Getting ready for 2010???

I am getting my birthday calendar ready for 2010! Thankfully, The Ettes came out with an adorable customizable calendar! It's perfect for me! There are cute little doodles that I haven't seen anywhere else. I love 'em! Here are two of the pages... Keep your eyes open for more pages!

Create-a-Calendar by The Ettes at ScrapOrchard

Today's Adventures

Our adventures began early this morning! After we dropped Hannah off at the bus stop, Ainsley & I headed over to the car repair shop to get the Subaru ready to turn in. We have a rental car for a few days... I am so excited! The manager at Enterprise upgraded me to a TRUCK for free! Score! Now I can go to Home Depot tomorrow and get my shed!!! I am itching to find a flea market or something like that still open this weekend... I think I am too late in the season for that, though. How much fun would that be?! I think I need a truck permanently. Who wants to contribute to the "Get Meredith a Truck" Foundation? :) Ainsley loves riding in the truck because she can see everything. Hannah used to love to ride in Poppa's big black truck for the same reason. So, after the excitement of getting a TRUCK with unlimited miles (nice!) I decided to head out to Hobby Lobby. I got a few random Christmas & Halloween things that I needed for various scrapbooking/crafting projects I am working on. AND... I found two beautiful glass knobs for my bathroom vanity. My bathroom is so blah, and I just love how these dressed that up! It looks so much better than the cheap brushed-nickel-wannabe knobs that were there. Thomas says that they look like something that were in his Grandma S's house 70 years ago... I take that as a compliment! :) And check out my bathroom mirrors. I am pretty proud of them. They are the $3 wood mirrors from Ikea with 5 coats of paint, 3 coats of stain & a coat of polyurethane. Up close, they look like reclaimed barn wood. If I can't live in a farmhouse, I'll make my house look like one on the inside. That's why I have roosters in my kitchen!

(excuse the open toilet, Ainsley just finished using the potty)

I wanted to get kitchen knobs, too, but that was going to be $28 and I didn't want to spend that much today. But I know where to get them when I am ready. I really think I am going to paint my cabinets white & distress them. I am so tired of blah blah oak. And I heard that you can buy paint for your countertops... Watch out Home Depot, I'm coming to buy PAINT! Okay, I am dreaming, but I have big plans for this house and it will only take me five years to be able to get to them all. I want to paint the outside of my house, too. Green with off-white trim, black door & flower boxes. There is a house a few blocks from here that I want to copy! :)

***

After my mad dash to Hobby Lobby & a quick trip to Target for diapers, Ainsley & I went and picked up Hannah at the bus stop. We got home and decided that it was too nice of a day to simply go inside. So, we headed out on a nature walk with a bag and a camera. I didn't take many pictures, but we did find some magnificent pine cones.

(Hannah is wearing her PUMPKIN SHOW jacket that used to be Shelby's!)

This pine cone will most likely be making an appearance in several digital projects I have coming up. Isn't she pretty? Are pine cones male or female? Anyone know?

It was a great day and my kids actually ate TACOS for dinner... kind of. Ainsley ate hers as bean dip with tortilla chips and Hannah made hers into a taco salad with ranch dressing and all was right with the world. I love tacos.

That's it for today.

Some Pictures

I am finally getting around to posting pictures of this month!

***
Ainsley decided that she is done with naps... except for when she falls asleep on the living room floor on a box. But that doesn't count as a nap, right?


***
Earlier this month, my sister, Angie, and her husband and daughter came to Utah for his sister's wedding. We were able to spend a few hours with Ang & Tom & Maddy. My kids were mean to Maddy. Maddy teased Hannah. Hannah cried. All in all, a typical experience with Hannah these days! :) Ainsley & Maddy actually played pretty well together. Hannah wrote a play and organized refreshments.

Angie was a beautiful flower.

Maddy liked Dora's hair.

***
Ainsley & I met Chrissy at the library for storytime. The story lady was dressed up like a pirate and had cute eye patches and bandanas for the kids to wear. Not Ainsley. But since then, she has been asking to go back and see the pirate lady.

***
Hannah's school had a fundraiser a couple weeks ago. The kids were supposed to jog for 20 minutes and sponsors paid them for each lap they completed. There were four different checkpoints for the kids to check in. Each child was assigned to a different checkpoint. They were hoping to avoid a bottleneck. Hannah was kinda oblivious. She stopped at each checkpoint to get a mark on her tally sheet! Thankfully she didn't have any sponsors (we're bad parents and don't believe in doing school fundraisers that way) who were paying per lap.
She did a really great job running. She ran or walked the entire way. I was so proud of her!

excuse the messy face, please

Hannah's teacher is so cute and so sweet with the kids. She puts her arm around each child every day as they are leaving and talks to each one.

The most adorable cheerleader at the school! :)

***
It's finally fall! Thank goodness. Ainsley loves to go outside and play after we drop Hannah off at the bus stop. Or after we go to the store. Or any reason she can find to be outside. Look, her hair is done.

No hair done here. I promise, she pulled out her own clip and hid it. We raked up a big pile of leaves for the girls and they had a great time.

Our house with the Halloween decorations and Ainsley peeling bark off our dead tree.

Thomas on the roof winterizing the swamp cooler.

Ainsley playing in the leaves

Hannah playing in the leaves, too.

I love this tricycle.

I think I want to edit this photo and frame it for my living room, or the play room.

My girls, relaxing in a leaf pile.

***

We went to pumpkin patch last night for the Cardall family party. It was a cute little farm with a produce stand. They have beautiful pumpkins with the vines still on them. Loved it! Grandma and Grandpa let each kid pick a pumpkin from the wagon. Hannah picked one for Ainsley and one for herself. She was quite picky and chose two perfect little pumpkins.

