Bethlehem Facebook saga continues
Dec 14th
Mary has returned home. It seems she just needed some "alone time". Being a new mommy is a bit overwhelming. She arrived just as the local priests announced a food shortage. It seems a "plague" has destroyed all the food. But good news!! the 3 wisemen and their camel have been sighted!

Dec 16th
Yesterday the Shepherds faithful companion, a beautiful black and white husky looking dog was caught in my kitchen begging for scraps. When I wouldn't give him any he went back to his master. He was VERY hungry. As our family was checking out at Safeway last evening who do you think was hiding in our reuseable grocery bag??? The cashier grabbed him by the scruff of the next and handed him to me. Where then Chelsea immediately put her hand out to hold him. Chelsea must be sneaking him scraps.

Dec 24th
Twas the night before Christmas and we're searching the house, Baby Jesus is missing (again), and Chelsea is as quiet as a mouse (meaning she's not talking). We are not sure where he went, we've looked in all the "normal" spots, but as long as he find him before we go to bed there will be no coal in our stockings.

Dec 26th
Word has come that baby Jesus has been taken by a soldier of King Herod. The search has been hampered by another storm, one created by shredded wrapping paper and all new toys to play with. The recovery effort will be a long and slow as we put the house back to rights. We have faith that the baby will be returned before King Herod can meet out his evil plan. :)

Merry Christmas!
Dec 28th
A classified document has just been leaked stating that Baby Jesus was rescued Dec 28th by two "angels" who found him in the corner of a cave. The accused person involved in the kidnapping has vowed retribution next year.

At the taking of this photo the accused tried to runaway with Joseph.

Love,
*Carrie*

So it's before 8 am on a Saturday morning. the kids have had breakfast and are dressed, well except for Chelsea and all are watching cartoons.
It's been kind of a crazy 48 hours.
Thursday I went to the Childrens Museum with Wyatt's class and then I hung out while they had their Christmas party.
After school I was feeling very tired and jittery, thinking that maybe I just had a bit too much sugar.
Found out that Chelsea had gotten sick at Grandma's but didn't think much of it because depending on the circumstance she can vomit easy.
Got everyone home and Rob isn't feeling well. Great. So Rob, me and Wyatt are lounging on the couch when Wyatt stands up and loses it all over the rug.
Oh boy
We take the rug outside and I hose it off.
The next 12 hours are a complete mess.
I get sick
Rob gets sick
Wyatt gets sick again
Repeat the last three steps
Try to go to bed
Chelsea wakes and cries for over an hour (between 1and 2am)
Wyatt again
Kelly gets sick
By morning everyone is feeling better
The adults are achy, tired but better
We get a call, Grandmom is sick.
It breezed through us pretty fast so hopefully she will be better this morning.
In the 7 years we have had kids we have never been sick all at the same time.
Sad story, Rob is in our bathroom, I'm in the guest bathroom and Chelsea is crying outside the doors because she can't come in. Poor Chelsea as soon as I was finished she got some hugs and cuddles.
So that was so NOT how I wanted this post to go. I could delete it but ya know, that's life. I haven't been on the computer in a couple of days and so I went to do some catching up.
I am so excited to read that Cricut is coming out with some new cartridges. Now by the titles I didn't think they would be anything that would interest me but HOLY COW!!! my mind is whirling with options and wondering when I can get the tax return back so that I can go purchase most of them
http://www.cricut.com/shopping/ProductDetails.aspx?id=876&s=1&sc=2 heritage

http://www.cricut.com/shopping/ProductDetails.aspx?id=892&s=1&sc=2 sentimentals
http://www.cricut.com/shopping/ProductDetails.aspx?id=892&s=1&sc=2 forever young

http://www.cricut.com/shopping/ProductDetails.aspx?id=888&s=1&sc=2 songbird

http://www.cricut.com/shopping/ProductDetails.aspx?id=897&s=1&sc=2 mothers day mini cart
The forever young cart has 50 purse designs, great for gifts or favors. Oh the fun I could have.
I love having little girls.
The mothers day cart is a must have. There are so many beautiful cuts.
Now heritage and sentimentals, at first I wondered about, what would I use this for but my creative brain came out of hibernation and I will admit I have a secret thing for old telephones. Plus all those shape cuts at the end.
Fonts are another favorite and Songbird has an elegant font.
These are suppose to be released late December, right now please, so I think I should be able to get them easily by end of January.
Now that I'm feeling normal I need to get busy finishing Christmas presents.

*Carrie*

I'm sorry, I'm just going to say it now

BAH HUMBUG!

I really don't know what is up with me but I always seem to get the blahs the closer Christmas gets.

Now who knows, it could be because I never got the Barbie dream house when I was little or it could be, dang it, because there are NOT enough hours in the day to do allllll the cool stuff I'm seeing around.

It's crunch time.

My one major project I'm making for 3 families has come to a sudden halt. It includes printing photos onto tissue paper.

