Wishing you all a wonderful Christmas. Enjoy the holiday and remember it's magic.

December... Not So Daily...

Man I can't believe how this month has flown by. I just don't have enough time to do anything, and I mean anything. I have done most of the shopping, made the majority of the gifts that I am making for others, finished all the decorations, and have begun on the baking, and I still feel like I am swimming in things to do. My to do is still at least a mile long! Do any of you feel like this too?

One thing I am bound and determined to finish this year is my December Daily album. I started it last year and didn't get it quite finished. (I do still plan to though... someday.) So, with a little less sleep, I have gotten a jump on this years album.

I showed a photo of the cover, but here is a close up. I am really trying to keep this album simple so that I can get it finished this year. I want to document all of the little things that make this time of year so special for our family.

This is the first page. This is Matteo helping Mommy make some new garland for the tree. He loved this. It was so much fun, and super easy. The garland can be purchased from Heather at her etsy shop, Sunshine daydream Creations, or you can make your own. Here is a few recipes for it. I am making some more dough this weekend to make hand prints for the Grandparents gifts.

This is the back of page one and the front of page two. Matteo received his first Christmas card today. He was so funny about it, and of course he wanted to read it all by himself. He climbed up in his high chair, crossed his legs and read his card to me.

He said, "Merry Christmas. Ms. Dianne loves me. Ms. Mary loves me." Apparently, he feels very loved, which is wonderful.

This page represents a family tradition of counting down the days till Christmas. The Advent Calendar is such a great tradition. Grandma got this for us a few years ago, and Matteo loves to play with it. He doesn't really get the concept of counting down the days yet, but he loves to open the little drawers and take out each token to hang it on the tree. He does this until he is done, and then he puts them all back. Maybe we will "count down" the days next year.

This is just a shot of the overlay that labels day four.

Day four represents another family tradition around here. We always have our annual family photos taken before Christmas so that I can have a current photo to send out for Christmas. I would love to make our Christmas card, but honestly, there just isn't enough time, so I do the photo cards. This tradition is very dear to my heart, not only because I am a scrapbooker and I love to document, but also because I don't have any family photos of myself with my siblings and parents as a child. It just wasn't something that we were able to afford at that point in my life. So now I save up for them every year. We use the same photographer every year, and I love her. Check her out here. Thanks again Skye for making our photos so memorable.

Here is the back side with another family shot.

Day five was our annual Christmas Tree hunting trip. It was so cold that I didn't take many photos, but I got a few. This first page is the tree. Dad actually went and cut it down by himself this year because Matteo was so cold he just wanted to watch CARS in the truck, but I did get a family shot with the tree. This is it. Gosh, I hope you all can see that. If you click on it, it should enlarge.

The only other shots that I got that day was when we first got there. We hadn't anticipated so much snow, so nobody brought any sleds. Daddy, The Creative, whips out a cardboard box and starts up the hill with Matteo. These are the shots I did get.

Matteo loved this. Who knew sledding without a sled could be so much fun? Here is the backside of day 5.

So, that is it for now. I will be posting some more this week. I am going to finish this... this year.

Also, if you want a kit to this layout, the papers have arrived.

They are currently making the kits, and they should be ready to go this week. If you have any questions, or want to reserve one, call Karen or JoElle at Scrapbook Paradise. Their number is 775-746-1212.

Thanks for stopping by.

Updates...

Today I am waiting for the Heat God... Oh, I mean the heater guy. I am really ready to freeze right now. Last Thursday, I was hanging out with the little guy, and all of the sudden the heater kicked on... no biggie right? Matteo came running in the room saying "yucky noise mama, yucky noise" So, I go see what he is talking about. It's the heater. I figure, Daddy forgot to change the filter, no problem. He can fix it when he gets home. I turn off the heater and wait for him to get home. This was around 4:00pm. Dad gets home about 11:30pm, and by now, it is pretty cold. He takes a look at it and says, "It's not the filter".

Problem #1 The temperature in Reno hasn't been above 50 for the high and is floating in the 20's for the low. Dad runs to Wal-Mart and grabs two space heaters for the night. (We don't want to pay double for the heater guy at midnight)

The next day, I cancel my work appointments and stay home for the heater guy. I hate doing this because I never know what they are talking about. It is like taking the car to get something fixed. I would just rather Dad do it. Well, the heater guy comes out and takes a look.

