Saturday, December 24, 2011

santa's not coming to our house!!




happy holidays and merry christmas to all! this was our photocard (below) we sent out this year. i made it with this template here. love that it was easy and let me put multiple pictures! the only thing i didn't remember to do (or if it was even possible) was to put a message on the front. i ended up writing the boys' names [after i got tired of writing all our names]. a thing i do is to take a pic of the boys on a ride with their age on the side...hopefully, people got that that is how old they are. we went to legoland on both their birthdays and it worked out great! :)made this wreath out of old vintage mercury bulbs.





this picture below is more of what the color is like. it took about 36 to make this. i was picky about the colors so i didn't use all the bulbs. BTW, hubby managed to knock over the pretty light blue bulb on the bottom right hand side :( it shattered to pieces.










it took me months & months of collecting these.





so, let me tell you a funny story. last friday, it was brandon's last day of school before they went on their 2 week break.





we were sitting around at home after school and the boys must have been bored. they both disappeared for a while and here comes brandon, running upstairs and says, "look at what i got mom!! a new toy! it's SO cool!" i was like, "WHERE did you get that toy???" busted. bryan was right behind him waving his toy around too!





my 2 boys opened up 2 out of the ONLY 4 presents that were under the tree at that time. mind you, the tree wasn't even decorated and there wasn't even a tree skirt down yet. they know exactly when christmas is too. we've been counting down the days with a chocolate advent calendar (trader joe's). i couldn't believe they opened up thier presents before christmas!!!!





i gave them a yellin' and a loooooong lecture. and i told them those 2 toys they opened will have to be donated to a toy drive of some sort. there were LOTS of tears but hey, you have to lay down the law. i'm sorry if the 2 peeps who gave these toys to the boys see this.....it's a hard lesson for them but it's one they have to remember.





the boys holding their toy they opened, ready to donate.





i read that sprinkles (cupcakes) was having a toy drive where if you donate an unwrapped toy, they'll give you a free cupcake. that's where i chose to have the boys donate to. when i told eddie this, he said, "wait......so they are donating toys they opened and in exchange, they get a cupcake?" well, if you put it that way....yes, it doesn't sound right rewarding them with a cupcake. the double whammy too was if you say their secret word of the day, you get a free cupcake so we got 2 free cupcakes each.





secret here----me & my sister used to always peek in our presents when we were little. we'd open them carefully and tape them back shut. bottom line, we did it subtly. the boys don't know what that means yet---obviously!!!






here are the other picutres we took with santa.











luckily, we visited santa BEFORE the incident! LOL






i made some altered calendars for school staff, the crossing guard and some co-workers.





thought this one looks so simple, it took the longest! lining up the owls just so was time consuming!































thanks for stopping by! i'm sick as a dog right now. been going to sleep early this week. on monday, i thought i had strep throat. luckily, the next morning, it wasn't as severe but now, it's full-blown. good thing all our shopping was done & i had wrapped mostly everything so there's not much left to do.





merry christmas and happy holidays to you all!!





































Thursday, December 15, 2011

santa

took the boys to go visit santa on tuesday. wasn't too crazy. i used my own camera...3 shots for $8. luckily, the boys cooperated and i got nice pictures on those 3 shots! i actually got 6 shots but more on that another day ;)





the boys are getting excited about christmas!


been busy making card sets still for brandon's teachers. i stuck with the same layout as the previous set. it works for fast & easy, clean & simple cards. this one is an orange and green combo.

this set is yellow & green




just changed out the sentiments
TFL!












Sunday, December 4, 2011

card sets

this time of year is when i start thinking of gifts for brandon's teachers and school staff. i always resort to something hand made. card sets are always useful, right?
i like how these holiday card set came out that i might just keep these for myself!












i love how this set below came out and the color combo. i have so many other combos in my head that i want to make....now if i can only find the time.

been dealing with the sickies in our house, holiday decorating and gift buying. eddie put up lights this weekend and we also bought our christmas tree. the lights are on the tree and now, i have the fun task of decorating with the boys.

2nd grade homework takes up a lot of time too! 3 digit math (the subtraction is killing me! i really don't remember as a 7 year old doing the kind of math brandon is doing!). the spelling words are tough too! 20 words a week they have to learn in 4 days!

bryan has been keeping my patience at bay too! he has become a very stubborn 4 year old (wasn't the terrible 3's supposed to gone by now?). i cannot wait til bryan turns 5!! on my days off while brandon is in school, we "play" school at home. we have a schedule---we come home after walking big bro to school, we have breakfast and then we do our writing ABC's and 123's. we've recently started doing our own spelling tests too with basic everyday words. he has a book log that he writes in his own notebook of the books he reads daily. he'll have his quiet playtime (building legos, action figures). and then i'll let him watch 30 minutes of tv. he's a pretty good boy for the most part but there are those days..................

ok, onto the cards. :)


















thanks for looking!























Tuesday, November 29, 2011

non-traditional colors

hope you all had a wonderful thanksgiving! i enjoyed the week off and had some time to play with paper in between entertaining the boys.
i love to make holiday cards with non-traditional colors. glitter has been fun too BUT, very messy!!





starting to make teacher gifts and will show those later in the month. i also have a few other projects i'm trying to finish. i've been collecting vintage glass bulb ornaments and making a wreath out of them. anybody else working on fun stuff? i'd love to see!





Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Happy Thanksgiving!

i went to a pie-making party tuesday night. it was 6 moms getting together and making pies to bring to thanksgiving day dinner. if anyone know me....KNOWS me....i don't like to cook. baking so-so but i've never made real pie so this was fun! LOL














let's eat!! turned out great!! my sis would be proud of me!! [hi sis!]


and an early thanksgiving wish to you all! thought i'd be early for once rather than later...this is a treat bag i made by randomly stamping a brown paper bag. inside is a box of chocolates from See's for brandon's teacher for thanksgiving. teachers give us so much of their time and has so much patience....they deserve a treat now & then.







been a little MIA, have 2 boys that are sick. effects from their flu shots. i am starting to feel run down. we are going to the yo gabba gabba concert on friday and we have a wedding to go to saturday. soccer is over for the boys...kind of sad. they had a lot of fun and it was a wonderful experience!



happy thanksgiving to you and your family! thanks for stopping by!















Thursday, November 17, 2011

celebrations

we've been doing a lot of celebrating these past 2 months! we celebrated my niece's 1st birthday, had a halloween party in school, been to a boot camp birthday party, and had bryan's end of the season soccer party. tomorrow, we will be going to brandon's end of the season soccer celebration.



here is brandon walking in his ash costume in the school parade.





one of his 2nd grade teachers....yes, i did say 1 of his teachers. he has 2 teachers this year! they split their days (M&T, the other teacher takes TH&F alternating wednesdays). i think it's great! the teachers are more refreshed and energetic!



here is jadeyn. she's sooooo cute! really makes me want to have another! she looks innocent enough but don't let those big eyes fool you!



here she is climbing up on a step stool. she is quite daring and has no fear.














enjoying her birthday cupcake! she's a quick learner!! and did i mention she started walking at 10 months old!! trouble at an early age!!



it was soooo very hard to get a picture of these 3! i love how brandon trapped jadeyn by locking her in with his legs!in their halloween costumes.







in her other costume.



my parents with the grandkids



dontcha wanna just pinch those chubby cheeks??



some birthday cards




the inside







TFL! TGIF! have a great weekend!



































when i should be sleeping