Something Crafty...Teacher's Gifts!

So, if you are in the NW, you are enjoying lots of snow!! (Or maybe not enjoying it....I guess it depends). This past week should have been the last week before the Christmas break, but due to "Arcitc Blast 2008" (that's what the news has named it), school was canceled all week! There were a couple of days that ended up not being bad, but they made the call early. Yesterday we got TONS of snow.....and now it **really** is "Arctic Blast 2008"!




I thought I'd share part of the gifts we were going to give to Malia's preschool teachers. We still will.............but now in January. These are tins filled with wrapped Hershey Nuggets.









Hope you are having a great day!


Are you ready for Christmas????


~Linda

Jingle Bells. Pre-K Style

Merry Christmas to you all. Enjoy the clip. Sorry it's short and cut off. My camera was almost full, so I didn't have a lot of time on it for the rest of the song. :(

Where Oh Where Did My Sweet Boy Go?

So............. last Thursday my sweet little Alex completely turned on me! Of course it was the day of Rourke's last final exam, so it was a long "Mom" day anyway, but then this started off the morning:














(Notice he even got the neck)































And his forehead (it's green, harder to see, but there. trust me).


Followed by this in the afternoon:


















Grandma Jan was over, and we both thought Alex had gone upstairs. Nope! Apparently on his way upstairs he ran across Jan's purse. Add to that the fact that he had to p@@p - we found him hiding in the computer room pooping (in his pull up -NOT ON THE FLOOR! :O) ) and rummaging through the purse. Money, credit cards, etc all over the floor and some lovely lipstick all over his face. And not to mention the lovely smell......sorry if TMI.



BUSTED!!!



















AND....it didn't end there. After dinner, while I was getting Ella bundled up so we could drive around and look at Christmas lights, (did I mention this was a very, very long MOM day??)......Alex had gotten into MY lipstick upstairs and again, had it on his face, my wall mirror, the step stool, inside the closet on the wall.............ACK!!! Needless to say I was not happy.........but, being the still-sweet boy he is, he was trying to clean it up and had a washcloth that was covered in lipstick in his hands when I caught him. (I must add that it was one of my 2 new lipsticks, which is now broken off......which makes 2 of my 2 new lipsticks that are broken off........wonder why those new ones were so appealing?? Why not the old, "that's not my color" ones???)

I didn't get pictures of the last incident.......I had pretty much had it by then, and it wasn't quite as "cute" as before.

So..............apparently he was feeling crafty and maybe Santa should bring a paint set this year?

Hope **you** had a great day!

;) Linda

The Christmas Card Photo......Anyone Else??

Okay, does anyone else have this ordeal every Christmas, or is it just me?? I'm sure it's not just me......trying to get a good Christmas card picture is sooooooooo hard. Now with 3 kids, it seems 3 times harder than last year. And why is it when you try set up the picture (holiday outfits, hair done, etc) they never work! But when you are just playing around, (kids in bed with HALLOWEEN pajamas on -in December -for example), you get a great picture!!?!?!? ACK! Anyway, I thought I'd share some outtakes with you:

I finally figured something out for the cards this year.....Whew! I can check this off the to do list for another year.

Hope you are enjoying the season. I'm hoping we get a little snow in the next couple of days. Cross your fingers. :)
TTFN~
Linda

Bellas.......Aren't They Cute?

This is just a random post to share these super cute "Bella" stamps that I have finally gotten the chance to play with. Aren't they cute? I will turn these into cards or something fun, but for now they have just been colored on some chunks of white cardstock. I need better marker colors, (I would love some COPIC markers, but they are super expensive). Not sure if you can tell, but these have been partially colored with some shimmery pens. So fun.

(I can't decide if the girl on the right's skin looks like a funny color?? what do you think?)

Well, hope you are enjoying your holiday season. I am, but am feeling like I'm going to be behind schedule soon. That always happens to me....feeling good, then BOOM, Christmas is right around the corner. I have been trying to get a good "Christmas Card" picture of the 3 kids......a nearly impossible feat. One is always doing something kooky. Oh well.

Have a great day!

~Linda

November Wrap Up!

Happy December!!
I have taken a break from blogging, so thought I'd do a little end of November "recap". It really is amazing to me how fast time flies. It's already December! Yikes! Christmas is only 25 days away. I love this time of year, but wish it didn't fly by so fast. There are always so many fun things (and some not so fun) to do, and never enough time. I am also one of "those" people who can listen to Christmas music all day long....every day. It drives my husband crazy I think.



















Here are a few pictures from the annual "raking of the leaves" (that is **so** much fun- ha ha), Ella eating rice cereal for the first time. (She is now 5 months old and can sit up by herself.......I tried it one day, and she just sat there all happy.......wow!) The last picture is from Thanksgiving dinner, of Malia & Ella. Ella looks so tiny in the huge high chair!

First bite of rice cereal. She was not loving it at first, now she seems to enjoy it. Yeah!!

Well, I'm off to do a million things!

Have a great day~
Linda

Happy Birthday KIM!

This post is later than I anticipated! I have been out shopping with my enabler friend Kandi. :) The fabric store & craft store are dangerous places for us....together.

So............Kim, I'm sorry this is so late!! We hope you are having a FABULOUS DAY!!

Name: Kimberly Marie

Relationship: Niece

Birthday: Nov. 23rd, 1981

WE HOPE YOU HAVE A HAPPY DAY!

Love,

Linda & the whole family

;)

Happy Birthday JANET!!

Today is Janet's birthday!!
Just a quick post to wish her (and her Twin Teri) a VERY HAPPY DAY!



Name: Janet (aka Grandma Jan to the kids)
Relationship: StepMom
Birthday: Nov 19th


ENJOY YOUR DAY!

