Resolutions

I haven't done this for years, but I think I want to make some goals this year...

1. To be closer to God- everyday read and pray at least a little.
2. Write a Saturday Letter a week to my girls or someone special.
3. Spend one special time totally devoted to each person in my family every week.
4. Keep the house cleaner- something little everyday if possible.
5. Eat less.... and exercise some or at least move around more.
6. Work on my photography-maybe a picture a week or something.

So...
-I need to get my old blog up and running for new pictures.
-Get a place to write my letters- maybe a special box or journal.... i think they will need to be handwritten or printed (I HAVE A PRINTER NOW!!!! Yay!!)

Tonight, we are having Josh and Alison and Jeremy and Nicole over for New Year's Eve.... I'm glad that they still like to come over! I love that we have a little group that comes every year. Now, lets hope that we all can not fight this year... It seems like one set of us ends up not getting along by the end of the night... So, crossing my fingers for a happy night for everyone!!! Wishing that Jas didn't have to work today and that the house would magically clean itself...

With my Christmas GC.....

...from Catscrap and After 5 Designs (presents for the CT), I got some of these fun goodies from the Lily Pad!!! The rest are mostly from Catscrap!! Don't you just love that wordart from Joana @ Catscrap?!! Poor Kylie!! My new camera was torchuring her on Monday!! LOL!! (Click for full credits) Oh, and this is for the Hodge Podge Challenge this week...

Luke 2:1-14

In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to his own town to register.
So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.
And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."
Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."

Merry Christmas, everybody!!!

I tried a lift of Amanda's amazing LO "God's Grace Alone"

http://ozone.oscraps.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=66211&cat=500&ppuser=8555

After trying it, I'm not sure what I was thinking... I messed with it for a long time and still don't feel like it is right yet.... You just can't match up to a page like that!!! lol!!!

Pictures...

my roses from jas-9 Christmases together

Someone who feels just like me...

I don't think I could explain how I am feeling at Christmas time this year any better than this lady did on her blog.... (Bliss)... in her post "Happy Un-Holidays"

For a challenge....

I LOVE TaylorMade stuff, and she has a contest for a $25 GC to her store! This page went together so quickly- like her stuff was made for me! Anyway, I had fun doing a non-CT layout just for fun!!!

And, I did my first blog post at Catscrap! I was so excited when I saw it-after Ranie helped me fix the link to the freebie problem! :) Here is my page for the designer spotlight-Lynne-Marie!

*screaming and jumping up and down*

GUESS WHAT?!!!!! I was hugging Jas last night in the kitchen, and happened to glance over at our tree; and I see this sitting under it....!!!!!!!!

.....At first I just asked what it was because it didn't even register... Then, I was just in shock!! I mean, I thought I might get that for Christmas as a combined gift from Mom and Dad and Jas or something, but he said it wasn't a Christmas present because he had promised never to go over our limit ($50)... So, he had just gotten this for me early so that I could have awesome pictures of all the Christmas stuff!!!! I still feel guilty about it, but I'm really happy!!! Take a look at my new toy!!!!!! It's a Canon Rebel XSi!!!!

New Page :)

Here's one that uses mostly Holiday on the Rocks from A5D:

Today, Kylie had her school Christmas program, and she got to be in the "stampede" at the beginning with her "horsey pole". The morning was rushed getting her all ready for the big production, but it was all worth it because she looked so cute!!! Over to the right, you can double click to see it larger... This is the last song, and you can't really see her very much, but the teachers are funny and the little dance cute....

Challenge in the English Corner...

And you could win a $10 Gift Certificate to CATSCRAP!!

Here's a link to the challenge.

And, here's my example page (click for credits):

I don't very often get my hopes up for things going a certain way anymore; but, last night, I did... I was picturing how fun it would be to watch the kids put up the ornaments while listening to music and smelling Christmasy smells.... We would take our time and just enjoy it. etc.... Note to self... don't expect kids to do things the way you envision them.... I was setting up the atmosphere, and Kylie just kept wanting to light the tree up.... Then, Ari wasn't really interested in putting up the ornaments that I handed her (with my little stories about who they were from). Jas fell asleep. Kylie dumped the boxes of the nativity out.... And, I found an ornament that Grandma had given us.... Well, put all that together plus a few other things, and it equals tears... So, last night wasn't all that I had ennvisioned... I still need to learn to always just go with the flow... :)

A Song for Moms...

Lynne-Marie from Catscrap shared this with us, and it
was just so true... The Mom Song

Here's my page using the new collab from Cathrine and Lily

available @ After 5 Designs!! Great for everyone who's having summer right now or maybe anyone who just wants to pretend that their not freezing!!

