Laura Vegas

i signed up for the journal your christmas class last week. i had seen a few people do this last year and it seemed like a great idea. and then i saw it mentioned again this year. so i figured it’d do it. the main reason i was hesitant is that i’m not always good about keeping up with something like this … where i’m really not on a deadline or held accountable if i don’t finish. lol! i signed up a little late … so i havn’t done the album cover yet. but so far i have done the first 2 days.

the first day was to create a manifesto … an intro page of sorts to our albums. explaining what this album will be about. i used the manifesto that was given to us … just copied it word for word (except i changed "hot drinks" to "cold drinks" … because i hate hot drinks. lol!). i was so upset to realize i didn’t have an "S" for my title … then found another set of chipboard letters from a different collection and realized the pink "S" would be perfect. and you have to feel this paper to really appreciate it … flocked poinsettia paper!

i’m going super simple on this. as much as i love all the fun details and embellishments … i know myself too well. and if i want to do a page every single day this month … i have to go simple and quick. i decided to do an 8×8 album … not too big and not too small. so far i havn’t even used photos … because honestly i think i’ll do these faster and on time if i don’t have to worry about photos. maybe i’ll add some photos to other pages … not sure yet. i had a ton of black cardstock cut to 8×8 … i was going to use it years ago for something. so i decided to just use all black for my pages … less decisions to make. i have mainly making memories products pulled out … a lot of the deck the halls collection which i think is so fun. and then some random christmas stuff. i have an entire baggie of those MM metal snowflakes from ages ago … so i’m sure you’ll see those a lot. and that "christmas wishes" chipboard accent … left over from the christmas cards i put together (i messed up on one).

   

today’s prompt was to journal about the christmas weather. i think part of the "challenge" so to speak was to also use snowflakes in some way. i can’t even remember the last time i’ve been in snow … we’re talking well over 10 years ago. lol! it has been getting chilly here though. today it was 60 degrees  … i’m seriously freezing. so i know i would never survive with snow. and have you seen these line art stickers? they are so cute. the first time i used them i was scared to even peel them off. lol! i was afraid they would get all bunched up in a ball … because they’re so skinny. but they work so good … and i love the look of them.

so there you go … i am on track. 2 days in … and i’m caught up. lol! i know, i know … a page a day shouldn’t be that hard. and yet i get distracted … and forget to keep up. but now i’ve put it out there and you all know i’m doing this. so i am now held accountable … to you. lol! i probably won’t post these daily … but will share a few times a week. so if you don’t see any for a while … feel free to check up on me and make sure i’m still keeping up. lol!

as i type this december is about an hour away. and i’m feeling a little on top of things. at least a few things "christmasy". lol!

i have all my christmas cards ready to be mailed. i had them all created a few days ago. but then today i had to addresse them all (including tracking down addresses for a ton of people), sign them all, add the photo of the girls, and stuff them. that alone took forever. but i have 38 cards ready to go as of tonight.

i have all the "kid gifts" bought and taken care of. not my kids mind you. lol! but all the other kids in our life that we like to give something to at christmas.

i put up the christmas tree this afternoon. the kids were busy playing outside … and nikolas was taking a nap. so i decided to go for it. tree is assembled, branches are all fanned out, and garland is on. i have to get some ornament hooks … didn’t have any of those. and then i’ll add the ornaments tomorrow. i still have the smaller tree for the girls to set up with all their decorations … just have to find a spot to put it in the playroom.

and joe put the lights on the house today. i "heard" that "someone" was giving him a bad time about this. i guess because we didn’t do them last year. but we never said we weren’t doing them this year … so back off a little. totally kidding of course to that "someone". lol! plus it wasn’t even december yet … i figure you can’t give someone a bad time about something until they have a chance to "not" do something. anyways … the house is all lit up and amazingly he got all the lights to work together this time!

on a side note … alyssa went to a birthday party tonight for a girl from her soccer team. for some reason i thought to remind her to put her inhalers in her bag … not something she usually takes with her places or something i think of. thank god i did. because they had a dog at the house. alyssa is extremely allergic to dogs … always has been. and it seems like it’s getting worst. it was a sleepover … needless to say, i just picked her up at 10:30. she’s sad that she didn’t get to stay. but she’s already breathing funny … her nose is running and she’s congested … she’s got her asthma cough going … and her chest is tight. i hate when this happens … i worry about her so much. she’s not one to speak up when she’s having problems breathing … and that scares me. i have given her plenty of talks about how she just can’t mess with her breathing … if she has trouble she HAS to come to me right away. serious stuff that you can’t just ignore.

