~ days 4 & 5 ~

December 4th I had two "stories" so I used another cool  Hambly Transparent Sheet that Ali Edwards is using!  Attached to the Hambly Transparent Sheet, I used stickers from Memory Works- 25 Days of Christmas Cardstock "Count Down" Stickers for the number.  Actually, I didn't like the original square number 4 from the sheet, so I used a different number sticker (can't remember which one), glued a 1 inch kraft circle on top, and then used a different (plain) number 4 from the same sheet!

day four spread

day 4 close up (right)

I decided to hide my journaling behind the photo on this page.  I did this for a couple of reason.  The biggest reason was because I wanted a bit of white (green) space.  A bonus was that it helped to hide the number five on the next page (since it sticks out).  I wouldn't have liked seeing the back of the number 5 and would've felt like I had to cover it up!  Here's the hidden journal...

day four hidden journal

I was really happy when I saw that the book that I'm using from Elise Blaha's etsy shop, had a pink page!  This was the perfect match to tell the story about B. loving (being obsessed with) pink!  And the picture of her trimming her pink tree.  I used a 4 x 6 piece of Hambly transparent sheet between the two pages to help protect the journal from the glitter (I usually use a 2 or 3 x 6 piece)!

day five spread

all about pink

The story is about trimming B's pink tree, and her love for the book Pinkalicous!  So...I hand wrote "Pinkalicous" on the photo with glue (using my best copy of the font used on the book) and glittered it!  It didn't turn out quite as good as in my head, so I haven't decided if I'm going to keep this, or reprint the photo and keep it plain.  Overall, I do like day five's layout, though.  It's probably one of my favorites so far because it's a fun story, fun colors and so very "B"!

pinkalicious

I hope to complete more this weekend, but with the holidays I may not get a chance.  We are also having a few household changes, which may also impair my ability to "get things done."  However, my goal is to complete the rest before the end of the year!

pink.  check.
tassels. check.
bell. check.
assembly #1 complete
Now wine and pizza!

~ 20 weeks ~

Today I would be 20 weeks pregnant if I was still carrying the baby.  C. and I would be watching our baby on the ultrasound and finding out if we needed to buy some blue clothes, or stick with pink.  Part of our Christmas joy would be sharing the results with our families.  I didn't think it would be this difficult.

I am thankful for my two beautiful daughters, my granddaughter, and my amazing, supportive, partner in life.

~ If you pin it, they will come.~

Tonight, while putting B. to sleep...

Me: Do you know that I love you?
B:  (big binkie smile, nods yes)

Me: Do you know that your daddy loves you?

B: (big binkie smile, nods yes)

Then, as if I forgot to mention it, B (through the binkie, while twirling my hair): AND Gwamma loves me!


It's probably important to the story that I also tell you, she was holding her {Pinkalicious} magic wand at the time (apparently, this is now required for sleeping).

Also, I learned that I've been scraplifted on the Scrapbook Circle Blog.  Pretty cool.

One more thing...Pinterest is a powerful thing.  Not only do you get sucked in for hours at a time and it really seems as if it's only been minutes (similar to the story line of many a sci fi novel), if something gets "pinned" that links back to your blog, you get people looking at your blog!  Woah.

Why am I not sleeping?  Oh, right, Pinterest!  Sleeping now!

~ dec. daily - 1, 2, 3 ~

I was finally able to complete a few pages of my December Daily album, at least enough to post.  I think it is possible that some pages may continue to get tweaked here and there, but for now...let's go!

the cover page

I would like to do something fun with the left side, have a few ideas, but nothing is quite working at this point!

I'm finding myself using a lot of kraft (the book that I'm using from Elise Blaha's etsy shop has some, and I've added some with embellies, letters, etc.).  But there is also some traditional red and green.  I like it!   The cover page lists some of the things I would like to do in December.  Cricut for numbers, Martha Stewart letter punch for alphas.

day one spread

Day one -- Highlighting a new tradition in our house (the 25 wrapped books), and a trip with Daddy to Menards.

