Project Life!

So, I've done it! I ordered Project Life. All I got was the Clementine cards (Core Kit) and the Clementine cardstock. The cardstock's actually just for me to scrap with because I LOVE the colors! LOL! I will be ordering the A style page protectors but they are out of stock right now.

In the meantime, I'll make do by using my divided page protectors that hold six horizontal 4x6's. In the center row, I'll tuck the 2x3 pieces in side There's a rumor that the Design A Pages will be back in stock sometime in January so hopefully, I'll only have a few weeks to go like that.

The album I'll be using is the American Crafts 12x12 DRing Album in Black. I'm really hopeful that this project will be within my abilities to maintain. My biggest concern is that I'll fall so far behind on ordering pictures it will make me give up on the rest. So, to help make the photo ordering process easier, I've come up with this.

Okay, I know it looks like a big black rectangle floating in midair but it's actually a 4x6 horizontal white rectangle with two black 2 7/8" x 4" vertical "openings". LOL! I've got it saved as a .psd on my desktop so whenever I need to create the smaller Project Life size photos it will be a lot quicker and easier. :) It will also enable me to order the much cheaper 4x6's instead. Two for the price of one! Yay!!! The reason I didn't move them to the edges to fill up that extra 1/4 of space is because my Costco doesn't print true 4x6 photos. They're a bit short of 6" so I left white space on either side so my photos don't get cropped.

I've been reading a lot of the posts out there on Project Life and I've compiled tons of tips on what to do when you haven't quite got enough photos/ephemera to fill up a week, how/where to take notes, scheduling time to do your weekly layouts, all sorts of great stuff. I've got like four pages of stuff copied. I printed it out, two pages per sheet, and I'm going to put it in the front of my album in an 8 1/2 x 11 page protector so it's always handy when I need help.

Here are a few links to my favorite posts about Project Life.

Lisa Truesdell - Great tips on filling in when the week is light.

Studio Calico - They've got an entire section of their message board dedicated to PL!

Marcy Penner - She's got awesome post on Photos, Ephemera and Notetaking, Supplies, Putting it Together, and Everything Else.

Michelle Wooderson - How to catch up if you get behind.

Oh, and if you want a copy of my template, just leave a comment below with your e-mail address and I'll send it to you. If you'd like, feel free to click that follow button on the right, too! ;)

Christmas Album 2011-Day 25~Part 3!

Our final Christmas event was held at my mom's house. We arrived there a bit after five. Audrey fell asleep on the ride over and stayed asleep as I carried her into the house. I sat down with her and she slept...all through the meal! My mom wound up making me up a plate and I ate it while holding her. They asked if I wanted to lay her down on a bed but I declined. I only have a few years of holding my sleeping kids and I cherish each minute!

Once my step-brother and his kids arrived, we moved into the living room to open presents. Aud had woken up by then and she and Mickey were really excited to see their cousins! And then, the present madness began! Aud got a new quilt for her bed, an antique desk, a stuffed dog, some money and lots of other fun goodies! Mickey got a new Batman shirt, a DVD, some money, a Leap Pad with games and lots of other fun goodies! I got some longer plates for my Cuttlebug, a craft book, some money, and other goodies. Andrew got a golfing book, some money and other fun goodies.

The funniest moment of the night was when Audrey starting saying, "I spill. I spill, Mama.". AS she wasn't holding anything I had no idea what she was talking about until I noticed some drops running down her leg. Ooops! Her diaper had shifted and she'd had an accident on my folks antique rug! Fortunately, they thought that it was funny and Andrew changed her while I cleaned up the mess.

We headed home and got the kids to bed and were so glad that our Christmas adventures were done! In fact, three out of four of us wore jammies all day on the 26th and Andrew only got dressed in the afternoon to go over to a friend's house for a few hours. He changed into sweats as soon as he got back. Ha!

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas holiday!!!

Christmas Album 2011-Day 25~Part 2!

Next on our Christmas agenda was Christmas with Andrew's side of the family. We arrived at Andrew's sister Kathy's house a little after one. We had a great time eating and chatting. Mickey and Audrey were a little shy at first but once Karly and Claire started playing with them, they warmed right up!

Mickey got a travel sized Connect Four game and a little bag of goodies from his Grandma and Grandpa Hettwer (with a little help from Aunt Kathy) and a John Deere tractor and a Bumblebee Transformer from Anthony who had his name. Audrey got a mini butterfly Pillow Pet and a bag of goodies from Grandma and Grandpa Hettwer. Lauren had her name and got her a black and white Furreal Pet cat. Claire was showing her how to make it move and purr by tapping it's back and Aud started to punch it in the back. LOL! We then showed her that just petting it gently would work.

Andrew got a nice pair of slacks from his gift exchange gifter. Kathy had my name and she got me a big tin filled with Diet Mt Dew, Kettle Corn, candy and a gift card to the local movie theater! Whoo-hoo! I'm totally using that bad boy!

I was a little distracted trying to get the kids to warm up and by the adorable baby that was there! My nephew and his wife have a beautiful five month old baby girl named Paige and I was all over she. She is sooooo sweet! Anyway, I didn't take a single picture! Yikes!

Mickey's favorite toy was his Transformers Bumblebee. He'd been pretty disappointed that Santa didn't get it for him so Santa was fairly relieved that Mickey got that. Heh!

Aud was getting pretty tired by then so she like her toys but her favorite thing was the cookies that Aunt Kathy had made. I'm pretty sure she ate at least ten of them!

Christmas Album 2011-Day 25~Part 1!

Christmas Morning!

Aud climbed in bed with us around seven and about eight, I heard Mickey holler, "Mom, Mom!". I opened his bed room door and he sleepily said, "I don't think I can go to sleep, Mom.". Hee! I told him that it was morning and he should get up and go potty so we could open stockings and he says. "Oh!" and clambers out of bed. Too funny!

We all went into the living room and I asked Mickey if Santa had come. He said yes and I asked him how he knew. I was trying to get him to notice that the cookies and milk were gone. Instead, he says, "There are presents and stuff in the stockings!". When I pointed out that the cookies were gone, he exclaimed, "He ate them!".

