Disneyworld...

Did you know that we just went to Disneyworld earlier in the month?! Yup, we did! My folks took us there. We stayed at the Contemporary Resort. The weather was FAB FAB FABULOUS!!!! So much better than the dreary, cloudy, cold and snowy weather we continue to deal with up here. While we were only there for about 4 days, we went to the Magic Kingdom, Epcot, and Hollywood Studios. Here are some pics from the trip. I am going to break out of my mold and do an album just for the trip. Can't wait to get started!

Happy Valentine's Day Everyone!

Of course, what would this holiday be without tons of Valentine's treats for the kids at school!!! We made a simple sucker holder using the Cricut Design Studio, some stamps and my kiddos. The pink bags were made with my Expression machine and the TBBM cartridge. I used the Bazzill Stitchz template for the LOVE. Enjoy the love here!

Weekend Crop at Essenhaus

A big shout out of THANKS to Missy Pletcher from Creative Memories who was a wonderful hostess to a weekend crop at the Essenhaus, in Indiana Feb 1-3. What a blast! I was able to complete 14 layouts, 3 projects, and 5 cards!! Here is a sample of the fun that I created. TFL!

Good Blog Challenge...

The Scrap City keeps me on my toes these days with wonderful sketches that they find on other blogs. Cards have never been my favorite things to make, but these fun sketches sure do make it alot easier! This one comes from Celebration Moments at http://celebrationmoments.typepad.com/my_weblog/2008/01/celebration-m-1.html.

Another Card Blog Challenge for you...

Have another one for you! I am having a blast doing these as part of the blog challenges over at The Scrapcity!!! You should check that board out! IT ROCKS!

http://www.thescrapcity.com/

Here is the most current blog challenge. It was taken from Sketches by Tamara at http://sketchesbytamara.blogspot.com/2008/01/card-sketch-27.html

Thanks for looking at my take of this wonderful and inspiring sketch!

Bitten By the Bug Contest

Regina Easter has a new contest on her blog Bitten by the Bug. For this contest, she is asking for a shaped card using the cricut and any shape from any cartridge. For details and examples, go to http://regina-bittenbythebug.blogspot.com/2008/01/shape-contest.html I came up with a princess crown card for my friend.

I used the Happily Ever After cartridge and cut the crown at 4 1/2 inches. I inked the edges. I sewed "princess" using the Bazzill In Stitches templates. Miscellaneous rhinestones were used. I used CTMH stamps and some Bo Bunny rub-ons. The paper is from Paper Popsicles, the Time To kit from December.

New Card for You Lovers Out there...

Here is a card I made for a blog challenge at The Scrap City using the sketch found at http://poeticartistry.blogspot.com/2008/01/mojo-monday-week-20.html.

I used the Tinkering Ink papers I got from one of the January Paper Popsicles' kits. Q&C Felt Fusion border, ATB corners and doodles Brads from Paper Popsicles, sharpie white pen and brown Zigwriter. Also used CTMH ink and an oldie but goody Heidi Swapp LOVE stamp.

Got a Fun Suprise on my blog...

I got this very nice surprise from Wendy who I've had fun chatting with over at Paper Popsicles and The Scrap City... It's a "You Made My Day" Award. I feel so honored and I am truly surprised to get such a cute and fun award. Here is the idea:

"Give the award to up to 10 people whose blogs bring you happiness and inspiration and make you feel so happy about blogland! Let them know by posting a comment on their blog so that they can pass it on. Beware! You may get the award several times!"

Charity http://www.creativegirlz.blogspot.com/

Sheila http://www.sheilaoxley.blogspot.com/
Becca http://www.houseofhenrie.blogspot.com/
Lynda http://www.positive-force.blogspot.com/
Melita http://www.calonghorn.wordpress.com/
Jenny http://www.zeldadog1.blogspot.com/
Wendy (right back at you!) http://www.wenspostitnotes.blogspot.com/
Michelle http://www.scrapcouture.typepad.com/
Deanne http://www.a-scrapaddict.blogspot.com/
Stacey http://www.stacey-scraps.blogspot.com/

don't know too many blogs and there are so many that I really enjoy to visit.

New Year, New Resolutions

Like most people, I have a renewed sense of "Newness" for the year. New year, new goals, try for a new me. My friends at Paper Popsicles (Check them out at http://www.paperpopsicles.com/!) inspired me to write down my goals for 2008 for one of their contests. Here is my take on my resolutions for 2008:

Happy New Year!!!!

Now that 2007 is tucked safely behind us, it is time to look forward to the new adventures that await us in 2008! Every New Year's Day, our family celebrates with a special meal of fondue. This is truely a labor of love. If you are hungry, you learn to settle down and be patient because this meal takes a long time to cook and to eat. We always start off with homemade cheese fondue (YUM!). We dip french bread into the cheese. The main course is shrimp, chicken, and beef. We also batter mushrooms and onions. The dessert is chocolate fondue with cookies, strawberries, bananas, pretzels, and marshmellows. The house smells like a gynormous fry daddy by the time we are done! We toast to the new year with sparkling grape juice and even allow the kids to use our wine glasses! We truly look forward to this annual tradition and every year it gets better and better as we master the art of fondue!

Some Winter Projects

Just a little fun to share!

Christmas is Over...but the sugar high hasn't worn off yet!

