Eight More Pages Done!

I've been getting a lot of scrapping done, which makes me happy. These are some pages I did this past week. Most of them are quickies, but they still satisfied my need to be creative. The first four here are more pictures from our NJ trip in 2006. I only have a few more photos from this trip left, thank goodness!


This one is for one of Catherine's Monday Challenges at Scrapaddict.com. I was supposed to use one photo on a two page layout. I stitched together two photos I took of a double rainbow on the first day of our Disney trip last year.


This next one uses photos from DS#2's first soccer party, when he was in kindergarten. Oh, how time passes quickly and how little some things change!

This one uses some really old photos that were taken almost six years ago. Look how small my nephew, DS#1 and 2 are!

Tomorrow I'll try to get some recent photos off the camera and into this blog. I'm sure my in-laws are needing their baby fix since DS#3 isn't on any of these recent layouts!

Valentine's Day Prep

I haven't had a chance to upload photos yet of today's school festivities, but here are a couple of photos of the treat bags that DD and I made. The bag on the right was part of a set of bags that we bought from Michael's. The kit came with the bags, the foam stickers, the ribbon, and the plastic bags inside to hold the candy. As you can see DD went a little overboard with the tiny foam hearts. The first ones she did barely have any decoration because I was trying to ration the stickers so she would have enough for all of the bags. The last ones she did don't have a lot of stickers either, because she used so many on some of them. Needless to say, it took her FOREVER to finish these bags! These were for her class at school.

I made these bags myself. I figured that it would take less time, but it still took me a few hours. I used some old papers and ribbon, at least. I didn't realize until after we had given them away that I had forgotten to put her name on the bags. *SIGH* These were for her Daisy troop.

So, I got to use my scrapbooking stuff but I didn't do any scrapbooking!

Pinewood Derby 2008

DS#2 won the Pinewood Derby today!!! I didn't get to see it. :( They have a pretty high-tech system and unfortunately, they were having computer problems. After an hour of this, I had to leave for DD's Build-A-Teddy Tea party for Daisy Scouts, so I totally missed all the races! DS#2 was in the first heat and they re-ran that heat eight times before I had to leave. DD believed that DS#2 won EVERY race, because he won every race that SHE saw! :) They finally fixed the glitch but they didn't start the actual races until just after I left. :(

Yes! DH cut the block of wood, but DS#2 sanded it, painted it, and decorated it. He deserves all the credit! Oh, and the medal is for being first place in his Den. The trophy is winning first place over all!!! He told me that he lost only one heat in the whole competition, and that was to the "family winner". (They have a "just for fun" race for family members' cars.) He won the other three heats for that race! I was told by one of the other moms that he was VERY excited at winning the big trophy. I believe it! DH and I are so proud!

Overscheduled

Tomorrow we're a little overbooked. Here's what our schedule looks like:

9AM Funeral - Our neighbor's handicapped DD just passed away. :(
11AM-1PM - Cub Scouts Pinewood Derby - DS#2
2-4:30PM - Build-A-Teddy Tea Party - DD with the Daisy Scouts
4:30PM - End of Season Basketball Party - DS#2
6-9PM - Birthday Party at skating place - DS#1

At least DS#1 has decided not to go to the skating party. Apparently it's for one of the girls in the 7th grade and she only invited three boys. One boy's mom said he couldn't go. One boy didn't WANT to go. There is no way my son will enjoy being the only boy at this party. DH told him to tell this girl that he couldn't make it because of his brother's party and his mother being on backup call. I just hope I don't get called in!

NJ Vacation Pages

I'm still trying to finish off these old photos from 2006. The first two pages have photos from our day trip to New York City. We visited Toys 'R Us in Times Square and FAO Schwarz. I took lots of photos and now I'm doing lots of pages. The second three pages have photos taken at my cousin Jonathan's wedding. We'll be going back to visit in May for the wedding of another cousin. I can't wait!




Update on my sick children--DS#2 still had a fever tonight. He'll be going on day 4 of this illness. DS#3 is going to daycare tomorrow. He's still not nursing like he used to, but he's still eating solid food and he has no fever and seems to be doing okay otherwise.

Day Off?

At work, they sometimes call the day after you take in-house call a "day off". Unfortunately, if you are very busy that night then your whole next day is spent sleeping and generally recovering. That was my day today--I was exhausted! DS#2 and DS#3 were both home today, which complicated things more. Usually DS#3 is in daycare on Tuesdays and Thursdays. He didn't have a fever anymore today, but he was still not drinking/nursing very well, so he stayed home. That just meant that I would try to feed him, struggle with that, and then end up having to pump anyway. DS#2 did have a fever and he was miserable, unlike DS#1 and DD last week. Let's just say that my day finally got a little better when I was able to take a short afternoon nap.

Tonight DS#1 and DD both had soccer practices on fields that were a good half hour apart--at least. So DH took DD while I took all the boys. When I dropped off DS#1, I went to Michael's craft store because it's easier to deal with the baby in a store than in a car for an hour and a half.

One interesting thing to note was that I had taped a bunch of scrapbooking shows from QVC yesterday, and since I couldn't really do anything else anyway (especially with the baby being so clingy), I was just sitting in the living room watching that all day. DS#2 even started looking at one of my scrapbooks while we were watching. So, when we were at Michael's, DS#2 kept pointing out products that he had seen on the taped QVC shows. I kept hearing, "Look Mama--there's that (fill-in-the-blank)." I thought this was hilarious. He even expressed interest in doing his own scrapbook pages. I love this hobby so much that I would definitely love sharing it with him.

We were only at Michael's for about 15 minutes (still had another 45 minutes to go before picking up DS#1) when I noticed that DS#2 really started to "slow down". I knew I had to get him home to get him some more medication. He looked absolutely miserable and I realized--wait, why am I taking this sick boy driving around? Luckily, DH was able to leave DD's practice early to pick up DS#1 and I just took the two younger boys home. DS#2 took some ibuprofen and went straight to bed. I keep hoping that his illness will go away after a day or so (it's already been two days) like his siblings. Let's hope that getting some extra sleep (he did nap today also) will make him at least feel a lot better tomorrow.

