28 December, 2009

They Grow Up Too Fast...

I just had to blog about this, I guess. My boys have been so cute the last couple of days but I'm also realizing how fast they're growing up and that kind of makes me sad. Last night, Xander decided that he wanted to put himself to bed. He brushed his own teeth and said his own prayers and even claimed he didn't want cuddle frog. Cuddle frog only lasted about 15 minutes and then he wanted "his guy" again but he didn't even want us upstairs while he was doing all this! He also said to me that he didn't want to be read to before bed. It's nice to see them becoming independent, because that's what we aim for but I'm not so sure I'm ready for that, yet!

Tonight we decided to take them out for supper to a restaurant. They're actually old enough to go to a family restaurant and not scream or wreak havoc! It's nice to be able to go out sometimes. They did so well. We went to a restaurant that we often frequent but had absolutely horrible service tonight. We don't usually have so much trouble there. I'd said to Jason that if I didn't know it wasn't usually like that, I wouldn't come back. Usually we can have appetizers, meals and dessert in under an hour. Well, we went at about 5 and the place was dead. Unfortunately, we didn't seem to be an important table as they pretty much ignored us, didn't even clear the dirty dishes when they brought our food and it took us an hour and 45 minutes for a simple meal...no appetizers, no dessert. Needless to say, they did not get a tip. Anyway, the boys were so good the whole time. They were hungry and really wanted their food but they obeyed and stayed relatively quiet the whole, extra long time! They are growing up so fast - especially that was enough to start making Mom and Dad a little grumpy!

At bedtime tonight, Xander also convinced Evan that he should put Evan to bed. At first Evan tried to get Xander to carry him but I was sure to put a quick stop to that. However, they then grabbed hands and went up the stairs together. Xander helped Evan brush his teeth (sort of) and then "read" him some books and said prayers with him. I sat on the landing and listened because it was SO cute. Then Xander said good-night and turned off the light and walked out. Evan started crying a bit and when Xander got to the landing, he says to me, "Evan started crying when I left. Should I go sleep with him for a little while?" I just asked him if he thought he should and he said yes and climbed back up the stairs. His "a little while" was about 2 seconds and then I asked if he'd sung to Evan and he went back up and sang about 4 songs to him. When we left Evan was crying a bit but I thought I'd see if he would go to sleep. He didn't (and I'm kinda glad to know he still need Mommy). When I went up later he was sitting there crying "Where my bear? Where my bear?" I found it for him and then cuddled for a few minutes and all was well again. I hope they don't outgrow me too quickly because I still love my cuddles and snuggles!

Anyway, we are now enjoying a week off after Christmas and it has been really good. Xander even slept in until 10:15 on boxing day. I was shocked but he was tired! That meant I got to sleep in until 9:40, which is the first time in I'm not too sure how many years! We went swimming yesterday for my niece's birthday and I keep thinking how we should take the boys more often. They love it so much. We spent almost 2 hours at the pool and they were just barely ready to go. They even BOTH devoured supper after that! Tomorrow I get to go have manicures with my sister-in-law and I'm looking forward both to the visiting and the pampering so it should be a good day. My brother is going to bring the kids over to our place to play so the boys should enjoy that, too. Anyway, I should go to bed at a decent time tonight. This week I need to work on my finances and my P365 pictures so maybe I'll have some more posting later on!!

Until next time...

Two Kits (One's for Charity)

OK. I've been a bad blogger between Christmas and being sick but I figured I'd better get these up!! Scraps of Ellay has had TWO new kits out that I need to blog about! Both of these are straight to the store releases. First is the newest (and a very special) one.

It is called Never Give Up and Ellay designed it for a member of our Creative Team...Noelle. She has been very involved with the Special Olympics with her daughter and needed a kit to scrap her pictures. Ellay was kind enough to design this kit for her! And...since the Special Olympics are such a good cause (you can check them out here) she is donating all the proceeds from this kit until 2/5/10 (her birthday). In case you're scared off by theme kits...it can be used for SO many other things! I used it to make two of the pages for the calendar I've ordered from Shutterfly. First is my March page:

The next is my November page...also the word art on this page was created by Noelle and she has it as a freebie on her blog for you here!
Below is a preview for the kit, which you can find in the store here. As well, Ellay will have a little freebie for you all on her blog later in the week. Don't forget to keep scrolling down to check out the next kit!

