Make it Monday.

I hope everyone had an awesome Christmas and by now you all have recovered. I got all the Christmas decorations down except for the outside lights. I am predicting those come down within the next 1-2 weeks, whenever Ryan and I find time to do it together. Being a parent on Christmas morning is just the BEST. Growing up Christmas was so awesome BUT as a parent it's even better. Wrapping all the presents and getting everything set up for the kids to wake up with so much excitement brings some much JOY to us as parents. 

Today I am going to share with you a super easy duplicatable card using a Sale-a-Bration stamp set, Simply Wonderful. What is Sale-aBration? Sale-a-Bration is a sale in which you can earn FREE products. It's very simple. You can choose one FREE product from an exclusive brochure for every $50 you spend {before tax and shipping}. 

If you have been wanting to join the Stampin' Up! family Sale-a-Bration is an awesome time to do so. You can become a demonstrator for $99 and receive a starter kit valued at $125 plus you get to choose between two FREE product options: A free project kit from the occasions catalog OR any two Sale-a-Bration items. 

If you decide you want to host a party or private class you will get $25 more to spend on any Stampin' Up! products when you host a party that has $250 in sales. Please contact me should you have any questions regarding hosting or joining:)

Sale-a-Brations starts January 6 through March 31, 2015. And the new Occasions catalog starts the same day!!!! Lots of awesome new products in both new catalogs but remember the Sale-a-bration items are exclusive and you can only get them during Sale-a-Bration. 

This card is simple and easy to re-create. We made a very similar card to this one at my last card class. I love showing simple and easy cards that anyone can make by changing the products you have at home and not having to buy everything in the catalog. 

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Here are the products I used to make this card: 

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

Five.

Happy Birthday to this lovable sweet smart boy! 

Make it Monday.

Well for today's Make it Monday I am showing one last Christmas card. This card we did at December's card class. I love the way this card turned out. My original idea didn't work, I hated the way it was starting to look. So I changed it up and added some glimmer paper and  LOVE the finished card. 
The Merry Christmas stamp I used was from last months My Paper Pumpkin kit. I needed a smaller stamp and this one was perfect!

Here are the products used to make this card: 

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

This and That Shenanigans

Well we are officially on Christmas break now.  The boys are super excited to have a little time off from school but I think they are just really excited for Christmas.  I am kinda looking forward to a little down time. In downtime I mean not having to run the kids back and forth all over town to and from school. There will not be any downtime in this crazy house of ours.  Hopefully all the new crap they get for Christmas will keep them busy the rest of the break. They still have some birthday presents to play with as well.

Cameron's class went on a field trip this week to the same Senior home they went to in October. This time they came with homemade ornaments and sung Christmas songs. All the old people loved it. For some of those people it probably made their whole week. So sweet to see the old peoples faces light up with joy when they were talking to them.

On Wednesday was Cameron's birthday and we had this great idea to take him to get some birthday ice cream. Well that pretty much turned into a shit show. The kids were wild and bouncing all over. I pretty much had to inhale the rest of my ice cream so we could get the heck out of there. Last year on his birthday we went out to eat dinner and ice cream and I don't remember it being that bad at all. Taking Bentley anywhere there days is quite challenging. We will have to re-think this idea when next year's birthday comes around.

 Louie our Elf left Cameron a birthday hat and wrote "Happy Birthday Cameron" all over the house:)

 Birthday ice cream!!! And yes I made him wear the hat.

Easton had his Holiday party on Thursday at school and his class had Christmas activities and lunch. I had decided at the last minute to make up sets of cards for both of Easton's teachers and Cameron's teacher. It didn't take that long but of course because it was last minute I was rushing Wednesday and Thursday to finish. Then I also put together a gift basket for Cameron's teacher that was from the class. I am good under pressure and always get it done:)

                   

Not a very good picture but the set of cards I made for the teachers, there were 10 total. I put some homemade cookies in mason jars for Cameron's teacher to put in the little gift crate. 

                                 

Here is the finished project for Cameron's teacher. Some cookies, pepsi and a few giftcards. 

