And the Claritin begins to kick in…

I wasn’t planning on posting tonight.  I’ve been nursing some sort of upper respiratory thing for the last few days.  I thought it was just my allergies acting up but it’s been lingering on and draining my energy much more than my allergies…so what’s the deal??  Anyhow…I’m getting a little burst of energy tonight.  Woot!  Woot!

So I think I’m burning out on the question/answer thing.  Maybe I need to search for new questions…In the meantime, besides feeling a bit yucky (for lack of a better term) and dealing with little Miss Fusspants, 18 month old who is getting her back molars in, here’s what we’ve been up to:

I mentioned earlier that I love Christmas.  I do think that in the last couple of years Christmas has taken on new meaning for me.  I’m not sure that it’s just getting older (yikes!) or if it’s getting to hang out with a couple of super cool little people all day, but I am much more inclined to tone it down for Christmas.  Less stuff.  This new way of thinking doesn’t really line up with the 6 or 7 giant storage boxes of Christmas stuff I have hanging around in the garage.  And honestly, I can’t even name a single item that I love that is in any of those boxes.  How sad is that.  Now for something NOT sad.  Emma and I have started on a few Christmas crafts and we are having SO MUCH FUN!!  I know it’s early, but there is so much fun stuff for us to make and create that I thought we should get started early   Here is our first creation:

It’s a little glittered and flocked snowman garland that we made out of plain chipboard snowmen.  I love, love, love it!  It’s hard to appreciate it with just the picture – the glitter sparkles in the light and the flocked scarves are soft and fuzzy.  Even though it’s not yet Thanksgiving, we decided to hang it:

I’m not sure that I’ve loved anything in all those Christmas boxes as much as I love this.

So my goal this week is to move on from the Christmas boxes.  I am looking forward to small projects, happy memories and special touches this year…and more room in my garage

Happy weekend!

Are you ready for Christmas???

I am!  Well, not “ready” in terms of planning, creating and shopping done, but “ready” in terms of excited that it’s almost here!  I love, love, love Christmas.  I love the baking.  I love the weather.  I love the decorating.  I love the creating of special gifts for my friends and family.  I love the lights.  I love all the little Christmas specials on tv.  And sharing all of these incredible things with two incredible little people makes it all that much more amazing.  Can’t wait!

Ok, now for this week…

Outside my window…I am loving the new hanging basket the girls and I put together.  I got the idea from a magazine clipping I’ve saved (I think it’s from Martha Stewart Living) to add plants to the side of the basket by cutting into the liner.  We filled our basket with Alyssum and some tall “princess flowers” (as Emma called them – I actually have no idea what they are) and then used Pansies for the sides of the basket.  Looks so pretty!  I should take a picture for next week …

I am thinking… that life is really so good right now.  I feel so fortunate.

I am thankful for…Ted having a few days off in a row.  We had a great day today, just being together.  Nothing big, just some fun little things.  We have another fun day planned tomorrow (along with some work around the house) and I can’t wait!

From the kitchen…NEEDS to come some Banana/Chocolate Chip Bread!!!  I still have my bananas (that have been patiently waiting in the fridge) and I need to get it done!  I am thinking of making muffins instead of bread now.  Sounds so good!

I am wearing…comfy flannel pants and a sweatshirt.  Love that the nights are chilly now and I actually get to wrap up in some warm clothes and a soft blanket.  Love it.

I am creating…lots of goodies for Christmas!  I finished the little project that I mentioned last week.  Here it is:

Here’s a few more close ups:

Seriously so easy to make.  I used a piece of foam board (about $1 at Michaels) and a package of those wedding favor containers (regular price is $20 for 30 tins – I used my 50% off coupon so they were a super good deal).  Then I just got out some Christmas scraps from last year and cut a bunch of squares and some scallop circles for inside the tins.  I plan on putting a little something in each tin for the girls to open each day in December, counting down to Christmas.  So excited for this!  I used to love the little advent calendars when I was growing up, but I was looking for something that I could personalize a little more (and maybe not just a piece of chocolate every day!).  Hope the girls like it!

