Christmas Card 2009

Here's our card. It took about 3 hours to make... we were fighting kids, editing photos, trying to get a good set of digital papers... (long story short) Plus, we aren't that good at our PSE skills anymore. Anyway, hope you like! We took a bunch of other pics as well, but those will have to come another day, for some reason I can't get them to upload. xoxo, Chelle

Monster of all monster updates!! Part 1

We're are in need of a major update, so I'll just post a bunch of random pics and get to it soon... I hope!!! Enjoy!Not in any order, these events happened in October. Punky Boy FINALLY got a bike! Both he and lil' C were thrilled, him b/c he got the bike he's waited over a year to get, her b/c she got his old trike!!
Sorry, tilt your head!
So there's this FREE children's outdoor theatre that shows a show at least once a week, usually twice! They were showing Alice in Wonderland so we skipped school on a Friday and went to the theatre!! FUN! This is Jace's BEST little friend and his fam, who we met over the summer, and also we go to church together and the boys have team teachers at school! So great!

JACE CAN READ!!!!! He earns Daddy Dollars to spend in the Mommy-Mart when he reads to Campbell! Camper earns dd's when she sits through a book!
Carving punkins for FHE before Halloween. They were rotten after 2 days sitting on the counter so we put them outside and then tossed them the next night when they were completely black and furry on the inside. We had no punkins for Halloween... next year we'll learn to wait till the night before like everyone else! It's so darn humid here!
Playing in the backyard on Halloween morning. Still so nice outside!!!
Jace had a school Boo Blast/Fundraiser. It was so much fun! All the kids were dressed up, There was a rock climbing wall Jace got to do for free!
Completed Costumes! We ended up going to party city and having the boypunk just pick the first one he liked, then we bought it and took it out of the packaging so he couldn't change his mind... next year we'll do the same thing, only sooner than later!
E. Frakes (next to Cameron) served in our area for a few weeks. We stayed at his house in Wyoming when we were first married and got snowed in on the roads one Christmas. His Dad changed Cameron's diapers when he was little!!! FUN! He got transfered as soon as he got here so we only spent a little time with him...
Another one of the free shows at the theatre. This was TapKids. They perform on broadway, they're all in HS, and the kids really loved it!





These last pics came in a little wonky... Poor Gepetto finally kicked the bucket. We really thought he'd live forever, but alas, he died over Halloween. He survived two bowls breaking on him, never had clean water to swim in, hardly ever got fed, was left for weeks at a time in a cold house while we were out of town, and somehow he survived! We loved him as much as you can love a fish. The kids were pretty sad until we got a new fish! (Beta fish really do last f.o.r.e.v.e.r.) our new fish, pictured at the top is named Mr. Stinky Pants (MSP for short) I'll get around to November in a little bit!

Costumes

I LovelOveloVelovELOVE Halloween!!! I have tried to do a theme for our costumes each year but this year, Jace wasn't having it! Which helped, cause I'm a little out of ideas (well, not really... I just don't want to do all the work involved in most of my ideas!) SO: Campbell is going as Rainbow Brite this year, complete with boots and a White Sprite. Jace is undecided still, but is shifting mostly between BumbleBee and Spiderman. I think I'd make Spidey, but order BB.

So we went from this ^^^ to this vvv in a matter of hours! It's also a family tradition of ours to have our costumes done close to the beginning of October, so I usually bust them out between GC sessions on Sat. and Sun. This year was a bit harder to get them done, which is why I only have Camp's done! Anyway, I'll get to finishing up the rest soon so you can see!! xoxo, Chelle
(As a side note, that brown rug {above} is covering our big paint spill, and the mess below is a GC tradition, we get out all the Geotracs for the kids and build and rebuild amazing set-ups!)
PS: The rainbow/star is appliqued on. I love the look but it's so darn time-consuming... oh, and I realize this costume is missing some key details, but I'm too lazy to add the rest!! Enjoy!

