Day 365

Friday, December 31, 2010

I can't believe that I made it one whole year of POTD's!  What a fun journey and I am definitely going to continue it next year.  I must confess that I haven't done anything with my photos yet, but that may be one my "resolutions" for next year, to get my 2010 POTD's in an album!  Today my sister and I did the mini valentine card class at Archiver's.  Our Mom paid for us to go, so we could have a few hours to ourselves.  Thanks Mom!  The first photo is my bag of finished cards, and the second it of me and my sister!  We had a good day together and hopefully we will have many more next year!  Happy New Year!  May 2011 be all that we wish for it to be!

Day 364

Thursday, December 30, 2010

Okay, I got the check for my Gypsy and I finally decided to buy the set that is in the second photo.  It is the expression machine, with 3 cartridges (only 1 I don't have), plus a Gypsy with handbag, and cords, and free shipping!  Plus I got the 3 year extended warranty and after I used my 15% discount (because they missed me at HSN), I only had to pay like $17.50 difference from what they sent me back for my "broken" Gypsy!  I am pretty excited.  Even if my old Gypsy can't be fixed, I still got a darn good deal!  WOOOO WHOOO!

Day 363

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Today I took my Mom to the dentist for a fitting of her new dentures she is in the process of getting and afterwards she and I and the boys did a little shopping and then we came down to my house.  I was working on getting this blog up to date and Mom cleaned up my messy work area.  She opened up all my new cartridges and synced them to my Gypsy (even though it's not working yet) and entered all my rewards points for me.  I have officially run out of room on these two shelves, what am I going to do??  I think I counted 48 or 49 on the shelf (including the 12 solutions cartridges in the boxes on the bottom shelf, which would mean that with the two that came with the Gypsy and the extras that came with the recent update I have well over 50!  I really need to use them all in 2011, I guess we'll have to see if I am up to the challenge!  Thanks to my Mom for cleaning up my craft area, now maybe I can get busy playing again!

Day 362

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Today, Zach got in trouble for not listening to me, so I took away the X-box and Wii for 2 hours.  After he calmed down, he straightened up his room and then I helped him build his new Lego kit.  It was just a little one, because his fingers don't always let him pick up and work with such small objects.  He actually did a pretty good job following the directions to build this little boat.  After the boat he started free building and had quite the set of buildings going.  I think he enjoyed playing with them, but he didn't turn down the chance to get back to the video games either.

Day 361

Monday, December 27, 2010

Today's POTD is of one of my new cups.  I have been eyeing them and thinking about getting some, and Santa brought us a set for Christmas.  I noticed they had an instant rebate at Costco, so I bet Santa got a deal on them! :)  I just tried it out today and so far I really like them.  No condensation on the outside of the cup, so it won't drip on my projects or layouts. 

Day 360

Sunday, December 26, 2010

What a Mess!  The house still looks like a train ran through it!  Riley has been opening toys and leaving them all day, Zach and Ron have been setting up the X-box and I went and picked up Mom and went shopping to see if there were any good after Christmas deals.  Didn't find much, but did get a few tubs for Riley to put some of his new play sets in, when they aren't on the living room floor.

Day 359

Saturday, December 25, 2010

Merry Christmas!  We ended up making Zach wait until Riley got up, and he got us all up with a jolt about 8:00.  It was great!  "Mom, you gotta see the tree"!  I guess it's times like these that make all the rest bearable.  Both the boys made out like bandits!  Riley got the Imaginext Firefighter House and Zach got an X-box 360!  They both did find a small bag of coal in their stockings with notes attached that warned them to be better or next year they would see only coal! :)  All in all it was a great day!  It's CHRISTMAS, life is Good! 