the last week of my month-long challenge is up on the MM blog today. make sure to go and check it out … and here's a little peek:

i wanted to do a fun one this week. and i really loved doing this page in my album … love the way it turned out! so please go check it out!

i feel kind of sad knowing this is my last week of the challenge. lol! i still have some pages in my album to finish … and i'll be sure to share them here on my blog when i get done. i have heard from a few that have started their albums and love seeing what they've come up with … so please share if you're playing along.

and a huge "thank you" to making memories for giving me this opportunity! i had so much fun with this!

continuing with the random stuff from yesterday.

• my oven broke on sunday. the stovetop worked, the broiler worked … just not the oven. when you have 5 big kids looking for lunch … you need to be able to pop in some big sheets of tator tots and chicken nuggets. lol! my handyman jorge came out today … and i can call him my official handyman now because this is his 3rd visit in the last 2 years (the other visits being for my freezer). he tore my oven apart … and $142 later … i can use my oven!
• jorge did arrive during "quiet time" though. so the 5 kids that i had laying down watching a movie (and 1 more taking a nap in the bedroom)? yeah … they were up and running all over within minutes. lol! so much for quiet time … which accounted for some tired toddlers later in the day.
• i still have a daycare kid here … 15 hours after she got dropped off. lol! totally kidding of course. amanda and the girls have been spending so much time together … in addition to all the hours they already spend here during the day. this is her second sleepover in the last 5 days. but our nights are pretty busy for the next week … so i figured i’d give in tonight. the three of them get along so good … hardly ever fight. so i don’t mind so much. but i have been joking that she should just move in already. lol!
• ariana told me today that "all the boys in my class STINK … they don’t ever take baths". lol! then when matthew was chasing her around the house she kept yelling at me "laura, he’s trying to kill me!". lol! that girl comes up with the funniest things!
• alyssa went to the orthodontist today for a check-up. when she got her braces off a few months ago, they told her she had to wear her retainer ALL the time. but today they said she only has to wear it at night. she’s so excited about that!
• tomorrow is my anniversary … well, mine and joe’s. lol! 9 years … although sometimes it feels so much longer. we never really do much … maybe go out to dinner … although probably not tomorrow night. and we don’t do gifts. i told him to bring me home a big java chip frappacino in the morning and i’ll be totally happy! so easy to please!
• i was thinking about this today … and i realized that lately i don’t seem to eat much. anyone that knows me knows that i live on junk food. but i can literally get up in the morning … and have a frappacino … and yet not eat a single thing until dinner. no chocolate, no candy, no munching. seriously nothing. and yet i’m totally fine. just not hungry lately. one would think the scale number would be going down … and yet it’s not. lol!
• although once dinner rolls around … i’m pretty hungry. the last couple of nights i found myself chugging sunflower seeds. i’m not kidding. i would go to grab some seasonings from the cabinet by the stove while i was cooking dinner … and i would see the jar of sunflower seeds (just the seeds, not the shells). and i would take a few chugs of seeds right out of the jar. kind of wierd i guess!
• the girls were getting the sleeping bags out tonight for their sleepover … and alyssa was saying that we need some air mattresses. that sleeping on the floor makes her all sore in the morning. i felt so bad that i actually took the mattresses off of alyssa’s and sarah’s beds for them to lay on. lol! i lugged them out into the loft and set them side by side. i didn’t mind so much with sarah’s … because i actually have to change her sheets to the flannels still … so i would have had to take it off anyways. but alyssa’s was all perfectly made. i know i’ll regret that in the morning when i have to put everything back. i hate making beds!

ok … guess that’s enough. i was planning on watching some shows tonight. but i’m still waiting for the girls to fall asleep before i head downstairs. i can hear someone fidgeting in their sleeping bag still! lol!

so i have some random stuff for you. but i thought i’d share some photos first to keep your attention … then get to all the random stuff that i’m not sure you need or want to know. lol! so i told you i had some funny pictures of haley from last week. these pictures aren’t technically good at all … but i love them because they show her fun personality.