Baby with a Fever

My poor baby! He's being hit harder with this fever than the other kids. He got up to 104 today and he was just burning up! :( Luckily, the fever finally broke some time this afternoon and he was playing this evening, but we hope it stays down tonight. We had a bad experience with DS#1 having a febrile seizure at 16 months of age when his fever got up to 106, so we get a little nervous (especially DH who was with DS#1 when he had the seizure). DS#3 hasn't been nursing as much so that's something we're watching, too.

On a lighter note, we were watching the halftime show at the Super Bowl tonight. The baby started bouncing to the beat--very cute! I tried to take some video, but of course he would stop doing it then.

DH made some chili even though the weather was warm today. He started making chili for the Super Bowl a few years back when we lived in Illinois and we had a Super Bowl Party. It was just us today. We agreed to not have people over until we can redo our living room. We were going to look at flooring tomorrow, but that depends on the baby. I really hope he gets better soon!

The Sickies

After being so good at blog updates at the beginning of last month, I have been so bad recently. One reason is that this week has been full of sick children. On Tuesday (1/29) DS#1 came home from school with a fever of 102. He "didn't feel well" and aside from looking like he didn't feel well, he ate normally and acted normally after he had some ibuprofen. Still, we couldn't let him go to soccer practice that night. Besides, it was cold and windy out and we didn't want to make whatever was causing the fever worse. He didn't have a fever on Wednesday morning, so he went back to school.

On Wednesday afternoon after school, DD started lying down on the sofa all covered up in a blanket saying that she felt really cold. She didn't even want to get up to eat, although she did eventually. She had a fever of 102 also. We were supposed to go to a Daisy Girl Scouts meeting--really only the fourth one since we decided to join. Well, this is the second of the four meetings that we've missed. She was SO disappointed, but what else could we do? She still had a fever on Thursday morning so she stayed home from school. She acted normally otherwise.

On Thursday evening, DS#1 again had a fever, to 101 this time. He missed soccer practice again. Everyone seemed to be better on Friday. Today, DS#3 had a fever to 103! We think he is teething too, so he is following in big brother's footsteps. DS#1 used to always teeth and have something else simultaneously so that he would have fevers to 103 almost routinely! *SIGH* That is not an experience we want to repeat with this one.

Today was also busy, but in a different way. It has become a Saturday morning routine for me to make banana pancakes and turkey bacon for breakfast. DH and the kids all love it, so what else is a mother who wants to spoil her family to do except oblige? This morning I was experimenting and added some cocoa powder to the batter since they all seem to enjoy getting chocolate pancakes when we go to IHOP for breakfast. I guess I shouldn't have bothered, because they either said that there was too much banana or they said that they preferred it when I just added chocolate chips to the batter.

After breakfast we headed to DS#2's last basketball game of the season! Woohoo! Can you tell that I'm happy that we don't have to have Monday evening practices from 7:30 to 8:30 anymore, especially when DS#2 usually goes to bed by 8PM? After the game I started making cupcakes for DS#2's "Blue and Gold" Dinner (Cub Scouts). I didn't have too much time after that and then we had to go to the Dinner. When we got back we had to get everyone ready for bed. I can't believe that the weekend is supposed to be restful?!!

Okay, that was a rather long blog entry. I'd better stop there. I'll try to upload some new photos in the next couple of days and update here again. :)

More Pages and a DS#3 Update

It's been a while since I posted. I've been busy with the Scrapaddict "Winter Blahs Crop". I actually got lots done! Here are the pages I've completed since the last time I posted. First, some more Disney pages with the first one being my title page, and the next two with photos taken at Disney Hollywood Studios:



These next two uses photos from a trip to NJ for my cousin's wedding in July 2006. They just had a new baby girl! (Note: you can click on the scrapbook pages for a bigger picture.)



As for my own baby news, DS#3 has been standing "taller". That is, he will stand up very straight at DD's play kitchen, for example, and stretch himself even more in order to reach something. He hasn't been taking too many steps along furniture, but he will now sometimes only hold on with one hand and he doesn't just plop down on the ground. He makes a very controlled descent down to the ground, if that makes any sense. Oh, and one other change is that he now crawls on his hands and knees instead of the army crawling he's been doing for four months! I know I really need to post some photos, but I've been holding back with downloading photos from the camera until I have time to edit them at the same time. There just isn't enough time during the day for everything I want to do!

Lots of Princess Pages

Scrapaddict.com has been having a week-long crop and I'm getting so much done. The best thing is that I'm getting a bunch of my Disney photos scrapped! Here are the last four Disney Princess pages--I'm finally done with the Princesses, at least for this trip anyway! These were all done with Scrapaddict sketches and old kits.

My Little Obsession

I have been really happy with how many layouts I've completed this month. Scrapbooking is really quite an obsession for me and I feel good when I'm indulging in my obsession. Unfortunately, I also feel down sometimes when I'm NOT indulging. Why is that? I have no idea, but I hope I find out soon, because otherwise, DH is not going to be happy with me. If anyone out there has any ideas, please share them with me. :)

These are two pages I did yesterday and today. In the first one, DD is only two years old. In the second one, she is five and thoroughly enjoying herself at Disney World. I try to remind myself every day how lucky I am to have such a wonderful DD. Sometimes it's tough when I'm grouchy and she is just chatting on and on about nothing--like tonight. I should be happy that she's healthy enough to talk incessantly, right?

I think that's all I'll get done for tonight. DS#3 was not kind to DH and me last night and I'm beat!

Baby Fix

I haven't posted new photos of the baby recently, so here are a couple. In this first one, he is peeking around the corner of the sofa so he can see me. He LOVES playing peek-a-boo! DH took this photo, and he's really proud that he did. I'm slowing training him... ;-)

This is a photo I took the other night. DS#3 was fussing so badly, but I was giving his dear sister a bath and getting her ready for bed. DS#1 is so good with him and held and sang to him until he fell asleep. The baby looks so adorable here, doesn't he?

Golden Arrow update: DS#1's teacher emailed DH back about how he had made an error with one of the quiz grades. The short story is that his average in that class is "95" and not "93" for the quarter, so he qualifies for the "Golden Arrow".