Day 358

Friday, December 24, 2010

"The Stockings were hung by the chimney with care, and mom had so much to do, she almost didn't care", no not really, but I do have a lot to get done!  I finally picked up the boys, papa had already read "Twas the Night Before Christmas" to them, so that was nice.  Riley and I recited it while we were wrapping gifts too. (it is my favorite Christmas book and Riley learned the first part of it as part of his poetry in school)  We picked up dinner at Carl's Jr. then we wrapped some gifts, sprinkled reindeer dust on the front lawn, set out milk and cookies and carrots (for the reindeer) and tried to get the boys in bed early!  Didn't totally work, because of course Riley couldn't sleep, and Zach got up in the middle of my "Santa prep".  Not sure if he picked up on it, but it really SUCKED!  Finally I had Ron go and keep watch on him and he just snuggled in bed with Zach to keep him from getting up any more!  Merry Christmas Eve everyone!

Day 357

Thursday, December 23, 2010

Well, I took Riley to the doctor today and he has a double ear infection!  I am not sure, but this may be his first ear infection ever.  He really hasn't been very sick, which has been nice.  However, he knows how to do it, because the doctor said both of his ear drums looked really nasty!  So he is on antibiotics, cough syrup with codeine, and a ear numbing drop.  The doctor said he should be feeling better by Christmas!  We went ahead and decorated gingerbread houses to night.  I bought kits a few years ago on clearance and they were actually pretty nice.  I will be watching for them to go on clearance again!  After they got done. Mom and Dad took them to their house to spend the night so I could get some things done for Christmas.  Ron and I made a few batches of cookies to put together trays for his crews at work, and then I made 25 cards for him to give to the guys and gals at work.  Hopefully tomorrow I will be able to finish shopping (for me and Mom), start wrapping, and make some gift card holders for Mom.  Busy! Busy! Busy!

Day 356

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Today Mom and I did some shopping and running around and ended up meeting up with my sister and her kids.  We got quite a bit of shopping done, so I think that was good.  After work Dad met up with us and took the boys on home.  Riley really wasn't feeling to well, and Zach would have rather been playing video games.  Also I was able to talk to HSN about my broken Gypsy and they decided to just give me my money back.  I couldn't believe it, how crazy.  They said that there wasn't a repair center close enough to me, and it would cost them more to find one and have it fixed then to just refund my money.  So I called Provo Craft, and they said I would have to buy another one, and then send it to them with a note so that they can re-serialize the new one to match the old one.  So, my wheels have started turning, because I think my Dad and or husband can fix the old one, so once I have the new one (which costs a whole lot less now) back from Provo Craft I will have the guys look into fixing the old one and then I should have two of them.  I guess we'll see if I get the money back first and then see if I find a good deal on a new one.

Day 355

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Tonight we decided to watch The Polar Express (it was on TV, but we actually put the movie in).  I worked on our Christmas cards while watching it, so I got quite a bit done!  We all love that movie even though we have seen it plenty of times.  Time with family is time well spent!

Day 354

Monday, December 20, 2010

Well, today didn't start out to be a great day!  Last night we had some pretty bad winds to say the least!  Ron told me when he left, that the basketball goal was down, but wasn't on the van, so I should be good, well he didn't notice the busted sliding door window.  Mainly because it was on the opposite side of the van that he passed on his way to work.  I am not sure, but I think a roof shingle may have been what hit the window, but I guess it could have been anything.  I didn't feel I could drive it safely, so I called and waited for Safelite to come out and fix it.  Apparently they are very busy here in the Springs, because they had to send someone from Denver and he didn't get to us until around 4:30 p.m. and the sun was close to being behind the mountains, and he said he still had two more jobs in the Springs after me!  He managed to get it installed (in the dark) and we made it to Zach's 1st basketball game of the season tonight, so we were happy for that.

Day 353

Sunday, December 19, 2010

I LOVE this picture!  We watched my friend's kids tonight while she went to a Christmas Party while her husband is serving in Iraq.  We had just went to an AWESOME light display at the Nazarene Bible College and we had Christmas music playing (of course) and all the kids were singing the 12 days of Christmas and I was going to get a video, but I wasn't fast enough, but I think this photo is priceless!  After this, we started driving around to look at lights and we ended up going to the Electric Safari at the zoo.  It was actually pretty cool, and I think we all had a great time!

