Tis the Season

Supplies are from Memory Works Express November 2009

This was a layout I did about a month ago of Maddie and JoJo decorating the Christmas Tree last year.  Sorry for the very fuzzy image.  We did manage to put up most of our Christmas decorations up this weekend.  I'm off to work tomorrow, after a week off.  I have been soooo lazy this break.  I did get some stuff done, but I just needed time to do nothing.  We are always so busy so it was nice to slow down.  We had Thanksgiving at my dad's house.  I got to see my brother Kriss for the first time in a year.  He had been working in Louisiana for the past year.  It was nice.  

I went for a walk/jog tonight.  I love the smell of smoke in the air from everyone's fireplaces.  There a few Christmas lights that have been put up.  I'm excited for the holidays.  I have a few more Christmas cards finished, but I'm not sure which ones to share.  I'm thinking about trying out for the Memory Works Design  team.  We'll see how it goes.  I'm just not going to put pressure on myself.  

Well, I guess I'm off for the evening.  The boys are eating ice cream, and it's almost time for baths.    

I am Thankful...

...for cinnamon rolls on a vacation day...

...for steaming cups of coffee...

...for three turkeys wearing their Thanksgiving hats...

...for my camera to record all of the action...

...for my children who drive me insane somedays, but most days fill me with incredible joy and happiness...

...for my husband whom I love more than words can say.

Happy Thanksgiving to you all.  Blessings to you and yours.

My Goal

Look at my little Wolfie.  He looks so sweet and  innocent.  Most times that is the case.  The other times, he's more stubborn than a mule :)

Moving on...it is my goal to inspire you with this blog.  I want you all to be better scrapbookers, memory keepers, photographers, or whatever you may want to be.  That is what I really, truly want for all of my readers.  Yesterday, I found some really great blogs/websites and I want to share them with you.  I'm sure some of you may have heard of them, but this was the first time I've seen them.  So here you go:

The Coffee Shop Blog

If you have Photoshop, or Photoshop Elements this is an awesome site.  Every single action and template that Rita designs is FREE!!!  That's right, free.  There are tons of beautiful actions available. 

Every Day Elements

This website has some free actions.  It features tons of free video tutorials for using PSE.  Amanda also offers classes and workshops for those of you that are interested.  

Write.Click.Scrapbook

What a really neat website.  There are tons of freebies on there.  They range from digital elements to downloadable tags, boxes, etc.  There are tutorials for projects.  Today there are a bunch of free Christmas downloadables.  

Simple As That

Rebecca Cooper has beautiful photography on her blog.  Not only that but she offers photography challenges.  There are crafts for kids, and general craft ideas on her site.

1825

This is a really beautiful website.  The site is run by three sisters.  They have tons of project/craft ideas.  They also feature tutorials and downloads.  

So there you go.  I hope you find these websites/blogs helpful.  I'm being rather lazy today.  I will finish up laundry, but I'm going to relax.  I think that we (me and the kids) really needed this break.  A time to veg and be lazy.  I'm getting some crafting done.  Yay!  

I should post tomorrow.  I don't know what, but I'm going to try and make a week of it.

Gearing up for the Big Day

June MemoryWorks Express Kit

Hello there.  I made this card for my husband.  It was his birthday yesterday.  I really love him very much.  I am so lucky to have a wonderful man like him in my life :)  He really makes me happy.  The picture isn't that great, sorry.  We switched coffee, and now I'm all jittery from it.  I couldn't hold the camera straight.  This was the best of the photos I took.  I hate being jittery.

Okay that being said.  Today is a cleaning day for me.  Yesterday nothing was done around the house.  We weren't even here for the entire day.  It all started when the electricity went out.  I was blow drying my hair before church and all of the sudden everything went off.  Electricity was out for about 2hours.  Since we couldn't cook we had to go out for breakfast.  Then, Erik and I did a bit of shopping and had lunch together.  We didn't get home until about 7 pm.  In this time frame, my house went from 0 to 100 on the messiness scale.  With 100 being the highest number available.  The dogs made a nice contribution to the mess as well.    

