It Was A Nice Christmas

Russ & Kate did make it home after a two day delay in Washigton D.C. They arrived on Monday, December 21st, instead of Saturday. At least they were able to be here for Christmas.

Beth and I made four types of cookies: chocolate chip, cut out sugar cookies, Reese's peanut butter cookies and M&M cookies. Ethan likes every one of them.

Everyone liked their presents! That makes it nice since there are no gifts that need returned.

Christmas Will Be Here Soon!

I can't believe that this time in 2 weeks, Christmas will be over. I'm not even ready yet! We were going to put the tree up today, but Beth got called in to work. We'll put the tree up tomorrow. We are also going to try to start baking cookies tomorrow as well.

We're all excited that Russ & Kate will be home on the 20th! It will be nice to see them again.

I'll be doing a lot of shopping this week. I'll be getting my bonus on Monday, then look out stores! It will be nice to finally be able to get all my shopping done.

Busy, Busy Weekend

This past weekend was a very busy one! I went to Sauders for a weekend crop on Friday and Saturday. I met Wendy and Sheila at Chili's at Spring Meadows at 9 a.m. on Friday and then we headed to Wauseon to hit Walmart and get breakfast. After breakfast, we headed to Sauders to start scrapping! They served a burrito/taco buffet for dinner, with a wonderful Chocolate Fluff dessert. Michelle from Wisconsin joined us about 4 p.m. We scrapped until almost 2 a.m.

Saturday morning we got up about 8 a.m., had breakfast and headed back to scrap some more. We went to The Barn for lunch, and I was stuffed! I used my Gypsy for every single thing I did. It sure is so much easier to cut things on the Cricut using my Gypsy! I left to head home about 4:30 p.m. so I could get home to start getting stuff done for Ethan's birthday party on Sunday.

Ethan's birthday party was at 3:30 p.m. on Sunday. It was a cool day, so we had to be in the house. It was a little crowded, but Ethan had fun. We grilled hot dogs on the grill, had potato salad, macaroni & cheese and chips & dip. I decorated a SpongeBob Square Pants cake and Beth made cupcakes. We served vanilla ice cream squares with the cake / cupcakes.

Here is a picture of the card I made for Ethan at my weekend crop. I used my Gypsy to cut out the bug (from the Stretch Your Imagination cartridge), balloon (from the Stretch Your Imagination cartridge) and the 2 (from the Don Juan cartridge). I used the Cuttlebug Happy Birthday embossing folder on the orange cardstock. All cardstock is Bazzill.

Final Week for Cartridge Giveaway

This is the final week for the cartridge giveaway over at www.cricut.com, where they are celebrating their 100th cartridge - Winter Woodland. Here is a link to the description of Winter Woodland: http://www.cricut.com/shopping/ProductDetails.aspx?id=361&s=1&sc=2

The boards over at www.cricut.com are always hopping, especially now that the Gypsy has been released. You should head on over, enter to win the cartridge and join in on all the fun!

Loving My Gypsy!

So I ended up buying the Gypsy when it was the Today's Special on HSN. I had been wavering back and forth, but once I saw the presentation, I was clicking to buy it. The 5 flex pays didn't hurt either.

Well, I FINALLY made my first cut, and here it is:

I cut the cupcake from Gypsy Wanderings. The Gypsy makes it so much easier to cut things because you line up the cardstock for all the different layers on the mat, and it all cuts at one time. I enjoyed cutting my the Cricut before, but this will make it even better!
Now I'm off to link all the cartridges to my Gypsy!

Week 4 of the Cricut Cartridge Giveaway

It's now the start of week 4 of the Cricut Cartridge Giveaway at www.cricut.com. This is in celebration of their 100th cartridge, Winter Woodland! Here is the link to the description of the cartridge: http://www.cricut.com/shopping/ProductDetails.aspx?id=361&s=1&sc=2

I sure would like to win this cartridge!

