It's B-A-C-K

The Green Tangerines Kit Club is back! New kits will be launching in January 2011...very soon AND very exciting! All of the PBD girls have turned in their layouts and you can get sneak peeks over on the GTKC blog. There is even a contest to win a prize. Check it out here, leave a comment and I'll keep my fingers crossed that you'll win.

My THEY MAKE ME HAPPY layout is up as the 1st sneak peek for the January kit.


















Again, I love how versatile the GTKC product is. I was able to create 3 very different layouts with one kit AND I still have a ton of product left over.

I'll be back tomorrow(hopefully) with some Christmas fun! I hope everyone is enjoying this Christmas season and all that it beholds,

thought for the day

"There is no ideal Christmas; only the one Christmas you decide to make as a reflection of your values, desires, affections, traditions." - Bill McKibben

traditions...old and new

After an entire month of blog posts in November, I seemed to have hit a dry spell. It's more like, happy to be enjoying all that this season beholds. We have been enjoying favorite traditions and have even started a few new ones.

Earlier this week, the boys received their yearly ornaments. I wrap them and we take turns opening them. This year, it was all about the sparkly ones. I tried to get everyone their favorite color (Tanner = blue, Carter = red, Garrett = green and Brody got the gold one because his favorite color changes all of the time). It's fun to watch them pick the perfect spot on the Christmas tree and carefully place them on there.












I was able to go Christmas caroling with the youth from church. We visited the folks at a local nursing home. We hand delivered hand made cards to each resident and then gathered in their rec room to sing Christmas carols. It was a very rewarding evening.













Up next, gingerbread houses. It just wouldn't be December without these candy laden homes. I got to help Garrett's class build their gingerbread houses this week. They all took their time and were very creative when it came to loading their houses with all of the sweets.



















We started a new twist to an old tradition in our home. We have always read a different Christmas book each night in December. After blog hopping a bit, I decided that I wanted to wrap 12 different Christmas books to count down the 12 days until Christmas. We will read the story of Christ's birth on Christmas day. I headed to our local library to pick up a few new stories. Garrett got to pick our first book this evening. We all sat around the Christmas tree and read The Night Before Christmas together as a family. The boys already have the books they want to unwrap/read all picked out.














I am finishing up our Christmas cards. We are spreading Christmas joy. We are enjoying our Christmas decorations throughout the house. We will be baking on Wednesday for our neighbors and friends. Christmas music has been on 24/7. I really do love everything about month of December.














What traditions are you enjoying this month?

Association Cup Champs

{Carter is on the bottom, 2nd from the left}
They did it! Carter and his team BATTLE won the entire Association cup games. This is Carter's 2nd year playing with team BATTLE. These boys play so well together...total team work on so many levels. Carter has loved every minute of it. The coaches are dedicated and are so good with the boys. Carter was nominated as one of the team captains this season. The coaches said that carter was a great team leader and always has a positive attitude. His friend Justin was the other co-captain. Here are a few photos from their big win! We are so proud of them.


























We are so proud of all of the BATTLE boys.

merry and bright

Here is this weeks, Kit of the Week...merry and bright. It can be purchased at Green Tangerines. For my friends who attended the breakfast with Santa last week, this layout will match nicely with any photos you may have taken. I have to give photo credit to my friend, Mer. She and her cute little family joined us for a morning of fun...breakfast, jammies, bed head, Christmas songs and performances and a visit from the old jolly man himself. She took these fabulous photos of our sweet kiddos. It was a super fun way to kick off my December...just what I needed.
As usual, you can call the store to order your kit (916-771-8010) or swing by and pick one(or two or three...perfect to give as a gift to your scrapbook friends) up.

{Kit of the Week}

I know we are all wrapped up in all things December...but I thought I would post my Happy Turkey Day layout. Don't you love those cute turkey's? They came right off of a sheet of pattern paper. This layout was created as last weeks Kit of the Week for Green Tangerines (916-771-8010). It was hard to pick just 4 photos from our Turkey day but I think these 4 photos represented what our day was all about...family, food and fun. I am a big fan and promoter of journaling on my layouts. I am sad to report that the journaling doesn't always find the space on my layouts. This Turkey Day layout was one of them. To solve that problem, I journaled on a separate piece of paper, cut it into strips and glued it on the the back of my layout. All of the important information about our day can be found on the back.

I will have this weeks(current)kit to share with you at the end of the week.
Think Christmas, breakfast with Santa, friends, jammies and bed head!

Happy December

Just typing that simple phrase makes me happy! I love everything about December. I love the decorations. I love receiving Christmas cards in the mail. I love the music. I love the hustle and bustle. I love the opportunity to catch up with family and friends. I love the holiday baking and crafting. It makes me so happy.

Today was a great day. I spent time making lots of peppermint bark and Christmas cards for our adopted Grandparents at church(a way fun service project). I received a Happy Wednesday package in the mail today. My sweet friend, Meridee is trying to "Meridee-ify" my Christmas tree. She sent me two new Christmas Ornaments, a very sweet note and a Target gift card. Such a kind, thoughtful surprise (love you, friend).

We could not let the first day of December pass by without the boys receiving their new Christmas jammies. After they snuggled into their new jammies, they each received their Trader Joe's advent calendar.

Our December is off a to a wonderful start. There are so many fun things to look forward to this month. What are you looking forward to?