Happy New Year!!

Happy New Year to all my friends!!

Can't believe this is my last post of 2007, can't believe it is all over already!!

Not to Rub It In But....

man it is so nice outside.

I feel bad for all of you who are stuck inside cause as much as I miss the snow and change of the season you cannot beat playing outside in 74 degree weather on New Year's Eve. I have all the windows open in the house and there is a beautiful breeze blowing through.

Ian is even wearing shorts because he was so hot.


Happy New Year's Eve, I hope everyone's weather starts being nicer. According to one of the weather men here it is supposed to start getting colder here for the next week so we should enjoy this while we can. But that is only if you listen to channel 5, channel 4 tells a different story.

If I have to count them all.

I did 152 layouts as of today for the year 2007. I don't know if I will get anymore done tomorrow but if I do I can adjust it accordingly.

I went to a crop on Friday night at Scrapbook Heaven with my friend Melanie and I ended up getting 5 layouts (out of the 6 I had all planned out) done. Pretty good for me in 5 hours. Means I am getting better about planning my layouts.







Most of these are inspired by Becky Fleck sketches in one way or another.

Nothing Fancy BUT I Did Dust Off The Supplies

I actually scrapped yesterday. They aren't my favorite work but I wanted to post them anyways. Got more of these photos from summer 2005 done that are all printed out already.






Probably would have looked better if I actually turned on the old computer upstairs and scanned them. Might have to look at bringing it down here and putting it somewhere where I can use it on the laptop.

Thanks for looking.

There are reasons why I am not on tour...

For Christmas Hubby and I got an Xbox 360 and the game Rock Band. It comes with a guitar, drums and a microphone. A microphone you may say, yes I said the same thing, how could you play a game with a microphone. Basically you sing karaoke and if you can match pitch and stuff you win points.

Watch if you dare, that kid that sang badly on American Idol looks great in comparison to me!!!

A Very Star Wars Christmas

Uncle Brian and Aunt Cherlyn sent the boys some presents but we heard they weren't feeling very good today so they couldn't video teleconference with us when we opened presents so we videoed it for them to see.

Merry Christmas you guys, get well soon.

Happy Birthday Baby!!

Can you believe it was 3 years ago that my water broke on Christmas Eve and my father in law had to drive me to the hospital to have a baby? It doesn't seem like that much time should have passed. He is my baby still and I want him to stay little! But he isn't.

Today he turns 3. A big boy, one who is ready (if not completely willing) to go potty on the big potty, one who knows his ABCs (if not always in the correct order) and one who has decided that as a big boy he can do everything by himself. I don't know why they call them the terrible twos, it is always the threes that seem to be bad to me. But he is my baby and I will survive this one and he will hopefully make it to four. :)

Some pictures of opening presents this morning...

Chuck E Cheese!!

My hubby and I swore we would never go back to this place after we took Ian there when he was little but Evan talks about it all the time!! It is so cute, we drive past and even though he has never been there and doesn't know what it all is he always says "I'm going to take Kimberlee there on my birthday."

Well Kimberlee wasn't able to come but we decided to go to Chuck E Cheese anyways for an early birthday party and we were pretty impressed. It was nice and clean inside and there was some one constantly cleaning things inside. And most surprisingly, the pizza was actually good!!

We invited Phillip, a friend of the boys, and his mom to come along with us and the three of them had so much fun with the tokens and playing all the games.

I made a cake!!

Evan's 3rd birthday is on the 24th and I decided to make a cake this year instead of buying one. I found one of those mold pans at Hobby Lobby and it was Evan's favorite Lightning McQueen.

After much trouble with getting food colors that were the right color this is what came out.

Pretty cute, if I do say so myself. And I know that Evan will love it.

SWIG

So over the Veterns Day weekend my girlfriends and I all got together here in town and ended up a bar named Swig. It was this really nice martini bar. Now for someone who doesn't drink and has never had a martini, I did pretty good that night and found that I really really like sour apple martinis.