I am going…to start shopping for our adopted family this week.  Every year we adopt a family through this great organization here in Sacramento called Sunburst Projects.  We’ve done it for about 3 years now and it’s been such a positive experience.  When it comes to Christmas gifts I tend to make much more than I buy.  I love giving the people I love something special and unique that you can’t buy at a store.  It’s such a different ballgame with our adopted family.  On the kids’ lists this year: jackets, warm clothes,  socks.  Wow.  I can’t imagine my kids asking for those things instead of Disney Princess dolls and dress up clothes.  Really makes me feel grateful to be sitting in my cozy sweatshirt, in my cozy house.  Puts things in perspective.

I am reading…Her Fearful Symmetry: A Novel by Audrey Niffenegger.  Loving this book!!!  I have not been reading as much this last week (choosing sleep over reading this past week) but I can’t get this book out of mind!  I have no idea how it’s going to end and I LOVE that!  A little over halfway through at this point.

I am hoping…that the change in Emma’s preschool situation is a good move for her/us…

I am hearing…Ted typing on his computer.  I love these nights – kiddos sleeping, both of us hanging out together but doing our own thing, too.  Doesn’t happen often with his schedule, but when it does, I love it!

Around the house…are little signs that a toddler lives here   Abby is such a crazy munchkin.  She is forever getting into things, throwing things in the toilet, putting stuff in places that we never thought to look, you name it and she’s probably done it.  She is seriously one of the happiest people I’ve ever met, but she is a HANDFUL!  A smiley, happy HANDFUL!

One of my favorite things… is knowing we have nowhere we need to be first thing in the morning.  I love knowing that even though my kids will inevitably wake me up much earlier than I would like to be, we can just chill.  Be in jammies, eat some breakfast, read the paper.  So nice and appreciated.

 

A few plans for the rest of the week… fun family day tomorrow, preschool, and then lots of good stuff next week – heading out of town with the girls to visit a good friend and her girlies, fun plans with another good friend and her beautiful daughter (who Emma completely idolizes) and (hopefully!) lots of creative goodness.  Let’s go!

A picture to share…

LOVE this girl snuggling in our bed in the morning.  Ted took this picture last week when I was at work.  She usually only comes into bed sometime between 5 and 6 am and it is completely worth losing that last hour of sleep (as you can see, she tends to take up the whole California King Bed – must take after her father, lol!)

Ok folks, hope you have a good week!

Hello November!

Whew…October was quite the month for us at the Muller house.  It started with a great family vacation to San Diego.  As soon as we got home we got right to work on getting ready for Emma’s 3rd birthday princess party – lots of work but worth every single minute to see her beautiful face lit up the entire day.  The following week we started right in with the Halloween festivities.  I took the girls to Fairytale Town the weekend before Halloween for their special Halloween event.  It was pretty fun for the kids (a bit overpriced) but also a great chance to get early Halloween pics to send out to the family.  The whole week of Halloween was filled with pumpkin patch trips (yes, more than one!), parties (2 fantastic ones) and then finished up with a special mommy and Emma trip to the Disney Princesses on Ice before heading out for trick or treating.  Holy cow.  I’m tired again

So here goes this week:

Outside my window…I have plants that need to be replaced.  Hoping to put together some new hanging baskets this week.  Looks like a trip to the nursery is in order.

I am thinking… that I need to finally put the Halloween candy AWAY.  It is entirely too tempting to walk by that giant bowl everyday.  Seriously.  Just.Put.It.Away…after I have this last Twix

I am thankful for…a few hours of scrapping with a good friend today.  We try to get together once a month for a scrap day at our local scrapbook store and I totally look forward to it.  Today was great, too, because I went prepared, limiting the supplies I brought and spending some time before today planning out what I wanted to work on.  It really helped me accomplish more and spend less time sorting through piles of stuff.  And I only spent $1.71 at the store!  I still can’t believe it.  Brought less stuff, spent less money – lesson learned.

