30 Days of Thankfulness

November 8, 2010

Today I am thankful for family days :-)  We don't get many of them but today we got to enjoy our family.  We laughed a lot, played a lot, and even got some work done!  Than we had some family pictures taken by a friend and I can't wait to see them!  Every once in awhile, we just have to take time out for us - and yes, I do schedule those days at the very least, once a month otherwise, we get too busy :-)

My boys!! :-)

Josh got creative today.  He moved his little chair up on the couch and sat in it so he could watch out the window :-)

Darryl giving Nate a bottle - he doesn't get to do this very often!

And yes, I'm thankful we were able to stay in our PJ's until early afternoon when we had to get ready for pictures!!

Photo Holders

One of the neat crafts that I made to use at Josh's 2nd birthday party were the star photo holders.  I will be using them at Nate's upcoming birthday as well AND plan to use them in future years.  I'm sorry to say I didn't get pictures of all of the steps because I forgot but the process is pretty simple.

1.  The Star Cutouts - I purchased the stars at Micheal's for just a dollar or so a piece.  They were plain wood.  I picked up the really cheap spray paint at Walmart (Blue, White, Black, and Red) and sprayed each of the stars a different color.  Once dry, I used glitter glue to outline the center star (this is a raised panel on the wooden star so it was easy to do!)
2. The base - I searched through my husband's wood scrap bin and found a board that I then cut down into small rectangles to use as a base.  I also sprayed those the same color as the stars.  Once dry, I used lots of Hot Glue, to secure the star to the wood.  (Eventually, I will probably need to use Gorilla Glue to make them extra secure but our Gorilla Glue was dried out!)
3. The Clips - I chose to use clothespins because it was quick, cheap and easy!  I just hot glued one to the three points of the star.  You could also drill small holes in each point and use a heavy duty wire to make a holder too. 

Than, to finish it off - I went through my photos and found one picture from each month (for a total of 12) showing Josh.  It was a great way to see how much he had changed!

If you want a more detailed tutorial with pictures, check out Oopsey-daisy.  I got this idea from her blog - she used wire for the holders instead of the clothes pins in case you want to see that. 

Happy Crafting :-)

30 Day Blog Challenge - Day 28

Day 28 - Something that stresses you out

Honestly, there is only one thing that stresses me out - Clutter.  Seriously, if things are cluttered and messy, I start to feel stressed.  Oh, wait, one more thing, if my plans get messed up :-)  I don't like that either.  But my husband has taught me that it is ok not to plan sometimes, and I can still have fun!!

Just two more days left in this 30 day adventure . . .:-)

Holiday Control Journal Part 2

Holiday Traditions and Menu



Are you ready for Part 2?  Have you ever sat down at the end of Christmas day and remember that you forgot a tradition? Or forgot to make your favorite holiday dish?  Or maybe you remembered that dish but couldn't find the recipe?  Well, this part of your Holiday Control Journal will help keep that from happening this year!  If you would like to see what I've typed out, click here.  There are three parts to this section of your journal.

1) Traditions - Take time to write down your Holiday Traditions.  I broke mine into categories like:  Food, Decorations, Things to Do etc.  I also included a section of Traditions I'd like to start.  Something to remember about traditions - they are only traditions if you do them so if something isn't working, stop doing it :-)  As our kids get older we would like to add in going to see a Christmas show - we are fortunate enough to have large Christian High Schools, Colleges, and Churches that do incredible shows every year which will be great to take the kids too.  Adding this year, well, they just aren't ready.  I also left space to make notes for next year - what worked, what didn't work, new ideas ect. 

2) Menu/Food - Take time to list the food traditions you have for certain days.  We have some specific things that we do and foods that we love.  Instead of trying to remember it all, write it down.  If you don't do the meal, just leave it blank for now.  Someday, you may need to fill it in!