she is 13 months old now … and i would now consider her a full-fledged "walker". still getting the hang of it … but doing so good. i took her out on the front porch last week to get some pics of her in her first "pigtails"! but the girl wouldn’t sit still for me. kept wanting to walk all over. i didn’t have my good lens on the camera and couldn’t get to it because nikolas was sleeping … so i like to imagine that my pics would have been better with my better lens. lol! i am also realizing just how dirty my porch must be … judging from the look of her knees in these pics!

not sure what she was doing here … but it cracks me up! the thing is, the girlie is so clingy and quiet when anyone else comes by. so they don’t see this side of her. my dad had picked up the girls from school last week and when he came in the house haley was standing by the kitchen sink. i swear, the girl froze like a statue. lol! she did not move even an inch. i was actually amazed because she kept her balance forever … didn’t even want to reach her hand out a few inches to hang on to the cabinets. and her eyes just looked way off to the side … as if thinking "maybe he won’t see me here". lol! but she really has such a fun personality … so bouncity and energetic.

ok … on to the random stuff.

• remember a few weeks ago i mentioned i had 4 episode of "brothers & sisters" on my DVR to watch? and then the next week i told you i had 5 episodes? well, as of last night … i now have 6 episodes on my DVR to watch! i swear this is one of my very favorite shows. but because i have so many i feel like i have to watch them all together now … like my own personal mini-marathon. so i keep trying to knock out all the other shows i have … trying to get them out of the way so that i can take a few nights for "brothers & sisters". but the new shows keep coming … so i’m not catching up. but since this week is a tad bit slower … i’m determined to get to them. i have too … it’s great, quality television.
• speaking of quality television. i was watching "unfabulous" on nikelodeon (first off, i think that is the show i’m thinking of … and second off, i know this is one of the reasons i’m so behind on my own shows). and the brother says (to whom he said it i can’t remember) "what, do you want to start scrapbooking?". i was laughing so hard!!! of course, if i could tell the story better and remember the details … this might be funnier to you. lol!
• one of my closest friends deneen has started a blog. love that! she has always been one of my biggest supporters … and has been on my blog from day one. so go check her out … when you see the cute monkey you’ll know you’re in the right spot. lol!
• changed all the sheets this weekend … gotta love the flannel sheets. it has gotten so cold here lately. i know, 65 degrees may not be THAT cold … but to me it’s like freezing temperatures. i turned on the heater for the first time just about a week ago. i got our portable heater out of the garage to warm up the downstairs a little extra. i have fuzzy slippers on my feet and my flannel pajama pants on. and the flannel sheets just top it all off!
• i have my christmas cards all done. 40 of them. i bought a card kit … so they still had to all be assembled. and then i saw some fun little details that one scrapper added to these same cards … so i had to do that too. so what could have been simple turned into a lot of work. lol! but they’re done and i think they’re so cute. just waiting for some pics of the girls to add to them … and then i’ll mail them out.
• we got the christmas boxes down from the attic … but that’s as far as i got. i’m thinking i’ll put the tree up one day … and then a few days later i’ll add the garlands … and then a few days later add the ornaments. give the daycare kids some time to adjust to having a tree in the house … and learn that it’s not to be touched. lol! i glanced at a few of the other decorations in the boxes … and i’m not really digging them. i was into that whole "country knick-knack" thing for a few years. but there is no sign of "country" in my house anymore … it’s all been done away with over the past year or so. but the christmas stuff is definately "country". and yet i can’t afford to get all new stuff … so we’ll see what i end up doing.
• my studio is so clean right now. too clean in fact. i finished up a few projects early last week … and got the cards all done. so now i’m just trying to figure out what i want to actually scrap. lol! that’s why i like assignments … gives you some direction. i think i may just challenge myself to use some of the new product i have sitting out. maybe that will work.

i have more random stuff … but i don’t want to overload you all in one night. lol! that’s what happens when i don’t blog consistently … or do enough of these random posts. i feel like i have so much to share that i’ve overlooked. lol! stay tuned for more! 

what a weekend! i’m too tired to even post about much right now. so i thought instead i’d share some recent photos that i’ve taken of family friends. i feel bad that i shared some right away … and others seemed to just get put aside in the busy-ness (is that a word?) that seems to be life.

