I Love Scrappy Gifts

There's nothing better than a package in the mail... wait, there is something better, a scrappy gift from Angel! I came home from CHA to a cute little box all wrapped up and waiting for me. Even though it was late I had to open it immediately. I can't even explain how perfect my puzzle is, check it out!

Thank you, thank you, thank you Angel!!!!!

Some Inspiration!!!

Sharing some CHA inspiration with everyone...

alter a bra contest sponsored by Melissa Frances (I voted for the one in the top, left corner)

an adorable cupcake & candy window box at Doodlebug Designs

a huge chipboard castle by Kaiser Craft

a design a house challenge sponsored by Ranger

how adorable is this calendar board by Daisy Bucket?!

A CHA Update

I'm still at CHA but found a minute to sneak away and say hey y'all (best Britney impression here) check out my work blog and see some pics :)

 

Collected Memories Blog

I will be adding pics here soon.

A Little Last Minute Art

I wanted to throw this up because I think Riley did such a good job! I got him these little plastic beads that you make designs out of and then iron together at IKEA. Then I showed him a pic from Angel of an ornament she got from a friend this year that was made out of these things. He totally copied it and made me a little Starbucks cup! I was so impressed with how easily he figured it out and of course I love me some Starbucks anything!! We got really creative with these things last night and made rainbows for Kolbi and more coffee cups. 

Also, Riley is really struggling with me going out of town again. So yesterday I threw together a little 'calendar' for him to keep track of the days I will be gone. I really hope this works or Carol, Justin & Kolbi will be tormented with cries of 'I miss my mom' and 'when will mom be home' for days! He drew all the pictures himself to remember what he will be doing on each day. 

By the way, blogging at the Oakland Airport - I sure do appreciate free airport internet! 

Good TV Week

Wow - did you all just watch Grey's?!! I know, I'm all about shows this week, but really, can you blame me?!! Wholy cow, that was a good episode.

Do We All Know What Tonight Is?

That's right, the LOST season premier. Is anyone else more excited than their birthday?! I have NOT missed an episode and am so glad that tonight is THE NIGHT! So run, don't walk, to your TV and turn on LOST - you will NOT regret it! Then leave a comment about how maddening it is and we can discuss!! (I'm sure that we will be left with more questions than we got answers to)

Ode to IKEA

I'm just sitting here wishing I was still wandering around IKEA. If I was there I'd be lounging in a perfect living room (as seen in photo above) and then heading off to the restaurant for some Swedish meatballs, yum! I want to get Riley's room in order with a bed...

he'd choose this one but I like the one below (bed photos courtesy of Nichole - which one should Mr. P get?)

Check out this great thing-y you hang above a bed. I picked up a 'plainer' one for 

Kolbi and we are going to add the little fabric triangles to it.  

Thus creating a rainbow-y thing-y for above her bed. 

So many things to see and buy at IKEA. I would like to... redo my kitchen, bathrooms, livingroom, bedrooms, scraproom and organize all my closets now. It's a love/hate relationship, I guess.

A Monday Morning Deal

This is one of my New Year resolutions - use the tote bags at the grocery store! 

So when I came across this blog offering a give-away I was all over it! You should go there and enter to win a set of your own. I want to be able to do all my shopping and bring the goods home in 'matching' bags!!! I know, it's a little over the top and not what it's all about but hey - so shoot me, it's what I want. While you're there check out that blog - A family's annual grocery budget of $800?! Wow - and I thought I was doing good!

Back from Sundance

Well, it was much different from last year. I'm not sure if we just had less time there or if it was because we worked a different venue. (Last year we went for two weekends) Let's get right to the dirt, here are the 'stars' I saw:

Daniel Farszese (from Mean Girls - he has a film at the festival)

Sting

Kevin Bacon (yeah, I held the door open for him and got a smile)

Paris Hilton (I saw her drunk, crown topped, head anyway)

There's about 10 people's faces swimming around in my head that I can't quite place. I will be combing the gossip blogs to see if I can't place them and will get back to ya! Now, here's a pic of us IN Sundance.

The khaki pants were required - we aren't creep-ily wearing matching pants. 

