new Etsy items

I've added a new type of bow to my Etsy shop. I call it my Funky Double Bow. The difference between the Double Bow and Funky Double Bow is the top bow. It is folded different than the other bows. It makes it really poufy and I LOVE it! It is the same price as the Double Bow, $6.99!



I made this just for fun and decided to list it in Etsy. I only have one and I am selling it for $8.99!

Sara's little photoshoot

I made some new hair bows and wanted to try them on Sara. In the first few pictures with the brown bow, she is actually ignoring me, just going on about her business.

Then come the posed pictures with the black bows. She didn't want to do these, I made her. We later made a compromise...

I wanted to take her picture and she wanted the fake pickle in the picture. That was the compromise. lol
Don't know why she wanted to put a pickle in her ear?!

It looks like she's growling.

Animal capsules

We went to the Dollar Tree and I let each girl pick out a prize. Emma picked those little capsules that you put in water and they get bigger. So now they have a whole little family of foam animals!

Fred is sexist

So the kids were watching Scooby Doo this morning. Daphne and Fred were walking through the desert lost and Fred said "This desert is just like a woman, it goes on and on and on".

What the heck?! You know a man wrote that back in the 70's! That is horrible but it cracked me up!

more Webkinz

After I got home I started looking around at the Webkinz site and decided that I really wanted one for myself. So I went and picked up my mom (we had to go to Target to return the brown lab I bought earlier). We went to the mall and I had her go to Libby Lu to see them all and she let me pick one out for myself. So I picked the elephant. It is soooo cute! And I am soooo spoiled! (Love you mom)
After Libby Lu we went to Bath & Body Work and there she bought me a purse filled with full sized products! It looks like this but it's tan and not dark brown. It came with a lotion, hand cream, shower gel and spray. Plus a free sample of a perfume. The scent is Sweet Pea. She isn't giving it to me until Christmas though....bah humbug! Even after begging her, she won't let me have the Webkinz code early either! lol
Oh yeah....I made Aaron promise to get me the husky Webkinz for Valentine's Day. It's so cute! Anthony is going to love it. I already plan on getting Emma the brown Arabian horse and Sara the terrier is I can find it. Anthony would probably like the frog or the racoon. Also on my list are the polar bear, the seal, the panda bear and the hippo. Just what I needed....another obsession!!

Webkinz

On my Christmas list for the girl's are Webkinz. They are cute little (and I mean little) stuffed animals that come with a code for you to go online and play in the little Webkinz world where you shop and work and play with your pet. I had never heard of them until recently and thought that the girl's would like them. They love stuffed animals. Emma is a horse girl and Sara is a puppy girl.

Last night I look through the Target ad and they have Webkinz on sale for only $12.99. Awesome. Not to mention the fact that they also had the My Little Pony Teapot Palace playset on sale for $19.99 (reg. $29.99) and that was already on my list for Sara. So I can kill two birds with one stone, I set my alarm for 8 am.

I get to Target around 8:30 and quickly find the Webkinz display, only to find that they pretty much only have dogs. Well that works for Sara but I wanted a horse for Emma. I picked up 3 dogs (last minute decided to get Anthony one) and go home. At Target I found a pink poodle for Sara, Husky for Emma (now it's for Anthony) and a brown lab.

I start calling Hallmark to see if they carry horses, they don't answer. I call the Limited Too...they have the horses! So off I go to the mall. I get there 30 minutes before they open....ahhhhh!!!! What the heck am I gonna do for 30 minutes? I walked up and down the mall both ways then sat on a bench and started texting Nicole.

Stores open and I do a quick run through of the Disney Store (I am never going in there again by the way.......I want EVERYTHING)....then I head off to Limited Too. I have never been in there so I look around for awhile and find a horse. It's a cute little horse too. Head over to Libby Lu. Again, a store I have never been in. They have Webkinz too. Plus they are 25% off. Plus they have the clydesdale Emma had seen online and wanted. Back to Limited Too to return the first horse I bought and then back to Libby Lu for the clydesdale. I got to the mall at 9:30 and left at 11. I am sooooo tired!!

But at least I have a Webkinz for all 3 kids :)

Costco

My mom and I took the girl's shopping at Costco. Right as we got there I ran into an old friend from high school. I hadn't seen her since 1994! She was there with her daughter and husband (and she was pregnant, due this month). We stood there talking for about 30 minutes before we exchanged numbers and said goodbye. I really enjoyed talking with her and it was fun to catch up. I will definitely keep in touch with her now that I know how. The whole thing just put me in a good mood!

sewing lessons

Emma is now signed up and registered to take sewing lessons! She showed an interest in learning to sew with me but I don't really know enough to actually teach someone. Someone in our homeschool group does lessons for little girls from her house and sent out an email that she had openings for the spring. It's only $7 for an hour long session a week. I think that's awesome! So she starts on January 7th and will go until April 28th. By then she will have learned how to make herself a dress. As soon as she opens up to teach adults, I will be the first in line!

The "W" in Christmas

Just passing this on!! <3 Cortni


The "W" in Christmas

Each December, I vowed to make Christmas a calm and peaceful experience. I had cut back on nonessential obligations - extensive card writing, endless baking, decorating, and even overspending.. Yet still, I found myself exhausted, unable to appreciate the precious family moments, and of course, the true meaning of Christmas.