Community Helper

At Cam's work they had a 'meet the doctor' on a Saturday that the office was closed. Free hot dogs and hamburgers, sodas, and chips! He got about 20 new patients so the day was worthwhile. Mostly it was fun to get to know the staff on a non-professional basis. Every time I go in on a work-day, everyone is busy and running around. These are a few of the people Cameron works with.
Jace had a week at school where they learned all about different types of community helpers. His teacher asked Cameron to come in and talk to the kids about being a dentist and how he helps out in the community. Cameron did a great job! The kids were so interested and funny to listen to. Cameron taught them how to brush correctly and had everyone smile at him. Then a few kids got to come up and practice their skills on Barry the Bee. Jace showed everyone how to floss! He *loves* to floss his teeth! ^^^ Sorry for the blurry pic. I was in the back trying to control a little wiggle-worm named Campbell!

Notice the two clips on Jace's shirt? In his class they start out with 3 clips and lose them for not following rules, talking or being disrespectful. By the end of day, if you've lost all your clips, you lose out on playcenters. By 8:30a, Jace had already lost one for talking!! Nice...

Some Crafties!

Hello, hello! So these are some repeats and some stuff I've been working on in the last little while. There were a few other things, but I gave them to Jace's school auction for the fall festival already so I have no pictures, sorry. They were a coupla tutu's, some fall decor stuff and a bit of vinyl lettering... you could click through and find similar stuff from the boutique I did with Teri B last November... blah blah blah, you get it. So these top 2 pics are some stuff I am doing for Jace's & Campbell's rooms, respectively. Got the frame and butterfly from Michael's, paper is Hobby Lobby, bird is my own design. Jars, buttons, & ribbon are thrifted. You've seen the birdies (behind the frame) before. The watermelons below are an old craft, but I'm changing my kitchen a bit. Disregard the letter B you can see, it isn't quite finished. I'll be putting Jace's initials on his wall... coming soon!
This 'to do magnet board' is lifted from a sweet present I got from Ms. T! The colors in this are what we have going on in Punky's room. I am giving a coupla these for the auction as well.
Recently we have been having all out craft nights for family night and have some cute pictures over the last month or so. So we decided it might be fun to display the fun we're having... hence, this little craftie. The clips on bottom are papered and cute so we can inter-change pics as we take more. Now to just get some pictures printed off! It isn't the paper I'd like, but it was on hand... anyway, I like how it turned out, just wish I had chosen cuter paper to add to my stash. {Note to self: Don't overload on paper way ahead of time. Inevitably, you don't like it a year later!}

The seasonal blocks are old news, but we had a little craft party and I made the pumpkin and the fall block so I decided to switch out my decor sooner than later! The pumpkin has since been given to the auction, what a trooper! I wanted to add some rusted bells and cute trinkets to it, so I'm making a new one with a friend next week! I have a few other fall things, too, but those are being gifted so I'll post those next month!! Look forward to it!
I *love* little cuppies! A friend designs graphic vectors for cutting vinyl so she sent me the graphic for this sweet little cupcake and I cut it out with my scroll saw for us! I just love it! I think I may keep it out all year! The stem is some wire and makes it perfect!
The cupcake is about 5 inches tall. The birds are lifted from a craft night my girlies did right after I moved... oh the sadness! I couldn't exactly remember what theirs looked like and I was too lazy to look it up, so these are a bit different, but I still like 'em!
This is a mess-up that I got over eventually. It was supposed to go on the backside of the Pumpkin Patch, but I wasn't paying very good attention so it's on a black background instead of brown, I didn't feel like peeling it all up... oh well!
Spooky Treats is on the back side of The Witch Is In. Let me tell you, switching out vinyl colors for designs is A LOT of work! Now I know why they charge a bundle for those cute things!
Some of my summer decor. This has been seen before. Blocks are my design, paper from HL, stickers from HL, clearance! Green photo clips and silk flowers are dollar tree!