Yesterday after school we went to see Santa and that went pretty darn good. The kids were super excited and the Santa was SO good. He took the time to visit with the boys and go over their list. It's so cute to see them light up when they see him. And Bentley really had no reaction at first but then was smiling towards the end and we got a great picture of the three of them.

       

Oh I almost forgot on Sunday we had a little fire in the backyard, not a real fire, a fire in the firepit. It's been a super long time since we have done this. I think the last time we did the kids weren't allowed outside with dad while it was going. The kids thought is was so cool and they can't wait to do it again. It was a little nerve racking especially with Bentley. He pretty much kept himself busy with claw thingy you pick up the wood with. We roasted marshmallows even though the kids won't even try them...weirdos!!!

I hope you all have a great weekend. Only 5 days left until Christmas....well really 4 days since today is just about over with!!!! 

Seven.

This kid turned 7 today. How in the heck did that happen?!  How do we have a 7 year old?! So hard to remember what our life was like 7 years ago. What did we do with our free time?! I can remember lots of peaceful nights, peaceful dinners, and peaceful car rides BUT on this day 7 years ago that all changed and we wouldn't have it any other way....we love him so much and can't wait to see what he accomplishes and how much he grows in the next year. 

 

Friday Rewind.

Well folks another week has passed! Where in the world does the time go and how in the heck can it go by so FAST?! Only a week left before the crazies are out of school for a couple weeks and only a couple weeks until Christmas. We have one birthday next week then another Christmas Eve....which means lots to do and get done. Plus we had 2 family birthdays this week and will celebrate both tomorrow night:)

The biggest happening of this week was probably the boys' birthday party. That went good and I am glad it's over so now I can focus on Christmas. It's always hard to get in the Christmas mood before their party. 

       My attempt at a Minecraft cake and my time making marshmallow fondant. More on the birthday in a different post...stay tuned.

We got our Christmas tree Sunday after the birthday party. We don't go to a fancy place to get it.....at least not yet. Good old Costco it is. For $30 you get an awesome looking tree. They seriously always have the best trees. So Sunday was a busy day with the party, then tree, then the opening of the all the presents, and then the decorating of the tree...UGH!

This week Easton was quite challenging. A couple days this week he thew major tantrums and did NOT want to go to school. But it wasn't until we got there that he all of a sudden was "too tired" to go. No clue what he deal is. He did this once before last month and I thought it was because Cameron was out of school that day and he still had to go. But this week I have no clue. And I have no clue what to do about it. Monday when it happened I tried to talk to him for like 10 minutes in the car but as it got later and later I just had to drag him in there and leave Cameron in the car with Bentley. Thank goodness Cameron knows better to be on his best behavior when I am dealing with Easton. So we get to the classroom and his teacher tells me to just leave. She called awhile later and said that he was fine and after 5 minutes the screaming and the tantrum was over. 

Tuesday he was fine no issues at all. Then Wednesday comes along and he was fine walking into class and as I am leaving and walking up the hallway he darts out of the classroom after me. And here we go again. But this time the teacher had a conference with another parent so she could not deal with him until after the conference. So here I am standing outside the classroom holding Easton up by his arms so he's not getting filthy dirty from rolling all over the dirty wet ground. Meanwhile it's like almost 8:30 and Cameron starts school at 8:30. Ryan shows up before his golf game and stays until Easton is finally calmed down in the classroom with his teacher. So Cameron was like 30 minutes late to school. 

Then on Thursday after lots of time in his room on Wednesday and a lots of talks he begins to almost start the same thing. I hug and kiss him {lots of times} and he starts to follow me out. We go tback inside and the teacher quickly shuts the door. He threw himself on the ground and that was it. His teacher said he was fine after that and went to speech with no problems. I am really hoping this "phase" gets over with soon. Monday is a new week so let's hope he does better but to be honest I am afraid of Monday morning to be here.
Oh and then Tuesday the teacher calls me right after I drop him off because he's in the bathroom trying to poop crying with a tummy ache. That's another issue. But he went to the Doctor and we think it's just a lack of fiber. He's always complaining of his tummy and always in the bathroom. He usually isn't crying over the tummy aches though, hoping he wasn't trying to pull a fast one over the teacher. He did eventually poop that day and the doctor could feel it, so I really don't think he was faking it:(

I hope everyone has an awesome weekend!!!! Only 13 days left until Christmas!!! Wish me luck on Monday morning....fingers crossed:)

Make it Monday.