3rd Week of the Cricut Cartridge Giveaway

Over at http://www.cricut.com/ they are in the third week of the 100 cartridge giveaway. They are giving away 20 cartridges per week. Here is the link to the post on the message board: http://www.cricut.com/messageboard/tm.aspx?m=5316808

Here is a link to the description of the 100th cartridge: http://www.cricut.com/shopping/ProductDetails.aspx?id=361&s-1&sc-2

You should join us and try to win while you are there!

Reminder - Cricut Cartridge Giveaway

Just a reminder that over at www.cricut.com they are giving away 100 cartridges in celebration of releasing their 100th cartridge!

Please see my post below titled Cricut Cartridge Giveaway! for the link to the details of the 100th cartridge.

Hopy you join us on the message board at www.cricut.com

Made Ethan's Halloween Card

Last night I actually found time to get out my Cricut Expression and made Ethan's Halloween card. I used the Hello Kitty Greetings cartridge and the Martha Stewart Drippy Goo punch. I still have to put the sentiment on the inside, but here is the outside.

Cricut Cartridge Giveaway!

Provo Craft is celebrating their 100th Cricut cartridge by giving away 100 cartridges over the next five weeks! Here is the link to the post at cricut.com http://www.cricut.com/messageboard/tm.aspx?m=5248058&mpage=1

Also, here is a link showing the 100th cartridge - Winter Woodland http://www.cricut.com/shopping/ProductDetails.aspx?id=361&s=1&sc=2

Come on over to the Cricut.com message board and join the fun!

Nearing The End Of Summer

The summer sure has gone by fast! We've made plenty of trips to the zoo, so it was well worth the price of the membership. There will be plenty more trips there, especially for Little Boo right before Halloween.

In about a month and a half, Ethan will be 2! It sure doesn't seem like it. He's so much fun, and hasn't really started the terrible 2's yet.

The first picture below is Ethan at 22 months old and the second one is with his Mommy. All the other pictures are from our trip to the zoo on August 16th.

Toledo Zoo Visit Today

Larry, Beth, Ethan, Brad and I went to the Toledo Zoo today. We spent 5 hours there. We rode the train and saw Dad while he was working. Ethan really enjoyed the train ride because the animals along the train tracks were active today. The rest of the animals were pretty much sleeping. It was a very enjoyable day. Below are some pictures.

What Happened to July?!

I can't believe we are at the end of July already. It's been a busy month! Russ arrived on July 10th, Kate arrived on July 16th and Larry arrived on July 18th. We went to a Mud Hens game on July 20th. They actually won that night 4 - 2.

Russ and Kate left early in the morning on July 21st. Larry is still here and will be leaving on July 28th. We made sure we got pictures with Mom before Russ and Kate left. We also got a 5 generations picture.

Tomorrow Beth, Larry, Andy, Ethan and I will be going to the zoo. Here is a picture of Ethan at the zoo on July 3rd. He's wearing the Junior Zookeeper outfit Dad bought him and the hat I bought him that day.

Here is a picture of Beth and Ethan on July 4th! I can't believe I was able to get a picture with both of them looking at the camera and smiling. Usually Ethan will turn his head just as the picture is being snapped.

4th of July Weekend

We had a nice 4th of July. Beth had to work, so we had a cookout after she got home. We had hamburgers, hot dogs, potato salad, baked beans and macaroni & cheese. Later in the evening, we shot off fireworks. We put on a good show!

Today (Sunday), I was FINALLY able to finish Ethan's alphabet book. The album is an 8 x 8 Pioneer album. I put Colorbok chipboard letters, covered in Colorbok chipboard letter stickers, on the cover. The cardstock used for the base of the pages is by The Paper Company. I used the Zooballoo Cricut cartridge to cut all the animals and letters. The letters on the title page and end page were cut from adhesive-backed cardstock I bought from QVC, and all the other letters and animals were cut from Bazzill cardstock. The animals are attached on the outside of the page protectors with velcro so Ethan can take them off and put them back on. I used my YourStory machine to laminate the animals.

Weekend Went By Fast!

I can't believe it's Sunday night already! It's been such a busy weekend. Yesterday I watched Ethan while Beth was working. Then yesterday evening we went to the Shoreland Festival and then watched fireworks after that.

