Crunch!

Yesterday I pulled my car out and parked it in the turnaround part of the driveway so that Natalie could drive her Jeep. A couple hours later, Jack came and picked her up. Now, I NEVER leave my car in the driveway, but I did this time. Well, Natalie and I were waving and blowing kisses; Jack forgot my car was there and backed right into it! He was barely even moving but it still caused a bit of damage. I will say that he sits up so much higher in his truck and he is so use to me not having the car in the driveway so I'll give him that (today that is...I wasn't too happy about it yesterday) Well, his insurance covers it all and the car goes in on Tuesday to get fixed. I'll get a rental car, too. I am sure that the rental car will make me want a newer car even more. So, I thought that this would be a good time to tell Jack that I scratched the brand new floor in the living room....Nah! The scratch is barely noticable but it is long and I KNOW Jack will see it right away so I have "conveniently" had something there anytime he comes over. This Christmas tree tote is going to have to go in the basement sooner or later...but it's doing such a good job covering up the scratch. I guess that I can always remind him about my car! LOL

Wonderful Christmas!

We had a wonderful Christmas! We went to Christmas Eve Mass...this was the busiest I have ever seen in my life. We were actually sitting in the side hallway watching Mass on the TV. We hung out at my parents' house for a few before we came home and crashed in bed at about 8:30! We opened gifts up around 6am. I couldn't wait another second for Natalie to open everythng! Natalie is so excited about all of her gifts! The ONE thing she wanted was her Little Mommy Gotta Go Doll. Santa was kind enough to get it for her. This doll has so many phrases and of course the best part....she goes potty in the toilet. But the good part for me is that there is no water and no mess. Natalie and I were laughing so hard today while playing with this doll...she says the funniest things.

My Mom got Natalie one a doll and horse from Target...kinda reminds me of American Girl dolls.


We also have a Fur real monkey in the house now, too.

My brother got Natalie her own camera.

I was so glad when I heard this because she loves to use mine. Well, now I know who Natalie feels about me always having my camera in her face. She has been taking pictures of me nonstop. She is having a BLAST with it though...that's the important thing! So, these are just a few of Natalie new things and hopefully she'll be enjoying it all for quite a while.
My parents absolutley LOVED the snapfish 81/2x11 photo album I made for them. It was filled with pictures of when they took Natalie to Mackinaw Island in August. I recieved some beautiful clothes and jewelry just to mention a few things. Honestly, the best part was watching Natalie's excitement and also seeing how happy the album made my parents. You can't put a price tag on happiness! Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!!!

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Party

Natalie's preschool Christmas party was today. Even though she didn't go to school we still go and I help out. The kids made cards, candy cane reindeer, had a jingle bell toss and painted in snow. I had a blast helping out! I got the cutest picture of Natalie and Adam...her "boy" friend. They are best buds and really help each other out. Natalie has had a hard time going back to school after a long summer off with me. So, they have grown by helping each other!
Well, over the last month the kids have been making gifts for parents. Today, we brought home the gift bag. I saw there was a recipe book. At first I was disappointed becasue I thought all the families contributed a recipe to the book and that I didn't. I opened it up to find it was recipes as interpreted by the kids. This recipe book is so darn cute!

Here are a couple examples of what the kids had to say
Pizza by Natalie
Directions:Order from the pizza place a pepperoni pizza snd some breadsticks.
I will eat one piece of pizza and two breatdsticks.
Mom will eat one piece of pizza and one breadstick.

Pizza by Adam
Directions: Call the pizza man and ask for just cheese.
Drink root beer with your pizza. (Mom likes salad, too)

Pizza by Ryan
Directions: Order it and Dad goes to Pizza Hut to get it, and Mom goes to Burger King to get me a toy.

Mac and Cheese by Ryan
Ingredients:
Noodles (cuz we ran out)
Directions:
Put it in the oven, you don't need cheese.
When it takes so long, it is done.