One of my friends Mel sent me this awesome little Christmas gift, I love it so much and I have it sitting out on the counter (minus the chocolate which was eaten in record time) and I smile everytime I see it!!

Thanks again Mel and you are welcome to come and visit any time!!

Holiday Memory #20

Holiday Memory #20 - The New Year

List some things you like to do every year to prepare for the New Year. Is there anything you always like to do for New Year’s Eve or New Year’s Day? If you’d like, you can save this journaling for the actual New Year’s Day just like with the past prompts for Christmas Eve and Day.

New Year's day is normally the day that I take down the Christmas tree and put away the decorations.

This year we are planning a kid's New Year's Eve party. Just inviting a couple of friends and their kids to come over for dinner and then we are going to play some games and watch some shows and drop the ball about 8pm so that the kids can get to bed at a decent time. Ian has been really interested in the whole changing from 2007 to 2008 so I thought this would be good for him to ring in the new year!!

Holiday Memory #19

Holiday Memory #19 - The Stash

Christmas is not all about the material gifts, or course, but modern-day marketing has blurred the lines. Take pictures of each family member with all their opened gifts. Ask everyone what their favorite gifts were and why.

Ian's favorite was his AT-AT. Evan of course was so happy that he got Big Red James.

Holiday Memory #18

Holiday Memory #18 - Christmas Day

Make a list of the events at your house on Christmas morning. Make this a “Day in the Life of” type of journaling. What time did your family members wake up/get up? Did you open Christmas presents today or last night? How long did it take everyone to open their gifts? Did you go to church or did you go to someone else’s house today? How long did you stay in your pajamas?

5:55am - the kids wake up. UGH!! Normally I can't pry them out of bed at 6:30am on school days.

6:00am - walking down the stairs with the kids when Ian exclaims "Well Daddy must have been good because there is an Xbox... OMGosh there's an ATAT!!!"


7:00am - shower and get dressed (only because with my short hair I look like a troll doll and refuse to be photographed that way)

7:30am - open presents from each other

8:30am - make cinammon rolls and eat

9:30am - play!!!

noon - lunch of grilled cheese and tomato soup

after lunch - naps for everyone!!

after naps - more playing

3:00pm - start ham

4:00pm - video conference with my family

5:00pm - take out ham and finish up side dishes

5:30pm - eat!!

6:00pm - watch Harry Potter and play

9:00pm - bed time for the kids and time for mommy and daddy to play with the toys

Holiday Memory #17

Holiday Memory #17 - Christmas Eve

List any Christmas Eve traditions you might have. Do you do some last minute shopping? Do you go to church on Christmas Eve instead of Christmas Day? Do you exchange gifts on Christmas Eve instead of Christmas Day? If you have children, do you do anything special for them on this day?

Well for us Christmas Eve is tough for us because it is Evan's birthday. So I try really hard to make it HIS day and not combine it into the holiday shuffle.

But we do try to get Evan's birthday done and after dinner it becomes Christmas Eve. We put on our Christmas jammmies and everyone gets to open up a gift. Then before bed we put out cookies for Santa along with letters from the kids. This year they made little trays at Home Depot that we painted up in Christmas colors and are using as our cookie trays for Santa.

Holiday Memory #16

Holiday Memory #16 - The Wonder of Christmas

Ask your kids what Christmas means to them. I would suggest that you ask them separately and then maybe get them together with their answers. My kids tend to mimic each other when they’re together, but sometimes that will enable the younger ones to think of an answer they wouldn’t normally think of. If you don’t have children, then you may want to reminisce about your own childhood or you might want to write about the nieces or nephews or other young family members.

Well since I am a little afraid of what a 5 year old and an almost 3 year old would say because it is probably something to do with getting and not giving I am going to go with what I think the reason of Christmas is.

For me Christmas means family and spending time together but most of all for me Christmas is about giving. I am one of those weird people who loves to give presents. Don't get me wrong I love getting them too but I mostly love giving things to people especially when they aren't expecting it. I love to wrap up things with bows and ribbons and hand them out to people. I love playing Santa Claus.