Thickers "one", EK punch on photo mat and more help from my Cricut for the tag!

One of the things I was waiting for in the mail was the cool Hambly Transparent Sheets that Ali Edwards is using.  Although they came in a timely fashion, I was late to decide I wanted them, so I had to wait.  They were worth it!  Here is one dividing my two stories for day two (Bea taking pictures, and packages beginning to arrive on our doorstep)...

day two spread - left

day 2 spread - right

I added the paper on the right.  The paper, along with the letter stickers on this spread are from Memory Works- 25 Days of Christmas 6x6 paper pad that I purchased at my local scrapbooking store.

Day three we decorated the Christmas Tree!  For this one I had a bunch of photos (none of which were THE PERFECT PHOTO), so I created a collage in Picasa and printed it as a 5x7.  Then, cut and adhered it across the two pages.

day three spread

t{h}ree -- get it??? 

Day four and five are half done, and day 7 only needs a spot of journaling and a number.  I have photos printed out for all pages through day 13, and most of the rest are picked out, just not printed.  This past weekend we had one family Christmas celebration, so I have many to choose from for that day -- and not so many on others.  I am going to try to allow myself to not get hung up on exactly what day something occurred (at the encouragement of Ali Edwards).

On another note, I signed up to do One Little Word 2012 with Ali Edwards, through Big Picture Classes.  Let's see, One Little Word, a 365 +1 group and a 52 weeks group on flickr, plus my family, job and other crafty fun...what am I thinking??? Oh, and this blog that no one reads!  :-)

Geez, do I worship Ali Edwards?  I've mentioned her a lot today!

One more thing...cool app...needed by all.

~ whew! ~

Crazy days!  My holiday book came on the 7th!  So, I've been working on taking, uploading and printing photos...and a little bit of scrapping here and there.  Unfortunately, I don't have even ONE day finished!  I have several days almost completed, but none to show here yet.

I have been using Picasa lately and loving it!  Since my December Daily book is only 4x6, I need photos in various (small) sizes -- and if I want to get more than a couple on a page, it seems that the collage feature in Picasa is necessary.  If you haven't checked it out, you should -- it's handy.  I like it better than the {free} version of Picnik for collages and I use PSE for anything I can't do in Picasa.  

I've had to go to my local scrapbooking store as well as order a few items online as I'm working through this book.  This has been part of the reason for the delay in a complete day or two to show, but I love it!  It's fun!  Here is a sneak peak at a few of the photos I've been working on.  I still don't know for sure which ones will make the final cut, but here are a few from the last week or so (in random order).

~ all about pink ~

Tonight after work I took B. to Menards while Daddy jogged.  One of the items on my list to look for:  pink Christmas lights.  B. has been so unbelievably into pink these days -- even her favorite book is Pinkalicious.  I have this skinny pencil tree that I haven't decorated for a few years.  I thought it might be fun to decorate it this year and put it in B.'s toy area downstairs.  So...it needs pink lights!  We found them!  And pink beads.  And a few pink ornaments that are not supposed to shatter (since she has already broken at least three since Saturday)!  ALL on sale at a good {cheap} price.  It was a good idea!  She loved it!

After Daddy got home we went out to eat.  She was a talker the whole time!  Man!  Good thing it was a very casual place!  When we got home we still needed to open up our book for the day, which she promptly did (Eve Bunting's Night Tree).  She made some sort of moderately appreciative comment, then tossed it on the ground and with perfect timing said, "Let's read Pinkalicious".  I will continue the 25 books project, but I don't think she is appreciating it as much as I am!  :-)

STILL NO DECEMBER DAILY ALBUM IN THE MAIL!  Argh!!

Day One:::Day Two, Three and Four

~ days 2, 3 and 4 ~

December 2

Friday.  That means pizza!  Most Fridays we make it easy for ourselves and have pizza for supper -- cheap, Target, cheese pizza, and we add fresh garlic and green olives.  Tonight we also had wine and beer!

My december 2011 in photos group asked us to take photos of trash today -- so the photo to the right is what I chose to upload to the group.

