Christmas Survey

I am not liking the new text enhanced stuff blogger is doing by highlighting random words!! And how do I put links in??

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate?
I'm not sure I've tried eggnog, but hot chocolate with loads of marshmallows and whipped cream--yum!

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just set them under the tree?
Santa wraps the presents. I don't see the excitement (at least for the parents) of just leaving presents out so when the kids get up at 6 and parents are still in bed, so much for seeing their excitement!

3. Colored lights on tree/house or white?
I like white lights.

4. Do you hang mistletoe?
Nope.

5. When do you hang your decorations up?
Usually we have a (real) tree up by the second weekend of December. I try to start putting some decorations out December 1st.

6. What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)?
We don't really do traditional holiday dishes? What would be traditional holiday--other than cookies??

7. Favorite holiday memory from childhood?
Going to California for Christmas one year to visit my Aunt & Uncle. I'd love to do that again for Christmas, even if my Aunt and Uncle don't live there anymore!!

8. What's on your Christmas Wish List?
too long to list :) but if I have to pick three, we'll go with Becky Higgin's Project Life (I'm now leaning toward the Clementine kit), a JoTotes purse, and a vacation!!

9. Do you open gifts on Christmas Eve?
After church, my Mom, sister, Gradparents, uncle, Great-Grandma and Aunt come over and we have late dinner and open gifts. Though we cut out gifts for the adults as of last year, so just my kids open gifts from the relatives.

10. How do you decorate your Christmas tree?
Very carefully. Haha. I have a collection of houses from Hallmark (I think I have 29 of them now). I say every year that I want a small tree with all my houses and then our big tree to be a themed color, but again that didn't happen this year!! Maybe next year??

11. Snow. Love it or dread it?
I would love enough of it so it looks pretty outside, mostly if I don't have to go out in it.

12. Real tree or Fake tree?
I love the smell of real, but I find needles year round in our carpet...a wee bit annoying, and painful.

13. Do you remember your favorite gift?
Most recently, probably my camera. Though I guess that was a pre-Christmas Christmas gift :)

14. What's the most important thing about Christmas for you?
Knowing what the TRUE meaning of Christmas is. That is, the birth of our Savior.

15. What is your favorite holiday dessert?
I will eat sugar cookies (MY sugar cookies) and those corn flake/marshmallow wreath
things several at a time.

16. What is your favorite tradition?
The Christmas Eve church services. When I was young, our school sang every Christmas Eve. Now my kids sing with their school on Christmas Eve, too.

17. What tops your tree?
Depends on what tree we are talking about here...I have a star somewhere, and a big ribbon on another.

18. What do you prefer: giving or receiving?
I like giving. But receiving sure can be fun, too ;)

19. What is your favorite Christmas song?
Christmas music should only be on starting Dec. 1. None of this day after Halloween business. But my favorites would be Carol of the Bells and O Holy Night. I love playing both on the piano!!

20. Candy canes: Yuck or Yum?
I could go without. They are such a mess for kids!

21. Favorite Christmas movie?
I love Polar Express

22. What do you leave for Santa?
Cookies, milk, and sometimes reindeer food.

23. Do you have a Christmas morning tradition?
The kids open their gifts from Santa, then we usually go to my Dad & Stepmom's for brunch and gifts. Then off to Mike's family in the late afternoon.

24. Do you prefer to shop online or in a mall?
Online is the way to go! Unless the shipping is an arm and a leg, then it nearly kills me to buy something online. I really don't like to go to the mall.

25. Christmas card or Christmas letter?
I love a Christmas card with picture(s). Seriously--Mike's friend from college sends a TWO page letter on 8 1/2x11 paper with font size 7 or 8. Way too much information if you ask me. And the fact I need a magnifying glass?? Forget it. Keep it short and simple, I really do like to hear what people have been up to.

Answer one of these questions in the comments section...or all of them on your own blog.