The kids then started in on their stockings. They both got lip balms, airplane candy and water colors. Mickey got a bunch of Cars goodies and Aud got a Dora toy and some hair stuff and slippers. We had to make her open the rest of her stocking once she saw the Dora stuff because that's all she was interested in.

After their stockings, they opened their Santa presents. Santa gave them joint gifts this year. They got a Christmas book to add to their collection and a Play-do game. They both love Play-do so they were pretty excited about it. Mickey's figured out that the numbers on the toys tell you what ages they are for and was pretty excited that the game was for age 5. Hee!

After that, Andrew and I opened our stockings. He got tweezers, flashlights and pepperoni. I got running socks, some scrap stuff, hair bands and nail polish. Since I had let Andrew off the hook completely this year with gift buying, I had him start breakfast. He fried up some bacon and eggs and I scrambled some eggs for the kids and made some toast.

Once we finished breakfast we opened our family gifts. Audrey got Mickey two Angry Bird stuffed animals and Mickey got Audrey a doll and a Disney princess action figure. I got Andrew a bowling pin, Audrey got him a Seahawks calendar and Mickey got him some binoculars. Andrew got me some jammies and the kiddos got me some grey faux Uggs.

We got Mickey a bunch of matchbox cars and puzzle, some toy tools, and a bunch of Cars 2 cars along with a Lightening McQueen stocking cap that my mom's cousin's friend knitted for me. Oh, and we got him some Cars 2 walkie talkies. Audrey got two dollies, an OSU shirt and a dollhouse! Yeah, she was pretty stoked about that. It's all she plays with when we are at Mickey's preschool. :)

We finished up at ten and Andrew and I decided that we're going to reserve Christmas morning (before noon) for just the four of us. Next up, we've got Andrew's family at one and then my Mom's side at five.

Hope you're having a wonderful Christmas!!!

Christmas Album 2011-Day 24

Christmas Eve!!! :)

Today we finally got some cookies made! We made Christmas Crack, Peppermint Bark, and Chocolate Chip cookies. The kids helped out and loved it. The especially loved getting to lick the beater. ;) While I was doing the grown up parts, they watched a bunch of Charlie Brown holiday DVD's that Uncle Doug gave us. They were cracking up in the living room!

After that we had to start getting ready for Christmas Eve dinner. We put the ham in the oven and the yummy smells started to fill up the house really quickly. My brother and my dad showed up and then we ate dinner. We had ham, mashed potatoes, green beans, corn bread and salad. And then, we had Christmas cookies for dessert.

After dinner, we got down to the good stuff...presents!!! I got a Michael's gift card and some books from my brother and running capris, a scrapbooking book, and some calendars from my dad. Andrew got a rake, tools, and a calendar.

Audrey got a huge stuffed bean bag horse, a piggy bank and a bag of coloring goodies from Uncle Cody. Papa Maow bought her two dresses, a pair of sparkly shoes, a princess crown with matching ring and earrings, a baby doll, a Dora the Explorer Pillow Pet and a tiny butterfly Pillow Pet. She put on the shoes, crown and jewels right away. They were hands down her favorite gift of the night. She even slept with her shoes on!!!

Mickey got a remote control Cars 2 car, a piggy bank and a bag of coloring goodies from Uncle Cody. Papa Maow got him a cool jacket, a batman shirt, a remote control Hummer, a Lightening McQueen Pillow Pet and tiny panda Pillow Pet. His favorite gift was the remote control Cars 2 car. He loves that thing!

The kids also each got a set of p.j.'s from Andrew and me. Mickey got Spiderman ones and Audrey got Disney Princess ones.

After Dad and Cody left, we got them dressed in their new jammies, set out some milk and cookies for Santa and put them to bed. I tidied up a bit, and then went to bed.

A couple of funnies. When Audrey was helping bring in the gifts in, she wanted to put them all in her room. I told her that she could as soon as she opened hers. The first gift she opened was her Dora Pillow Pet. She exclaimed, "Dora!" and then, "I go put in my room!" and bolted for her bedroom. We all busted up laughing.

This year, Dad labeled some of his gifts to the kids as "from Howdy" (his dog). So Mickey told me that next year we should have Lilly give one of her bones to Howdy. We grabbed one of the now empty Christmas bags, Mickey put one of Lilly's bones in it and he gave it to Papa Maow telling him it was from Lilly for Howdy. Dad called that night to say that Howdy loved it and was outside burying it.

Christmas Album 2011-Day 23

Today was super productive! The kiddos wrapped their presents for each other and we got all the Christmas wrapping stuff put away. It's so nice to not have to do that until two in the morning Christmas Eve...not that I've ever done that before. ;)

After that, we started decorating the tree. The kids had a blast putting all the ornaments up. Well, not all of them. I dug out my fun kid themed ones from my days at Hallmark. We've got Cat in the Hat, Scooby Doo, and the Peanuts gang up on our tree!

Next up, we got some fun lights up in the kids rooms. Mickey got some fun red and green candy looking ones. Aud got blinking white snowflakes! We then talked Andrew into bringing our second tree into the house and getting it in it's stand. We put that little guy into Mickey's room. He was over the moon excited! We got some lights on it and then the kids decorated it too. Well, Mickey decorated it, Aud decorated one branch. She put every ornament on that branch. Hee!

With all the decorating done, I got all the boxes stacked in the garage and started cleaning. Mickey helped out by vacuuming and Lilly helped out by barking like a maniac at the vacuum. I still have more cleaning to do tomorrow and cookie making that needs to get done, too. Hope you all are having a great holiday season!

My favorite part~Getting those boxes out of the house!

Mickey's favorite part~Getting a tree in his room!

Aud's favorite part~Getting a piece of Peppermint Bark for desert

Our holiday event~Trimming the tree!

Christmas Album 2011-Day 22

This morning we took Lilly to the vet. (I remembered!) She got her stitches out and her ears checked. She also got weighed, she's a whopping 48.8 lbs! :) There was a six month old Lab in the waiting area and they were pretty interested in each other. It was pretty easy to see the differences in between our Lilly's temperament and that of a Lab the same age. Lab's are spazzes for the first 2-3 years and our Lilly is fairly mellow. Love her!

