December Projects

So here is my lofty list of projects for the month of December...

1) My mystery project

2) I want to make some cute towels with this penguin fabric

3) Finish Janesse's bag

4) Transformer pillow cases for my nephews

5) floral pillow case for Susie

6) Rag quilt for Zack

7) More cute towels

8) A new bag for my MIL- she used this one SO much it got a hole in it! This time I will use quilt store quality fabric

8) Last is not a sewing project but still a project I need to do for Christmas-- these cute little candy gifts for my coworkers

Wish me luck!

Thankgiving

Let me start by saying this was not one of my favorite Thanksgivings and it was because of my attitude...

I was super disappointed that we were missing so many relatives that live here locally and wouldn't make the time to come over. (My brother and his family, Kenny's aunt and cousins, etc). So I started the day negatively...

Kenny and I were at each other most of the morning, bickering about dumb things.

I didn't put the ham in on time (because I misread the directions) and was generally stressed and not feeling good.

Kenny started heating the oil in the turkey fryer. We just bought this fryer and the equipment and I neglected to take the plastic cap off the end of the temperature gauge... SO the oil took forever to get to 350 degrees... we thought. He put the Turkey in and it was so hot it boiled over and started a grease fire! Kenny turned the propane off right away and luckily the fire went out.

As this was going on the potatoes boiled over (no biggie really, but added to the rest...)

All in all the food came out wonderfully (although about an hour late!) and we ate and enjoyed each other.

This experience reminded me of a scripture 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (NIV version)

¹⁶Be joyful always; ¹⁷pray continually; ¹⁸give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

We had so many reasons to be Thankful! We had the best of our families right there with us! We did shots of Jagermeister with our moms and grandmas (a memory I won't forget anytime soon!).

My grandma's little brother and his family were visiting from Maryland which really was a once in a lifetime for me.

Everyone helped with the dinner by bringing sides and pies (oh the pies... we had almost a pie per person!).

My sweet, thoughtful grandma brought us a hostess gift which was a beautiful floral center piece in a Lenox gravy boat!! So pretty and I will keep the gravy boat forever!

It WAS a good day and if I had it to do over I would have a better attitude and role with the punches and GIVE THANKS IN ALL CIRCUMSTANCES...

26 Days of Gratitude- the end

Amanda is thankful for...

U- Understanding (from others and being able to understand where others are coming from)

V-Values

W-Wal-mart (shallow I know)

X- XOXO (hugs and kisses)

Y- You! The people in my life

Z-Zero balance on the credit card! (although this is not the case right now... when we do have it I love it!)

Kenny is thankful for..

U UPS. (?)

V Venable's. If it wasn't for my grandparents, I wouldn't be here.

W- wiener dogs

X- XM radio

Y- You (meaning Amanda ha ha)

Z Zack. It's nice to see Michelle get something she deserves.

Ah, done! I am so glad this project is over! I am thankful for lots of things and it is defiantly fun to count your blessings, but the A, B, C thing was hard!

50th Post and Winner!

Can't believe this is my 50th Scrapsational post!! Here is to many more!

I don't know what I was thinking telling you I would pick a winner on Black Friday... I was super busy! Anyway, here is the winner... chosen by a random number generator.... Leigh! Contact me with your address and I will mail out your prize : )

Also, don't forget about my challenge; I still have plenty of room!

Trash to treasure...

Remember the empty can from the planters nuts I used for my Thanksgiving day favors? Well... I added some shinny scrapbook paper and a few embellishments and walla-

this cute little tin! My plan is to fill it with homemade cookies and/or candy.

I know it is silly, but I am super excited about it because I used paper and embellishments I had... this project was FREE!

Sneak Peak

Here is a sneak peak at my SUPER SECRET Christmas project! Although, I can't tell you what it is I am dieing to share this project! I used material for my stash and didn't spend a dime! I am super proud of myself and love how the finished product looks...

