Firetruck Santa

It was an exciting and long morning (yesterday) waiting for Santa to arrive in our neighborhood on a firetruck.  We had time to make a batch of chex mix...YUM!

Finally, I went to the mail box to drop one last Christmas card in the mail and I could hear the sirens in another close by neighborhood.  So, while we waited the girls decided to play outside with sidewalk chalk and play golf.  Crazy, since it is December.

Here is a picture of all the kids and Santa!

Then the girls spent the afternoon playing!

I woke up with a cold yesterday and just kind of bummed around.  This morning after we got home from church, Hope brought me a piece of paper.  She had made me a get well card.  How cute it that!  That one is a keeper for sure!

Well, here is the latest on Elfie...he got cozy in one of the stockings we have hanging around the house...

...and must have hitched a ride back on this reindeer this night...

...and in the lampshade last night.

Can you believe that Christmas is next week.  I think we are done shopping, but now just need to wrap presents.  

Well, off to rest my tired bones and watch the finale of Survivor!  I really don't have a favorite I want to win, but still enjoy watching how it all plays out!

Til next time...

Darla

December-Project 12

Before I share my December P12 layout, I have to share this picture Hope drew this weekend.

It is a picture of herself in her Santa dress.  This is the frame we usually put the Santa visit picture in, but I didn't buy one this year and I haven't taken the time to print one out.  Not sure I will, because I love the one in there already.  :)

Now onto the layout.  Yes, I actually used pictures from December, but they are from last year 2010.

Here is the sketch...

I loved this sketch and used the My Minds Eye Christmas Lost & Found papers.

Here is a close up of the left side of the layout.  Instead of the title and embellishments, I opted to add three more smaller photos of events during last December.

Here is a close up of the right side of the layout.  Now if you look closely, you will notice the die cut from My Minds Eye is spelled incorrectly.  If you purchased the die cut sheet (it is a 12 x 12 sheet) you can send an email to their customer service (click HERE for link to their blog and further information) and they have offered to send a new (corrected) die cut. I plan to just pull off the one showing and add the new one to the layout when I get it.

Thanks for stopping by and have a good one!

Darla

Well...

...the snow has melted, the Christmas cookies are gone and Hope danced her little heart out in The Nutcracker!

Wow!  It has been a busy week!

On Friday, Joe's mom came to town (for the show) and we went to visit Santa (and got our nails done)!  :)

This was the easiest visit to Santa EVER!  We walked up to the gate and I couldn't figure out why there wasn't a LONG line.   We just walked right in, sat on his lap, I took a picture and we were off to get our nails done!  I did ask how much it was to have a 5x7 picture printed.  $22.  WOW!  Now I remember why we don't usually go to that mall to visit Santa!  You have to stand off to the side to take your photo, which isn't a big deal.  The lady actually yelled at me because I wasn't in the right spot, but there was a stroller in the way so I couldn't stand where I was supposed too.  So much for holiday cheer!  Good thing I didn't have to stand in line or my holiday cheer would have been gone too!  :)

Then Saturday was performance day.  All the kids did a great job and Hope was such a good baby mouse! We giggled the few times she was on stage.  When the baby mice run across the stage, she was the last one across and the line got held up behind the curtain.  So hope was pushing the girl in front of her and then she decided to look back and got mesmerized by what was going on stage and just stood there for a few seconds.  Then at the end of the show when all the cast comes out to bow, she was tickling to person next to her while they were walking out and was totally oblivious that she was on stage.  Too funny.

Below is her birth mom doing her hair for the show.  We are so thankful that she was able to come up for the show and to help us with Hope's hair.  I know it looked way better than if I had done it.  

Here is a picture of Hope in front of the tree with her mouse make-up on.  She had a great time and is already looking forward to doing it again next year.

I think because she got flowers from everyone in the family.  This is just a small sampling of the flowers she received. 

Well, now I better bring you all up to date on Elfie's adventures...

We have found him here on the mirror in the hallway...

...and here in the village again (I tried to take a photo so you could see the glow of the village)...

...and in the kitchen window...

...and here on top of my scrapbook cabinet.

We also found him way up on the ledge in the living room, but I forgot to take a picture of him before he flew away that night.  :)

Ok, if you made it this far then good for you!  Here is a Christmas card for a little scrappy inspiration too!

Have a good night!

Darla

Snow much fun!

It started snowing here this evening after Hope got home from school. I told her to go look out back to see if it was snowing and she said she could see sparkles, but didn't think it was snowing...until she stuck her foot out and started moving it around.  She was pretty excited, so excited that she ran out without a coat and started playing.  Then she finally got cold after a minute and decided to come in and get a coat, hat, gloves and boots on and went to work shoveling the deck.

For some reason she thought it needed to be done (even though there is hardly any snow).  Might have something to do with trying to earn one of these...

We baked cookies tonight for this weekend.  And yes, those are Christmas cookies with purply-pink frosting.  It was the color Hope picked out/created.  I just went with it.  :)  The next batch will have traditional colored frosting.