first up is sam. remember that super cute baby miranda from a few weeks ago? sam is her brother. sam was one of my daycare boys for about 2 years. hard to believe he’s in kindergarten already! such a cute boy … and super sweet.

jeromy is sam’s big brother … and miranda’s as well. he never came to our daycare … he was already in school back then. but a fun kid … lots of energy. and lots of freckles … love them!

my favorite neighbors! aren’t they just a gorgeous family. love ziek and ayana … they are such good kids. and ruth … such a good friend. we’re the kind of neighbors who seriously call each other looking for an extra egg, some milk, etc. but most importantly … we make each other cookies and brownies … and take turns making runs to starbucks! lol!

and this one is too funny.

this was the day i took my neighbors pics. it was 4:30 in the afternoon and i total spur-of-the-moment shoot … and these were the kids i still had with me. so i loaded them up and took them down the street with us to take the pics. nikolas was just hanging out in the stroller while sarah and matthew pushed him all over the place. and yes, he’s chewing on a pink burp cloth … but the really blue stroller totally cancels out the pink. lol!

will share tomorrow all the random stuff going on these days. and some funny pics of haley walking … with her first ever pigtails. too cute!

i’m so not big on going shopping the day after thanksgiving. i hate it! but i’m heading out to a few spots … mainly because this is my only day to get out of the house by myself. lol! i didn’t realize joe had a golf tournament tomorrow all day. so today is my day! nothing major though … just michaels, staples, and maybe target.

in the meantime … if you want to do a little online scrapbook shopping … go check out scrapbook bakery. heather has posted a 40% coupon code for your entire purchase! she’s got some great kits from previous months, so make sure and check those too!

week 4 of my month-long challenge is up over on the MM blog today. this week is about being thankful for our creativity and our hobbies. so please check it out … here's a little peek:

hope you're all having a great thanksgiving holiday with your family and friends. i'm not in charge of turkeys or anything … although i do have a great 60-minute rachael ray turkey recipe that i really want to try. lol! i am in charge of some dips, crackers, cheese, a few veggies, olives, etc. so i'm off to get those ready. also got to get me and the girls ready and then we're off to the bay area.

we'll be heading to joe's mom's house. we do this every year for thanksgiving. my family is right here down the street … but joe's family and alyssa's dad's family are all out an hour away from here. add to that the fact that joe and alyssa's dad both work nights in grocery … so they just got off work this morning. no point having them both drive this way since they're already out there. so they're sleeping … and me and the girls will meet them over there. stop at joe's moms for some thanksgiving dinner. and then alyssa makes her way to her grandma's house … which is about a mile or two from joe's moms. sometimes sarah goes with her too … since alyssa has lots of cousins to play with! 

so back to getting ready. have a great thanksgiving everyone!

monday is usually a quieter day around here. not quite so many kids as the other days. today i had just 2 during the day. and they were kind enough to overlap their naps at the same time … so it gave me about 45 minutes to get some things done. amazing what i can get done when motivated by free time!

i was able to finish up the other layouts i had been working on with some dude designs. i had such fun playing with their products … and i have to thank them again for asking me to see what i could do with them. i love this one of alyssa. this really started out with me just wanting to line up some of the journaling blocks in a row … love those things. this is actually a 12×12 layout … i have been going back to the larger size a little more lately.

this was a pretty simple page … another 12×12. they actually have a school collection … but this isn’t it. i just thought these papers would go so good with the girls backpacks in these photos. the hardest part of this page was that "2" … i spent forever trying to find the perfect color green paint. and i even painted it numerous times with some horrid paint i had that just didn’t go on good … and then it turned super dark. finally just covered it with paper … not sure why i don’t think of that more often.

i’m not sure about this page. it was basically a "wing-it" layout … totally not planned and i had no idea where i was going with it. the picture was one i had laying around … and i thought it would be a nice change to scrap something about myself. although i was told that this photo really shows how stressed i am?!?! lol! i don’t know what the transparency says since it’s in a different language … i just needed something to add to the green cardstock. and the rubon around the photo … just something i found while digging for something else … and weirdly enough i felt like it fit. and not just because if you really blow up this photo … you can see all my wrinkles on my forehead from always scrunching it up. lol!