Day 352

Saturday, December 18, 2010

Today Ron and I got up and went to volunteer at a Feed the Children sponsored event here in the Springs.  It was a little crazy at first because there were too many people volunteering at the same time and same area, so Ron and I walked around to see if we could be of help else where.  We were supposed to be assisting people with getting coats, but instead we worked behind the scenes picking toys for certain age groups.  We enjoyed what we did and were glad to help.  Tonight we went to his company's Christmas Dinner, which was nice and then went to his sister's house to stay with her boys while she went to pick up her husband who was coming home from Afghanistan on his R and R for Christmas.  All in all it was a great day!

Day 351

Friday, December 17, 2010

Today is the last day of school for the year for the boys.  Riley and I finished these ornaments this morning and I cut the vinyl while he was at school and packaged them with a set of note cards and chocolate for each of his teachers and the office ladies.  I really like the way these ornaments turned out, and I especially like the monograms.  I used the Story Book cartridge for the letter and I used Future floor shine and glitter in the bulbs.  Too easy!

Day 350

Thursday, December 16, 2010

Tonight Riley and I put together goodie bags for his classmates.  We kept it simple, even though I would have loved to have "made the bags", I have just been too busy, so we bought them.  The only problem is that he has 19 kids in his class, and the bag of cookies -n- cream chocolates (one of Riley's favorite) only had 17 pieces in it, so I have to run to the store in the morning to finish them up!  What the heck?!

Day 349

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Today's POTD is of my messy work area.  I have been trying to get the second set of gift card holders done that I sold to a friend.  I sold some at the crop retreat in November for $2.50 each.  Then I was showing them off to the office ladies at Riley's school, when one of my Bunco friends was signing in to do some work, and she asked if I sold them and I said I do.  One of the office ladies said she wanted 10 and my friend said she wanted 10 too.  I am now working on the 10 for my friend, so I can deliver them in the next few days!  I am pretty excited about selling them, it is great to get paid to do something you love!

Day 348

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Today, I picked Mom up to do some shopping and she had found a craigslist listing for Cricut cartridges.  Well I finally got a hold of the lady who said her daughters were married to some of the Provo Craft owner's boys, or something like that and she apparently used to work for Provo Craft, anyway, she was selling a ton of cartridges for $20 a piece ($15 for solution cartridges), I ended up getting everything you see here for $185.00 (6 full cartridges, 3 solution cartridges, deep cut blade, extra blades, white vinyl, a set of stamps, some miscellaneous brads and eyelets, and a silent setter that she threw in because she had a ton of them!).  I am sure I spent too much on me,  but part of it will be in my sister's Christmas gift, and they are almost all recent cartridges, so I know I got a good deal!  I am so excited.  I guess Ron won't need to buy me anything for Christmas this year, I just did his shopping for him!

Day 347

Monday, December 13, 2010

Today's POTD is of my Gypsy again!  I found it laying on the floor in my office the other day.  It looked as if the boys had knocked it off of the shelf it was sitting on while still plugged into the Cricut machine.  When I picked it up I noticed a rattle, and upon investigation, found the USB port had fallen into the unit.  The rest of the Gypsy seems to be working, but I can't use it without the USB hole because that is how it hooks to the Cricut and how I plug it into the computer for updates.  So, I called Provo Craft and they said that it was out of warranty as of Sept. 24, 2010 and that since I told them I bought the extended warranty from HSN, that I needed to contact HSN and then HSN would have to get the unit to Provo Craft to have it fixed.  Well I emailed HSN and then gave me a number to call, and I called and they took my information and said they would call in a few days.  Well they didn't, so I called them back and they said they would be getting back to me in a week, and if I didn't hear from them, then I should call again.  Well you can bet your butt I will be calling again.  Apparently they can't find a repair center in my area.  I told them that the only "repair center" is Provo Craft, but they didn't seem to care, so I guess we'll see what they say in a week or so!

