{Ahh..the little things}

6 Angi facts

I did one of these tags not too long ago, but was asked to share weird things about me. 

This time, Suzanne's says facts/habits. The crazy part is, I could have written most of her facts for myself too :)

Here are the rules:  A) The rules of the game are posted at the beginning.  B) Each player lists 6 facts/habits about themselves.  C) At the end of the post, the player then tags 6 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asks them to read your blog.

1. There is a part of me that feels like I was supposed to have a large family.  I know some of you think I do, but I am talking LARGE, like 10 kids. I know it seems strange, but when I see those shows on TLC with all of those kids, I feel this inside me telling me that I was supposed to be that Mother.  I did want 6 kids when I was growing up, but the more kids I had, the less patience I had, LOL! 
2. I am a major procrastinator, and it works for me.  I can do in one day/hour things I have put off all week/day.  I work better in a time crunch it seems.
3. I used to be VERY laid back, much like my Dad. That has changed a lot (since having kids) in the way I deal with the frustrations of each day, but I still am pretty good at letting things roll off me.
4. I am a total optimist, always have been.  I think I see things different than most people, finding the good in everything (some call it seeing life through rose colored glasses), and giving most people the benefit of the doubt in almost every situation.
5. I live like I stated in #4 above, yet still can keep from being a doormat.  I told you, I am even getting better at the word NO!
6. In spite of the way I view things, I can still be quite like Suzanne in thinking the grass is always greener.  I am learning over the years though. For example: That big beautiful home on a nice quiet street that I always admire, may be filled with an unhappy marriage/family.  I do always have a case of wanting more though, and know that I need to work on it, because I also have this desire to live a less is more lifestyle.  Did I mention I change my mind OFTEN??  :)

SO, there you go. 

A little more about what makes me who I am!  Now it is your turn...come on, you know you want to!

yay for Christmas

I am overflowing with creative Christmas spirit :)

It started yesterday when I met some girls from MOPS at church to make Christmas hairbows.  It was pretty easy, and they turned out VERY cute!  Because my camera & computer are not working together as of last night, I can not post a picture, but here is the same idea.  I came home inspired!

I decided to sit down & FINALLY finish my wreath ornament (scanned in due to said camera issues, LOL).  I love the way that it turned out, but as I said before, it is VERY tedious work.  I am a girl that like to see progress in a project, so this was not my favorite to do, but it is very pretty all finished & hanging on the tree.

I also started the gift tags I had mentioned.  I cut cardstock into small rectangles & inked the edges (some red, some green) and then stamped them with the little Christmas stamps I bought from JoAnn's.  I used black ink for the stamps, and I plan on letting the kids color them.

I finished up my angels for one exchange, and plan on getting them in the mail TODAY considering they are due by the 1st of December...and that is SATURDAY!!

I also started some other ornaments too. I tried using a styrofoam ball & pinning prima flowers to it, but I ran out of flowers, so it is unfinished :(

  I also had purchased some cheap snowflake ornaments at Walmart with plans to dress them up.

The scans really do not do these justice.  They are covered in glitter (bought them like that) and then I used silver ribbon, and some sheer white to hang them with.  The tags really do match, although the colors look bad  :)  The one paper I used says "let it snow" on it & they are a simple, yet cute way to make your own ornaments.

Finally I found an altered notebook I made for Christmas 2005, and I am SOOOO glad I did.  I decided that year that I was going to get organized, and I did! 

I had taken an old spiral notebook & covered it with some cute papers from one of my digital kits ------> 

I filled it with my Christmas card list, my gift list, and the BEST part of all...I had copied cute craft ideas/recipes/gift ideas and tucked them into an envelope on one of the pages! 

There will be no searching for cute ideas last minute this year!  I already have a ton of them ready for me. 

I am excited for this year, and the strange (or the best) part is that our financial situation is not as good as it could be, yet I do not feel upset about it.