The rest of the books I ordered for our new family tradition came today!  Yay!  Now to wrap them and make the tags for them!  Also in the box are the books that I ordered to give as Christmas presents for my daughters, son-in-law and our nieces and nephews.  Also a yay!  Three other packages came today, one for my soul mate and two for me.  They are mostly gifts for the girls (M. and B.)!  Lots of wrapping to do, and the tree isn't even up!

Tonight we spent some time downstairs.  I was making tags for the books, C. was playing guitar, and we were both playing with our sweet B...multitasking.  We had coffee and tea and eggs and cupcakes all prepared and delivered by B.  She danced and used Daddy's electric guitar cables as a jump rope, or made 'snakes' with them.  I took a few pics of the evening, most didn't turn out as well as I'd like -- not sure which photo from this day I will use in my December Daily -- but my book isn't here yet, so I guess I have time.

December 3
I REALLY thought the album that I am using for my December Daily would be here today!! How long does it take to ship from California???  Seriously, Elise did her job -- it was shipped Monday morning.  Still not here.  I'm anxious to get started...until then, just the stories.

Today is CHRISTMAS TREE DAY!  It just so happens that another group I am in (called We're Here -- we call ourselves 'The Hereios'), had a "too much stuff" theme today.  Totally fit my day!!!!

too much stuff

We put up the tree and hung the stockings.  You'll have to wait for those pics, as I haven't had time to go through them much yet (and there are quite a few). (I like how I say "you'll have to wait" as if there are people waiting on pins and needles to read this stuff -- especially since I only have one follower -- well, two if you include me -- Hi Julie)! Here are the stories:

1.  We had a light emergency!  None of the strands we used last year worked!!!  Luckily my mom just purchased a lighted tree and was trying to get rid of the lights she no longer needs so she ran them down to me!  Whew!  Thanks Mom!
2.  After I got the lights the way I wanted them (I'm kinda picky about them), I noticed there was one burnt out.  I had some extras, so I pulled it out to replace it.  However, I think I wasn't supposed to do that because it didn't come out correctly.  SO....I had to take that strand off (in the middle of the tree, not the top, not the bottom, the middle) and replace the whole strand with another.  Bleh.  Minor setback.  We forged ahead.
3.  When the lights were satisfactory, we opened the box of ornaments.  B. noticed the two strands of beads and immediately decided we should jump rope with them!  (She is on a jumping rope kick -- it's really NOT jumping rope -- it's jumping up and down and flinging something like a rope around, sometimes hitting things with it)  After a few jumps and then tears when we put them on the tree, she was fine.  Whew!
4.  Next, the balls.  Our tree has pink, lime green, blue, red and orange (of course) balls on it.  The strand of beads is also lime green and so is the bow on the top!  I used to have a more "tranditional, country" type tree, but the last couple of years I decide on this change!  I like it, but may go back someday.  It fits us now, and matches the furniture!  LOL.  B. was hilarious helping with the balls!  She has been on this kick about colors, pink is her favorite, green is C.'s and orange, of course, is mine.  So...she thinks EVERYTHING pink is hers.  Likewise everything green is Daddy's and everything orange is Mommy's.  So, with each ball she would say, "That's my ball", "That's, B's", "That's Daddy's", etc.   AND, of course there were a zillion balls on the bottom third of the tree, multiple balls on each branch, and colors in bunches instead of spread across the tree.  But, I was proud of myself.  I'm usually pretty picky about that stuff, but I let them stay.  C. couldn't stand it, though.  He moved a few eventually.  It's still quite full on the bottom third though. She has had a difficult time keeping her hands off them.
5.  My photos didn't come out as well as I'd liked.  C. took some that were better.  At least I'll have some!
6.  B. wore a cute little Elmo top with a hood that has white fur on it today.  So...we decided the red balls on the tree were Elmo's.
7.  More packages arrived -- but no december daily album (but I already said that).
8.  While C. put B. down for bed, I made a quick run to Target for a few items.  When I went through check out, the lady (that I apparently see often) said, "I was worried that you weren't going to be here today".  I should probably go to Target less often!
9.  I finished all the tags for the books -- and got them all wrapped.  FUN!  Our book today was called Santa Duck and his merry helpers.  Also fun!