Gold and Silver

Today, DS#1 got a "Silver Arrow"(As and Bs on his report card) instead of the expected "Golden Arrow" (straight As) and all because he got a "93" (you need a "94" to get an "A" at their school) in ONE class. DH and I are a little upset because we can access their grades online and we didn't see this coming. DH has emailed the teacher in question to ask him how he weights his grades. I can't help but think--wow, this is a good problem to have, isn't it? I mean, missing an "A" by one point is disappointing, but to be that close is still great, isn't it? DS#2 missed an "A" by a tenth of a point last quarter. That was downright heartbreaking. Today, he got a "Golden Arrow"--one of only two boys in his class. That was really cool to see that. :)

DS#3 has been roaming around the house a little more. He is getting better at playing by himself. Just a little while ago, he was roaming around the kitchen area while DH and I were having a conversation. DH was walking away when we suddenly heard DS#3 crying--a distressed but somewhat muffled cry. We had to laugh, though, when we realized what had happened. The pantry door tends to be open most of the time, and most of the time DH or I shut it without even thinking about it. Well, DH shut it as he was walking away and apparently, the baby had crawled in there to check it out. Poor baby! He probably got a bit frightened when it got dark in there all of a sudden and he couldn't figure out how to get out! You've got to admit, though, that it's a little funny. :)

Nursing Woes Revisited

No one has had to listen to my "nursing woes" for a while, so I'm just going to say a little on the subject. Everything relates back to the hard time I had with my firstborn. One of the things I worried about then and now is running out of milk. I'm not worried about my milk stopping; I'm worried about not keeping up with my baby's needs and ending up using formula. It's not a bad thing to give formula to baby, but it's just that I worked so hard pumping at work and all of that sacrifice in time and energy and having to end up giving formula would make me feel like I failed and that all of that wasn't good enough. Why am I talking about this now? Well, we're down to the last ziplock bag of frozen milk. I have 9 packages of frozen milk, 5 ounces in each, between the baby having only my milk and his having to have formula instead. Ack! DH says it's because he drinks more from a bottle and that DH mixes some of it with the rice cereal. All I know is that I'm falling behind...

On a happier note, I've completed 12 layouts this month! That's more than any other month in the last year and a half! With the Winter Blahs Crop at Scrapaddict.com this coming weekend, I should be able to complete a few more by the end of the month! I'm very happy about being able to get some creative things done! Here are three layouts I've done the past couple of days that are using one of the upcoming February 2008 Scrapaddict.com kits.

This is one using photos of the older kids meeting their little brother at the hospital for the first time.
This one uses photos from the kids' Valentine's Day parties at school last year.
This is an old photo of DH and kids from four years ago. Yes, the weather that January was pretty mild, too. Aren't they a good-looking bunch? :)

First Ice Cream

Here I am putting my blog to good use again. I used a couple of my June 2007 entries for the journaling here about DS#2's eighth birthday. After DS#2's basketball game today, I tried to give him a kiss on the cheek. He tried to run away as usual, but I grabbed him and I was trying to hold him, but he was strong enough that I couldn't bring his face toward me. I did manage to kiss the top of head, anyway. :)

DS#3 got his first taste of ice cream today. I took the kids to Baskin Robbins after dinner. I put the Jamoca ice cream in a sugar cone in front of him and he automatically opened his mouth. I dabbed some on there, he tasted it, and then he opened his mouth again. When I was slow about giving him some, he let me know how impatient he was by screaming at me. I took some photos and even took a video. I told the kids that I was going to show DH the video and he would probably say, "That's my son!" We got home, I showed DH the video, and he proudly said, "That's my boy!" I haven't had time to upload and edit any recent photos, but hopefully tomorrow I'll post a photo of my ice cream loving baby! :)

I was tagged!!!!

By Jen.

Seems the idea here is to answer all the questions and then add one yourself at the bottom, then tag some people. :)

1. Name your 2 favorite scrapbooking topics: My cute kids and how lucky I am. :)

2. What are the 2 best places you've been to? Disney World and at the top of Keystone Mountain

3. Name 2 things you do every day: Nursing my baby and watching TV

4. Tell us 2 things that pretty much everyone knows about you: I am married and the mother of 4 children.

5. 2 places you wish to visit: Hawaii and Washington, D.C.

6. 2 things you may not know about me are: I hate confrontations and I've been pregnant 7 times that I know of.

7. 2 nicknames you've had at some time in your life: Lanie (my family's nickname for me) and Mel (everyone else's nickname for me that I don't like too much but that I don't try to correct anymore)

8. Name 2 of your favorite drinks: Chocolate milk and orange-pineapple juice

9. Janet's question: What are 2 interesting (in a good or bad way) jobs you’ve had in your life? I've really only had four jobs. The one that I have now (and those of you that know me know what it is) is pretty interesting on a daily basis. Besides that, I've only been a receptionist at a family friend's medical office, a medical records file clerk, and a lab tech (for a summer in college). I don't know if those would necessarily qualify as "interesting".

10. Cheri's question: Name 2 resolutions you've either already broken or 2 that you've kept so far: Well, I haven't exercised at all recently, but I have scrapped more pages, so I've got one broken and one kept.

11. Jen's question: If you could be any age you wanted to be what would it be? I would be at my present age, because I have all the experience of previous years that have made me the person I am today.

12. Melanie's question: What is your favorite holiday and why? I just LOVE Christmas! I love all of the family time. I love the decorations. I love the meaning of the holiday. I love that I get to celebrate my birthday right beforehand! *WINK*

And I am going to tag...
Anita
Pam
Laura
I can't think of any more people that might actually read my blog that have their own blogs, but if anyone else wants to, please participate! :)

LOAD Challenge Page #8

I finally finished this page! I started this at a crop at the end of December. It really only needed the journaling, which I took from some previous entries on this blog. It still looked plain, though, but then I came up with this way to do the title. The title itself was from a title challenge from Scrapaddict.com a while back. The journaling talks about one busy Saturday in September and also details how busy our weekly schedule was, mostly because of soccer. With that, I am done for the night. Yay! I got to scrap! I feel so much better now! :)

Longing for Creative Stuff

I've blogged every day this month, so I couldn't let tonight go by without saying a little something. I just wish I was still doing a layout a day like I've been doing for the first week of this month. There's just something about exercising my creative side that makes me happy and satisfied. I hope I can get some more pages done this weekend.