When we got home I made the kids a snack and then did some computer stuff. After that, Mickey and I got started on his room! We got it all cleaned up and vacuumed. He loves it when his room is clean but as he's five, he has a hard time keeping it that way. We took a cleaning break once his room was done and had lunch.

Then, we started in on Aud's room. She helped a tiny bit and Mickey helped for the first half but other than that it was me. I moved a few things around for her and vacuumed, too. Right after we finished, my Dad showed up for a haircut. The kids were really excited to see him and he actually had to wait to get his hair cut because the kids really love playing with him.

After Dad left, the kids and I worked on wrapping the rest of the gifts. Mickey wrote the names of who it was to and Audrey was on bow duty. We got it all done and then I got their dinner ready a bit early. Because, when Andrew came home, the three of the took off to see Andrew's friend Ron.

While they were gone, I got the kids' gifts ready. Santa gifts wrapped in special paper, stocking gifts organized and tucked into bags, and their gifts from us wrapped as well. Then, I put the lights on the tree. I thought about getting ornaments on too but left that for the kids tomorrow. I also got the photos from Mickey's preschool ready for Christmas gifts and made a list of last minute things I needed to get at Fred Meyer.

Because, once Andrew and the kids got back, I zipped into town. I had a few extra gifts to get, some stocking stuffers and I needed to get gifts for the kids to give each other. Oh, and a ham and some cookie ingredients. You know, the important stuff. ;) When I got back, I wrapped the two extra gifts and got them under the tree with the rest of the gifts.

My favorite part of today~Getting the gifts wrapped.

Mickey's favorite part~

Audrey's favorite part~

Our holiday event~Wrapping gifts!

Christmas Album 2011-Day 21

Our first big event of the day was taking the kids to my mom's house to decorate cookies! They were really excited to do this and even more excited when I told them that two of their cousins would be there, too!

I was super excited because I got to go to the movies with my Uncle Doug and my brother, Cody! They are seriously the best people to go to the movies with. We saw The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo and it was awesome! Very hardcore but very awesome!

After the movie, I picked up the kids and took Aaron and Ellie with me! We all played outside for a while because Aaron was practicing basketball. One of my neighbors stopped by and we chatted for quite a while. Then, I dragged the Christmas tree into the house! Yeah, only four days before Christmas! LOL! Unfortunately, I was supposed to be taking Lilly to the vet at 4:30 and totally spaced it! Fortunately, they were able to reschedule for tomorrow morning. She's getting her stitches removed and her ears checked.

After Brian picked up his kids, I made dinner and Andrew straightened the tree. Hee! Mickey put in some Christmas movies too. I then asked the kids if they'd like to help me wrap gifts and so we did. We've only got one more group to go! Oh, and I need to wrap their gifts, too. We read a couple Christmas stories and tucked the kids in. Aud was wiped out and fell asleep on the living room floor while I was reading.

My favorite part of the day~The movie!!

Mickey's favorite part of the day~Decorating cookies

Audrey's favorite part of the day~Playing with Ellie

Our holiday event~Bringing in the tree!

Christmas Album 2011-Day 20

Today started slow but after lunch we got into the holiday swing of things. We got started wrapping gifts and got the presents for my Mom's Christmas wrapped. Mickey wrote the names and Audrey picked out the bows. We also got a start on making Christmas cookies. There are now two pounds of Oreo Peppermint Bark in our fridge. :)

I dug almost all the rest of the Christmas boxes and the Christmas tree stands out of the shop. Tomorrow's goal is to get those trees in the house! I gotta say, digging stuff out of the shop after dark feels a lot safer with our Lilly around. She's a barker! :)

I gave the kiddos a bath and they had a blast as I let them stay in forever! LOL! After bath time, we read a couple of the Christmas books and then I tucked them in bed.

My favorite part of today~Feeling like I was actually getting some stuff crossed off my list

Mickey's favorite part~Making Peppermint Bark

Aud's favorite part~Pep-mint!!!!

Our holiday event~Wrapping gifts!

Christmas Album 2011-Day 19

Today was much more productive than yesterday! We didn't make it to the gym but we're hoping to tomorrow. We got to Costco and picked up Papa Maow's Christmas Cards, the kids were bummed that the snacks weren't quite set up yet so we grabbed some Pirate's Booty to much on, on the ride home. ;)

My dad met us at home and we unloaded the car and gave him his cards. He loved them! I made mac-n-cheese for the kids lunch (we'd picked up milk at Costco because the cupboards were soooooo bare, hence the pizza last night!) and then made some phone calls. Andrew, my mom and the phone company because my internet went out...again and the phone was still staticky. The repair guy came out and fixed the internet and told me that I needed to schedule an appointment so that someone can come out and crawl under the house and check the wires.

Lilly barked at him almost the entire time he was there. Good dog. ;)

After he left, we made up a grocery list to refill the cupboards and then I made a list of ingredients we'd need to make Christmas cookies. I'm hoping we can get to that tomorrow! We zipped into Fred Meyer and the kids got to go to Playland, they love that place.

After we got home, I made dinner. Mickey wanted tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches so that's what we had! Andrew came home about an hour after dinner, completely wiped out and then my step-brother stopped by to drop off some berries.

My favorite part of today~Remembering to get stamps at the store!

Mickey's favorite part of today~Playland!

Audrey's favorite part of today~Playland~

Our holiday event~Getting my Christmas cards ready for mailing! Yay!

Christmas Album 2011-Day 18

I was hoping to get out of the house and run some errands today but it just didn't happen. I'm not too used to going out late, I guess. LOL! We pretty much just lazed around, cleaning up random stuff and playing with the kids.

Andrew's friend came over to watch football. After a while he left to go pick up his two youngest daughters, for which Mickey and Audrey were really glad. The four of them have a blast together! We ordered pizza for dinner and had it delivered and again, the kids were thrilled!