Well darn it all, my printer has run out of ink!

And right this second I don't have the extra $24 to go buy color ink.

And my printer won't print without the color cartridge inserted. crap.....

On the good news side, Rob's Christmas present just arrived and all my Christmas shopping is FINISHED!

Except...I still need to make/finish a couple of things. Thankfully Rob is off next week and I'm going to have him wrangle the kids so that I can get the goodies finished.

Less than a week away til the big day... Can we add a another week?

I have started making a file of all the things I would like to accomplish or decorate for next year. The Internet has so many beautiful and creative ideas and people.

I'm hoping that next year will be what I call a "golden year" all the kids will be another year older and wiser and the joy of Christmas will hopefully make them more "jolly".

Right now they are sucking the Christmas spirit out of us with all the complaining and back talking.

Okay, so here is the Phoenix. I got really frustrated because I thought that all my photos were coming out blurry so I stopped taking pictures and vowed to one day come back.

Lo and behold they ALL came out clear, just not as perfect as I would like.

Also I would like to be there when the Masons were not using the building and the lights were off.

He is a gorgeous subject. That and the church that is behind this building are fantastic to photograph at night.

Oooh, Mom is taking all my rugrats on Saturday night. Besides wrapping gifts, as long as the weather holds maybe I can wrangle Rob into going back downtown for more photos.

I have already begun making goals for next year.

Maybe if I break them up into easy manageable project I will get more accomplished.

*Carrie*

holy moly. this has been a busy week and the busiest part starts tomorrow night.
Before I get to into it I'll catch you up on the Bethlehem Facebook saga.
Starting on Monday:
Due to a massive relief effort the town of Bethlehem has been restored. Unfortunately we have received word via carrier pigeon that the camel belonging to the 3 wise men has taken a detour and last seen heading for Damascus.
Now I searched for this camel and could NOT find him. One of my friends was asking if anyone had some boys shoes and so I went digging in Wyatt's room.
There I managed to find my cricut super sharp scissors and the camel.
this is what I posted this morning:

Bethlehem update: The camel was returned to the wise men by a group of bedouins for some of their gold. The Angel of the Lord has sent a message to us. She asks that we use the "off" switch on the manger. She is tired and losing her voice from singing Away in the Manger. More to come...
Now I'll add something that I haven't posted to Facebook yet.

Mary has gone missing. Joseph is taking care of baby Jesus and until Mary can be found, don't worry the baby will be drinking goats milk until mommy comes back. Upon her return she will be checked out for post partum depression. The mother of the Son will receive the best possible care.
On to other news or nonsense.
I have tried several times to get a group photo of the rugrats. I even let them sit on the kitchen table but all I get is grumbles and whines. This photo of the 3 here in the chair took 4 adults to orchestrate. And THIS was the best of the ones I took.
Gotta love this age, sigh... at least that is what they say.
Maybe I should have bribed them.
I mean look at those faces, couldn't they fake it??
today is school photo day for Kelly. Wyatt's was postponed till next Tuesday. Kelly is a pro now so I know I'll get a good smile.
Wyatt on the other hand, I'm sure I will get the squinty eyed, fake smile.
Can you believe that Chelsea will be 18 months old right after Christmas? She has started changing so much.
Right now we are struggling through a biting phase. There are the tantrums that strike in less then 2 seconds. Then we have the happy, spinning, silly spaz, that is just so cute and sweet. Of course I can't forget the cuddler. When she starts to get tired she will curl up in your lap and just chill.
Tonight Kelly's scout troop will be singing carols at the Scottish masons christmas dinner. I'm kinda of excited to see the girls in action. Of course I will have my camera handy and I think I'll try my nifty fifty lens because it works well in low light. I'm hoping to cruise around downtown and get some pictures of the different lights. Right next to where Kelly will be at is this beautiful metal griffon with a red light inside. It was so cool the first time Rob and I saw it, I immediately wanted to come back and take some night pictures.
Of course what downtown is boring? There are buildings that I would love to get shots of, so who knows, if my family is willing we will check it.
Have a happy weekend
*Carrie*

Welcome to the crazy holiday season!

And welcome home baby Savannah!

Just look at that face. aawwww

I have no idea where to start.

The holidays and all it's pressures are upon me and I'm trying not to crack under pressure.

I completed 55 Christmas cards and after having my kitchen table covered in craft supplies for 2 weeks I said enough. I have other projects to get done and I would really like to see my table let alone eat at my table.

Thanksgiving was great and I do believe we all enjoyed our selves. We had plenty of food as usual and ate leftovers for most of the week.

On Friday we put up the tree and some decorations and otherwise spent a relaxing weekend together.

We went with no ornaments on the tree this year because a certain someone keeps pulling the lights and garland off. Aahh terrible twos have already arrived.

No Black Friday for me, I did it once and once was enough. I made the mistake of going to Best Buy. Just insane.