Thanksgiving Day Favors

DH and I are hosting Thanksgiving again this year and I just wanted to share the little favors I made this year....

I started with these-

and turned them into these...

added some mixed nuts-

and of course some of these (my new found favorite!)

added a lottery ticket, a tag and a prayer and waalla!

Here is the prayer I used -

Thanksgiving Prayer

Heavenly Father, on Thanksgiving Day
We bow our hearts to You and pray.
We give You thanks for all You've done
Especially for the gift of Jesus, Your Son.
For beauty in nature, Your glory we see
For joy and health, friends and family,
For daily provision, Your mercy and care
These are the blessings You graciously share.
So today we offer this response of praise
With a promise to follow You all of our days.

--Mary Fairchild

Little Things

Kenny and I had a great week. Nothing spectacular, but a week filled with lots of little things...

Tuesday was my monthly card class out in Mesa which I just LOVE and look forward to all month. My mom couldn't make it this time, but my buddy Jackie came along with me. On the way to class we stopped by Safeway. When Jackie paid she got $10 cash back asked for 2 $5's. We walked out and she veered to the right. I said, "hey we parked strait out here". There was a man sitting on the bench, with a bag who appeared to be homeless. He wasn't begging, just sitting minding his own business. She handed him one of the fives. I was truly touched. When we got back to the car I admitted to her that I had not even seen the man and if I had, I know I would have avoided him. She said she wanted to give him a card for Set Free Ministries (I program I hope and pray my brother will take advantage of someday) but didn't have one. Anyway, it opened my eyes to how much I ignore... I could be doing SO much more to help others.

Wednesday was I-Day (All Industry Day for insurance professionals). I was invited to go even though I have not completed my CPCU designation, because I am actively pursuing the designation. The day starts with a nice breakfast, a speaker (this year it was a panel discussion), breakout seminars and then we meet back for lunch and a final speaker. Its nice to get out of the office, learn some new things, meet new people and spend time with coworkers. Each year they give out a gift to all attendees and this year was a little ma

g lite- Kenny was super excited when I brought it home for him. It really was a nice day.

Thursday we came home to a package in the mail from Kenny's step sister Jennifer. It was SO nice to hear from them and she sent a giant stack of photos (anyone who knows me, knows I LOVE pictures more than anything), a nice letter, a cute necklace for me and something priceless for Kenny. She sent the custom license plates Kenny's dad had had on his Camaro and his other vehicle. Mutley was the dog his mom and dad had together and Pudgy was a dog his dad and Susie had. It really meant a lot to him to have those.

A few other things that made this week so great were-

* Kenny made dinner every night this week!

* My friend Carol gave me this super cute ribbon for no reason-

* I discovered these amazing Candy Corn Kisses at Target-

* I got my Christmas spirit!

Hope everyone else had an amazing week!!

26 Days of Gratitude- T

Thanks easy... we are both Thankful for Toby~

26 Days of Gratitude ! P, Q R & S

Amanda is thankful for-

P- Pastor Lee

Q- Quilting

R- R&R
S- Shelby

Kenny is thankful for-

P- People

Q- Quinton

R- Relaxation time
S - Shelby

Challenge !

Quilters Bee , a local quilt shop puts on a block challenge ever couple months. They choose the fabric and you have to make a block using that fabric. Then customers get to vote for a couple weeks. There are 3 winners. This month there are just 4 entries... Mine is D (the baby Jesus is made out of a hunk of the challenge fabric!). Wish me luck!

So... I thought I would challenge all of you out there in blog land!... Here is the my challenge fabric--

*If you would like to participate please send me an e-mail at teapot5569@yahoo.com with your name, mailing address and a link to your blog and I will send you a hunk of this fabric.

*Everyone will need to make a 12 in block using the challenge fabric somewhere in it.

*Let me know if you want to participate no later than Wednesday, December 2, 2009 (there are only 12 pieces so act fast!)

* a photo of your block will need to be posted on your blog on Saturday January 2nd, 2010!