Love,
Linda & Fam

Another Use for Post It Notes

So, about a month ago Malia and I were marking pages in a catalog with strips of Post It Notes......I obviously took a break to do something else for a few minutes and came back to find this:



























Luckily I didn't leave her alone with a big fat SHARPIE! :)

Happy Wednesday!!

Happy 18th Birthday NICK!

Friday greetings to you!

Today is my nephew Nick's 18th birthday! I can't believe it............It doesn't seem like that long ago since I was 18. (but I guess it has been awhile!) If I remember right I was in my Business Law class at OSU when he was born.

Here is the birthday boy -- (picture taken at Alex's 2nd birthday back in March....hence the hat)

Name: Nick
Relationship: Nephew
Birthdate: November 14th, 1990



We hope you enjoy your day!!!

~Linda & Fam

Holiday Marketplace Dec 5-6...DON'T MISS IT!

Hello!
I have been a bad blogger lately. I'll admit it. :) I have caught a cold and have been super tired these past few days. Right before it really comes on I always wonder why am I so tired??? Then the next morning I realize.......as I'm all plugged up, sore throat and achy. Hopefully it will pass soon. I **need** to get working on some "crafty goodness" for a couple of upcoming holiday bazaars. The biggest one is this one:




















(Isn't that the cutest ad??)



















So, if you are in the Portland, OR area Dec 5th & 6th.....I highly urge you to check it out. I was just a "shopper" last year, but am lucky enough this time to be a vendor. (Thanks Jos!)

Lots of quality gifty items will be there.....so YOU should GO!


The other bazaar I'm doing is for a women's luncheon (of course on the same day), but I don't have to be at that one. The big "Crafty Ladies" holiday sale we usually do has been put on hold this year. Which is probably good for me this time around....

Well, we are off to a play date this morning. Gotta love holidays! :) Thanks to all the Veterans for their service to the USofA!
Have a great day~
Linda

Trick or Treat

Whew! October is over. I love October, but by the end I am totally pooped!

Last week was Malia's birthday, Rourke's the next day, followed by Halloween the next. Last night we had a family birthday party for all the October birthdays in my family (which also included my Mom, Dad, and niece Kelli)... Those pictures are still on my camera, so I don't have any to share today.

On Friday night we took the kids Trick or Treating around the neighborhood. Ella stayed home with Dad and gave out candy to the trick or treaters. I had a ballerina costume for her, but we never ended up getting her in it because there was so much drama getting Malia ready. Ugh. Five year old girls................a precursor to teen years I'm sure. Anyway, the weather was perfect and the kids had fun. Alex was a little freaked out by a kid with some red mask. I guess it was something from Star Wars? Of course we were on the same path, so we saw him the whole night.

Here are Alex & Malia right after we got ready. I think Malia was a little irritated with the pictures and just wanted to get going....the next picture is when we were actually **READY** to walk out the door. This girl has more energy than all of us combined!

My mom came with us, which was a fun treat. After the kids went to bed we had some yummy apple crisp.......me a little too much and felt totally sick. :) Oops!

Got to get going.........

HAPPY NOVEMBER!

~Linda

Boo!! Happy Halloween!

Halloween Greetings to you!

We are gearing up for a fun day and lots of Trick or Treating tonight. Malia is going to be Supergirl and Alex is going to be Superman. The weather had been great until today...and now it is drizzly outside. Ella is a tiny bit sick w/ runny nose, etc, so she may sit this year out. :)

Before November rolls in, I thought I should finish off October with a few pumpkin patch pictures and Malia's 5 year birthday party pics.

We went to a new pumpkin patch this year (with our friends Kandi & Chico and their 2 boys) & it was great! We took a train ride out to the pumpkin patch, then the kids rode ponies, played in a hay maze, picked pumpkins, then we rode a boat back with our pumpkins in the wheelbarrow.. There was a shark that came out of the water too. FUN!

A few last birthday party pictures.........we had a wonderful face painter named Tina. If you are in the Portland, Oregon area and need a face painter, check her out: Tina. She also does balloon animals.

I'm off for now.

Enjoy your day..............

~Linda

Happy __th Birthday Rourke!!

Today is my wonderful husband's birthday! He will shoot me for this I'm sure...so just a quick photo & wish. :)

We love you & hope you enjoy your day!!

XO

Happy 5th Birthday MALIA!

Wow! I can't believe how fast time flies. Five years ago today our little Malia was born. :) I will never forget the night before she was born, and my Mom telling me "Get a good nights sleep...this will be the last quiet night for a long time". I didn't think much of it at the time...but boy was she right! I almost laugh now when I think of it. I don't think I will ever sleep peacefully again. :) LOL!

Malia at 1 week:




















Malia at 1 month:
















(We didn't have a digital camera when she was born........but got one right after...........hence no hospital pictures to post here.)


Here is the Birthday Girl Now:
























We had our first "kid" party this past weekend with a small group of kids. It was lots of fun! We hired a face painter and she was GREAT!

Today we are having a lower-key day, but are taking cupcakes & goody bags to pre-k. She got to open 2 gifts this morning, one of which was an "Easy Bake Oven"........so I'm sure we will be doing some baking after school & before Dad comes home. We are letting her pick what's for dinner tonight........so that should be interesting.

Well, I need to get going. We have lots of celebrating to do!! :)

Have a great day~
~Linda

p.s. I forgot to mention 2 cute/funny things that Malia said. Last night she asked if we could light candles today, for her birthday.........apparently that is something special. I didn't know! I light them less & less now that we have 3 kids. I worry about them a bit, but said sure! What an easy thing to do to please a 5 year old. The 2nd thing was this morning. out of the blue she said she would still be happy if all she got was a bag of rocks & leaves! Dang! I could have saved some money. :)