Don't get me wrong Black Friday morning the urge to shop is there but between the cold and the crowds I think I'll stick to online shopping.

Why does December have to be such a crazy month?? I have to make sure I'm super organized, which I usually fail somewhere along the way, I tend to get panicky about the gifts I bought or made. There are never enough hours in the day and with the days being shorter in the winter makes everything worse.

Why couldn't Jesus be born in June??

I haven't been feeling the greatest, I'm not sleeping well and I'm having a power struggle with an 18 month old.

To bring some hilarity to the situation I have started a little farce concerning this Little People

Nativity Set.

For the last few years I had heard about this set but they were always sold out. Mom and I were out shopping when I saw some at Walmart. Mom bought it for us because she knew the kids would love it, and they do. Wyatt and Kelly spent most of the day playing with it while I cleaned off a spot big enough to set up Bethlehem.

So right now it is set up on our end table. Prefect height for Chelsea to see and touch.

To learn, to enjoy.

Sunday night the saga begins. Baby Jesus and a sheep went missing. Here is what I posted on Facebook:

Baby Jesus has gone missing. One of the shepherds sheep has ambled off also. I wonder if they are hanging together. I do know that Mary and Joseph are distraught and are frantically searching my house for their baby. I'm wondering, where did Chelsea put them???

Now most of my family and friends know about Chelsea's habit of causing mischief. Twice now she has clogged the toilet with toothbrushes. She has disappeared with my car keys that were found a couple of months later, she randomly put things that don't belong in the garbage.

So the answers to my post ran from check the toilet to check the sock bin, toy box, trash, etc.

A little while later the sheep just reappeared;

Checked the trash...but wait! the sheep has come home! Now off to keep searching for Baby Jesus. Poor thing cold and all alone.

The sheep was hiding in a basket on the floor. Rob says as long as we find baby J by Christmas eve he doesn't care. I'm hoping it isn't another missing car key incident

Rob and I searched everywhere. We decided that after the kids had gone to bed that we would flip the couch and love seat. Guess who we found?

Baby Jesus has been found!!! Mary wept with joy and gratitude that we found her little guy. That darn sheep must have ditched him under the couch before he came back. (the basket was next to the couch.) The shepherd apologized profusely for not watching his flock closely enough. I have put in a call canceling the missing child posters :)

So before we went to bed we put Bethlehem back to rights.

For the next couple of days Chelsea would get mad at one thing or another and she would swipe out her arms and send everything flying. so I decided to add this to my facebook saga.
A freak sandstorm blew through Bethlehem this morning sending bodies flying. No person or animal came away unscathed. Maybe I should call Chelsea a "little stinker" sent by King Herod. Goes with the story better. Instead of just looking for the first born son she wiped out the whole town. :)

At this time I'm thinking of relocating the town to a higher "hill".

So this is the story as of now.

Back to real life.

I'm not sure I can even begin to put into words all the things running through my head; to do's, wish lists, appointments, cooking, household stuff, school stuff, girl scouts.

I think Chelsea has a category all her own. There isn't enough time to write all her issues right now. :)

Kelly has started crying before going to school, she says she misses me. Kelly says no one is being mean to her and that she is having no problems with her teacher, so I'm not sure how to handle it besides a hug, a kiss, tell her to have a great day, and shove her into her classroom.

Wyatt has gotten in trouble twice this week. Once for screaming in the bathroom and another for calling a classmate a pig. Just great. He got his first red circle. He did not get the new book I had bought him and lost a few other privileges besides getting a talking to by both mom and dad.

I think I'm ready for a new year.

Off to finish, hopefully, some Christmas presents today, get cards ready to mail this weekend.

*Carrie*

The craziness of El Tour de Tucson is now over and we are still tired.
There were 1,225 riders for just the 66 mile race and my fantastic hubby came in 429th place with a time of 4 hours and 12 minutes. Just awesome.
Now El Tour has several races. The key race is the 109 miler then there is the 80, 66 and 35, plus an 8 mile fun ride. There was 8,245 total racers. The big boys do the 109 miles in 4 hours. Pure craziness. the slowest for the 109 was 11 hours. For the race that Rob did the slowest was 7.5 hours. So we are all very proud.
Rob rode with his friend from church James and they started together but finished ten minutes apart with James finishing 351st with a time of 4 hours 2 minutes.
Now the behind the scenes story.

