SOOOOO STOKED!

this chick and this chick are flying in next month for my bday!!!!

i'm so super excited i can't even stand it.

and if that wasn't enough this chickie might be coming in too!!!

whooooo*haaaaa!!!

anyone else wanna fly in?
seriously.
let me know, you have a free place to stay!

OH....

i've been away too long.
i swore i wasn't going to be gone long again, but look at me.
things have been crazy around here, especially at work so that has kinda been draining and kept me from living my normal life....lol. but i've taken the past weekend to relax and get refocused.
scrapping has helped.
ALOT!!!!

so here is a result of the most recent therapy session :)






the recent scrap mojo




ACCCCCCK!!! THIS LO JUST MADE catwalk and picked by ms. big sis herself :)



for the recent jack




an older jack

GOOD MORNING SUNSHINE!!!

good morning sunshine has been updated with some new goodies.

have a happy monday!!!

WELL....

....how is everyone's oh*eight so far?

today i have had an excellent day. house to myself. i haven't heard it this quiet in god knows how long. i'm loving it. the whole not speaking thing is pretty awesome too!

i've spent the day....

catching up on blogs.

scrappin' a lo.

making more stuff for etsy and snapping some shots of em (update will be shortly :)


baking some key lime cupcakes which i cannot wait to try!!

my version! i swear, the green "frosting" i could eat by the spoonful...sooo good!!


i'm pretty much just having a great day.
but i thought i would take a sec and do a lil new year's eve recap since yesterday's post was mostly my hopes for oh*eight!




we are really not into new year's eve. i could care less if we go to a party and i care less if i even make it to midnight. its just not really a holiday that i put too much thought into.



well the past coupla years, we have gotten together with greta and her clan and this year wasn't really any different.

michael grilled out, we shot some fireworks, and exchanged presents.

i couldn't wait to give greta her presents (in another post...i plan on posting all the christmas gifts that i made this year....well at least the ones i snapped photos of...lol) and was equally excited to see what she got me.

we had decided that we would do a "handmade christmas". neither one of us needs anything and i always enjoy giving and receiving hand crafted lovlies.

boy did i rack up.

first, greta kinda cheated and bought me a gc to noel mignon and some of the marah johnson card scrappy goodies that i have been oogling for quite some time. but i'm not complaining that she cheated in the least :)

and now on to the handmade schtuff...


prima ornament


hambly owl necklace


handmade card and heidi swapp mask


an album for me to put lo's of all of our self portraits

and...


an awesome "friend" album for me to put pics of the two of us in.

see i told ya i racked up :)

so all and all it was a nice and quite new year's. greta's clan left around 1030-1100-ish. michael started a fire and we put the kiddos in bed (only to discover that mikey was in bed watching fireworks out his window and reading one of the captain underpants books that simone and max sent him. and i am here to tell ya, seeing that swelled my heart like you wouldn't believe. i even jumped in bed with mikey a coupla times to watch the fireworks with him. he was convinced two of our neighbors were having a competition to determine whose fireworks were the prettiest :)

once the clock struck midnight, michael gave me a kiss that made my knees buckle, we watched a lil murder she wrote (of course!) and then hit the hay.

a nice relaxing evening to start the new year off right :)

oh man!
i better get...i wanna few relaxing minutes reading or watching something on tv before everyone gets home :)


darn it!
one more thing.

i like to make lists. i usually don't make them enough but when i do i find that they keep me organized and nothing is more satisfying then crossing something off. whether it be a grocery list, to*do list, or lists to help me prepare for an event.

so i decided that this year, instead of throwing them away, i would snap a photo of them (first?), add em here, and be able to see what all i got done this year. anyone is welcome to join me if ya want, just lemme know so i can be all nosy like and read your lists too!!!

without further ado, here's my first list for oh*eight

HAPPY OH*EIGHT!!!

pic taken by your's truly on new year's eve night.


i hope everyone had a fabulous and safe new year's eve night and that you're spending the first day of oh*eight feeling relaxed, being a lil lazy, and just enjoying the day!!!

that's on my agenda anyway :)

ya know, oh*seven was a rough year for me...well us. ya know with all the house brew*ha*ha and living at mom's (not living with mom per se, but living in someone else's house and not having my own). so i have been looking forward to oh*eight for well...quite some time.

i'm very excited about this year and i have many hopes for it. its an even numbered year...i tend to like those more. i turn 30 next month (eeeek!), and well, i just have a lot of things that i would like to accomplish this year. i'm not going to say resolutions, b/c who the hell keeps those??

so i am going to call them.....da*da*da*dum.....

my "oh*eight hopes"

and here they are:



*to be more positive. quit being a "glass half empty" kinda gal

*learn more about my camera and take a ton of pics.

