{Life as we live it}

the last day...

well, it's the last day of November, which means the last of the 30 days of gratitude posts, which have been truly fun! i'm glad i used my blog to document what i was grateful for this month, this year. wanted to share my last few days of gratitude along, with a layout....

 
day 29: grateful for the opportunity with Creative Memories :) SUPER excited!!!

day 30: grateful for these three wonderful people in my life...

they mean the world to me & i am forever grateful to have them in my life & call them my family...loves!!!!

lastly, here is a layout i made before the Thanksgiving holiday festivities. couldn't resist not making a page that is about food ;) used Lily Bee Designs, Domestic Bliss...

happy Tuesday, smooches!!!

 

i won the wine tree...

while visiting with family in PA over Thanksgiving, we ventured out to the Festival of Trees Saturday afternoon. towards the back of the room, there were four auctions & one of them was this tower of wine. i left my handbag in the car so hubby only had $1, which i used to buy my one ticket. i didn't think i would win. EVERYONE was eying that wine tree & buying up lots of tickets. but i figured what the heck, you never know unless you try.

we headed back home to VA Sunday & during the drive, i get a call from the place we were Saturday. the lady was really nice & told me i won one of the raffles. i was kinda stumped, b/c i couldn't think of what raffle she was talking about. when i asked her she said i won the wine tree...mind you i am driving at this point & it's dark & i'm stunned with excitement. i asked her if she was sure & she was very sure. then i got more excited & then was like, wait, is this a joke? hahaha! she started to laugh & reasured me it wasn't a joke...LOL! i had to contain myself as i was driving over 70 mph on the busy highway...hahaha! Tim couldn't believe it. i was in shock the rest of the trip home, thinking of where i will be storing all this wine...LOL! can you you guess how many wine bottles are there?

i am SOOOOO STOKED!!!! i can't wait to get it! SOON, i hope. will be working out some plans of getting the wine from PA to VA in the next month or two...i know, i know, that's such a LONG time! my SIL picked up my wine this morning & mentioned her trunk is full to capacity with 9 boxes :D NICE!!! will have to plan a wine tasting party at my house in the very near future & maybe even purchase a wine cooler...hahaha!

and of course, i need to share my gratitude for the day (Sunday)...

day 28: i am grateful for my surprise winnings :D

happy Monday :)

post TG gratitude...

(photo taken with backflip)

day 25: grateful the roadtrip to PA went smooth & filled with lots of laughs during the ride up, spending time with family for yummy Turkey dinner & that my MIL loved my homemade Chocolate Pecan Pie :D

day 26: grateful for Black Friday shopping, spending a few hours with my friend Wendy, not having to stand in long lines for more than 20 mins & homemade zucchini bread :)

day 27: grateful to be the mama to my 8 year old son, Tyler. Happy Birthday sweetie, i love you so much sweetie!!!!!

happy weekend!!

black friday etsymom sale!!

evening everyone,

wanted to let you know that Etsy Mom Team is having a team wide sale Nov. 26th & ends on Nov 29th, at 11:59 PM. you can get a sneak peek of Etsy shops participating in the sale and also do a search for "EtsyMomSale" at Etsy.com to see a full listing of wonderful handmade products.

stop by my shop, at CT2 Designs to receive a 15% discount on ALL ITEMS in the shop + free shipping (all international shipping will be $2.50). make sure you enter coupon code 15BFEtsyMom.

Happy Black Friday :)

 

 

WiP Dec sneaks...

wanted to share some sneak peeks of a few projects using Work in Progress' December kit...it's my fave! lots & lots & lots of BEAUTIFUL patterns. i went to town on this one.

my gratitude for yesterday...

day 24: i am grateful for movie date with my kids, popcorn with layers of butta, photo booths, ingredients for pecan pie & the anticipation of traveling on Thanksgiving day...

have a WONDERFUL Thanksgiving everyone & eat lots of pie :)

Cheers!!!

wreath tutorial + gratitude...

getting the house ready for Christmas even with fall decorations still hanging around. i usually wait until the Thanksgiving weekend, but i am hoping to get it started today! totally inspired by the mirror above (that's me & my friend Linda in the mirror..hehehe :D) that i couldn't wait to make my own.

so, I made this, i call it pixie stick wreath, hanging on our downstairs half bath door & LOVE it! you can miss it when you walk into our home in the foyer. perfect spot for it. you can check out the tutorial over at Jillibean Soups blog.