Kelly and Grandmom went up to the aid station that was positioned at about the halfway point of Rob's race to work with her Girl Scout troop. Myself, my Mom, Wyatt and Chelsea went to the start line. I hung out with the guys and then went to the street to take a picture as the guys rode past.
As we headed back to the truck my mom notices that the driver side door is wide open. Oh CRAP!! I took off running to find nothing missing just that Rob forgot to shut his door. Jitters I guess :)
The plan was for me and my gang to meet up with Kelly and Grandmom to get pictures of Rob racing and a picture of Kelly and Daddy. My mom and I stopped by a scrapbook store on the way up.
I swear I was not there that long!!
We got caught in the traffic as the racers were climbing a hill right beside us. Looky Lou's and all that. finally get to the aid station and I missed Rob by ten minutes or less. I'm freaking out... I missed my shots and he's heading for the finish time.
In my defense, he made it to the aid station faster than any of us including Rob thought he would.
So Kelly's troop leader let Kelly go because, now get this, she was the only scout from her troop to show! and she had worked non stop, even my mother in law was still frantically cutting up fruit for all the riders. Bless my my mother in law she stayed even after Kelly left with me to help out. The next scout from her troop to show up was at 1pm and it was just insane, not enough girls, they were running low on food, just pure craziness.
So now I'm frantically driving to get downtown before he crosses the finish line. We HAVE to be there at the finish line. I get stuck trying to get on the highway, and this is because the racers are on the frontage road. My mom is looking to see if she can find Rob in the packs. We get downtown and we are trying to find free parking, yes I'm cheap. I stumble on a space where I proceed to slam on the brakes, throwing everyone forward, so that I can back into a space. I take my camera and take off running for the finish line. I'm about 4 blocks away. My mom, bless her gets Chelsea in the stroller and brings the bigger kids.
I get to the finish line and jockey for a position against the rail to get a good shot. I wait. Mom and the kids catch up. I wait...we wait some more... I'm finally breathing easier now knowing that I didn't miss him crossing the finish line...we wait some more. About a half hour after we got there, I'm straining to see his light gray shirt. ***Note** Have Rob were a bright, simple shirt to spot in the crowd.
I spot him and start cheering and trying to take pictures. I want him to see that we are here, the kids are yelling "Hi Dad", we get a big smile and a wave from him and I snap off another shot as he crosses before we go to meet up with him.
I totally forgot to get a family picture or even a picture of him wearing his medal.
So we all hang out and checkout the booths before we walk the 4 blocks back to the truck. The kids walk up and open the passenger side door .
The door that is supposed to be locked.
I looked at my mom. Come to find out when she went to lock the door on my truck she hit the clicker for her truck. Forgetting the fact that I don't have power locks! Thankfully no one was in the market for a F-150 that afternoon.
So that is the absurdly long update about Rob's first bicycle race. I sure learned a lot and will be better prepared for next year.




So today Rob is still a little tired but otherwise he says he feels great. The crazy man is now talking about doing the 109 next year.
Oh and we have already been searching for a jersey. I found a jersey that is for Poland we have both been there that is red with a white eagle. Should be easy to see from a distance.
We also saw people put things on their helmets and we talked about putting Viking horns. Can't miss that!

*Carrie*

What do you think of this leaf photo?? I'm in the not sure category. I see texture but I think it needs more space surrounding or cropped close. But it pulls me. hhmmm...

In other life altering important news... not really.... One week until El Tour de Tucson!

I will be so happy when it's over. I mean I support my hubby and all but he has been gone every Saturday for training and when he doesn't have to work we have Saturdays as family day.

This Saturday is a bike swap meet and we are all going. I went to these a few years ago as an outing for a photography class. It is all very interesting. The characters you meet down by the University are priceless.

These people are so hard to describe, you have the guys just getting off of work from the bar, the 70 yr old ex dancer(not stripper) who wears a fedora while sitting on the street corner smoking a cigarette. The hippies or naturalists who smell of patchouli. The guys who sell the tricked out chopper bikes wearing their bandannas and tattoos. You might even see a few yuppies in their khakis walking around. It's all very cool. And for a people watcher I just find it all fascinating.

Another thing I have found interesting is watching my youngest try to be like her big sister and brother. If Wyatt leaves his legos on the floor Chelsea will begin playing with them. If the kids are at the table coloring she wants to do it too.

Evidence exhibit #1

please take obvious note of the paper and pencil. The accused was seen heading for the door when she changed her mind and sat down to begin her scribbles. This gave the mommy police time enough to grab my camera and snap a few shots. She looked up at me all pleased as punch and then went right back to scribbling.

When the accused began writing on the floor is when I took the pencil away.

She was then sentenced to nap time.

I later let her color at the table. I really have to keep my eye on her so that she doesn't eat the crayons, otherwise everything washes off. Well except my cuttlebug. Still trying to get the pencil marks off that one.

So I'm off to begin documenting my weekend, I first have to take a photo at Rob's work of all the guys. I guess this is something that corporate needs. I'm hoping to get the guys to loosen up a bit. I sure don't want all grouchies guys.

Have a great weekend.