Day 346

Sunday, December 12, 2010

Today we went to the annual Candlelighter's Christmas party.  Santa and Mrs. Claus have been joining us for quite a while.  I am pretty sure I have photos of Riley with this Santa when Riley was new born.  Zach is still crazy about Santa!  Riley really likes him too, but Zach just can't get enough of him!  After our party we went to Mom and Dad's to help decorate their tree.  It is kind of a tradition for my sister and I to go over and help decorate Mom and Dad's tree, and we now both bring our kids to help as well.  Fun for all!

Day 345

Saturday, December 11, 2010

Today's POTD is of me and some great friends (and family).  These are my favorite scrappin' friends, minus Marlene since she had to go and cut a Christmas tree.  We all got together at Karen's house (the one in the yellow jacket).  She is such a great person and friend.  I have really enjoyed getting to know her over the last year or two.  She got us all these great Santa hats as well as feed us and hosted our gathering.  Debbie (next to Karen and behind me) joined us for the first time and worked on a digital album gift, I have missed hanging out and croppin' with her.  I am so glad to have been able to get together with all these great ladies, and hopefully we can do it more often!  Also pictured is my sister (next to me) and my Mom (the one in brown), my other Mother (Berta) behind Mom and my niece, Kayla on the end in purple.  Even though we don't always get a lot of cropping done, we always have a great time!  Love you all!

Day 344

Friday, December 10, 2010

Today's POTD is of Zach's bed with Christmas lights on it.  He wanted to string lights last night, so Papa helped him string them up and he is sleeping with them on.  I guess we will see if he lets me take them down when I take the rest of the Christmas stuff down, or if his bed will forever be adorned with Christmas lights.

Day 343

Thursday, December 9, 2010

Today while the boys were at school I got out some of the Christmas decorations and decorated the house by myself.  They were surprised and ready to put up the tree when they got home.  Mom and Dad came down to help us like they usually do, and after Ron got home we set up the tree.  I have somewhat kept up the tree trimming tradition my Mom has set, by having finger foods, and holiday music while decorating the tree.  This year's tree (just like last year's) will not hold all of our ornaments, Ron said that we will have to go and buy a farmed tree next year, so my ornaments will all fit and then we can just go sledding instead of tree hunting.  It kind of sounded good to me, but we'll see.

Day 342

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Happy Birthday to my Mom!   I had already got her and Dad tickets to see the Oak Ridge Boys the Monday after Thanksgiving, so today I went and picked her up and took her to lunch at Red Lobster.  We were going to go take a look at JoAnn's afterwards, but she needed to go to work and sign some papers and then I had to get home to pick up the boys and get Zach to speech and then to PT.  We had a nice lunch so all was good.  

Day 341

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Tonight we had an ornament exchange for Bunco, and I made this bag to wrap the ornament in.  I thought it was pretty cute, and it had a snowman ornament inside as well.  I actually got my $10 back tonight because I won most baby buncos.  It is always nice to go to Bunco, but especially nice when I bring money home!

Day 340

Monday, December 6, 2010

Today's POTD is of our countdown to Christmas chain.  This is where we started hanging it years ago and we seem to always hang it here.  It works pretty good.  I haven't done the best at doing something Christmasy every night, but I have done okay, and I have Christmas music going in the car most of the time, so maybe that will have to do for now.

Day 339

Sunday, December 5, 2010

Today we went up to Pike National Forest and cut down our Christmas Tree.  We started doing this a few years ago and really enjoy doing it.  We hunted and hunted and finally decided on this tree.  This year we went with my parents and my sister and her kids.  This was the first year for my mom to go and she really enjoyed it.  Last year we got to go sledding after we found our tree, but this year there really wasn't that much snow up there (even though there is snow in the photo, but we had to hike back to it), so hopefully we will get to go sledding later in the season.  This year we went and had dinner at Wendy's and had all you can eat chili, so that was nice and I am sure we could make that a tradition as well.

