Let the Festivities Begin!

It's officially up!

Well, to be honest, it's been up for a week!

This is the first time ever we have put up our tree before Thanksgiving and..... I actually like it! It's not decorated, but I get to enjoy the lights at night!

#TBT

Throw Back Thanksgiving!

These are pictures from our Thanksgiving in 2010. I first posted this in 2011, but I think the pictures capture the boys personalites perfectly! I cannot remember exactly what was happening, but it might have gone something like this....


"Boys, I would like to show you the things that are inside the turkey. First, is the heart."

Sam is suddenly having flashbacks to the movie Indian Jones and the Temple of Doom where the guy takes the heart out of a live person! My mom is digging for the next specimen to share.

"Oh Nanny! Do I have to learn about that?!?!?  Was the turkey alive when you did that?" Yes, that would be a statement from Sam...sometimes his logic leaves him at times of stress.

Sam in the background, "Oh Mom!! Is Nanny going to take out my heart?!?!?"

Mom continues, "Now I would like you to see the neck of the turkey. Do you know you can make a soup from the neck?"  Jack is starting to get a bit interested in all of this...  

Sam has about three more seconds before he will have to run to the bathroom. Hey! Where's Jack?  

 

I should have known!!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

#TBT

#TBW
(throwing back today since tomorrow is a holiday!)

This was the boy's first attempt at a lemonade stand!

 It was a warm afternoon and Sam thought this would be great thing to do and an easy way to get LOADS of money!

Unfortunately, we didn't live on a busy street. We had a few "local" customers and one car that stopped.

(Jack doesn't even have shoes on!)

 Jack was drinking the product and Sam was getting bored.

And about 15 minutes later.

They were done.

The Season has Begun...

Basketball season is upon us and I love it! (And not just because I am an ISU fan and they are ranked number 13...just had to point that out!) Sam had his first tournament in Ames and let's just say that his team has a few things to work on!

 Sam has been working hard at his basketball skills and was super excited to have the season begin,but also had beginning of the season butterflies!

 And wouldn't you know it. 4 minutes into the first game and JAM! It was his right had this time...not the thumb he chipped in September. He continued to play and was pretty sore by the end.

 

Sam plays post due to his size, which really isn't all that big compared to the guy he had to guard! Yep, he guarded the guy in white..Sam is number 53 tucked behind on the right.

 I really enjoy watching him play. He had four games and in this one, the boys played so hard and were in a rhythm. Unfortunately, that isn't going to get us any taller! The other kiddo just had a height advantage and made it loo so easy!

 Yep, Sam gets to tip off the ball each game. Our tall guy from last year went to play for another team and so it's up to Sam!

 Sam got it! It's all about the timing and he was good to go on this one! Or did the other guy give him a little boost?

A New Addiction...

So I am jumped on the bandwagon and have been listening to 
Serial on podcast on my iphone.

And I'll tell you what I'm addicted and I can't figure it out! I go back and forth..Adnan didn't kill Hae. Ohhh...yep I think he did kill her! Then more evidence is shared and more interviews are conducted and I change my mind...again! I am stumped!!

What is Serial?
Serial is a podcast where they unfold one nonfiction story, week by week, over the course of a season. (At this time, I don't know how long a season is.) They'll stay with each story for as long as it takes to get to the bottom of it.

They'll release new episodes every Thursday morning. Listeners can subscribe for free to the Serial podcast on iTunes and other audio platforms. (I am listening it to it on my iphone. The app is available through the app store or the iphone 6 comes with the app already loaded.)

Here is the story that season one is covering:

On January 13, 1999, a girl named Hae Min Lee, a senior at Woodlawn High School in Baltimore County, Maryland, disappeared. A month later, her body turned up in a city park. She'd been strangled. Her 17-year-old ex-boyfriend, Adnan Syed, was arrested for the crime, and within a year, he was convicted and sentenced to spend the rest of his life in prison. The case against him was largely based on the story of one witness, Adnan’s friend Jay, who testified that he helped Adnan bury Hae's body. But Adnan has always maintained he had nothing to do with Hae’s death. Some people believe he’s telling the truth. 