Good Tuesday Morning. Today I'm hanging with this two sillies as we get some house work done and work on some Christmas cards.
Granted the cards will wait until this cute little midget takes a nap, the baby not the dog, though he is cute too.
I'm hoping that miss C will take a good two hour nap. According to Grandmom the little stinker took a 3 hour nap while I was at a crafty morning.
I feel so jazzed this morning and almost don't know where to start.
I have my second load of stinky clothes in and I finally cut all the coupons, yeah I'm trying that again, and I snapped a couple of photos. Did you know that these were the first photos I've snapped all month, Hello Carrie it's the 10th!!!
I have three quilt projects that I need to get busy on, 65-ish Christmas cards to make, and about three other projects that are Christmas presents that need to be done. Plus I have to factor in the normal cleaning that has to be done daily. I really need to focus on time management.
It's all good though.


Just before I snapped this of miss C ,she was laying on the floor on her stomach and I turned around to reach for my camera and when I turned back she was up heading for me.
It's just the cutest thing to see her on her belly looking at a book or picking at something off the rug.
I let Chelsea have some ramen noodles for lunch the other day and I believe she had more fun playing with said noodles then eating them.
And before you ask, yes I have blue cupboards. It was from my Trading Spaces phase about 8 years ago and I've been putting off repainting them because I'm hoping to get a kitchen remodel. That will be our last big project for this house. Someday...
The kitchen is definitely a conversation starter.
Back to housework so that I can do some creating later.
The kids will be off the rest of the week and this weekend looks to be crazy, Friday is craft night, Saturday morning is the bike swap meet before El Tour cycling race on the 21st. The cousins are sleeping over Saturday night and then we have meetings after church on Sunday. It looks like Thursday night will be my only free night for the rest of this week.
I better get cracking!

*Carrie*

I have been a very busy mommy. On Saturday I was slightly crazy and decided to finish quilting my first baby quilt. I sewed on the binding and spent the next two hours doing my whipstitching.
Voila! I have completely finished my first baby quilt. Pictured is before binding.
I really liked how it turned out AND I learned a few things.
On to Halloween. The kids definitely scored in the candy department and were throughly wiped out by the end of the night.

We had Kelly as a Princess Fiona (before the Ogre)
Wyatt- Batman, the wings and mask from his birthday and a set of pj's that I found on clearance at Target and the only set period, thankfully in his size.
Chelsea was a little bumble bee.
this costume was purchased when Kelly was around two and that year she got sick and wasn't able to go out so Wyatt was the first to actually wear it out for trick or treating.
Mommy- I went with being a pirate and I loved the hat.

Daddy- well Daddy doesn't really get into the costume stuff like we do. One friend on Facebook said he was going as a nudist on strike.
We all had a great time.

On Monday I started a program that I had heard about from another blogger and saved the link to my computer. this link has been sitting there for about a year when Rob stumbled on it and looked into it. After my most recent breakdown of feeling overwhelmed and not knowing where to start, Rob felt that this might be worth a try.
It's called Motivational Moms and for us whom are hopeless at getting the whole house clean this is for us.
So I bought the 3 month plan to give it a whirl and if I like it I'll buy the whole year plan.
So far I have been following the plan and I am happy with all that I have accomplished so far. Certain chores you do every day and others are "extras" that just help keep the house on the straight and narrow.
Check it out at www.motivatedmoms.com you can see all her samples.
Since I'm starting at the end of the year chores like dusting the first floor haven't popped up yet so that still needs to be done but the kitchen counters and bathrooms look fantastic. Hell even my bedroom is getting back on track.
My problem is to not to get overwhelmed at what isn't done and be happy with what is.
Baby Steps.
Right now this means I spend less time on the computer and crafting but the plan makes time for crafting.
Today I have begun the final stages for completing my second quilt which is for Chelsea. I'm in the process of putting my "sandwhich" together but Chelsea thought it would be better to open all of Daddy's dresser drawers and then mess with my sndwhich. so I put it on hold to come type up a recap and wait for reinforcements to keep the midget occupied so I can get the fabric pinned together.
I'll post a picture when I'm done.
I better go, I need to run the vacuum before the kids get home.
*Carrie*

Happy Halloween 2009
My ghouls are ready for their night of costumes and treats.
We spent Thursday night carving pumpkins where Kelly loved ripping the guts out of her pumpkin and Wyatt was all squeamish and could barely put his arm inside the pumpkin. Both kids drew a picture of what they wanted their pumpkins to look like. Kelly's wanted hers to have a mean mouth. Wyatt wanted his to have lots of teeth. Since Chelsea couldn't tell us what she wanted we decided to go with silly. When Rob asked "silly how?" I gave him a face. He drew it out on a piece of paper and then went to work on the pumpkin. I must say I love how they all turned out.
We lit the candles and I got to practice taking photos of their glowing faces. When we saw the reflection in the table Rob and I both loved how this photo turned out.