Right before they left the kids started playing with Mickey's bowling stuff and it was soooo funny! They were giggling and missing and Audrey was cheering everyone on from the hearth. So funny! Mickey and Audrey ended up sleeping in the living room together. It's so sweet how much they love each other! <3

My favorite part of the day~Not having to cook!

Mickey's favorite part of the day~Morgan coming over

Audrey's favorite part of the day~Mia coming over

Our holiday event~The advent calendar is going to have to count for today!

Christmas Album 2011-Day 17

Today was about getting those Christmas cards started. I got a pretty good start on them just need to gather up a few addresses. One of these years I'm going to get my act together and have a master Christmas card list with all the names and addresses in one place.

Other than that we didn't do much during the day. Andrew was still resting and in the afternoon took Mickey to go bowling with a friend of his. They had a good time and Mickey got a 95!

My cousin texted me later to see if I wanted to have a little girls night out at the local bar and so Andrew took the kids to watch football at his friend's and I had a grown up night out! Yay!!!

My favorite part of the day~Getting out as a grown up!

Mickey's favorite part~Bowling

Audrey's favorite part~Playing with Mia while daddy watched football.

Christmas Album 2011-Day 16

Today was Mickey's Christmas program at the preschool! I got the kids all dressed up and then off we went to preschool. We had to bring a gift for a mom and one for a dad and one for a boy in the class. We also had to bring ten dimes for the kids to use to buy their mom and dad a gift.

One of the other mom's and I ran the store, it was sooooo fun! Mickey went first so I had to wait outside until he was done, then I helped the other mom's daughter, after that we helped the other kids together and it was a blast! The thought process that goes on in the 4-5 year old mind as they pick out presents...so funny! Some of them just grabbed the first things they saw, other reasoned out the perfect gifts and some needed quite a bit of help.

Mickey wanted to help so we had the kids count out money to him and then he was the "bag boy" and carried their "purchases" down the hall to the gift wrap room. When the first kid put money in his hand, he said, "I'm making money!" Ha!!!! That kid, such a crack up!

Once we had the gifts all picked out, I helped in the gift wrap room for a while and then we headed upstairs while the kids had their snacks. The kids then came upstairs and started singing their songs for us. Andrew, my mom and step-dad, and Claire (my niece) came to watch and there were quite a few extra family members for the other kids, too. Mickey was right in the middle and about two songs in, he started crying. There were a ton of people this time around and it was just too much for him. Two more kids had a tough time with it too.

Audrey, however, had no issues and she stood right in line with the rest of Mickey's classmates. She was dancing and pretending that she knew the words. Sigh. That kid is soooo ready for preschool! Mickey wound up standing right next to me at the end of the line. Once the songs were over, I was able to persuade him to go with the rest of the kids and sit around the tree.

Their preschool teacher started talking about Christmas and then shortly after that, Santa came! Mickey looked at me and said, "I don't want to sit on his lap!". Again, Aud had no issues at all. She was the second or third one up there. Eventually, Mickey did talk to Santa and accepted his candy cane and teacher gift. Poor guy. Then, all the kids exchanged gifts and opened them and we left.

Claire came home with us and played with the kids for a couple hours. Then, we had dinner and played some more. After that, Aud fell asleep on the big chair with Daddy and I put Mickey to bed. He's currently laying at the foot of my bed telling me he can't sleep so we're watching "Elf".

My favorite part of today~Working the "store"!

Mickey's favorite part of today~His preschool party.

Audrey's favorite part of today~Santa!!!

Our holiday event~Mickey's Christmas party.

Christmas Album 2011-Day 15

Finally, some relief! Yay! I had a super bad headache this morning but right around lunch time, the antibiotics kicked in. My dad came over to watch the kids again! Thanks Dad!

I took Andrew in for a quick doctor's appointment. When we got back the kids and I zipped over to my mom's to pick up our Christmas Cards, side note~I love them!, and then had lunch together at Godfather's. As an elderly couple was leaving, the gentleman stopped and said how nice it was to see two children so well behaved in a restaurant! It was so nice of him to say that! After that, we stopped on Freddy's to get some snacks for Andrew.

Then, I took pics of some scrappy projects while there was still light and then the kids and I headed back out again. We hit Dollar Tree first and I let the kids each pick out something. Mickey got a semi truck and Audrey was going to replace her "magic" (a wand that lights up on one end) but at the check out stand fell hard for some lemonade flavored princess lip balm. We then head to Oregon City to check out their Dollar Tree and then to Michael's, where I bought more than I was there for...as usual!

Aud fell asleep on the ride home and slept for quite a while. Mickey and I had dinner and then wrapped his present for his Christmas preschool party and got the rest of his preschool stuff ready. We watched White Christmas and later, Aud woke up and joined us. At bedtime, Charlie Brown Christmas came on so I demanded that they stay up and watch with me. ;) They did. We had popcorn!

My headache is back a bit but instead of the gremlin inside my head having a pick axe, he's swinging at my right eye with a whiffle ball bat. I'll take it. :)

My favorite part of today~White Christmas! I love that movie and it was my first time seeing it this year!

Mickey's favorite part of today~Lunch at Godfather's. Pizza, breadsticks, and video games!

Audrey's favorite part of today~Lip stuff!

Our holiday event~Christmas movies, getting ready for the preschool party and picking up my cards!

Christmas Album 2011-Day 14

Uhg, today was hard! My headache got worse, not better and it takes a few days for the antibiotics to kick in. Dislike!

Mickey had preschool today and he was so excited to find out that one of his best friend's was wearing an almost identical shirt. After preschool, my dad came back over and I took his Christmas card picture with the kids.

Once Andrew got home though, it was straight back to the bathtub. I really hope that this clears up soon because I'm sooooo tired of this. Our tree's not up yet, I haven't added any more decor to the house and I haven't done any Christmas crafts with the kids. I feel like I have the Grinch inside my head pounding on my right eye with a hammer! LOL!

I did get my second round of pics from scrapbookpictures.com and I did a little work until my head got in the way again. Oh, and I couldn't pick up my cards from my mom's but she said that they turned out cute! Yay! :)

My favorite part of today~Ahhhh, the bathtub!