Ok, while trying to finish this post, I hear the dog starting to hurl in the other room. So, I race to try to get him out in time, but find that I didn't quite make it.... Then, when I go to let him in after thinking that I was done cleaning up the mess, I discover some on the Venitian blinds... He must have coated those in his effort to get around them on the way out! Uh.... YUCK!!!!!

Using Syrin's new Christmas Kit and stitches and Vinnie's new Templates and various other Catscrap goodies.... (click on LO for complete credits and links to products)

Using Creashen's new Uptown Kit @ Catscrap (clickable LO)

25 days until Christmas!!

Here are some places to visit for Christmas countdowns with freebies!! Check them everyday... Catscrap's link is only good for one day!! :)

Santa's at Catscrap
Scrapbook Graphic's Blog

(You should read Raven's Ramblings post too- so funny!)

Weeds and Wildflowers Blog

Tomorrow I hope to go to Walmart for:

-Martha Stewart's Christmas magazine
(It has some really cute crafts and awesome New Year's recipes!)
-Cinnamon smelling pinecones (for the crafts)- I knew that there had to be a use for those!! Yay! -Christmas cards that I sent to be printed
-a few random things that I don't need...
-doilies (how do you spell that?) for a craft that I found on the Martha Stewart site...

Aren't these pretty? Maybe we will make them for the back door...

(picture is linked to directions)

I will have to modify this because I have no idea what snowflakes she is talking about, but maybe we can just use doilies and cut them and then use decopage or fabric stiffener like she says. I wonder where to find that at Walmart...

By the way, I'm not a huge fan of Martha Stewart because I think that she is kinda stuck on herself and treats people sorta like that when she has them as guests... but, I do like her Christmas ideas!!! :)

Maybe I will make the cinnamon, nutmeg, orange, and water over the stove concoction that my mom made around Christmas time. I love that smell!!

I got my Christmas presents for everyone except Jas and the girls. I need to figure out a place to print my Christmas cards quickly, but I don't want to have to go out... I need to have them shipped here. Online shopping is way better for most things. I do want to go soon to find a Christmas dress for the girls. Maybe I will try on Saturday after some of the crazies have gone home. I don't want to have to park 3 miles from the mall and freeze to get a good deal. Plus, I would need to have someone that loved to do that to motivate me to go.

Anyhoo... we did have some really happy times at Mom and Dad's too. Rather than to keep boring everyone, here's some pictures. :)

Here's something that Mom wouldn't have let me do when I was little... collect sleet from anything and everything to make "snow icecream" (and do it in barefeet with no coat on!)

Jas went to Tennessee on buisness for a couple days last Monday until Wednesday afternoon (when he had to leave early to come home to take us to PA)... I was so proud of him that he got invited to this special manager training!! Not a lot of people get this opportunity. So, the girls and I did some special stuff- snacks, a movie, sleeping in the same bed, painting fingernails etc... while he was gone.

Girls don't wrestle, they have kissing fights... :) The girls were just too cute doing this!!

Ari looked so cute on the window seat with the dog...

It snowed a lot Friday night and Saturday. The girls finally had their snow that they had been looking forward too. I knew they would be happy when I saw it coming down at the hospital. And, I'm so glad that God kept it from coming down until everyone was almost home.

Making a Snow Dog :)

Kylie had fun pulling the branches and watching the snow fall. Love how the camera focused on the snow in this picture.

Look how pretty she is!!
I love watching the dog run like crazy in the snow! They get as excited as little kids! :)

Ari did it this year without getting upset! :)

So pretty!!!

I love when snow sticks to everything!

I love the tall pines. Aren't they amazing?!

I love these two pictures!!! Here's the dog attacking Jas...

...and Jas attacking the dog. :)

Jas made two fires while we were there. We enjoyed this one together. And, the girls sat on the ground and then the stick chairs that Kylie constructed for the second one (while we were finishing up at the funeral dinner). He said they were so cute sitting there near the fire and coming up with a plan to help him find his way back to the fire if it got too dark to see when he was getting wood. (Kylie shouting to him.)


I moved this down to the bottom of the post so that something happier will be at the top...

Well, I will start this out depressing and then try to move to something that's happier. I actually can't bear to see that picture of my Grandma right now. So, I am trying to push it down with a new post. Everything was actually happy right after Grandma went to heaven. It was actually an amazing experience to watch someone pass from this life into a much happier one and imagine her seeing Jesus and her baby and Uncle John and everyone else that was already there. It was a relief after seeing her suffering. I prayed that Jesus would bless her by taking her quickly that night. Aunt Sis and I were crying so much and then relieved when it was finally done. Actually, things seemed ok until I went into her house and saw her things changed-her walker, bed, button neclace, the books that she had by the bed... It was all just too much. We came back home, and I have done practically nothing. I feel empty and cold. I feel like life is moving all around me, but I don't want to participate. I just want to sit here and not think about anything or see anything.

