Christmas Spirit - Part 2

I'm a little afraid to speak too soon, but I'm beginning to feel a bit better about the holidays now. I've got tons to do, but it's a little more under control now that I've gotten the house cleaned. That's such a chore for me anymore. I used to love cleaning...it was like a therapy for me, but now I can't stand to think about it! At least it's done now and we can start decorating, albeit late for us, for Christmas.

I have a few gifts purchased, which makes me feel a little more in control, also. I have lists made for everything I need to do, where I need to go, etc. I feel much more in control with my lists!

Perhaps after this week I can relax a bit and enjoy things. It always seem that I'm so stressed out that I am disappointed when the holidays are over because I wonder where the relaxation part of it went? Maybe that's what you get when you're single and not a parent?

This Sunday is my grandmother's HUGE Christmas dinner with extended family. It is always such a fun day despite being so closely piled into her house. The food is over-the-top delicious and done all by my grandmother. You bring something to try and help her out other than maybe a dessert and whatever you've brought does not get put out! Huge no-no!! This day is one of my very favorites each year and I'll always remember these dinners.

I have dinner at my dad's house on the 20th. We all just get together to be together, no gifts for anyone except the little kids. We're having breakfast for dinner with Swedish pancakes! My dad's wife makes the best ones!!! This will be exciting for Jake because it will probably be the first gift he gets to open.

We go to my mom's on Christmas Eve for dinner and gifts and then my grandmother's on Christmas morning. Even with just the immediate family, it's pretty darn crowded, but I love it and everyone knows that my chair is designated and no one can sit in it except me!! Ah, to be the oldest grand-daughter! haha!

This year, I don't have to do any Christmas Day cooking and I'm kind of glad in a way. It will give me the chance to come home and play with Jake and all his goodies, and we can have a relaxed bit of family time. Oh...and maybe a nap, too!

Peeeee-Yeeeew!

How do you spell "pee-yew?" lol

All I know is I stink! I did the popcorn popping for movie night at Jake's school this morning. It was not bad at all and in 2 hours I had 100 bags of popcorn ready. They had one of those cute red/glass popcorn poppers like you can get at Sam's or Costco, kind of like the ones at the movie theaters. It was fun to use and made great tasting popcorn, but all day I've smelled of popcorn! YUCK! I'm sure I will not want any popcorn for quite a while.

I got my hair cut last night, just a trim, and since he had time, I asked Ralph, my hair guy, if I could try a different color. I wanted to change it up and we decided on a brunette with a little red. Well, you know that commercial where the woman dyes her hair and it looks the same each time she takes the towel off her head? (At least I think this was a commercial.) Well, that's me. Maybe we didn't use enough brown, but I'm still red, just darker. I even think it's been this color before. No problem though. We'll try again next time.

Time to cook the dinner now...wish I knew what I was cooking! : )

Christmas Spirit

I think it's finally creeping up on me! I've been kind of bah-humbug lately, but I was even able to listen to Christmas music today in the car. Of course, one radio station has been playing since the day after Halloween. I refused to listen at all until after Thanksgiving. Drives me nuts that retailers rush us into Christmas.


It has been a lot of fun seeing Jake watching all the classic Christmas shows on TV this year. Previous years, he just didn't seem interested. I even watched the How the Grinch Stole Chrismas myself the other night.


I have done a bit of shopping via the Internet so maybe that has helped my spirit some.


Tomorrow morning after I drop Jake off, I get to stay at school and help with popping the popcorn for the school's movie night this weekend. It's out of my comfort zone, but I do want to be involved with Jake's school as much as I can, and I thought popping the corn was an easy way to start! LOL!


These came back yesterday. I wonder if the people who take school pictures purposely snap the pics of the odd smile or the eyes closed? I've never seen Jake smile this way. He's still kind of cute though and it is his very first school pic.






I think I need to clean my scanner by the looks of this!

Lots of Catching Up!