so there you go … 3 layouts that i was able to put the finishing touches on and also take pics of. i also got 2 layouts written up and ready to mail out. that along with uploading some photos for ordering. then the kids woke up and we took off for school to get the girls … and it’s been non-stop noise ever since. but that 45 minutes was glorious while it lasted!

i’ll start with james. this past friday james had his last day here at our daycare. such a sweet little boy.

we have known for a few months that he was leaving. his dad got a job transfer out to georgia. most of their stuff has already been out there for the past few weeks. he was always so cute telling us that "my racecar is in georgia" … "my bed is in georgia" … "my truck is in georgia".  other moms that came to pick up would ask him where he was going … and he would reply in his sweet little voice "i’m going to georgia".

i have never really gotten too many photos of him since he’s been coming here … which i think has been about 9-10 months. any time i had my camera out he would give me these super serious, "what the heck are you doing" type looks. but i was determined last week to get some good shots of him before he left … going to have these mailed off to him along with some i took of him and all the girls. of course the look he was giving me the most the other day was this one … his "wink".

we will miss james. we will miss his never-ending questions … the ones he would ask over and over and over … even after you had already answered him. lol! it’s one of the things i would always laugh at. he would ask me something … i would answer him … he would ask me again … i would answer again … and on and on. i also loved when he told me he was sorry … even though he hadn’t done anything wrong. like when i would ask him to help me pick up the toys. and he would ask "why" … and i would tell him "because you made the mess, not me". and he would give me this super matter-of-fact "oh, i’m sorry laura". it was always so cute.

we took some quick pictures before he left on friday … with all the girls. and i actually thought to have one of the girls snap a picture of me and james together. of all the kids i’ve watched over the years … i have gobs and gobs of photos of them … but only a handful of me with them. so a total sidenote about the haircut. i had a spur-of-the-moment haircut on thursday. i asked my hair-cutter chick to maybe layer it some since it was getting all wierd at the bottom. she actually said my hair was looking really good … some good growth on it. after having lost so much hair, and then having new growth of about 4 inches … it has been coming out in big amounts the last few months again. but i couldn’t believe that she got it to look this good! all with a round brush and the hair dryer. although … it hasn’t looked the same since i washed it. in fact the hat has been back on … but i’m going to practice on it and see if i can do something similar. and like the color? yes, i did that last week. i got smart and went back to the color i always used for years … "cinnaberry".

and i know amanda will be missing james too … actually she’ll be missing his mom even more. james’s mom was actually one of her teachers at school. she actually had 2 teachers since they job-share. but she loved having his mom as a teacher … and always thought it was so neat to have her teacher show up at the house after school (even if it was to pick up her kid. lol!). and i have to say … this girl has been the most hilarious thing lately. she comes up with the funniest comments and questions. she has really been on top of it the last month or so … i swear she has us all laughing the entire time she is here. one of my other mom’s came to pick up her kid last friday … and amanda was still here … eating up the yummy dinner i had made. she asked if she had moved in with us . lol! i know i look forward to the kids getting picked up at the end of the day … but i have never minded much when amanda wants to stay longer and play. she’s just always so good … and does whatever the girls want to do. she just goes with the flow … never any drama with this girl!

and one last thought. i know how hard it is for me when one of the kids leaves us. but sometimes i forget how hard it is on my girls too. i think it’s sweet that alyssa has her cellphone (which isn’t hooked up by the way … she just uses it for the alarm and other stuff) background set to a photo of wes … who moved away over a year ago. every night she looks at the picture of him … and gives him a little kiss. too cute. then there was sarah tonight … just a little bit ago. she was tucked in bed trying to go to sleep … and then i hear her crying. i went to ask her what was wrong … and she told me that she misses ady and wes so much. breaks my heart. she’s been sleeping with a stuffed dog that has a recording thing in it. she happens to have a recording of ady laughing on it … from ages ago. makes me so sad when she presses the little doggies paw … and i hear ady’s little giggle.

i know how fortunate we have been to have had so many great kids come into our home … and our lives. most of them are still in our lives in some way … and i love that. always hard to say goodbye. but i know james is probably in heaven right now out in georgia … playing with all this stuff that has been waiting for him. lol!