Mickey's favorite part of today~Preschool!

Audrey's favorite part of today~Getting to ride her trike out front with Papa Maow

Christmas Album 2011-Day 13

Wow! This entry is a day late because I officially have a sinus infection and well, my head hurts so bad I couldn't type last night. So not fun.

This morning, we finally got our heat fixed! It took a couple hours but they finally got the parts replaced and the heat back on! Yay!!! It feels soooooo good to have heat again!

After lunch my dad came over and watched the kiddos while I went to the doctor. He hooked me up with a prescription for my sinusitis.

Later in the afternoon I took the kids into town and we picked up my prescription and got some little gifts for the kids' Hettwer cousins. I'm helping make up some little gift bags for them so I guess my Christmas shopping isn't finished after all. ;)

Andrew came home for dinner and then left for bowling league. The kiddos and I hung out for a while and then after they went to bed, I hit the tub to try to help my head.

My favorite part of today~Getting the heat fixed!

Mickey's favorite part of today~Playing with Papa Maow

Audrey's favorite part of today~Papa Maow

Christmas Album 2011-Day 12

Yesterday was a comedy of errors in regards to getting our furnace fixed. Long (annoying) story short, no heat.




In the morning we dropped our Lilly off to get spayed and micro chipped. The vet also found a bunch of gunk in her ears and so had to clean those out while she was under, too.




Mickey had preschool and Audrey really wanted to stay. I was tempted to stay with her because it was warm there but really needed to do some scrapping at home and to be available should the furnace folks get their act together.




When we picked Mickey up, he was very disappointed to discover that Lilly wasn't back yet. He loves that dog! So, to placate him, I dug out another Christmas box from the shop. It was all I could manage though because my stupid head still hurts. :(




We got Lilly late in the day and hung out at the vet's for a bit chatting. I really love my small town because you have actual relationships with your vet, your dentist, your doctor, etc. It was so late when we picked Lilly up that Mickey actually saw Andrew drive by the vet's on his way home. Our vet is about a mile or so away from our house, very convenient for us! ;)




After dinner, Andrew took Mickey and went to a friend's house to watch football. Miss Thing and I were going to go out and get a stamp for my project (it's a Punky Sprouts banner and sooooo cute!!!) but I didn't want to leave Lilly so I figured out something else.




My favorite part of the day~Finishing up my Punky Sprouts project!




Mickey's favorite part of the day~Going to school!




Audrey's favorite part~Picking up Lilly




Our holiday event~Sadly, getting out the one box was all the holiday we had today! LOL!!! *****Oooooh, wait!!! I almost forgot, I got my Christmas cards ordered! That totally counts! Hee! I can't wait to get them, they match my Christmas Album's color scheme, too! ;)******

Christmas Album 2011-Day 11

Another day of a chilly house around here! We did brave the elements in the afternoon and went over to our friend Lamont's house to get a tree though! We found a good tree for us and then we found the perfect little tree for the kiddos!

We haven't decorated it yet as it's just no fun to decorate in a cold house. If the part is available tomorrow, we'll get started on that then.

Other than that, we really didn't do much around here. It's just so cold in the rest of the house that we snacked and napped and played in our room. Andrew toughed it out in the living room so he could watch sports and Gold Rush all day. LOL! We had a Scooby Doo marathon and the kids would go check on Daddy quite a bit, especially Audrey. That girl does not seem to feel the cold!

My favorite part of the day~Finding a super cute tree for the kids.

Mickey's favorite part of the day~Getting a tree.

Aud's favorite part~Tree!

Our holiday event~Finally getting our tree! Hee!

Christmas Album 2011-Day 10

Today can be summed up in just one word....Brrrrrrrrrrr!!!

The furnace is truly broken and it's cold in here! Once the repair guy showed up, I decided that I'd had enough of hanging out in a 56 degree house and took the kids to lunch. We went to Denny's and had hot cocoa's and yummy, warm food! We stopped at Fred Meyer and I finally got some sinus headache medicine. It really helps!

The repair guy needs a part to fix our furnace and it may or may not be in on Monday. So, we decided to get a space heater and just hang out in the master bedroom until the furnace is fixed. Aud fell asleep on the ride home so we tucked her in, Andrew & Mickey hooked up the heater and then the two of them went to Lamont's. I stayed with sleeping Aud and got the room set up for the next day or two.

Once the guys got home, I ran back into town to get some foods that are a little bit easier for the kids to eat in our bedroom without spilling. It's actually not too bad in here. It's a very large room and the kids and I already treat it as our family room. They've got a train table, toy kitchen and craft table in here! I've got a little scrapping area set up using the bed and the top of the dog's crate and Andrew, well, Andrew has the TV. LOL!

The kids are watching Scooby Doo right now and eating popcorn mixed with candy corn and Andrew is snoring on the floor. Hee!

My favorite part of today~Getting a space heater!!! I hate being cold!

Mickey's favorite part of today~Hot chocolate at Denny's to warm us up!

Audrey's favorite part of today~Popcorn and candy corn while watching a movie before bed.

Our holiday event~We were going to get our tree today but it was preempted by trying to get warm.

Day 9 Advent

Day 10 Advent

I'm hoping to get Day 5 of my Christmas Album done tomorrow and then I'll photograph the first five days and share them! :)

AWDML-12 Days of Christmas!!! Day 10

Hey guys, it's Day 10 of the 12 Days of Christmas at A Walk Down Memory Lane.

Today's project is a great way to up to upcycle empty plastic containers as treat containers for your friends and family.
I started with an empty, clean frosting container and goodies from the Peppermint line from Crate Paper.
I cut a piece of Wintergreen paper to fit around my container and adhered it using Zip Dry adhesive. To keep it from unrolling while it was drying, I wrapped some rubber bands around it and let it set for a while.