Merry Christmas!!

by the numbers

• amount of money Shutterfly wanted me to shell out for my cute Christmas card--$160
• amount of money I spent making a knock-off of the very same card--$17 for 100 envelopes, $2.50 each for a pack of 8 1/2x11 kraft & white cardstock pack, $20 for prints from Walgreens, and the remaining cardstock I used my stash.
• 1000=number of miles on Mike's brand new car already (he insists I've put on the most miles listening to XM radio in the driveway late at night)
• 5=the number of people I have left to buy some Christmas presents for
• 4 equals the number of people in this household that have been sick this week (flu-sick. Yuck) Kaycey and I have been spared for the most part.
• 15+=the number of baths poor Sadie had in three days
• 12+=the loads of laundry since Monday I've been attempting to do
• 7=the number of gals I know expecting a baby (or two!) between February and May (and two of them are expecting twin boys!!!!)
• 2=the number of bedsheets I rolled in a ball and threw in the garbage, not being able to handle the grossness
• 2 pairs of pants in the garbage (see end of last bullet point)
• 2 out of 3 kids back at school today
• 2=the number of shutterfly books ordered this week (I spent way too much time with their new customize feature! Just like a scrapbook!)
• countless hours of sleep lost this week
• Here's hoping for a healthy and better week ahead!!

irresistable!

I've been on a major cleaning spree through the house. I even dusted the cabinet shelves. I cleaned the glass front cabinet glass (pretty sure I haven't done that since we moved in...) I think I've been motivated and inspired by surfing the world wide web. I'm ready for an extreme makeover! Look at the fun things I've stumbled upon while looking for Christmas ideas.

I am not quite sure where I saw this one...

I pretty much love almost everything on this next site.

http://www.sugarboodesigns.com/index.html

and then there's this one...

http://signsofvintage.com/

and this adorable plate--totally customizable!! There's tons to choose from. So cute! Might get one for Sadie : )

http://www.etsy.com/shop/DishableDesigns

All this web window shopping....it's times like this I am totally missing the cash from bartending. Sigh. I *think* these could be made with relative ease (?) Maybe I'll give it a try.

belated birthday post

Our baby is TWO years old. And so sweet!!!

I think we lit the candles three times. She loved everyone singing "happy birthday", just like last year. She "read" each of her cards. She appreciated her presents with lots of, "Awwwwww!!! Chute!!!" (chute=cute) and "WOW!" She fell asleep right after opening gifts, but got a second wind somehow. She ended the night with a big dance performance for all of our guests.

funny

My Dad sent me this article from the newspaper. The funniest part is a bit of an "inside" joke I suppose. Cal has always called Sadie, Abe. So we all got a kick out of it.

GO PACK, 10-0

a couple easy projects

I am serving as a leader of a Girl's group at church for the second year in a row. I am in charge of the first graders (this includes my own little Maddie : ) We meet monthly and each month I struggle and stress about what project/topic to do for the month. It seems most other groups do some sort of craft or cooking activity, which is fun for them. But I'd like to have a theme for each month. I mostly did that last year. Then I left time at each meeting for them to complete a page or two for a book I bound and gave them at the end of the year. I also try to incorporate faith in each meeting/project. For our book last year, pages started with, for example, "God provides us with food. Some of my favorite foods are..." While I'd love to do some sort of book again, I have the same girls this year. So I'll have to come up with something different than last year's. I feel like they need to learn something-- about a new technique (sewing, baking, etc.) or more about a topic they maybe didn't know about. I don't want it to be something silly that will get thrown away a week later!!

In October, we created a mini book about trees. I must say, it turned out so cute : ) We used brown paper lunch bags to create a mini book. I then printed facts about trees which they glued into their books. The pockets were then to be filled with different leaves/needles from trees!

In November, we created a "thankful" frame. Here it is in the making...

I really love the way this turned out. The only problem is six year olds are easily influenced by each other, so they very much copied each other's "what I'm thankful for" list : ) Turned out cute, nonetheless. We started out by painting a bare wood frame ($1 at Michael's) and then made a list on paper of what they were thankful for. We adhered the little letters "so very thankful 2011" (I used my quickutz fonts and numbers) onto a 4x4 piece of brown cardstock to go into the middle of the frame. Once the frame dried, they added flowers and pearl bling, and I tied tulle around it. Then each gal used brown markers to rewrite her thankful list onto her frame. This could make a great gift or project for your Thanksgiving host/hostess! Or have everyone sign something they are thankful for from your gathering, and have a keepsake from Thanksgiving.

Here is Maddie's frame.

beautiful birthday party!

GASP I so want to throw a party this beautiful!!!

