AllRecipes Cookie Countdown!

I am a little late in posting this, but it is still going on. Every year I enjoy checking out the All Recipes Cookie Countdown. Here it is for this year:

allrecipes.com cookie countdown!

I am currently baking Micah's favorite: chocolate chip cookies. I tripled the batch and the bowl seems never ending! Pin It

Peekin' in the Workshop

Sneak peek on one of the boys' gifts in progress. Their amazing dad is building it!

(lets hope he finishes it before Christmas...ahem....kitchen chairs still need to be finished...ahem. :)) ...yeah he reads this. Pin It

Christmas Cookies!

Next week I will start baking my Christmas cookies! I am excited as I look forward to this week of baking every year (and usually by the time I finish, I am saying I will never do it again)!

This year I am going to be cutting back a bit (in both varieties and amounts), but will do the traditional cookies we always have to have:

Chocolate chip
Sugar Cookies
Candy Cane cookies
maybe Fudge...or no bake cookies, trying to pick between the two...
and I think I am going to do banana bread because I have a freezer full of bananas

Will post recipes and pictures next week! :)

What types of holiday treats do you make? Pin It

Chaotic Thursday

So far this morning it has been nonstop action. And not the good kind.

• The baby woke me up playing with the light switch. over and over and over. ok thats not too bad.
  
• woke up with another headache. thats not that great.
  
• He immediately slips away and wakes up his big brother.
• meanwhile, phone is ringing. I go to the phone and no one is there.
  
• I go into big brother's room to find puzzles everywhere. I ask them to clean it up. I can handle this.
  
• I leave to go into the mess of a utility room to find something and I hear screaming.
• yellow paint everywhere. no pictures this time. i am mad.
  
• while i am cleaning that, with baths carpet and other messes, my brand new sink for the first time ever use wont drain.
• and i find my little harold has colored all over his big brother's walls, mirror and furniture. thank you mr clean eraser.
  
• big brother spills UTEE everywhere.
• throw them both in the bath.
• still cleaning the huge messes while i am trying to empty sink with a bowl from one room to the next, texting my sweet husband about the sink
• start first load of laundry of about 10 loads today
• boys drain bath tub and screaming they are cold.
• "baby" pees all over big brother's rocket ship rug. more screaming.
  
• clean up that.
• get them dressed.
  
• finished ordering a christmas present online through it
• need to clean up utility room, and hallway from the chaos of the sink still.
  

Ok, now I think I can get them breakfast. Its not like its 11 am.

Just breathe. I wouldn't trade this job for the world. Pin It

Jaden's first spelling word :)

Posted on our family blog too, but I just had to share here. I am so proud!


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God's the the TRUE artist!

Just look at this masterpiece! I was out in the garage talking to Micah and saw a very different looking glow over the nieghborhood. I went out back to see what was going on, and saw this!

Completely straight out of the camera. I was afraid I was going to miss it, so I hurried with the shot. No picture could have captured this beauty.

Its something special when both boys wake up from their nap and come out and see this sunset seperately and react all on their own. Between the wonder of a child and this gorgeous light, there is no denying the faithfulness of God!

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No Sew TuTu

I know I have no real need for this yet, being a mom of boys and all, but I got this awesome tulle netting last night from my mother in law and thought a no-sew tutu would be a great photography prop for sweet little baby girls through school age girls!

(Now, if only my husband and my boys would stop putting it on their heads and acting like they are crazy pink monsters running around the house and growling with it...)

And the directions are all over the web, but here they are for ya if you need them!

Materials:

1. several yards (lets say 4 to be safe) tulle
2. elastic
   

I cut 16 inches of elastic and tied it in a tight knot. You can adjust for a specific waist.
Then, cut the tulle into 4-6 inch wide strips and make length however long you would want it. Double knot it on the elastic. Repeat. Over and over and over.

The easiest way for me when tying the tulle on the elastic was putting the elastic on my leg to help keep it still.

You can add satin ribbon, and different colors of tulle too! (I did two shades of pink). I have a couple of other colors that would be fun too, but I think there's only room for one tutu in this house.

