Project SCRAP Layouts...

Remember how excited I was to start creating things again? Well, it really came through this month. With the help of Joe taking care of Caleb more than he usually does and Elijah being independent... to a certain point, it has given me some extra time to be creative.

Project SCRAP is in full swing, so with my "resolution" to keep up. I did some pages... Four pages, to be exact. *The kits used are Maria LaFrance - Buddy Boy, Shabby Princess - Bounce, and DC Designs - Pitter Patter

Every month I plan on recapping the "milestones" of both boys, no matter how small.

 Elijah is full of weird/funny sayings and want to remember them, not only on twitter (sharing them on my side panel), but in scrapbook form. I will probably do the same when Caleb starts talking.

This is a recap of the month from a family point of view. I also tried to include small things, like how the weather was.

Photo recap of the month.

I think I'm going to hand write a description sheet to attach to this layout. Similar to this:

1. Wearing a Flacco Fanstache, for good luck in the playoffs. It didn't work.  2. Having a sleep over with his friends.  3. Playing the Scooby Doo Game.  4. Showing off the Happy Tongue  5. Brothers!  6. Celebrating, in style  7. Also wearing the Fanstache  8. Playing in the snow/slush/ice  9. Hiding out from the paparazzi.

I'm really happy with how they turned out. I hope you enjoyed looking at them, also. Have you created any layouts recently? If so, I would love to see them.

Wire Photo Holder...

I don't really decorate for holidays. I'm entirely too lazy to, first, put things up in a timely manner and, second, to take them down in a timely manner. The first year we were married was the year I figured this out. We were in an apartment and decorated our entertainment center and had a tree and put lights in the window. It was very festive... Until probably almost February (thank goodness it was a fake tree). We finally packed most of the things away. Everything except for this:

Our card/picture holder. It never did come down... until we moved. Then it was put right back up when we moved into our new place, 6 and a half years ago. It transforms as the year progresses. It starts out with Christmas cards from the previous Christmas then will acquire some Valentines Day cards and birthday cards, then Easter cards, thinking of you cards and pictures of new babies and old babies that have new pictures taken of them.

When we run out of room it's usually because we get an updated picture of someone, so the older one gets taken off and put in a picture box for a safe keeping. They are rotated likewise. I just love watching the kids grow and people have new families. It's exciting and special. The display is so bright and cheerful, I hate to take it down. So up it will stay, at least, until we move again.

Headband Holders...

As I mentioned in a previous post I was going to make a Headband Holder for each of my nieces. I am happy to say that they were finished -before- Christmas. This is how Penelope's turned out.

I'm very happy with the result

I basically went by the tutorial. A quick overview to those who don't look at it:

• Buy an inexpensive oatmeal canister (or use your own if you have any). I bought mine from Target for about $3. 
• Measure the height and the perimeter of the canister. 
• Use those measurements in your software program to create the label.
• Print out finished product. I had to use 11x17 paper so it would be the right size.
• Attach with adhesive or glue. I used Tombo Mono on just the back where the two sides met.

*Unfortunately, I can't link up to the kit I used for the label because it has long been retired.

How Charlotte's looked in Microsoft Publisher

Penelope's finished product... With headbands displayed

I even added some goodies inside, like hairbrushes, clips, lip gloss

and a makeup brush (with no makeup included)

Just for the record, the girls loved them, so it was time well spent.

The 100 Piece Puzzle...

Way back in December (which, in reality, was only two months ago) Elijah and I worked on a Christmas present for Joe. Joe is a Star Wars freak fanatic... he has seen the movie more times than I probably even know about and he can recite the first three movies (technically the second three, if you are going timeline wise) pretty much line by line.

So for his present we decided to get him something special. It's not one of a kind, but still would be special because Elijah worked on it. It was a 100 piece Star Wars puzzle:

It took two nights to put together.

I didn't take pictures the first night because Elijah didn't get the concept of putting the border around before starting on the inside. Because of that, he threw a fit, refused to continue and screamed when I tried to take his picture. (Doesn't that sound fun?) So, we put away the puzzle for a couple weeks... that was when I finally got brave enough to attempt this endeavor again.

He was fine the second night, so I'm chalking

the first night's disaster up to tiredness.

He did a good job matching up colors and correcting himself

when he tried to put the piece in the wrong spot

If you didn't notice by now, we put it together in a box top,

to prevent the pieces from sliding off the surface

As we got closer and closer to the end,

he got more and more excited

Of course it would have made complete sense to take a picture of the finished product, but I apparently forgot. Mommy brain at it's finest...  I'm just glad Elijah enjoyed himself the second night and was super proud to give it to Joe... That night.  There is no waiting when dealing with a 3-year-old...

Through The Eyes of Elijah - His Family

It is always a bit scary to find out how little children view you, but sometimes it can be a pleasant surprise. One of those surprises happened the other night while I was making dinner and tending to Caleb.

Elijah finally learned how to use the mouse (it was a blessing and a curse) and was playing on sesamestreet.org. They have a game where you "make monsters", so Elijah was playing it for probably about 10 minutes when I heard, "Monnie! Come here! Look what I made! It's you!" I finished up what I was doing and braced myself for what might be on the screen. To my surprise it was this:

Elijah then said, "He's happy!" So I inquired, "Am I happy?" "Yes." "Am I always happy?" "No." See... honesty at it's finest.

So I went back out to finish up and a few minutes later I heard, "Monnie, look! It's daddy!"

He was so tickled with himself. My favorite part of Joe's monster was when you played it, to move, the tongue would stick out and go in and stick out again. I could definitely see how Elijah could get this from Joe.

Then he made himself.



And he was done. I asked if he wanted to make Caleb, but he said no. Oh well, maybe another day...

It's Friday!

It is finally Friday. To make this Friday better than most is that I have a 5-day weekend, thanks to my PTO.

Caleb is so excited!

Speaking of Caleb, as you know... or might not know, Caleb is a piece of work. He has been since the day he was born... These days he is a bundle of smiles and laughs. One thing he has done for most of his life is what we call the "Happy Tongue" (seen above). He gets so overly happy and excited that the tongue just comes right out. You can also tell how happy he is by how much of it comes out. It is an odd trait, but I -love- it. His oddity makes him fit in with the rest of the family. ;-)

I hope everyone has a great weekend!