Pumkpin Pie by Hailey
Ingredients: Find pie in desset section at store.
Directions: Mix together
Put in oven for 50 cents
Eat while hot-with whipped cream
Buy more stuff

These are just a few examples. Arent' they just adorable!

Early Winter Break!

I had a feeling we would get dumped with snow on Friday! I saw that the schools had planned their holiday parties for Thursday, and they did this weeks in advance. I thought it was a great idea, just in case there was a snow day on Thursday then the party could be on Friday. Well, we got dumped with a ton of heavy snow and sleet over Thursday night. No school for any of the kids in this part of the state. I don't have a "school" age child, but I sub and Natalie goes to preschool. Even Natalie's preschool was closed. Such a bummer! With the Mattawan SChools being closed, that meant no Kiddie U Christmas Program! I have been looking forward to Natalie's preschool program all month. I even bought her a necklace, bracelet, earrings and new hair bows that I was going to give her before her program. I am sure that Kiddie U will come up with an alternative, but I am not good at waiting. I wanted to give Natalie all that stuff Sunday when I bought it!LOL. So, we went outside and I shoveled a path in the backyard so the dogs can go potty. I have an amazing friend that plows my driveway so he came over in the afternoon and did that. Seriously, Craig is such a great friend. The first time he plowed the driveway I had no clue who did it. Jack and I finally figured it out and Craig has been plowing it ever since, that's been 6 or 7 years ago! I thought he may quit plowing my driveway when Jack and I separated since he was more of a friend of Jacks. Nope, he continued. And, he doesn't charge a penny. He just asks if he can store the plow in the garage over the summer! Of course! I have more than enough room and it's the least I can do for a friend like him!

December fun

Well, we have been having some fun lately. Last Saturday we made our Rudolph and Santa cookies. I should have done one on Saturday and the other on Sunday becasue by the time we finished the Rudolph cookies and started Santa, Natalie had enough. But, she did keep telling me that hse only wanted to make Rudolph. She did help make 1/2 a dozen or so of the Santa cookies. I frosted the cookes and then Natalie put on the antlers for Rudolph, eyes and nose for both, and Santa's beard. It was so fun to make them!



On Wedensday I didn't have to sub so Natalie asked to go sledding. I thought that was such a good idea. We headed over to my Mom and Dad's. The snow was perfect for sledding. It wasn't deep or thick so it was easy to get the sled moving down the hill. Natalie was laughing and having so much fun!
Getting ready to go!




While we were sledding, we saw deer tracks all over their yard...you can see the tracks around this tree where the deer were trying to eat the berries. Then the tracks head off to and around back to the open field.



I have also excited to announce that I have made the Creative Scrappers DT. I really like this site and they have so much inspiration and awesome sketches.

Simply Obsessed reveal

I have been so busy and tired the past couple days that I almost forgot to post my layouts from my December kit for Simply Obsessed. I love the colors and decorative edges on the papers.

Scrapbook Heaven's December kit reveal

Today is reveal day at Scrapbook Heaven. I really loved working with this kit. I literally got it on a Saturday afternoon and had four layouts done by the time I went to bed that night. It was so fun to work with! Here is what I did with the Snow Angels kit.

You can see what other DT members did with their kits by clicking here. Each DT member has their own thread for reveal. There are 2 kits available!

Crazy cold!!! Brr!

It is crazy cold already! It is currently 14 degrees but it feels like 1 below! My Mom and Dad watched Natalie tonight while we finished working on the living room. When I walked outside to get her I felt the coldest blast of air. It feels more like the middle of February around here. This is going to be one very long winter if it stays this cold. I was thinking today about how there are people that have never seen snow before. I remember one time at Universal Studios an older man stuck up conversation with us. He asked us where we were from and then he asked how we get the snow moved around and if it is difficult. He was from Louisiana and had never seen snow before. I guess it could be compaired to people who have never seen a palm tree. I'm such a dork when traveling South and always have to point out the first Palm tree that I see...I have been known to take a picture of it, too. LOL

Well, Tomorrow is the Christmas parade in Paw Paw...not sure if we'll go or not. I really want to but I don't feel like becoming a human icicle either. LOL.