I cut some strips of Mint paper and border punched them and then adhered them to the top and bottom of the container. On the top, I stacked a scalloped circle punched from Mint, a chipboard sticker and a brad and adhered them using foam adhesive.
On the front I stacked a punched scalloped circle (Snow Globe), a punched snowflake (Mint) and a label sticker with foam adhesive.
I also wrapped a bit of red and white twine around the bottom of the container for a little extra touch.

All you need to do is fill it with some holiday sweets and gift it to your loved ones!
Now, for the fun stuff!
On the tenth day of Christmas, A Walk Down Memory Lane gave to me......
All stamps for 35% off!!!!

12 Days of Christmas fine print…Remember, you can place multiple orders in during the 12 Days of Christmas. You do need to check out each day though as the special prices will not be saved in your cart. If you order during the sale, they will combine the orders and the shipping costs (yay!) on the 13th after the sale is over.

Christmas Album 2011-Day 8

Today I realized that maybe four miles at the gym and running errands for myself and two other people wasn't quite the best idea. I'm sick...again. Blech! (In fact, I was so wasted by the end of the day that I didn't even blog, which is why this is late.)

We didn't leave the house until very late today. I was just so blah that I really didn't start to hustle until the sun came out about eleven. I fed the kids, dressed them in their nice clothes and then, Christmas Card pics!

For the next half hour, I did my best to take pics of the kids. Mickey was a dream. Smiled, looked at the camera, suggested poses, did what I asked him...sigh, he's awesome! Aud, was a two year old. Heh! She'd smile, but not look at the camera. Look at the camera, but not smile. Smile and look at the camera...with her finger in her nose. Arggggg! Over 350 pics later, I finally had about two dozen decent ones to choose from. Here's some of the best shots.

My professional model. Love him!

She was soooooo hard to shoot. I love her hair in this pic. :)

The most likely official Christmas card photo. Thank goodness they get along so well or else this would have been even harder than it was. ;) After photos, I was wiped out and took a nap. Then, we just lazed around until I realized that we needed something for dinner. So, we zipped into town, drove through McD's and then ate dinner while checking out more Christmas lights.

My favorite part of today~Editing the pics and realizing that I did get some good ones out of all that work. :)

Mickey's favorite part of today~Ack! I can't remember. I know I asked him, but I can't think of what it was. Oh, wait. I think it was driving around looking at lights. :)

Aud's favorite part of today~Princess!!! (That's what she says when she gets to wear a dress.)

Our holiday event~Christmas Card pictures!

Christmas Album 2011-Day 9

Seriously, I'm getting bored with me being sick. To the point...sinus headache and more cold symptoms. Blah! On to slightly more interesting happenings! :)

We didn't head to the gym and I'm pretty glad about that because we lost power today. Which means, I would have gotten home in desperate need of a shower and not been able to. We got it back shortly before lunch time. After lunch, Little Man had preschool.

Once we got back home, I noticed that the house hadn't warmed up much. Turns out that the furnace hadn't come back on. I figured the pilot light was out or something easily fixable so we didn't do anything about it since we were picking up Andrew at the airport and he should be able to fix it.

It was starting to get cold so we left early to get Mickey and then the three of us headed north. We drove through for a snack in Oregon City, well, except Aud. She was sacked out! About four we were right by the airport and went shopping to kill two hours. I got some goodies for Aud's room and the cutest hat ever!


We picked up Andrew and then went out to dinner. Once home, Andrew tried to fix the furnace...and couldn't! I tucked the kids in and it's now about 64 degrees. I'm wearing two layers and my warmest socks and I fully intend to snag Aud out of bed to use as my own personal space heater. Oh, and to help keep her warm, too! Hee!


My favorite part of today~Shopping! It was fun just browsing and buying fun stuff, not having to cross stuff off my list.


Mickey's favorite part~Dessert! We ate at Izzy's Buffet and I helped Mickey with some awesome desserts! Chocolate ice cream with strawberry syrup, chocolate chip cookies, brownie bites with whipped cream and chocolate pudding with whip cream! Mama knows how to do buffet dessert! ;)

Aud's favorite part~Daddy!!! The last few days, whenever she gets into trouble she starts crying that she wants her Daddy. Heh!


Our holiday event~Checking out lights with Daddy! We were so out of it with me being sick and the power being out, that we forgot to do our Advent chain! Oh, well. Two tomorrow then. :)

Christmas Album 2011-Day 7

I feel better!!!! Wheeeeeee!!!!

We went to the gym this morning and the kids got to go to their beloved Kid Watch and I got to walk four miles on the treadmill while reading Creating Keepsakes. ;) I felt good enough to jog a bit but I didn't want to push it too much.

After lunch, we took Mickey to preschool and then Aud and I hit Freddy's. I finally organized her drawer in the bathroom. Mickey's is fairly empty, a few toothbrushes, floss, his toothpaste and some lotion for his skin. Aud's on the other hand, well, let's just say that the differences between men and women start early! Hee!

Oh, and while at Freddy's I picked up a CK special edition magazine and the check out gal asked me if I'd ever gone online to check out scrapbooking stuff. Hee-hee-heee!!!! Oh my, folks! I had to work so hard to not bust a gut right there in line. Oh, man that was a good one. Do I ever check out scrapbooking stuff online. Sigh, there's one for the books! ;D

We picked up Little Man and then zipped to Costco as I had some pics to pick up. We called my mom and my dad to see if either of them needed anything as Mickey wanted to hit Costco's snacks and we really didn't have a reason to go farther than the photo desk. So, we got some yummy snacks and we were useful!

We dropped off Dad's stuff first and hung out for a while. It was nice, the kids had a blast and Mickey is officially hooked on Transformers. Dad has satellite TV and found a Transformers cartoon and Mickey is in love! Hee! We then drove to Mom's and gave her her goodies and then headed back home.

After dinner, I just rested. I'm kind of tired and now that the kids are zonked out, I'm thinking a bath sounds yummy! :)

My favorite part of the day~Getting to go to the gym!

Mickey's favorite part of the day~Transformers!!!!!!!!

Audrey's favorite part of the day~Kid Watch at the gym.