  The kids are only asking for a few things, and everything can (hopefully) be fit within our budget.  We have asked to not be included in some of the extended family exchanges this year, and that makes me feel relieved, and proud that I stood up and just said NO (well, no thank you).  I have problems with that word, and feel proud of myself when I am able to use it in situations like that.

Like I said, I am overflowing. 

I hope this continues, because it feels GREAT  :)

homawks

Yesterday as my hubby gave himself the normal headshave, he decided that he would be silly & leave a little mohawk.  I must admit that he looked very much like a UFC fighter, and I thought it was a fun change (even if it was just temporary).

Then, he decided that our little Zander Boo needed a "homawk" too.  Surprisingly, he agreed & was happy to get his hair cut like Daddy's.

I remember thinking this summer when everyone else was getting mohawks, I was glad that my kids were not asking for one.  There was even a salon here in town that was doing them for the football games & putting red and blue hair gel in them. Still, the boys never asked.  And now...Daddy suggested it?  And Mommy allowed it?  Why not!  :)

Kaden has not been brave enough to join them, as he is much to worried about his hair, but he says maybe after school today Daddy can give him one too...it just can not be too short on the sides.  I highly doubt that he will do it, but we'll see.

  I am loving Zander's new cut though, I think he looks much more like a little boy & less like my chubby little toddler. 

Harry aready shaved his off this morning, but not before I snapped a picture of the two of them.

What a fun, spontaneous day they had.  I am happy that they have that silly memory together, and I am sure there will be many more with my goofy guys :)

a little blog love

for an online friend who is starting her own business & hosting a contest too!  She is opening Two stores where her & hubby will be selling their creative personalized goodies, you can find them here and here with some VERY cute stuff :)

Maybe one of these days I will follow her lead and get my behind back in gear & start making (and eventually selling) my digital creations again *sigh*

feeling blessed

I am sitting here at a BEAUTIFUL new cherry desk with a hutch that my Aunt & Uncle gave us last night.  I keep walking by it, amazed that it is MINE.  It looks brand new, and is very big, I loooove it.  They just moved into a house that just did not have room for it, and I had mentioned last year at Thanksgiving how much I loved it, so they thought of me when they realized it was not going to work in the new house.  I am SO glad that they did, as a new desk has been on my wish list for a good year or more, but has never fit into the budget.  I am also using my new wireless keyboard and optical mouse that I picked up last night while doing some grocery shopping (YAY)!

But the real reason I am feeling blessed is that we are going to a Thanksgiving get-together today.  I have mentioned before that we have a busy holiday season, and this might tell you why.  This is our 6th family gathering!  I used to get a little stressed trying to be so many places (sometimes two in one day) but have realized the older I get, the luckier I feel to have our family.  Many of my friends have already lost a parent, while we are lucky enough to still have grandparents, and we all live close so we are able to spend time with them too.

Harry and I decided yesterday that we should change the I have to go to another Thanksgiving, to I get to go to another, as we know there are people out there who will not get a Thanksgiving dinner this season.  I pray for those people today, as well as for myself.  I pray that I am able to help them one day when the kids are a little older, maybe through a food bank donation, or helping out with a local restaurant that does free delivery of Thanksgiving meals here.  I also hope that I always remember the less fortunate & teach my kids to do the same.  I also need to remind them as they complain about getting ready AGAIN that they are VERY fortunate, and that one day they will look back on these days as WONDERFUL childhood memories of days spent with their cousins and grandparents. 

I know I do *sniff*

I need a new keyboard

because yesterday, while I was out shopping, mine obviously had something spilled on it, yet no one in this house knows what could have happened.  I know that my kids would know if one of them did it & would be quick to tell on the other  :)  My guess is the sitter accidently did it & cleaned it up thinking everything was fine, but it is not.

Sometimes it works, others it does not.  Some keys are sticking, and help menus are popping up constantly, as if you have pushed a help key.  If you press the number keys you will get all of the numbers EXCEPT the one you pushed, for example if you hit the 2, you will get 13456789 on the screen.  Nice touch, don't you think?

I am looking at this, maybe I'll call it an early Christmas present to myself.  I like the wireless ides & the keyboard I am used to is just a very basic one anyway...nothing fancy about it. 