From the kitchen…will be coming some Banana-Chocolate Chip Bread (hopefully!).  I have a couple of perfect bananas for this yummy fall/winter recipe that I LOVE!

I am wearing…comfy flannel pants and a t-shirt.  Love fall! (Same as last week…I’m noticing a trend.)

I am creating…so many fun things right now!  I’m just finishing up a little mini album for a friend of mine who hosted a wonderful “Witch’s Tea Party” last week.  I’m making it as a surprise thank you album with the pictures that I took and leaving room for her own photos.  I’m hoping to get it bound tonight and ready to give to her at work tomorrow.  (Note to self: Take pictures before giving it away!!)  Today I finished two little albums (that’s right, 2 albums start to finish today!) for Emma and Abby.  One is a princess mini album for Emma of pictures from her birthday party and the other is an animal book for the girls filled with pictures of all the animals we saw in San Diego.  Emma has carried the two albums around nonstop since I came home with them this afternoon.  I was hoping to post pictures tonight…but she took them to bed with her   She wants to take them to school tomorrow for show and tell – seriously making my heart smile right now   My last project is not completed yet, but here’s a sneak peek:

I think it’s going to be really cute and once it’s done, I’ll post more pics and a quick how-to.  Stay tuned.

I am going…to finish re-covering the dining room chairs that I started a few days ago.  LOVE the fabrics that I picked and can’t wait to see the whole set complete.

I am reading…Her Fearful Symmetry: A Novel by Audrey Niffenegger.  So far, I’m completely hooked.  It’s sort of a family drama/love story/ghost story…really good combo and I can’t wait to read it tonight!

I am hoping…that tomorrow night at work isn’t too crazy, lol!  Emergency rooms everywhere are completely overwhelmed right now with all the swine flu business and ours is no exception…(crossing fingers for a decent shift)

I am hearing…quiet.  Must mean that everyone is finally asleep

Around the house…are lots of little toys, shoes and “stuff” that needs to be picked up…picture of what happens when Mommy’s not home all day to keep up with it

One of my favorite things… is this:

No words needed

A few plans for the rest of the week… preschool, lunch with my dad, working at the hospital, testing out a new recipe (more to come if it’s a success!) and getting organized for Christmas.  I like to be “done” by December 1 … yep, done with all the planning and shopping by the 1st.  I like to spend December just enjoying the holiday rather than doing all the tasks.  I also create a lot of my own gifts and I hate having to be rushed if things don’t turn out right the first time (which generally happens over here!).  Busy week ahead!

A picture to share…

This picture was actually from a few weeks ago.  I found it last night when I was uploading my October pictures for printing and couldn’t believe that I’d forgotten about it!  I love, love, LOVE this picture!  It was a completely random photo op … I was doing dishes in the kitchen and realized that it had gotten very quiet (not usually a good sign).  I cam around the corner and found the girls laying next to each other on the floor, drinking their milk and smiling with each other.  Too cute for words!

Have a happy week, sweet friends!

Ahhh, a new week

Yes, that is what we need around here…a new week.  This past week has been a tough one.  We had a great time on Monday up at Apple Hill, celebrating Emma’s birthday.  Tuesday morning the girls both got immunizations and it’s been downhill ever since!  Emma got the FluMist and has had a tough time with the side effects.  Abby has picked this week to come into her “toddlerhood” and is literally into, or often on top of, EVERYTHING!  Nothing, and no one, is safe!  Wish us luck for a better week

I like the little prompt-answer post from last week so I thought I’d make it a weekly thing.  Here goes:

Outside my window…it’s pretty dark right now

I am thinking… that I need to work on finding my groove again.  I usually have a pretty good groove with the girl tribe, regular routines and getting lots of stuff done during the day.  Not so much this week.  It feels like we’re sort of in survival mode.  Hate that feeling!  I’m hoping this week finds us back on track and everyone feeling better!