Our holiday event~We checked out a few more lights. ;)

AWDML-12 Days of Christmas!!! Day 4

{{{{Whoopsie! I accidentally scheduled this one to go on December 4th...2012!!! Hee! }}}}

Hey guys! Welcome to Day 4 of A Walk Down Memory Lane's 12 Days of Christmas!

Today, I'll be sharing with you the gift my son is going to give his preschool teachers. They are cute, easy to make and hopefully, useful! I got some 3x5 acrylic photo holders at my local dollar store and turned them into free standing post it note holders!

Here's a quick rundown of how you make these bad boys!
1-Cut a piece of paper to 3x5 (or whatever size your frame is) and adhere a coordinating scrap along the bottom.
2-Place it in the frame and adhere a piece of green ribbon on the outside of the frame, covering up the seam between the two papers and keeping the paper from slipping out of the frame.
3-Cut a small piece of black velcro and adhere to pen and frame.
4-Take the back sheet off your Post-it notes and glue it to the frame.
5-Tie a piece of twine through a chipboard button and adhere to the top of your frame and you are done!
6-Repeat the first five steps for as many teachers as you have on your list! ;)

And now, for the part you've all been waiting for...ahem...lalalala!!!
On the fourth day of Christmas, A Walk Down Memory Lane gave to me.....
Basic Grey Card Class Kits for only $10!!!
(Be very grateful that I don't have a clue how to work a video camera, or you might have actually had to listen to me sing that! LOL!)

Supplies used: Patterned Paper-October Afternoon (blue dot) & (aqua & green damask), Twine-Divine Twine, Chipboard-October Afternoon, Adhesive-Fabritac, Other-Ribbon, Velcro, Pen, Post-it note & frame

12 Days of Christmas fine print...Remember, you can place multiple orders in during the 12 Days of Christmas. You do need to check out each day though as the special prices will not be saved in your cart. If you order during the sale, they will combine the orders and the shipping costs (yay!) on the 13th after the sale is over.

Christmas Album 2011-Day 6

Today was good for my little homebody soul. We only left the house to get Christmas bins out of the shop, to get the mail and to tell Lilly to quit barking at the neighbors! ;)

It was really cold today so I'm glad we didn't have to leave the house. With all the fog, we only reached a high of 36...brrrr! As well as keeping it chilly, it made it too dark to get decent Christmas card pics. If it doesn't clear up soon, I'm just going to use a pic from my November Photo Challenge of the two munchkins smiling together. Those smiling faces are all my family and friends want to see anyways. I'll give it until the tenth and then it's Plan B, baby!

We brought in a few more boxes of Christmas stuff and the kids had a blast digging out as much as they could and decorating the living room. Mickey was so excited to get started that he even vacuumed the living room for me. Ahhh, he's going to make some woman very happy when he gets older. :)


The kids spent most of today playing nicely together. We had a few minor spats but nothing that couldn't be diffused with a little talk. Hide and seek was the most popular game of the day. It was so cute to hear Audrey count to five and then wander around the house saying, "Where's my Mickey?". I love how much they love each other.


Since we took it easy today, I'm feeling much better and I'm going to set out my gym clothes in the hopes that I'll wake up healthy! Yay!

My favorite part of today~Getting out Christmas decorations. (And, getting caught up on my Journal Your Christmas prompts! Yay!!!)

Mickey's favorite part of today~Getting out Christmas decorations.

Audrey's favorite part of today~Getting out Christmas decorations.

Our holiday event~Getting out Christmas decorations. (Notice a theme?) ;)

My Christmas Album-The Album Cover

I finally got my album in the mail yesterday! Wheee!!! I had fun last night decorating the little 3"x3" opening. Hee!

I grabbed one of my excess pieces of kraft cardstock and trimmed it down to fit the opening. I have some Christmas themed Tim Holtz stamps and stamped the holly and the music images in the upper right and lower left corners. I used Frayed Burlap Distress ink for a kind of tone on tone look. :) The letter stickers are newer Mini Market ones from October Afternoon. The red velvet brad is from Creative Imaginations and I picked them up at the CKC-Seattle convention. The red foil Christmas and the white poinsettia flowers are older Making Memories.

Late last night I ordered my first batch of photos. Since I'm pretty happy with how this album is turning out, I want to use a really good photo place. So, I'm going with scrapbookpictures.com. The other really awesome thing about them is the fact that they carry sooooo many sizes! My order coming has 4x6's, 3x3's, 4x4's and even an 8x8!

Once I get those pics, I'll add them to my completed pages and then I'll share them here.

How's your album coming? :)

Christmas Album 2011-Day 5

Today was fairly busy from the start. I had to go to the doctor's office first thing in the morning for a fasting blood draw. Which meant, I spent all morning reminding myself not to eat! We swung by The Gran's afterwards to drop something off but didn't stay long as I'm still sick. Still. I know. Soooooo annoying!

Shortly after we got home, my dad stopped by! It was good to see him as the kids adore their Papa Maow and Lilly loves playing with his black lab, Howdy. I was so busy chatting with him that I lost track of time and the kids only had about five minutes to eat. We zipped off to preschool and dropped off Little Man, Miss Thing making her usual plea to stay.

At home I basically just rested and Aud tried to get as much food out of me as possible. My mom called and we chatted for a while. That was nice because I hadn't seen her in a while either, again because of being sick. Blech.

We picked up Little Man from preschool and decided that we'd bring in a box of Christmas decor. We hung up the Christmas card holder but I was too wiped out to do much more. We decided that once the UPS man came with my last Christmas presents (yay!) we'd head into town and get cheesy bread for dinner. It's kind of our traditional Daddy's out of town dinner. We also picked up some peppermint ice cream.

My favorite part of the day~Talking to Mom and seeing Dad.

Audrey's favorite part of the day~Cheesy pizza bread and Papa Maow!

Mickey's favorite part of the day~Ice cream and Papa Maow!

Holiday event~Hanging up the first Christmas decor from storage, the Christmas Card holder

It was Aud's turn today!

Christmas Album 2011-Day 4

Today started out slow. Just hanging around the house together. :) Andrew took Audrey to the store with him because he needed some new black pants. Mickey and I stayed in our pj's all morning. Hee!