Tonight we will see these cute faces transformed into; Kelly as Princess Fiona(before)
Wyatt as Batman
Chelsea as a bumblebee.
Oooo, I better go double check and make sure each kid has a bucket for trick or treating.
This is one of my favorite holidays and I just love seeing all the kids dressed up.
Before I had kiddos I used to decorate the house for every holiday. Since I had kids I have really slacked off. I'm hoping with this next year to get back on board and make the time to fill my home with sights and scents of the seasons.
From our home to yours here is to having a safe and Happy Halloween.
Recap coming later.
*Carrie*

Please forgive me I've been dealing with a sick baby and neither of us has had any good sleep. I have had pretty much no computer time since Sunday.
I will be skipping the pumpkin and apple pictures...well maybe I'll show a couple later.
gotta go I have a stage 2 cling on whom I hopefully can get to take a nap.
*Carrie*

I cannot believe it is Friday already. No again I'm not complaining but boy is time just flying by.
So a week ago we went to the Tucson zoo.
I for one love zoo's and each time i bring my "equipment" just hoping to get a great shot to one day hang on the wall.
My wish is to take a small wall in our home somewhere and have nothing but zoo photos. My favorite animals are pretty much everyone else's favorites too; the tiger, lions, polar bears, monkeys, etc
Always the first stop when you enter the zoo is the tiger exhibit. This day he was out and walking around. He was even talking to the people as he walked in front of the glass. Unfortunately all my up close face ones were blurry. Always next time.

As I went to catch up to my family I saw that the lions were also moving around their enclosure. The lioness took one look at me and immediately sat down, but the lion, he looked like he wanted to chase me down and eat me up. He just had that "stalker" look. This was actually one of my best opportunities to get the lion.
He is really beautiful.

Now my absolute favorite is the polar bear. Today he and the wires that surround him would not cooperate when it came to angles so I snapped whatever I could. I have gotten a few great ones of this big guy previously so I wasn't too stressed.
One of my kids' favorites are the giraffes. They are just so cool. I happen to love some monkeys and elephants but I haven't been able to get very good shots of them. I think the Phoenix zoo is a better place to photograph monkeys.
Of course our zoo has plenty of animals but I really don't have or didn't bring the right stuff to do them justice.
So that was Friday morning, that evening the cousins came to spend the night and I ditched Rob with 5 kids so that I could go craft with the girls. What a stud.
Saturday was a hang around kind of day and then Rob and I ditched my mom with all 5 kids so that we could play bunco. hahahaha. No really they were good.
So tomorrow is Saturday(duh, Carrie how redundant) and I hope to be able to finish the recap with our visit to Apple Annie's apple and pumpkin farms.
Have a happy weekend

*Carrie*

I'm thrilled to announce that I am once again an AUNTIE!!
Savannah Paige Percy was born Monday evening weighing in at 3lbs 15oz and 17 inches long.
Baby Savvy(as I will call her) is in the NICU but doing fantastic.
My sil Amanda is doing well, her blood pressure is still a bit high so the nurses are keeping an eye on her, and my little brother is kind of freaked out seeing his baby all hooked up but thrilled at having a little girl since they have two boys already.

I'm trying to finish the baby quilt I had started last week for our new little one. The blanket I will get a picture of :)
I postponed posting because I had hoped to have a picture of our new sweetheart.

I'll be back tomorrow with more weekend recap of the zoo and apple/pumpkin picking.
*Carrie*

First off I'll start by saying Rob found my second set of car keys!

I'm ashamed to admit that the keys were in our room in a place I thought I had checked pretty well.

On Thursday we headed up to Mt. Lemmon to see some fall foliage.

I miss seeing the trees change. When I was in high school one of my classrooms overlooked a wooded area that just glowed in the fall.
We spent five hours on the mountain and check out all sorts of nooks we had never been to before trying to get a good shot or to see more.

You couldn't have asked for a better more beautiful day.

My only beef is with myself. It was challenging trying to photograph the shadows and the bright sky.

I found I need two things my ND filter, which I forgot to use. It was in my bag I just didn't think about it. I also needed a lens hood. Some of the shots were "cloudy", some of those shots would other wise be favorites.

Live and learn right.

Up at ski valley were some beautiful trees but they won't let you walk the grounds just to take pictures.

We visited Windy Point and Inspiration Rock, Ski Valley, Summerhaven and Mt. Bigelow.

So this was what we did just on Thursday morning. That evening the kids went with Grandmom to see Disney on Ice.

Now our whole weekend was jammed packed with pictures and places we went so I'm going to have to spread it out over the next couple of days.

On Friday we did the zoo and on Sunday we went Apple and pumpkin pickin'.

Over the course of this weekend I took over 300 pictures. Not all keepers but I did get some good ones.
I wish we could get a cabin on the mountain. It is so peaceful and just plain ol' gorgeous.

I once dreamed of living on the mountain, writing stories or just being in nature, hiking, breathing in the fresh air.