I am thankful for…the Elmo potty in the minivan.  Let’s just say, it came in handy today

From the kitchen…those darn cookies keep calling my name!  I am having the hardest time staying away from all the goodies I baked yesterday.

I am wearing…comfy flannel pants and a t-shirt.  Love fall!

I am creating…in small amounts.  Tonight I managed to repair another one of Emma’s princess dresses and make two new throw pillows for the living room.  I bought a super soft and cozy throw the other day with the intention of turning it into throw pillows (I am a total sucker for those blankets!).  I made it happen tonight!  I made two for the couch and am planning on making a few more for our bedroom.  Love them!

I am going…to get back to the gym regularly.  I’ve fallen off the wagon a bit and have been struggling to keep up with my gym routine.  And with all the cookies I’m eating these days…

I am reading…what I hope is going to be a great book.  It’s Tell Me Something True by Leila Cobo.  So far it’s pretty good and I’m looking forward to reading again.  Yeah!

I am hoping.. that Emma is feeling better tomorrow.

I am hearing.. Desperate Housewives in the background.  *blushing*

Around the house…there are signs of fall.  Pumpkins, cozy blankets, pillows, cookies, fresh apple cider…

One of my favorite things… is Emma coming and snuggling with me in the mornings.  Love every minute of it.

A few plans for the rest of the week… a lunch date with Ted (yeah!), working a shift at the hospital, hanging with Abby while Emma’s at preschool, lots of Halloween parties and festivities, and Disney Princess on Ice on Saturday (can you guess who’s super excited for that one?).

A picture to share…

Crazy in love with these two girls.

Have a great week!!

Crafting and random musings

Since I haven’t been able to do much crafting, I thought I’d at least take some pictures of some projects I’m hoping I get to work on soon

My December Daily album is high on the priority list.  I did one for the first time last year (after seeing it all over the “scrapping world”) and I have to say that it is definitely one of my favorite albums.  It’s basically a picture journal of the month of December (one of my very favorite times of year).  Here are a few pics of mine from last year:

Hard to take decent pictures of this album – it’s bursting full of photos, memorabilia, various page sizes and lots of Christmas cheer   I decided to try something a little different this year.  I’ve been wanting to re-purpose an old hardcover book with a binder mechanism and make it into an album.  I thought a December Daily would work perfectly – and it was even easier than I thought!  Took me about 20-30 minutes (plus drying time):

And here’s the inside:

I am so happy with the way it came it out (and how easy it was to make) that I am already brainstorming new ideas for more books.  But now comes my dilemma with the album – how to fill it????  Last year, I used up all my old Christmas scrapping stuff and didn’t buy anything new at all.  It’s completely mismatched and none of the paper lines match or even coordinate.  I love that album, and that look, but I want something a little different this year.  I’d love to go with some coordinating stuff and give it a more “finished” look – but which paper line to use??  Here are a couple I’m considering:

Making Memories Mistletoe Collection

Basic Grey Eskimo Kisses

Pink Paislee Mistletoe and Co. Collection

So far I’m leaning toward the Pink Paislee collection.  The paper on the front of the album (the scalloped one) is from that collection.  It came in my warehouse sale box that I bought back in the summer.  But I also LOVE the other two lines!  Any suggestions?

One of my favorite recent finds is that Michaels started carrying the American Crafts 12×12 3 ring albums.  Score!  They’re the only large album that I use anymore and they typically run about $20.  I love that I can use the weekly Michaels coupon and get them for about $11.  Nice!  I love that I can leave them plain or add a few of my own embellishments.  Here’s what I did to my most recent one, which will house layouts for the latter half of 2009:

I would completely recommend these albums – soooo much easier than the old post bound albums.

On a non-crafty note, I just planted my winter vegetable garden, a first for me.  Here’s what it looks like now:

I’ve got a few different kinds of lettuce, onions, spinach and peas.  So far I’m loving that I can run outside and clip some fresh lettuce for dinner.  Yum!