Holiday Memory #15

Holiday Memory #15 - Christmas Traditions

List your Christmas Season traditions. (Christmas Eve and Day traditions will be covered later.) Select one to describe in more detail, and take some photos to match. Do you have to get a family photo at this time, or do you have to get a photo of your kids with Santa? Do you have any special preparations at this time of year, whether it’s a cookie exchange or giving to some needy family?

My kids are young and we aren't living near our families so we have been trying to make up our own traditions for Christmas the last couple of years that we want to do with the kids.

Some of the ones that made it this year include...
1. Visiting Santa - both kids actually sat on his lap this year with no screaming
2. Taking a Christmas picture to use for the Christmas card
3. Cleaning out the toys in the boys rooms to give away to charity. I know most people spring clean in the spring but I tend to do it right before Christmas. I go through all the clothes and toys and I make the boys each donate one toy that they like but no longer play with as much.
4. Making Christmas cookies.
5. Going to something Christmasy. This year we went to the San Antonio Transporation Museum's Christmas train ride. It was really pretty at night seeing all the lights on the trains and Evan loved seeing all the Thomas the Tank Engine displays. They had bag pipe players and a Santa Engineer.
6. Drive around looking at Christmas lights.

Hopefully we will continue to add and subtract to this list until it fits us well.

Holiday Memory #14

Holiday Memory #14 - The Weather

Describe the weather during the holidays in your part of the world. Does the type of affect your “Christmas spirit”? Is there anything you do to make up for the weather?

I am originally from Iowa so this year the weather is really affecting how my holiday spirit is feeling. In Iowa the weather outside is normally frightful just like the song says and if it isn't you can dream of a white Christmas and it will normally come true.

Here in Texas the weather was for the longest time at record highs (meaning 80s and shorts) and sunny. I just couldn't get it through my head that it was December. It is finally getting colder outside and feeling a little bit more like Christmas and while I know it won't happen, I can't help but to dream of a white Christmas.

Holiday Memory #13

Holiday Memory #13 - Wrapping Presents

Describe how you wrap your presents. Do you go very simple with just plain wrapping paper or gift bags or do you go all out with bows and handmade tags, etc.? Do you wrap your gifts before sending them in the mail? When do you wrap your gifts—right away or at the last minute?

I love seeing presents wrapped under the tree and I wish I had a tree like Martha Stewart's where every gift was splendidly wrapped with a big fancy bow and tag but mine are more practically gift wrapped. I buy the prettiest paper that I can afford and normally will get about 3 different patterns. I don't like all the presents under the tree to look the same. I am really good at wrapping, I get the corners all tucked in real neat and stuff. But as far as bows go, I normally skip them. They tend to get crushed under the tree and you can't just wrap the gift in brown paper if you have to mail it which I normally end up doing for a lot of our gifts since we live so far away from family and friends. ((So yes Virginia, I do wrap gifts that I mail :) ))

Right now under the tree all the gifts for us from us are wrapped and under the tree along with some from relatives for the kids and for friends from us that we want to give away as close to Christmas as possible.

Santa in Darren's family never wrapped things (mainly because before I arrived in their lives they didn't like to wrap anything, I remember how mad his little brother was the first year I was with them to celebrate because everything was wrapped so he didn't know what he was getting LOL). So this year to honor that tradition (since we are trying to make our own traditions with the kids) Santa isn't wrapping the gifts to us or the kids. If this doesn't work out next year Santa WILL wrap the gifts so the kids will have to open them one at a time.

This is SO wrong!!!!!

I have XM radio in my truck and one of the stations for the holidays is SpecialXMAS which plays twisted weird Christmas songs and I caught this one today.

Bob Rivers - The Chipmonk Roasting Song

Holiday Memory #12

Holiday Memory #12 - Choosing Gifts

List your family members and what you got for them. What about that present made you feel like this was the right gift for them? Some ideas for journaling or for LOs might include contrasting the present this year with last year (usually more pertinent when talking about kids because their interests might change from year to year), or contrasting the different interests between family members.