More to come this week! for now just enjoy the rest of the pictures. :)

*Carrie*

Rob really wants to kick my derriere. HARD
I seem to have misplaced my second set of house/car keys in one month.
I know I didn't let Chelsea get a hold of them. At least not knowingly.
Here is what I know;
the keys were last seen in our home Thursday afternoon, after bringing the kids home from school.
I swear I put them in an obvious out of Chelsea's reach spot. But I now don't remember where that is.
We have looked under couches, in between cushions, behind and under the fish tank, on the computer desk, on hooks, my bedroom, sewing bag, kitchen counter (needed to be de-cluttered anyway), Kelly's backpack (maybe they fell off the hook into her open bag)

I have prayed for some help, even throwing one up to St. Anthony, even though I'm not Catholic. It can't hurt right?

I need a clapper for my keys. Or better yet do you remember that Jennifer Aniston movie, Something about Polly, with the little tracker for her keys that she used on her ferret.
Yeah, I need one of those.
Dang it, I don't want to have to get new keys made. And unlike last time, my van keys and remote were on this key chain.
Crap!!!!
*Carrie*

I can't believe it is Friday already.

Not that I'm complaining, the week has been filled with normal busyness.

I haven't had much of a chance to be crafty but I plan to rectify that this weekend and coming week. I have some cards sketches that I would like to try out and some quilting projects to work on.

What do you ladies think of these fabrics?? I'm working on a scrap quilt, except...I don't have any scraps yet!

So JoAnns has fat quarters for $0.99 and I randomly picked ones that interested me. I think I'm going to go get a few more and then start cutting them up.

I want to FINALLY try sewing on my cards and scrapbook pages and these fabrics should work well.

My older rugrats are on vacation this coming week so we are making plans to head up to Mt. Lemmon for a picnic and taking some fall foliage pictures. We have Apple Annies next Sunday to do some pumpkin picking and take our family photo in front of the wagon. This Sunday the kids are going to the movies with my mom. They are going to see Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs.

I know there are other plans but at this second they are escaping me.

Wyatts class decorated Tshirts for when they go on field trips this week. Our family all liked how well they turned out we are thinking of making more just for the kids.

I'm off to enjoy my weekend. I hope you enjoy yours.

*Carrie*

Happy October!!

Here is a peek at a runner I'm making. I hopefully will be finished by tomorrow. I'm loving these charm runners because they are so quick and easy for a beginner.

My second picture is the piecing for the baby quilt I am making for my youngest girl. I have sewn it all together, now I just need to wait for the funds to finish it.

No worries though, I have more work that can be done in the mean time.

I had every intention of participating in World card making day but alas, things did not go the way I had planned.

That's okay, I can have my own card making day sometime this week.

We are planning on having a Advent Bazaar the first week of December and if I want to participate I need to get cracking on things.

You know it's not like I'm not already busy but I'm sure if I manage my time wisely(yeah right) I can accomplish all my projects and then some.

We are all superwomen and don't need any sleep right??

Here is another one of those charm runners that is going to be a present for a family member.

I'll be trying a new runner pattern soon and I'm actually both nervous and excited about it.

It's funny to me that I feel calmer making quilts then I do scrappin or card making. What I mean by this is I buy just what I need, no extra embellishments, I have a pattern and I follow it.

I really need to apply this thought process to my other crafts.

I don't usually feel this relaxed when I scrap because I have sooooo many options and extras I can't make a decision.

I know there are sketches and maybe now I will look at them differently and try to use them, where as now they just sit in a binder.

hhmmm.... food for thought. Hell for me a light bulb moment.

the kids have had a great weekend and are right now wrestling with each other on the floor with the dog jumping around them.

Scratch that, they are all trying to get under my feet at the computer desk. the cubby isn't that big.

But the giggles make it all worth being shoved around.

It sure is different than last night when Wyatt shoved Kellys blankets off her bed onto the floor and she gave him a bloody nose for it.

Aahhh...sibling love

*Carrie*

Guess who had a birthday this past weekend??
Kelly turned 7! Seven years since the day she was born. Sigh.
In some ways it all goes so fast and in others you can't wait for them to grow out of the next phase.

We threw a family party for the birthday girl and she got plenty of goodies. Movies, clothes, toys and a cd player.

We capped it all off by going into the back yard and spraying silly string on each other.
Toward the end of the silly string war Rob was the biggest casualty.
Mom decided to go all out in the cake department this time and Kelly got the cool castle cake. Of course I've always been partial to cakes with figures because I used to collect them, and the kids like to play with them.

So pre birthday party we stopped by Sonic to have a bite of lunch. Took us forever to decide what to order and when we finally pushed the button to place our order, they never answered!!



Rob and I finally decided to just go home and make lunch, we didn't need to spend the money.
(On a side note, they didn't answer the lady next to us either and she left too. It was probably faulty boxes but in the long run it worked in our favor, by saving money)

So my mojo came back. I have almost completed one gift and I'm off in a few to go buy the backing to the next gift.
I'm enjoying quilting, but I have other projects that I need to work on also.
Some I should be able to post pictures for.
Last night was girl scouts and again Kelly had a great time.
On Monday we picked up her vest and patches so last night before meeting I snapped a couple of pictures of her. She has grown and changed so much since school started this year. More confident, more into her own. I'm very proud of her, and I tell her so.
Can you believe she pulled out another tooth?
It was a bit wiggly Sunday night by Monday when I picked her up from school that tooth was history!
The tooth fairy dropped off a couple of bucks to her which she promptly put in her crayon bank.
I swear this kid has more money than I do just by loosing teeth!