now it's time for me to catch up on my 30 days of Gratitude posts, which i have lazily not been keeping up with it on the blog. just been wicked buy

day 18: i waited til the last minute to cook homemade broccoli & cheese soup in the crock pot & it totally showed. i only make it this time of year, so i was a little rusty in remembering how to make it right & yet, it's SO simple! lol. but it didn't turn out at all. so, i just opened a box velveta's shells & cheese tonight & all were happy. for that i am grateful for having boxed meals as backup!

day 19: grateful for the laughter, smiles and fun times my son & his friends had at his sleepover party & so glad everyone loved the lego cake with the homemade fondant icing :D (that i made for the first time).

day 20: grateful for sleep after a LONG busy Friday, spending the late afternoon with my girlfriend over dinner and relaxing on the couch with the family watching Shrek. 

day 21: forever grateful of my husband making Sunday nights dinner. homemade chilli & it was DELISH!! i think i may reserve Sunday night dinners cooked by him ;)

day 22: grateful for custom orders...Thank You! 

 
day 23: grateful that my baby girl didn't hold her head down to hide her face from the crowd & instead, held it up high while performing and singing along with her classmates after their fall party. so proud of her!!

preparing...

...for a Lego sleepover party today.

that is his party invite about...hubby set up the figures for me as i snapped away.they went out 3 weeks ago.

i'll be in my favorite apron the entire day. working on party stuff along w/ baking cakes & cookies & of course, cleaning up a bit. trying to prepare myself for the large amount of testostrone that will be in my house. but i'm cool with it. so excited for Ty to have his first sleepover. it'll be lots of fun & i'm sure pretty loud! i'm hoping to be done w/ everything before Ty is home from school...wish me luck!!

i will update my 30 days gratitude later...

paper ornaments...

i love fall, it's my favorite season. the leaves are SOOOO pretty right now & i love it covering the neighborhood. even the weather is perfect, too. can't complain really, but, i'm ready to take down my fall decor & start decorating for Christmas. thinking i will get the hubs to bring down all my Christmas boxes so i can get started before Thanksgiving...haha. seriously. i am just READY!!

i was in the mood to dress up my kitchen window, so to start off my need to decorate for Christmas, i made these super simple round scalloped paper ornaments using Lily Bee's Christmas Town collection. the blacks, reds, blues, whites & creams are a lovely combination.

i even added crystal glass beads to the ends for a little sparkle.

gonna make more of these so they hang all the way across my window above my kitchen sink.

Cheers :)

she poses...

day 16: i would normally curl up on the couch w/ a good magazine or book or a movie on a rainy day, but instead, i stayed productive. got a lot done, more than i thought i would. so, this day, i am grateful for rainy & productive days.

a few weeks ago, i took the kids out on a trail to get some fresh air & some exercise. they had a fun time. we took tons of pictures...

these are just a few. love this one. though i wish we were in focus, after trying 10 times the kids were becoming wrestless...lol. but i like the outcome of it either way.

day 17: today, Corinne & i ventured back to trail. after all the rain we had yesterday, it was nice to get out. it's still pretty windy, but the sunshine helped warm us up a bit.

no real plans on photos though. i loved all the leaves on the path so much that i couldn't resist taking pictures & of course, Corinne started modeling for me.

i think by the time she was running out of poses...hehehe. she LOVES to pose for the camera. so cute! i just loved it, as well as others passing by.

she has the cutest dimples & smile!

out of 197 shots, only three of me came out not so blurry ;)

but i must say, i am grateful for any photos of me taken by my children, my little girl not being camera shy, the long late morning walk & the delicious crab cakes i had for lunch today...YUM!

oh & this closeup self portraits :)

 

prince of persia...

...has been found. he was hiding out in the washer after a load of laundry. Ty had been looking for him for a little while, meaning it's taken me a few weeks to get caught up on the ever growing piles of laundry. found this little guy as is...lol. one week from today, there will be 3 or 4 little boys camping out in our family room, playing, chatting, acting wild & celebrating Ty's birthday one week early & i can't wait. i can only image how much fun they will all have together.

i'm a little behind...i wanted to do a blog post over the weekend & never got around to doing it. too busy chillin w/ family, hangin out w/ friends & getting my craft on. time to catch up on my 'gratitude'...

day 13: i am grateful for girls night out...lots of laughter & great fun :).

day 14: i'm grateful for the opportunities that have come my way!

day 15: i am grateful to have such wonderful neighbors!!