Black Friday & our turkey cookies

Not for me. I have never found that the sales were anything I just "HAD" to go out and get. If there was anything, I found that it was on sale for the same price a week or so later.
We had a wonderful Thanksgiving at my Mom and Dad's house with the family. AFter dinner we played Wii fit for a while. Just makes me want one even more. I could really lose some pounds with that thing and have FUN doing it!

We made the cutest little Turkey cookies to bring over that I want to share. Natalie was in charge of putting on the mini chocolate chip eyes and candy corn feathers.



Well, off to put up the tree and finish decorating.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Have a wonderful and safe Thanksgiving!

Snowman fun!

I knew when I got up today that the snow was just wet and heavy enough to make a snowman. We were planning on making it after Natalie's preschool's Thanksgiving Feast...but a little change of plans when the battery on my car died. Thankfully Dad to the rescue! Anywho, we made this cute snowman. I learned from last year not to make it too big. I couldn't even lift the center snowball last year...I had to roll it up a piece of wood to get it on the bottom part of the snowman. Ok, back to today...we always spray our snowman with some food coloring and Natalie chose blue today. I think it turned out pretty cute!

How do you like that "carrot" nose..it's actually a piece of orange sidewalk chalk. LOL...gotta improvise when you don't have carrots.

I happen to catch this one of Natalie being silly in the driveway

Breakfast with Santa

Yesterday morning we went to the Mall and had breakfast with Santa. We got two pancakes from McDonalds and an orange drink. Santa was about 45 minutes late, but I explained to Natalie that he must have been tired from his long trip from the North Pole and overslept. She was ok with that. When Santa arrived Natalie was so excited and over come with emotion that she started to cry. She was very shy at first and would hardly speak to Santa the first time she sat on his lap. The second time she talked to him and sat on his lap and smiled.

This is her eating her breakfast

And here she is with Santa


She got this cute reindeer antler hat and stickers from Build a bear. She decided to put the stickers all over her shirt. LOL

Gotta love Michigan weather and birthday wishes

Usually I hate snow, but for some reason I have enjoyed it so far. It's only November so I guess I should see how I feel in February. Two weeks ago it was sunny and 70 degress. A week ago Natalie was playing in a big pile of leaves and needed a light jacket. It was about 50 then. Here are some pics. She had a blast!



And this is what she was playing in on Monday!



Gotta love the first snow of the season! I had a feeling my Tuesday morning commute would be interesting. There were two cars in the ditch in front of my house Monday night and the snow was expected to continue. Eveyone forgets how to drive and traffic was backed up for miles in every direction. It took me 45 minutes to get to school on Tuesday when it's usually a 7 minute drive. Apparently a semi got stuck on the main overpass which meant that everyone headed from the one side of town to the other was stuck waiting in traffic. It doesn't help when their is a slight incline to get up and over the bridge. That means lots of spinning tires and very few cars getting through the light. I ended up driving down some back roads after 15 minutes of waiting, but I still couldn't go faster than 20-25mph. I can honesly say that going down French road was one of the scariest driving experiences I have ever encountered. It was a sheet of ice. We are getting dumped on again today.

I finally finished my cookine sheet advent calendar. Between painting the living room, cleaning the house from drywall dust, and reorganizing my scrap room I haven't been scrapping as much. But, I did get this little thing done and I love it. I bought my cookie sheet at the dollar store and used up all sorts of misc. chipboard pieces and numbers. Got to use up some of that Figgy Pudding paper I bought last year, too.




And, today is my brother's 30th Birthday! Welcome to the 30 something club, Joe!!