Kelly has started to inspect Wyatt's teeth for any loose ones. Lord help him if he lets his sister get in there.

Off to the quilt store and then JoAnns!

*Carrie*

Have you seen my mojo??
Seriously, My creative spirit? My happiness at making things?
I lost it and would like it back please.

I think there are three factors why my mojo has run away.
1. a comment my mil made that hurt
2. my kids' rooms and my scraproom are messy, so everything (to me) is messy. (I'm finding I can't scrap or sew if things are messy)
3. Even if my scraproom was clean, there still isn't enough room to spread out.

And chocolate is not helping in this matter right now. Sigh.
It's just one of those funky off days.

Now in more happy news; my fabric order showed up yesterday and I'm excited about how fast it shipped. it's all so cute.
I need to go buy some thread but hopefully this weekend I can start to work on my gifts.
I should be done fairly quickly if I have the time and money to do so.
First I need to celebrate my oldest daughters 7th birthday!!
It's going to be a quiet family affair but I'll still take plenty of pictures!

Last night I was working on making Christmas cards with my cricut and my diecuts weren't working for me and I got to wondering what I could do to make them "pop".

I had planned to bring some cards to put together and some quilting to stitch for our Womens Craft night tomorrow. But those darn cards and the comment that was made have slapped me upside the head and called me Shirley.
So I guess my funk is also a state of contemplating.
Just typing this out is making me feel better.
Maybe once the yahoo's come home from school I can try to create again, or maybe I'll continue cleaning.
*Carrie*

My first quilted project is almost finished. Does anyone know of a fun way to whip stitch??
I have gotten the top and part of one side of the binding done, but that is a project I will do while listening to the tv at night.
I have two other practice Christmas pieces that I will quilt and start binding today.
If all goes well I will continue onto my biggest project yet.

Want to take a small peek??
Here are 8 of the 40 strips for a baby quilt for Chelsea. This is called a honey bun, which is 1.5" pre-cut strips that I plan on having fun with.

I undid the bun and laid all the pieces out and then sorted for a pleasing look.
Now, because I have no memory I took pictures of each group to reference later.
I then folded each section up and laid them across my cutting mat then I step away to use the bathroom.


This is what I had when I got back.

Can you guess what little munchkin got a hold of my strips?

Can you imagine how thankful I was that I took pictures of each set of strips??
I have sewn all together 3 of the five group sets.
I'll show you the pretties later.

Joanns is having a coupon commotion and national sewing month sale and I finally found the sizzix embossing folder sets.
I will admit I did pick up a couple of sets and there were a couple of sets out of stock that I can't wait to see what they look like.
One set, the damask I already can vision a Christmas card with. hmmm.

Before I go I do want to give a shout out for great Customer Service. I placed an order for fabric at http://www.crazyquiltgirlfabricshop.com/ and not only does she have fantastic prices but she emailed me to let me know that my product fit in a smaller box and she was refunding part of my shipping cost.
How cool is that. I saved $5.00.
I have spread the word to all my crafting friends, I will definitely be going back.

*Carrie*

Oh I'm in trouble.


With my family's enabling I have been going quilt crazy. Thanks to my friend Debbie whom has introduced me to charms packs, which led me to google on the net and find the Moda bake shop, http://www.modabakeshop.com/ , where you find the best patterns and ideas.


I have highlighted this fabric because I just ordered it to make my a baby quilt for my soon to arrive niece.


So now I'm waiting on fabric. What do you think of this for a table runner?? Crazy bright huh?



One thing that clicked for me while I was learning about this Moda company was that a while ago I heard that Basic grey scrapbook paper was turned into a fabric line.



Well Moda is the company that makes it.



They carry, sultry, eva, figgy pudding and coming in January is blush.


I have plans brewing in my head. Scary thought.


So in a nut shell I have chained myself to my sewing machine piecing things together.



Now I just need to learn to bind and quilt it. hehehehe

Christmas is going to be very homemade. I have a list of what is being made for each family. Some of those ideas came from the cricut message board. Talk about inspiring.

I have started planning out my Christmas cards. I'm going to make 6 sets of 10 cards. Plenty of variety and I will probably not get bored doing it.

I had also seen a Happy Halloween banner at two peas last year that I'm going to be recreating soon with foamy pumpkins, blackletter solutions cart and ribbons galore.
Our family loves Halloween.

I am not leaving my scrappy world! I'm just branching out and learning new things. I am becoming the creative person I have always wanted to be.
I feel so dang jazzed.
Now will this feeling continue while I go clean my scraproom??
*Carrie*