3) Recipes - Now, I did not include all of my recipes or the document would have been huge.  When I created this journal this summer, I just started going through my recipes and adding things that looked good, we had used before for holidays or I wish we had used before!!  This year, I'm going to refine it as we go through the holidays so only the recipes we use this year are included (if we like them!).  Than, next year, I will have those tried and true recipes that we love and can add a few new ideas too!  If your recipes are in a book or a file, that just make a note of where to find them if you don't want to type them out.  I type all of mine out anyway so they are saved in my computer and easy to copy and paste!

See how easy that is?  :-) 

I did get through my week one plan too!  Here are some photos of my dining room.  My color scheme is silver and red.

I like to wrap my large wall hangings like gifts.  It really transforms a room.  And, in January, when I unwrap them, it's like having new wall art!

I love using place mats and napkins for table coverings.  You can get them for little cost after the holiday.  That is what I'm hoping to do with my curtains!  I want holiday curtains but don't want to spend very much.  I may see if I can get some fabric I like and make some but from past experience, that can be even more expensive sometimes.

So I'm not totally sold on my "free art" ribbon yet, but it does look better in person.

This wall - a work in progress.  I'm in the middle of a little craft idea to dress this wall up.  I'll share pictures later.

And he was IN the dining room so he counts LOL  We had pizza for lunch, can you tell?  :-)

I know that in my plan for this past week, I was going to do something to my porch but, when I wrote that this summer, I did not plan on decorating my porch for fall.  So I have moved that to the end of the month and have left my fence, pumpkins, and Indian corn in place for now! 

I'd love to see pictures as your decorate so please share!!

30 Days of Thankfulness Challenge

November 7, 2010



Today, I am thankful for my brother Kelly.  Kel is the oldest of us kids and we have lots of funny stories about him.  He still thinks of me as his "baby" sister because he left home when I was still so little (there is almost 10 years between us!  He told me recently that he really doesn't remember me at home - I told him it is because he is getting so old :-)  Kel is a hard worker but he is kind-hearted.  He is organized and a planner and I like it because I'm like him :-)  He's fun and has a great sense of humor.  I miss him a lot because he lives in Brazil - I am looking forward to seeing him in a just a few short months though :-)

30 Day Blog Challenge - Day 27

Day 27 - Pets
I love my pets :-)  We have three!

 First, There is Misty.  She is about 15 years old and is "my" cat.  There is a story behind her!  My brother and his family were getting ready to leave for Brazil as missionaries when I got a call from my sweet niece, who was very upset.  They had to get rid of their cats and she asked if I would take one of her favorite kittens.  How could I say no??  In this picture she is posing with the fake cat - I thought it was cute :-) (She is the black cat in case you couldn't tell hahaha)

 Than there is China.  She is one of our rescue animals.  After we bought our house we knew we really wanted a dog so we would go to PetSmart almost every Saturday to see the dogs.  When we saw her, we knew she was ours.  She is now about 9 years old and is a couch potato/scardy cat.  She is actually hiding behind the chair during a storm.  The poor thing.

Strat is our second rescue.  She never ever has her eyes open in pictures and she always has a drippy eye, which is pretty common in white cats, I guess.  Strat is actually our garage cat - she enjoys life to the fullest getting to roam in our fenced in yard.  We didn't plan to have a garage cat, we got her to be a house cat but sometimes, with rescues, you don't know their previous life and they have habits you can't break.  So, to keep us all happy, we've made her a very nice home in the garage and, don't worry, in the dead of winter, we also have a backup home in our basement.  I still love her though - she is a snuggler :-)

30 Days of Thankfulness

November 6th, 2010

Today, I am thankful for snow. Yep you read that right!  We our first snowfall today and it put a huge smile on my face.  It was nothing that stuck or hung around but those sweet little first flakes that fly through the air and land on your nose, your hands, your clothes.  I love the big black snow clouds and that incredible sky where the sun shines just beyond the clouds and is EXTREMELY bright.  There is nothing like the mix of dark clouds and sun.  You only get that mix from snow clouds.  This year, I am so excited to be able to be home this winter when we get those snowy days.  My husband doesn't like it but I'll keep the house warm for him :-)