Twas the Night Before Christmas

...and all through this house, the children were sleeping, the dogs dreaming of grouse. Ha-not really! The dog is barking outside of the boy's window & making the boy cry because he is afraid that Santa won't come! And both dogs are probably having stomach issues as they ate Ty's gingerbread house earlier today! I had gone with Leah to my sister's to decorate cookies (Ty is getting over being sick & stayed home w/ Drew) & when we got home I noticed it was gone. Not just some missing, but the entire thing (milk carton base & all) was gone!! Oh what joy!
It's almost 10 p.m. & I just want to go to sleep!!
Merry Christmas from the four of us to all of you!

I hope you all have a very peaceful night & magical day tomorrow!
Sweet visions,
~Stephanie

LCTS Reveal #163

Hey everyone and happy Saturday! Are you ready for Christmas? I have one last gift card to buy then I need to wrap presents.
Tonight I am going to a cookie exchange party at a friend's house & am looking forward to a few hours to myself!
New York was loads of fun (more on that later), but 6 days striaght with the fam and we all deserve a little break!!

Yesterday was reveal day at Let's Capture These Sketches! Here is this week's sketch by Vicki Saulnier:

And here is my layout:

I used the December kit from the Flying Unicorn to create this layout. The birdcage is fussy cut from a piece of Ruby Rock-It pp. We hope you find a moment in this chaotically busy time of year to create with us! If you do, link up here!
Have a great day!!
~Stephanie

This is What 10 Looks Like.....

My baby girl turned 10 on Monday! Yes, ten!!!
And after what happened today, I am so very grateful that she is well, healthy & happy. My heart breaks for the innocent lives lost & the tragedy that these poor families are having to endure. It's all so senseless.
Leah had a wonderful birthday! I took her lunch from Panera to school & had lunch with her & after school, Mom-Mom & Aunt Kelli & Trey came over to giver her her gifts! Then she, Drew & Ty went to dinner while I was at my scrap club. A fun-filled day for sure!
Here is a picture of her getting her ears pierced. She was very brave!!

And we are now going to NYC because that is what she wanted to do for her tenth birthday!
I am so proud of the young lady she has become. She is so strong, independent, compassionate & kind. She has made our lives so much better by being in it!

Good night!
~Stephanie

12-12-12!

Hey everybody! What a fun date today. And it's my nephew's fifth birthday!
I finally finished our tree today! I hung the last of the ornaments (the ones that would fit) on it this afternoon & am calling it done!

I am so glad I can cross that off my list!

Here is a layout that I made using the Mojo Monday sketch at the Flying Unicorn

I used some older MME papers, Pink Paislee paper, and fussy cut circles from a sheet of Echo Park paper. I threw on some gesso to make the bright colors a bit more muted.
You can check out the sketch and play along here. 

I hope you guys have a good night & stay warm! Brrr!! It feels like December now!
~Stephanie

The Sweetest Thing

Hey y'all! I hope you all had a good Tuesday & are getting ready for the fast-approaching holidays!

I went to check on Ty tonight & this is what I found:

I mean come on-how cute is this??! They were both fast asleep. Our dog Nellie sleeps in Ty's bed every night. They are great buddies & he will only sleep alone if she can lay with him. We figured a trip to the laundry mat once a week (to clean the disgusting comforter) was a small price to pay to have him stay in his bed all night!  And Nellie has become quite accustomed to sleeping in his bed too. We will find her up there sometimes in the middle of the day! She really does think she owns this place. And after seeing this tonight, she very well may!

Good night & sleep tight (dogs & all)!
~Stephanie

All I Want for Christmas...

is the current challenge going on at Kraft It Up. I would like some restful sleep, no whining, a clean house.....Ha!  This is my layout:

I started with the kraft paper from My Mind's Eye, then added a few paper strips, some tickets and then the rest of my embellies. The stars are from Martha Stewart. I finished off the layout by adding some white paint randomly over the page & spots around  the edges to mimic snow.
The photo was for our Christmas card in 2010. I am not doing Christmas cards this year as there is just entirely too much going on.

We had lunch with the family today at Red Robin to celebrate Leah's tenth birthday, which is tomorrow, & Trey's (my nephew) fifth, which is Wednesday. After lunch, we went to the mall & Leah got her ears pierced! She has been wanting to get them done for a while so we told her she could for her b-day. She was a bit nervous & when she was sitting in the chair waiting for the girl to get started, I thought she might throw up. But she did well & looks so pretty. I will share a photo tomorrow.

Have a great Sunday everyone!
~Stephanie

LCTS #161

Happy Saturday y'all!
It's going to be a busy one around here. We are still trying to finish the Christmas tree! There are lots of ornaments to adorn it. And I have quite a few scrappy projects to get done, along with laundry & then a Christmas party to go to tonight. I am taking sausage balls &  have never made them before. Wish me luck!

It's time for another sketch reveal at Let's Capture These Sketches. This week's sketch is provided by Vicki Saulnier:
 
And here is my layout:

The strips at  the bottom are a mix of washi tapes from K&Co and Freckled Fawn.

The "friends" diecut is from fancy Pants; the chipboard flower is from Cosmo Cricket; the diecut butterfly is also from K&Co.  

The pp & small alphas are from My Mind''s Eye. I have my journaling on a tag that is tucked under the photo.

We hope you get a chance to play along! We love to see your takes on the sketches!! Be sure to link up here.

Have a wonderful Saturday friends!!
~Stephanie

The Tree-Part Three!

Yes, I am blogging again about our tree! Today we were able to start putting on the ornaments. I let Leah do this on her own tonight before dinner (I honestly don't have the motivation to do it).

I am hoping to be completely done with it all by Sunday.

Here is my December OTP project from this month's Flying Unicorn kit: (be warned, there are lots of photos!)

 I love this mini album from Teresa Collins that is included in this month's kit! I have tried in the past to do a December Daily album, but with all of the chaos that ensues this time of year, I never could fully commit. The thing I like about this album is that it can be whatever you choose-as detailed or as simple as you please! And since this is a crazy month for me, I went a little simpler with mine (but I still love it!).
     I started by painting the album messily with white paint & even allowed some paint drips to show. I like the texture this gives. While the paint was still wet I added in some coarse glitter. When the paint was dry I added some diecuts, a tag with the gold glitter alphas, a snowflake & tree and the delicious Ruby Rock-It trim from this month's embellishment add-on.
Here are some pictures of the inside of my album. I wanted this to be a place to record memories, the kid's wish lists, my to-do lists, Christmas receipts and any other memorabilia we will acquire. I will also add in some of my favorite photos from this holiday season.

  I used a lot of the Teresa Collins diecuts and tags that came in the kit but I also added in some things here and there from my stash.
Phew, good for you if you made it all the way through!
I am off to bed. These busy days are wiping me out!!
Night!
~Stephanie

The Tree-Part Two

Hey ya'll!
So I got more tree lights today & it wasn't as tortuous as I had expected! Michael's had lots!
So as soon as dinner was over Leah insisted that Drew put them on (I don't do lights)!

She is beyond excited this year!! Almost to a fault.

So now the lights are done (& we hope none go out) and we can start adding the ornaments. That is usually a two to three day job! We'll see how it goes this year.
I can't do it tomorrow when the kids are at school because I have lots of scrappy committments that I have to get done. But I know as soon as Leah gets in the door tomorrow afternoon she is going to start! She may be a huge help this year. We'll see...
Good night & sweet dreams!
~Stephanie