Sad day...

My dad called this morning to say that my Grandma had a massive stroke last night. Please pray for her. Her left side is paralyzed. I know that my Grandma is older and will have problems, but it's still hard to hear. She said a long time ago to me that they let old people live too long these days. That strangely always makes me feel better. She is ready for Heaven whenever God lets her come home. :) And she told me that she's not scared. I sure do love her and wish I could be there right now. We took this picture the last time we went to PA-less than 2 weeks ago. I'm so glad that I took it now. God was so good to make me feel like I needed to take it.

What if...

Can you imagine living 100 or so years ago and having a cold? I know that a cold really isn't that big a deal, but it's enough to make you feel pretty miserable. What if there were no Advil or Tylenol or Theraflu? ...And, your oldest kid was also sorta sick and your youngest wasn't eating and was kinda not seeming just right and your oldest spilled milk and cereal on the couch and you needed to take them to gymnastics and then Target and they weren't good in Target and then you get home and your house smelled like sour milk because the garbage needed emptied and your oldest was wimpering because she had been bad and you got after her and she couldn't watch Wall-E with popcorn and then you needed to fill up a water cup and read and empty the garbage and make something to eat and take a shower..... ALL WITHOUT ANYTHING TO NUMB THE YUCKY FEELINGS?!!!!! Yikes!!! I might say like Ari has said a couple times lately in her very dramatic way.... "I wish I'd never been borned!" So, I am thankful for Advil and Theraflu, and I will be drugging myself up soon and hoping that I wake up tomorrow and all of this was just a bad dream... :) Goodnight.

For Danielle..... a charity kit

Danielle (Artemia) (clickable)

is a talented layout artist known to most of us in the digital scrapping world as Artemia. She has a wonderful heart and a generous personality. Tragedy has recently come into Danielle's life. An accident injured one of her two little boys and may have permanently left her husband partially paralyzed. Many of us have poured out our hearts to Danielle. Now some of her friends in the industry have come together with an incredible collaborative kit to help her with her financial burden.

The contributing designers are: ah! Designs, Amanda R Designs, Catherine Designs, Createwings Designs, Emiko Designs, Heaven’s Gate Designs, Holly Designs, Jazzmin Designs, Jofia Designs, Kate Hadfield, Lauren Reid, Lorie Davison and Madame Mim.
The kit is called Artemia for our friend Danielle and is all about hope, friendship and love.

BONUS : As our way of saying THANK YOU for your contribution… we've included a 12 Quick Pages album made by some of the scrapbooking world's most talented layout artists and designers.

DRAWING to win a free issue of December DAM : Purchase of this kit will not only help Danielle in her time of need, but will enter you in a random drawing to win one of 10 free issues of the December Digital Artist Magazine.

All proceeds from this kit (after fees) will be donated to Danielle’s family.

This kit contains more than 50 incredible papers, carefully crafted with patterns, textures, and brushwork, more than 200 elements including many wordarts, some brushes, some doodles, some shadowed versions and 3 alpha (in separate png files).It includes as a free gift a 12 (12 x 12) Quick Pages album( saved as a PNG Format).

Here is a page that I made using it:

And.... stop by Catscrap today to see who is going to be their newest designer!!!!!! Yay!!!

It's beginning to sound a lot like Christmas...

*Hum "Jingle Bells" as you read*

...at Walmart. Yesterday, I went to Walmart and heard the inevitable, "It's not even Thanksgiving, and they have Christmas." But, I am happy!! I love Christmas music, and I was in such a happy mood with all the Christmas music playing as I shopped! Now, if I was a Walmart worker (which, btw, is what Ari aspires to be when she grows up), I might be kinda scared that those same songs repeated for 2 months might begin to get old.... But, since I'm not, play on Walmart!!

And, Catscrap is in the holiday mood. Here's some new stuff for all your Christmas needs (well, maybe wants....

From Catrine:

From Birgit: Coming tomorrow, and get your Pay Pal ready cause it's awesome!

From Madame Mim:

From Ida, Vibeke, and Kasia:

And, you won't want to miss what's coming tomorrow at After 5 Designs!!! Here's a hint: It's huge and beautiful and sweet!!!

I'm planning a trip to IKEA again for a few decorations. (the picture at the top is from there)They have some of the prettiest dangling things. And, I love the red wreath they have for the front door.... Plus, I'm going to need some more Lingonberries for crepes!! They are so yummy!!