All he wants for Christmas...

All he wants for Christmas is his two front teeth! Braxton is trying to catch up with all his friends, within in the past month the tooth fairy has been super busy. He only lost 2 last school year, and already 3 this school year. He looks super cute right now with his "spacey" grin. He was trying to sing the song this morning just the way the Chipmunks do, but he doesn't have as hard a time saying certain words as they do.

December Class

Okay, I know it hasn't been very long, but I wanted to make sure everyone could get their Christmas cards made and get them sent out in time. So, the next classes are:

Saturday, December 5th 7pm - midnight (that's this weekend!)
or
Wednesday, December 9th 7pm - midnight.

Again, you get to make 10 Christmas cards for only $15. Take advantage of this now, the price could very well be going up to $20 in January. Bring a black ink pad if you own one, and your favorite adhesive. These cards take a bit of time, but that's all depending on the quality you want them to be. So, plan on being here for awhile.

We always have treats, and a great time. Reserve your seat today!

November Creations.

Here's what we made this month:

Two of these. Snowflakes are embossed in white. Snowflake punch window to view the saying on the inside corner.

We made two of these. Tag punch window to view the image on the inside. The city here is stamped in navy, but we found it looked better in black.

We made two of these. The ornaments have crystal effects applied to make them look glossy and give them dimension.

We made one of these. This is a small note card you can use with a gift bag. The buckle was made with a punch and threaded with white ribbon.

We made one of these. The buckle and all other Santa coat details were created with punches.

We made two of these. The base of the card was made with clear acetate, and stamped on with StazOn ink. Brushed gold and copper cardstocks.

We attached the gold cardstock on the inside, someplace to write along with a background color for the outside.

November stamping classes

Okay ladies, so this is who I have coming to make 8 Christmas cards and 2 Thanksgiving/Thank You cards (Only $15? What a deal!):

Wednesday, November 18th 7pm-midnight

• Rachel L.
• Connie S.
• Ila Rae M.
• Stacie S.
• Monica C.

Saturday, November 21st 7pm-midnight

• Heidi M.
• Ashley L.

If you are not on one of the above lists, but should be, let me know ASAP. I am cutting paper tonight and tomorrow morning.

A little late, but better than never.

I just read this on a friend's blog, and had to post it here(It made me so emotional!). This is to all of my friends and relatives, as well as those I know not, who serve/served for our country: Happy late Veteran's Day, I salute you and your families! And especially... to my brother.

THE FINAL INSPECTION

The Army Soldier stood and faced God, Which must always come to pass. He hoped his shoes were shining, Just as brightly as his brass. 'Step forward now, Soldier, How shall I deal with you? Have you always turned the other cheek? To My Church have you been true?'
The soldier squared his shoulders and said, 'No, Lord, I guess I ain't. Because those of us who carry guns, Can't always be a saint.
I've had to work most Sundays, And at times my talk was tough. And sometimes I've been violent, Because the world is awfully rough. But, I never took a penny, That wasn't mine to keep... Though I worked a lot of overtime, When the bills got just too steep.
And I never passed a cry for help, Though at times I shook with fear. And sometimes, God, forgive me, I've wept unmanly tears. I know I don't deserve a place, Among the people here. They never wanted me around, Except to calm their fears. If you've a place for me here, Lord, It needn't be so grand. I never expected or had too much, But if you don't, I'll understand. There was a silence all around the throne, Where the saints had often trod. As the Soldier waited quietly, For the judgment of his God. 'Step forward now, you Soldier, You've borne your burdens well.
Walk peacefully on Heaven's streets, You've done your time in Hell.'
~Author Unknown~

Sick, sick, sick.....

Last Thursday I was feeling achy. But, I thought it was from my first attendance at a BodyPump class at the gym. Little did I know, I was sick.

It hit me hard and very fast while I was at my mom's house. I grabbed my boys' and hurried home to get straight in bed for the next 2 1/2 days. I don't even remember Friday, thanks Colby for picking up the kids from school on Thursday and Friday. I can't remember being so exhausted in my whole life.

Then Saturday morning it hit Tristan. So, Colby took Braxton and Gabe to hang out at his parent's house to keep them all safe from it. T and I were left at home to fend for ourselves. Colby came home around 10pm, claiming Gabe had thrown up there and now had it. Sunday morning, Colby awoke with the awfulness.

I was "sick and tired" of being sick and tired. So, while everyone was napping I broke out the Lysol spray and Clorox wipes and cleaned every surface in our entire house that I could think of any of us touching. It took me the whole day. Then, I Cloroxed the kitchen floor and fell asleep on the couch feeling a lot better. I was determined to get those germs out of my house, and quarantine all of us sick people in. I didn't want to be responsible for this spreading to any other household. I kept urging Braxton to drink Airborne and stay away from us, and the whole family got attacked by me and the Purell hand pump about every other hour for random hand cleaning sessions.

My sweet in-laws snagged Braxton away from the house Sunday and brought him back that evening with homemade chicken noodle soup. At this point, I was in survival mode. Still sick and exhausted, but having to take care of everyone because Colby was in the state that I was in Thurs-Sat.