Today we went to the fireworks store in Michigan, Platos Closet, Menards, Lowe's and then finally home. We had leftover spaghetti for dinner.

At least this is a 4 day work week, since Friday is a holiday. I will then have a full work week the week after and then vacation the week after that. I'm really looking forward to having Russ and Larry home!

June Is A Busy Month!

June 10th was Mother's birthday, as well as Andy's 16th birthday! I'm glad I was able to get him a present he really wanted - a bigger hard drive for his XBox 360. We gave Mother money. After Mother and Andy opened their presents, we went to Bob Evans for dinner.

While Beth was outside, I decided to take pictures of Ethan and me. Here is one that I really like of the both of us. Look at the little devil posing!

On June 16th, the Toledo Zoo had an employee night. For this, the employees and their families got to see the new area that would be opening on the 19th. Ethan loved the goats, as you can tell by his face in the picture below.

On Father's Day, we set up Ethan's pool. Here he is sitting in it. He didn't even wait until he got his swimming trunks on! We had a cookout, and our menu was hot dogs, hamburgers, potato salad and chips. It wasn't much, but after all the work we did that day, it was good.

Did A Little More Scrapping

Last night I worked some more on Ethan's alphabet album. I have one letter, an "a", that I need to recut because when I ran it through the Xyron, it flipped over and the adhesive is on the wrong side. I'm excited to be in the finishing stages of this project. Hopefully I can finish it tonight and post some pictures.

I plan to also make Ethan albums on counting and colors.

Giveaway On a Cool Blog

I saw a post on the CKMB for a giveaway on the Picture to Paper blog. Here is the link: http://picturetopaper.blogspot.com/ Look at the post titled Favorite Friday.

I looked around the blog and they have some really great projects. I've added it to the Places I Like To Visit.

Just thought I'd share with you.

Did Some Scrapping Over the Weekend

On Saturday night and all day Sunday, I used my Cricut and cut out all the animals and letters I need to make Ethan's alphabet album. Now I just have to trim cardstock down to 8x8, laminate the animals and then start assembling. I can't wait to get it done! I'll make sure to post pictures of the album here. Hopefully tonight I can do some work on it as well, but who knows if I'll have time. If not, I'll definitely work on it tomorrow night.

I also have to make birthday cards for Mother and Andy, since their birthday is next week.

The Weekend Is Here

I'm so glad that the weekend is finally here. Tonight I watched Ethan while Beth was working. He was being silly and we played a lot. Then all of a sudden he got tired and was ready for bed.

My plan for tomorrow is to start cutting out the animals for Ethan's alphabet book. I'll have to start it when Ethan takes his nap, and once he wakes up, I'll have to wait until Beth is home from work to start cutting again. I'm excited to start working on his book. I'm going to laminate the animals and attach them with velcro on the outside of each page. That way he can take the animals off and put them back on.

This Seems Like the Longest Short Work Week!

I know this is a short work week, but it sure does seem like a long one! I wish the weekends would seem as long.

At least when I get home from work, Ethan comes running to me and gives me a kiss. It's so cute! He sure is developing quite a personality. He likes to play and giggle a lot. At the store he'll sit in the cart and just chatter away. Then when I answer him by saying "Is that right?", he'll start shaking his head no. Sometimes he shakes his head so fast that he gets dizzy.

Hopefully tomorrow when I get home from work I can start cutting out the animals on my Cricut for Ethan's alphabet book. I can't wait to work on it and see Ethan's face when I get it done. He loves books.

Summer Is Right Around the Corner

Today was so humid, that you couldn't help but know that summer is right around the corner. We had on and off thunderstorms today. I just hope that we don't have too hot of a summer.

On May 17th, Beth, Andy, Ethan and I went to Pearson Park. Here are some pictures:

Here is Ethan swinging

Here are Andy and Beth with Ethan on the slide. You can tell by Andy and Beth's face that they are enjoying the time with Ethan. It's nice to see Brother and Sister enjoying time together.

I love the next two pictures of Beth and Ethan. They didn't know I was snapping pictures, but you sure can tell the special bond that Mother and Son have in these photos.

