and as we go through different circumstances and situations our life is altered from the original "sketch" we had in mind. Sometimes we don't even recognize what we originally started with! God is in control of our "sketch", and he knows what our finished masterpiece will look like (I'm not calling my scrapbook pages masterpieces, by the way!). He knows the plans he has for us, and how it will shape our lives, even as we're struggling against it because its not in OUR plans. Anyways I hope that makes sense... Its so hard for me to put my thoughts into words sometimes.

And heres one of the pages I finished- the pics were from last fall-

ya I'm just a little behind :o)

Jeremiah 29:11

For I know the plans I have for you, declares The Lord,

plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans to give

you a hope and a future.

Hudson Phoenix

Recently I was asked to make birth announcements for this

little cutie pie- I was honored to be chosen

to help introduce him to the world.

I always am- theres just something special about

baby announcements that I love to make.

Babies are such a blessing,

how can you not believe in the power and

wonder of God when you look at their precious little faces?

I didn't post the one that Hudsons mom chose,

but I liked the bright colors in this one.

Every good and perfect gift is from above

James 1:17

I give thanks...

I give thanks for the coffee stain on my counter...

it means my husband went to work this morning.

I give thanks for the soggy cereal in my sink....

it means my girls have food to eat.

I give thanks for the 4 loads of laundry I did yesterday....

it means we have clothing to wear, and water

and electricity to launder them.

I give thanks for the constant messes I have to clean up...

it means my girls are busy, healthy and happy-

and that we have a roof over our heads.

I give thanks- I give thanks to my Lord, my God...

He has blessed me with so much!

Give thanks to the LORD for He is good... His love endures forever. Psalm 118:1

a box of cards

I've been working on a birthday gift for someone...

her birthday was almost a month ago and its almost done-

thats pretty good for me! I'm working on the box that these

cards and several others will go in... its one of my favorite gifts

to make! Hopefully she'll like it :-)

Maybe it'll get finished today!

free play

Last weekend we brought the girls to the mall,

and they played in the little play area...

they had lots of fun and it was free!

they love those cars- you'd have thought they were really

moving by the expression on brielle's face!

Well, the two younger girls had lots of fun...

Tylia is getting a little old
to be satisfied with that kind of free fun!

But she had a little bit of fun, too-

even if she wouldn't admit it :)

These days we're all about having "free fun"!

Although we did get ice cream cones, so it wasn't

completely free- but worth it!

their first day

I'm so excited... school has started! I love this

time of year... with fall just around the corner,

school started and back to the weekly routine!

This year we had two school girls.

Tylia started 3rd grade... I can't believe it!

She's getting so big. She told me that

this year she wants to be "more in style"!

She's growing up way too fast!

And Paige started Kindergarten! She

did so well- she loved school!

She met a friend and loves

her teacher :o)

Here she was, all lined up and ready to

walk to her classroom! She waved happily

at me and Brielle as we waited to watch

her march along with the rest of her

classmates behind the teacher like

little ducklings (I always get a kick out of

seeing the little kindergartners-

they look so teeny tiny!).

I felt so sorry for the little guy in front

of her- he just sobbed all the way into

the classroom! Poor kid!

Even though its only for a few hours a day

(Paige goes half days), I think I'm going

to enjoy having only one baby at home!

Hopefully I don't get bored... but I'm hoping

to start getting more scrapbooking done :o)