I booked our flight to Denver for Easter Break tonight. I got a decent deal on a non-stop flight and I couldn't pass it up. Non-stop flights are SO much easier when traveling with small children. It'll be so fun to visit the mountains again. The kids are pretty excited about going to ski and play in the snow. We haven't been there in about 3 years, so DD doesn't really remember it too well, but the boys do. DS#3 will get to wear the same snowsuit that DS#2 and DD wore at about a year of age. You can get a lot of use out of those things if you only use them once every three years or so!

That reminds me, maybe I'll need to do one of those "connections" layouts that my friend Catherine always talks about where I show photos of the three kids in the same snowsuit. Ooh, now that sounds like a cool idea. I love that creative stuff!

Nine Months

I don't have a layout done today because I'm working on a lecture that I'm giving tomorrow. I just wish I didn't get so nervous every time I give one of these things! I'm sure it's because I never feel like I know what I'm talking about. I'm going to have to change that one of these days...

For the good news, DS#3 is NINE months old today! He had a routine appointment with his pediatrician today. He is apparently dropping off the chart as far as weight--he's only 16 lbs. 13 oz. which his siblings all reached by about 3-5 months. He is definitely still growing, though, since his height is up to 28 1/2 inches (about 50th percentile). His head circumference is 44.5 cm if that means anything to anyone out there. The doctor isn't too worried yet, since he is still growing, but he did discuss allowing him to eat fatty foods, even ice cream! The kids heard that and they all want to feed him ice cream. DS#3 is also meeting all of his milestones, like babbling and getting into things, pulling up, etc. By the way, that's new--he is pulling up by himself on furniture now, not needing assistance from anyone like he was before. It'll be just a matter of time before he starts walking along the furniture. Just tonight he crawled into the office into my scrap area and started pulling at my bags of kits and trying to open my drawers. Uh-oh!

I'll try to get some new photos up on the blog tomorrow!

...And Then There Was One

At 4AM this morning, DS#1 comes in to tell DH, "Papa, I threw up." Ugh! At least he was old enough to do it in the toilet and clean up after himself. So, we started with all four kids at home this morning. DH went ahead and took the baby to daycare because we paid for it anyway, and at least we wouldn't have to worry about him. DH is the only one that hasn't had any symptoms--yet.

DS#2 said he got sick twice, although we didn't see any evidence of it, but he didn't eat so well this morning and he actually took a couple of naps, so he obviously wasn't feeling well. DD spent breakfast time in the bathroom saying that she felt like she was going to get sick, but she didn't. She felt well enough this afternoon to go shopping at Target with me. She's such a little shopper. Sometimes I feel like I've had enough of her constant chattering and constant asking for things when we're out shopping, but today I really appreciated having the company. :)

Here is a simple page I did today using photos from December of 2002 when my oldest son got this huge gear bag with his new weapon package from karate. I wanted to see if they would both fit in it, and as you can see, they did. These photos still crack me up!

Hit By A Truck

I had to work yesterday and it was a particularly busy night. I feel like I've been hit by a truck, I'm so exhausted! Fortunately, the baby has been keeping things down and I was able to nurse him to day, but unfortunately, he still has some of those containment leaks and also DD started the throwing up yesterday. Today after school, DS#2 was telling us that he wasn't feeling well. I think it may have been the power of suggestion (either that or the way my body is reacting nowadays to being so tired) but my stomach was feeling queasy today, too. So tomorrow, we'll have two possibly three kids at home. Sigh--so much for a "day off"!

This page isn't particularly inspired, but the grandparents might enjoy photos of DD. I'm sure they'll want to read an excerpt from the journaling. I asked DD what she like the most about soccer and she said, "Being on the bench." When I asked why she didn't like running around, she replied, "Because I get hot." There you have it--a kindergartener's perspective on soccer. :)

LOAD Challenge Day #5

This is just a simple page with our Christmas Card Photo. The actual newsletter didn't fit well with the scheme of the page, so I adhered a copy on the back of the layout and I put excerpts from the newsletter on the front of the layout. This challenge is killing me, but I'm getting pages done and that's making me happy. :)

Oh Poop!

I told DH that he is never allowed to say that he is worried that little man hasn't pooped in X number of days. I think this was Day#3 or something like that, but now he has officially pooped three times and all three were containment leaks, including one that was up his back and on our bed!!!
Poor thing is just miserable! :( He has also been throwing up everything. I'm glad that I only fed him some rice cereal and not something orange or green earlier today. He did manage to hold down some bananas tonight, followed by some Pedialyte. I nursed him tonight about an hour ago, so hopefully that one will "stick". Poor little guy! :(

On an upbeat note, the "little guy" on this layout scored today at his basketball game! He had two out of his team's three points. We're very proud of him!

LOAD Challenge Day #3

I don't know if I can keep up this pace, but this is a page I did last night. The photos are from 2004 when my oldest was only 8 years old. My, how time flies!

On other news, we went to DS#2's basketball game tonight. The baby desperately wanted to crawl on the floor, so DH let him, even though we knew that the floor was probably dirty. The baby became intrigued by the area UNDER the bleachers, however, and that was just in its own category of uncleanliness, so we spent the rest of the game carrying the little man instead of letting him crawl around like he desperately wanted to!

Last Two Pages from 2007

These are two of the four pages that I started at a crop on the 21st of December that I went to with my friends Jen and Amelia. I finally used some of my 2005 Scrapaddict.com kits. I just now got a chance to scan and upload them after finishing them last week. I actually started two more, but I haven't had time to finish those. Little man has been quite clingy today, and I've barely had time when he hasn't been in my arms or on my lap since I got home from work.
The photos on the first page were taken at Disney World this past September. DD was simply thrilled when she got a chance to take a photo with Snow White. She was all about the princesses on that trip!

The photos on the second page were taken a few weeks ago when my DS#2 shot two free throws and those ended up being the only points his team scored during that game. So, his team didn't start out very good, but it's amazing how much they improve even from week to week.