My son, Nicholas, was in kindergarten that year. It was an exciting season for a six year old. For weeks, he'd been memorizing songs for his school's Winter Pageant. I didn't have the heart to tell him I'd be working the night of the production. Unwilling to miss his shining moment, I spoke with his teacher. She assured me there'd be a dress rehearsal the morning of the presentation. All parents unable to attend that evening were welcome to come then.

Fortunately, Nicholas seemed happy with the compromise. So, the morning of the dress rehearsal, I filed in ten minutes early, found a spot on the cafeteria floor and sat down. Around the room I saw several other parents quietly scampering to their seats. As I waited, the students were led into the room. Each class, accompanied by their teacher, sat cross-legged on the floor.

Then, each group, one by one, rose to perform their song. Because the public school system had long stopped referring to the holiday as "Christmas," I didn't expect anything other than fun, commercial entertainment songs of reindeer, Santa Claus, snowflakes and good cheer. So, when my son's class rose to sing, "Christmas Love," I was slightly taken aback by its bold title. Nicholas was aglow, as were all of his classmates, adorned in fuzzy mittens, red sweaters, and bright snowcaps upon their heads.

Those in the front row- center stage - held up large letters, one by one, to spell out the title of the song. As the class would sing "C is for Christmas," a child would hold up the letter C. Then, "H is for Happy," and on and on, until each child holding up his portion had presented the complete message, "Christmas Love."

The performance was going smoothly, until suddenly, we noticed her; a small, quiet, girl in the front row holding the letter "M" upside down - totally unaware her letter "M" appeared as a "W". The audience of 1st through 6th graders snickered at this little one's mistake. But she had no idea they were laughing at her, so she stood tall, proudly holding her "W". Although many teachers tried to shush the children, the laughter continued until the last letter was raised, and we all saw it together.

A hush came over the audience and eyes began to widen. In that instant, we understood the reason we were there, why we celebrated the holiday in the first place, why even in the chaos, there was a purpose for our festivities.

For when the last letter was held high, the message read loud and clear:

"C H R I S T W A S L O V E"

And, I believe, He still is. Amazed in His presence....humbled by His love.

HAVE A BLESSED HOLIDAY SEASON

Merry Christmas Everyone!

3 months

Yesterday made it 3 months since I quit drinking soda! Yay! I tried to take one drink of my mom's Coke the other day and had to spit it out. I thought I was going to throw up. So strange the idea of never having another soda.

*I found this as a draft and for whatever reason didn't finish it and post it on the 14th...so here it is*

my funny Sara

Tonight Luke came over to play and me and Ashley were sitting on the couch talking and Sara started describing how Caleb will eat anything including Q-tips. But she didn't call them Q-tips, she called them Ear Tacks!! ROFL!!! She is so funny!

Sara's 5th Birthday Party

We had Sara's 5th birthday party at McDonald's. Since it was a small party we decided to have it on her actual birthday, which was yesterday, a Tuesday. Just our luck, that was family day and for every value meal we bought we got a free kid's meal. Not too bad!

With my car being broken down and Aaron always working I didn't have a lot of time to come up with a cake. My plan was to make strawberry cupcakes but I ran out of time and this is the cake that Sara picked out.

Here she is with Kyle eating their cake

She is just too adorable! I can't believe she is 5!!

Emma taking a break from running around!

Auntie Rachel, 5 1/2 months pregnant (with another boy)!

Daddy bought her 6 Strawberry Shortcake balloons.

Jacob

Ashley and Sara with her Fur Berry Mommy picked out for her.

A baby doll from Nana

From Mommy, Daddy, Bubba & Diddy
Luke
Everyone wants to see what she got!

ho ho ho

We got a small tree (6 ft) for the kids. We let them decorate themselves (can't you tell...lol). The picture looks like there is a bunch of ornaments missing fromthe bottom, but if you look towards the top, you can see where Sara grouped them all together!
We bought our hamster Max a stocking. Then we put him in it and tacked it to the wall. Here he is peeking out of it.
For Sara's birthday instead of goodie bags I made surprise balls. The red ones are for boys and the pink for girls. They pretty much have the same things wrapped up in them, stickers and candy. But the boys have bugs in slime in the center and the girls have some cute Lisa Frank kaleidoscopes in the middle. I'm making them some for Christmas too. Aren't they cute?

Elf Yourself

I had Shelly do this for me (with her lightening quick internet) and it is funny! I'm on the left and my sister in law Nicole is on the right.

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1195047871

Princess Strawberry Shortcake

Sara's birthday is in a week and we are going to McDonald's. Simple and cheap! I still have to go and get her birthday presents but at least we know what we are getting her.

For her birthday theme Sara had wanted poodles with a pink and black Paris backdrop, but the only place to get the plates for them was at BirthdayExpress.com and I didn't have time to order them. I had even found cute handmade invites on ebay to go with it.

But since we couldn't do those, I took her to Party City and she went with Princess Strawberry Shortcake. It is actually pretty darn cute! She only has a few friends invited so it should be fun. I can't find a cute Strawberry Shortcake cake, so I might be going with cupcakes that I make myself.

For favors I am making surprise balls. I am making my kids some for Christmas but I think they would be super cute for the party. Here is a link that explains them better than I could.

ladybugs

baseball

monkeys