Holiday Cards!

I have to tell you that this year I will be reverting back to ordering my holiday cards again! I have been super busy this year with making so many actual gifts that I am going to let someone else do the card making this year. Who, you ask?

Shutterfly!

We had Randy's dad take our family photos this past weekend, so I have been perusing Shutterfly trying to decide on which design to use! I am loving these 3 designs right now & am having trouble deciding on which one! There are so many choices to choose from!

Surely you have heard of Shutterfly before. But just in case you haven't, let me tell you a bit about them.

Shutterfly is an online photo shop! What is easier than uploading pictures, & clicking "add to cart" to have your pictures in just a few days? It beats the heck out of loading the kids in the car, driving to the store, & trying to concentrate on what photos I need off of my media card, that is for sure.

They have awesome prices on just regular every day prints. I order these quite often since I scrapbook so much, but in addition to already having great prices, they reward you just for signing up! You get 50 free prints! They also offer free shipping often & I like to hang out & wait for this before ordering my prints, if I can. But if not, I can always choose to have the prints sent directly to a Walgreens, Target, or CVS nearby if i need them sooner....

I also just love the idea of photo gifts. I don't know why, but they just seem so sentimental & meaningful. And the family I give them to always rave! I have ordered photo books, mouse pads, tons of calendars, & several notebooks all with glorious pictures of my kiddos plastered all over them! Well, technically the photo book was about Randy's mandolins, but you get the picture! I am considering making some mugs this year for the great grandparents!

One great thing about shutterfly is that it seems to me that the more you use them, the more rewards you get in your inbox for things like 30% off photo gifts, or free shipping, or great deals on more free prints with a certain number of prints purchased. And I have always been pleased with the quality of my purchases.

Head on over to Shutterfly & get to shopping! They have a great sale going on right now with 20-30% off of all photo gifts in addition to free shipping on orders of $30 or more! Can't beat that! And order some holiday cards while you are at it & save yourself some time at the store!

And if you are a fellow blogger- you can earn yourself 50 free holiday cards by talking about your experience with Shutterfly! Click HERE to find out more!

Craft Room: Part One

So, awhile back, I decided I was going to finally work on making my craft room look cohesive. I am in there A LOT, so i wanted to actually like the space! It all really started when my father in law mentioned that he was going to "call the salvation army to pick up some furniture from the basement."

Ummm, HOLD UP!

I went & checked out the "furniture" and pretty much claimed 90% of it for myself! ha! Thankfully, he is being patient & allowing me to work on the pieces of furniture as i have time & the first project was a desk (for the craft room). I had a desk in there (thanks to my friend, Theresa), but it was more of a computer desk & it didn't work anymore for my needs. So this desk I got from Dwight was a perfect desk to sit my sewing machine on, and use the drawers to hold sewing notions & what not. I didn't take a before picture, but i really should have because it was an older wooden desk with old brass knobs (you can probably visualize!). I primed it, painted it black, & then distressed the edges & glazed it with a smoke glaze. Then i switched out the knobs with some brushed nickel ones & voila!After I got the desk in there, i decided to work on making my curtains a little cuter. I had some green pottery barn kids curtains hanging in there that i originally bought off Craigslist right before we moved. I thought they would match in one of the boys bedroom or in the playroom, but i ended up disliking the color in those rooms. So, i hung them in my craft room/ office. They were just plain old green, so they didn't have too much character. Soooo, i added some black & white polka dot fabric to the bottom of them to match my "green/black/white" theme in there. Yay! I LOVE them!This technique was so easy that i have decided to do this in my living room to my red curtains. I just have to find some more yardage of the fabric i have to match the living room. JoAnns is currently out! Bummer!


Next up: the project table Randy built me for my birthday. I needed some more table space in the craft room so i requested this table from ana-white.com (formerly knock off wood, where we got the free plans for the Lego table & the bed!)
It still has to be sanded and painted, but once it is, it will be a perfect addition to the room! It will hold baskets underneath on the riser shelves too! Can't wait!

Josh is in town!

Randy's cousin, Josh - who lives in Texas, came into town a little over a month ago (& yes, i am just now blogging about it! The pictures were in the wrong folder, so i didn't see them!)

He was only in town for one day for a business trip, so we made the most of the time we had! We all met at Cracker Barrel for dinner. It was a little crazy, but a lot of fun, with so many people. After we finished, we sat outside & visited together for awhile...

Eli "played checkers" with Josh

Me & my sister in law, Marie

Ethan getting a little rocking from Grandma Evans (& i think Jeremy is trying to convince him it's okay- since he prefers rocking from Mema!)

Mema & Jackson

Randy with his Dad & Grandma Evans

Fun times! Wish we all had more time to spend together!

Ivey Family Reunion

Back in October, we attended the Ivey Family Reunion. This is of course on my (Rachel's) side of the family. We haven't had this reunion in more years than I can remember. Randy wasn't able to go (boooo!) but we managed to make the trip to & from Lumberton without him & had a good time. Here are a two pictures that i took with my phone of me with my dad & grandad...And just me & daddy....

And here are some pictures that my brother, Jeffery, took. He was designated as the photographer for the day!

Me & the boys

My grandaddy with all his kids, grandkids, & great grandkids. (Or those that were able to make it. Several weren't!)
My grandaddy with his siblings & all their spouses...

My grandaddy (on the far left) with his siblings (From R to L - Aunt Jean, Uncle O.W., and Aunt Carol)

My dad & his two sisters, (my aunts, Denise & Stacey)

Me & my sister in law, Malissa...

Soccer- The Spiders!