Problem #2 He says, good thing you didn't run it last night because the part that is broken filters the Carbon Monoxide out of your house. OMG! If I would have run it anyway, our house would have filled with Carbon Monoxide.... Poisonous Gas! *** Thank you guardian angles***

Problem #3 The part... the lovely part... is on order, and won't be here until Tuesday. Yes, that is 6 days without heat!

Problem #4 The temperatures here are dropping low, the nights haven't gotten out of the 20's since the heater broke, and the highs are only around 50 degrees. Yikes. So, Literally, it is freezing around here!

But today is Tuesday, and I am waiting for my heater god to come warm me up! Please get here soon.

On a good note. Completely unrelated, I do have a few layouts to share. The first one doesn't have photos in it, because I am going to take ones at Thanksgiving of my family drawing names for Christmas. We do this every year because our family is huge. I think that there is 16 of us that will be drawing names this year. I will post a picture of it when it is done too, but I wanted to get it up for those of you that have kits and need a picture.

This is a close up of the stamp that I used from Studio Calico. I had a hard time getting it just right, so I used a white gel pen to make the word "Tradition" show up better.

The next one is a layout that Matteo "helped" me with. I took these photos at the park right before sunset, and the lighting was amazing. This photo just doesn't do them justice. The oranges and reds are so bold and brilliant. I just loved how they turned out.

Here is a close up of the title. I used a wood grain stamp as the background for the this part and then stamped a tree on top of the wood grain. I used stickles and glossy accents to make the tree pop out.

Here is another close up of the layout. This green ink is where Matteo "helped" me stamp. At first I was going to take it apart and use a new piece of cardstock, but he was so proud that he "stamped like mama" that I just left it. At least he picked a coordinating color right? Laugh.

This last layout was one that I made for a kit for Scrapbook Paradise. It was for their Home for the Holidays event. So much fun. I used Bo Bunny paper, which surprisingly was perfect for these pictures. Very festive.

Here's a few close ups.

I ended up loving this layout. I have wanted to use these photos for a while and haven't felt I had the right paper, so I am glad to have them down and documented. Christmas is such a fun time of year around here.

Speaking of Christmas, I am plugging along with the December Daily this year. I am almost finished with the "shell" of the album. I will take photos and get them up.... it's just around the corner! Ack! Well, Thanks for stopping by. I will get those other photos up this week. Have a great day.

Jumping on the band wagon...

It's that time again, and I am determined to finish up this year. That's right, it is December Daily time. (Thank you Ali Edwards.) So, I have pulled out the stash... boy is that scary. hee hee. I have the album. I am going to get it done this year.

This year, I decided to go with a pre-made album. I think this may make it easier for me to finish. I picked up this American Crafts 8x8 album on sale at Michael's a few months ago. It was a deal, and, like I said, I am determined to get this done this year. I love the idea of documenting the holiday. It is really one of the most wonderful times of the year, when people are better to each other, and family takes the driver's seat.

Honestly, I am still working on finishing last year too! But I don't want to try to catch up, I know that I will always be playing that game, so I am going to focus on the now... and complete this one.

So far this is what I have done. Here is the stash... well, what I am willing to show you of it. Ha!

I actually keep all my Christmas stuff stored together in these plastic storage bins. It makes the planning stage easier for me because all my stuff is always together.

Here is the cover so far. I had a close up, but I have been having a fight with Mr. Photoshop lately, and he's winning. I will take another one and post it in the next update.

I wanted to keep it simple. I think that may have been part of my problem last year. I wanted it to be perfect... whatever that is. This year, I want to get it finished. I want to have this time in our family documented. I am trying to remember that this stage in my life will be over before I know it, and Matteo is growing so fast. I am determined to embrace it and enjoy it.

So, that is what I have so far. I am off to work on it some more. I will keep you posted. Thanks for stopping by, and have a great day.

Bliss...

This is us... five years ago. Such a wonderful and blissfull day.

Happy Friday the 13th... I love you babe!

Today is my anniversary... five years today. So, in good spirits, Happy Friday the Thirteenth! It's my favorite day.

... trying to track down a picture.. I will get it up today. :)

Update...

This is long over due, I know. Life has a way of running away with me.... literally. I don't even know what I have been up to either. It has just been nuts! So, since I was last actively blogging, a few things have happened...