I also have this interesting plant/flower growing in my backyard:

Here’s the story with these:  2 years ago, my grandma decided to dry out some black-eyed susans and save the seeds so that I could grow them in my yard.  She gave me an envelope of seeds and I spread them along our fence line.  The first year these giant green stalks came up and I was so excited thinking the flowers should be coming any time.  I waited and waited (for weeks and weeks) and nothing.  Finally I got so irritated that I cut them all down – maybe a bit of a tantrum?  Anyhow, this year, sure enough, the green stalks came back.  I decided that, for whatever reason, they weren’t going to flower, but they still looked better than just a fence, so I left them alone.  About 2 weeks ago, these purple flowers started to appear.  Now they are covered in them.  Soooo beautiful, but clearly not black-eyed susans.  So weird!!  Any guesses as to what I grew????

As I sign off, here’s a sneak peek of some goodies I hope to be working with SOON:

and:

Have a great weekend!!

Blog slacker!

Yes…I admit it.  I am slacking on my blog.  I swear I have the best intentions but as soon as I get ready to sit down and update a million things need to be done…sound familiar????  So I’m back…and I am going to do my best to keep up

First off, Peg won the pattern!  Shoot me an email at jenmullerrn@yahoo.com and I will get your pattern off in the mail.

So of all nights to update my blog, this may not be the best one.  I am going on minimal sleep today (thank you, my wonderful children!) and tomorrow is Emma’s 3rd birthday party.  It’s a princess/dress up party and she is completely over the moon excited.  As in she is right now, and has been all evening, dancing around the living room in her Cinderella dress (that she’s wearing tomorrow) and talking about her party.  It’s been a lot of prep work, but completely worth it to see her so happy and dreamy about it.  I love, love, love being her mommy.

The other day I saw this really cute post on Ali Edwards blog (such a fun blog to read!) and thought it would be a cute way to do a quick blog post …and tonight’s the perfect night!  Here goes:

Outside my window…I can see the mass of balloons that I am trying to hide from Emma in the minivan.  She is going to love them!

I am thinking… that I am sooo ready for some “fall-ish” activities.  With our vacation last week and Emma’s party prep, we haven’t been doing too many other things.  We were supposed to hit the pumpkin patch this week but it rained on the only day we could go.  Good news is that we have plans to hit the patch next week and then we have 3 Halloween parties to look forward to!  Yeah!  Somewhere in there I am determined to fit in a trip to Apple Hill – a great place for beautiful pictures and seriously yummy apple donuts.

I am thankful for…a beautiful, healthy family together in a nice, warm home.

From the kitchen…tonight was a quick dinner – quesadillas and salad.  After baking four dozen cupcakes and all the other party food…I was DONE in the kitchen!

I am wearing…some really cute Halloween pjs from Target.  My favorite store on the planet.

I am creating…well…not much at the moment!  But that is going to change in the next few days…I am determined to get started on my December Daily album and get to work on our San Diego album.  I haven’t taken the time lately to spend a few minutes with just myself and I’m feeling it.  Need to make that a priority this week.

I am going…to bed very soon!  Big day tomorrow and this mama needs some rest!

I am reading…a book that I would normally NEVER pick up…Blue Bloods by Melissa De La Cruz. It’s a young adult/vampirish book.  I needed something to get me out of my reading rut.  I have been reading a lot lately and have not read anything that I have ended up liking, and that makes me so sad.  I can think of little that I like better than the feeling of completely loving what I am reading.  So, I thought I’d change it up a little and read something “out of the box”.  So far it’s entertaining.  Probably won’t make my Top 10 books of all time list, but what the hey!

I am hoping.. tomorrow becomes everything that Emma was hoping for.

I am hearing.. the last of Emma’s cartoons as she gets ready to get into bed.

Around the house… there are pieces of princess dress up accessories.  I can spot a crown, two plastic shoes and one white glove (must find the other for party tomorrow).

One of my favorite things… Hot Cocoa ice cream.  I am going to be in mourning when that limited edition flavor goes away in a few months.  May need to stock the freezer NOW.

A few plans for the rest of the week… rest, a little bit of alone time, a pedicure with a good friend, preschool and the pumpkin patch.