...Or maybe she was trying to give something good for Elfie to report to Santa tonight.  Here is where we found him this morning (Day 8)...

These are the lego sets that Hope had been building and we ended up putting them on top of her art center for now instead of taking them apart.

Here is a Christmas card I made a while back.  I have had these papers for years and finally go around to making a few cards, but have a lot more I can make too.  Maybe next year.

Since the snow is glistening'...I will end with that tonight!

Have a good one and stay warm!

Darla

Elfie & Project 12-November sketch

Elfie continued his adventures in our house...

He landed on the top of the painting.  I think we found him there last year too (I guess he is running out of hiding places).  :)

It has been really cold here the past few days so...I am thinking warm thoughts while posting my November sketch layout.  I used this layout as a general summer layout of all the various activities we did this summer.  

Here is the november sketch:

I loved this sketch from the moment I saw it and I actually followed it pretty closely.  Here is my layout...

I don't usually use such bright colors, but this layout just called for something different.  The papers and stickers were from Echo Park and I used just a few other odds and ends from my stash.

Here are some detailed shots...I added the year using small stickers on the side of the "summer days" title after I took the picture.

When I printed my photos, I used the print function on iPhoto.  I grouped all the photos I wanted to use into one folder and highlighted all of them to be printed.  Then I chose to print out an index sheet of all of the pictures (which gave me another option to choose the size of the photos).  Once I decided on how many to print per page I just had to click ok and all the pictures printed.  It was actually pretty easy to do on my Mac computer.

I also had a lot of pictures that I took on my phone, so the small size of picture was great to use since the pixel quality isn't always the best when using your phone to take pictures.

That is my November P12 layout.  I already have my December layout completed too.  I used pictures from last Christmas that I had not scrapbooked, which included all of our preparation for Christmas.  So, it will be my first layout during P12 that I actually used pictures from the month of the sketch (even though they are from last year).  :)

I love how the layout turned out, so I will be sharing it soon.  

On to funny news...Hope has developed magical powers tonight.  Somehow she is managing to make the lights on the tree go on and off when she touches the tree.  It is pretty cute!

That is all for tonight!  Have a good one!

Darla

Cutest Baby Mouse!

Tonight was our last rehearsal before the BIG show on Saturday for The Nutcracker.  Is this not the cutest baby mouse EVER!

I was one of the helpers putting on make-up and each person was in charge of a color.  Once I got the hang of it, it wasn't too difficult.

Then after I was done with make-up I was free to go up in the balcony and take some group photos of the rehearsal.

She was having a lot of fun!

On to other news...

On day four Elfie was found still in our tree.  Oooops!  I guess he didn't have anything good to report to Santa that night!  :)

On day five, we found Elfie here...

...among the Christmas village Joe and Hope had set up that night.  Hope made Elfie a note to take with him back to the North Pole when he made his journey home.

On day six, we found him on top of the fridge.

Well, now that we are up to date on Elfie's adventures I can share a few more cards with you.

Have a great night!

Darla

Trimming the Tree 2011

We finally got around to putting up the tree last night.  Joe was working later and Hope just couldn't wait to start putting it up.  She remembered from last year how to follow the directions for the different colors on each level of the tree branches.  She pretty much put up the entire tree on her own with just a little help from me.

Joe finally got home and helped us put the lights on the tree while I fluffed out each branch.

Hope had specific places she wanted each of her favorite ornaments.

Below she is adding to the "candy section" on the tree, where she put all the candy themed ornaments.  Funny kid!

Here she is showing off the candy section along with a few other favorites of hers.  Some of the ornaments are bunched together, but that is just the way she/we wanted it.  :)

And now on the the Elfie updates...

On day 2, we found Elfie here...

...and since we put the tree up last night, we found him on day 3...at the top of the Christmas tree.

As you can see, we have lots of Hope tree ornaments.  I love finding them with Hope's name on them and usually add a few each year.  :)

Well, I need to go get my baby mouse ready for dress rehearsal for the Nutcracker (the show is next Saturday).  I can't wait.

Here is another Christmas card to share with you too...

This is almost identical to one I shared the other day except it has different colors.  Super easy when you have the right pattern papers.

Have a great night!

Darla

Look who is BACK!

Elfie has returned for the 2011 Christmas season!  Yeah!  Look where we found him when we got home from school!

We had been home for quite some time and I asked Hope if she knew who stopped by for a visit last night. She got a strange look on her face and then asked if it was Elfie.  She started running around the house trying to find him and found him on the fireplace mantel perched on her school picture.  She was SO EXCITED and started screaming and laughing. 

Then she went to work making him the card she gave to him telling him how much she loves him.

Now she is making matching crowns for her and Elfie.  Too cute (even though she is supposed to be doing math, writing or reading).  Oh well, she is writing anyway.  :)

We are going to decorate tomorrow night and it is snowing outside right now.

Since we are talking about Christmas, here is another card to share with you!

Stay warm and cozy tonight!

Come back to follow the adventures of Elfie-2011!  Where will we find him next?

Darla