We're getting ready for Thanksgiving around here.  I wanted to share this recipe with you.  It is for Wild-Rice Pilaf with Cranberries and Pecans.  Let me just say that this is an excellent side dish for Thanksgiving.  I hate/despise cranberries.  However in this recipe they are Wonderful!  I also am not a big fan of nuts in my food.  Again in this recipe they are Wonderful!  I am providing you with the link to this recipe.  It is from Martha Stewart's Living.  Follow this link.  That way you can print it out for yourself, rather than having to copy it down on paper.  I swear, your family will rave about this recipe.  Oh, and last year I couldn't find wild rice.  The one jar I found was about 1 cup and it cost $8.00.  So, I just got a wild rice mix instead.  It worked just fine.  Maybe in your neck of the woods wild rice is not so expensive.

Things I Hear

This house is a loud house.  It's full of boys and dogs and a cat.  If you listen to all of the chaos, these are some of the things you might hear:

*Dad, let's wrestle.

*Chase me

*Get me

*I need to go pee (which if you've been waiting for three years for this to happen, it can sound quite magical)

*I'm hungry

*I'm thirsty

*Can I have a popsicle?

*Can I have some baby oatmeal?

*I Wuv you, Momma

*I spilled it

*Where's the ipad?  (How is that thing so hard to keep track of?)

*Let's read

*Carry uh me

*Wolfie it's time to jump on the trampoline for a long time

*I say Amen

*Hitting, yelling, and screaming...in no particular order

*Maddie you're a t-a-t-t-l-e-t-a-l-e.  Wolfie I know you said was I was a tattletale

*Wolfie how do you spell....?

And of course after the 5th "I have to go to the bathroom", "I need more water" "GOTOBED" and all is silent and dark...it's so quiet and peaceful.  But, I'm ready to wake up and hear it all again.  I love my crazy, wild, loud, life.  I AM happy.

Goodnight, dear friends.  What are some of the things you hear in your house?

Christmas 10

Click here to view this photo book larger

I have a confession to make...

*******Okay before I post, I wanted to announce the new winner.  The Random Generator Chose Number 51 so that means Denise is the winner of the 50 follower giveaway.  She is an email subscriber, so I will email her with the information.*******

All supplies are BoBunny, except the letters for which I have no idea

Okay everyone.  My confession is that I have absolutely no motivation for scrapbooking or cardmaking.  None.  I've lost my crafting mojo :(  I come into my craftroom, sit at my table, and just want to start pounding my head repeatedly into the table.  Okay, well maybe it's not that bad.  That does make me sound a little crazy.  I'm hoping with the coming break, I get a week off, I will get some motivation back.  I ordered these cute papers to help me feel a little bit better.

Cosmo Cricket Circa 1934

Beautiful vintage papers don't you think?

Echo Park Wintertime

These items should be here tomorrow!   Maybe this post will be my cathartic release and I will craft like a champ again.  

On another and totally different note, how are your Christmas plans coming?  I would be sharing more cards, if I'd made any.  I just wanted to share a few other things with you.  For the past two years at Christmas, I've been giving Shutterfly books as gifts.  They are beautiful hardcover books.  You can order them in different sizes.  My family loves them.  My mom asked if I will be giving another one this year.  I love giving them to my grandparents because they really don't need knickknacks.  They really enjoy the books.  It's nice for family members that live far away because they can see a snippet of our lives.  

When I upload photos to Shutterfly, I go from November to October.  The books starts in November, and the last pages are of October.  That way, an entire year is covered in the book.  Shutterfly is offering 20-30% off of their photo books for a few weeks.  So check out their website if you are interested.  When I get my book finished, I'll see if there is a way to link it back here so you can see it.  Oh, by the way, I make generally one book for everyone, and then go back and personalize it or add pages.  It saves time.  Just make sure you save them properly.  