See the rest of the LOVELY details here.

fall photo shoot, sneak peek

Halloween humor

This is so funny, I had to post it. It's been all over facebook, but for those who haven't seen it, ENJOY : )

"fwick o fweet!"

, said Sadie. Also known as trick or treat ; )

I'm not a big fan of Halloween. I really never have been. I don't like anything spooky, I don't like being scared, I won't go into a haunted house or haunted corn maze, I've never in my life seen a scary or gory Halloween movie (and don't plan on it ever), and it just seems silly to go door to door to get tons of candy, most of which will end up uneaten or still in a cabinet in a bowl a year (yes, a year) later. So I've never gone all out on costumes for the kids, either. It's usually thrown together rather last minute (not like me at all, haha) Hmmm, does Sadie's costume look familiar???

BUT in spite of not being a fan, it was PRICELESS to see Sadie trick or treating. By the end she was saying, "Fwick o fweet" and her excitement was hilarious. Every time candy was dropped in her bag, she peeked inside and shouted, "Fweet." Her bag was pretty heavy by the time we were done, but she refused to have any help. She dragged her little bag most of the way and shouted no every time someone tried to help. I expected there to be a trail of candy but somehow the bag survived.

CORRECTION: Okay, so I am a little fascinated by "true" ghost stories and "true" haunted houses and things like that.

what I'm working on...

This quarter of classes, I have an adorable mini BOOk...

I also have this lovely project I'll be working on for the month of November; a November daily by the talented Katherine McElvain

Perhaps I'll be really on top of things and finish my December daily from 2010 so I can start one for 2011 : )

birthdays can be fun afterall

I was lucky enough to get a birdhouse (yes, a birdhouse!) for my birthday. It's vintage-y looking, and I love it! Just have to decide which room it will go in, and if I want to attempt to spray it white...(I wanted to title this post "make a little birdhouse in your soul", I know my dear friend Katherine would've appreciated that

; ) Cal came into my bedroom very early the next morning (not having seen me open the present) and asked excitedly, "Are we getting a bird??" Um, no.

I also have a lovely watch on my wrist for the first time in ???? I am excited that when I want to know what time it is, or when someone asks me for the time, I can simply glance at my wrist instead of fumbling for my cell phone.

Thanks Mom, Dad, and Maria for great birthday presents!!

Speaking of birthdays, a certain little someone will be two in less than two weeks. Time DOES fly.

I also spent a chunk of my evening looking for AWESOME & unique birthday party ideas for a certain little someone who will be 7 on the 7th of January...thinking a princess themed party with friends might be in order!! Not sure I want to attempt it on my own. It'd be so much easier to just go somewhere, but cheaper to stay home and make tutus : )

Door County--photo loaded post!

Instead of taking a big trip, we opted for a smaller getaway over my birthday. Perhaps in winter we will have the chance to go somewhere warmer and for longer. Door County was the perfect little place for a quick last minute break. It's only a 3 hours drive from Milwaukee. If you are one who loves fall and you haven't been there, you must!! While we went a bit after peak time (leaves changing colors) it was still nice and there was still some color. There's several state parks for hiking; we liked Peninsula State Park the best. Mike made fun of me for taking SO many pictures, but I love fall so much!! And I'm still having fun learning tricks with my camera. There are numerous tours you can take; we did a lighthouse tour and a haunted Door County tour (they also have a wine tasting, haunted pub tour, and a culinary tour, to name a few). It's been dubbed the Cape Cod of the Midwest. There's lots of yummy dining choices, too. We loved Trio, Trattoria del Santo, and The White Gull Inn. There are NO chain restaurants or hotels (except in Sturgeon Bay, in very southern Door County). There are several famous celebs who visit Door County--Kevin Costner apparently loves it, even tried to buy a private island there (but zoning restrictions prohibited him from building the large house he wanted) so he instead built in Minoqua. There are several athletes that visit or own properties up there. Lombardi loved a golf course up there. I highly recommend you visit--with lots of shops, cute towns like Sister Bay, Fish Creek, & Ephraim, parks, lakefront, and apple and cherry orchards galore--you won't be disappointed!!

We stopped in Green Bay for lunch at Curly's Pub in Lambeau Field. Great appetizers, meal not so great.

Lambeau Field!!

On our hike through Peninsula State Park.

One of many orchards/wineries in the area.