Many others don’t.

Sarah Koenig, who hosts Serial, first learned about this case more than a year ago. In the months since, she's been sorting through box after box (after box) of legal documents and investigators' notes, listening to trial testimony and police interrogations, and talking to everyone she can find who remembers what happened between Adnan Syed and Hae Min Lee fifteen years ago. What she realized is that the trial covered up a far more complicated story, which neither the jury nor the public got to hear. The high school scene, the shifting statements to police, the prejudices, the sketchy alibis, the scant forensic evidence - all of it leads back to the most basic questions: How can you know a person’s character? How can you tell what they’re capable of?
 *****************************************************
I have been listening to Serial in the car and while I work in my craft room! It's great! I am sure some of you remember listening to "stories" on the radio! It is exactly like that, but on our electronic devises! It kind-of cracks me up to think that we have made another big circle...instead of listening to the radio, we listen to pod casts!

Anyway...Are you listening??
 

 

#TBT

Throw Back Thursday! 

 

Caught the boys watching a little TV in their recliners!

How sweet that Sam put a pillow in Jack's chair! How sweet that Jack it holding onto Sam...some things never change!

What's You Strength Move?

Mom, Check this out!

Yep, Sam is balancing himself between two walls. These are thing you do when you can't go outside due to it being so stinking cold!!

 

Well, it didn't take long for Jason's wheels to start turning!

 

Ta Da!!

Impressive!

No, I didn't try. I would hate to out do the boys! (HA!)

 

The First Purge...

I started my scrapbooking diet. No diet is easy, this one included. 

I started with a "small" area. My punches. I have die cuts and a silhouette cameo, so in all reality, I don't need a lot of punches.

 

I bought this white shelf from IKEA for the sole purpose of holding my punches. My word. Who needs 6 drawers full of punches?

 

I am glad to say, that I don't have 6 shelves of punches, but I do have three. Time to "shop."

 

Isn't it interesting, that I keep this Tab punch by WeR in a little box right on my desk. THE ONLY ONE that I keep right near me. Obviously it's a keeper.

 But what about all of these??

I had actually organized my three drawers of punches by love them, okay punches, don't know if I like these punches. That was telling me something!

 

 Right away, I could get rid of these. Donated!

 

I wasn't sure about this one, then realized I make banners by cutting rectangles and notching them myself. This one could go.

These were ones that I needed to think about a little more. The hiccup is that I do use a lot of these for classes, but not for personal use. I know that this will be a struggle with some of my supplies.

 So here is the end sort.

These are the punches I kept and they all fit in the top drawer. I will eventually label the drawers, but will wait at this time in case I rearrange some of the drawers.

 

These are the ones that I kept, too, but in the second drawer. I would have gotten rid of them if I didn't use them for classes.

Phew. 

First purge. It was ok. I must say that it did feel good to get rid of some of that extra weight!!  But I can't "think" this hard about every item. It will take me years to purge if I do that! Need to follow my gut and just get rid of it!!!

Wish me further luck!!

 

 

A Confession..

Sometimes I just want to throw it all away.

WHAT? 

Throw what away??

Sometimes I just want to throw all my scrapbooking stuff away and start over.

WHY??

Well, there are several reasons.

First, I have a lot of stuff.  I organize and reorganize and I still can't find what I want to use or did I even have that embellishment/paper/ink in the first place? 

Then I get overwhelmed and grouchy. Grouchy does not help with the creative process. So then I start to panic.  How am I ever going to go through all this stuff.  And the big question: what if I get rid of this and then later I need it?  Because, you know that always happens!!

Well, I came across an article where a scrapbooker gave up scrapbooking for three years due to being overwhelmed. Right now, I totally get it. She also shared an article on how to go on a Scrapbooking  Diet.

 

You can check out the article here.  