Today's Make it Monday is a day late:) but it's very simple and a card that anyone can duplicate. This card design would be a good one to do if you had lots to make as it's very simple. We made this at my Christmas Stamp-a-Stack. 

Only about 3 more weeks or so until the items from the holiday catalog are still available. There are a few items that have carried over and will still be available for purchase after January 5. The stamp set used here, Seasonally Scattered, is one of my favorites from this holiday catalog. I love this card because of the simplicity of it. The "Merry Christmas" is a stamp set that was a part of a promotion and is no longer available. 

Here are the items I used {if you notice...not many}

Seasonally Scattered Clear-Mount Stamp Set

$17.95

All Is Calm Specialty Designer Series Paper

$12.95

Lost Lagoon Classic Stampin' Pad

$5.95

Lost Lagoon 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock

$6.95

Whisper White 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock

$8.50

Table by StampinBuddy. Try it FREE.

Friday Rewind.

Last week went by super fast. I lost track of the days because of Thanksgiving and Ryan's work schedule was different and the kids were out of school. Oh AND Ryan gave me his cold so I had to deal with that all last week and this week. Thankfully the head cold part is gone and now I just have a dry annoying cough. I don't sound as bad I did and for the first time in over a week my head isn't pounding. Thankfully the kids really didn't catch whatever we had, stuffy noses and little coughs. 

Oh and for the first time ever I think since we started I missed Pie Day at Vicky's {Cynthia's mom} house. Since I had a little cold and not sure the kids had caught it or not I decided to skip out on pie day. Every year the day before Thanksgiving Vicky hosts Pie Day where we all get together and bake our sweet treats for Thanksgiving. I did not want to spread my germs {one day I will share a story and you will know my main reason for my skipping out and not wanting to spread the wonderful sick germs}  and I am so glad I didn't go because as the next few days went on I was feeling worse:(

Our Elf, Louie, made his appearance a few days ago. Trying to get creative with this little guy. Cameron is getting older and remembers like every spot he was last year and everything he did. So far every morning Cameron wakes up he thinks his nose is RED. Louie likes to paint their noses RED:) And trying to come up with answers to Cameron's questions is getting a but tricky. I know he is getting close to the age where he doesn't "believe" anymore. He already told me a couple kids in class don't believe in Santa but he says he still does and that makes me HAPPY. 

 This was day one. Louie arrived with a welcome note. 

Easton really did not like the face Louie drew on his picture. All day he kept trying to erase it. 

Easton had a field trip to the library this week. It was fun and the kids loved it. The children's librarian read some stories and sung a couple of songs before they were able to go and check out all the books. Of course the only thing Easton wanted to do was play on the iPads. YES there are iPads in the Children's section at the library. 

Cameron's class performed the Wild Things skit at the local Barnes & Nobles. The kids did this in October at a local Senior home. It was pretty chaotic. 30 1st graders running around the book store. AND did you know they have toys at the book store?! WTF is up with that!!! I knew they had some toys because I have seen them the last few times I have went but I didn't realize how many they actually have. Seriously?! I cannot go to a single store that does not have any toys. UGH!

We found a book that is shaped like a bulldozer that has wheels on it, this got him away from the train table in the children's section. Cameron's class performed their skit once in the children's section then again a few minutes later in the front of the store. And of course Bentley did not want to leave to train table. I was very lucky to leave that store without buying anything. Bentley gave me the book nicely and I quickly put it down and we ran out of there......running all the way to the car because it was pouring rain outside. Bentley really liked this book so I am thinking Santa might bring it for him. 

I will be busy tomorrow attempting to make a Minecraft cake for the boys' birthday party on Sunday. Wish me luck and fingers crossed I don't jack it up:) I hope everyone has a great weekend!!!

***once again I am not proof reading...I know I am such a bad blogger, so please excuse any typos and hopefully it's not too bad of a read....eeeeeekkkk***