Finish 2013 Smash*book

 I have finished my 2013 Smash*book!  It is my first completed book.  Yes, it is very chunky and I love it!   

I really liked working in the Smash format.  I didn't have to "plan" my pages and have to have just the right stuff to complete a page.  I am using up all my old papers and stickers.  Not to say that I don't go out and buy new cute papers, but it is not happening as much.

I found these pictures from our trip to CO this past summer and had to add them to our book.  I loved going to the game with my son and his now wife!  It was fun to see them embrace their new hometown and root for the Rockies.  But I am happy the Cubbies pulled out a WIN!  

 I made a pocket for the map and brochures from our trip to Dolly Wood.  I also put journaling on the back of a picture and made a washi tab so you can easily pull it out and read it.

On our Thanksgiving page I wrapped a chipboard frame with washi tape and made a pocket for all the leaves we wrote on during the month.  I used up a lot old stickers on this page.

 Old rub-ons and fussy cuts from some paper made these pages come together nicely.  

 These pages have a ton of journaling about all the games we played at Christmas.  Do you see the flair (buttons)?  Those are from JC Penny's promotion last year.  I took the pins off the back and they make great embelishments.

My last one for the year was our Christmas celebration.  We celebrate on Christmas Eve, with church and present time.  It was so nice to have the kids home at Christmas.  As they get older and we don't see them as much, moments like this are very special! 

Thanks for stopping by and have a blessed day!

Family Game Time

As we welcome the new year I wanted to share with you one last holiday post. Happy New Year!

Every Christmas we gather together for some fun game time.  Last year was Christmas themed Pictionary and this year I put together some Minute to Win It games.  I had this whole scoring thing, but it was more fun just to play as couples and watch each other play the games.

I took pictures with my Iphone so I apologize 

for all the blurry pictures.  

 

 The first game is Chinese Take Out.  Using chopsticks you had to pick up as many mini marshmallows as you can in one minute. Christopher rocked his chopsticks skills.  I really was bad at this task so I decided to just take a picture. 

Next is the Nutstacker. Place 8 nuts on a candy cane and see if you can stack them in one minute.  Matthew was the fastest at doing this task.

This next one was hard.  You had to use the present to blow the ornament down the hall and have it rest on that paper square.  Nobody was able to do it!  But it was sure funny to watch everyone flapping that box all over the place.

The "snowball" toss was fun.  You had to toss your large marshmallows through the wreath and your partner had to catch them.  There was a tie in this match up.













This next one was a bit messy and impossible.  (I didn't try any games out before the night)  You put Vaseline on your nose and then in a minute fling the pompom up onto you nose.  First off it felt gross putting the Vaseline on your nose!!!!  Then after about 30 seconds of flinging my head up and down my brain hurt!  Matthew was the closest to getting it onto his nose!  

Too cute Kara!

My Rudolphs

This last game is classic and is the one from the video at the top of my post. (I couldn't figure out how to get the video down here)  You had to move the cookie from your forehead to your mouth.  This one was hilarious to watch.  

Arrggg, I am a cookie pirate!

I have videos of everyone giving it their best shot.  Maybe I will share them another day.  But Matthew rocked this game too, he moved it down to his mouth in 11 seconds!

This was a fun night with the kids.  It was nice to watch the young newlyweds working together and cheering each other on.  I hope they do that throughout their marriages. 

I know that I am happy my hubby is always by my side and cheering me on in life.  

Thanks for stopping by and have a blessed day.

Christmas Eve

This year we decorated a living Christmas tree.  Our backyard needs landscaping, so we decided to buy a tree we can replant in our garden.  It is a Colorado Blue Spruce.  It came in a red pot and it really does look so cute.  I had to choose our smaller ornaments and of course all the kids pictures adorned the tree.  Christopher's angel from Kindergarten was our tree topper this year. 

The kids are all ready to open presents.

 

Michael got a fun Capitals hat!

 

Matthew received an Ukulele.  He wants to use it in children's ministry. 

 Blue got his own stocking full of treats!  He was very attentive as Chris opened the bag. 

 SO CUTE!

After church we took our family Christmas picture.  I made everyone wear a Santa hat this year, thanks guys! 

 Since Blue wasn't in our family picture, I had the kids cuddle around him for a picture.  

It was a fun day.  In my next post I will share our family game time.  My kids are great sports to play silly games with their parents each year.  Stay tuned........

A Night in DC

Next year the Capital dome will be covered in scaffolding.
 It is getting a face lift after 150 years. 

We spent an awesome evening with our sons and their beautiful wives.  We drove into DC and checked out some Christmas decorations.  

Our first stop was the Capital and the Botanical Gardens.  We went right around dusk so I was able to capture the wonderful evening blue sky.

The gardens were illuminated with sparkling lights and full of colorful poinsettias. 

We wandered around the gardens looking at all the displays of miniature buildings made from natural materials.  You can see all the pictures I took from the gardens by clicking HERE.

They are almost done taking the scaffolding off the Washington Monument 

There was a pretty sunset as we walked to dinner.  We enjoyed some yummy pizza at PI Pizza.

Then we walked down to the White House and checked out the National Tree.  It is covered with thousands of LED lights.  Around the tree are small trees from each of the states and US territories.  On each tree there were ornaments made by children of the state.

 We tried to get some pictures by the tree. It was hard with all the crowds and lack of good light.  If I had my tripod and remote I could have gotten better shots. 

This one is my favorite from the evening.  

 

This was my attempt at getting a shot of the White House. They have you so far away from the fence nowadays, it is hard to get a good picture.  You can barely see the garland and wreathes that decorate the house.

 On the way back to the car I captured the 

illumination of the Capital. 

It was a fun family evening.  

Next time, our family Christmas pictures.

Thanks for stopping by and have a blessed day!

Christmas Photo Shoot

Nice shades Chris!

 Every year I try to get a picture of just the kids and then a family picture.  Since I had all these props left over from the wedding this year, I made a few Christmas themed one to add to the bunch.

This made for a fun photo shoot!

 I took a few shoots as the kids adjusted their props.!

These turned out FUN!

So, Michael and I grabbed a couple props!

Merry Christmas 2012!

COOKIE DAY!

 Every year in December we have a family day. The kids have called it Cookie Day since we started it about 6 years ago.  It is usually the Saturday after I finish my Christmas cookie baking. 

Do you notice the scrapbook pages on the cabinets?  A few years back I started taping up all our past Christmas pages.   Everyone enjoys looking back at all the fun times.  I like seeing how the kids have grown and all the cute things they have done.

We played board games and then had a roaring game of Christmas Pictionary.  I made a box full of Carols and Christmas themed words to draw.  We divided the gals and the men and then went at it.  Some of the words were to easy, so I made them blindfold words.  It made it a bit more challenging that way. The men won by three Hershey kisses! 

 Then it was time for the group photo! Sometimes it is hard to get these guys to organize! 

That's not the right way guys!!!!!

  OK, that is much better.  I must tell you what made this much easier this year.  It is my new remote control for my Nikon camera.  All you have to do is set your camera to remote and you can push that button anywhere in the room.  It will focus and snap!  So cool!

 This has become an awesome family tradition.  We have added two new faces to our crew this year.  We welcomed Matthew's wife Sarah and Christopher's girlfriend Kara to the bunch.  It was a fabulous day of food and fun!  

What traditions do you have with your family?  

I would love to hear about them.

Thanks for stopping by.

Have a blessed day!