Darren (dhubby) - drill press, pjs, star wars risk (from Santa)
Ian (oldest son) - star wars action figures and ships (from Santa), books and legos (from mom and dad and little brother)
Evan (youngest son) - Cars cars and big red James (from Santa), coloring books and puzzles (from mom and dad and big brother)
Beaker (dog) - can of moist dog food (her special treat from Santa ever Xmas), treats (from mom and dad and the boys)

Grandparents - both of them got Kodak digital frames this year
Niece - toddler markers from Crayola and coloring books (from the boys) and a really cute little outfit (from hubby and me)
Darren's brother and SIL - they don't have kids so we still always get them something and this year they bought a Wii so we got them a game for it.

So there is the list of who got what. As for why did we pick that for them? Well we got the kids what they liked from Santa and then from us we tried to just get little things. Neither of my kids are hurting for toys so we tried to get lots of books, games and puzzles that we can all play together this year. The kids are basically getting what they asked Santa for because neither of them wanted a lot they each asked him for one thing and so we got them for them.

My parents and Darren's parents are getting harder and harder to shop for because just like us if they want something they go out and get it. So the digital picture frames are good since they don't get to see the grandkids as much anymore. I taught them both how to download pictures to them so I can email them new pictures throughout the year.

We don't exchange gifts with my sister and BIL anymore, we just get things for each others kids and I like it that way. But I always feel bad because Darren's brother and SIL don't have kids so I always try to get them something from the boys at least.

No one asked what I wanted in this question... and if Santa asks, I really want that game Rockband for the Playstation. The drum set is so much fun!!!!

Holiday Memory #11

Holiday Memory #11 - Holiday Shopping

List some stores that you always seem to go to for your holiday shopping. Why those stores? Do you like to “one-stop shop” or do you like to go to different stores to find exactly what you want? Do you use online versus bricks-and-mortar stores? Why one versus the other?

This is hard for me to answer because I normally start shopping for the next Christmas as soon as Christmas is over. I like to have my shopping all done before the actually holiday shopping season starts.

This year I found myself shopping online a lot more than I have in recent years. I like that I don't have to drag the kids out because shopping with them in tow really isn't festive at all.

Online I shopped at this year....
1. Ebay
2. Tiger Direct
3. Land's End
4. LL Bean
5. Target.com
6. MLC Woodworking
7. Chefs.com
8. Amazon.com

Real stores I shopped at this year...
1. Sears
2. Walmart
3. Target
4. Toys R Us
5. Macys
6. Woodcraft
7. Gymboree
8. The Children's Place
9. Old Navy
10. Borders

There are probably more that I am forgetting but really I shop at these main stores and that is it (ok with the exception of buying presents for myself at scrapbooking stores).

Holiday Memory #10

Holiday Memory #10 - Christmas Carols

List your favorite Christmas carols. Pick a favorite Christmas Carol and describe what makes it your favorite. If you don't have a favorite Christmas carol, then describe why you don't like them or why you have too many favorites.

I love Christmas Carols. I am really excited this year because there are 6 different stations worth of them on my XM radio. My favorites are the more traditional ones. I really have too many to list but here are a few of my favorites.

1. Carol of the Bells (I loved singing this one in high school choir and still like to belt it out along with the radio)
2. Gabriel by Sting (his voice is just haunting)
3. Mary had a Baby (I love this song just because I love hearing the kids sing it)
4. Away in a Manger
5. 12 Days of Christmas

And I just have to add in these because I love them too...
1. Redneck 12 Days of Christmas
2. 12 Pains of Christmas

If you are looking for Christmas music on your computer my friend Katie J pointed this out to me last year and I love it!!

Yearly Ornaments

A new tradition in our house. Ian made one of these last year in preschool with a picture of himself and the year on it and when I pulled it out and put it on the tree I knew I had to use this old ScrapAddict altered kit to make one for each of the boys this year. It will make a great keepsake a long time from now to be able to see how they have grown each year.

