Adorable-ness

$0.75 for the file box (I love DI!), $0.00 for the box (because I didn't buy it for the box.  I bought it for the bags that were inside of the box.), $0.00, for the material (leftover from a different project) and Wallah!  (is that how you spell it?  It looks goofy) an adorable file box.

("N" didn't like my word, "adorable-ness".  She thought "cutie" was better.  Just so you know.)

A Day

I was going to post this picture on my 365 blog.  But then I decided not to, because today is not a day that I want to have published when I make my book at the end of the year.  

Last night I fell on my knee hard at hockey.  I've been limping for most of the day.  I should have iced it when I got home, but since I didn't get home until nearly midnight, I was tired and just wanted to sleep.  So I did.  Sleep, that is.

This morning, while picking up toys so that I could vacuum, I ran {into the wall} and stubbed my toe.  On the opposite side as my knee.  It's currently black and blue.

While prepping to head to dance class "J" dumped out the diaper bag - and all of the crumbs at the bottom of it - onto my freshly vacuumed floors.  And after filling "A"s snack of honey-nut cheerios, I dropped the container and cheerios scattered across the kitchen and dining room floors.  So "N" and I swept them up - because we now have a kiddo broom and the older two are super-excited to sweep anything.  And I want them to keep this love of cleaning so I can't naysay their help.  Even when we are supposed to be walking out the door and I could have had the job done in 2 minutes instead of 10.  

This is after I cleaned up most of the mess and then thought to myself, "I should blog this!".

The day wasn't full of bad luck.  We made ice cream to go with our school about cows.  The kiddos are still loving their calendar notebooks and doing a fantastic job.  "A" has blown me away with what he can do.  I'm mostly done with the task of decluttering that I gave myself for the week.  "J" found her shoes when I asked her to, which is a first for my girl!  "N" helped me vacuum her room (she's been scared of the vacuum for as long as I can remember)!

Winter?

The calendar says that it's Winter.  My grass is still green.  My kiddos are wearing jackets (some days).  We've been to the park.  We're riding bikes (and trikes).  We haven't bought a sled yet this year (maybe we won't?).  DH hasn't had enough snow to snowboard.  It's proven that it's Winter just long enough to get my vehicle good and dirty.  I'm hoping that Spring, and Summer and Autumn don't forget what they're supposed to be like and turn into Winter!

My 365

I just started another blog.  It's for a photographic 365 project.  The goal is that I'll take - and post a picture a day.  We'll see how it goes.  I'm hoping that it's as fun as I think it will be.

Gingerbread Houses

  

We had a great time making our gingerbread houses.  I put the houses together and then gave each kiddo a tin of candy.  "N" was able to use a bag to pipe on her frosting, "A" used a glob on a plate to dip his candies into.  They were both incredibly focused and careful in their placement of candy.  Definitely a winning activity!

*Check out "N"s blog for an adorable "Gingerbread Girl"!  

She was in her first ever dance recital and loved it!  She was so cute and fun to watch!

Rudolph Art

Here are the Rudolph prints that we made.  The kiddos had a great time with them.  They didn't turn out exactly like I remembered them, but oh well.  They're cute and they'll still go up on our wall and maybe next year I can find the source and see what we could do differently.  N and A wanted mouths on theirs.  J was just happy to be done with Mom moving her hands and feet.

Organization Question

I need help.  I have a four year old who is ready for puzzles and games with small pieces.  My one year old doesn't eat small things anymore (for the most part), but she loves carrying things around and then they get lost.  So my question is, how have you organized so that things are accessible to your older children, out of reach of the little ones, and still have an attractive, organized, uncluttered home?

25 Days of Christmas

Dear People Who Read My Blog,

I've put together a fun activity for the kiddos to do leading up to Christmas.  I've made and laminated paper "presents", then written on the back different things for us to do, one a day, until Christmas.  The kiddos will take turns (happily, of course) choosing one of the presents to do that day.  Below you'll see the list.  If they're things that I found online, I linked them, so that if you want to, you can look to see what the different things are.  I'm going to try to post some of finished projects, either here or on my school blog or the kiddos blogs (they're private, so links. Sorry.  If you'd like an invite, let me know).  Merry Christmas!

Love,

Me:)

1. Christmas Mini-Alphabet book
2. Make Gingerbread Houses
3. Visit a local exhibit
4. Make and deliver cookies
5. Santa advent countdown  - THIS IS OUR DAY 1 ACTIVITY, SO THAT WE CAN USE IT ALL MONTH, INSTEAD OF FINDING IT ON THE 23RD, WHEN THE COUNTDOWN WOULD BE ALMOST OVER.
6. Pom pom christmas tree
7. snowman ornaments
8. Collecting snowballs game
9. glue snowman
10. homemade snow-globes
11. popcorn wreath (along with the book If you Take a Mouse to the Movies)
12. candy cane ornaments
13. Christmas action cards (along with the book Mr. Willowby's Christmas Tree)
14. Pin the nose on Rudolph felt board
15. Go sledding at a park
16. Make Karmel Krispy Treats
17. Make Christmas Cards 
18. Make placemats
19. Christmas sensory bin - this is our day 2, so that they can use it all month.
20. Visit City Hall (ours has a Christmas display)
21. Christmas Matching Game
22. Window Clings
23. Rudolph hand/foot print art - I can't find this one again to link it, but I'll be sure to post it after we've done it.
24. Watch a Christmas Movie

My Memories Suite Review and GIVEAWAY

My Memories Suite (a digital scrapbooking software company) recently contacted me asking me to review their software.  I was more than happy to oblige (since my previous digital scrapbooking software had crashed on me, with no help from support).  I was a little nervous, since not all programs are designed for Macs, but I was HAPPY to find that My Memories has both a windows and a Mac version.  

After playing with My Memories Suite for a while, I was in love!  It is so easy to work with!  It comes with a wide selection of papers, embellishments, word art, templates, etc.  And there are a lot more that you can download, some are even free!

You can print from home, turn your pages into an album, make calendars, add music, video, narration, and turn your project into a JPEG (which is what I did with my poster, below).  There's probably even more amazing things that you can do, I just haven't found them all yet.  

Now for the giveaway.  Would you like to have your VERY OWN My Memories Suite?  Would you like to give one away for Christmas?  Because I get to give one away!  Here's what to do:

Visit www.mymemories.com and find your favorite paper set, then come back here and leave me a comment, telling me which one it is.  That's it!  

If you don't want to wait and see if you win, you can use my special code and get $10 off your own My Memories Suite (which is only $39.97 to begin with!).  You'll also get $10 in downloads. The code is STMMMS32928.

Leave your comment before midnight on Saturday, November 27, or you won't have a chance to win!

Fall

A few weeks ago we drove up the canyon to "See Fall".

It was beautiful.  And I took pictures.

On the way down, our brakes caught on fire.  While we were on the side of the road "A" had a blow-out diaper.  We ran into a couple from our long-ago singles ward.  And when I downloaded the pictures, I found that I hadn't changed my cameras settings from when I had been playing and trying to "learn my camera". 

It was a drive to remember.