This next one (the older one) is called A Christmas Wedding. Ellay and her husband got married around Christmas so this was designed to scrap her photos. However, there is a tonne of romance, as well as Christmas in there and is versatile for many wedding or Christmas layouts! Here are the two I did. The first one here is the February page for my calendar:

The next is a Christmas LO from the year Xander was born. Our very first Christmas with more than two of us! It's not the greatest picture of me since he was born only 3 weeks before but it's mostly a head shot!! :)

I really loved this kit which is available in the store here. You can see the preview below and Ellay has a couple of related freebies on her blog here.

That's all I have for now. I'm really excited to get my calendar in the mail but I just ordered it so it'll probably be the middle of January (oops).

Until next time...

24 December, 2009

Merry Christmas to All!

Merry Christmas!

That's all I had to say...just kidding ;)

It's fairly late on Christmas Eve but I just thought that I should post a Merry Christmas to all on my blog. I really have fallen off the edge of the planet lately but I've had good reason ;). We got to head to Turtleford to be with the whole Stein clan for the weekend. It was a really good time and we even got to stay a little later to visit with my Mom & Dad after everyone left. While it was a great time with tons of food, sledding and even a few presents...I must say the fresh fish lunch on Monday was a highlight for me. I am very grateful to the gentleman from my parents church who dropped off some fresh jack for them. I have been craving that for a very long time! The boys loved the sledding at my brother's house (I'll post pictures later...I have about 500 on my camera at the moment :) ). Of course, Monday I got sick...lovely sore throat and all that jazz... I was very fortunate to be able to get in to see the doctor Tuesday morning so I got some antibiotics and have been doing much better now. What a way to spend my first week off!

Tonight we had a lovely candlelight service at church...at least, if you weren't trying to manage two boys who both wanted to be carried and held and use you as a jungle gym, it was probably very lovely. For me it was pretty nice, anyway. We sat at the very front but it was good because the kids could see the live nativity so well and Evan had the best view of the guitars. It was quite funny when two of the pastors did a special number. They both sang and played guitar, one on each side of the stage. Evan's eyes were just like a tennis match...first to one side then the other, checking out TWO guitars at once! Afterwards, we came home and watched The Grinch, had our Christmas picnic and opened presents. I got a scanner from my husband that should keep me busy with pictures for a long time now!! I also got the ever-loved and coveted Slap Chop from my boys so that should be fun with Xander :). It was fun because Xander is now old enough to open something and really get excited in an "I wanted that!!" kinda way. Hungry Hippos was his huge excitement tonight! Evan liked his toys, too, but he's not quite old enough to care too much. Jason liked his presents, too (I wouldn't splurge for the iPhone but I did get him an iPod Touch). Now, we have one more Christmas tomorrow and then a week off!! Yay! I will leave you with a Charlie Brown Christmas...one of my favourite summaries of the Christmas season:

Charlie Brown: Isn't there anybody who can tell me what Christmas is all about?
Linus: Sure, Charlie Brown, I can tell you what Christmas is all about. Lights, please.

"And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, 'Fear not: for behold, I bring unto you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the City of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.' And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God, and saying, 'Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.'"

That's what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown.

Until next time...

14 December, 2009

Out With the Old!

I bet you thought I had fallen off the face of the planet! Well, it's December, so I think maybe I had! Xander's birthday went really well and I got everything done kinda on time! He had a lot of fun, especially with his Ewok forest cake (pictures will come later). Since then, it's been shopping, cleaning, baking and trying to get some CT stuff done! I've barely been on my computer while I've been at home and I still have a ton to do before we leave town on Thursday to head to my parents for Christmas with them! One of these days, life will slow down, right?

Anyway, Scraps of Ellay has a new kit this week and...guess what? It's a FREEBIE!! Not only is it a freebie but it's a COLLAB FREEBIE - with Deanna from FlowerScraps. It's a really cute New Year's kit. Now, I am not known for my staying up late on New Year's Eve, let alone actually going out. Generally, I watch a movie or something tame like that. However, this kit also goes great with my wedding pictures...so, here are the pages I've done.

This will be the January page on my 2010 calendar (assuming I get it done before January's over).

This one of our wedding party is for the scraplift challenge over at STS (when I finally get around to posting it there, anyway :) ).
Isn't this a gorgeous kit? You can see both previews below and they will be released in parts all this week.

Ellay's, which you can get here.

Deanna's, which you can get here.
Also, before you go, if you're a designer...STS is have a Designer Darling Contest. You can see the info on the poster below.
I'm not sure when it will be, but...

Until next time...