Holiday Memory #9

Holiday Memory #9 - Holiday Eating

What are your favorite things to eat during this time of year? List some reasons why each particular dish is one of your favorites. Does it evoke special memories? Is it only offered during the Christmas Holidays? Describe in more detail how to prepare your favorite dish or treat.

Oh I like this blog topic -- gives me a reason to have to make some stuff to come back and take pictures of it!!

I love making sugar cookies and decorating them. And Christmas candies and all kinds of cookies and did I mention candies!!! My favorite candies are homemade peanut butter balls and haystacks and divinity!!

As for our Christmas day meal, I really like to have ham along with mashed potatoes and gravy. And I think for dessert this year I am going to make the raspberry cheesecake that I made and the family loved!!

Holiday Memory #8

Holiday Memory #8 - Christmas Cards

Describe the Christmas cards you are sending this year. Are they the same as in previous years? Do you include photos or a newsletter? How many do you send? Who do you send them to—just family? Do you send some to friends or family that you don’t otherwise communicate with?

Since we have had kids I have always sent a picture Christmas card (well except that one year that Evan was born and I got a wild hair to MAKE Christmas cards -- don't look for me to ever do that again). This years picture is of both the boys sitting on Santa's lap. It is pretty cute and is right now at Target being printed out.
I pretty much send them to family and friends. A lot of them are people that I don't talk to much throughout the year but still want to stay in touch with.

This year I am really late getting my Christmas cards out, I normally like to have them done by Thanksgiving but I have had a hard time getting my act together. I should get off the computer right now and make up my list instead of all this blogging.

Oh and one last thing about Christmas cards. I love to save the ones that I get from friends and family and make stuff out of them the next Christmas.

Holiday Memory #7

Holiday Memory #7 - Holiday Parties

Are there any particular parties that you go to every year? What are they and why do you go? Do you yourself throw a party or have a gathering at your home some time during the holiday season? Try describing what preparations you go through.

For the second year in a row we have had holiday parties for Ian at school that we have gone to but other than that we don't go to any parties. I guess you could say we are party poopers.

Holiday Memory #6

Holiday Memory #6 - Outdoor Decorations

Make a list of what outdoor decorations you have. Again, you might want to expand this to how you chose the decorations or what certain decorations mean to you.

Can we say Scrooge or is it Blackhole on the Face of the Earth?

The only decorations that I have outside of my house are the artifical wreath on my front door and a snowman sign that when you walk in front of it it sings Frosty the Snowman.
In our new neighborhood EVERYONE decorates outside their house. In fact I haven't seen a lot of Christmas trees in the front window but those huge inflateable things (which I think are ugly) are on almost every front yard around here. Even our neighbors put lights on all the bushes and lights on the roofline.

Hubby and I talked about it before he left on business and we might try to do something but it might have to wait until next year, Darren told me to start working on a plan. LOL!!

Holiday Memory #5

Holiday Memory #5 - Indoor Decorations

Make a list of what indoor decorations you have. Expand this to how you chose the decorations or what certain decorations mean to you.

I don't have a lot of indoor decorations. I don't like a lot of clutter in my house so basically my decorations are in the living room near the tree and that is it.

The Tree & The Nativity Scene (which you have seen before).
The Stockings

Bells in my Candle Holder

The Cards.

My Santa's that I painted the first year we were married.

A stuffed Santa given to my oldest son by my mom who collects Santa's. A snowman cardholder that my mom got me because I love snowmen.

A couple of tiny Santa's that were my dad's mom. After she died I was given the box of them and these 2 have lost their little hangers so they can't go on the tree anymore.

I used to have a really cool snowman made out of bowling pin but in our last move the movers broke him. :( Who would have thought you could break a bowling pin. I saved him and he is still in the box, waiting patiently for me to learn how to knit so I can make him a new hat to cover the broken spot.

