Only 7 more Days til Christmas

Wow! Can you believe it? Only seven days tol Christmas. Are you all done with your Christmas shopping? Are your decorations up? I am happy to say I can answer yes to both of those questions. Although I have very few presents wrapped I am very happy at the thought that next week as we prepare for the holidays with family I can sit back and enjoy the season and not spend the days fighting people in the stores. I took the kids just before Thanksgiving to get their picture made with Santa Claus at the Haywood Mall.

They were very happy to see him and tell him what they wanted for Christmas. ALex told him he wanted a Santa figurine which made Santa so happy he wanted a hug.

Then Austin tld him he wanted a book and that made Santa very happy too.

My favorite one is the next one. I made our Christmas cards with this one.

We also we on our annual trip to Hollywild this past weekend. The boys had so much fun seeing the lights and animals. This year they had a camel, a buffalo, baby goats, reindeer, and even a baby zebra.

We fed as many of them as would eat but many of them seemed pretty full.

Alex had lots of fun feeding them but Austin was content with just watching. We always have so much fun it is a tradition we hope to continue for many years to come.

Happy Thanksgiving

During this time of the year we are all reflecting on the things that we are thankful for. I am thankful for my wonderful family who everyday no matter what gives me something to smile about. I am thankful that unlike many people these days my husband has a good job and we are all in good health. Yesterday Alex came home with his indian and pilgrim costumes from school and I couldn't resist having them dress up so I could take a picture.

So from our family to yours I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving Holiday!

Happy Halloween

Halloween this year was such a blast. We found a great deal on a Pottery Barn Kids Dragon costume at our local consignment store Kenzi's Kloset and just knew that Alex would have to be the Dragon Slayer. Well Lindsey (the little girl I keep during the week) decided to be a princess so they would all match. So Cute!

We also carved a pumpkin and attending the Fall Festival at our church.
Unfortunately my pictures from the fall festival at the church didn't come out very well but luckily I have a few pictures from this years activities to scrap. Fall is my favorite time of the year and I love all the fun it brings.

The Big Apple

This past weekend I had the opportunity to go on a New York vacation and to see a broadway play. I had never been to NY before and couldn't believe all the things you could see and do. We started our tour of the city in New Jersey where we boarded the ferry for Liberty Island to see the Statue of Liberty.

What a beautiful sight. To see her in person is so much better than the pictures. Next we board a ferry again and traveled to Battery Park where we saw street performers and venders. We had dinner and then a trip to the Empire State Building for a view of the city at night.

The next day was a bus tour of the city where we got to see Rockefeller Center, Ground Zero and many other sites.

Next was our trip to see Legally Blonde on Broadway at the Palace Theater. Bailey Hanks who plays the lead in Legally Blonde as Elle Woods is from my home town of Anderson, SC. It was a wonderful show and she even came out after the show to sign autographs for her hometown crowd.

Our trip ended with a quick stop in Washington, DC to see the WWII Memorial. What a wonderful trip. I met lots of new friends and saw lots of wonderful sites. I can't wait to visit the big city again in the future.

New member of the family

This weekend Jason and I took the boys for a trip to the Greenville Zoo. Several people had told me that we had some new additions to the Zoo family and we just had to go and welcome them. Our very beautiful new additions were two baby giraffe's. The were so fun to watch and simply beautiful creatures.

There is also another baby at our zoo that we love to visit as well. His name is Bob and he is an orangutan. He will be 2 yrs old this coming January but is still so small and cute. He was riding on his mom's back very close to the window when we were there on Saturday so we were able to see him very well. The pictures weren't great but I will share them with you anyway.

After our visit to the zoo we let the kids play on the new playground right outside. It was filled with creative new playground toys like I had never seem before. The was a bungee cord tower for climbing and some really cool swing like things that twisted and turned. The kids had a ball.

Even daddy got in on the fun.

Next we decided to head downtown for some lunch and a little exploring. There are so many cool things to see downtown and it was such a pretty day we were definitely up for an adventure. We had lunch at Jason favorite downtown restaurant Takosushi. The boys loved the soup and we even had to order them their own bowl.

Next we went to explore the many treasures of downtown Greenville. We walked across Falls Park Bridge, saw the many waterfalls, found a mouse or two (tiny hidden bronze mice) and even skipped a few rocks in the Reedy River.

Our day ended with a special ice cream treat from the Marble Slab.

We had a wonderful time spending time together. We were not on any kind of schedule and we were able to take our time and enjoy each other. I can't wait until we can do this again.

I have so many projects I am currently working on for my local scrapbook store. Next week I will be teaching a Fall Leaf Book entitled Fall's a Hoot. It is a cute little book just right for those pictures of the kids playing in the fall leaves. I know I have tons of those type pictures so I should be set.

Another project I am working on is a pirate mini book. Pirates have become so popular these days and both of my boys love playing pirate so I couldn't resist turning the skeleton book into a pirate.
It is not quite finished but I am very happy with how it has turned out thus far. I will share more once it is complete.

Changes, Changes, Changes!!

Last week I sent my oldest child Alex age 5 to his first day of Kindergarden. I am sure as with all mommy's that was a difficult day for me. Although he had attended K-4 last year this years seemed more real. I know he will be attending school for the next 12 years and then college and it is almost like I don't have my baby anymore.

What made it all better was at the end of his school day while I was waiting to pick him up from school he cam running to me arms wide open so excited to see me again. The fact that he started school on my birthday did not help either but it was a good day.

This week my youngest son started K-3. How empty my house is feeling these days. Although he only goes a couple of days each week I find that I can't wait to pick him up. I am sure I will fill my time with crafting and things that I seem to never be able to get to on an average day but there is still that empty feeling of missing my guys.

Are you a fiskateer? If not you have to be asking yourself a fiska what? The fiskateers is a super fun blog and message board from Fiskars where crafters from all over the world share their love for paper crafts and more. There are prizes and games, oline crops and challenges and just a great positive community for you to meet new friends and get ideas. Just visit http://www.fiskateers.com/ to join in on all the fun.

I have been working on a number of projects lately. One of them is a Flag shaped mini book. I hand cut the shape from chipboard and covered with cardstock and patterned paper (stars). Then I added cardstock pages and embellished them with patterned papers. One of my favorite things to do is buy fabric in small amounts and cut it in strips to make "ribbons". It is much cheaper and can create a shabby look.

What a couple of weeks I have had! Construction has been going on at my home due to a leak with our hot water heater. What does this mean for me? Lots of noise and people in and out of my house all day. It also means that me and the kids are confined to the upper floors of the house. I will be so glad to have my house back to normal. I believe we are reaching the end of all the work and I can put my furniture back in its place and again feel like I have a home.

Being a mom can be a very challenging and rewarding job. Everyday my boys come up with things that surprise me. Lately their new obsession has been with the movie Kung Fu Panda or as my youngest calls it KUNG YOU PANDA with great excitement in his voice. We have the stuffed toys and even pajamas and I can't wait to record their excitement over this on video and on a scrapbook page. We have not seen the movie yet but plan to in the near future. Their love for the movie is merely a result of marketing at its finest. Who knows what the "it" thing will be next week but for now I am enjoying the fun of being a mom of two very creative and imaginative boys.

A New Journey

Today I embark on a new journey and enter the world of blogging. I would like this to be a place where I can share my love of all things scrapbook. I love to create beautiful pages from paper to preserve my family history. I hope to share some of the many tips and techniques I have learned along the way.