Layout-a-Day Challenge (LOAD) Day #2

I did this page yesterday. I'm not entirely pleased with the lighting in the pictures, but it's a learning process for me. Improving my photography skills is something I really want to do this year. My journaling talks about how I fixed DD's hair on the spur of the moment on New Year's Day and how I love being able to play with her hair. I'm lucky to have a daughter with such great hair! :)

A Page A Day

I just signed up to do a Layout-a-Day Challenge for the 31 days in January at Big Picture Scrapbooking. Am I crazy or what?!! Here's the page I did very late last night before I knew I was even going to do this challenge. It's a simple page with all of the kids' handprints stamped and a photo I took yesterday so I can see how big they're getting over time. Wish me luck!

Happy New Year 2008!

Today was a fairly lazy day, at first. DH and I got to "sleep in" until around 7:30 or so when DS#3 woke us up. After feeding him, he was wide awake and all smiles. It helped a little that his big sister was there smiling back at him. I made banana pancakes and turkey bacon for breakfast. The baby officially loves banana pancakes! I'm going to have to double that recipe every time.

After breakfast, we played more Wii games. I think the kids and I are addicted, and it'll be hard once school starts back up and the kids' electronic time is limited. We're all rather competitive and we keep wanting to improve so that our scores are better than everyone else's. :)

We then went to the mall for lunch. It was packed! You would think it was before Christmas! I was amazed when I realized that the last time I was at the mall was before Thanksgiving. Anyway, we had to get the kids some new pants--khakis for DS#1 (the ones I bought for him a month ago are now too short), jeans for DS#2 (the ones I bought for him this past summer have holes in the knees and his other ones are too short), and jeans for DD (who is very skinny and very hard to fit, even with the adjustable waist jeans). We were successful for two out of three. I'm afraid we are going to have to start buying pants at department stores for DS#1. He is too big for the kid's stores and too small for the men's stores. Oh joy!

The rest of the afternoon/evening was spent cleaning and putting away things, although the kids did get to spend some time outside on this very beautiful day. DH did lots of laundry and the rest of us did lots of folding and putting away. After dinner, we got to play some board games, Harry Potter Scene It and a new game that DH just bought called Drakkon. DS#1 knows the HP books AND movies inside and out, and he almost always wins at HP Scene It--and he did again tonight. The new game was a bit confusing at first because the players actually "make" the gameboard as they go. We all seemed to enjoy it, though, so I think we'll be playing that game again.

We went to a neighbor's house around 8PM. It's so nice to have nice neighbors. Some of the neighbors were setting off fireworks and were generous enough to let my kids have some, too. They had lots of good food and it was fun to socialize with them for a bit before going home to feed the little man and get him in bed. It wasn't so easy to get him asleep again, and I decided that he will be going to bed on time no matter what tomorrow! I got to take my shower and get ready for bed in peace, at least, and I finished just before the repeat of the ball dropping in Times Square. The rest of my family was still outside, so I spent the first few minutes of the New Year alone. It was short-lived, of course, since everyone came home soon after midnight. We were amazed at how well the kids held up. We'll see how they hold up tomorrow. We'll see how well DH and I hold up tomorrow!

Happy New Year, Everyone!!!

Now He Can Clap

I am way behind on blogging, but I thought I would at least post a photo of DS#3 that I took today. He started sticking out his tongue a while ago, but it seems like he has rediscovered this trick lately. On top of his usual drooliness, he sticks out his tongue all the time. This means, of course, that he leaves little pools of drool wherever he goes. He has also started clapping his hands. He's not all that great at it yet, but in this photo he at least has his hands somewhat open.

I would say that he is adorable, but he just put DH and I through the ringer. He went to sleep at around 7:30PM, but DS#2 left the light on in the gameroom (where the baby sleeps) so DS#3 woke up at 10PM and just would not go back to sleep. He seems like he is finally asleep in his crib now. *SIGH* Okay, he IS adorable anyway. :)

Christmas Day

This was my "Christmas Day" prompt:

Make a list of the events at your house on Christmas morning. Make this a “Day in the Life of” type of journaling. What time did your family members wake up/get up? Did you open Christmas presents today or last night? How long did it take everyone to open their gifts? Did you go to church or did you go to someone else’s house today?

DS#3 woke DH and me up at 6:30AM. We didn't hear anyone up at that time, but we did hear kids get up soon after. I fed the baby and he went back to sleep. I went downstairs at around 7AM. I saw DS#1 getting ready to have his Fruit Loops (a ready-to-serve container that was in all of the kids' stockings). I heard the muffled voices of the other two, and I had to look around, but I finally found them in their bathroom! DS#2 had received a magnetic hangman game in his stocking and they were playing in the bathroom. Apparently, he was trying to be quiet and DD met up with him in the bathroom when she went there. I just laughed because DD can't really read yet and the word they were playing was "universe".

I went downstairs again and starting making cinnamon crescent rolls. Meanwhile, the kids had their Fruit Loops. They were talking excitedly about the presents under the tree and the Santa gifts next to the fireplace. DD had the "biggest" gift and DS#2 was saying that he had the "next biggest" gift from Santa. I let them watch some TV while we waited for DH and DS#3. Finally, at around 9AM, they came downstairs. Apparently, DS#3 was still sleeping, but DH knew that the other kids were anxious about opening presents so he finally awakened the baby at 9AM or he would have slept longer.

I made them pose for photos first (see above) then the chaos began. DD and DS#2 looked the most excited, especially when they opened their Santa gifts (that post will be later). DS#3 was still in wake-up mode and was still hesitant about ripping off the wrapping paper. He really enjoyed his toys, though, and DS#1 also seemed excited, but in his own understated way.

We had lunch sometime after 11AM. We had Honey-Baked Ham, mashed potatoes, and green beans. We gave the baby bits of ham and green beans for the first time. He is more than ready for table food! We didn't have anything elaborate for dessert because the kids were anxious to go outside and play.