See her shelves...that is IT!! Those are her scrapbooking supplies! Wow! And I actually like it! Could I get down to those few supplies...ummmm...No. But could I get MY stuff down to more manageable amount...absolutely!!

A part of her article that really hit home was the "Downsize" section. She wasn't referring to downsizing as in getting rid of your supplies, but downsizing the size of your albums! I am a HUGE fan of mini-albums. I love to create them and can bang those out in no time! Love the little stories or events in a little book.

 THEN WHY AM I TRYING TO DO 
12x12 ALBUMS???

WHY AM I TRYING TO DO PROJECT LIFE IN A 12X12 ALBUM?

WHY AM I DOING SPORTS IN A 12X12 ALBUM?

I am failing miserably at 12x12 anything and especially at 12x12 project life. I get frustrated and end up doing absolutely nothing with the pictures! 

This quote comes to mind:

 

So, I have come to the conclusion, that I need to go into scrapbooking detox. What does that mean? As described in the article, I need to look at my supplies in a new light. I am going to "shop" my supplies, meaning would I buy that item now if given the chance? I KNOW there are things that I have that I wouldn't give a second glance at in a store today and those things need to go!

I think I have a fabulous scrabooking room and I want it to be the happy place it was intended to be. My creative space! My happy supplies that inspire me!! 

So wish me luck and here I go...let the detox begin!!

BOO!

I am so grateful that my kids have not had a heart attack yet. 

They are so easy to scare and we all get a kick out of scaring each other.

On this morning, I was taking a picture out the window when I heard Jack heading towards the steps. When he came around the corner I yelled, "AHHHH!" and snapped a picture. I caught him in mid yell!

I am also grateful the boys both have a good senses of humor! We laughed and laughed after taking this picture! 

I must share that Jack had scared me that same morning! I guess what goes around comes around. The sad/bad thing is that I want to catch more "scares" on camera now!!

TBT

Throw Back Thursday!

Jack is obsessed with monkeys! He loves them, he wants one (especially a real life finger monkey) and he has a few stuffed ones!

 

One afternoon when Jack was 4 years old,  he insisted on taking a portrait with all of his monkeys (and one puppy...can you spot it?) This is such a true reflections of my little Jack-a-roo!

*love*

Ghostbusters!

Who ya gonna call?

(Now try to keep that song out of your head today!)

Jack got a new Lego set when we were in Minneapolis.

He was so excited that they had name tags on! You know, it's the little things that make a Lego guy!

Can you figure out who is who?

 

I believe Jack would make the perfect addition to the Ghostbusters team!

Tuesday, Nov. 4

I voted.

I took Jack with me to vote this year.

 

I've taken the boys with me in past years, but this was the first year that Jack was actually interested in the process. I let him fill in the bubbles. On the ones that I had no idea who they were, I let Jack choose who he thought we should vote for. He loved it all!

 

He also got to feed our Secrecy Folder into the machine. 

"Did we win?" Jack asked me later.

"Um...no. Not even close."

"Maybe next time."

There's always hope.

THE LAST DAY!!

I did it! 

I took pictures for a week. That was the easy part. Now comes making the mini-book. I am determined to get this completed!! Keep your fingers crossed, but don't hold your breath, you may pass out!

Here is the last day of pictures...Sunday Funday!
We were in Minneapolis and headed to the Vikings vs. Washington football game. The Vikes play outside at the Minnesota Gophers college field while the new Vikings stadium is being built. I worried about it being too cold, but the day was perfect for a football game!

Waiting for the train! Jack's first train ride!

The twenty layers Jas had him filling out his jersey quite well!

We had amazing seats!

A souvenir cup of hot chocolate!

 Look how close we were!!!

Teddy! Teddy! Teddy!
He has the stocking cap on! 

I sat by this lump of blanket. Jack was playing his phone and covered up so he could see his screen. Check out the big screen right behind us! This stadium was sooo much better than the old dome!

 It was a great game to watch!
We won so that made it even better!
Now...off to make all these pictures into a book of memories!