Well see when I get to the store tomorrow what I decide...

black friday

Yes, I survived black friday, or at least the first half of it.

We started out at 6:00AM, and arrived home about 3:00 in the afternoon.  We had lots of fun, found some good deals, and had a nice lunch out together. 

Everything shopping wise was fine, it was when I came home that sucks. About an hour later I started feeling not so good. I now have a headache, a sore throat and my left ear has a sharp pain that comes & goes.  I am past being ready for bed, but hubby picked tonight to play in a poker tournament.  Good timing.

Tomorrow is our 4th family Thanksgiving get together, and we have one Sunday as well.  I am hoping that I am feeling better in the morning, or else hubby will be going it alone while I stay home and get some rest.

The night before last (I think??) we were able to get most of the tree decorated, and after shopping today, I must say I am in the mood for Christmas!  Now, I am off to try to get the kids in bed so that I can get there myself.  Have a wonderful holiday weekend  :)

happy thanksgiving

and the kids win...

  Yes, I gave in and the tree is up.  We are saving decorating for when Daddy is home (except for the few ornaments that they HAD to put on already), as well as the seperating/straightening/fluffing of all of the branches.

Notice that my wonderful pre-lit tree is missing alot of the lit part *sigh* I've tried plugging & unplugging all of the 1000 cords, with no luck.  I knew this was coming, as last year one strand was not working, but now only one seems to be working. 

I am finished trying to replace lights/fuses like last year.  I think I'll just go buy some new lights and *gasp* string them on myself, like I used to, before I got lazy and bought the pre-lit tree that was so easy to put up...you know, because the lights were actually already lit on the tree!

I guess you just can't win, or at least I can not seem to when it comes to this tree.  It is big and very pretty when decorated though, so really, I am not complaining.  Okay, so I was, but I decided that it sounded a little ungrateful of me after I REALLY wanted this tree.  I fell in love with it, and begged & pleaded until my sweet hubby gave in and bought me the tree a few years back.  The prelit tree.  The simple to put up, no need to worry about lights tree.

six

  Six short years ago I met you. 

Your birth was perfect, you were healthy & pink and crying.  You nursed right away, in fact you never stopped the entire time we were in the hospital.

You were always a social baby, smiling and flirting with everyone.  You were your brother's first best friend, and you loved him just as much in return.  From the time you could move, you would end up in his room...the room you still sleep in.

You have grown up way too fast.  I still think of you as such a little girl, but that is changing so quickly.  This past summer you lost any clue that you were ever a chubby cheeked little thing.  Now you are tall & thin, and your legs...they are loooong! 

You've started school, and are making friends of your own.  Your big brother is no longer the one you want to spend your days with.  You've always had your own sense of style, and it already is a BIG deal to you which of your 1000 skirts that you chose to wear on any given day. 

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I started this post last night when I was feeling all warm & fuzzy. 

Today, I am not. 

The kids are home from school, the baby is napping (this is my shower time, slowly slipping away as I sit here) and EVERYONE in the house keeps yelling/being LOUD and I am not feeling at all very patient today. 

The house work has been neglected this week, and today I am trying to catch up.  If you have children, you know that cleaning while they are underfoot is darn near impossible.  Part of me wants to sit on the couch and let the mess and baskets of laundry sit as well.  But I am feeling like this is the only time I have before tomorrow when we have two Thanksgiving get togethers to attend and Friday I get to go SHOPPING :)  My best friend & I, out together on black Friday, no kids.  Looking forward to it.  But that means a sitter here all. day. long.  And I want her to be able to just play & have fun with the kids, and be able to find clean, put away clothes and dishes when needed.

The kids have big plans for today.  The Christmas tree.  I want to put it up too, I really do.  I just feel like there are SO many other things that need finished first.  And here I sit, avoiding it all, while they run around and be LOUD  and spill snacks all over the freshly swept/mopped floor. 

Gotta love it.  Have to smile, or else you'll cry, or pull your hair out...or both.