For our Friday shift we ended up working a private party until 4:30am - I can't remember the last time I was that tired. When we got back to the hotel Nichole and I decided to jump in the hot tub and catch breakfast at 6am BEFORE going to sleep! Wow - I am not young enough for stuff like that anymore. Then on Saturday we started up again at 4:00 and got done by 7:00. We had a great time walking up and down Main St. in Park City. The stores were great, I bought plenty of souvenirs, it was a little dark for too many pics. We finished up our weekend with a looong trip to IKEA. Wow, I miss that store. I showed an extreme amount of will power and didn't buy everything I saw. There wasn't too much room in the car so I limited my self to one bag, just some stuff for the kiddos. I'll take some pics of my IKEA goods later. 

Sundance

I meant to get this post finished up and added sometime yesterday but I ran out of time! So here I am throwin' it out there - I'm off to Park City, UT for the Festival today. Last year we saw lots of stars, hoping for some good luck this year! Ha Ha We'll be sporting our super cool security jackets like last year too - I'll bring back pics and share stories. I'm off!

A Construction Project

Every few years this huge K'nex Roller Coaster gets dragged out of the closet and put together. We've had it since Kolbi was little but it is new to Riley. About two weeks ago he started asking if we could pull it out and put it together. I gracefully bowed out claiming that "only Dad knows how to do it". So he started badgering Justin. Eventually he won and they started the construction. It took about 4 evenings and finally this is what they came up with:

Let's Sew

I've been trying out one of my New Year's Resolutions... sew more. Kolbi and I both decided we should do that. I have many aspirations of sewing dolls, aprons, pillows, pajama pants, shirts and purses. I buy lots of patterns and lots of fabric. Mostly they just sit there! I am going to make myself finish some stuff!!! I started with these adorable little teddy bears and they are great, don't you think? Riley claimed the green striped one right away and loves it.

Here is some adorable flannel that will soon be pj shorts for Kolbi!

 

Daily December - 31st

Here's the last pic for my daily Decembers. Had to get it sent over from Nichole since she snapped it with her camera when we were out on New Years Eve.

Some Planet Kid Pics

There's this really cool place in Boise called Planet Kid . We finally made it there for an impromptu celebration of Lexi's Birthday. Here's some pics of the fun!

Kolbi & Lexi exploring

Mr. P taking a ride!

Lilly & P crawling through the mazes

Riley playing in the huge ball pit

Nichole & P in the tunnel!

Then some birthday cupcakes for Ms. Lexi

Blowing out the candles

I got a pic of the paparazzi! 

A New Scrapbook Challenge?!

Ok - I probably should of got on this earlier but I was blog browsing this morning and came across this: Project 365. I love how this blogger is putting her own spin on it. I think i'll put my own spin on it too - literally. I have this:

mine is more naked though, like this:

It has been sitting very lonely and picture-less for quite a while now. I'm going to plan a year in our life 'album'. I'll try to take lots of everyday photos (although I know that one a day is too much!). So by December '09 I should finally have a complete photo carousel. Oh yeah, did I mention no new products? I've got to start using my stash and I figure this is a great way to do it. I have lots of the cards and the punch and so many little accessories for this project just sitting there waiting for me to get going! I'm shooting for monthly updates. Wish me luck!

One Resolution

All right, so far the only resolution that I am willing to put in writing is to work on gettin' healthy this year. (That means loose the fat!) I'm off to a good start - we all joined the Y in October and have been going off and on. Justin is doing a way better job at it than me though and it's starting to make me look bad. I was getting so bored with going in and doing the same thing over and over and over and over... Then I found Zumba. It's almost embarrassing but my Y has Zumba, Latin Dance Aerobics classes and I love them! The time flies by and I don't just watch the clock. So I will be adding this to my weekly workout schedule. I do wish that the classes were offered 24/7 though because sometimes I'm so picky. I've roped Nichole in to going with me and Carol came once on my guest pass and might be back. I wish I could make three classes a week but realistically it will probably be two and then I'll have to do the boring workout once. The actual goal is at least three trips to the gym every week - no exceptions! I'm also going to work on the eating better thing, more on that later. 

Daily December

29th - A batch of pink whipped cream frosting for Lexi's birthday cupcakes.

30th - Nichole, Lexi & Me