First off, the latest GUTTER GIRLZ challenge is up! It's a great one, too! We have our first ever Honorary Gutter Girl! It's Linda Woods! Linda, along with her sister Karen Dinino, are authors of two amazing books about creating and being art, Visual Chronicles and Journal Revolution. You can also see and purchase more of Linda's art in her etsy shop. Hop on over and check out the great layouts from the Design Team!

Can you believe it's December 1 already? I certainly can't. One thing I'm very grateful for is that my great hair stylist, Ralph, keeps me busy starting in November doing upwards of 250 Christmas cards! All year long I get my hair cut and colored (not that I would ever do that), and at the end of the year I "pay" him in however many Christmas cards he wants! This year was not quite as hard as years past with only 160 to do. Here are some of the designs:

I'm really proud of the cards this year. It's always a challenge to find different ideas each year especially after, gosh, maybe 10 or 12 years.

And since I'm ahead of the game with getting the cards done, I actually did a little scrapbooking this weekend. I needed some "scrapping for me" time and I took it. I'd spent two and a half days reorganizing my office/scraproom and rather than move on to my next cleaning project in getting ready for Christmas, I decided to sit and scrap a bit. Of course, Jake was the subject as usual:

Every year on his birthday I photograph him at the time he was born whether he's sleeping or still up playing with birthday presents. So far, I haven't roused him while taking those sleeping pics!
This photo was so sweet to me, pardon the pun...just look at that face!

And this...well...that face just gets me every time. What kid doesn't love playing in the leaves that so desperately need to be raked? Except for the alphabet tape, the buttons, and the transparency blackground, everything on this layout is from Tallyscrapper's Autumnal Inspiration kit. Can I just say that I absolutely LOVE this kit. If you've never purchased a Tallyscrapper kit, then you are definitely missing out!

What else? I still haven't posted pictures from the Tally Rally. What a loser! I am still working on an album about the weekend so maybe I'll just post the album. I love how it's coming along.

If you're in need of scrapbooking supplies, I've got a huge assortment for sale on e-bay. After two and a half days of cleaning and sorting, the winner of this lot will get lots of great papers and embellishments! It really is a good deal...I'd imagine well over $300 retail value.

Thanksgiving! Well, let's just say it was nice not to have to cook this year. My mom cooked a great dinner, and even though I didn't get to see my nephew, it was nice to see my sister.

Okay, so back to work and cleaning and making Christmas shopping lists!!

Why do I like this Elf thing so much??

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

So sweet! I just couldn't help myself!

Is this not the sweetest thing? There's nothing like the back of a baby's neck...that's where all the sugar is stored!

Here's where I couldn't help myself...

I'm sorry, Carson!

I can't believe it!

Have I been so busy that I haven't even updated my blog with pictures and tales from the SC Tally Rally??? Geez! And now, Jake's birthday has passed us as well as Halloween and November is already five days in with today being the day after Election Day! Incredible!

I am so proud of our country right now. I think most Americans were so anxious for change, and the way this election went it was so obvious. I pray for President Obama, his safety, and that the congress will realize they need to work with this President for change. Surely, the American vote proves that we are all tired of how this country has been run.

Halloween in our neighborhood was not as active this year as it has been. Not as many trick-or-treaters and not as many homes participating in giving out treats. Jake wasn't disappointed though. He dressed up as Indiana Jones this year. He's never seen an Indiana Jones movie, and I'm not sure how he came up with the idea, but that was who he wanted to be.

Also, my little guy turned 5 this year!!! It seems impossible to me that he's 5 years old. We had another party at home this year. Maybe next year we'll do something different, but I like having family come as well, and I know his grandparents might not enjoy the noise of a place like Chuckie Cheese. He picked Mario Bros. as his theme this year, and I thought the bakery did a great job on his cake!

Playing EleFun!

Look at my boy!

Today though, Pat took Jake to the doctor and he has both ears infected and bronchitis! I can't believe we've gone this long without any ear problems, but I guess we've been blessed in that department.

Look for some pics from the SC Tally Rally soon!

AND! A very special thank you to Rachel W. (aka TallyHo) for designing my wonderful new banner! I love it!!