Tu-Tu-fun!

And I admit....I tried it on the boys to see if it would fit.. (Jackson cried...) and then I did what seemed appropriate with a tutu in our house...I put it on my head, growled and chased them! Pin It

Etsy

This weekend I will be trying to add more to the shop! It has been so busy with Christmas around the corner! Thanks for your patience! And just to share, here is my design team page for the month:
Michelle got me hooked on photo scratching. And I love this new glitter I got. Its Martha Stewart Tinsel glitter. (I put it around the corners of the page). I added all the rhinestones to the snowflakes...and the bell too :)

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Stocking Holder and Stockings

Check out this awesome stocking holder my husband built for me this week! The wood came from our nephew's crib...my brother in law and sister in law were so sweet in giving us the wood from it. Thanks guys! We added the hardware to it and painted the bottom so it looks finished.


Here are the stockings... I saw the idea of the colors on etsy and went from there. I really wanted to do some pretty quilted ones, but the boys are only little once, so I went with fun. The letters are not perfect because I just freehanded them as I stitched.





I like the bells on the toes. Its festive. :) Pin It

Christmas Cuties

Thought it would be nice to get a start on Christmas photos of the boys. I still want to do a few more outside and by the tree, but it was right before naptime, and we all get grouchy around then! I also still want to do some family portraits. I thought these were sweet though:

And these are just a couple I played around with. Very over processed, I know.


And I might do this one for the Christmas card....as of now, its in first place.

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My Boys are Super Heroes!

...well, they will be on Christmas day!

I saw this idea a few months ago and went and bought the stuff to make them that day. I intended on putting them away until Christmas, but then I never actually sat down and did them! This week I realized I have a lot to do, and I wouldn't let myself start until I finished these.

I was going to put the lightening bolts on the cuffs but changed my mind. the front is a velcro closure with a big button. Lightening bolts were Micah's favorite thing to draw when he was little, so it fits well.




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Our Second Annual Gingerbread House

(I posted these and more on our family site :))

We built our gingerbread house this morning! We cheated this year and went with the wilton kit after last year's craziness. I have chosen to block it out of my mind, but my husband tells me we did finish it and take pictures. Hmm, might have to do a little searching for those.

Jaden calls it "Ginger's House" after his Aunt Ginger maybe? They had a blast helping, dancing, singing and eating the very stale candy.








Simple...cute....and a big hit! I think they did a great job! Pin It

Stocking Help!

Anyone have any good ideas or site for cute stockings? I have been on the search for awhile now, and I just can not find anything that really jumps out at me. My husband just built me a stocking holder (picture coming soon) and Jackson doesn't have a stocking at all, and Micah doesn't really have a cool one. I made Jaden's and my mom made mine, but I am thinking I want to just do a family set....


SO! Help a girl out! Let me know if you have any ideas or sites to direct me to! Pin It

Holiday Gift Workshop at Devine Memories on Saturday!

December 6th, 9am-4:30pm... Holiday Gift Workshop

These 45 minute mini-classes are perfect for family, teacher, hostess, or neighbor gifts. Join the Devine Memories design team and teaching staff for this all day event!

* 7 Different holiday gift-making classes.
* 45 minutes each, starting at 9 a.m.
* Only $6 each, or all 7 for $35
(Plus receive a $5 gift card and $5 off that night’s crop when you register for all 7 classes)

This is what I will be teaching that day!

Small Popcorn Tin
(and you get to learn how to make gift bows!!)

Call Devine Memories and reserve your spot! Pin It

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Thats a corny picture from last year :) Today we will be celebrating Thanksgiving on my side of the family at my parents' house. Micah has to work today so he will be taking his lunch break to eat with us.

Then tomorrow, we will be cooking Thanksgiving for his side of the family, right here in our home! Right now we dont have great grass in the backyard as it never got finished with winterizing, and our kitchen chairs are only half stained, but you know what? I am not going to stress it.