Day 338

Saturday, December 4, 2010

Today is Riley James' 6th Birthday!  We actually had a very busy day.  The boys went to Shop with a Cop at K-Mart this morning.  The workers at K-Mart have been requesting for my boys to be sure and come.  They along with Candlelighters (support group for families with kids who have or have had cancer) give each kid $25 to shop with and they get to walk around with the cop to shop for whatever they want.  This year both of the boys got cops that were very generous and bought them "extra" things.  After that I had to take Zach to get his school picture retakes done, since they didn't get good photos either time at school.  Then after that, we had Riley's birthday party at Chuck E Cheese's.  Everyone had a good time, although as soon as Riley got done opening his gifts, he was ready to go home and play with them.  He asked if we could go home and I told him that he had to tell everyone goodbye and so he started hugging them and saying goodbyes.  I had to explain that it would be rude to leave his own party, but it was pretty cute anyway.  It's hard to believe that he is already 6, my how time flies when your having fun!

Day 337

Friday, December 3, 2010

Today Ron decided to refinish the kitchen table.  Of course he waited until towards the end of his vacation, but at least it is getting done.  We got this table from my old boss's wife for free probably back in 1994 or 1995.  It has definitely been a good table and I am sure it will be nice once he gets it refinished.  I think he wants to put another coat on it, but I know we have a busy weekend planned already and with my luck it will turn cold and then he will be back at work and coming home late, so I guess we will have to wait and see when he gets it done.

Day 336

Thursday, December 2, 2010

Today we finally made our count down to Christmas chain.  We are only one day late, so not too bad for as busy as I have been.  We try to make a chain each year and we are supposed to pull a link each night or day and do something Christmasy.  Most of the time I get busy and forgot to do something Christmasy with the boys, so I really need to do better at it.  We'll see how I do this year.

Day 335

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

I had to make a couple of new signs for the giving tree project at Riley's school This is one of them.  I think it turned out much cuter than the ones that I have to work with.  I will be requesting to change them all over for next year.  Even though this has been quite a big project, and I will be glad when it is all done, it really hasn't been that bad and I think I will take it on next year too.

Day 334

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Today's POTD is of one of the "giving tree" things I have been working on for Riley's school.  It is really a neat idea, the PTO asks the teachers for gift ideas and puts out a letter to parents telling them that if they want to get a gift for their teacher, they have wish lists hanging on or near their doors.  That way teachers don't get a bunch of #1 Teacher mugs.  I volunteered to head it up this year and had a couple of helpers already, so hopefully it all works out.  I have ideas rolling in my head for ways to make it better and easier next year.

Day 333

Monday, November 29, 2010

Today we decided to go ahead and open Ron's "Christmas gift".  I got him this laptop on Black Friday, and he already new about it, so it wasn't really a big deal, except for the fact that I think I got a decent price and we needed one.  He is on vacation this week, so it will give him something to do besides watch TV.

Day 332

Sunday, November 28, 2010

Today we just hung around the house.  Riley still isn't feeling well,  this strep throat really got him down.  He was watching a movie and coloring and waiting for his brother to get home from Kansas.  He finally realized he missed out on swimming at the hotel, poor guy.

Day 331

Saturday, November 27, 2010

Well today we were supposed to be heading to Kansas with most of the family for my great Uncle Aubry's 90th birthday celebration.  However, Riley woke me up crying at 1 am with a sore throat and 103 degree fever.  It took over an hour and a half for the fever to break.  Needless to say, we decided it was best not to take a sick child to an assisted living home.  So at about a quarter to 4 I called Mom and Dad and we decided that they would take my van and Zach and go to the celebration and we would see about getting Riley to the Doctor.  We took him in and they did a strep test and it was positive!  YUCK!  I hope he gets to feeling better soon.  As you can see from the photo, I am TIRED!!!!