***
This morning, I met four of my aunts, a few of their kids, my cousin's wife and her kids and my two little kiddos at Gardner Village. We went to Pine Needles, an adorable little fabric store, and some other cute shops. We had lunch at Archibald's... S.L.O.W. but really good. My kids were horribly behaved, but I really enjoyed my time with my aunts. It was so nice to see them. And I got a beautiful new quilt from my aunt JoAnn. It's in browns and oranges and is folded over the back of my couch. LOVE it!

***
Tonight, Hannah & I went to her Primary carnival. We got there and found out that it was a family carnival, but Hannah decided that she wanted some girl time, so we didn't go home and get Daddy & Ainsley. Hannah & I had fun at the carnival. They had face painting, balloon animals (with a clown, and I didn't freak out), games, coloring, cake walk, popcorn, hot chocolate. They did a really great job and Hannah had a blast.

Isn't she the most beautiful Tinkerbell ever? I can't believe that my baby is so grown up!


Well, that's it so far. We have a really busy next couple of weeks. I'll post more photos when I get some!

Silly little munchkin!

I don't know if Ainsley's personality is just becoming more pronounced or if it is because I am paying more attention now that it's just her & me at home during the day. But she is HILARIOUS! And she is a little stinker! She is a lot like her dad... an instigator! She loves to tease Hannah until she cries. But then she gives her a big hug. She loves her big sister and is very bored without her at home! Her new favorite word is "Probly."
Ainsley, where is your hair clip?
On the table, probly.
Ainsley, what do you want for lunch?
Uhm, string cheese, probly.
Ainsley, do you need to go potty?
Yeah. Probly.

Some fun projects & scrapbook pages!

I am really enjoying working with the digital scrapbook products by The Ettes! The bright colors and fun graphics are just perfect for layouts with kids! I had the opportunity to work with two of their brand new products this month.

First up, is their new Halloween Magic kit, available at ScrapOrchard. The first layout is also using Templ-Ette Collection 8. Thomas' mom comes to Utah every year for Halloween. It's "her" holiday. My kids just love Grandma Sharon, especially little Ainsley. She just snuggled right up to Grandma and didn't give any of the other kids much of a chance.

And these are our trick-or-treat photos from last year!
(Good thing I am so far behind on my scrapbooking!)

And this is a fun hybrid project I made using this kit.

*In Photoshop, I created a new canvas large enough to go around the jar. I believe it was 3x12.

*I designed a wrap, basically just layering a couple of papers, adding some stitching and wordart.

*Then I increased the canvas size to 12x12, added the witch feet element, the witch hat element and one of the pumpkins.
*I saved my project, uploaded it to FedEx and had them print it on their bright white cardstock.

*Then, I cut out all the pieces. The witch legs were kind of time consuming because of the notched stripes on the tights, but I loved them so I didn't just chop them off! :)

*Next, I adhered all the pieces to the jar.

*Wrap black ribbon around the jar lid.

*Hot glue your wooden ball (witch head) to the top of your jar, add some fuzzy green hair & you're done!

And good luck trying to keep your kiddos out of the candy corns long enough to let them be a decoration!

I also got to use the new Chore Chart kit by The Ettes, available at ScrapOrchard. I have been trying to figure out the best way to make a chore chart for my kiddos for a long time. Then, the Ettes asked me if I would like to use their new Templ-Ette. You betcha! I was talking to my sister-in-law and she was telling me how hard it is for her son to ever want to do chores. So, when I saw the new Chore Chart kit, I knew that I needed to make a chore chart for my nephew! You can see the instructions for this project on the project photo. I am still working on the chore charts for my girls. I can't decide if I want them to match my kitchen or their bedroom. I am hoping to have those done soon!

(Due to dumb new blogger laws, please read the following statement and see my Discosure statement on my sidebar.)
Disclosure: In exchange for creating digital scrapbook layouts and hybrid projects and posting the finished projects on my blog, I did receive the following products for free:
Halloween Magic by The Ettes
Templ-Ette Collection 8 by The Ettes
Chore Chart kit by The Ettes

Conversations with a 2 year old...

It's 10pm on a school night. Hannah is asleep in bed. Ainsley has been fighting sleep for the last two hours and finally looks like she is going to give up the fight and go to sleep. I head downstairs to do some work to ensure that the upstairs is nice and quiet. A few minutes there is a tell-tale thump as Ainsley climbs over the baby gate in her doorway and marches down the hall and down the stairs.
Me: Ainsley, what are you doing? Why are you not asleep?
A: Guys, I have to tell you something.
Me: What do you need to tell us?
A: I need to tell you a story.
Me: Okay. Tell me a story really quickly.
A: Once upon a time, there was a girl named Hannah asleep in your bed. There was a girl named Ainsley.
{shrugs shoulders}
That's it.

Round 2:
Ainsley is back in bed.
Repeat situation 1.

Round 3:
Repeat situation 1 &2

Then comes the speed chatting round that I can't even begin to keep up with. Random topics include... pooping in her diaper, wearing tiny coats to play in the rain, a discussion about what everyone is wearing and what they would be wearing if they took off their pajamas, "Hey Guys. I just have tiny poops in my diaper.", more poopy talk, the bathroom floor, peeing on the bathroom floor, jumping in the leaves outside, something sparkly on the carpet, bananas splashed on the ceiling, old socks, old yucky bottles need to go in the sink, "Oh. I found popcorn downstairs. So, I can eat it.", "Mom, I just have one more poop in my bottom. Then I can go upstairs." and yucky stuff in her ears sometimes.
all in the space of 2 minutes.

This little chica makes me laugh! :)