DH put DD's bike together and she rode it outside while DS#2 played with his new gigantic Nerf gun. DS#3 and I were napping then and we slept for a couple of hours. He was in a much better mood after that. The rest of the day was filled with video games for the whole family. I even got to play with the Wii this time!

The only other remarkable event was that I attempted to make DH's favorite dessert, Dark Chocolate Souffle Cake. Just before I started mixing things together, I realized that I had run out of sugar when I made pancakes on Saturday. So, I made some ready-to-bake chocolate chip cookies instead. Oh well! DD was a hoot because she had on her Santa Hat and she was eagerly watching the oven. All in all it was a relaxing family day! :)

Christmas Eve

I postponed this prompt until now since it has to do with Christmas Eve.

List any Christmas Eve traditions you might have. Do you do some last minute shopping? Do you go to church on Christmas Eve instead of Christmas Day? Do you exchange gifts on Christmas Eve instead of Christmas Day? If you have children, do you do anything special for them on this day?

We don't really have a Christmas Eve routine, mostly because it depends on my schedule. I had to work yesterday/last night, so I came home this morning a little tired and not wanting to really do anything except take a shower. We had to get one last minute present for the son of a family friend, and we had to pick up our Honey-Baked Ham. That was all that was a must-do on the agenda, so DH and I lounged around for a bit until after lunch. He went out to do those two things. I got to go to Coldstone Creamery with the kids.

I got a coupon for a free "Love It" size ice-cream for my birthday, and it expired today, so I didn't want that to go to waste. I actually got a coffee ice cream shake like I always do, and DS#2 got a shake (the flavor changes) like he always does. My oldest son got the big ice cream cone that was free with the coupon--he's a growing boy, after all. DD insisted on a chocolate shake this time, which she didn't finish as usual. That meant that DH got the rest of her shake when we got home.

It was late enough by then that we went ahead and got ready for church. We wanted to go to the 5PM Christmas Eve mass this year so we could be free to lounge around and play with our new toys on Christmas Day. At mass, we saw our good friends (DS#3's godfather and his family) who invited us to their house for some hors d'oeuvres. That was perfect since we hadn't planned on anything much for dinner and this way we wouldn't have to cook! We only stayed for about an hour and a half, but it was really nice to socialize for a bit and have some good food.

At home, everyone took their baths/showers and the little ones went to bed. I'm on the computer and DH is wrapping presents. I think I'd better go help now. I'm a little behind on the photos on this blog. I'll try to post some tomorrow!

Merry Christmas, Everyone!!!

The Wonder of Christmas

Ask your kids what Christmas means to them. I would suggest that you ask them separately and then maybe get them together with their answers. My kids tend to mimic each other when they’re together, but sometimes that will enable the younger ones to think of an answer they wouldn’t normally think of. If you don’t have children, then you may want to reminisce about your own childhood or you might want to write about the nieces or nephews or other young family members.

DD - "To get presents"
DS#2 - "We give gifts and it’s Jesus’ birthday"
DS#1 - "The birth of Jesus Christ and peace, I guess"

It's interesting the five-year old is all about the presents, the twelve-year old understands the more abstract meaning, and the eight-year old is smack dab in between. Oh, and the eight-month old just grinned and babbled a little. ;)

Christmas Traditions

List your Christmas Season traditions. (Christmas Eve and Day traditions will be covered later.) Select one to describe in more detail, and take some photos to match. Do you have to get a family photo at this time, or do you have to get a photo of your kids with Santa? Do you have any special preparations at this time of year, whether it’s a cookie exchange or giving to some needy family?

We used to get a family photo every year at this time. This gave us a picture to use for our Christmas photo card plus a yearly glimpse at our growing family. When we had DD, she simply would not smile for strangers. We had such a tough time keeping her from frowning that it just wasn't worth the hassle. I started taking photos of just the kids from then on.

We've never really gotten photos of the kids with Santa. Neither DH nor I were ever willing to get in the long lines at the mall plus with the age differences in the children, there was almost always one that wouldn't tolerate sitting on a stranger's lap, even if it was Santa.

As for other activities at this time of year, I can't really think of any except for basketball games and soccer practices that are ongoing. We do usually get an angel from the angel tree at church and give presents to some needy family. I'm afraid that I'm skipping that this year just because I can't bear to do any more shopping! I promise I'll do better with that next year. :)

January 2008 Scrapaddict Kits

I finished my assignments this week with the upcoming Scrapaddict.com kits. I can't believe I finished these so quickly. I didn't even add that much to them this time. The first two below are from the Yellowstone Kit using Pebbles, Inc. Theodore papers. The bottom two below are from the Time For Recess Kit/OD using the A2Z Essentials What's New Club papers. Thanks for looking!

Weather

Describe the weather during the holidays in your part of the world. Does the type of affect your “Christmas spirit”? Is there anything you do to make up for the weather?

The weather in my part of the world ranges from warm and sunny to wet and chilly. The weather this year has been very variable. It is warm and sunny one day and wet and chilly the next (instead of a few days each, which is more typical). I have to admit that it's difficult to get going on Christmas activities when it is warm and sunny outside. Wet and chilly makes me want to curl up in bed inside instead of doing Christmas shopping or decorating.

There isn't really anything much that I do to get in the Christmas spirit, but it never hurts to listen to Christmas music. I love Christmas music, and this year, a couple of radio stations in town are playing only Christmas music. I wouldn't want to trade the warm and sunny days at this time of year just to get in the "Christmas spirit". The best weather here is in the winter!

Wrapping Gifts

Today's prompt:

Describe how you wrap your presents. Do you go very simple with just plain wrapping paper or gift bags or do you go all out with bows and handmade tags, etc.? Do you wrap your gifts before sending them in the mail? When do you wrap your gifts—right away or at the last minute?

I used to wrap up presents with this elaborate wrapping paper folding on top of the present combined with ribbon. I still will wrap some adult presents like that, but for the kids, they really don't seem to care. It takes a while to do, so it's not worth the time to do this for the kids' gifts. If the presents were going to be under the tree for a while, then I might want everything to look "prettier", but wrapping is usually done close to Christmas, so the presents really don't stay under the tree for that long. We do it this way so the boxes will be out of sight (and out of reach) for curious little hands. Of course this year, Eric's favorite thing is paper, so those presents won't be placed under the tree until Christmas Eve.