Day 330

Friday, November 26, 2010

Happy Black Friday! :)  Yes I did my annual shopping with a few extras this year.  Aunt Melanie stayed home with my boys, along with Molly and Vince, but Uncle Roger, Mandy, and Kayla and I met up with Keith and Laurie (my siblings) and started out at Target.  Then headed to Sam's, then Staples, another Target, WalMart, and finally Goodman's before heading home to find out that Molly and Vince wanted to go out, so we left Kayla and Mandy home with the boys and we headed to Big Lots, WalMart, and Big R.  After we got done with shopping, Molly asked me to take some photos of her and Vince for engagement photos at Garden of the Gods, so I asked her to take some of the boys for me.  This is one of many good photos she took.  I am sure they will be Christmas Card photos!

Day 329

Thursday, November 25, 2010

Happy Thanksgiving!  We had a great day.  Lots of family time and great food!  We had 19 people at Mom and Dad's for dinner.  My cousin Molly brought her boyfriend with her this year, and in the middle of dinner he proposed to her.  It was pretty neat, and brought most of us to tears.  He will be a great addition to the family!  Congrats to Molly and Vince!

Day 328

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Today we had more family come in for Thanksgiving.  My Uncle Roger and his family came in from Kansas and they will be staying with us through Sunday.  It is so nice to have family in for Thanksgiving.  My cousin Mandy and my Uncle Roger both made goodies to bring to dinner tomorrow.  Mandy made an awesome cheesecake (even though she was disappointed because it cracked, it was amazing!) and Uncle Roger made some AWESOME orange dreamsicle fudge.  Yummy!

Day 327

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Today was quite the day.  Riley had a little "program" and Thanksgiving feast at school, which was very cute.  They recited poems and showed off some of their knowledge by answering questions as the teacher asked them and then they sang a song or two.  It is also Zach's 15th and my 38th birthday.  We kept it somewhat low key this year, and we just had family and a few friends join us at Golden Corral for dinner and cake.  Zach got to open his gifts there and was quite surprised when most of the cards had money in them.  He also got an iPod touch from my parents. (Ron and I threw in a little towards it as well)  Now if the Otter box sleeve will just arrive tomorrow like it's supposed to ,then I will feel more comfortable letting him hold it! :)  Also today my brother Keith flew in from Arizona for Thanksgiving. 

Day 326

Monday, November 22, 2010

Tonight, Ron decided to give me my birthday present a few hours early (I was born around 12:30 a.m.).  He got me the iPad I told him I wanted.  I hope I like it as much as I think I am going to!  I guess I am a little spoiled, but I'd like to think I am worth it!

Day 325

Sunday, November 21, 2010

Today's POTD is of Zach sleeping on the couch with the heated blanket.  I just recently brought it back out to use on cold nights watching TV and it looks like he still likes it!  He fell asleep drawing on the "notebook", which is something he does quite often.  Not sure how this position can be comfy enough to sleep, but it seems to be working for him!

Day 324

Saturday, November 20, 2010

Today's POTD is of the card and photo I got from my Grandma for my birthday.  She has always sent a card for my birthday with a letter.  It is always nice to hear from her and this year she had been going through some things and found these photos of her and Grandpa and decided that she had enough for each of the grand kids to get one.  Grandpa passed away in 1995, so it is nice to get the photo after all these years.  

Day 323

Friday, Novmber 19, 2010

Today's POTD is of Riley with his teacher Mrs. Nelson.  He received an award at the monthly assembly for Citizenship.  It was a surprise, so I was thankful that I had my camera with me!  I am so proud of him, he has really been working hard in school.

Day 322

Thursday, November 18, 2010

Tonight was a pizza night!  I watched my friend Lynn's kids while she and her husband went to dinner for her birthday.  He is currently serving in Iraq and is home on his R & R, so they wanted to go out for her birthday without the kids.  I am glad to be able to trade sitting services with her from time to time and I am always thankful for a Pizza Night!

Day 321

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Today's POTD is of Ron relaxing.  He has been working very long hours for most of the whole year.  He took over the fleet manager position last October and has really been working hard to get the job done right.  Hopefully he knows how much I appreciate what he is doing for our family, and that I am very proud of him!  I love you babe!