It was a nice relaxing morning and the kids had a lot of fun with Andrew. It was good because tonight, we dropped Andrew off at the airport for a business trip to Montana. Audrey slept most of the drive up but Mickey didn't and we chatted together. We all kissed Andrew and sent him on his way.

Mickey was a little upset but he didn't let it stop him from wrangling me for dinner in a restaurant. Little stinker. So, after a quick stop at Old Navy to return some stuff (mine) and buy some stuff(Aud) we went to Olive Garden. We talked a bit during dinner about the fun stuff we'd do and how fast the time would fly before Daddy would be back. I suggested we get the house decorated for Christmas before he comes home and Mickey wanted me to run out and get the stuff out of the shop when we got home...in 36 degree weather. Yeah, maybe tomorrow, Little Man.

On the drive home we swung through a local neighborhood and looked at Christmas lights, I even got a few pics in! :)

My favorite part of the day~Seeing my friend Miriam at Old Navy!

Mickey's favorite part of the day~Eating in a restaurant.

Audrey's favorite part of the day~candy! (We got mints at Old Navy)

Holiday Event~Scoping out some Christmas lights!

Oh, and it was cloudy almost all day! By the time the sun did come out, Aud had just finished wrestling with the dog and she was covered in scratches. She was wearing a tutu and leggings and nothing else during this little impromptu WWE and her dress is sleeveless. There's no way I want to edit all those out!

Christmas Album 2011-Day 3

Yesterday was pretty uneventful. I'm still a little sickly and really getting sick of it! ;) I spent most of the day cleaning and crafting. Mickey and Andrew headed out for a wedding in the afternoon and Miss Thing got a much needed bath while they were gone.

My favorite part of yesterday~Making a really cute treat container!

Mickey's favorite part~Going to the wedding with Daddy.

Audrey's favorite part~Bath! She doesn't get a solo bath very often and she loved it!

Holiday Event~Getting the backdrop set up for our Christmas card pictures.

(Almost forgot to add this, Aud got to tear off the link!)

Mini Class: She Even Sleeps Cool

Here's a mini class that I made for the A Walk Down Memory Lane newsletter. :)

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Hi guys, it’s Erica with a mini class on how to create a feminine layout using the fall themed Farmhouse line from Crate Paper! First up, trim out the scalloped edge piece on the back of your Handpicked paper, snip in half and adhere to the top left and bottom right of your layout. I used a sheet of Homemade as the base of my layout.


Now you are going to mat your photo with Sunday Dinner and then Handpicked and adhere that to the center of your layout.

Next adhere the 3-D pink rose sticker to the top of your photo and add your title.

Now unscrew the tops of your mists and flick a few drops of ink randomly on your layout.

Embellish your layout with Farmhouse chipboard, stickers, buttons and brad, a few pearls, a pin and some Maya Road roses cut from ribbon and colored with Copic markers. Your last step is to write your journaling around the edge of your photo mat with a gray pen and you are done! Journaling reads-It's easy to see Audrey is a lot like her dad, coordinated, self-confident and self-assured. Heck, the girl even sleeps cool, kicked back and relaxed, she pretty much rocks! Love you, Aud! Aug 2010

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This was from the November 25th newsletter. If you'd like to sign up for the AWDML newsletters, you can do so here!

Thanks for stoppin' by! :)

Christmas Album 2011-Day 2

Today was beautiful out! Sunny, with beautiful blue skies. We took Lilly for a walk in the morning before preschool. She hadn't been on her leash in a while and it took her a few minutes to remember how to behave but she did pretty well.

We took Little Man to preschool and then went early to pick him up so one of his teachers could leave early. I love helping out at his preschool and so does Audrey. That girl is going to be thrilled when she finally gets to go to school herself.

After preschool was over, we ran one quick errand in Canby and I debated zipping into Tigard for another but decided against it. I'm (hopefully) on the tail end of this cold and I didn't want to wear myself out today like I did yesterday. :)

This afternoon I got to get some crafting done and work on my Christmas Album! Yay! Once I get pictures ordered, I'll start posting completed pages. :)

My favorite part of today~Helping out at Mickey's preschool.

Audrey's favorite part of today~Probably going to preschool just in time for snack. (She sacked out early tonight on Daddy's lap.)

Mickey's favorite part of today~Going to school and (when I reminded him) playing Madison's Nintendo DS all night.

Andrew's friend Lamont came over with his oldest daughter to watch football and at first Mickey was bummed that Morgan (who's six) didn't come but once Madison showed him how to play that game, it was all over for the evening!

Today's holiday event~Not much Christmassy going on, so I'm going to say that making a little holiday container for the candy I'm going to be giving away was my holiday event. Oh, and Mickey tore off the second link on our Advent chain. Aud wants to do tomorrow's.

See you tomorrow! :)

Lil' Stem/Copic Flower Tutorial!

Here's that tutorial I promised on how to make the cover flower from yesterday's Punky Sprouts album. Enjoy!

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First, gather up the Copic markers you want to use. I chose R81 (Rose Pink), YR12 (Loquat), Y02 (Canary Yellow), YG13 (Chartreuse) and BG53 (Ice Mint).
{My first Copic beauty shot! I feel so cool!}
Take the widest Lil' Stem and color stripes on it using your Copics.

Next, fold your Lil' Stem in half, glueing the raw edges together using fabric glue.

{I use Fabritac!}

Now, snip in between each color stripe.

Go back and make one or two more snips between each original snip depending on how wide your stripes are. I did two on mine.

Now roll up your Lil' Stem...

making sure to adhere the end using fabric glue.

On a scrap of cardstock, squeeze out a large glob of glue, bigger than the base of your flower.

Put your rolled up flower in the middle of the glue...

and then spread out the petals you snipped earlier. The bottom most ones will stick to the excess glue.

After the glue has dried, trim around the edge of your cardstock base and you are done!

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I hope that made sense to you all! If you have any questions, ask away! You can either e-mail me or post it in the comments!

Thanks for stoppin' by!