This is a time for our family to enjoy each other, not what the house looks like. And for that, I am thankful. I am thankful to have a house during these hard times of a tough economy. And I am thankful for my husband who works hard *even when he is sick and hurting* and my two sweet boys.

So what is on the menu for you? We are doing the traditional meals both days. Last night we had our annual Thanksgiving eve "feast" at my parents' house, where the rule is "Eat as much as you want and whatever you want, but don't complain about a stomach ache later". The boys were amazed and in awe of the table spread!

Enjoy eating a lot and whatever you do, DON'T read MSN's article about what a Thanksgiving meal does to your body. You don't want to know how many calories you are intaking and how much weight gain that entails. That way, while you are enjoying that very nonfattening meal, you will not feel guilty, because no one wants to have that on their concious! Pin It

Shhh! I have a secret to share!

Check out the link on the right.....something about an Etsy shop?

Ok here's the story.

Back in February, I had opened up an etsy shop called "Glitterbecks".....welllllll, I got too scared to post anything so I put it off. When I decided to dive in, I realized I needed to stop bouncing between names and stuck with Sparklinbecks. I set everything up and started out small.

Here we go! If there is something you want that you don't see or something different that you do see, let me know and we can talk! Just email me and i will get back to you! (Really, I will!) Pin It

New Craft Space

A long long time ago, my husband and I each had our own room to do what we wanted with. I had a craft room and he had a music room. Then we had a sweet baby boy, and combined both of our rooms together. Then we had another sweet baby boy, and we both lost our room and moved our separate ways. He went to the garage and I took up the utility room.

Everything was ok. I worked out in the living room on the floor or in our bedroom on the floor. Sometimes the kitchen, but I like to keep the kitchen clean, so I am usually not in there too often..haha, even if that means cooking. Just jokin' :)

So a couple of weeks ago, I needed to get a scrapbook down from a shelf in the utility room, and when I took it off the shelf, the whole unit came down on top of me. I felt like a cartoon where you can see it coming but you are frozen in place!

We took everything ok and stored it all over our bedroom. For two weeks now, our bedroom was a catch all of mail, clothes, and randomness....and oh yeah, we would sleep there at night.

My brilliant amazing awesome husband had a brilliant idea to transform that crazy little utility room into a usable work room. We also had the house set up for a sink in there when we were building it, so he wanted to install that too.

At first I wasn't too keen on the idea. I mean, a sink?! Thats valuable space I need in there! And work in there?! In a tiny room?

But then it started coming together and I couldnt be more happy with it! We spent way too much time at Home Depot over the last week, but we got it all set up yesterday!

I have a sink now! I can wash clothes and paint brushes in it! And when I am not using the sink, I have a workspace/desk!

Here's what it looks like now:

My new peg board! It was only 51 cents at Home Depot! I found it in the scrap pile. It was originally white with a green streak across. Nothing a little pink spray paint couldn't fix. Look at all the room I have left on it!

Here is the washer dryer set up. One side of the cabinets is laundry stuff, and the other side is craft. I bought photo boxes and spray painted them pink. Micah used the old shelves and moved them over the washer and dryer.


Craft side open: (That big crate is stampin up paper. its a beast. the bags on top is scrap fabric until i buy a couple more crates. There is a third one up there too you can't see from here)

punches, glitters, paints, watercolor pencils and crayons, etc.


Then I sewed simple little curtains. I am still going to add tie backs and applique on the curtains. Its Heidi Grace fabric, so I might add some birds on. I sewing the pink rick rack on the top and then used tension rods so that they can easily be removed.

New Sink! And great storage underneath still. Nothing is crammed and all is easily accessible.


The top part... I seriously can not believe how much room I still have. I would like to keep it this way though.

Then my work space. I have room to add hooks all the way up, but I might keep it bare for now. The pink compartment bin was spray painted after we got it from my father in law. And he was also so generous in giving us that smoke Plexiglas for the top of my "desk"! I added matching fabric to the button jars, and the lights came from my sister in law Shannon, when we traded the lights for crosses at our yard sale. I have been wanting to add them to the lights on our pot shelf, but I think this is a lot more practical!


