Goodies to share and a RAK!

I am such a lucky girl! I was given a little bit of money and gift cards to spend on MYSELF for Christmas. And what did I do with almost all of that money?? Bought things for the boys, of course. Lol. Bought Aaron a few new cups, Alex a few new bottles, bought some things to make Alexander's baby food (anyone done this? Advice?), had to order a toy for Aaron from Amazon because I couldn't find it anywhere (the Yo Gabba Gabba Dancing Brobee!), and I got some other little things that they needed. I did have some money left over though, and got this stuff!I got some of the Martha Stewart products on sale, including a yummy Christmas paper stack, some glitter, and 2 acrylic stamp sets. The paper and glitter were only $4! YAY! I also got some things on sale at ACMoore. They had a bunch of clearance things, so I got the Halloween stack for $5, and the Heidi Swapp mini iron for $3. I love the Halloween papers, and hopefully I can finally get the boys Halloween pics scrapped! Then I got some Wall Pops-black, red, orange, yellow, blue, and a cute pink and purple striped border that I'm going to put in my scrap room. I didn't even spend $30 for all of that. ;) I love a deal!

THEN, a few days ago I went over to my friends house and she gave me all of this and MORE!

She used to own the LSS that I worked at, and these were some things she had left. (Also, besides the things for me, she gave me a ton of kiddie stamps and 20-30 decorative scissors to add to Aaron's craft stash!) I got a Coluzzle envelope template, a bunch of great idea books that perfectly fit my style, about a 4 inch stack of paper (PAPER!!!), TONS of stickers and embellies, 2 Bo Bunny class kits, 2 Karen Foster 12x12 rub ons, a bag of ribbon (!!!!!!!!), 2 Scrapbook Girl tees (I LOVE the green/pink one!), and a lot more. To be fair though, I won't be keeping a lot of it-a bunch of it is for my 15 year old sister who I've just gotten started scrapping! Now I'll always have a buddy to scrap with, since she lives behind me. ;) Isn't all of that wonderful! I'm so happy about all of this because I am now on a spending ban. Ughhh. Just saying it makes me cringe! YUCK! So from now on I will only be buying necessities like cardstock and adhesive. At least thats the plan!

Now for my RAK. I bought this before Christmas to do a RAK. I found it at JoAnns in the dollar bin. The dollar bin! So I bought 2-1 for me, 1 for one of you. ;) Not a great pic though...

I will also add some other goodies before I send it out of course! All you have to do is leave a comment and I will have Aaron pick a name out of the hat next Saturday the 10th! I will put your name in twice if you link me on your blog!

I'll be starting to pack up the Christmas stuff today and finish tomorrow. I was going to do it last weekend but my mom yelled at me and said its bad luck to take your tree down before New Years. And since we need all the good luck we can get right now, I thought I'd better wait. ;)

What will you be doing tonight? I haven't been up to see the ball drop in years. I think I will stay up tonight. We'll see! Maybe I can keep myself awake by staying in my scrap room until about 11:30! I hope you have a happy, happy New Year! Thanks so much for stopping by!

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas! Ours was perfect-how could it not be with these two??

If Aaron looks like he was "caught" in that picture, its because he was! He took those Junior Mints out of MY stocking and ate a ton of them while I was in the kitchen getting his breakfast. Little stinker.

Aaron got some great toys including a Thomas track that's as big as the kitchen table (what am I going to do with that??!!) and his Leapster that he just loves. He got a few clothes, books, and movies too. He's very spoiled. :) He also woke up one morning with a much higher IQ-he now knows all of his colors, shapes and most of the alphabet. I think I can have him reading when he's 3! I need to videotape him doing the ABC's, its too cute.

Alexander got some cute little toys too, including this one that he loves:

Its his "First Bear" and it rattles. He also has this cute little frog that sings and vibrates, but Aaron's been playing with that! How happy is this little man?? You can tell in the picture that he had a fever (stupid teeth) but he's just smiling away. I love him.

Jamie and I didn't exchange gifts this year, which felt a little weird. :( My parents and grandparents did get Jamie some much-needed clothes though. And my mom got me the Paper Doll cart which I've been dying to use. We also got some gift cards for groceries, and lots of diapers and formula-we shouldn't need to buy anything for at least a month or two, which helps us out immensely.

I could write 10 posts about Christmas. It was just so wonderful. I loved all the time we got to spend with my family. My family is the best. Aaron was so pooped from all the fun that he fell asleep around 4 in the afternoon, so Jamie and I got to actually sit down and watch a movie-UNINTERUPPTED. Wow. We haven't done that in years! He got The Dark Knight from my grandma, so that's what we watched. I didn't like it though. Maybe a little too dark for me. But the day after Christmas I cuddled with Aaron and watched Horton Hears a Who-much better. :)

I have a few things to share, but need to let my camera charge first! I did make more Christmas cards, but forgot to take pics before I gave them away! Oops! Thank you so much for stopping by! I'll leave you with a link to Karen's blog who has some awesome blog candy. Wouldn't that be a great belated Christmas present?? I also have a small little RAK I'll be doing soon, just need to take a picture of it! Have a wonderful day. ;)

Update on my guys

So I posted a few days about my little Alexander being sick. Thankfully he is much better. They diagnosed him with bronchiolitis. He is taking an antibiotic, a steroid, and using a nebulizer every 4 hours while he is awake. He saw the doctor twice this week and will go back next Tuesday. Poor Aaron is sick as well. He has an ear infection and an upper respiratory infection. I'm glad they are both on antibiotics and well on their way to being better so they aren't sick at Christmas! Aaron was sick last Christmas and didn't even want to open presents! I didn't even get any pictures to scrap! Hopefully this year will be different. :) Thanks for all the prayers for my little men. I know it helped.