Well, that's all for today, I guess.  I'll be back later this week with a recipe for yummy rice you can use for Thanksgiving.  It's excellent.  I'll have to find it, as I will need it for Thanksgiving.  Well, I hope you enjoy your Sunday.  Today, I will be productive and get all of the laundry done.  (Cross your fingers).

New Camera Pictures...and a reannouncement

Last weekend, I took some pictures with my new camera.  We upgraded to a Canon 60D.  Our Digital Rebel Xti was a wonderful camera, but it was getting old, and things were started to break on it.  That was such a great little camera, and I truly recommend it for anyone learning to use a camera in Manual.  I feel sort of sad to move on.  Strange, I know.  Anyway the announcement I had was to reannounce the winner of the 50 follower prize.  It's Danielle Hunter.  I never heard from you.  So please email me as soon as possible at mariahashbaugh@hotmaildotcom (it's regular format, but that is supposed to protect me from spam if I post it that way) so I can get your address.  I hope to hear from you by Sunday, or I'll have to announce a new winner :(  That's enough chit-chat for today.  Here are the pictures.  Feel free to let me know what you think.

I had some other good ones of the other boys, but the server won't let me upload them.  It's rejecting them.  Well, I'm off.  

Monday...

...Hi there, everyone.  I just wanted to wish you a happy Monday/Daylight Savings extravaganza.  If feels like I haven't posted in forever.  I'm still here.  I took some photos with the new camera this weekend.  I've been working on editing those.  When they are ready, I will share a few.  I'm looking forward to a better night's sleep tonight.  Last night did not go well, and I'm really tired.  Well, I guess that is all for today.  I'm off to do laundry and dishes.  Night.

Trick or Treat...Halloween Photos

Here they are...the much anticipated photos :)

Before school on Friday

Friday night silliness 

Maddie before our friend's Halloween Party

The three vampires at the party.

The "official" vampire stare down.

I love this one.  I's face says it all..."What is wrong with your eyes?"  Look at his smile.  It really cracks me up.

Halloween Night...before trick or treating

My grandfather and the kids at his assisted living facility.  He is doing MUCH better.  The kids...don't look so thrilled.  They were waiting to go trick or treating.

Our front porch.  Notice the prize winning jack-o-lanterns.  We got 1st and 2nd place at our friend's party.  I know, it was a proud moment for us, too.

Well, there you have it.  Halloween is officially over for us now.  Bring on Thanksgiving...and Christmas.  I'll have some more cards to share with you soon.  We're having a yardsale this weekend.  We are so unprepared, it's not even funny.  I also did something very bad.  I got a new camera.  It's a Canon 60D.  The photos are AAAMMMAAAZZZIINNGG!  I will take some to share with you all.  Wish me luck.  I'm going out to the garage.  I may never return.  Good Night, Friends!

Erin Hull Photography

I'd like to introduce my beautiful cousin, Erin Hull.  (She's actually my husband's cousin, but that's neither here nor there).  She has three boys like me, and is such a wonderful woman.  Anyhow, Erin is a talented photographer.  She recently started her own photography business in Cincinnati, Ohio.  Erin is a custom, natural light photographer who specializes in family, newborn, child, maternity, high school, and couples photography.  Here are a few of her beautiful photographs.

Aren't they lovely?  I could post many more, If I had time to upload all of them.  You can visit her website Erin Hull Photography to see more of her stunning photos.  If you live near the Cincinnati area, feel free to contact her.  Pricing information and other details can be found at her website.  

Hello November

Here it is:  The November Memory Works Express Kit and the brand new Add On Kits!

November MWExpress Kit

Paper Crafting Add on Kit

Home Decor Add on Kit

Card Kit Add on 

How exciting is it that Memory Works is offering add on kits for the month of November?  I have been waiting to see the full reveal!  Last year, I made a ton of Christmas Cards for customers with the November kit.  Here are a few:

I plan on using my kit again this year to make Christmas cards and invitations for my Christmas gatherings this year.    Please visit my website: Here  for more information about purchasing the November kit.