Holiday Shopping

Today's prompt deals with shopping, one of my favorite activities!

List some stores that you always seem to go to for your holiday shopping. Why those stores? Do you like to “one-stop shop” or do you like to go to different stores to find exactly what you want? Do you use online versus bricks-and-mortar stores? Why one versus the other?

This year, I started my shopping on the day before Thanksgiving. I stopped at the toy store down the street first. It's family owned and a wonderful place to find unique toys. The owner is always there and makes personal recommendations that really helps speed my shopping along. The only time I've seen them have a sale is the week before Thanksgiving when everything in the store is 15% off. The other great thing about this store is that the owner will wrap my gifts for me for no extra charge. Believe me, that is one perk that I like to fully take advantage of!

My next stop this year was Toys 'R Us. They were having some pre-holiday sales and I had wish lists in hand from my kids and from my nieces and nephew. Between the two stores, I finished the biggest bulk of my Christmas shopping within about two hours, despite carrying around a baby that didn't want to sit in the shopping cart. That's the way I like to get things done--not exactly "one-stop shop" but close! Another plus was that almost everything I bought was on sale!

For toys, I tend to buy at the bricks-and-mortar places because it's easier for me to find out if that's the toy I want to get when I can read and see the packaging. I do some online shopping as well, but not as much as I used to since I have such a big selection of stores here in town. What I might do is shop online to narrow down my choices then go to the store to get the item. The exception is usually my nephew (DH's sister's son). Since I have to ship it anyway, I tend to shop for him entirely online.

Christmas Carols

Today's prompt is about Christmas carols:

List your favorite Christmas carols. Pick a favorite Christmas Carol and describe what makes it your favorite. If you don't have a favorite Christmas carol, then describe why you don't like them or why you have too many favorites.

I love Christmas carols so much that I like to sing them year-round. My kids love them so much that they each request at least one Christmas song every night before they go to bed. I have many favorites, but I love O Holy Night and The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire) the most.

O Holy Night has such a powerful melody, and I find myself wanting to sing it at the top of my lungs with all of the emotion of a Diva. My voice hardly equal to a Diva's, however, so I am always disappointed that the sound I hear is not what I feel.

The Christmas Song has the opposite effect. I find it very calming, especially the version sung by Nat King Cole. I can just picture my family gathered around a warm fire in the fireplace when I hear this song.

I could go on and on, and tomorrow I might find some new favorites. There is a radio station in town that is playing Christmas Music all the time during the Holidays. I think even I would tire of hearing Christmas songs on the radio year-round, but for now, I enjoy listening to that station on my way to and from work.

Holiday Eating

Here is the prompt from my Scrapaddict.com challenges.

What are your favorite things to eat during this time of year? List some reasons why each particular dish is one of your favorites. Does it evoke special memories? Is it only offered during the Christmas Holidays? Describe in more detail how to prepare your favorite dish or treat.

I don't think I have any one particular thing that I like to eat at this time of year. I just like that there are lots of goodies around to eat. That doesn't help me as far as losing weight, but it makes life fun. :)

Oh wait, I just remembered that I love those Danish cookies that come in a tin. It's a little silly, I know, because those are available year round and no one has to bake them especially for me, but I always associate those with this time of year. I remember when my mom's boss used to give her a gift certificate to Neiman Marcus every year. Everything there was usually too expensive, but they had those Danish cookies and they were affordable and we enjoyed them, so we always got them. I never realized until much later that you could buy them for much cheaper elsewhere.

I also fondly remember the Walker's Shortbread cookies that come in a red plaid tin. I remember the apartment where DH and I lived when we first got married. The landlord lived in that building too, and she gave us those shortbread cookies every year for Christmas. That was such a stressful time in our lives, and I remember how kind she was to us. We moved away soon after she passed away. She passed away so suddenly that I am still sad whenever I think of her.

Maybe as the holidays roll around, I'll remember some more. Food is one of those things that can really trigger memories for me!

Christmas Cards

This is a preview of our Christmas Card photo this year (for those of you lucky enough to get one *WINK*). We're sending a photo card again this year. We've been doing photo cards ever since we started having children, because everyone always asks us about how big the kids are. We usually also send a Christmas letter, just because we send cards to friends and family that we don't see more than every few years. Some of my friends I have seen in many, many years, but I still enjoy keeping up with them and vice versa, even if it's only once a year.

We usually send about 80 or so of these. I entertained the idea of making my own Christmas Cards, but time is short, and these will suit our purpose. My overachiever sister made all 90 of her cards all by herself. You go, girl! :)

Holiday Parties

We try to get in the spirit and go to my work Christmas Party every year. I work at one location in the training program, and I don't see the people that work at the other location in the training program except for this party and the Graduation Party at the end of the "school year". Last year, one of my colleagues, who is apparently very good at breakdancing, did his thing at the party. It WAS pretty impressive, I was disappointed that it was too dark to get a good photo. The boys would have loved seeing it. That won't happen this year, because my colleague injured his knee at the annual soccer game and is recovering from surgery. It's too bad that we have to get old!

Last year, I was pregnant and still getting very tired very easily, so we left before 10PM. The party is scheduled for next Friday, so I can take some photos then.

There is also a work Christmas Party next Friday during the day. This one is for the whole department rather than just my section. There is usually way too much food, and that's what makes it very enjoyable. I'll report back on that next Friday, too.

Outdoor Decorations

We usually don't have too many outdoor decorations either, because DH is the one that puts them up, and they do take quite a while. This year we will have the clear net lights on the bushes out front, and some clear lights wound up on the trees next to the fountain. New this year will be a decoration I bought at Target of a lighted holographic Santa and three reindeer. DD helped pick it out and the older boys murmured their approval. DS#2 even said, "Cool!" DS#3 just wanted to eat the box. ;-)

Again, I'll get some photos up when I catch up on my backlog of holiday stuff.

Indoor Decorations

We don't have too many indoor decorations, but I would love to have more. There's just something about young children and curious hands...