The Christmas Program

Ian's kindergarten Christmas program was tonight. Here is a little snipet of them singing, it was super cute. **Ian is the one in the reindeer antlers in the back row.**

Holiday Memory #4

Holiday Memory #4 = Decorating the Tree

Describe how your tree is decorated. Do you have a certain color scheme or a certain theme? Do you have colored versus clear lights? What types of ornaments do you hang on your tree? You might want to expand this to describing what certain ornaments mean to you or what type of ornaments you like to buy.

I love to have colorful things on my tree and I have to say none of them match and that is what I like. I have ornaments on my tree from all around the world and I like to pick up new ones when we go some place special to remember it. Or from family like this one from my Grandma Kotz that she gave me the Christmas before she passed away. It is very special to me.

There are ornaments on the tree from when Darren and I were little kids that our parents have kept for us, ornaments that people and we have given to our kids now too.
And my absolute favorites are homemade ones that the kids make for the tree!!! I buy ornaments because they mean something to me like this year I bought 2 glass balls for the boys, one was a Star Wars one and one a Cars one. They loved getting to hang them on the tree all by themselves.

I am on a roll!!

Second layout done in 2 days. Doesn't hurt that these are pictures I printed out and took with me to the b&b retreat back in October so I already had them all printed out but that was it.

Because I am being lazy and not going upstairs to scan these since they are just going on my blog, I also took some pictures of some of the details so you could see them better.

I finally scrapped.

I know it has been a really long time since I have done a layout but I really was feeling it yesterday so I just embraced it and ran with it. Rosalie in my Ames Area Croppers Yahoo group was issuing some challenges and the first one was to create a round layout and I am finally getting done with this first challenge.

I took a picture of it because I wasn't sure how to scan a round layout so sorry if the quality isn't up to par. I am really happy with how it turned out and I used up a lot of things that I have had laying around for a while.

The journaling says...
Bath done.
Teeth brushed.
Jammies on.
Bear, blankie, and a sippy cup of milk
on the couch because it's
ALMOST
BED
TIME
but first one cartoon with mommy &
dadddy before it is time to get tucked in.
Ian at 3 years old.
Ames Iowa.

**you can click on the image to make it bigger so you can see it better**

Holiday Memory #3

Holiday Memory #3 = Putting Up the Tree

Do you have a live or an artificial tree? Why do you have one versus the other type? You might want to expand this into talking about why you’ve chosen a live versus an artificial tree.

I love the way real trees smell, there isn't an air freshner in the world that really smells the way that a real fir tree smells. But with a dog who thinks the world is her water dish we have to go with an artifical tree because it would be dead so quickly because I would forget to water it as often as it needed to be. Plus the clean up on an artifical tree is so much simplier, vacuum the rug once before it goes up and again after you put it up and you normally just can get by with cleaning as normal.

I remember getting a real tree with my family as a little kid and I kind of remember my dad cursing at the thing trying to cut it so that it would fit in the metal stand. Makes me think of that movie with Ralphie called The Christmas Story. ((I love that movie.))

And my hubby would probably kill me if he knew THIS was the picture of putting up the tree I was using but it is so funny that he is under the tree trying to do something to fix it. ((Now can you see why every year we talk about getting new one?))
**Pictures are from last year because I didn't get any of us putting up the tree this year just decorating it.**

Evan's First Time

He went potty in the potty!!! I am so happy!!!

OK I need to find his baby book now so I can put this milestone into it!!

Holiday Memory #2

Holiday Memory #2 = Picking Your Tree

Describe what you feel is the perfect tree. If you have a live tree, how describe how you choose which one to get? When do you like to go get a tree? Does one person in your family have the final word? If you have an artificial tree, then describe how and why you picked the tree. Is it flocked, or plain? Is it a prelit tree or do you still have to string the lights?