Whew! What a whirlwind of activity. I had thought that I was so lucky to have children that went to bed so easily on Christmas night and that they stayed in bed all night until the magic happened the next day. BOY WAS I WRONG! This year, my oldest decided he "couldn't" go to sleep until way past 11 and that he just HAD TO get up at 3:30.

Needless to say, after all the presents were opened and the candy was eaten for breakfast, we spent the day playing with our new toys, visiting with family and eating good food! Hope your holidays were Merry and Bright!!!

Holidayzzzzz

I won the monthly contest at The Scrapbook City, a small online store I design for. I was so excited! The winning entry was using a picture from last that showed my dear daughter asleeep at the Christmas dinner table. Enjoy!!!

It must be SANTA!

I love the look of joy and excitement on my childrens' faces when they see Santa. Every year we go downtown to visit with Santa in his special house. This year we managed a Trolley ride through town with Santa before we actually talked to him! He even gave each one of the kids a ticket to get a piece of chocolate from the nearby South Bend Chocolate Factory. Nicholas even warmed up to the jolly old elf this year. Although he wouldn't sit on his lap, he made his wishes known and he didn't cry. His requests are simple: a firetruck and cars that crash. Hannah wants a scooter. Riley wants anything Harry Potter. Get movin Santa!

Oh Christmas Tree...

Every year we take the kids to the tree farm and spend a good hour, freezing, looking at gazillions of trees, just to pick out the "perfect" one. By the time we find the tree, we have to have a photo in front of it. The kids are generally so cold that I think their faces get stuck in that "frozen" smile stage. My husband is in charge of cutting down the tree, which usually ends with one of us getting frustrated because the process takes to long. We drag the tree across the farm to get it bundled. Have you seen the machine that shakes that tree until all of the loose needles fall to the ground! It's actually funnier to watch the guy who has to hold that tree on the shaker...his face jiggles around like jello!!! We painstakenly attach the tree to the top of the van and pray all the way home that the tree doesn't fall off on the highway, or that our roof doesn't cave in. We have hot cocoa around the table when we get back.

Getting the tree to fit in the stand and stay up right is the next task, but somehow, every year we manage. I laugh when I see the ornaments go up. There are so many on the tree, you can't even tell there is a tree under there! Maybe we need to get more than one??????

So Thankful!

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday of the year (well, unless you call my Birthday a holiday, then that would be my favorite!!!).

We always have my family over for Thanksgiving. My sister Marci, her husband Tim, and their daughter Caitlyn travel from Iowa. My mom and dad come from Michigan. One nephew and his girlfriend traveled in from Illinois, while another nephew and his fiance' came from Wisconsin. All in all there were 14 of us celebrating what we feel we are truly thankful for: family, love, and in general health. Happy Thanksgiving!

I've Been Tagged!

Ack! What does this mean?! I guess it is something like a "blog game" of tag. I am good at tag but not sure if I am good at blog tag! Ok, this is my first one so I'm hoping I get it right. I've been tagged by Ginnifer: http://sunnydayscrapper.blogspot.com/ I met Ginnifer through Just Your Scrapbooking Headquarters where we recently were named to the first Design Team. Thanks Ginnifer!!

Here are the rules which must be posted on your blog if you are tagged:
1. Link to your tagger and post these rules.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself: some random, some weird.
3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post and list their names (linking to them).
4. Let them know they've been tagged by leaving a comment at their blog.

Here are some facts about me:
I think toes are ugly and weird. They must be polished if wearing sandals!

I bite my fingernails and pick the skin around them

I like to sing but my son says I sound like a goat

I have naturally curly, and naturally graying hair (so sad!)

I am a night time binge eater--I love eating after the kids are in bed...

I am a true TYPE A personality....go go go go go....more more more more...

I go to bed VERY early.

I don't know many people on blogs yet since I am so new at this. So here goes:
I am tagging the following people:
Becky from my Memory Zone DT: http://rebeccasfamily.blogspot.com/
Charity from my Memory Zone DT: http://creativegirlz.blogspot.com/
Debbie from the DT at The Scrapbook City: http://foreverscrapping.blogspot.com/
Karen from teh DT at The Scrapbook City: http://karenismyangel.blogspot.com/
Lorelie from the DT at The Scrapbook City: http://scrappingandcrafts.blogspot.com/
Lynda from Paper Popsicles: http://positive-force.blogspot.com/
Sheila from Paper Popsicles: http://sheilaoxley.blogspot.com/

All Saints Day, November 1, 2007

The tradition in school is that the 4th grade class researches a saint, makes a report, memorizes the information for an oral presentation to the lower grades, and wears a costume to Mass that day.

Riley chose St. Charles Borromeo. He remembered that he was baptised in that church in Bloomington Indiana (great memory he has!).

St. Charles Borromeo was born Oct.2 and his feast day is November 4th. His father was a count and his uncle was a Pope. He was a colonol and a bishop. He is the patron of Samarians, Catechumins, Catechists, Apple Orchards, and starch makers.

Halloween was a blast!

Here are a few of the pictures from this year's Halloween!!!!

Halloween is Near!

I thought that I should definitely make treats this year for my daughter's preschool instead of just giving cookies or cupcakes. I used my Cricut and Tags Bags Boxes and More to make little good bags for each child....

enjoy!