December 4
Today M. (my 20 month old granddaughter) was with us for about five hours while her daddy was working and her mommy was at a party watching the Vikings lose, again.  We enjoyed her.  The girls slept at the same time for nearly two hours, which was also good!  A miracle even.

We opened B.'s book of the day while M. was here.  I let her because I knew that today was actually four little board books with Elmo.  They read them.  I think I read Goodnight Moon nearly twenty times as well.  When we were done reading it, M. picked up the book and started saying, "Night, Night" and flipping the pages!  It was cute!  She doesn't talk as much as B., what a difference seven months makes!  But she is saying more words and phrases that I understand.  B. was extra bossy, of course. When B. was eating supper tonight she said (unsolicited), "I had fun with M."

My favorite part of the day was probably when we watched part of a movie on the couch. I was laying down with M snuggled up beside me.  Then B. had to be a part of it, so she laid kind of on me and on the pillows behind me, so she could still see, but also have access to my hair to play with it (wonder if she'll still be doing that when she goes to college)!  C. grabbed the camera a took a few shots.  Even though I have no make up on and look hideous, I may use it as my photo in my album (if it ever comes ;-)).

love those binkies

I decorated the house a bit more today, and now I am down to two boxes with Christmas stuff that I still need to decorate with.  It will need to wait for another day though.

Today we Skyped with my mom and dad.  B. loved showing off the Christmas tree to them and telling them about her day with M.  Next time I hope I remember to take a photograph of the Skyping so that I can record that in my December Daily album (wait for it....wait for it....if it ever gets here).  ;-)

The Hereios are all about candlelight today, so I lit a candle and placed it in front of the tree for a bit of bokeh.

But my favorite photo of the day is this one that I took with my iPhone.  While we were trying to cook supper, B. insisted on putting just about every "pretty" that she owns in her hair at the same time.  This isn't the first time she's done this, but it's been a while.  Then she wanted to see herself in the mirror.  I liked the way you could see two of each of us, at different angles, because the doors to the medicine cabinet were open slightly.  So, I had to take this photo.  Fun!

~ day 1 ~

Last night, B and I made wrapping paper together!  I'm thinking we will use it to wrap presents for daycare and maybe grandparents.  I purchased some kraft wrapping paper at Target (which wasn't exactly easy to find, but I found it).  Then she stripped down to her diaper and got busy!  I showed her how to use her thumb to make holiday lights.  After painting I drew lines to connect the lights.  Although this was a December Eve activity, it just might make the December Daily album! 

our work

B's work

A new tradition that we are starting in our house this year is one that I found around somewhere, but now I've seen it so much I have no idea who to give credit to!  I purchased some fun wrapping paper at Target and have started making tags to match.  I'm using a few traditional colors mixed with more contemporary "Christmas" colors like pink and maybe even a little orange for good measure.  ;-)  I am wrapping 25 picture books with a Christmas theme, adding a tag with the number on it, and each night leading up to Christmas we will unwrap a book and read it!  Sounds like fun, right?  She might be a little young for this, we'll see.  I had some books already (imagine that) but I ordered some new ones too.  They haven't arrived (I expect them tomorrow).  So I just wrapped a few and tagged them to get us started.  My plan is to finish them up this weekend and put them in a basket under our tree (which isn't up yet, also on the to do list)!  I brought two tagged books upstairs, but left one on my desk downstairs because I still needed to make a tag for it.  Tonight when I got home from class, I went downstairs to throw in a load of laundry and found this:

the evidence

B was downstairs by herself for all of five minutes or less while I was at class tonight.  But in that time she managed to pull her chair over to my desk, find, and open the "present" without anyone knowing!

the method

I found this, of course, after we had already opened our first book, The Polar Express.  She didn't seem all that interested in settling down much to read.  Maybe it will go better tomorrow?  I dunno, we'll see.  I'm still glad I'm doing it!

day 1

As if December wasn't busy enough, I also joined a new flicker group -- december 2011 in photos.  It's a theme a day for the month of December.  Today's shot is supposed to be of my better half, but so far he isn't cooperating!  I will be sure to update this post if I make that happen -- I have an hour!