Today, all that lingers with T, G and I are congestion and a cough. Colby is finally feeling coherent today, and Braxton has still stayed free and clear of the bug. Thank goodness, because I don't know how I would have kept sane with 4 boys at home feeling crappy, bored and fighting. Gabe is dying to go back to school, but I am keeping his germs home with us for awhile.

So, Colby did a lot of research last night, and talked to a friend who had been diagnosed by a doctor as having swine flu. It looks like that is what our family had this last week. The aches were unimaginable, and came a lot of the time with no fever, by themselves lasting 3 days. The illness has taken 7 days so far, but it looks like we are all almost done with it. Thanks to all of you for checking up on us. And thank you even more for staying away, we are not taking it personal. We don't want anyone to have to go through this.

Now it's off to the shower for me, and then to start getting this illness out of massive amounts of laundry.

My latest project...

So, last week our neighbor asked if we wanted a set of bunk beds. Oh yeah, I jumped all over that one. We have been considering buying some for awhile now. Whether we had a friend's dad make us a set and sell them to us, or drive down to Ikea. But we got these for free. Woot! Tristan has been wanting to sleep in Gabe's race car bed forever, so I took down his crib and he graduated to a toddler bed. That means that Gabe's graduates from a toddler bed to Braxton's old bed. And Braxton is the lucky winner of a set of bunk beds. Wahoo! I still would like to paint the little boys' room (along with several other rooms in my "white-walled" house) but I will save that for after Christmas. So here are the finished rooms. I was very excited to shop for some new/matching bedding. Two sets of the same, but it is all reversible. Love it! Also, we had the ladder at the other end of the bed, but until I move B's planets hanging from his ceiling it will have to stay where it it. The kids kept bumping into them every time they climbed up and down. I was afraid they were going to get mutilated. We keep find our huge cat Skitterz asleep on the top bunk. Can't wait to see him maneuver himself up there. Braxton's room already came painted the way we liked it.
I'm proud to say that I moved Braxton's old bed/Gabe's new bed from room to room all by myself. I was determined to get my project done on my time scale and not have to wait for help.
And I need to remove or adjust the younger boys' names on their walls.The boys were excited that they had no school today. So, I let Gabe and Braxton sleep in the same room (something I never do) and have a semi-late nighter. I moved the TV and DVD player onto B's dresser, and they both laid up there and watched a movie together. Then, they decided that they both wanted to sleep on the top bunk, so I let them. This was a rare night that they got along for such a long stretch of hours. So, why fight it. Here are some pics of the all our boys enjoying there new beds.

Halloween

We had a very relaxing Halloween. We slept in and played in the morning. Then I coaxed the boys into helping me tidy up the house. We had our friend Ben and his girls arrive to play and attend our festivities with us. Colby needed a haircut, so Ben assisted and then decided to shave his own as well. We got the kids all dressed up and took pictures in front like we always do. Braxton can finally fit correctly into his Jack Sparrow costume, Gabe using Braxton's old Spiderman sweatsuit as a costume, Rylee as an angel, Tristan in Braxton's old giraffe costume, and Lily as a cute little clown. (Did I say that I decided to buy a new purse instead of costumes for the kids this year? Oh well, we have plenty to recycle. Plus, I'm loving my Juicy Couture purse.)We stopped by my parents home for the kids to get a glow stick, then off to Colby's parents home for a treat as well. (A quick stop at RedBox to return a movie) Then off to our ward Trunk-or-Treat. Here are Heather and I handing out candy. Gabe and Tristan were done making the rounds.By that time our dinner was done, so we headed home for food. Mmmmm...dinner in a pumpkin. I told the kids they were eating pumpkin brains. They all liked it, except Braxton...of course. Then they just wanted to watch a movie and eat candy, what little they had, so we didn't argue with them. They got into PJs to relax, and we relaxed answering the door and not walking them around the neighborhood. Overall, it was a great day.

Pumpkin Patch

Tristan and I attended Gabe's annual trip to the pumpkin patch with his preschool. We grabbed some Wendy's to eat on the way, since he would be going straight to class from Farr West. We played with some friends while waiting for the entire class to arrive. (He thinks it is hilarious to smile like this in pictures.) Tristan let me do his hair today, I love it this way. Then the kids all gathered around the scarecrow, he stood up, and starting talking to them! (This happens every trip, but it's still fun.) Here are Gabe and Tristan picking out a $1 pumpkin to take home. Gabe wanted to try the head on. Picture time with pumpkin man and Miss Jackie. There are so many fun photo opps at this place. Obviously, Tristan was done with that crazy pumpkin guy.We had a great time. Gabe took his pumpkin back to class to decorate, and brought it home after school. On Wednesday they get to take their pumpkins back to class and smash them, he is anxiously awaiting this splendid event.

Oh yeah! Here is Gabe's preschool class earlier that week. They had a costume parade. Gabe is Spiderman.

November Creative Class

The next stamping classes will be on Wednesday November 18 and Saturday November 21. Again the class goes from 7pm until midnight and the cost is $15 for 10 cards. If you can, bring your own black ink pad and adhesive of choice. We will be making 2 copies each of five designs. So 2 Thank You cards, and 8 Christmas cards. Leave me a comment to reserve your spot - or send me an email or text. Don't forget to specify which class. Again, I am no longer a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator...so there is no pressure to buy anything.