Ethan sure was tired after we got home from the park. He went to bed early and slept pretty well.

In the following picture, Ethan is 19 months old! He's such a ham!

We had a nice Memorial Day. Our menu was hamburgers and hot dogs on the grill, corn on the cob, potato salad and chips. We went the easy route and clean up was a breeze since we used paper plates and plastic silverware. Here is a picture of Buster enjoying the sun.

I've Got To Start Blogging More!

I made myself a goal to update my blog more often. I started out fine, but have been really lax about it lately. I'm seriously going to try to get better about it.

This weekend I plan to upload pics from my camera to the computer. When I do that, I'll post a couple of the pics.

Well, I'll be leaving work shortly to start the Memorial Day weekend! I can't wait to have an extra day off!

First Day of May

Really? May already? The first half of the year is almost over. I'm not sad though, because now we are getting into warmer weather. Now if only we could get it to stop raining so much.

This is also Larry's birthday. We wish he was here to celebrate with us, but we'll have to make up for it when he's home in July.

Sunday is Mom's 85th birthday. We will be celebrating on Saturday though. Hopefully I'll be able to get a five generations picture with her. I'm going to bake and decorate a cake and we'll surprise her.

The Sun Is Shining

This sun is shining today and it's about 60 degrees out. Tomorrow and Saturday is supposed to be about 80 degrees. Time to get the screens in the windows and open the windows to get rid of all the stale air in the house. I love the nice weather and having windows open.

Now that it's getting nice, we can take Ethan outside so he can blow bubbles. He's got so many different wands to use. I also joined the zoo, so I'm sure we'll be making many trips therel

Spring Weather

I can really tell Spring is here. The past weekend was beautiful! Saturday (4/18) was about 70 degrees, so I took Ethan to the Toledo Zoo to see Beth. Sunday was a little cooler, but still nice. Then the rain hit today and is supposed to stay until Wednesday afternoon.

We had a nice Easter this year. The night before Easter, we colored eggs with Ethan. He did a really good job, and didn't throw a single egg. I think he's going to look forward to coloring eggs every year. Beth "hid" eggs for Ethan to find in the backyard, and Ethan really enjoyed it! Here are some pictures.

Secret Easter Bunny Swap

On the CKMB, I organized a Secret Easter Bunny Swap for the MITW group. I received my package yesterday from gotscrapz (Sarah). Here is a pic of the goodies she sent.

I can't wait to start using all of this!

Spring Is Here

I'm so glad Spring is finally here. Now I hope the weather warms up a little more too. I plan to start walking in the evening and will take Ethan with me if it's nice enough.

Speaking of Ethan, he is just on the go all the time. I think the only time he is still is when he's sleeping. He wears himself out walking all around the house. He's 17 months old now! How time flies. Here are a couple of pictures of him.

There's never a dull moment with Ethan around!

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day to everyone!

My day started out taking Beth for a CAT scan this morning. After that, we picked up Brad and went to the Mud Hens stadium for Beth and Brad to put in applications. After that we dropped Brad off at work. After spending some time at home, Beth and I went to Hobby Lobby before picking Brad up at work. We went to China One for dinner and had to pick up Andy's dinner from Golden City. Andy didn't want to go out today.

Tonight I'm just trying to get caught up on some shows on the DVR.

MemoryWorks Independent Scrapbook Consultant

I decided to renew my agreement to be a MemoryWorks Independent Scrapbook Consultant. I figured if nothing else, I can support my habit at a discount on some supplies. Of course if anyone else is interested in having a gathering or buying supplies, I would love to help them out!

Got a Lot of Scrapping Done

Last weekend, I went to Sauders with Wendy for a scrapping weekend. I got so much done! I did 22 layouts and 7 Valentine's Day cards. It was so much fun, and I plan to go back in October for another weekend. Here are a couple of the cards I made that weekend, with the exception of the ribbon that I added tonight.

I don't know why the hears on the ribbon show up purple, they are actually light pink.

I still have some more Valentine's Day cards to make. Then I have a few birthday cards to make. Looks like tomorrow night is going to be a card making night!