This is a good question for us this year because hubby and I have been talking about getting a new artifical tree. Personally I would love to have more than one but budget and space don't allow that. I would love to have a Charlie Brown Christmas tree for the kids to put their ornaments on. Maybe next year...
We have an artifical tree right now, always have because when you have pets and really don't like to clean up needles everyday it is much more practical. Our tree is tall, actually a little tall for me. I can't reach the top to put ornaments on it and if our ceilings weren't just a little higher than normal ceilings then it would probably be touching. The ones that we have been looking at buying this year are about 7 feet. That to me is a good size because hubby can still stand in front of it and not dwarf it.
Our tree right now is prelit with hundreds of small white lights. We bought it when the prelit trees first came out and they only came with white lights. Silly thing is I LOVE colored lights so we always end up throwing on about 3 strings of colored lights on the prelit tree so we were really thinking that if we bought another one it would not have lights on it already, especially since 2 years ago my mom and I took half of the white lights off to find out where the bad bulb was because none of the lights would work. That is a pain let me tell you because had the tree not had lights on it and we found a bad strand we would have just bought a new one but we ended up getting it fixed.
What I do love about my tree is how full it is. You can barely see through it it has so many branches. On the downside of this, this tree is so full that you can't really put presents under the tree because the branches go down so far.
We ended up keeping the tree we have already and putting it up because shopping for a tree just didn't work for us, their are too many to chose from and every one of them we found something that just wasn't as nice as the one that we already have because once it is all dressed up it really is a nice tree.

Holiday Memory #1

My friend Melanie is hosting a Holdiay Memories Challenge over at ScrapAddict this month and I am going to try to keep up with her and do the challenges because I do think it is a great idea to get those memories down somewhere (even if it is just on my blog) and it really gets me thinking about the holidays and maybe will even help put me in more of a holiday mood.

Holiday Memory Challenge #1 = The Reason for the Season

What special types of holiday worship, if any, do you engage in? Do you do something every week (or every day) or do you just go to church on Christmas Day? Does this have a special meaning for you? This isn’t meant to be a guilt trip for whether or not you do anything at all, but merely an account of what and why you do what you do. Remember to take a photo that symbolizes what this season means for you, too.

I remember growing up that church was a very big part of the Christmas season for us. I remember the advent wreath and lighting the pretty candles each week. Maybe it was just because I went to Catholic school but as I have gotten older and the years have passed I have noticed that the Christmas shopping season seems to get earlier and earlier every year and it makes me not like Christmas a little more. Don't get me wrong, I love getting presents and getting to play Santa Claus but I feel like Christmas is getting shoved down my throat and I don't like that.
We are not an overly religious family, we go to church when we can and this year I finally dug out the nativity set again and put it up. I haven't for the last couple of years because the kids were too little and I was always afraid they would break it but I have decided who cares if they do play with it, it may just get them asking questions and us talking about the nativity set and why we celebrate Christmas. The nativity set is just ceramic dolls that can be replaced if broken, but my kids learning about the birth of Jesus Christ is important to me.

And just like when I was little we will put the baby Jesus out in the nativity set on Christmas Eve and maybe I will learn to like Christmas a little bit this year.

So Who Says Bracelets Are For Girls...

especially when they are made of candy, right!!!??


Well I got my newest toy, a little MPEG4 video camera. The little thing is awesome, it takes videos directly to a memory stick. I have tons of those little tapes from other video cameras but I never did anything with them but this is so easy to download to the computer so I may actually use it more!! Plus now I can share with the Grandparents. :)

A GIANT Step in the Right Direction!!

Evan sat on the potty tonight without any pressure from either of us parental units. He wanted to sit on the ducky seat on the big potty. Nothing happened but he did do it all by himself!!

YAY!! My days of paying for diapers may soon be at an end.

**I would have taken pictures but then I thought nah let the kid have some privacy!**

Colorstrology

My friend Debbie got this book that talks about colorstrology and how your birthday is linked to a color and how your personality is linked and stuff.

Well anyways she scanned in my page for me to see and here it is.

I don't know about Mystical but the description does fit me pretty good and I have to say I do like the color a lot.

Early Christmas

Ever since hubby and I moved away from home my parents have always come to visit us at Thanksgiving and then we put up the tree after Thanksgiving dinner so the next day we can also celebrate Christmas since we won't be together. My parents like to see people open their gifts and I like opening gifts so it all works out for the best.