A picture to share…

I love, love, LOVE this picture of Emma and my grandma.  I took this a couple of weeks ago when my grandma came to stay overnight.  My grandma absolutely loves my girls.  She will sit and read them books for hours.  Literally.  Hours.  She is one of my very, very favorite people in the whole world and I love that she has this beautiful connection with Emma and Abby.

Okay, time to get Miss Party Princess off to bed.  Wish us luck tomorrow!

Pattern anyone?

After spending hours (yes, literally hours!) sorting through the massive pile of fabric, I found a pattern that is super cute but a bit too advanced for my sewing abilities.  And by the time my sewing improves, I won’t have a little one who could use this super cute toy!  I picked up this pattern:

when Abby was just a few months old and tried twice to make this.  It was just a bit too much for me.  I would love for it to have a good home.  If you’d like this pattern, just leave a comment and I’ll draw a random winner sometime next week.  Have a great weekend everyone!!

Winner, winner, chicken dinner!

Thank you all for such sweet comments on the post!  And the winner is…

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

14

Timestamp: 2009-09-19 21:29:36 UTC

Comment #14 is from Donna:

Donna Says:
September 15, 2009 at 7:48 am | Reply edit

Fabric is always a nice thing!! Thank you for the chance! I lke the hair jewelry you made for your girls, They look so cute! This is a tiring time, but so full of special memories!
Donna Fiskateer # 4454

Congrats, Donna!!  Email your address to me at jenmullerrn@yahoo.com and I will get your goodie box sent out!

And speaking of chicken dinner…I’m off to make some yummy chicken enchiladas for our dinner.  Have a great weekend everyone!  Oh, and as I’m sorting through my big fabric box, I just may run across enough to fill another giveaway box.  So stay tuned…another giveaway may be around the corner!

Fabric giveaway!!

Long time without a post!  It’s been busy around the Muller house.  A certain little girl:

has started preschool.  She is definitely a bit hesitant about mom not being there with her, but so far she is doing great.  She is growing so fast.  Another little Muller girl who usually looks like this:

has looked like this ALL WEEK:

Oh, yes.  Fussy girl central.  Oh the joys of parenthood   Now for the crafting…

I spent last weekend at a scrapbook getaway with a great friend.  We had a great time together, got lots done, but I missed my babies SO, SO, SO much.  It probably didn’t help that I spent the whole weekend scrapping pictures of them!  Here are a few pages from my super-productive weekend:

Overall I got more than 20 layouts done!  Seriously crazy weekend.

I also got inspired over the weekend to pick up some fun flowers and felt shapes that I saw and turn them into hair goodies for me and the girls (mostly the girls).  Here’s one of the clips I made for the girls (notice the cute little model that I had to nearly pin down to get her to stay still!):

And here’s the headband I made for me:

So easy and fun to make.  I think I made about 10 hair clips for the girls.  A little out of control.

And my current project is working on Miss Abby’s Halloween costume.  She has decided (aka Mama has decided) to be a purple fairy…is she not going to be super adorable??!!  Here’s a little sneak peek of her costume so far:

Okay…now for the giveaway!  (If you’ve read this far, you certainly deserve something!)  I have a HUGE storage box full of fabric.  All kinds, all sizes.  I am determined to purge it all!  So, I am filling a priority mail box stuffed full of random fabric goodness.  If you are interested in it, just leave a comment on this post and I’ll draw a random winner on Saturday.  Good luck!!

Creativeness ahead!

That’s right…lots of creative goodness ahead!  I’m headed to a crop on Saturday for a few hours, and then to a 2-day (that’s right…I’m staying overnight…in a hotel…WITHOUT my kids…sort of nervous, waaay excited!) scrap retreat with a girlfriend.  I am expecting lots and lots and LOTS of fun stuff!!

To tide you over until then, here is the link to some cute skirts that I have been wanting to try out…what do you think???  Is it me???  Not sure if I like this one:

Or this one:

Any opinions???