We do have several Santas. I haven't bought any new ones lately, but I have more than a handful of standing Santas and a couple of sitting ones. My favorite one is the 36-inch tall one because I remember buying it when Alex was 2 years old and 36 inches tall. He got such a kick out of looking at that Santa eye-to-eye, or actually, he was taller than the Santa by Christmas time.

The Nativity scene was a present from my in-laws. There are three Wise Men included and we place them closer and closer to the stable as January 6 approaches. That's one reason why we don't put away our decorations until January 6. My MIL believes that we should exchange gifts on January 6 instead of Christmas, since that is when the Three Wise Men gave the baby Jesus their gifts. I agree, and that would be a better time to shop, but while the kids are young, I guess we should conform with everyone else.

That's pretty much it, except for the tree which was discussed in an earlier post. We used to have a garland for the stairs, but I think we accidently left the batteries in and DH threw them away. If I do end up buying a new one this year, I'll take a photo as well as photos of my Santas. :)

Decorating the Tree

Here's the Scrapaddict.com journaling prompt for December 4:

Describe how your tree is decorated.
Do you have a certain color scheme or a certain theme? Do you have colored versus clear lights? What types of ornaments do you hang on your tree? You might want to expand this to describing what certain ornaments mean to you or what type of ornaments you like to buy.

We have a collection of ornaments that we've gathered over the years. I'm partial to wooden (or at least wooden-looking ornaments. I also love Santa ornaments. A few years ago, someone told me that every year, they took their kids to pick out their own Hallmark ornaments. I started doing this soon after that, so we have a collection of Hallmark ornaments, too. This year, DS#1 was going to pick the Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End ornament, but then he saw the soccer goal/soccerball and video game controller ornaments. Ultimately, he picked the video game controller one and the DS#2 picked out the soccer one. DD picked out the Barbie as the Island Princess ornament--very fitting since she is all about the girly sparkle right now.

The boys' ornaments are also very fitting to what they're interested in right now. DS#1 is very much into the video games. he got a Nintendo DS for his birthday in October, and he has accumulated about four or five games for it since then. He also loves to play this online role-playing game called Runescape. Some of this friends from school play it, too, so sometimes he'll "see" them there. DS#2 is all about soccer this fall. This was his first season playing in a more competitive league on a team that is not affiliated with his school. He has made new friends and learned some new skills from their professional coach. The ornament itself provides some insight into DS#2's tastes because whenever the attached soccer ball goes into the goal, a recording comes on that says "Gooooooooallll!!!" or "Score! Way to go!" or "What a kick! That is In there!" DS#2 is all about the sound-making devices. :)

I'll have to take photos of the ornaments tomorrow.

Putting Up the Tree

Here's today's Scrapaddict.com journaling prompt:

Do you have a live or an artificial tree? Why do you have one versus the other type? You might want to expand this into talking about why you’ve chosen a live versus an artificial tree.

I'll have to ask my parents to be sure, but for as long as I can remember, we've always had an artificial tree. Artificial trees are convenient (easier to put up and take down), they're neater, they're cheaper in the long run, and they last longer. Especially since we've lived in warm climates for most of my life, artificial trees last the whole season, from Thanksgiving in November to Little Christmas in January. Since we've had children, there is the additional reason that the small children are not in danger from swallowing the needles from the tree.

That being said, I love the smell and look of live trees. One Christmas, we were at my in-laws condo in Colorado, and they had a live flocked tree outside on their balcony. I thought that was the coolest idea to have it outside, and I would love to plant live trees outside that we could decorate. I haven't pursued this since, but maybe in the future, we'll have multiple "Christmas trees" decorating our yard. :)

Picking Your Tree

Here I am continuing my Scrapaddict.com challenges. This is today's journaling prompt:

Describe what you feel is the perfect tree.

If you have a live tree, how describe how you choose which one to get? When do you like to go get a tree? Does one person in your family have the final word?

If you have an artificial tree, then describe how and why you picked the tree. Is it flocked, or plain? Is it a prelit tree or do you still have to string the lights? We just got a new artificial tree. DH and I had talked about how big a tree we wanted. He saw this one at Costco and there were huge crowds just before Thanksgiving already, so he decided to go ahead and get it. There isn’t much to the story, but years from now, even simple journaling like that gives some insight to what type of person my DH is (practical—very practical).

DH and I feel like the perfect tree for us is one that is the biggest we can get in our living room, one that is easy to put together and to maintain, and one that is easy to take down. Oh, and it has to look good too, of course. This year, as it states above, we got a 7.5 foot prelit tree. I took the kids out shopping while DH put it together. Apparently, except for the fact that the bottom two of the three pieces were heavy, it was very easy to put together. He didn't have to mess around with untangling lights from last year, and therefore, he won't have to worry about trying to put away these lights for next year. We would both love a taller tree, but this is one is just tall enough to allow for a topper without scraping the ceiling. I love how bright the lights are and how many there are. The tree looks pretty full, too--almost real, since a "real" tree really isn't practical for us.

The Reason for the Season

I know I'll be busy with all of the holiday stuff this month and I won't have much time to scrap. I'm running this challenge on the Scrapaddict MB this month. I want to take a photo and do some journaling daily. This way, I hope I will have the makings for a Holiday Memories 2007 album after the hustle and bustle of the holiday season is over. The first journaling prompt is below:

What special types of holiday worship, if any, do you engage in? Do you do something every week (or every day) or do you just go to church on Christmas Day? Does this have a special meaning for you? This isn’t meant to be a guilt trip for whether or not you do anything at all, but merely an account of what and why you do what you do. Remember to take a photo that symbolizes what this season means for you, too.

During this holiday season, we plan on going to church at 9AM on Sundays just like we do the rest of the year. We'll plan on going to Mass on Christmas Day also. Especially when Christmas has gotten so commercialized, I want the kids to be reminded what the true "reason for the season" is. The reason for Christmas is to celebrate Christ's birth, not to exchange presents. The reason for the special decorating we do is to make this a special time, just as Christ's birth is special and not because we agree with all of the commercialization. The reason why we go to church on every weekend throughout the year and not just at Christmas time is because we want to be able to thank God year round for all of these wonderful gifts that we get year round. My family and I are all truly blessed. :)