Eli finished out his soccer season at the beginning of November. He absolutely had a blast! Everyday since, he has asked if "We have soccer tonight?" I guess we will be signing him up for spring soccer!

Here is the first night of practice. It was so cute to see all the little kids kicking the ball into the goal!

Right before a score!!! Yes, he made several scores this season!
Go Spiders!! (Daddy helped coach - by default- this season. It was very cute.)
Eli was proud of himself! And we are proud of him too!Way to go, big guy! You were a great at soccer!! Here are a few videos from the last game.... The first video is of Eli getting knocked down & then gets right up & takes the ball! He is the kid in red pants.....

And this video is them all lining up to give "high fives" and say "good game" to the other team. So cute!

Worlds Easiest Project

If you are an instant gratification kind of gal... this is your project. I went to visit my mom a few weeks back & she wanted to make a fall wreath that she had seen in a magazine. I asked her if she had a tutorial & she said, "No, just a picture. We can do it." Well, she was right! It was super easy & super cute! It is a wreath made out of tulle. We took an embroidery hoop & since it will come apart, we both got a wreath out of one hoop! I think we used a 14 or 16 inch form. Then we cut strips of stiff tulle and tied them all around the form. I think i used 2.5 yards total of tulle. Then i added some orange polka dot ribbon & some black & white tulle i found in the remnant bin & voila! A super cute, and super easy Halloween wreath. I made another one for my sister that was fall colors but forgot to take a picture. Oops!

Did I Mention??

Did I mention that i have a new niece? I do. And she is P.R.E.C.I.O.U.S! Did you expect any less?

Little Sara Beth was born on 9/11/10 and is such a pretty little thing! We are all enthralled with her.... The kids are excited to have a new cousin....

And let me take this opportunity to say, there is just something your insides do that you can't explain when you see your man holding a newborn baby. It doesn't have to be YOUR newborn. It just happens... (And it helps that he is just a natural with babies....)

Here she is at 6 days old....

And here she is at 2.5 weeks old... I could eat her right up!And here, she had come over for a little visit. And we chatted (well.. i chatted... she listened....)

Cool Laptop Sleeve

Maybe i should have titled this post: Mount Everest. Because this project was most definitely my Mount Everest. I wanted to make it for awhile, & have had it bookmarked HERE since the middle of the summer. But I was super intimidated. It was a very long zipper & i had only placed one zipper before (which didn't turn out too pretty, i might add). But the measuring of the laptop, and making sure i had done my math right, etc etc just had me nervous. And i will also say that the old saying "measure twice, cut once" rang true for me this time. Good thing i had a little extra fabric... but barely! I actually made this in one afternoon though & even though i think it could be prettier & a LOT neater in terms of the actual stitching & so forth, it turned out decent enough & will most definitely get the job done for hauling my laptop around.

Lessons i learned from this tutorial?
1- Again, measure twice, cut once.
2- zippers are tricky. Practice must make perfect, so i have ordered 10 zippers off etsy!
3-gathering stitches are easy... but the gathering part is for the birds.
4- almost throwing the machine through the window won't make the gathering any easier.
5- your bobbin thread is what you have to pull to make a gather, not the top thread. Even so, if you pull too hard, it WILL break. many. times....
6- fusible fleece is quirky & only fuses if you hold your tongue a certain way!
7- the project doesn't have to be perfect to make me PROUD of myself!

Silly Bandz

Oh, Silly Bandz, how i love to hate you. What should be a cool little way to trade with friends has turned into a full blown phenomenon at our house. And by the way, why couldn't i come up with something like this? (Because if i had, it would have NEVER been a craze, it wouldn't have even sold the first package!)

Anyway, Jackson has become obsessed. So obsessed that he will sneak into Eli's room & take his. If he finds one laying around the house, it's automatically his. Do you think that is fun when Eli decides he wants to wear his? He can't find any & THAT begins a whole meltdown. He doesn't understand the whole trading concept just yet, so he wears one while, then lays it down, & then big brother scarfs it up.

I have had to put some limits on the silly bands & even had the opportunity to take them away as punishment (which worked rather well, i might add). But the one day i realized i had to take a picture of the craziness was the day that my child categorized them. Seriously, maybe he does get a little more than just me temper. Maybe he does have a little of my sense of order?!

He put them together by color which looked rather cool, if do say so......

These are the things that he will look back on in 20 years & say, "Do you remember those crazy bracelets i used to wear?" in the same manner that i remember garbage pail kids & converse sneakers. (however, i hope that the Silly Bandz don't come back in style like the converse have!)

whoa! Twice in the same week!

With all the fighting, bickering, whining, punching, kicking, mouthing off, etc (you get the picture) between my two boys, i sometimes wonder if they will EVER grow up to be as close as brothers should be. I always tell them, "You two need to be nice to each other. God gave you each other as brothers for a reason. You are the only brothers each other has. And one day you two will be as close as Daddy & Uncle Jeremy." Well this past week, i was in the garage working on a project (surprised?) and Jackson was sitting on the top step just outside the doorway. Eli came out, sat next to him, wrapped his arm through Jackson's, leaned his head over & said, "You my best buddy, Jackson."

Jaw. Hit. The. Floor.

I almost cried. I held back the tears & said, "Now THAT is how brothers are supposed to act. That was very sweet!"

A few days later, I was in the kitchen preparing dinner & i heard Jackson say to Eli behind me, "I love you, Eli." It was just as out of the blue & sincere as ever. I could hardly believe my ears.

Maybe there is hope.... one day the fighting will cease, right?! Oh, the joys of brothers!