My Mimi was really sick in the hospital. She had Gaul stones, but never sought medical treatment for them, so by the time my Mom made her go to the doctor, she was very sick. She was shaking uncontrollably from the infection in her body. She is 85, so this is not to be taken lightly. She had Sun downers at night, which was the worst experience I have ever had... we got the call at 3:00am to come to the hospital... it was horrible. That lasted for a little over a week. I have never been so thankful for modern medicine. She is doing better now, at home and back at being Mimi.

I had laskic eye surgery. No more glasses! LOVE it!

The day after I had surgery, Matteo had Swine Flu! Yes, Swine Flu! That was not fun either. But he is okay. More cu does to modern medicine!

School is in the full swing of things... busy, busy, busy! I am still hoping for good news in the job department... but for now, I am grateful that I have a job. Times are tight around here... just like everywhere else. I know "they" are saying it is getting better, but "they" need to show me where! Here in Nevada, it is not getting better yet.

I did get to go to a crop for 2 days with my friend Amy at Green Tangerines. It was so much fun. It was so nice to get away from everything, stay in a hotel, and take as long as I need to get ready. I haven't done that in years! Two and a half to be precise.... Thanks Matteo ;)

Some good news may have come out of that crop though... I will keep you posted when I know for sure.

I also have some layouts to share with you. First, here are the layouts for the class that I taught at Scrapbooker Paradise in September... I know I am behind on this.

This first one is of Matteo in our crooked willow out front. It seems that he can't go in the front yard without climbing in this tree. He loves it in there. I think it is kinda like his own little fort.

I just love the foam Thickers because you can overlap them so easily. Since they are so pliable, it is easy to stack them up... great for a large title in a smaller space.

Oh crap, it looks like I forget to take a photo of the other one. I will try to get that one up this week.

I do however, have the layouts for October... Here they are.

These pictures are actually from Halloween last year, but they are so cute that I had to use them. Although, I can't wait too scrap this year's Halloween pictures. They are so cute too. Okay, I am totally biased! Ha.

This paper is by Best Creations, and I just loved all the glitter on the tree. I didn't actually glue it down everywhere, just on the trunk. I wanted to create the feeling of the tree growing right off the page. I don't know if you can tell from this photo, but the tree branches lift off the page.

This next one doesn't have the photos in it yet, because I haven't had time to print them. When I do, they will just be everyday photos of Matteo. The journaling for this layout is going to be all about my hopes and dreams for my son, and how I want him to shoot for his dreams, whatever they will be.

The journaling tag for this actually had little shoes on it. Totally cute, but not for this layout. I used the My Mind's Eye label at the bottom of the page to cover them up. Add a few brads, and Wa La, it is perfect for the page.

I am finishing up the layouts for November. I will try to have them posted by Saturday.

Here is a few that I made from photos that were taken during our Disneyland trip. The first one was taken while we were standing in line, waiting for a ride. I think it was the Toy Story II ride. We were trying to occupy Matteo.

They were knocking heads, goofing around. So funny. I really liked these papers, but they were so busy, so I cut them up and just used little pieces of them. I added dimension by popping up random squares in the clusters. You can see a little better in this photo.

This last one was also a Disney shot. This was one of my favorite changes in Disneyland since I had been there last.

Yes, that is a recycling can. I loved how they used Jimney Cricket to gently remind everyone to clean up and think about the environment. Here is a close up. Isn't he so cute?

Well the little one is up from his nap, so I will have to finish the layouts another time. Hopefully, things will return to normal around here, and I won't be MIA for so long. Have a great day, and thanks for stopping by.

Wordless Wednesday... I should have

Entered him in the GAP contest! He is so stinking cute!

Wordless Wednesday... Goggles...

Results...

Thanks for all of your tips on the garage sale. I think it was a success. I will be putting all the money we earned in a savings account for the little guy. I have to say that it was exhausting though. I don't even remember being that tired. My mom came up to help, but we stayed up way to late and had to get up way too early. In the end we were dog tired and really glad it was over.

The random winner is....

*reyanna klein* said...

Sounds great! I did this same thing for my LSS's garage sale, and I made some good money! Good luck!

Congratulations! Email me at tinytink76@yahoo.com with your address, so I can get you something fun.

Again, thanks for helping me out girls.

Back to work and a request for help...

Officially, I started back to work today. All day training in something that I will never use. It was a good training I think, but it was designed for teachers to teach reading, and I don't do that. Well, not in that way. Kinda frustrating, but it was probably good for me to understand what they will be doing. I just wish I could have spent my day cleaning and organizing my office or in a training that was applicable.