Update on the bike we "won"

Yesterday was the day that the man delivered Natalie's bike. Two weeks ago he came and basically asked what size she would need and then we had to listen to his fire saftey presentation and video. I didn't mind that, I learned a lot of very helpful things which I shared here on my blog. Well, I had a feeling when he came back with the bike he was going to try selling be something. Sure enough, he brought in Natalie's bike and started showing all the fire detector funtions, how it's put together, how to clean it, etc...then he went to the heat sensors...same thing..demo included. This went on for 35 minutes and that is when he asked if he could walk around the house to see what I would need...I told him, No...I knew I would not be able to afford the system and we just needed to end it there. I felt no need to waste his time nor mine. He didn't seem happy about it but oh well. I sat through the first one for twice as long as they said it would take..I was not about to do it again. I think the whole entire thing is extrememly wonderful but very costly. I don't like you just can't win anything anymore...there is always a sale pitch involved. I knew that would happen! I think that anyone who put their name in the drawing was a 'winner' becasue he pulled out a BUNCH of cards searching for mine to sign stating I had received the bike. I think it is a way of making one thing they "won" something and it's pretty harmless to watch a safety video...it's when they come back with the bike that they catch ya. Anywho, we got a cute bike that Natalie will be able to use and I learned a lot along the way.

More banner sneaks

I have some more Thankful/Welcome banner sneaks for ya! This banner will make for some lovely home decor. I love that it's reversible, too!!Remember...you can get the kit from Scrapbook Heaven..here's the link

Thankful/welcome banner class

I am hosting another class at Scrapbook Heaven. This time we weill be making a banner! You have probably seen pictures of them in magazines or on the web, but wondered how you could make one. I know I have so I am so excited I have this opportunity to not only make one, but help you create one, too. I truly LOVE this banner and kit class. The colors are just gorgeous, lots of Crate Paper lemon grass. Another thing I love about this banner is it is multi-functional. Hang it out around Thanksgiving when it shows "thankful" and flip it around to have it say "welcome" How fun is that! Plus, this kit is so packed with supplies that you'll easily be able to complete 2 layouts when you finished with the banner! A double sided banner and 2 layouts?! Isn't that awesome. You can purchase your banner kit here
This is a picture of the kit

and some close ups of stuff packed in the kit



and here are some sneaks of how the finished banner looks

Tagged!

I've been tagged
I've been tagged by Suzanne

8 T.V. Shows I love to watch......
1. Ghost Hunters
2. Friends
3. CSI:Miami
4. CSI
5. Survivor
6. Desperate Housewives
7. Young and the Restless
8. Dancing with the stars

8 Favorite Restaurants.....
1. Logan's
2. Olive Garden
3. Qdoba
4. Chili's
5. Taco Bell
6. Don Pablos
7. Cheeseburger in Paradise
8.

8 Things that happened last night.....
1. scrapbooked 2 layouts
2. picked up a sub job for Friday
3. ate dinner
4. watched TV
5. surfed the net
6. talked to my Mom on the phone
8. emailed my brother

8 Things you're looking forward to......
1. Thanksgiving
2. Joe's Birthday
3. Dad's birthday
4. getting Natalie's bike she won
5. the holiday parade
6. Ghost Hunters reveal on Wed
7. Summer LOL
8. Christmas

8 Things on my wish list.....
1. camera
2. permanant teaching job
3. my brother lived back here in MI
4. new purse
5. lose weight
6. trip to Disney
7. Disney vacation
8. did I mention Disney vacation? LOL

8 people I tagged......
If you read these then you are tagged! Have fun!

Scrapbook Heaven November Kit

Scrapbook Heaven't November kit is on sale now. You can find them here in the store.