I probably won't post until after Christmas unless I get some extra time. I still have a few presents to finish and wrap, and LOTS of baking to do! I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas!!

Please say a prayer for my little Alexander!

Jamie is on the way home from the doctor with Alex now and he has bronchiolitis. He has a terrible cough and just started wheezing today. The doctor sent him home with a nebulizer to use every 4 hours and an antibiotic (not sure why though since what he has is a virus!). We'll be going back to the doctor tomorrow afternoon to determine if he needs to keep using the nebulizer. Thank goodness he doesn't have RSV though, because I was sure thats what it was and was having quite a freak out. :) So please say a prayer for my beautiful little man! Having such a little person so sick is quite scary!

Santa Changito :)

I have really been working on cards. The boys albums are a few months behind, but at least I have a few cards made. ;) I have another one to show you, but I can't get a good picture of it, so this will be all for today!

I LOVE this monkey. I just want to him on everything! Isn't he cute? That cute little Santa image was sent to me from Becky (THANKS BECKY!). Both PP are from last years DCWV Christmas stack. I found the rub on in my stash-I believe its Bo Bunny. I found an entire sheet of those, so I will use them up on my Christmas cards! I used a dauber to sponge red around my image-I realize it looks a little messed up-that's because I touched it before it dried and got ink EVERYWHERE! I have since fixed it though! The present was sent to me from Michelle in a blog candy I won. Thanks Michelle!! I really like this card. Oh, and there is glitter all over it! I don't know why it doesn't show up! But there are Stickles on the white parts of Changito's Santa suit, and red glitter on the edges.

YAY! I posted something crafty! Its been a while, huh?!

So, are you guys ready for Christmas? I've always loved Christmas, but its so much better now that I have my beautiful boys. Aaron is starting to understand about Santa and Christmas, and he is just so funny. He calls anything associated with Christmas "MY CHRISTMAS!". Its so cute. Our neighbor has his lights up, so every morning Aaron makes me open the blinds so he can look at them. Plus, I can totally pull out the Santa card when he's being bad, so that's good. :) I am so thankful to be spending my holidays with my family. Now that Alexander is here, I feel like my family is complete. I'm just so blessed.

Thanks so much for stopping by. I'm off to make the kids lunch and then clean a bit, and hopefully spend some time in my scrap room if I can get them all to nap at the same time! Have a great day!

My first award!

I got an award! Thank you Liz! I've never won an award before. :)

Although I'm not feeling very creative lately, I'll take it. Lol. I'm supposed to give it to 6 people so here goes.

1. Carol at Crazy for Crafting is one of my favorite blogs to read. She always has something new and crafty to share, plus I love when she shares what her "Guest Designer" daughters have made-they are just as talented as she is! I've learned a lot of new techniques from her, and have a bunch more bookmarked to try someday when I get caught up. ;)

2. Next up is Michelle. I just recently stumbled upon her blog and have been frequenting it ever since. Her creations are beautiful. Just stunning. And if I had half of the beautiful stamps she has, I would be happy forever!

3. If you haven't been to Veronica's blog, go now. RIGHT NOW! She is an actual real life stamping friend, and her work is amazing. She is so talented.

4. Another one of my favorite blogs is Angel at Angelosity. She is super talented. Not to mention her birthday challenge really got my creative juices flowing again, so thanks Angel!! I just love checking out her new creations.

5. Next up is Becky. No, not me, another one! Becky creates the most beautiful cards, and they have so much detail! And not only is she talented, she's so sweet. She's the wonderful person that sent me all of those awesome Changito images! I'm crazy about that little monkey. :) So go check out her blog-you won't be sorry!

6. And last but not least, LIZ! I know she's the one that gave me this award in the first place, but she's super deserving of it as well. We are a lot alike and I think we will be great friends. Her work is beautiful, and I love reading all of her family updates. Also, check out her blog and then go vote for her gorgeous button card on Tip Junkie!!

So thanks again for the award Liz! And go check out all of these wonderful ladies blogs! I am off to work on a few more cards. I have a few to share, but can't get my camera to upload. Its always something, huh?!

Changito Happy Mail!!!

Look what I got in the mail!!!!!

Aren't they the cutest? I am crazy about that little monkey! I love the Christmas ones! Maybe they will help me get going on my Christmas cards... These were sent to me by one of my favorite bloggers, whose name also happens to be Becky! ;) Go check out her blog here. She is so talented and super nice. Her work is stunning. Be sure to go check out her blog, you won't be sorry! I can't wait to color these and make some cute cards. Thanks so much Becky, you're the best! This was a great pick-me-up!!

Well, thats all for now. Aaron and Alana (the little girl I watch) both fell asleep watching Nemo, so its just me and Alex! I think I'll take this time to catch up on my TV shows and have a nice cuddle in. Have a great day!!

Blog candies everywhere!

There are so many talented ladies offering up blog candy! Check them out:

Bev has some wonderful "pink" candy including a Whiff of Joy stamp (love them!) and a DCWV Christmas stack!

Go check out Jo's blog for a chance at some High Hopes stamps and other goodies!

Annie is giving away some WOJ stamps! You have to tell her 5 things you'd have with your on a deserted island-only five things is pretty tough!

Claire is celebrating her 36,000 blog hits-yes you read that right! 36 THOUSAND!!-with some awesome candy! Basic Grey and Stickles and stamps and all kinds of fun stuff! Go check out her blog-she's had 36,000 hits for a reason!!

Also, be sure to go check out Michelle's blog! She is giving away a RAK of beautiful 12x12 papers!

All of these ladies are so super talented! So go check their blogs out and get inspired! :)