Got the jelly bean idea off of Make it and Love it, she is on my sidebar. She makes the coolest things! Enjoy!! Off to get at least something done so Cameron doesn't realize that all I do all day is craft!! :) HA! xoxo, Chelle

Hi y'all

I wanted to post up a bunch of random things I have skipped over in the last month or so and today Cameron accidentally deleted a bunch of our pictures... grr! :( so this wordiness will have to do for now. Sorry, but I think you'll survive! Just try to imagine what the pics might have looked like!
The bugs out here are HUGE. and if they're not huge, they have bad tempers and a terrible bite. A couple times we've had dragonflies in the garage and I swear they look like bats. Their wings are going like 400 bpm. SICK! Jace has been attacked by red ants a few times and they leave a nasty mark: zit-like pustules that sting. Poor guy :( The pictures we took of Punky's feet were covered in red and white zits. Hopefully I won't have a reason to replace those lost pics!
I had a few home decor projects but I'll re-take those pics and post them up soon. Campin' got into my craft paint and poured it on the carpet and then painted it into the carpet. What a lovely day that was. I do have pics of that, but I'll have to get them off Cameron's laptop. That was a nightmare. We are now painting the carpet brown, over the orange and red since it is stained and we will never get it out. I'll get those pics up soon! oi!
Cameron went to the BYU game with Petey. They had a great time. We girls had an even better time. Of course we did, Chrissy and I are the most fun, coolest chicks around! teehee! You can check her blog for now to see pics...
We are heading out to San Antonio this weekend to see friends and get some work done. It's going to be HOT and raining, but I'm getting used to that now. Today was a completely muggy, bad hair day. But at least now I have a good excuse for being lazy about my hair-do when I don't feel like doing it!
Alright, this is getting a bit too wordy so I'm out!

I Pledge Allegiance

"Honor the Texas flag; I pledge allegiance to thee, Texas, one state under God, one and indivisible."
Jace says this every morning after the Pledge of Allegiance. I kinda like it. You can see why Texans are so proud of this state! We teach them young! We are keeping Jace home today because he was up coughing most of last night and doesn't seem any better this morning. Luckily, it's just a half-day so he's not missing out on much. He's super bummed out though. He has made quite a few new friends this week, gotten his finger sliced during a scissor war (???), and had his spot moved to another table... and so it begins... Jace is such a talker.

Here's a pic of Campbell. She is such a girl! She loves to play dress-up, and *loves* Mom's high heels! {sigh} She's sure growing up fast.
Here's Jace's experience at the bounce house fun zone here in town. He was ALL OVER the place! He loved it, I couldn't get a decent picture cause he wouldn't sit still! He made friends with some of the neighbors and got invited to go to a birthday party last week before school started! Another plus was that they also invited Campbell so we all got to go! They provided pizza and drinks and a d.e.l.i.c.i.o.u.s. cookie cake. YUM! So, here is Campbell's experience at the bounce house fun zone. She screamed almost the ENTIRE 2 hours that we were there. Up until it was time for pizza and cake. The minute I put her in, she was screaming and trying to climb out... We will definitely be taking her back during the day, now that Jace is in school... :) HA!

See ya later, Mom!!

Jace was so-o excited to go to school today! He ran right in to the school, and yelled back," See ya later, Mom!" Ok, someone is ready for Kindergarten! He could NOT wait to get there! I had to run in after him!
Jace outside of his classroom. There is a separate entrance for Kindergartners so it's not so crazy in the morning! Jace picked his entire outfit, down to his shoes! What a STUD! We set his clothes out last night and got his bag ready... he kept telling me, 'Mom, this is so slick!'

Jace out front before we left for his first day. We live close enough that we can walk to school, but today Daddy chauffeured us! We are all a little happy/sad for today to come. I just can't believe I have a little one in school, and now I don't know what to do with all this time! Maybe I'll go teach Campbell to talk!

Jace got settled in really fast! He is sitting right up front, across from Keira so he was totally comfortable going right in! He walked right in, dropped his stuff at his box, and went and found his name at his desk! Mrs. Guzzo remembered his name and greeted us at the door so that was another relief.

He got right to work coloring and saying hello to his new friends. He is such a fun(ny) guy so I know things will go well! He'll make a ton of friends and I'll prolly be getting notes sent home that he talks too much! Like Mother, like Son!

Here is Jace walking in and getting greeted by Mrs. Guzzo! He was thrilled to see her and immediately started telling her about his weekend and the pictures he colored for class. Ahh, school!!!