Then I will post links to all the participants' blogs for voting! There will be a prize... and it will be good, but I haven't decided it what it will be yet... more details to follow!!

Give Away!

Today I was cleaning and organizing a little bit in the pink room and I came across my stash of strips and charms from a yahoo group I used to be in called Nickelquilts. I am totally a hoarder when it comes to crafting stuff, but have decided to do another give away.

The theme for this swap was aparently blue and yellow... there are 40 strips- 2.5 inch by LOF in this set. The fabrics were all prewashed and pressed. If this is something you would like to win just leave me a comment and let me know what you might do with these strips. I will choose a winner on Black Friday (the day after Thanksgiving)

EDIT: If one give away is not enough check out this blog for another one or... this blog or even this blog!!

Thanks and happy crafting!

Still grateful...

We are playing catch up on our 26 days of gratitude... we didn't read each others list before I went to type them in...

Amanda is thankful for--

E- EMC. Employment at EMC specifically. I am so thankful to work for a company who has not (knock on wood) laid a single employee off during these tough economic times. In fact my long time friend Jereme just got hired there and starts Monday!

F-friends- I am so blessed to have such good friends! From my online friends to work buddies and even some high school friends... I love them all!

G- Grandparents! I am so thankful to still have my grandparents in

my life. They are always there when you need them.

H- Hope- She is our trouble maker (as you can see from previous posts!), but I can't image life without her.

I-income- A thing you can easily take for granted until you don't have it. I am thankful to get a paycheck direct deposited every two weeks

J- Jesus! - nuff said?

K-Kenny- I am thankful for my hubby for so many reasons-- to summarize basically he loves me everyday... no matter what.

L- Love

M- my mom- My mom and I have so much fun together- doesn't really matter what we are doing we have fun and laugh. I am glad she lives down the street!

N-Nephews!

O-Olive Garden! -- Really I couldn't think of anything that starts with O! But I really do like Olive garden :)

Kenny is grateful for--

E- Ethernet. A fast internet is a good internet.

F- Faith. She kept Amanda company during school

G- Grandparents. They're people that always love you.

H- Hope. She always keeps things interesting.

I- Internet. It just makes life easier.

J- Jacob Taylor. Enough Said!

K-Kuhn cousins

L- Lap dogs. Toby can always make Amanda smile.

M- Matt Olson. He was a positive influence that helped me stay on the right track.

N- Nephews. They are the two best little guys!

O-overtime... makes games more interesting!

More pages!

Life turned upside down...

Sunday morning my brother and his boys came to stay with us for "a while". We never know how long or short the stay will be so we just try to make the best of the time we have with them. This time we had 6 great days.... I wish it was longer or permanent.

Life was crazy busy, loud, messy, expensive, stressful and wonderful. It amazes me how two small children can fill your entire life. All I could do at work was think about them and what we would do that evening. When I got home from work the boys were so excited I was home. We spent time at the park and at my parents house. We even did a craft night

and made a family fall wreath for my parents out of our hand prints.

Tuesday and Wednesday Kenny worked in Vegas and boy did the boys miss him (all of them including my brother). We still had fun that night, but the boys asked about him several times -- awww so cute.

Thursday we got to take the boys to church for the first time while my mom and I went to Bible study. I don't think I will ever forget Little Brian when he walked in and saw the indoor playground equipment (which is easily 3X the McDonald's ones) and his eyes lite up and he said "Oh... my... God!" Afterwards he said "I just love school"

The dogs were pretty jealous of all the attention we were giving to the boys and not

them... Shelby loves, loves, loves my brother but doesn't like children at all. She is very scared of them and spent most of her week in the corner behind the recliner...

Jacob started doing this really cute thing were he would randomly say, "hi!" in his little squeaky voice. You would reply back "hi" and he would just keep say it back and giggly and laugh. We thought it was cute.

Great week... now that they are gone our house it clean... and empty.