Happy birthday to me, celebrating with a piece tiramisu

On the ghost tour we went to the supposedly haunted Thorpe House...look at the left side of the photo...ghostly apparition or not?!?! I know the whole photo is blurry, but plenty of people on our tour were fascinated by this photo I took while we were in one of the rooms.

We stopped by this little place for ice cream. Even though it was really rather chilly out.

At one of several lighthouses.

Another lighthouse.

A butterfly I caught a pic of while we were walking.

At the top of one of the lighthouses.

Another lighthouse. I love lighthouses.

Inside one of the lighthouses...pretty much left the way it had been from WAY back when. See the stick-like thing toward the footboard of the bed?? They would turn it and it would tighten the ropes of the bed, and this is where the phrase, "Sleep tight!" came from. Learn something new every day!!

On one of our hikes.

The fallen leaves...so pretty!

winning

I was lucky enough to get asked by a friend to tag along to game 5 Brewers vs. Diamondbacks. We were in the Air Tran zone (directly behind Corey Hart!). One of the clinics/companies she works for supplies physical trainers/therapists for the Brewers (my friend is a Nurse Practitioner). I must confess I felt a wee bit like a dud since I was hanging with a bunch of docs, N.P.'s, and other highly educated peeps.

Buffet, free drinks, and a WIN. It. Was. AWESOME.

creativity part 2

This is the destination album I made to use for Colorado way back when for a class I taught. I definitely have to do pre-made albums more often. It was fun to make the stuff "fit" and to add stuff & pages! I pretty much finished day one (have to type up some journaling)...and probably fit 100+ more pictures. Not sure how that will work. May have to reprint some pics wallet sized! Don't mind the glare on the photos...Walgreens accidentally printed glossy finish for me. Grrrrrr. I didn't want to reprint or wait for new photos.

creativity part 1

I got less than 13 hours of sleep between Thursday and Sunday. But it was by choice, and definitely worth it. I needed some time away!

I went scrapbooking for the first time in a L-O-N-G time. I didn't get a ton done, but I'm proud of what I did!

For the past several weeks I've been hard at work organizing and rearranging my scrap stuff. I have a whole room dedicated to the stuff upstairs...but it spent most of the time in the laundry room (by the back door, most convenient!) I had a post drafted to show the disaster, but just couldn't get myself to post pics of the disaster. I did something daring--I separated almost all my paper and stickers and stuff. I was always a stickler for keeping everything "together" (if I bought paper and stickers from the same company and release, I kept them together). I was nervous as I've never been one to mix it up very much. And while I only have 6 pages to show for it, I have to say the new system was golden. I used stuff that I've had forever and stuff I would've never normally put together. Now if I can just get more time in a day to do some more...

Here's a look at the pages I did.

old Sassafrass scraps & stickers, October Afternoon smiley button & letter stickers, Jillibean canvas & corrugated flower, Jenni Bowlin butterfly sticker

Bella paper, old and new Crate chipboard & stickers, My Mind's Eye tag

I used mist for the first time in my life on this page. I'm not sure I'm a mist kind of person. I see other people do it, and it's so cute...but it frustrated me. The cute tiny circles kind of happened by accident--after punching the circle border all the tiny pieces fell on my page. It looked so cute and I remember seeing it on a page elsewhere. So I glued them on! A tedious task. But cute nonetheless.

Bella chip letters, stickers, & paper, Doodlebug border sticker, Bo Bunny paper, Amy Tangerine fabric paper, Thicker letters, Fancy Pants chipboard, We R tag, Elle's studio tag

Jillibean stickers, die cuts, paper, and pin; Bella sticker, October Afternoon Stickers and paper, Imaginisce ribbon, Thickers and Pink Paislee letters, Love Elsie & Bazzill border

Scrap Within Reach paper, October Afternoon card and letters, Bella, Basic grey, & Webster's Pages letters; October Afternoon card & sticker, Scenic Route chipboard, Jillibean corrugated star, Jenni Bowlin ticket

My personal favorite of the weekend : ) maybe because I just took the pic last week!

My Mind's Eye paper & tag, Authentique paper, Crate paper, buttons, and sticker borders, Dear Lizzie chipboard and button, Little Yellow Bicycle card, Maya Road ribbon & jewel, October Afternoon stickers

Go me : )

Tomorrow I will post the Colorado album...I finished scrappin' day one of my trip!!