Well the boys made out like bandits. They loved their gifts, even the clothes!!
Evan got:
2 Cars Megabloks sets from Grandma and Grandpa
a Cars puzzle from Aunt Sally
Cars slippers from Grandma and Grandpa
Cars PJs (notice the theme here) from Grandma and Grandpa
the original Memory game from Cousin Evelyn
blue jeans and a Tigger outfit from Grandma and Granpa

Ian got:
2 Star Wars figures (Chewy and Yoda) from Grandma and Grandpa
a watch from Grandpa and Grandma
Army slippers from Grandma and Grandpa
blue jeans and a Spider Man outfit from Grandma and Grandpa
Spider Man PJs from Grandma and Grandpa
Hi Ho Cherrio game from Cousin Evelyn
Kindergarten coloring book from Aunt Sally
Some space books from Aunt Sally

Then together Grandpa also got them a remote controlled mini car, a handheld video game and some wireless headphones.

And Evan got from Aunt Sally Uncle Ryan and Cousin Evelyn some more puzzles for his birthday.

Talk about a haul. And that was just the kids, hubby and I got a bunch of stuff too. We got:
new bath rugs
a new rug for outside
I got new headphones for my iPod
DH got a new watch
I got some more rustic stars for on the wall
a cover for our pretty grill
and a food processor (so we now have a totally stocked kitchen, just to find something to process!)

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

My parents came down to visit us this week so that is why I haven't been updating as regularly as I should (yes I am using that as my excuse this week LOL).

We took them to the Riverwalk and the Alamo Monday. And then just hung out and did some shopping the rest of the week until time to eat our Rudy's BBQ turkey for Thanksgiving. I have to say it was really nice just having to reheat turkey instead of suffering with the smell of it in the house all day long. We made all the usual side dishes to go with it, real mashed potatoes, green bean cassarole, gravy (lots of gravy), stuffing, pumpkin pie. It was really good, sorry but I wasn't in scrapbooker mode and I forgot to take a picture. Yikes I know!! I am that out of practice.

But anyways, I hope that you had a great holiday. We put up my Christmas tree on Thanksgiving day and then after dinner we let Evan open up his birthday present from Grandma and Grandpa. He loved his Lightning McQueen helmet and pads. :)

MSP Gathering 2007

At our first gathering ever we had to get a picture of all of us in front of a statue of Eisenhower. This year we decided to get another group picture in front of another statue. I think this was Frost but I am not sure. We thought it was Robert E Lee since it was outside the Robert E Lee hotel but the sign said something different.

Still got that funny camera angle going on in this picture even though we had a gorilla pod with us and didn't have to perch the camera on a bench. I kind of like the angle though.

What a great weekend we had, I am so glad to be with my friends again.

Meeting With Friends

Our first night together in San Antonio, I took my friends to my favorite Tex Mex resturant in town Tomatillos. We met Melanie there too. We had such a great time and could have sat around all night talking but the resturant was filling up fast and I could see lots of people waiting so we finally got up and the four of us went back to our hotel to figure out what we wanted to do that night and ended up falling asleep.

Ian Made the Newspaper!!

We went to the air show at Randolph Air Force Base this weekend to see the Golden Knights jump and after they jumped one of them walked over to us and high 5’ed Ian and then they all were going to be signing autographs so I asked Ian if he wanted to go and meet them and he said yes so we went over and they were still packing up their chutes and Ian just kept creeping over to the guy who high 5’ed him until he was right next to him and the guy started talking to him and asked him if he wanted to help. Of course Ian said yes (you know cause he is so shy and all)! Well then the newspaper lady came over and talked to Ian and they took some pictures. The article made it into the newspaper but the pictures didn’t. It was so cool. Now of course all Ian can talk about is being a Golden Knight. I guess there are worse things for him to want to be. He got an autographed poster from all the golden Knights there and a key chain thing.

Here is the link to the article. http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/military/stories/MYSA110507.01B.goldenknights.336382d.html