So thats that! I am pretty excited about my small little corner in the house. Its just what I needed and I am so grateful that Micah did it for me. It took the shelves falling down and having to gut the room to realize that it was totally possible. *and you should have seen how much I got rid of!*

Speaking of my sweet husband, he woke up today with a kidney stone. After we took him to urgent care, we also found out he has bronchitis too. Its kind of a blessing (and he would even say this) that he got the kidney stone, otherwise he would have not gone to the dr about his chest congestion until it would have been even worse. He has had this cough for about three weeks now. He's finally getting some rest after not sleeping well for a few week. I don't know what he would do without pain killers right now. It's awful! Pin It

Monday Morning Thoughts

This weekend was a difficult one. Sometimes it seems like there is this unknown timeline of when a person should be done grieving. But then it seems like the more we get back into the "regular" routine, the more we grieve.

Yesterday, our very dearest friends lost someone very close to them. She was young, it was extremely unexpected, and now her husband and three children and family and friends are left trying to wrap their heads around everything. Although we didn't know her personally, we see that same face of grief on our friends' faces that we have seen personally for two weeks now.

Did you know grief has a face? A very distinct look. Its hard not to recognize it once you have seen it.

Life can be so ...hard. This is the third loss in the last six weeks of someone close to us. There are so many hurting around me. Unexplained pains and illnesses that doctors can not diagnose. I can count 6 off the top of my head that I know of. 6. in the past three months. 6 illnesses that can not be figured out. Shouldn't doctors have the answers? It doesn't seem possible that this can happen so frequently.

Through the pain, the hurting, the grieving, there is a great Healer. If it wasn't for my faith in God; His comfort, His hope... it would be so impossible to go through these trials. Yet, I know that God can heal the brokenhearted. That we can feel His arms around us. And it gives me peace. Psalm 147:3-5 says, "He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. He counts the number of the stars; He calls them all by name. Great is our Lord, and mighty in power; His understanding is infinite."

I know that my blog hasn't been full of crafty fun lately. And for that, I apologize. I have several things going on here that I will be posting soon (and still hoping to launch the Etsy store before Friday). Don't bail on me now! And I have a lot of ideas spinning around in my head. I will talk about Thanksgiving menus, Christmas gifts, my new craft "room" set up, great inspirational emails from friends that thought of me when they read them, and scrapbooking projects, but today, I just want to think about how short our lives really are. How you spend your time is what matters most. What your focus really is.

Thank you friends for being here for me. For your comments you leave me, for the emails you send. For the texts and phone calls, and just for letting me know that you care. You mean so much to me and I appreciate everything. I hope that you know that I am here for each and every one of you if you ever need anything. A shoulder to cry on, a hand to hold, prayers lifted up, and an ear to listen. Even if we don't know each other face to face. I am here!

...so, thanks. :)

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Twilight Movie!

Last night I had a great opportunity to seeTwilight! My mom (Happy Birthday!!) and sister and I all went and tagged along with Michelle, Amy and Sandy as well as other enthusiastic fans!

There were even prizes and vinyl I heart Twilight stickers! Sadly, our group didnt win any of the great prizes but I did get a beautiful necklace from Michelle! Check out her blog for more info on how you can get one too! :) Pin It

Christmas Trays

One of the things I was working on last month was some new trays. I made two Christmas trays and filled them with the epoxy like I did this one. You can use these for serving, or Christmas cards (or anything else you feel like using them for :))

Epoxy (resin, whatever you call it) is a beautiful thing, but it is also a very unpredictable medium--and very permanent! Once you pour it, thats it.

So, I was very disappointed when the epoxy seeped under the paper in both trays. I am thinking it also had something to do with the modge podge I used.

Materials used:

vinyl
cricut
chipboard
patterned paper
acrylic paint
modge podge
epoxy

One was supposed to be gold. I dont know why the paint wasn't more metallic. Usually Making Memories metallic paint is great (I love the copper!) That same tray was also the worst one with seeping. That's a shame. Pin It