UPDATE:  meet my better half

~ paper craftiness ~

Woot!  Two posts in one day.  LOL

I haven't really been doing much with new layouts lately, but I have created a couple of things that I've been wanting to do for a while.  First, I made a "Reader's Notebook".  I will use this with students as I travel from class to class and meet them in the library and hallways!  Most students in my building have some sort of a reader's notebook.  They keep lists of books they have read, lists of books they want to read, and there is also room for reflection (among other things, all teachers use these a bit differently).  I will use it mostly to write down book recommendations from others (professional, YA fiction, and my own "reading for enjoyment" books) and use in my conversations with kids.  I also have a space in there to write down anything I think is important about what I have read -- to recommend to others, to jog my memory when working with students, etc.  Like the kids, I will keep track of what I have read, too.  Most students in my building have a "book requirement", a goal to read a certain amount of books in all genres, etc.  I am working with a classroom and sharing my progress as well, so this is where I will also keep track of the books that I have read.

I used the same papers to personalize my iPad cover!  I saw this idea on Stacy Julian's website and "pinned it".  I've been dying to do it since!

~ last one ~

Last night I purchased the VERY LAST of these at Elise Blaha's shop on etsy:


holiday books! from elise blaha on Vimeo.

I hope to try something similar to Ali Edwards December Daily, using Elise Blaha's cute little 4x6 book of mixed holiday papers.  It might be a bit much to tackle during this already busy holiday season, but if I don't stress about it too much it just might be fun!  Plus it will help me get into the groove of taking photos every day again in preparation for my 365 project in 2012 (actually, 366)!

UPDATE:  looks like Elise has added more of the holiday books to her esty shop!

~boggle boggle boggle~

Yesterday we visited both sets of grandparents and ate two Thanksgiving feasts!  My parents had a bit of a full house, but not quite all of us at the same time.  My brother and his family were leaving as we arrived -- off to his in-laws.  My nephew, Seth, and his wife stayed just barely long enough to eat and then they were off to two more celebrations!  My nephew Rich and his two kiddos were there longer than we were, and my older daughter Hollyanne and her family were there for quite a bit as well.  It was good to see them all.  After supper, my sister Jeanne, my mom, B. and her Daddy, Rich and his two kiddos, and I walked up to the school a few blocks away to play on the playground.  I didn't need to wear a coat!  Amazing weather!  I took a few photos, of course.  I uploaded about 32 to facebook and flickr, but I'll try to keep it down to just a few here.  :-)

After my folks we went to Grandma and Grandpa B's house.  Grandma B. really  wanted a photo of B with her poinsettias.  I tried...but it was B's "run" time right before bed, so I mostly got blurry photos of her not looking at the camera.  This is what I'm left with:

More photos of the day on flickr.

We pretty much did NOTHING today, which was NICE!!!!  I did try to do a bit of work on my scrapbook space.  I wanted to fix up the bulletin board area so that it looked a bit nicer -- it was all cluttered up with a bunch of stuff I ripped out of magazines for inspiration.  So, I took all the magazine pages and put them in a clear envelope, used the Cricut to cut out the letters for the word "inspiration" and attached the word to the envelope with colorful paper clips.  I was going to glue them on, and I still might, I haven't decided if I like it or not.

B. "helped" me, and her daddy snapped this photo with his iPhone:

I don't like the way I blend in with the chair, making my butt look extra large...but overall, I like the photo and you can see the space a bit better.  The clear envelope is just under the bulletin board, hanging from it with a ribbon.  Now the bulletin board is ready for other bits of inspiration and photos!

B. made this turkey at daycare on Wednesday:

Here's the conversation...
Me:  B, what does a turkey say?
B: Boggle! Boggle! Boggle!

Hilarious.