I have another training tomorrow, so maybe that one will be a more efficient use of my time. At least there aren't any kids yet. Not until next week. That is when it gets crazy for me! I already miss Summer. laugh.

As far as the scrappy stuff, I don't have any for you today. I am actually up to my ears in garage sale stuff. We, well I should say I, am having a garage sale this weekend. I am loving the feeling of getting rid of lots of stuff. I can't wait to rid our house of excess stuff. I am actually going through some of my scrappy stuff too. I am thinking of doing bags of scrappy stuff for $5.00 a piece. I am thinking I will put around 25.00 to 30.00 dollars worth of stuff in each bag. What do you think?

Hey, since I am purging.... Let me know if you think that is a good price. If you would pay it, or what you recommend, and I will pick a lucky random person to receive a little something. Just let me know by Friday, so I can price this stuff to go!

Hmmm... since I am crazy busy this week... I will draw on Monday, August 31st.

Finally some layouts...

So, it has been a while since I have put some layouts up. Honestly, I have been so dang busy! I can't believe that Summer is nearly over and that I will be going back to work in just a few days. Oh, well.... it was a great Summer.

It turns out that I did get to go back to that job that I wanted, just not in the capacity that I wanted. I will be staying and working for the School District, but I will also be working with Early Intervention too, so I am thinking that maybe this is a blessing in disguise, and I really get the best of both worlds. I am happy with the way it worked out for me... talk to me in a few months and see if I still feel the same... I may be up to my eyeballs in work! Laugh.

Matteo is driving me crazy though, so maybe it is a good thing that Summer is over. I don't know how SAHM's do it... honestly. I so need a break. Man he is exhausting! I really think he needs a break from me too. He is really beginning to not be very nice to his Mommy. He is great with everyone else, but man he is a monster to me. I keep telling myself that this is NORMAL... It is right?

Anyway, enough of the ramblings... I do have a few layouts for you. The first two are layouts that I did for a class last month. I should have had them up earlier, but it just didn't happen.

For this one, I used BoBunny paper. I haven't gotten the pictures in it yet, but I did want to get it up here before I taught my next class. Which is tomorrow, so here it is.

I have some really cute photo's of Matteo in his swim trunks that will go in this one.

This next one is obviously a holiday layout. I absolutely love the Fourth of July. It is so mellow for us. We always go to Tahoe, which is one of my favorite places on Earth... swear! It is just so beautiful and the weather is great. Tons of stuff to do. Sometimes, I think I take it for granted because it is just in my backyard.

I used Best Creations mostly in this layout. I actually really only used one sheet of patterned paper to make all of the embellishments for it too. I love to see how far I can stretch a piece of paper.

Here is a close up of the bow. I cut out a heart from the patterned paper to make an old pin match the layout and stuck it through the bow.

For the class tomorrow, I have this one. I used Glimmer Mists to create the background, which was really fun. It does make the paper curl a bit, but I figured that once it is in a page protector, it should be fine. For the papers, I used mostly Making Memories Great Escape line.

And some details... I love these Making Memories stamps!

These photos are from a weekend at my parents house. They live in this quaint little town where you can leave your doors unlocked and your neighbor notices if your flowers need a drink... and then comes over to give them one. Great place. This weekend was Rodeo Weekend, so there was a parade, fair, and rodeo. A good time was had by all.

This second one features K & Co. I love their stuff. I used some photos from out weekend at Grammy Goonie's and Papa George's on this layout as well. Matteo LOVES the water... just in case you couldn't tell. Laugh.

This big ampersand stamp is probably one of my favorites by Technique Tuesday. I have used it tons! (but, I don't think it is still available)

And this one is just for fun. I have begun to do single page layouts (which I never have in the past), but I am finding that I actually like them. Sounds crazy hu? I think it is because I have finally figured out how to re size my photo's at home and I can print them here. This makes a world of difference for me.

For this one, I used the July kit from Studio Calico. It is about my little man and his blanket... aka "Two".

It is amazing how one little piece of fabric can make this boy so happy!

Wow that was a long post... for me. Well, I have a few others for you, but it is getting late and I want to get some scrapping done. So those will have to wait till next time.

Thanks for looking.

Summer Fun...

Wordless Wednesday...

The title says it all... besides the fact that he has the best Papa ever!

And yes, I totally hyped this idea from Kelly Noel. Love her stuff! I think I may have to keep this idea around!