*start a family game night and stick to it.

*have a garden this year and produce a bounty of beautiful veggies. have the kiddos be a major part in this with me.

*get rid of my black thumbs....i guess maybe this one should come before the one above ;)

*journal and journal and journal and journal.

*feel relaxed 85% of my time

*climb a rock wall (i need to find one first...i wish we lived in an area to hike, but we don't).

*quit smoking for good!!!!! seriously, this is the one i wanna accomplish the most!

*cook more homemade meals. make the time to do this. i love to cook and i usually do, but i'm usually not prepared and then come home from work and think "what's for dinner?".

*create a menu and stick to it...making my life more calm!

*be and stay organized. if i would just realize the stress this would reduce in my life.

*be more frugal. realize the difference between "wants" and "needs" (even though i really do "need" elsie's jack + abbey line...i really do!)

*use up the goodies in my scrap room. why have it if i don't use it?

*write letters and thank you cards and get them in the mail.

*keep up with birthdays and get stuff out in the mail in a timely manner.

*get my ass off the couch!

*do more crafty*schtuff with the kiddos.

*keep my etsy shop updated with goodies (and hopefully sell something or two :)

*learn more about photoshop

*answer emails immediately

*make more real life friends

*vamp up my sewing skills (or lack there of actually)

*scrap more!!!!

*read, read, read. and start to read some classics.

*keep a cleaning schedule and stick to it so i'm not bombarded with a buncha chores at once.

*i HAVE to go to work everyday so i might as well find something about it i truly enjoy and quit bitching about how i can't be a stay at home mom. start crafting there if neccessary...lol.

*go bowling more often

*take a photography class

*quit being soooo competitive

*start exercising more and watch the junk i eat. i am not going to call it dieting.

*quit putting everything off until "later". i'm such a procrastinator and this has to stop! my life is by no means easier b/c of this. as a matter of fact, something usually comes up "later" and then i'm running around bitching at everyone b/c of my own lateness!!!




well i guess that's a large enough list now to start my oh*eight off with.

what's your "hopes for oh*eight"???

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!!!!

WHEW...WHAT A FAB*YOU*LESS CHRISTMAS!!!

hope ya'll had a fab*boo christmas b/c i know we sure did!

it all started christmas eve (which also happened to be the longest day in history). michael decided that he was going to chop some wood so we could have our first fire.





mom came over after work being pizza (of course!) and some cookies that she picked up at michael's that you can color. they were so cute and the food coloring markers had scents that i didn't think went that way with the cookies...lol








michael working hard on his :)







we decided that since it was still the longest day ever after cookies and pizza, that we would let the kiddos open up a present from my brother buddy (since i knew what they were) and thought that help pass the time. i have to admit i was wrong...lol


transformers the movie. i have to say this was actually good but toooooo long! they coulda cut it by about 45 minutes.


ratatouie

after movies it was time to get the kiddos snuggled in bed with thoughts of sugar plums of course!!!

now i have to admit, that when its time for me to go to sleep on christmas eve, i have a very hard time. not only do i worry about the kiddos getting up before i have a chance to, but i'm also very excited to see what santa has left for me. so starting about 4 a.m. i was up almost every half an hour. at 6:30 i decided enough was enough, i need to go get my butt on the couch with some coffee. i popped in the christmas story and relaxed. about 7-ish, i heard the first stirring of a lil one. it was mikey. i sent him back to his room and told him that i would get him in a minute after i woke up his daddy.

after everyone was up, it was time to see what santa brought everyone :)




mikey's stack!


bella's stack


here they come!!!!

now the kiddos racked up this year. santa must of only saw them when they were being good lil boys and girls {wink}. but some of the bigger things were.....


basketball and hoop. this was one of things that mikey asked for this year. i've already taught him how to play "horse" and where he needs to aim to get the baskets. he's actually pretty good. he must get that from his mommy :) i did play in junior high after all {wink}


a mp3 player for bug


hannah montana cd for bella*boo


and bella's very own cd player.

and lemme go on and tell ya, this was the bestest present that she received. bella is very much into music and has been singing and dancing since christmas morning.

want proof?







santa even thought that fritzy was a good boy this year and he got him a couple of goodies too!



once the kiddos opened up all of their presents, it was time for me (and michael ;) to open up ours.

boy was i a very good girl this year.