Here is what I created using the kit

Halloween pics and Fire Safety

We had so much fun yesterday! First we went to Kiddie U for Natalie's Preschool party. They played games, created spider cookies, made some Swamp stuff and even went trick or treating to the store and salon next door. There are 24 kids in Natalie's room and they all looked so cute lined up on the sidewalk. I can't post pics, it's agains Kiddie U policy so you'll just have to imagine girls as either princesses or cheerleaders and boys as superheroes.
Here is Natalie getting ready to go trick or treating at preschool

Here is Natalie with a sucker after her Kiddie U party

In the evening we headed to Mom and Dad's house and hung out for a little while. We came home and went trick or treating around the whole neighborhood behind my house and it's also where my Grandma lives. This happens to be one of the neighborhoods I went trick or treating in when I was a kid. Natalie loved it! It was such a pefect evening...the weather was great! No need for a coat until around 7ish...but we were done about then anyhow. My Mom called later to tell me that their neighborhood sounded haunted. I guess houses had creepy music going on and one guy had his golf cart hooked up with some sound system that blasted spooky music and he drove kids from house to house. We are SO staying in their neighborhood next year to trick or treat. My Mom and Dad go all out with decoration and I guess some 12 year old girl went running from their house screaming and another wouldn't even come up to it. Of course my Dad brought the candy down the driveway to them. Here is a pic of my Mom and Dad with Natalie...I LOVE how this turned out

and yet another pose

Remember the bike we won...well today was the day the guy came out and informed us about fire safety and ordered Natalie's new bike. It's pink and purple and it'll be here in 2 weeks...couldn't do it next Sat since that is the parade in Kalamazoo. Well, he shared some very interesting information that I would love to share also. I am passing this on to you becasue I care. It took everything I had to not cry listening to some of the info. So scary and sad. You think you have all sorts of time but really you only have 1-2 minutes to get out of your home when it's on fire!
1. If you have a fire in your home, you should keep your head at door knob level. Nowadays, so much is made with plastic that the burning plastic particles are heavier than air so they will be hanging out closest to the floor and is harmful.
2. Leave your child's door open at night. This is a sad story. This little girl was sleeping in her room when the baby monitor caught fire. Her room filled with smoke which caused her to die. Once the room was deprived of oxygen, the smoke went out and never developed further to a fire due to lack of oxygen. Her paretns found her in the morning in her room. You could actually see the black on her bed everywher except where she lay it was still white...you could actually see the outline of her hair, her arm, and body.
3. People think they will wake up right away if they smell smoke. Acutally, when we are resting, so are our senses which may cause you to not smell smoke right away. Wehn the house is filling with smoke and fire it's taking oxygen and depriving it from you...therefore your body reacts by putting you into a coma like state.
4. Have smoke detectors or heat detectors. But these are not 100% accurate. Like I said before, so many things are made out of plastic and when plactic burns it makes very black smoke which has particles that are too large to fit between the plates of the inside of a smoke detector...therefor the smoke detector will not set until smaller particles from something organic starts to burn and gets between those plates.
5. Keep a fire extinguisher in your room so in case you need to make a path to rescue your children you can use this.
6. Have an evacuation plan. Hollywood depicts fires as if you will be able to see, but it's pitch black from smoke that you won't be able to see your hand in fron of your face. This one man couldn't find his way around his house becasue it was so black. He said he knew that house like no other home before and was running into wall where he knew a doorway should have been. He only found his daughter after falling over her. Unfortunately, a fire ball blew him over in the living room. He jumped out of the living room holding his daughter only to find out she was not in his arms. She perished in the house. His body is covered in burn scars except for across his body where is was carrying his daughter.
7. Finally, replace your batteries every 6 months in your smoke detectors. Also, replace your smoke detectors ever 3-4 years. There is a chip inside the smoke detector that goes bad in roughly 3 years. Even though you may test your smoke detector, it's only testing for sounds...not smoke. And remember, when smoke particles are too large to fit between those plates, it will not set. One couple had a fire in the day and were outside waiting for the Fire Dept. and finally heard the smoke detectors go off. Some smoke detectors can take 18 minutes befroe they go off. And even though that smoke detector is loud, children often to not wake to it!
8. Don't run your dryer while you are sleeping. A dryer is a source of a lot of heat and clothes can ignite...and as I said before..sleeping and smoke/flames are dangerous.

Stay safe!