*******WARNING*********

I HAVE BEEN BLESSED TO HAVE A BEAUTIFUL HEAD OF BED HEAD EVERY MORNING. I MUST SLEEP LIKE A MAD WOMAN FOR ME TO WAKE UP AND LOOK LIKE THIS. I DECIDED TO SKIP THIS SHOWER AND DOING UP MY DOO TO PRESENT THE WORLD WITH PICS LIKE THIS. SO IF YOU ARE NOT IN THE MOOD FOR SOME HORROR PHOTOS ON THIS FINE DAY, YOU SHOULD JUST SKIP DOWN TO THE BOTTOM OF THIS POST RIGHT.NOW!!!



a food processor to replace the one that michael broke a few years ago!


the five year journal that i had been eyeballing for quite some time. simone look at how small it is!!!


match game the dvd game...this was sooo much fun. but mom kicked my ass on this!


a book on my luva! now i don't have to get into it with michael anymore :)


this book has some gorgeous pictures in it


and this lil number i cannot wait to get lost in. i have been wanting this book for months and months now. its supposed to be a book that any idiot can read and understand. i just hope that's right :)


murder she wrote from mikey


more murder she wrote from bella


and the one thing that i wanted more than anything this year. and i mean anything. i told michael if this wasn't under the tree, then christmas was going to be ruined for me.

THE DWIGHT SCHRUTE BOBBLE HEAD!!!

yes, my friends. dwight can now reside in my office!!

the kiddos were also generous this year and did some christmas shopping with nonna and picked us up a couple of things.


from mikey a lil bistro plaque to put in the kitchen


michael got a county jail


bella got me a beautiful candle


and michael a smarties dispenser. no, not a pez dispenser, a smarties dispenser. and for those of you that didn't know, he's addicted to smarties.

michael also got some goodies that he liked this year too! here are a few.


s'more tools since he lost his during katrina


a gc to harbor freight to buy more tools


and an irish book since he thinks he's irish.



whew! ya'll made it thru that hair.

after we cleaned up and got prettied up, we waited for mom to get off work and come over. then we exchanged even more presents.

i was especially excited for her to open up hers b/c me and my brother buddy went in together and got her a new camera. the digi camera my mom had was shit. you had to stand there in your pose for about 20 seconds waiting for the damn thing to take.


as you can see she was quite excited.


my lil artists framed up some of their work for their nonna



mikey also got the coolest csi kit



now on to me (of course!).

my mom got me the coolest presents this year.


some paula deen specialty salt. i cannot wait to use this.

whew!
better hair!


some lifetime dvds....this is the best! we watched one of them that night. they are sooo good! now if only i can get every movie on dvd. sorry michael. damn! i can....greta got me...errmm...oneil tivo for christmas so i might have to get her to start recording!


a vintage camera to add to my collection


a video camera from the 60's that i have been fondling for months and months at a local antique shop. damn i love this thing!!! sorry about the hoots exposure.


and the bestest thing ever! a zodiac jello mold to add to my collection. this was my mom's first ever ebay purchase. isn't it just the fabulousest thing ever????


after the gifts were done, we sat down to a dinner of homemade spaghetti sauce, ravioli, italian salad, and homemade garlic bread.

delish!!!!

after dinner mikey was finally able to shoot some hoops. as you can see in the pic, all those pieces of paper on my car are the instructions for putting that damn thing together. the box was missing them and michael had to pull them up from the website...whew! poor thing was out there for a coupla hours getting that thing together.

but i think it was all worth it!



well that's it folks!

that's the manna's christmas of 07.

hope ya'll had a wonderful time spending it with family and friends and that santa brought you everything that you asked for :)